Launch Archives - Page 13 of 24

Inventing Jargon

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

web 2.0

permission marketing – Seth

interruption marketing – Seth

bootstrapping

startup

SPAM

BACN

badvertising (startupblog)

radvertising (startupblog)

goodvertising (startupblog)

longtail

Blog

ideavirus – Seth

Purple cow – Seth

Cutting edge

TV industrial complex – Seth

……

People like jargon for a few reasons. It puts them in the inner circle, it makes them feel smart & exclusive. When it’s great jargon, it simplifies an important explanation.

But jargon’s a bit like fashion. Things come and go and it’s important you’re using ‘fashionable’ jargon and avoiding the old embarrassing terms like ‘thinking outside the box’.

Seth Godin is a master at ‘inventing jargon’. There’s a little “Seth” next to his ones.

Taking the lead from Seth we’ve invented some jargon to explain important concepts for rentoid.com the place to rent anything including:

Unlocking idle assets

Conuserism

Digital networking of temporary needs

Go on and invent some jargon to sell your story.

Did you build it?

Posted on November 16, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

Did you build the website? Yes

Did you build your blog? Yes

Did you design the property development? Yes

Did you renovate your house? Yes

Did you launch the product? Yes

Did you manufacture the product yourself? Yes.

Did you landscape your own garden? Yes.

Did you make that advertisement? Yes

Did you self finance the business? Yes

Yes you did all these things, and more, every bit of them. You orgnaised the project, you had the idea, you got the finance from the bank, you conceived it and you made it happen. Never mind if the advertising agency made the creative, the PHP programmer coded your website or the bricklayer built the house.

You did it with your mind, your management skills and your ability to execute the project. None of it would have even started without you.

So whenever anyone asks if you did it? You say “Yes”.

Sultans of Swing and start ups

Posted on November 13, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

Listening to my itunes while working away the Sultans of Swing by Dire Straights starts playing… some lyrics struck a chord. (as always, pun intended)

“… and Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t… make the scene….

He’s got a day time job, he’s doin’ alright.”

Feel free to comment.

Single Minded Proposition – Ruby Red Runners

Posted on November 13, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

I stumbled across a great and simple start up business.

ruby red runners

They rent out very high quality red carpet runnerrs – That’s it. You don’t get any more single minded than that.

They’re delivered in roll up bag which you simply unzip and roll out the carpet.

Start up costs seem to be pretty low as well. A few high quality carpets, a clean website (www.rubyredrunners.com.au) and some word of mouth to high end hotels, private jet airlines, wedding organizers, glitzy carnivals and private parties for the well healed.

Just imagine how ‘honored’ you’d feel if your spouse hired a ruby red runner to welcome you home one night after work!

How to blog about your business

Posted on October 31, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

We all know it’s good practice to blog about our business or start up. We want to be authentic, transparent and build a relationship. But often we struggle with what to write about.

What we’ve done at www.rentoid.com is try to make sure it’s a dialogue and not a monologue.

You can check out the rentoid blog here.

So here’s a super list of ideas on how to blog about your business:

Don’t just blog about your business

Blog about other things your people may be interested in

Comment on other blogs similar to yours

Ask for feedback

Act on feedback

Answer comments on your blog

Put pictures on your blog

Tell your people about cool stuff your business is doing

Tell your people about mistakes you’ve made

Tell your people about delays in product releases

Ask your people what they want to hear about

Find other blogs / business geographically close to you and connect

Blog about your company values & beliefs

Blog about other cool businesses with similar ‘values’

Put a blogroll on your sidebar of similar businesses

(sounds counter intuitive, but keeps you honest and frames where you belong)

Put what your blog is about in the sidebar

Give your people a reason to come back

If it’s relevant link to another story or blog

Blog about your launch

Give a sneak preview

Blog about something funny that happened in the office

Blog about your people

Blog about your media coverage

Blog about why you’re better than the competition

Blog about why you’re worse, and what you’re doing about it

Show pictures of product / design / your retail outlet

Post your advertising

Run a sampling campaign via your blog

Focus on the theology of your site & business

Add comments to this blog entry to add more ideas….

Fashion and Function

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

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’.

The 5% rule

Posted on October 27, 2007 by Steve Sammartino

Five percent of the people we meet simply like to be difficult. They can’t be sold to, convinced, enlightened, managed or taken on any kind of journey. They might be customers, consumers, buyers, retailers, developers, employees, colleagues or anyone in our start up value chain.

Words to describe these people often include:

Obstinate

Arrogant

Rude

Apathetic

Dismissive

(insert negative adjective here)

No change in approach will change this fact. We didn’t make a mistake, we weren’t unprepared. It just is. We need to accept it and move.

Success is about people and numbers.

What we need to be aware of is if the 5% grows and becomes 10% or even 20% of people….. then it’s time consider whether we are on the wrong side of the 5% rule.