Steve Jobs, of Apple Computers, is well-known for his presentation skills and, in a recent gotomeetings.com newsletter, they listed the ten skills he uses as a master presenter.

1.)  Make a Plan on Paper.  Jobs presentations are planned out like movies, with story development and climaxes.

2.)  Set the Theme.  MacWorld 2008’s theme was “There’s something in the air” - which built anticipation for the unveiling of the new MacBook Air, but didn’t give away the surprise.

3.)  Show Enthusiasm!  Jobs show genuine pride and excitement as he discusses Apple achievements, which inspires his audience.

4.)  Provide a Roadmap.  Jobs gives his audience an agenda to follow to help them remember his main points.

5.)  Make numbers meaningful.  “Enough memory for 6 movies” is more impressive and easier to understand than “X number of gigabytes.”

6.)  Deliver a Spielberg moment.  When Jobs pulls the MacBook Air out of the manila envelope, you know that’s the climax of his talk, because Jobs created such drama around it.

7.)  Keep Slides Simple.  One bold image and very little text is enough for Jobs, and enough for the audience as well.

8.)  Sell the benefit (not the feature).  People care about what they can do, not what the product can do.

9.)  Rehearse.  Job’s delivery seems effortless because he practices, out loud, for days before the event.

10.)  Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Panicking just draws attention to a problem.  When something goes wrong with a video, Jobs makes a joke and moves on.

Small Business Owners, you can learn a lot from Jobs that will help you in your next sales presentation, investor meeting and employee motivation meeting.  Maybe not all of these are appropriate, but how often do we go into these meetings with a Power Point and a prayer?  Follow Job’s lead and plan, rehearse, make numbers meaningful and sell the benefits.  Those skills alone will make you a master in front of your next audience.

Kae Wagner

 

Several posts ago, I talked about the layering of a brand - how successful brands are made up of many layers, many levels of “Ands” that create their strength.  And, I promised to tell you the “Ands” or layers that make up the success of Inside Small Biz.

So, here are our layers or “Ands.”

We’re successful because we give Small Business Owners:

1.)  Someone to talk to who understands  and

2.)  Group Interaction and Learning  and

3.)  Weekly promotional activities that get them noticed  and

4.)  Brand awareness to their buyers and customers  and

5.)  Insight and answers for their problems  and

6.)  Resources to solve problems  and

7.)  A Panel of Experts for advice and counsel  and

8.)  Innovative Thinking  and

9.)  The latest in Technology  and

10.)  Hope for tomorrow.

So, those are the layers that we’re building Inside Small Biz on and, over time, we want to increase the layers and keep our brand vision to be the largest community of Small Business Owners in the world.  With your help we can do it.

Kae Wagner

Do what counts every day and every day will count.

Here’s a big tip for every Small Business Owner.  Check the interest rate on every credit card you’re using.

I’ve had a VISA card with Bank of America for 10 years.  And this blows my mind!

I’ve had this account for 10 years.  I usually pay balances in full and rarely run anything into the next month.  Recently, I needed to check on a particular item that I bought - needed to know the date for a client record. So, I had my assistant pull the last several months on this account and on several other credit card accounts.  What I noticed was amazing.

My account with Bank of America was at 31.24% annual finance rate!  And, this for a good customer. (I’m still holding, by the way.)

So, I decided to call the Bank and either get it lowered or cancel the card.  This began a long trek through this beep and that beep and one wrong department and then another wrong department (I’m still holding…) and then a long session with Kenny G playing.  I guess they were hoping I would hang up.

But I didn’t.

Oh - so now I’m not on hold anymore and talking with a live person who is sooooo polite and soooo nice.  I explain my situation and she looks at my account and tells me what a great customer I have been and can she put me on hold for just a minute and see if she can get me a much better rate….

So, then I’m on hold again.

This happens for about 3 - 4 different times until she finally comes back with some very pleasant news that “Yes, she can give me a rate of 9.99% annually,”  especially since I’ve been such a great customer and paid my complete balance on time.

We go through this little dance of me asking about how this could happen since I’m “such a good customer” and she does a very carefully trained dance that doesn’t give me an answer because - well, even though she has just looked up my credit history, she’s not sure how that happened.  But, now everything is ok because she lowered the rate and - by the way - would I like some money, since I have such a great credit record.  She asks me if I think I’ll need cash for an upcoming home improvement or something else!

I was amazed.  I asked her several more times about how they treat good customers, but there was not going to be an answer.  I know, I know, it’s not her fault, it’s the system…blah, blah, blah.  But, the point is that they raised the rate because they could and I never noticed the rate increase.

So, every Small Business Owner reading this - here’s the point.  Check every credit card statement that you get and check the rate everytime.  When it goes up, call the company and make sure it goes back down again.  Don’t miss this, like I did, because it’s money out the door that you will never get back.

Kae Wagner

Do what counts every day and every day will count.

 

I was sitting in a Board meeting when it hit me right between the eyes…

The discussion centered on a recent successful project and one of the Board members asked a staffer, “What was the one single thing that made this project successful?”  As the staffer paused to consider her answer, he asked her the question again.

And, that’s when it hit me.

I’ve heard this question asked so often recently as though there should be one single answer, one silver bullet, one Holy Grail of Success.

Truth is, there are many reasons why a project, company or brand is successful.  But, we love the simplicity of “the one thing” because we’re a McInstant society that wants success now - the easy way, success overnight, big money now and all of that immediate “good life” stuff that’s fueled by the stories of success in the media.

But, the media only gets it half right.

And, that’s when I realized “The Power of And”…

I realized that while we all want the simplistic answer, it’s the power of a strong idea and great products and a strong team and a growing market and effective communications and lean sytems and processes and strong leadership that make it work.

Strong companies harness “The Power of And” by creating a deep understanding of who they are and the value they bring and deep knowledge of their customers and creative solutions and a focus on innovation and a value of people development and trustworthy actions and responsive service.

“The Power of And” means that you have a such a strong foundation that your competition can’t knock you out just because you have “one thing.” No, you’re stronger than that because of “And.”

Next, I took a walk through Brand Land…

So, I decided to go through my case studies, interviews and reference materials to see the “Ands” that have made the top brands successful.  I decided to look at the mass merchandising segment - one we’re all familiar with.

What I discovered is so powerful.  Take a look at thes “Ands:”

Wal-Mart:  Strong inventory control and EDLP (everyday low price) and Strategic store locations (Three out of four Americans live within 15 minutes of a Wal-Mart) and Technology driven logistics and a Vast Product Selection.

Best Buy:  Electronic products with a larger product selection and Better quality than Wal-Mart and a High service level and an Easy Return Policy and Great Service and a Beeper Device if you’re waiting for equipment.

Target:  Designer Clothes, Products (Cooler Products than Wal-Mart) and Low Prices and Attractive store layouts with wider aisles and Fun, cool advertising and Good locations and Higher grade products and Fast check-out (A company policy that says when there are more than two people in line, more check-outs are opened) and Cross-trained staff.

Costco:  Membership based and High-end, status products and Unusual, unique products and bargain prices and volume buying power and Small Business Owner focus and Seasonal merchandising skills and Quality private label (Kirklands) and a No frills, easy in and out store layout.

Then I realized something even more powerful…

If every Small Business Owner and every business reporter stopped looking for the “one single thing” and started looking to develop the “Ands” for their company, we’d see a lot more success in business.

I realized that if I listed the 10 “Ands” that make Inside Small Biz successful and built a plan to strengthen each of those “Ands,” then my success would be guaranteed.

Each of the “Ands” needs to be a critical foundational piece, of course, and you need to carefully select the items - input from your customers would be very helpful.

Next time, I’ll share my list of the 10 Powerful “Ands” for Inside Small Biz and we’ll see how we can strengthen them and guarantee our success.

Comment here and let me know what your “Ands” are…talk to you soon.  Kae

“Do what counts everyday and everyday will count.”

 

In a recent Wall St. Journal article the origin of spam was noted as an e-mail sent by Gary Thuerk which was “an invitation to an open house for a new computer.”  He sent invitations to the “400 of the 2,600 or so people who had email accounts at that time.”

The Journal notes that “from a marketing standpoint, the e-mail was a success:  about 20 people came to each of Thuerk’s open houses, and he estimates it led to more than $12 million in sales.” 

But the “spam also earned Thuerk instant notoriety. “People started complaining immediately,” he says.  “Moreover, he received a letter telling him that he broke the rules of the Arpanet, the Internet’s predecessor.”

Thuerk has embraced his place in history as the father of spam, which has landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Currently, Thuerk says he “does promotional work for anti-spam companies.”

He must be doing penance. 

I got to thinking about Spam after I read the piece taken from the Journal.  We absolutely believe that you shouldn’t Spam people, but there’s a caveat.

Spam is sending information to an unqualified market.  In target marketing, we send information via e-mail to qualified buyers, although they may not know us yet.  It’s a way to begin the conversation with them and we know they are absolutely qualified and interested in what we have to sell.

Just like you, I get tons of unsolicited e-mails for tons of products that I will never buy.  That’s Spam.  But, I also get unsolicited e-mails for products and services that I do buy.  Like lists and educational materials and books.  I don’t consider those e-mails Spam because I am a qualified and interested buyer.  And, I’m glad those companies found me.

Several months ago, in the North Star Marketing business, we bought a list of manufacturers in Florida.  I had some considerations about adding them to our list, but we know that manufacturers are always interested in marketing and branding and are looking to improve in that area.

So, we added them to our Marketing Tips list and our Teleconference list.  I have been amazed at how responsive the people on the list have been.  They have activily engaged in attending our Teleconferences and have been sent comments and engaged us in various conversations via e-mail.

So, what I see happening in the real world is that Spam continues to erode the effectiveness of e-mail marketing; but there are still great opportunities if you get the right list right and find target markets that are qualified and interested in your offerings.

To Gary Thuerk - Cheers to you, bud.  Famous or infamous - you did what was bound to happen eventually and Kudos to you for taking your rightful place in history.

Kae Wagner