Area 224 Ltd.

Content + Communications Consulting

You are here: Home / Archives for Dave

Dave

Revolutions vs. Resolutions

Here’s the question: are you going to do something “Revolutionary” in the New Year?

First Work Day of 2011. Lists, Best Of, How Tos. Maybe there’s a self-help book or three waiting for you. Maybe you’ve downloaded some e-books and you can’t wait to get started.

Or Maybe You Shouldn’t Get Started On The Same Old Stuff.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions. They always seem too big, and aren’t broken down into small enough chunks for me.

Instead, it’s the small simple goals that work best for me – and may work for your company, too, as you figure out exactly how to market your “stuff.”

As long as these goals add up to something “revolutionary” – then you’re headed in the right direction.

Let us give you a for-instance…

The “revolutionary” idea for Dave from Area 224 was, simply, build a startup. The small goals leading up to that date were attainable in chunks – but would have been too too much to accomplish all in one big bite. Incorporate. Build the website. Find partners. Build brand.

In fact, the revolution was built over a few months, as opposed to overnight.

But, when a big change came – downsizing, in this case – the backup plan was already in motion.

Revolutionary ideas, sure. Small chunks, well-planned, got the idea off the ground.

The New Year’s Resolution, then, shouldn’t (in our opinion) be “Lose Weight.” “Quit smoking.” Or “Build the Startup.”

Those can be the New Year’s Revolution – just break them down into smaller, more attainable chunks.

“Eat Smaller Portions.”

“Chew Carrot Sticks.”

“Set Up the Website.”

Go. Be Revolutionary.

40

40
Thanks, life123.com
It has arrived. That wisdom that comes with a birthday that is divisible by 10.

What’s crazy is that I find myself ruminating on the past 10 years – thinking back to how turning 30 made me “legitimate,” and started a decade of, well, lots of stuff.

Is ruminating the right word?

Well, the very last thing I want anyone to do is be subjected to a load of crap on this site. So, instead, here are a few things I’ve picked up in the past decade:

  1. Your significant other is likely definitely smarter than you.
  2. Trust your gut.
  3. If you have to choose between two or more opportunities: take the job (or gig or client engagement) that pays more money.
  4. Some people will never get what they deserve. Get over it.
  5. Often, the job that no one else wants is the job that provides the best opportunity for you.
  6. Don’t be afraid of failure. (I ran a startup called U Sphere; it went under. People still ask me about it, want to know what I learned.)
  7. Ideas are like water: the only way you’ll know if your idea is worth anything is to try to do something with it.
  8. Remove toxic people from your life.
  9. Working by yourself has its pluses and minuses. Consider both.
  10. Don’t get hung up on what you name the product or service or business. Give it thought, sure, but there are more important things to worry about.
  11. Avoid companies that are traded on the pink sheets.
  12. Pick up the phone.
  13. Don’t leave a voice mail message unless you absolutely have to.
  14. Don’t read your own press clippings, if you have any.
  15. When launching a business, think about sales cycle. If you call a prospect and they ask you to call back “next year at this time,” you are in the wrong business.
  16. Put the Blackberry down when you’re eating dinner. (Kid #1 told me this in 2005. Stuck with me.)
  17. The direct route is the best.
  18. Being a Cubs fan is torture. Think long and hard before subscribing.
  19. Being a Bengals fan means you don’t have to worry about watching the NFL playoffs.
  20. A plus for someone in your circle does not necessarily mean a minus for someone else. Happiness is not a zero sum game.
  21. If your business card is not a conversation piece, then you probably don’t need to hand it out.
  22. Guys: on a two-button sportcoat, button the top button. On a three-button sportcoat, button the middle button.
  23. If the boss asks you to lie, don’t do it. You may well lose your job, but you’ll be able to live with yourself.
  24. If the other side in a negotiation won’t tell you who they are, who they are working for, or what they want with you, move on. It’s not a negotiation, anyway.
  25. Adoption is just another way to build a family. Doesn’t make adoptive parents or kids any more or less special than anyone else. Just different.
  26. Corporate America loves to say they’re “entrepreneurial.” However, at the end of the day, Corporate America hates hiring “entrepreneurs.”
  27. Empathy is a nice trait.
  28. So is politeness.
  29. Belt and shoes should match.
  30. You can wear an inexpensive suit – but if you add a pocket square, you’ll make it look much more expensive than it is.
  31. Socks are an extension of the pant. Same color is best.
  32. Your children may think someone else has a cooler job than you. That’s okay.
  33. The best emails are sometimes the ones never sent. Ditto for tweets and Facebook posts.
  34. Some people don’t want to have kids. Asking them why they don’t have kids is not cool.
  35. Ditto people who are single.
  36. The best way to build a business is to actually build a business.
  37. Never turn down a chance to sit with a VC person, even if only for 10 minutes. And don’t waste their time: be succinct.
  38. Life’s about way more than business. Maybe your passion is business, maybe it’s something else altogether.
  39. Faith, Hope and Love are very important things.
  40. The greatest of these, without a doubt, is love. (Yes, that’s Biblical.)

I’ve made connections, made friends, learned a ton, and am so very grateful for your time, your thoughts, your comments, and you just being you. All of you. You know who you are.

Thanks.

Why Life Doesn’t Suck

The economy blows. Job seekers find no one is hiring. Small shops like Area 224 keep plowing along, trying to get past the roadblocks. But Life Doesn’t Suck.

Really. It Doesn’t.

I, for one, am taking stock in a year full of new business relationships, enhanced connections, hatchets buried.

Skills sharpened.

We all know someone who focuses on the greener grass next door, or the other guy or gal who got promoted, or the person who got the job. Don’t be that person.

My 2010 has been so much better than 2009.

It’s part attitude, part aptitude, I guess.

You?

Why Are We Doing This Again?

Spending the balance of the year posting items that didn’t make it out of our “Drafts” folder. You’ll thank us later.

You are not alone in hating busy work. Busy work is not cool, a real downer, very unhip.

We had great dialogue recently with a guy named Mike Cassidy, also known as Membership Jedi.  Mike tells us that he likes to ask WTFF – or, to be more Rated G, “Why Are We Doing This Again?”

Actually, Mike’s thoughts are really good ones – and, when applied to Social Media Marketing, really timely. Here’s an example, “ripped from the headlines,” using a hypothetical company that is ready to “dabble” in Social Media.

Executive Team: “Let’s Get On Tweeter.”

You: “Why?” (NOTE: Don’t correct the executive team at this juncture.)

ET: “It’s what every other [insert industry] company is doing.”

You: “Why?”

ET: “It will allow us to connect with our customers.”

You: “Why?”

ET: “So they can tell us what they like about us.”

You: NOW it’s time to stop asking “Why?” And here’s why.

Depending on your industry, you’re going to have a varying degree of “like” of your products. If you are a mobile phone company and you have a spotty network, the “likes” will be focused on issues centered around things that don’t matter to the user experience, like how pretty your logo is.

And in just about any industry, your likes are going to be ratcheted up higher and higher depending upon what level of bounty you are putting on the like. “Like us and get a $5 coupon.” “Like us and be entered for a chance to win a spanking new vehicle.” The execs need to know that the like has to be attached to something – and they may not like what they’re hearing.

Be prepared, young Jedi, with a solution, too.

If you’re in a high-volume customer interaction universe, it could be possible that the “dislikes” are already being registered when the customer is on the phone with a rep, or in the store at the cash register. Solution: get hold of that feedback. Measure what that would mean to your department if you had to act on it on behalf of the organization. Provide an alternative – even if that alternative means “doing nothing.”

In most cases, the knee-jerk reaction from the Executive Team is “get us on the Flavor of the Week.” That Flavor right now is Social Media, but in a few months it could be something entirely different. If you ask why, and you do so in an insightful way, and you provide solutions to the potential problems, you’ll be well on your way to selling this social thing. IF it makes sense for your company.