Business Brainstorm
“I make better kimchi than your Korean grandmother.”
That was what his online dating profile said.
I was intrigued.
Not because I have any great love of kimchi but because that was how he chose to describe himself.
After a couple weeks of dating, he dropped off a jar of kimchi and some soup at my apartment. I promptly ate the soup. The kimchi, I put in the cabinet. No freaking way was I going to eat that.
A few months later, going through my cabinets in an attempt to find some movie snacks, he discovered the jar of kimchi. “Um, this wasn’t sealed. It needed to be in the refrigerator.”
What happened next completely shocked this suburban girl who grew up on processed food and the-mall-as-entertainment:
He opened the jar and popped a big bite of fermented cabbage in his mouth.
Then… then… he plucked out a bite for me.
Blinded by love and inspired by his enthusiasm, I ate it.
It was good. Really good.
Fast forward 9 months.
One morning last week, he told me slept poorly because he read too much stimulating information before he went to sleep; The Art of Fermentation was sprawled out on the floor next to the bed. He’d spent restlessface hours considering new ideas for pickled vegetables.
On New Year’s Eve, he dropped off a jar of kimchi to the newest chef in town, a chef who’s been featured in Bon Appetit & Sunset Magazine, among others. New Year’s Day, he told me how he brought in another jar for his coworkers to try. He said, “I just want everyone to know how good this stuff is. I love it and I want them to love it too.”
I’ve told him many times that I think he could easily make a business out of his passion for pickling. But it was that last statement that really sold me on his ability to create something sustainable.
Businesses motivated by the deep desire to get what they create in the hands of others–to solve their problems or delight their senses–succeed. They inspire truly great marketing. They prompt story after story, reaching new prospects all the time.
That’s very different than just starting a business because you love doing your thing. Those kind of businesses generally don’t cause ripple effects of results or person-to-person sharing. They don’t get stories in magazines or mentions on the nightly news. They don’t inspire their teams to do better work.
It’s not the feeling you get when you’ve created something awesome that motivates great business; it’s the feeling you get when someone else experiences that something awesome.
When that is what drives you on a daily basis, you don’t need top 10 lists of promotional tactics. You don’t need Advanced Social Media Marketing. All you need is that core desire to share.
The reason I see potential in my partner’s passion for a sustainable business isn’t just because he loves to pickle things, it’s because he also has a passion for offering it up to others. The delight on his face when someone tries something from one of his jars for the first time is contagious. The energy he derives from seeing yet another skeptic converted to the ways of the fermented is immense.
You must have as much passion for the dissemination of your art as for the creation of it.
You must be willing to break down all your personal fears to pursue the act of plopping what you’ve created in the laps of the people you think should care about it.
You must be motivated by the surprise and the delight those you share your art with will experience.
Anything less than that and you won’t push past all the ways your fear will get block you sharing your art with the world.
Amanda Steinberg has built her publishing empire to over 1 million subscribers not because she loves writing about women & money but because she can’t wait to get smart financial information in the hands of women everywhere. Sarah Peck doesn’t just write because she loves to write but because she has a passion for engaging others about the questions and ideas she’s pondering. Catherine Just isn’t a photographer because she likes to snap pictures but because she’s eager to share the miracles she sees through the viewfinder with as many people as possible.
You might find these distinctions semantic. I don’t.
This very real difference not only predicts success but indicates whether a business owner will push through her fear, tolerate more risk, and do what is necessary to make her vision reality. It indicates whether she’ll have what it takes to trust her own ability to create the tactics that will grow her business instead of relying on the prevailing trends.
As you begin the new year in your business, ask yourself if you’re as passionate about sharing your work with others as you are about creating it. Forget that you might not know the “ins and outs” of marketing and sales. Instead, embrace a burning desire to say, as Seth Godin puts it, “Here, I made this for you.”
The rest you can figure out in time.
Business Brainstorm
I love to go it on my own. Be in control. Take all the credit.
It saves me from having to depend on anyone. Which is just a fancy way of saying no one is depending on me.
It also saves me from having to manage anyone. Which is also just a fancy way of saying I’m afraid to lead.
Growing my business over the last 5 years has meant that I’ve slowly pulled back the layers of resistance in asking for help, collaborating with others, and forming a team. I’ve run into roadblocks, confronted frustration, and finally opened up to getting the support I needed.
But nothing has cracked me as wide open as the process of opening a downtown, brick & mortar business.
This week, I’m opening the doors on a mini-coworking space in Astoria, OR, called CoCommercial. There will be a core group of 8 members, a wider network of day users, and a community full of workshop leaders & event goers.
It’s a giant step toward “we” and away from “me.”
Opening the space has required sharing my vision and asking for what I want from numerous people. I’ve had to negotiate the lease, get neighboring businesses on board, and hire local contractors. I’ve had to talk with my partner–an extremely vulnerable discussion–about helping with the initial phase of workshop bookings. And I’ve made difficult decisions about who & what I would invest in.
This would have all been impossible for me 5 years ago. Maybe even 2 years ago. And not just because I wouldn’t have had the money or the right location then. But because I couldn’t see past my desire to be on my own and in control.
I’ve started to realize that so many of us are drawn to microbusiness because of those two things: the desire to only have ourselves to blame and the desire to have all the control & take all the credit.
Venturing into microbusiness is an important personal lesson in self-reliance, a lesson that so many of us need after breaking free from a world of paychecks, micro-managing managers, and paved roads to “success.” But it’s possible to be self-reliant to a fault.
Once you’ve cleared your own path, are you the only one that can travel it?
So many opportunities have been lost because I’ve been unable to partner with the right people, people who were asking for my partnership. So much time has been wasted because I’ve tried to maintain complete control over every project. So much money has been left on the table because I wouldn’t give up control of systems I had no business managing.
So much goodwill has been squandered because I couldn’t just say “Here’s where I need your help.”
I’ve gotten so much better in the last 2 years. But all signs point to this venture continuing to push me toward a mindset of community/team/network-powered growth. While CoCommercial isn’t designed as a real revenue generator for my business, I believe that the lessons I’m learning and the personal growth I’m experiencing will lead to massive changes in the areas of my business that do generate revenue.
Where I saw brick walls before, I’ll see launching pads.
I wonder if all the microbusiness owners I know, support, and love would break through the same internal barriers, what amazing projects could they complete? What daring initiatives could they put out into the world? What new solutions could they innovate to serve others?
The fact is that community is the greatest resource you have for bringing big ideas to fruition. Forget money, forget infrastructure. Heck, you can even forget your “list” (but I don’t recommend it).
Ask for what you need. Think beyond your own capabilities. Create plans that depend on others.
Pair your idea capital with network capital and watch the return on your investment.
Art of Earning, Business Brainstorm
Coffee can cost you 69 cents, $1.29, $3.25, or even $6.99…
…and I’m just talking a simple cup of joe, not a latte or cappuccino.
The same is true of life coaching, web design, weight loss programs, yoga classes, virtual assistance, or any other New Economy service or offer.
Price is relative. Price tells a story. And pricing is a decision to be made, not a hole to fall into.
Coffee can teach us a lot about pricing
How much should a cup of coffee cost? And what does that have to do with how much you should sell your product, app, program, or service for?
The first answer is, it depends. The second answer is, everything.
The price of a cup of coffee is influenced by a lot of factors. And one of the factors that influence it least is the material cost of the beans.
Even expensive coffee beans tend to be relatively “cheap” (with a few notable exceptions).
The factor that influences it most is perhaps the different markets it’s sold in. You can get coffee almost anywhere, and where you get it influences how much you expect to pay.
Grab a 64oz Big Gulp of coffee at a gas station and you might pay 69 cents.
Pick up a 24oz coffee at a fast food chain and you might pay 99 cents.
Sip on a 16oz coffee from a specialty chain and that’ll set you back a little over $2.
Or, sidle up to the brew bar at high-end coffee establishments and that cup of coffee might set you back $5-7 (yes, I’m still talking about brewed coffee, not espresso).
While there is certainly a difference in the cost of the materials, overhead, and labor at these establishments, the price of a cup of coffee is influenced as much by the conversation you share with your barista, the environment of the shop, and the people you expect to meet there.
The same dynamic is at play with digital products and most services. While there are hard costs that influence price, most of the price is subjective and based on many factors that have nothing to do with materials or overhead.
Meaning influences price to a huge degree
The price of coffee is also largely dictated by what the product means to its customers.
Gas station coffee is a necessary evil, the solution to the problem of working too many hours, too early in the morning. Fast food coffee is a convenience, a simple pick-me-up in the middle of a hectic day.
Specialty chain coffee is a predictable luxury. Brew bar coffee is an experience all its own, a ritual, a little slice of heaven for the connoisseur.
If the local specialty shop started charging 69 cents for a cup of coffee, it would be jarring to your consumer mind.
You’d ask, “Why?” and you’d expect an answer about a promotion. If they just exclaimed, “Well, that’s what it costs,” you’d start to wonder, question its quality, wonder about the people running the place.\
If you price your products or services discordantly from what your customers expect to pay, you’ll leave them wondering the same things.
Whether too low or too high, the price of your product is suddenly something that makes people uncomfortable. And uncomfortable people don’t buy.
If your product or service promises a big life change or meaningful transformation, the price should be fit into that context.
To make sure you’re putting your customers at ease with both the experience of your product or service and the price you’re asking them to pay for it, consider these questions:
- What do you want your product or service to mean to your customers?
- How do you want them to experience your product?
- What does your customer expect your product to mean to them?
- How does the set of features you’ve arranged for her add up in her mind?
- What other products, services, or solutions might he be relating to your product?
Pricing is largely a chicken & the egg scenario
And too often, business owners play chicken.
You don’t have to price your products like a gas station prices coffee. You can choose to have a more refined aesthetic, offer a more distinct point of view, cultivate a more demanding clientele, create more favorable positioning–and charge more.
It’s your choice.
Don’t believe that these factors are out of your control. If there is any part of your business that you believe is negatively impacting your ability to set the price you want, take control and change it.
Adjust your brand or positioning, change marketplaces, rework your network, invest in design. Create an experience that really means something to your customers and results in a sustainable, profitable price for your product.
Make your customers comfortable with both the value your business is creating and the price you ask your customers to pay. And then have a cup of coffee.
Announcements, Art of Growth
If I had to choose the key factor that all successful microbusiness owners have in common, it would be that they chose not to be alone in their businesses.
When I started my business, I desperately wanted to be alone. Even while attempting to create a community, build an audience, and exercise my voice, I wanted to keep to myself.
Invitations to coffee left me nauseous. Phone calls went unanswered.
Luckily, on top of wanting desperately to be left alone, I was also just plain desperate. I had no choice. Even then, I could sense that succeeding would mean meeting with, learning from, and collaborating with other people. And so early on, I learned that even as I was still “solo” in my business solo entrepreneurship was a myth.
Too often I see the struggle for independence turn into suffering through loneliness.
Your friends outside the entrepreneurial world don’t understand what you do. Your partner gets tired of hearing about Twitter. Your parents just wish you’d get a real job.
Couple that with fear of failure, the impostor complex, and not knowing where to find your compatriots online, let alone in your local community, and you’ve got the formula for going-it-alone syndrome.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Being independent shouldn’t mean being alone. Click to tweet!
This is one of the messages I’ve been focusing on over the last few years. Whether it’s been my own personal investment in travel & industry events or my desire to put together groups of like-minded entrepreneurs in coaching experiences like 10ThousandFeet, I have sought to bring people together–with each other and with me–to dramatically increase their chances of success.
As a connector & a futurist, I put an extremely high value in creating communities of value so that we can learn from our disparate experiences and put them to good use building the world we want to live in.
I believe we should be actively cultivating relationships that bring us closer to the success we crave. And I believe we could all put more time & intention behind that action.
The next week will see me take two big steps even farther in that direction. I’m rebooting Kick Start Labs, the entrepreneurial community & resource library I founded over a year ago. By the end of the month, I’ll have opened a coworking & workshop space in Astoria, Oregon for the purpose of bringing together the independent workers & thinkers of Northwest Oregon.
I look forward to telling you more about CoCommercial soon. But in the meantime, I hope you’ll consider joining me and over 100 charter Kick Start Labs members to do just that. Not only will you get access to me and this community of just-like-you business owners, but you’ll have access to all the resources I’ve created over the last 3 years plus access to new ones as they are created.
And it’s just $39/month.
Now accepting new members: join today.
Business Brainstorm, Customer Perspective Process
Your product isn’t just about filling a need but creating a new source of meaning in your customers’ lives. Beyond that, the connection between what is meaningful to the creators of a brand and what is meaningful to the consumers of its products create something that transcends the transactional.
In his book, Design-Driven Innovation, Roberto Verganti writes, “people do not buy products but meanings.”
Simon Sinek famously asked, “Why do you do what you do?” as a way to position your brand and lead the market. But I find that two more effective questions are “What does your product mean to your business?” and “What does your product mean to your customers?”
When your brand is grounded in meaning, you can create the messaging, merchandising, and marketing that tells a story that customers can really buy into. Click to tweet!
Further, when your business can imagine ways to innovate on the meaning of your product, you can create new products that aren’t just different but true game-changers.
Below are 5 brands that really know what value means to their customers. They measure their success in meaning and consistently make decisions based on representing that meaning in their customers’ lives.
Starbucks
Starbucks is a gimme. They trade on ubiquity and consistency while capitalizing on the ever-growing love of craft coffee.
The white & green paper cup represents a known quantity, in the best way possible. Starbucks customers know that inside their cup is the same beverage they always drink, whether in Seattle, the suburban jungle, or the regional airport.
They’ve taken steps in recent years to shore up this consistency. With the launch of the Verismo home brewer last year, Starbucks is hoping customers want to take this meaning home with them, too.
Evernote
I’m a devoted Evernote user for one simple reason: it means I never have to forget a great idea. Evernote knows this. The headline on their website right now is “Remember everything.”
They know that’s what their product means to their customers so they’ve made an effort to build out the application on every platform. They’ve also incorporated new features like reminders and shortcuts to make sure great ideas never pass its users by.
Moo
Moo specializes in easy-to-create business cards. But beyond that, what they really create are conversation starters. The very nature of the product–its customer photos and slick design–give its customers something they can be proud of and something they can use to spark discussion.
For Moo’s customers–budding business owners–that could mean the difference between paying the bills each month or not. That business card isn’t just a way for people to contact them, it’s the key to starting a relationship with someone who could be a lifelong customer.
Copyblogger
Copyblogger specializes in “tools & training to make your content work for you.” After teaching copywriting, blogging, and content marketing techniques in its popular blog for many years, Copyblogger launched several software tools that supported its key content strategy. For the Copyblogger team, it meant no longer relying on the increasingly difficult prospect of monetizing content or selling information products.
But for their customers, the move to software meant making it much easier for them to actually put all that great Copyblogger advice to use. Instead of creating content no one was consuming, their customers could find ways to connect to more readers through search, build more effective landing pages, and have better converting websites. And what does that mean to their customers? More money, less time wasted.
Megan Auman
It’s not just big businesses that understand what their products mean to their customers. In fact, small businesses might even have an easier time. Designer Megan Auman could sell her jewelry on its features & benefits: it’s made from recycled steel, weighs next to nothing, and is insanely durable. But her tagline tells a different story, one that really means something to her customers.
Megan Auman products are about “making a statement every day.” For her customers, that means feeling their best no matter whether the day’s outfit is a t-shirt and jeans or their favorite little black dress. In fact, Megan calls her signature line the “little black necklace.” That’s value that immediately means something to her customers and changes the way they approach jewelry.
No matter the product or service your business offers, it means something to your customers. Understanding that meaning–what it looks like, feels like, even smells like!–is the key to making the marketing, product development, and sales decisions that will make your business hum.
