Successful Startup 101 Magazine - Women's Issue 2014
Page 7
Note, however, that metrics by themselves are not enough; as Ash Maurya has said, [metrics] will only tell you that something is going right or wrong. To understand why and to get to the real insights, you need to get to the people behind your numbers — the customer.
6.Customers are loyal. Dogs are loyal, customers are not. Maybe you make some nice moves and get a handful of seemingly dedicated, loving customers, but they’re not going to stick with you if you mess up more than once. Given that so many startup founders are millennials, who are known for their constantly shifting brand loyalties, this may already be apparent.
So, if all customers are fickle, how do you keep them? This is where startups have an edge on bigger businesses. They’ve gotten notorious for their tendency to pivot, but pivoting is a great way to acknowledge that your current path is not earning or retaining enough customers and that you need to shift gears. If more companies had short runways and had to make these hard decisions sooner rather later, there might be fewer fizzles, or long, drawn-out product failures.
7.If it ain’t broke…Tradition assumes that every business’s goal is to achieve product-market fit, to find that special formula that will skyrocket sales and ensure long-lasting success. But if you don’t innovate and change the formula, your product will eventually become irrelevant and customers will get bored and move on (see #6).
The best startups are the ones that have struck fear into large companies in their space because of their ability to not only iterate faster, but to be constantly moving targets themselves and therefore harder to pin down and crush as competition. So, even if it’s not broken, fix it. Strive for continuous innovation; it’s as essential as changing the seasonal inventory in a retail store. Keeping things fresh for your customer makes them come back for more.
8.First product, then marketing. In a way, this is a correct belief because everything needs marketing. People, places, products… you can build it, but they won’t come unless you communicate the value to the right audience. Startups need to dedicate resources to marketing, because as sexy as the “we went from zero to one million users with no marketing” story is, it’s just not the norm. But this is again where timing comes into play.
Consider marketing as a component of your product, not a supplement or something that comes after. For example, FEED Projects are like the Toms Shoes of bags, but rather than push their mission through advertising and storytelling, they’ve built it physically into the product.
Each bag has a large number printed on it, and that number represents the amount of nourishment (i.e, lunches, vitamin supplements, etc.) children in need will receive via their in-kind donation to the WFP. It’s a built-in story that gets people thinking and talking about the product and mission in the same breath, which is the kind of word of mouth marketing that turns customers into brand ambassadors.
About the Author
Ana Yoerg is a founding partner at Pivotal Pod, a content marketing agency that specializes in working with startups. She is, at heart, a word-nerd who believes that great branded content (e.g., creative ad copy, email, blog posts, bylines, video) coupled with well-timed, agile PR campaigns can dramatically boost user growth and build customer engagement for any startup. Pivotal Pod is the producer of the Lean Startup promo video, “What would an entrepreneur do?” featuring Marc Andreessen and Eric Ries. Clients have included Opera, Wikia, Mobile Theory, Rumgr, VegasTech, and Explore.org, a project of the Annenberg Foundation.
Getting Ahead: Don’t Forget to Feed Your Spirit
By Mindy Thomas
As Blake Shelton from the popular show “The Voice” might say, “What kind of bull crap is this?” To the contrary, Blake definitely knows what I’m referring to because it’s clear that one of the ways Blake feeds his spirit is through country music.
In today’s never-ending world of staying on top of your game, it has become increasingly difficult to stay supercharged. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a college student, or someone who is looking to make career changes, empowerment can come in different forms, including feeding your spirit.
One of the things I have observed with people who are trying to make changes in their lives is that their level of unhappiness continues to get progressively worse. It’s not just their job that is making them anxious, depressed, or downright miserable. I am finding that 9 times out of 10, these same people rarely, if ever, make quality time for themselves. In fact, people go for weeks, months, or years without feeding their spirit.
Research shows that 75 percent of the gainfully employed would rather take a raise than have more time off. In other words, people are NOT taking time for themselves. They are not engaging in doing things that nourish their being or feed their spirit.
Let me provide a little more clarification about what feeding your spirit looks like.
Feeding your spirit simply means enjoying yourself and doing things that bring you happiness. It’s about opening your heart and finding ways to bring a smile to your face. It’s about making time for fun and laughter.
Feeding your spirit reminds you of who you are (or who you used to be). Remember those days when you used to laugh hysterically with your friends or family? Remember how damn good it felt? Filling your spirit with nature and meditation could also make you go inward, resulting in feelings of gratitude and intense pleasure.
You see, when we spend more time working our tails off and thinking about everything outside ourselves, we lose ourselves. We forget about us. Ultimately, we end up starving our spirit. Who’s kidding whom? You know whether you’re starving your spirit or not. It’s easy to figure out. Are you creating any free periods to have fun? If not, you might want to look at ways to incorporate time into your schedule to connect you to your heart, in turn lifting you and your vibrational levels up.
Just last night, I saw a wonderful picture of a friend on Facebook who had a brain hemorrhage one year ago. She posted these words, “With my salsa teacher and salsa friends who gave me back my joy and love of dance. Dance keeps me young and alive!”
This morning my client, who is a crackerjack of an attorney but bored out of her mind, proclaimed that she would return to her yoga practice. After attending a class last week, she realized how grounded and clear she became after taking time to fill her spirit. She feels infinitely more empowered by allowing herself “feel good” time.
Another client sent me a text message a few months ago telling me he was in NYC for the weekend. This was his way of “filling up his spirit.” He adores big cities and had been down and out for more than three years after his layoff and, yes, he agreed, he had done nothing to replenish his spirit since the layoff.
This past summer another client called me from a Phillies game. Even though he adored baseball, he hadn’t been to a game in two years. This man sounded so revived and energized as a result of making this incremental change. I was truly happy for him.
Listening to music, singing out loud, driving with the convertible top down, breathing in fresh air, going on nature walks, sky gazing, visiting the beach, the mountains or a lake, turning off your cell phone, being quiet for two minutes, getting a massage, playing with your pets, cooking a nourishing meal for your family, and entertaining your friends are all great examples of ways to feed your spirit.
However, feeding your spirit is remarkably different and unique for each person. The question you need to ask yourself is what helps to open your heart? What is the one thing you could do for yourself this week that would make you feel more cheerful and connected? The other question you need to ask yourself is what is this going to cost me if I don’t take the time? You and I both know there’s always a cost.
I would like to suggest that you consider being kinder to yourself as a possible way of staying supercharged as you drive towards your goals of getting your business off the ground or starting a new chapter in your life.
Think of yourself as if you are a garden. Nurture yourself just like that garden. You deserve it. Your
spirit craves it. And, there’s no question that you most definitely are worth it.
About Mindy Thomas
Mindy Thomas is a cutting-edge career consultant, professional résumé writer, professor, and entrepreneur. Through her company, Thomas Career Consulting located in Philadelphia, she leverages her 25-year business background with a solid foundation of career solutions for challenging times. Email Mindy at mindy@thomascareerconsulting.com , follow her on LinkedIn , and visit her website to learn more about her expert career consulting services.
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