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January 14, 2019

This is Marketing

This is Marketing by Seth Godin brings together the lessons that he has been teaching in his course ‘The Marketing Seminar’. He stresses that you need to see the customer, to understand him or her, and to intelligently serve them better.

There are no lessons about which program to use, how to do analytics or anything like that. The lessons revolve around understanding who you are serving, why, and what. I think it can be summarised as on the back of the book “People like us do things like this.” Seth has a deep understanding of human psychology and this book is a perfect example of how he uses this to make marketing better.

Here are the chapters and some relevant notes:

  1. Not Mass, Not Spam, Not Shameful …
    • Having a good product and adding value should be the first steps, not how you can get it out to millions of (undifferentiated) people. Example: Penguin Magic videos are informative and spread free of charge
  2. The Marketer Learn to See
    • Have empathy for your customers, see the world through their eyes, solve their problems
  3. Marketing Changes People Through Stories, Connections, and Experience
    • “People don’t want what you make, they want what it will do for them”
    • Don’t be marketing-driven, be market-driven
    • People (often/almost always) don’t make rational choices
  4. The Smallest Viable Market
    • Find a very specific market, be bold enough to focus on the few people who you can serve best
    • “… walk away from the ocean and look for a large swimming pool”
    • My product is for people who believe… I will focus on people who want… I promise that engaging with what I make will help you get…
  5. In Search of “Better”
    • Your customers define what is better, this is very specific to each group
    • Do the XY exercise and see how you are “better” than your competition
  6. Beyond Commodities
    • In many markets, the products become commodities (interchangeable)
    • Prevent yourself from becoming one by having a story and vision, be more than just the physical product
  7. The Canvas of Dreams and Desires
    • Most things we buy, we don’t need
    • So what dream/desire are you trying to solve/help with?
  8. More of the Who: Seeking the Smallest Viable Market
    • Be bold enough to stick with your small market
    • They can be fans for a long time
    • Example: The Grateful Dead
  9. People Like Us Do Things Like This
    • Find out what your tribe does, what are the norms, how can your product/service become part of this narrative?
  10. Trust and Tension Create Forward Motion
    • Show that you have something worth buying
    • And also create a (playful) tension as to the situation in which people are now.
    • “Marketers sometimes call themselves architects of desire. An old-school ad was supposed to paint a picture of something you wanted — that in fact, until you got that thing, you were unhappy. Hence, tension. The tension of “I want it” combined with the knowledge of “I don’t have it yet.”” (from the course)
  11. Status, Dominance, and Affiliation
    • Where on the status ladder are your customers? Where are they moving? And how does your product fit in this?
  12. A Better Business Plan
    • Truth, Assertions, Alternatives, People, Money (see exercise)
  13. Semiotics, Symbols, and Vernacular
    • Symbols are rich representations of ideas in our head
    • Think Nike swoosh
    • But they are not everything, and if bad you can change them later
  14. Treat Different People Differently
    • Differentiate between your customers, focus on the ones that have the most value
    • Note: sometimes this can be seen as difficult/bad, but I think that in this context it’s good and necessary
  15. Reaching the Right People
    • In the world of advertising and online search;
    • Don’t strive to be found on generic words or ads, be the one that they go looking for (Seth, instead of, blog)
  16. Price Is a Story
    • Price is a very strong signal about your offering
    • Higher can also mean better quality
    • Use it wisely
  17. Permission and Remarkability in a Virtuous Cycle
    • Have something worth talking about, something that people opt-in to hear about, something they will miss if it’s gone
  18. Trust is a Scarce as Attention
    • There are more and more connections, but we have less trust going around
    • Become trusted and you have something very valuable in your hands
  19. The Funnel
    • “Visualise a funnel… at the top is attention… at the bottom committed loyal customers come out”
    • The larger you become, the leakier the funnel becomes;
    • This is important in the world of buying ads;
    • And makes me think of this article on Stratechery https://stratechery.com/2017/stitch-fix-and-the-senate/
    • “If you can’t see the funnel, don’t buy the ads”
    • “We like what everyone [like us] is doing”
    • “The bridge across the Chasm (see here) lies in network effects”;
    • In your early adopters telling others about your product and it spreading to new groups who want something that is already tested
    • Try and cross the chasm in your local market (pond), do this for a school, region, country, etc.
  20. Organising and Leading a Tribe
    • Tell a story about themselves (me), the group (us), and a story about the now (the change/movement)
  21. Some Case Studies Using the Method
  22. Marketing Works, and Now It’s Your Turn
  23. Marketing to the Most Important Person

January 13, 2019

Power Moves

Power Moves by Adam Grant is a ‘book’ that was made for Audible (Amazon) and I think I can best describe it as 5 long-form podcast episodes mashed together. A bit of Tim Ferriss and a bit of Masters of Scale. The stories are good, but I don’t think it dives very deep.

One lesson from it is that power is moving down, that people get more of a say. And I might agree with this, but at the same time there is still a lot of power at the top and money still moves most things. But if I look at it optimistically, then yes, I can see the power moving.

Here is the excerpt: “Grant delivers a heady mix of captivating interviews, compelling data, and his unmistakably incisive and actionable analysis, to give us a crash course in power that both inspires and instructs from the front lines. In interviews with two dozen CEOs, start-up founders, top scientists, and thought leaders—including top executives at Google, GM, Slack, and Goldman Sachs, the CEO of the Gates Foundation, and NASA’s former chief scientist—he shares hard-earned insights on how to succeed in this new era of hyper-linked power. He also explores how power is reshaping everything from the workforce, to the rise of women in the office, to the influence of scientists on policy. As pillars of traditional power are transformed by networks of informed citizens, the use of power is increasingly seen as a force for good in the world, from one that was once coveted to one that demands to be shared.”

What I like is that he has access to some of the most powerful people in the world. And they speak to him candidly. I think the book is best for people who need to work with power dynamics a lot (e.g. in a large corporation) and who will then benefit from knowing a little more about where the trends and forces are moving.

January 10, 2019

Value Self-Worth

I know a person, let’s call him David, who has a big boat. He loves to take pictures on the boat, often with scantily dressed women around him. He also has a fast car and a big house. He loves to show this to the whole world. His live looks really cool, it could maybe even make people jealous. But, is he truly happy?

Sources of Self-Worth

Yesterday I had a great discussion with a friend about self-worth. Where do you get it from? He identified four sources: 1) other people’s opinions, 2) your possessions, 3) your actions, 4) your relationship with God. As you can see he is a religious person, so for the non-religious people I would like to translate the last one to 4) your values (or your relationship with yourself).

The first three sources of self-worth are external, the fourth one is internal. If you go bankrupt you may need to sell your car. And if you have done something bad in the past you may feel a lower sense of self-worth for the rest of your life. And public opinion is always changing. What remains constant, what isn’t influenced directly from the outside, are your values. They can influence your decision making, but they won’t judge you. Your values are, in my opinion, the best source of self-worth.

Combination of Sources

Does that mean that I’m only driven by my values? No. I’m just discovering what my values are, what I hold to very dearly. I’m just discovering how you can live the most fulfilling life, how to become calm. And I still get great pleasure from the good things I’ve done and look back with regret to other negative actions. I still find it nice if someone gives me a compliment about my clothing or my business.

Is that bad? I think it’s not. I think it’s a stepping stone to getting your self-worth from (only or mostly) your values. And during that journey, I will still be content with some external sources of self-worth, whilst at the same time, I will continue building my internal senses.

If I look back to David I can’t really judge if he is truly happy. He may be spending all his savings to live his extravagant lifestyle and he will be poor soon, but get his self-worth from his possessions. He may get bad press and have the opinion of others change for the worse. At the same time, he may have a strong sense of self-worth that is based on his values. He may just be around scantily dressed women and fast cars because he is interested in these things, without getting his self-worth from them.

How is your self-worth determined? 

January 10, 2019

5-Hour Workday

I wrote the following post back in October 2015. Although I think it was a great idea, we now do work for the normal 8 hours. Is just convention, regression to the mean? Or is it also because we enjoy the time spent there? I don’t have the right answer, but none the less it’s very interesting to do this again sometime in the future.

—

In 1926 the Ford Motor Company introduced the 40-hour workweek. Ford was one of the very first to do this. Ford had two reasons for this move. The first is explained best in his own words: “It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either ‘lost time’ or a class privilege.” The second reasons is an increase in productivity, he wanted people to use the time on the job in a more effective way. Today we, at Queal, are experimenting with the same policy.

5-Hour Workday

It’s not 1926 anymore and we do different work than the people on the assembly line. Our work requires us to think creatively, to give all of our attention to coming up with novel solutions. And what we (and others) have noticed is that our brains don’t work that fast after a while. There are diminishing returns after working for a few hours. The best things happen in the morning when you are still fresh. So from today onwards, we will work between (approximately) 9 and 2.

For myself, and hopefully my colleagues too, this brings two big benefits. The first is that my pay per hour effectively doubles. The same amount of revenue and half the hour, you do the math. The second is that I will use my free time to learn more. I’ve always been learning, now I have more time to follow Coursera courses, visit a museum or take up a new hobby.

I will report back next week with our findings!

January 10, 2019

Tracking Time

At Queal, we keep consistent track of the time we spend on our tasks. In this post, I will explain why we do this and what we do with the information we gather.

Toggl it
When I start working, the second place I go is Toggl (after Basecamp, our project management tool). Toggl is a time-tracking app. In it, you can define what you are working on and for which project it is. When you are done with one task, you can enter the next one. If you forgot to do it, you can add a task manually. All in all, it will take less than 2 minutes per day to use Toggl.

Increase productivity
The value of Toggl, for Queal, is the insights we get out of the tracking. The first one is pro-active. If you enter each task you will work on, you become more aware of what you are planning to spend your time on. If you, for instance, enter ‘check social networks for updates (on Queal)’ for the third time in a day, you will know that you are probably not working on the most important thing.

And when you enter the next task in Toggl, you see how much time you spend on the first. And as we all know, sometimes time moves faster or slower than we initially thought. By seeing where you spend your time hour-per-hour, you gain insights in where you’re time is actually going.

At the end of the week, we take some time (about 20 minutes) to check back on the time we’ve tracked. Here we specifically look to see if we’ve worked on the most important tasks. We ask ourselves the following questions:
– What was my biggest time drain?
– What have I done that I can automate/eliminate?
– What was my most valuable contribution?
– Knowing this, what will I focus on next week?

After going through this personally, each one of us gives a short summary to the rest of the team. If necessary there is feedback. And after that, it’s time for the weekend or the ‘vrijmibo’.

January 10, 2019

Being Driven

What is the common ground between Elon Musk, Tony Hsieh, Richard Branson, John D. Rockefeller, and George Washington? It’s not their motives, Tony Hsieh named his memories ‘Delivering Happiness‘, John D. Rockefeller became one of the richest men in history. Elon Musk wants to make us humans an interplanetary species, George Washington was one of the founders of America. They all have different goals in life, but what makes them all alike?

Extremely Driven

As a red lining between the (auto)biographies of these different men is their focus. Each one of them found out what they wanted to achieve in life. At least, I think they know now/knew when they were building their businesses. I think they all knew that they wanted to achieve something great, something that would stay for longer than their own lifetimes. I’m not sure if they knew from the start what exactly they would achieve, but that each of them was convinced they were meant for greatness.

I also think that each one of them had a quality that is essential for entrepreneurs. They all had persistence. They were all willing to stick with their idea when they faced adversity. When Richard Branson was being harassed by British Airways he stood his ground. When Elon Musk didn’t have big contracts with NASA he put up all of his money to make SpaceX happen anyway. And when Tony Hsieh started Zappos he had to convince his investors to stay on when they were still making big losses.

Intentionally Irrational

A person in business needs to be very rational. You shouldn’t let your every emotion upheaval your business. What I do think is that the people who stand out in history have an idea that is uncommon. They have developed a hypothesis and will not let go of it. When their family and friends say the idea is crazy, they only become more determined to accomplish it.

In a way, they are being very irrational. They break the rules. They show the world that you can do something in a different way. Richard Branson showed us that flying can be fun. Tony Hsieh has taken customer service to another level. Elon Musk has taken space travel and shown the USA and Russia how you can do it better.

In my life, I’m not sure if I’ve come across the big idea. I recognize some of the characteristics of these great men in myself. I can only hope that I will also make a dent in the universe. What about you?

January 10, 2019

Washington

<p>Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow</p>

<p>Listened to it a long time ago, so relisten before writing review</p>

January 10, 2019

Titan

John. D. Rockefeller – listened to a long time ago, relisten before writing review

January 10, 2019

Search for Freedom

Recently I’ve watched the movie The Search for Freedom. On the surface, the movie was about the lives of extreme sportsmen and sportswomen. It features everyone from half-pipe snowboard champions to skating legends. The message below the surface is one of freedom. All of the athletes said that they found freedom through their sports. They were able to live in the moment and escape the real world.

Finding Freedom

I can identify with the message, albeit on a more constrained level. I’ve never participated in sports challenges on a professional level. I did experience this freedom on ski trips. When you are going down a hill you are just qualified for, your whole focus is in the now. You forget everything else. I always look back at ski trips with great pleasure and I can’t wait to go on another one.

In the Flow

My question is if this experience of freedom can only be experienced during extreme sports. I think not. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written a great book about this topic, Flow. In the book, he describes the concept flow, also described as optimal experiences. Here are the seven components to such an experience:

An activity has to have 1) a clear goal, 2) which can be completed, 3) that we can focus on completely, 4) which provides immediate feedback, 5) to which you are engaged, 6) is under control, and 7) makes you less self-conscious. This entails activities in which you become one with the activity you are doing.

Freedom at Home

Do you need extreme sports for this kind of experience, I think not. Someone who is doing yoga, playing chess or when you do fulfilling work can also have the experiences. I do believe that extreme sports are excellent examples (and they make for great movies), but optimal experiences can be experienced everywhere.

The two things you can do to have more optimal experiences are 1) have a clear goal, many people don’t set goals in work or in their personal lives, and 2) get immediate feedback, only if you know how you are doing you can learn to progress.

I believe that if you work on it, you will be able to have optimal experiences in your daily life.

January 10, 2019

Law of Motion

If I could be qualified to give layman’s description of Newton’s first law of motion, I would go with the following: If something is in motion it will keep moving at the same speed if no obstacle is encountered and no drag is experienced. Imagine a spaceship, or better Voyager 1, moving through space without anything in its way. Voyager 1 is currently 18.2 billion kilometres away from the sun. How did it get so far?

No Obstacles

The first reason is the vastness of space. There is not much it can bump into. And even these things have been calculated.

The same can go for businesses, if you choose a blue ocean strategy (more in a future blog), you will have a whole category/product to yourself. And when competitors show you, you must be the one that has the manoeuvrability to go around them and outcompete them. Only that way you can keep your momentum.

No Drag

The second reason is the emptiness of space. There is nothing dragging Voyager 1 down to a screeching halt. It moves fluently through space, never slowing down.

In business, I see this as the way you’ve organized your own company. Everyone should be working on the same goals, there should be no friction. It’s only with speed that you get to see the returns for all your work. An unnecessarily hierarchical or slow company can be its own worst enemy.

At Queal, I believe we are on top of these things. The drag is minimal within our organisation and our goals are clear. What can improve is the clarification of our goals to our partners. And with regards to the obstacles, we are still working in an ever-increasing universe, let’s see if we can create our own Milky Way.

How about you and/or your organization?

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