Reading Time: 2 min I enjoy looking ahead at the future. I like to think about what advances are coming with the next round of mobile devices, or try to see how life might be in 20 years if electric vehicles keep improving. Some of my guesses are right, some are wrong, but it’s fun to try. When it […]
Business
There’s always a level of indecision
Reading Time: < 1 min Decision making can be a tough thing, particularly when there is a lot on the line. I’ve talked before about how no decision can be 100%, and some quotes I found from Annie Duke (in her book “Thinking In Bets“) helped to reinforce that. First, she goes back to the idea that a decision is […]
If you agree to a lower price, pretend you didn’t
Reading Time: < 1 min In many industries, including marketing, it’s fairly common to offer discounts or price breaks to help make a deal happen. There’s nothing wrong with that, certainly, but if you’re really giving a “deal”, then the value that you’re offering needs to stay the same. For example, if you have a $1,000 project that you agree […]
Being kind doesn’t mean you’re a pushover
Reading Time: < 1 min We could all stand to see a bit more kindness in the world but I think it’s often seen as the opposite of “toughness”, even though the two can go hand-in-hand. You can be strong and relentless in all you do, while still being kind while you do it. If you think you need to […]
You’re not really selling time
Reading Time: < 1 min A common way to price your offerings is with an hourly rate, but that’s not generally the best way to go. It can certainly help frame what price point might be appropriate, but even if you charge by the hour, your clients aren’t really just “buying your time”. In a recent post by Jonathan Stark, […]
Saying “no” is intellectually lazy
Reading Time: < 1 min As you are growing your business, developing the ability to say “no” more frequently is a great thing. No to unnecessary meetings. No to clients that you don’t fit with. No to things that waste your time. In many cases, though, the answer should be a bit more nuanced. It’s easy to say “no”, but […]
If the customer rejects it, it’s a bad car
Reading Time: < 1 min There have been some products that I’ve loved that just didn’t get as popular as I had hoped. I really thought Google+ was a fantastic product, but it didn’t get enough traction and they killed it. I fear the same is happening with Stadia; it’s an amazing product, but it just isn’t getting enough use. […]
Reliability makes work easier
Reading Time: < 1 min I’ve long said that the level of trust that I have in my team helps make my life much easier. Among other things, I know that if I send an email to one of them to get something taken care of, I don’t need to remind myself to follow-up — it gets done. However, a […]
Seeing your partner’s next move
Reading Time: 2 min In close relationships that we have, whether personal or business, being able to anticipate the next move of your partner can be very powerful. For example, in the show “The Good Place”, Chidi realizes the depth of his relationship with Eleanor when she’s able to unconsciously anticipate his upcoming sneeze. Here’s a short clip of […]
Clients, Customers, or Users
Reading Time: 2 min Who does your business serve? You know, the people that spend money on your product or service. Do you consider them to be “clients”, “customers”, or “users”? They all sound similar, and they are, but there are subtle and important differences between them. I see it roughly like this: Clients are people you know and […]