Marketing a Pixelated workshop

April is marketing month.

We’re looking at the new theories of marketing.   It used to be about AIDA: getting attention, piquing interest, and sparking desire that leads to action.  Getting attention is becoming much harder today as we are all hit with almost 3000 marketing messages – a day!

We have had to become adept at ignoring all this noise.  We are getting our product information from other people.  We are becoming attuned to what Trendwatching.com calls Twinsumerism and Malcolm Gladwell calls Sneezers.

These are people we feel we are like or we want to emulate or are our neighbours who are the early adopters and can tell us what we should buy.

We, as business owners, understand that.  We feel the same annoyance when another marketer tries to get in our face.  So let’s think about the marketing that works with you.  Isn’t it about finding the things everyone is talking about?  Knowing who to turn to for good information? Looking for the company that walks the walk? Seeing who treats us best?

These are the concepts we will explore this month.

Everyone is talking about the Purple Cow.

Seth Godin wrote Purple Cow about creating a remarkable experience.

Tribes are the ultimate permission marketing.

Yes, I am a huge Seth fan.  Seth wrote the book on this one too.

He says to be the leader who gathers, connects and gives value to a relevant, interested community.

Transparency

Trust is important in marketing.  These days word travels quickly and you won’t be able to hide so once again that kindergarten adage of honesty is the best policy still holds true.

Giving

The Secret tells us to give in order to open our hearts to receive.  Many of the profiles of the rich tell us that they have made a commitment to give from a very early stage.

The success of a business hinges on it’s culture.  Here Tony Hsieh talks about the success of Zappos and how it is linked to the culture of the company.  They are a very generous company and it has been a contributing factor in it’s success.

Esther and Jerry Hicks, the people behind the secret.

It’s a little weird to watch Esther begin to channel Abraham who is the real ‘mind behind the Law of Attraction.  This is not for everyone, but it is the origin of much of what is said about The Secret and the Law of Attraction.

In the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini tells us about the power of reciprocity.  We are compelled to give like in return.  Use this power for good.

March – Turning on the Cash Faucet

What is Cash Flow?

Cash Flow is the movement of cash in your business.  It is not your income and expenses; although it is related.  The difference is that your profit and loss is a measure of money you made and the related expenses.  Your cash flow projects when you will receive that money and pay for those expenses.  It’s not uncommon to pay for your rent at the beginning of the month, pay your staff throughout the month and receive the money at the end of the following month.  Your cash flow helps you manage that.

A business can be making a profit, and still run into cash flow problems.

Why is cash flow good?

• More cash flow is better
• The best way to handle doom and gloom is to work on your business
• Cash flow improves when you work on it
• The more you know, the better you will sleep
• Cash flow talk can be fun and interesting – okay maybe just for people like me.

The beginning of money

This is an interesting 5 part series explaining how money and the banking system began and developed.  It is helpful in understanding the way money flows through our economy.  This is not essential to understanding cash flow and I have included it here because, well, there are not a lot of cash flow videos and, being a cartoon, it is easy to watch.

Why is it so Hard?

Schools don’t teach about money and how to handle it.  Our society has an interesting attitude towards money.  We all say we want to be rich and yet we talk about “money is the root of all evil” and “filthy rich” and “money doesn’t buy happiness”.  It’s as though we have a love – hate relationship with it.

Money is just a stand-in for value.  Money is nothing more than a place holder for traded value.  I give you this value and rather than give me something in return that you have, you give me money.  Money is not as important as the things of value that we exchange like food, housing, etc.

Behavioural economist Dan Ariely talks about the ideas in his book: Predictably Irrational.  We are irrational and yet, in very predictable ways. People have irrational responses about, among other things, money and value.

Tony Robbins is the guru about why we do what we do.

How to do it

Best Business Practices

Increase income

Decrease expenses

But don’t go too far This is an anecdote about inappropriate cost cutting.

Cash Flow template

Robert Kiyosaki  wrote the Rich Dad Poor Dad series.  His message is pretty straightforward: work towards owning things that put money in your bank account, not take it out.  These three videos make that point from 3 different view points.  If you don’t watch anything else, watch these.

Asset / Liability

Good Debt vs Bad Debt

Business E S B I Cash Flow Quadrants

What will happen when you do?

Cash flow is the life blood of a business, it will be the difference between making it and not making it.  But it is not the reason for business.  This is an important skill every business owner should have so that they can forget about it and focus on building a business you can be passionate about.  In the same way that an artist must understand pigments, brush strokes and balance before she can create works of art, business owners must have the essential skills before she can do the art of her business.

If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours. – Ray Kroc

Donald Trump talks about ups and downs, the passion and keeping at it.  He has mastered cash flow so that he can focus on his passion: business.

February’s workshop – Uncover 4 More Hours

I’m going to start adding a Pixelated Workshop every month based on Mitch Joel’s Pixelated Conference.  This is a compilation of information gleaned from the web around our theme.

Our theme for February is Uncover 4 More Hours.  It’s a take-off on the 4 hour work week by Timothy Ferris.  I love this book and every time I read it, I save time.  Timothy has a refreshing take on what is the best way to spend your time and consequently your life.  He was forced to step away from his business because of health issues and found that his business did better.  He chooses to geographic arbitrage which is earn in one currency and spend in another.

The one thing that worked and continues to be something I work on is the information elimination.  Just in time information rather than just in case information.

The 4 Hour Work Week – Timothy Ferris

4 Hour Work Week – Timothy Ferris speaking at Google

I love Leo’s blogs.  He lives his philosophy of ZenHabits.  This short video is more of an introduction to him and I suggest you follow up by spending some time at his site.

ZenHabits – Leo Baubuta

Long time ago we had to worry about things like sabre toothed tigers eating us.  We carry the vestiges of the appropriate response with us today.  Martha Beck, and Seth Godin, call this our Lizard Brain.  Your lizard brain tells you stories about all the bad things that will happen when you try something new.  Seth Godin tells us some stories about people who quieted the lizard brain to get things done.

Quiet the Lizard Brain – Seth Godin

David Allen is the guru of Getting Things Done commonly known as GTD.

In this video he shows us his office and the tools he uses for his own GTD.

This next video is a 45 minute workshop at Google by David Allen

Stephan Sagmaster talks about the value of taking time off.  I saw Stephan in Oxford when he gave this talk and it is the inspiration for this summer’s planned Cross-Canada odyssey with the kids/sabbatical.

Philip Zimbardo prescribes a healthy take on time

Natalie MacMaster and Thomas Dolby because there’s always time for music.

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Wednesday October 01

The first copy of the Small Business News is available at Staples, TD Bank and Kings CED office on Webster Street.