Being anti-bad ain’t good.

Often, when I ask a business owner what makes them “special” or why do their customers love them, I get responses like, “I make them feel comfortable and they trust me” and “I care about them” and “I exceed their expectations.”  While these things are definitely recommended, they aren’t extraordinary or exceptional.  How can you tell?  Think about the opposite to test that value of a statement.  Any competitor you “beat” with these claims must acknowledge that they DON’T get customers’ trust, DON’T exceed expectations and DON’T care about them.

Now, who really admits this? Nobody.

In turn, you claiming these attributes only makes you look ordinary.  In this market you must be EXTRAordinary to succeed.  Here’s a 2-minute video pulled from one of my recent talks to explain it.

Jeff’s Rule of Being Extraordinary from jeff jochum on Vimeo.

The Big Small-biz Workshop Lie

Here it is…

You CAN’T learn how to do something from someone else by knowing how they’ve done it.

Reading Steve Jobs’ biography really won’t help you build another Apple.

Watching Eric Clapton practice won’t teach you to play the guitar.

Hearing the backstory of President Obama won’t get you elected.

Trying to learn how to do something by understanding the “actions” of others is known as Reverse Determinism. (There’s a lengthy discussion of a form of it here)

An example story that has been around a while is, after watching 10,000 investment managers’ actions for 10 years, it was noted that SIX of them had “perfect records” (they made money every year).  These investors were hailed as “geniuses” because so few others were able to reach this result.  (Note: They now get paid a LOT more money than everyone else for their advice.)

However, when you apply the analysis of a coin-flipping mathematics, the expected result of a “perfect record” out of 100,000 attempts (10 flips in row coming up heads) is slightly over EIGHT!  Logically, these geniuses actually achieved a result LESS “perfect” than 10,000 monkeys flipping coins 10 times each.

The key to “learning from history” is understanding the logic of WHY decisions are made, so that this knowledge can be translated into your particular circumstance.  (e.g. A match flame burned you so therefore, touching a lighter flame is probably going to create a similar result.)

How to find a worthy educator?  I advise seeking out and listening to people who have learned the “principles” of their own achievements, and whose experiences include trying lots of different things.  If you have a business teacher, make sure they understand the patterns of their own process and when chaos entered into their successes and failures. Rate them for the depth of their “understanding” rather than simply their ability to relay their own story, or even how well they’ve learned to tell it.

- jeff

How to create a Brand Cult

First, remember that Cult communities are progressive, not regressive.  This means that they must stand for change, not the status quo, to be powerful and sustainable.

Second, note that true commitment is exclusionary.  The more exclusive the club, the more value people place on its membership (and members).  And, to this end, TOUCH matters.  Communities that have physical meetings are best.

Then, comes the “Paradox of Joining”; people don’t join a community to be “different”, they join to be with people who are the same.  This is why the phrase “you become more you” is a demonstration of a truly powerful community (like Apple).  The four WHYS of people joining of a great community can be summed up as:

1. A feeling of difference from their world
2. Open searching for a compatible environment
3. Security when their difference is a virtue
4. Self-actualization within a group of like-minded others who celebrate their common uniqueness.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: People trust People long before they trust “companies” or even “groups.”

• Relationships first, ideology later
• Your people are the brand (Its not the stuff – its the staff)
• Companies that are recognizing the power of human interaction are becoming the heroes of business.
• Real commitment only occurs when they have a relationship with “others” inside the group.

Principles of GREAT Community Creation

1. Teach your business to focus onThe Person.
2. Recruit smart: there are good and bad members
3. Create meetings and interactions, for both members and non-members.
4. Enable your people to focus on interaction.
5. Love-bomb new members – overwhelm them with welcome.

Do you do any of this stuff now?  If you changed the word “member” in this post to “customer”, can you imagine how powerful your business can be?

Finally, just as I teach in my 1to1 Coaching and Biz Clarity / Team X Fight Club workshops, there are 4 simple steps to creating a “Brand Cult” around your business:

1. Define your doctrine of difference (the WHY of YOU)
2. Declare it with icons and creed
3. Differentiate your leadership from “the world”
4. Demonize the pagans (the ideas, not the peeps)

To succeed, your entire community must be different in the same way!

- jeff

P.S. Want to learn more about turning your company into a Brand Cult? Join Team X! http://Team-X.biz

My Goal is to Survive

Survival can’t really be called a “goal” since its not about achieving, as much as avoiding, things… like failure and bankruptcy.

In my world, surviving is a game that cannot be won, regardless of how much time, energy & money you put into it.  I call this the HULA-HOOP Syndrome.  If Hula-hooping had goals, they’d be sound something like this:

1. Launch: For how long can I do it?

2. Growth: How many can I do?

3. Realization: How do I stop?

Only #3 seems to actually ask a question worth answering.  Drop the hoops and start moving forward, not in circles, if you expect to get anywhere.  Remember that “survival” is a powerful, and ultimately bad, mission statement.

Go Get Em.

- jeff

What is your customer profile?

• Early-adopters value being first or individual and buy YOUniqueness (stuff that defines and/or connects to them)
• Middle market buys only after others have bought and still buy stuff that connects or comforts them (driven more by FUD)
• Laggards buy commodity services and would be happy if uncle john showed up with camera (documentary, traditional)

Do you know which category are you appeal to?  Is that the one who is best served by what you create?

Startup-Strategy’s 15 Principles of Success

1. Keep Answers Simple:
The more obvious the answer, the more powerful it is in the marketplace.

2. Never trust anything (or anyone) your “common sense” doesn’t support:
Common Sense always appears as a suddenly self-evident (“slap to the head”) truth to a previously confused audience.

3. Use “good” strategy when planning:
Good strategies focus on “what to do” rather than “how to do it.”

4. Customer-centric businesses succeed by focusing on two goals:
Treat customers so they want to (1) buy more and (2) complain less.

5. Ask these questions when considering new initiatives:
HOW will we get people to open their wallets and give us their money?; WHO will give us their money?; WHERE will we find these customers?; WHEN will they pay us?; WHY do they need to buy now?; WHAT do we have to do to get paid?

6. Avoid design arrogance (i.e. “build it and they will come”):
Establish and manage clear and reachable objectives that are specifically designed to achieve sales revenues.

7. Short-term focus foreground, Big Picture focus background:
What is generally required for start-up success is good solid business logic and an ability to address the real near-term issues… not committees, brain trusts or long-term initiatives. These things certainly have their place in overall business success, but don’t try to “build the bridge from the other side of the river.”

8. If you are not a Research Center, don’t spend money like one:
Limit the pursuit of every cool technology or service idea that might be important to “someone someday” and exert sound investment principals and self-control.

9. Emphasize success through collaboration:
Embrace the idea that “Nobody should feel individually successful if we are not collectively successful” to drive every team member to align their professional goals with the company goals of revenue and profitability

10. Create a Discipline of Execution:
Build a culture that values productivity over procedure. Fundamentally, execution is the discipline of exposing reality and acting on it.

11. Cultivate a culture of openness:
Foster an atmosphere of honesty and candor and lay the framework for collaboration and communication amongst team members.

12. Don’t be afraid of the Negatives:
Honest, open exchanges will show the balance between optimism, motivation & realism.

13. Just signing off on a plan is not enough:
Leadership means drilling down for explanations until every key answer is clear, defendable and achievable.

14. Lead by example:
“Do as I say, not as I do” cultures rarely succeed. Every team member should feel that, “unless I make this happen, our collective efforts won’t matter.”

15. Focus, Focus, Focus:
Being a generalist in a world of increasing specialty is the same as training for a third-place finish in a two-person race.

Have you got a Principle for Success you want to share?  If its AWESOME, I’ll PAY you $100 for the rights to include it in this list (as well as author credit, of course.)  Bring it…

jeff

Becoming YOUnique book preview

I’ve been working hard on finishing my upcoming book “Becoming YOUnique” so I can get it out to y’all.  Currently, I’m on-track for an early Sept. ship date.  In the meantime, I talk about what’s going into it, including the “5 D’s” that Team X members know all too well, with David Jay on Showit Live.  Check it out and let me know what you think…

-jeff