A Startup Guy

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What do you call your peeps? i mean the ones who work with you and for you? Most companies call them employees. I have a long time dislike of that word. Employees are people who show up to a job to do work and collect a paycheck. I want a TEAM! Team members buy into the shared mission of your group. They show up to build something great. The paycheck is a result of the work they do to accomplish the mission. It’s not the reason they show up.

I actually listen to companies and how they talk about (and to) the people who work for them. Large companies usually address their people as “employees” because, in truth, that’s what they have. They have worker bees who show up to do tasks. The entrepreneurs I admire most generally have team members. Their team buys into the vision of the business and they’re on a mission together. Sometimes, you’ll find entrepreneurial people within an “employee” company who consider and work with their people as a team. They’ve defined a vision within their own group and everyone has caught fire for making that vision come true.

What’s most entertaining is there is a noticeable difference in the environment of the two types of companies. “Employee” companies expect and get worker drones. They turn out good products and services. But “team” companies get people on fire for the mission. They frequently turn out remarkable stuff.

So, does your company have employees or a team?

"I love Twitter" photo from Lost Art of Blogging blog

OK. In my last post I noted what Twitter has done for me. But how do others use it to effect? One of the fun things to watch as Twitter has grown is how it’s gone from being a platform for marketers and techno-geeks to becoming a real communication tool for people from many walks of life. Early on (a year ago), we had lots of discussions about if people like CEOs would ever adopt Twitter. I had my doubts as there is (at least at this time) no measurable return on investment for using Twitter. Interactions online don’t generally directly yield sales. And CEOs are usually too busy to bother tweeting on a regular basis. Despite that, they’re coming online. And its fascinating to see how they’re adapting Twitter to work for them. Many people still don’t get it. There are a lot of marketers rushing to open Twitter accounts for their clients because they’ve heard that’s where they need to be. “You’ve got to be on Twitter. It’s the new frontier.” But many more ARE getting it. They understand that Twitter is for talking AT people, but for talking to them. And if you’re lucky, starting a conversation with them. Here are some examples:

Politics
Twitter was a breakout this political cycle. We saw congressmen and senators adopt the service. We saw a John McCain campaign staffer get in trouble for using the service to point people to questionable videos. But we also saw Barack Obama use the service as an outreach program. It was a big part of his grassroots organizing system. Obama became so successful at it that his was the first user account to garner more than 100,000 followers.

John McCain, on the other hand, never really got Twitter. His campaign had an account (opened by default by the Twitter folks simply to enforce a fairness policy), but only made 25 tweets and only picked up fewer than 5,000 followers.

Entertainment
Twitter may prove to be marketing gold for some people in the entertainment industry. Not as a push/sell tool so much as a community-building tool. Some accounts are actually set up and used by the entertainment personality. Many are set up by PR, marketing or agency people. In both cases, again, some people get the power of Twitter, many don’t. One case for the “don’t” category is county music star Aaron Tippin. He’s got great music, but his Twitter account proves a bit tone deaf. I’m sure it was set up by a label or PR flunkie, but it’s Grade A fail. Aaron’s account was set up in June 2008, follows no one and has only 28 followers. It also has a paltry 2 entries. One notes that they’re setting up a Twitter account. The other encourages people to go buy Aaron Tippin’s newest CD. No wonder there are only 28 followers.

On the other hand, there are plenty of celebrities using Twitter to build community and communicate with fans. Some follow back, like rapper MC Hammer, others don’t but are still very conversational, such as Heroes stars Greg Grunberg (there’s something fun about Greg posting photos of his chair on the set) and Brea Grant and Christian music artist Jeremy Camp. They don’t follow many people, but they do keep up with conversations about them and often respond to people who address them.

Business
Another fun trend to watch has been businesses getting on Twitter. They were slow to adopt at first, but they’re beginning to carve out strategies on how to effectively use Twitter. You can now contact Comcast (Comcast Cares), Zappos (a phenomenal online shoe seller, this Twitter account is actually manned by their CEO), Virgin America and The Home Depot (manned by one of their corporate communications people, but well run). Dell has become legendary in their use of social media to connect with customers, including their use of Twitter. They have some 23 Twitter accounts, including one that links to Dell employees who are Twitter users, some for work, some not. As always, some of these accounts are used well, some are just more places for PR people to push information.

In my opinion, Twitter works best when used as a communications tool. That means to put out meaningful information and respond to others as well. It also works best when it’s personal. You don’t have to be the CEO of a corporation or an entertainment star to use the “official” Twitter account (though it helps), but the communication needs to be personal. People need to feel a connection with whoever is talking for the Twitter account. Otherwise, it’s just a one-way conversation.

One final word of warning, be careful about fake users. There are plenty of people who have Twitter accounts claiming to be someone they’re not. It’s mostly done for fun, but that doesn’t make it any less painful to be tricked.

Additional info:
Jeremy Peppers’ rules for using Twitter
A list of companies, celebrities, governments and others of note using Twitter
6 Unual Entities That Tweet

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Do you Twitter? Twitter has blown past the three million users mark. People worldwide are checking out the benefits (and drawbacks) of microblogging 140 characters at a time. Yet, even as we begin to find new uses for the service, many people still have little clue what Twitter is and even less about how it can be useful. To help out, I thought I would write a little bit about what I’ve learn in my year on Twitter.

What is Twitter?
Twitter is a service that lets you communicate with other users online 140 characters at a time. The character limitations are a throwback to the old days of SMS when messaging (such as texting by cell phone) had the same restrictions. The hard part is it’s not always easy to say what you want in 140 characters. The good part is that it forces you to be concise in your communications. It also forces you to post comments that take more than 140 characters in more appropriate places, such as blogs. Or even to say nothing at all.

Twitter is social in that you may choose people to “follow” and people choose to follow you. Sort of like “friending” on Facebook. Then, you can choose to read the “tweets” (posted comments) of you and the people you follow. Originaly based on the simple question, “What are you doing right now?”, Twitter has evolved and now fosters not only comments on what users are doing, but conversations, obervations and helpful information.

What is Twitter Good For?
I have to admit that my first thoughts after joining Twitter were, “This is going to be a huge time sink.” and “Does this really have a productive benefit?” After a year online, I can confirm that the answer to the first item is “Yes, if you let it.” The answer to the second question is an overwhelming “Yes!” In the last year, I’ve used Twitter to help me find new acquaintances, meet the people on the cutting edge of the social media movement and get answers to questions. On several occassions, I’ve found my followers have been able to help me with mySQL and ASP.NET code challenges. When I went to Podcamp Nashville in the fall of 2007, I knew about 2 people there from past jobs and about 3 I had met through Twitter in the month or so I’d been on it. When I attended Barcamp Nashville this summer, I knew about 5 people from school and past jobs. I knew more than two dozen through Twitter or other social networks (or events I had learned about through social networks). Through Twitter, I’ve even made new “real life” (sometimes called IRLs or “in real life”) friends and possible future business partners.

Another cool use of Twitter is to observe “back channel” chatter during major technology events, such as Barcamps, Podcamps, Startup Weekends, and even SXSW. Attendees carry on conversation on Twitter to discuss presentations as they’re occuring. They also disseminate information to people who can’t attend, spreading the knowledge and fostering new discussion.

Oh, and the time sink thing? If you’ll push through the learning curve of how to use Twitter, you’ll develop a use pattern that you can use to keep Twitter from being a time sink.

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Dear GOP,

My deepest condolences on your recent loss. It was a monumental loss (president, house and senate) and I’m sorry you had to go through that.

In the next few days and weeks, there will be much hand-wringing and introspection. Probably even some sniping and finger-pointing. I pray that through it all you will be able to stop, work your way through the grief and finally face the truth. You lost and you deserved it.

Here is some quick advice to help you avoid some of the navel-gazing. If you think your loss was due to the economy, John McCain as candidate, talk radio, Sarah Palin, liberals, George W. Bush, the Iraq War, ACORN, Dick Cheney, Al Qaeda, MoveOn.org, the Talaban or high gas prices, you’re wrong. Those were parts of the puzzle, but none of them is why you lost. You lost because Barack Obama knew what Reagan knew and what Kennedy knew: You must offer people something to hope for and something to aspire to. Not something to vote against.

You’ve lost touch with your core values. You’ve disconnected from your roots. You’ve used Ronald Reagan as a magic incantation for winning rather than as a role model and lesson on how to win. You sold your soul for 30 pieces of silver and 10 years of power. And now you reap what you have sown.

Quit looking back. Look forward, return to your core values and find your voice again. Or don’t… and fade away.

If you wish to discuss further, have your people call my people and we’ll do lunch.

Best wishes,
A Startup Guy

P.S. John McCain, in your moment of defeat you were a class act and I applaud you.

I know it seems like common sense, but don’t make it hard for your customers to give you money. There are few things more frustrating than wanting to give your cash to a business and they put up roadblocks. The other day, I was trying to pay a utility bill over the phone. I usually pay online, but wasn’t near a computer. I waited nearly 10 minutes on the phone to pay. I guess they figured I had to pay them so I wouldn’t have up, though I was sorely tempted.

But paying utilities aren’t the only place I’ve had this happen. I’m sure we’ve all had to stand in the store waiting to give them our hard-earned money while employees stood around talking to each other, talking to outside friends or talking on the phone. Most of us have tried to buy products online and had trouble simply completing the process. Too many unnecessary fields to complete or you simply can’t find the button to buy.

As a business owner, you’ve worked so hard to get customers in the door, build their interest in your product and finally gotten them to pull out their cash to hand to you. Don’t turn your back on them. Don’t make them reconsider while they’re sitting on hold. No matter how many times you’re recording tells them that their call is important to you, actions speak louder than words. Make them wait and they don’t feel important.

Take a look at your business from the customer’s point of view. Look at your sales process. If you’re removed from the sales process, be a customer. Make a purchase on your website as if you had never seen it before. Do you have roadblocks? If so, knock ‘em down and pave a smooth road for those valuable people trying to give your their money.

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I love when businesses get it right. They just supercharge me as a customer. There are a few stores in my town that do this and one I really love is Publix. I’ve heard bad things about this chain grocery store in other areas. I don’t know if it’s regional leadership or what, but the stores in my region are fantastic. Not just one store in my home town, but I’ve had the same excellent experience in at least 5 stores throughout Middle Tennessee.

I used to shop other chains, such as Kroger, but was frustrated with substandard fresh veggies and meats (at least at the one near my house). Not to mention just mediocre service. One thing I’ve noticed at Publix is that there are a few teenagers working there, but they are high quality workers. Kroger has LOTS of teens working there and it’s obvious that this is just a paycheck to them. And it’s obvious that kroger hires them because they’re cheap.

Here are a couple of recent examples:

One day I stopped in Kroger to pick up a few items. When leaving, I had my hands full with bags of groceries and trying to corral my 3-year-old son. I went out a door that wasn’t automated (you have to actually push it open, remember those?). Going out the same door, just a couple of steps in front, was a Kroger employee who looked back, saw I was struggling, and let the door shut in my face.

Contrast that to my experience at Publix one day recently. I ordered some sliced meats from the deli. The lady was finishing up with another customer and my order would be a few minutes. I asked her if it would be OK if I shopped a bit and came back to pick up my order and she said that was fine. A few minutes later, halfway across the store, she brought my deli order to me!

When I go into a local Kroger or Walmart, I generally don’t get much attention from the employees there. Frequently, I don’t get more than a “Will this be all?” from the cashier when checking out. On the other hand, when shopping Publix, nearly everyone I pass who works there greets me and asks if they can help me find anything. Their cashiers are always friendly.

Publix really has their act together and I love shopping there. Kroger or Walmart may be a bit cheaper on a few things, but Publix is chaper on some others. Quality products, fresh food, great service and good pricing keep me coming back. I’m happy they “get it.”

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I definitely have a love/hate relationship with politics. After years of following “the game”, I’ve come to realized that I actually dislike politics, for the most part. Probably because politicians are frustratingly out of touch. But I do have to admit that I love the competitiveness of the races and the challenge to get your/my/our ideas out there and accepted by the public and by politicians. I also love to watch the plethora of marketing activities, both good and bad.

In some ways, I could see myself enjoying working for a political marketing firm – especially in the digital area, where so many campaigns are lagging behind in understanding. On the other hand, I think I’d be frustrated at the inability of campaigns to define and cling to their core values – something I think is sorely lacking in politics right now.

I actually followed closely the races to win the party nominations on both sides – Republican and Democrat. I discovered POTUS ‘08 on my XM radio and was addicted to it through the primaries. However, as soon as both parties had their candidates, I completely weened myself from the election. I wasn’t jazzed by either candidate and just needed a break. Here in the last 3 or 4 weeks, I’ve paid more attention again. However, mostly to watch how the campaigns carried out their marketing. With a quick disclaimer that I consider myself a libertarian-republican and don’t have an axe to grind for either side, here’s what I’ve seen.

Barack Obama has done a fantastic job all around. His message all along has been simple: Change. He forced Hillary Clinton to adopt that message to try and compete in the primaries, then beat her with it. Likewise, McCain tried to adopt the theme of change early when it was apparent it was ringing true with voters. It worked in the primaries, but he just couldn’t make it play against Obama, who originated the Change message in this election cycle.

Obama has a great website, both attractive and well built. When you enter, it focuses on their single message: Change, and then as you go deeper into the site it delivers more information. Obama has also done a pretty good job with onine tools such as Twitter. His is the first account to break the 100,000 followers (people following his online posts or “tweets”) barrier. (You can read more on Obama’s use of social media in the campaign here.)

No matter if you like or dislike Obama, you have to give the man and his team props for delivering to the American electorate a message that they so badly wanted to hear. And delivering it in a believable fashion. He’s managed to get in negative jabs when necessary, but still delivered an overwhelmingly positive campaign. He’s given enough specifics to make his message “real” and understandable for the average person without putting them to sleep. Even his infomercial grabbed people’s heartstrings and fired their imaginations and belief in him. Afterward, it seems so many people forgot this was a commercial, not a documentary. It was trying to sell something and viewers wanted to buy, so they went for it hook, line and sinker. From a marketer’s point of view, his campaign has been the poster child of the point of Seth Godin’s book “All Marketers Are Liars.”

On the flip side, John McCain abandoned the “Change” campaign message (more or less) when it was obvious he couldn’t compete with Obama on it. He still talks about changing Washington, but it’s not the tagline for his campiagn. His signs, stickers and website instead promote the message “Country First.” It’s a simple slogan, but not a simple message. It has a couple of problems. First, it plays into the Democrats charge that Republicans are isolationists. Second, it’s not a universal message. In a time when we have an incredibly unpopular president AND congress, “Change” means something (generally the same thing) to just about everyone. “Country First” is rather subjective and a bit unclear. McCain has a very attractive website, but the visitor is hit with too many messages from the get-go. There’s lots of great info and resources on the site, but a good website needs to “funnel” the user to where they want to go. There’s just too much info to process at once from the beginning of the McCain site. And McCain is on Twitter too, but only by default and someone else’s actions. (His campaign’s past indirect Twitter interaction ended badly.) That’s too bad because The Mac is missing out on a world of digital interaction. Talk about going “grass roots”!!

McCain supporter or not, objectively I don’t think you can give him and his team as much credit as Obama’s. He just hasn’t found a message that resonates with the people. He’s found a couple recently that resonate well with his base and may help bring a few defected Republicans back into his column, but mostly they’re too little, too late. McCain’s also gone negative, which is necessary, but he’s done it in a way that doesn’t leave you with a positive message from his camp at the end of the day. And I don’t think he’s given enough specific information about his plans. He’s given some, but they’re not things that people remember and buy into. Most of the statistics I hear people quoting from the McCain campaign are related to his attacks on Obama’s plans. It’s really hard to be FOR a guy who seems to mostly be AGAINST someone else. In the end, I don’t think McCain’s campaign has been “bad” per se, but they remind me of the Texas-Texas Tech football game last weekend. Obama and his team have simply outplayed McCain. Like Texas, McCain simply doesn’t look like a #1 team who deserves to win.

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Two of my favorite non-fiction authors, financial expert Dave Ramsey and marketing expert Seth Godin, are frequently lambasted by detractors because their teachings are “common sense.” My reply to these naysayers is generally, “Well, DUH!” Common sense is frequently not all that common. I’m not talking about extreme cases such as biting down on a blasting cap or falling asleep under a truck in the tide . I’m talking about simple concepts.

Dave Ramsey says, “Live on less than you earn.” Detractors say, “Of course. Who doesn’t know that?” My answer, “Apparently, just about everyone.” Or at least they don’t pay attention to this “common sense” advice. The US government debt is $10 TRILLION. That means the federal government has spent $10,000,000,000,000.00 more than it “makes.” The average US household debt (not including mortgage) is $14,500. One out of every four purchases is made with a credit card. We LOVE spending more than we make. So much for “common sense.”

I plan to periodically post some of these “common sense” lessons on here. Some are dumb things I’ve seen other people do. Many are the dumb things I do myself. In any case, I hope you’ll take note of them and maybe you can avoid some of the potholes of life.

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In light of my recent post “What If You Threw A Party & No One Came“, this one from Seth Godin titled “Failure As An Event” seems fitting. Give it a read.

As an entrepreneur, as a startup guy, you cannot fear failure. It’s how we learn. Babies crawl clumsily until they get it right. Then they fall many times while learning to walk. It’s how they master balance and coordination.

Entrepreneurs fail. It’s a part of the growth process. So don’t fear failure.

One of the concerns that stops many people from starting up their own company is this very thought. What happens if I start my business and no one buys? The truth is, that’s a risk for all of us. And most entrepreneurs will experience it at some time or another. However, if you let that stop you from achieving your goals, that’s the biggest shame of all.

Ouch
It’s a big ol’ wedgie to the ego if you put your heart & soul into a product and no one seems to want it. I know. I’ve been there… recently. For years I dreamed of having a service that would allow people to find historic sites that interested them and pull down data that helped them understand and appreciate the place more. Originally, I couldn’t act on it because I “knew” the costs would be too high and the technology just wasn’t quite there. A few years later, I realized no one was going to do this for me. I set out to build what I could. I designed a system that would allow people to collect their favorite sites online into customized travel guides. They could add site listings as wellas rate and review existing listings. Travelers could start their own blog through the site to talk about the sites they wanted to see and what they’d already seen.

Sounds great doesn’t it? About halfway through building it, I found out that Yahoo Travel had a general travel site that did just this. Then I discovered other sites I hadn’t found before doing similar stuff. (I still had a niche product – history, theirs were general travel sites.) To make matters worse, I had to scale back some of the features due to my limited coding skills and funds. (This project is where I learned to build PHP sites and work with mySQL.) Now, I had a non-unique, scaled back site. But I launched. And I was proud. And no one came. I invited everyone I knew: family, friends, friends of friends, friends of family. People came once and didn’t come back. I was crushed. I tried for a year and half to get regular users. But it didn’t happen. I took it personally.

Finally, I stepped back and looked closely at what I had built. It was fun to use (for me), but it wasn’t remarkable. It was a niche version of what others were doing. Why use my niche site when you can use Yahoo’s ultra-integrated, hooked-into-Flickr-and-Yahoo-Travel site? Why go to my site with no users when you could go through TripAdvisor with millions of active users? Finally, I quit feeling sorry for myself and realized that this wasn’t a referendum on me. The site wasn’t remarkable, but it didn’t mean people didn’t like me. In fact, many actually like the site. I get more than 1,000 unique visitors every month. People looking for information on historic sites. They just aren’t regular users.

Lessons Learned
The lesson is that if you throw your own party and no one comes, don’t take it personally. It hurts your feelings, but feel bad for a few days and then move on. You’ve got lots of potential. This isn’t your only idea. If you move on and work at your next project with the same gusto you gave this one, and apply the new lessons you’ve learned, you will eventually succeed.