Category: entrepreneurship

Availability

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

An entrprepreneur works at my local cafe. Well, he’s a musician in a band –  selling music. Which is what we do, in different categories.

 

I asked him how his band was going – (incidently called ‘Bedford’) and a few seconds later he brought me their CD and put it on the table. It looked cool.

 

When I paid for the coffee, I also asked how much for the CD? He responded $20 and so I paid for 2 coffees and 1 CD. This could only have happened because it was available. He had it on hand.

 

 

Do you bring your stuff with you? Your widget? Do you have cards / flyers on you all the time to give to people? We need to make our stuff available – because selling always begins with a conversation.

 

Fact is I might love the CD – who knows? If I do I’ll spread it. At a minimum I’ve bought an entrepreneur $20 of encouragement, which I’m happy to do.

 

You can check them out here.

Great Quote

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

“I cannot control how I am perceived, I can only control how I am presented.”

 

This quote came from (of all places) Tim Gunn’s guide to style TV show. (it was on in the background while I was working… honest)

 

It’s the same for our brands and websites. Do what we can and ignore the uncontrollables.

 

Old media / new media

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

We all agree that media is changing – “ing”, not “ed”.

So it still makes sense to consider both options for our limited marketing and startup budgets.

So here’s a simple summary of each:

Old media
Costs a lot, but is really quick. Reaches people who might not have been looking for you. Leverages solid infrastructure so demands less human capital. But has a high wastage rate. Suits mass markets

New media
Usually free, and reaches those who are seeking you. Can be quick, but only for the lucky few who nail ideas people want to spread. Uses fragmented infrastructure so requires more man hours. Leaves a digital footprint and so effort compounds. Suits niches.

Until old & new media fully merge, we need to allocate budgets. But it’s also important we remember we can replace money with time when we are financially constrained.

Daily taste test

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Gordon Ramsey walks into a restaurant he’s doing one of his shows with, I don’t know which one it is, because I’m telling this story second hand (Don’t worry, it’s worth it).

 

He’s there to help a struggling restaurant and asks the chef to serve him his signature dish.

 

Gordon sits down to taste some kind of Oyster dish. On the first mouthful he almost gags, and proceeds to spit it out. The oysters were off. 

 

He says these are disgusting, and asks the chef when was the last time he served them up, or tasted them himself… The Chef shrugs.

 

 

 

Sometimes things look good, but are rotten at the core. Sometimes we haven’t tested something in a while which is truly broken. We’ve got to keep an eye on our entire value chain. Make sure it’s all in order before we wonder why customers are disappearing, not coming or never came.

 

When was the last time you did a “taste test” of your own service?

 

More often than occassionaly we should taste our own medicine – every day.

More than just sizzle – Abundant Media

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

There is no shortage of television shows about holidays.

 

Let’s call it Holiday Porn…  Lot’s of visuals, quite stimulating, high end holidays with locations and activities which are largely out of reach for most people. Who can really afford to drive a Ferrari down the Amalfi coast?

 

A lot of sizzle, not much sausage. So they generally leave you feeling a little unsatisfied.

 

Australian media start up Abundant Media have done a nice piece of game changing with their new TV show Holidaysforsale.tv

 

A simple concept: Everything you see on the show is for sale – You can watch the show, then jump on line and book the exact same holiday. The exact stuff you see and they do. No tricks.

 

This Australian media startup has in a very short time proven that there is room for innovation even in a crowded market space.

 

And here’s the bit I love the most, they are so focused on doing, that they’ve sold in their TV show to  channel 9, produced it and aired it, and they haven’t even built their own corporate website yet! – Check it here: http://www.abundantmedia.com.au/  Bootstrapping Gold.

 

Yep – they’re focused on making it happen, not stuff which is nice to do.

The imperfect pitch

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I was in a session with the ‘School of thinking’ founder Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson on Friday. (he co-founded this organization with guru Edward De Bono)

 

The session was amazing. I wrote down a particular quote which resonated with me:

 

“The perfect pitch being worked on at your desk can send you out of business. The imperfect pitch being presented to a customer can keep you in business.”

 

Get out there.