Have an actual phone number listed on your site where you can be called. Anytime.
A real phone number, with a real person answering, in real time, for real customers / members / web surfers. Real easy.
Why? Have you ever tried to call Yahoo, Google or Ebay?
There’s no easier way to differentiate your start up and outdo a big guy.
It’s nice to be recognised for a consistent effort occassionally. As can be seen below Startup blog makes the top 100 business blogs – number 82.
Honestly, I’d still do it if no one was reading – because it’s worth doing.
Below is a picture of a ‘brand on fire’– Crocs. The basic summary is Crocs are a highly functional rubber sandal which are really very comfortable.
They have really caught the imagination of the public. But the thing about crocs is that in real terms, they’re pretty ugly shoes. Not very sexy at all. Nothing compared to other sexy consumer products like the ipod or a bottle of San pellegrino. They look a bit like hospital theatre shoes.
But Crocs have made their way into an every day fashion. Love them or hate them, brand ambassadors are now wearing them for their ‘cool appeal’. They’ve become fashionable on beaches, city streets, sailing decks, at swimming pools, cafes, sporting events, as in home slippers and surfers are wearing them to hop over rocks to their favourite reef break. We even see pairs matched up with socks in winter!
The thing is, Crocs work. They really have a multi purpose usage which sandals, thongs, or runners don’t. They grip, they’re water proof, they fit nice, they don’t cause blisters, they absorb shock, they protect and they last a long time. I can’t even begin to imagine how big the profit margins are on Crocs. But the recent range proliferation tells me that it’s substantial – check it out here, or in your local Crocs store to be blown away.
Start up lesson:
If you want to be ‘fashionable’, focus on being ‘functional’.
…is not nearly as important as being dedicated.
Until 1851 Brittan had a ‘window tax’.
Theory being that wealthy people have more windows. It was eventually replaced by council tax. Legend says the term ‘daylight robbery’ came from the taxation. Many homeowners would brick over their windows to avoid the tax.
Now British property entrepreneurs find houses with the bricked over windows and shed some light on renovation profits!
Yesterday a great Australian entrepreneur ‘Crazy’ John Ilhan passed away. I won’t replicate the many newspaper articles about his life or fortune. You can Google him to see all of that. What I will point out is the many personal qualities he was documented as having:
Self belief
Highly motivated
Family man
Big ideas
Philanthropic
Risk taker
Failed quick, failed often
Bootstrapper
Game changer
PR machine
Knew how to dance with gorillas
– Telstra in his case. (topic of coming blog entry)
At the age of 41, it reminds us of the most important thing of all – our health.
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it”
Antoine de Saint-Expery (author of the “Little Prince”)