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Stay On Your Toes, Or You Might Get Knocked On Your Ass

Posted by Daniel in Advice, Entrepreneurship, Good Business, Life, Uncategorized

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On Black Friday I was roped into what I knew was going to be a horrible, horrible mistake, and that was going to the mall with my wife. But what I knew was going to be awful ended up being quite nice for a few reasons. Since we went at night the mall was not that packed (as witnessed by our easy to find parking space), and since we had a mission to get in and get out, it was fairly tolerable, but the most non-awful part about it was that I got inspired. I got inspired to write this post, and the photo below is the reason why.

Our sole purpose of the trip was to go to Lulu Lemon, a company known for their expensive, yet incredibly well designed workout clothes for women. For years (since she discovered them in Los Angeles) Mary has raved about how incredible the clothes are and how smart and creative they are in the design. For instance, the first piece of workout clothing I remember seeing with a built in iPod pocket it was a Lulu Lemon top that Mary got in 2005; and the first jacket I remember seeing with a thumbhole to keep the jacket sleeve from riding up was also a Lulu Lemon that Mary got. They are an extremely smart and innovative company, but I’m getting ahead of myself now.

During the 20 minutes we were there I did what I always do in retail establishments, look like the hopelessly lost husband and critique the finish out of the store. My critique was as follows:

First off, they claim to have the most comfortable couch in the Dallas Galleria, and having been a patron to many of those couches over the years, it lives up to the hype.

Second, the finish out of the store is incredible. It gives you the feel of open, earthy, and reclaimed materials (whether it is or isn’t reclaimed is a moot point, the feel of it is what sells) and all of the island displays and shelves in the store are on wheels so they can wheel them out for free group yoga classes (for which they are known). It is truly a beautiful store and comfortable store.

The final thing I critiqued is the purpose for this whole post. I wandered back to the dressing room area and found the chalk board pictured above. This is the place where they post consumer feedback and ideas on their design. As you can see they take their customer feedback very seriously. So seriously that they display it publicly for all to see.

You can tell that this company is working hard to stay on their toes and be foreword thinking to remain ahead of the competition. You can also see that they know the specific things they need in order to keep that edge: “Innovative, Specific, or Measurable” feedback. Maybe it was a customer that came up with the idea for an iPod Pocket? Maybe it was a customer that came up with the idea for a thumbhole in the sleeve of the jacket? Either way, what matters is that they are listening. They are listening because they know if they don’t stay on their toes, a more innovative and hungrier company is going to come around and knock them on their ass much like they did to everyone else in women’s sports apparel industry a few years back.

Why don’t more companies abide by this?

By posting this feedback publicly, other consumers can build on the ideas and help the company develop something even greater. If someone has a complaint, maybe another customer could help resolve that complaint? If a customer has a great idea, another customer can help validate the idea as someone who would purchase it. They are essentially crowd sourcing products and innovations!

I applaud you Lulu Lemon, and I accept the price of your clothing because I like the way you do business (this is a statement that I reserve for a very VERY select number of companies because accepting a price wouldn’t be too frugal of me).

Co-Brand With Your Employer

Posted by Daniel in Advice, Corporations, Gen-Y, Jobs, Life, Uncategorized

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I work for a company that has a great brand and a cool culture, and part of that brand and culture requires that I adhere to a strict dress code of jeans (or solid color shorts), tennis shoes, a belt, a company branded hat (optional), and an embroidered polo shirt. Some people love it, some hate it, but it’s our dress code and we stick to it.

As a result we are all extensions of the brand wherever we go. After work when we all go out to happy hour we are walking advertisements and representatives for the brand, and the way that we carry ourselves reflects back on the companies brand; if we slip up, have a few too many, or are rude it reflects back on the brand. We know that this is the case, so we all go above and beyond to act gracious when we get complimented outside of work (very frequently) or attentive and helpful if a customer has a concern. It is clear my employer views us as a physical extension of the brand.

This concept isn’t new, it’s proven, and works, but now is the time for companies to take it a step further.

It seems like everyday I read in the blogosphere about a personal brand and why you need to have a solid online identity which includes, but is definitely not limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. I always read pretty basic reasonings on why we all need a personal brand, mainly so companies can find you, you can control and own your online image, and so you can market yourself. I agree with all of these things, and I’m not here to offer any new advice on creating a personal brand; for that I recommend going to the master, Dan Schwabel.

What I am here to do is ask a question. Why don’t companies view their employees online personal brands as extensions of the companies brand?

Think about where you represent your company on the internet. Do you have your employer listed on Facebook or Linked In? Do you have a website that contains your resume?

These are primary places where we as individuals represent our employers in todays world. If you have an inappropriate photo on Facebook and your employer is listed, like it or not that photo reflects back on the company and the next time you are in a meeting with someone who has researched you, they might know about that picture of you doing body shots from your last vacation to Mexico. Yes, that is a poor example, but now let’s look at the other side; say you have a strong personal brand, you protect your online image, you blog, you tweet, you are active on Facebook and on great websites like Brazen Careerist; that online presence and your following is a fantastic venue for you to be a steward for the company, instantly adding more value to the company should you choose, or be allowed, to promote your employer.

“That sounds great! Promote us,” your employer might say, but wait…it’s a two way street.

Think of the way large conglomerates advertise their brands. Ziploc, Pledge, and OFF! are all S.C. Johnson Brands. When you look at each of those brands you know they are something different and individual, yet part of something bigger. Every time something good happens to the smaller brand, something good is happening to the bigger brand. If Ziploc has great sales, then that helps S.C. Johnson’s bottom line. On a box of Ziploc there is an S.C. Johnson logo, and on the S.C. Johnson website they feature Ziploc, even at the end of every commercial you hear “S.C. Johnson, a family company.”

Much like the conglomerates there is a mutually beneficial relationship online between an employee with a strong personal brand and their employer’s brand. If I put up on an “About Me” page laying out where I work and what I do in my day job with a logo and a link to the company, I can instantly help give credibility to my employer if you’ve never heard of them, and you might be more inclined to go visit the company. On the other side of the coin, if my employer has a link to me on a company page, it can instantly help give credibility to me as someone who is employed by a great company.

Zappos has a great start at just this, twitter.zappos.com provides realtime streaming of their employees on twitter, but I think it should go a step further. Why not promote employees with good personal brands? Photo, website link, and twitter feed, all on the companies website. Make employees comfortable being online ambassadors for the company by encouraging it and giving them the ability to reach out on the companies behalf even if it’s not their job. It’s even in the companies interest to help employees develop a personal brand online.

The best way to increase brand awareness online is being represented, and if you have a good relationship, what better people to represent you and give you presence than your employee or employer?

What We Used to Have

Posted by Daniel in Advice, DFW, Entrepreneurship, Life, Uncategorized

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When was the last time you looked at the world through the eyes of a child? The eyes of curiosity that see everything with an innate sense of wonder? The eyes it seems we all used to have.

As we grow older everything seems to move at a faster pace, and in the interest of time we begin to accept things instead of wondering about the intricacies of why. We easily forget our curiosity that once wasn’t even satisfied by answers; we lose the curiosity we all used to have.

As adults we all too often look at the simplest items and see them for what they are; a pencil is a pencil. We forget about what it was like to have a sense of wonder, to open our imaginations to the endless possibilities that one simple tool could provide; we forget the wonder we all used to have.

You can get it all back, the eyes, the curiosity, the wonder, it just takes time. Not time as we know it at this stage in our lives; the “let me block out some room on my calendar” time, time as in slowing down.

Today I slowed down to examine a pencil, and it was the best part of my day. I didn’t have a bad day, but taking the time to examine a pencil instead of just use it was that good. I slowed down looked at it and let my mind wonder; I was instantly enthralled by it’s shape, I became curious as to how many lines of writing were required to flatten what was once a sharp lead tip, and thought about the words, no matter how brilliant, that had been permanently vanished by the now depleted eraser. Whose pencil was this? And how did I come to possess it?

These questions led to more and more, soon I was thinking about the business behind pencils and pondering on what would make this pencil better. In this moment I regained my childlike eyes, curiosity, and wonder. It was spectacular!

Slowing down is all it took, slowing down allowed me to rid myself of the cynicism that somehow creeps into all of us and made everything wholesome and good again.

The eyes, the curiosity, the wonder, we all still have it, we just have to slow down and allow ourselves to let it come out.

The Art of What Not to Post

Posted by Daniel in Advice, Gen-Y, Jobs, Life, networking, Uncategorized

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Recently I read a blog post by a young woman who had been fired from her job. She went to lengths to complain about how she felt betrayed by the company, then somehow backtracked and explained how she understood why the company fired her…because she was a horrible employee. She didn’t say it in those exact words, but she lead me to believe that she was a horrible employee. As I read her post, I repeatedly asked myself “what is this girl thinking!?” She might as well just write “Horrible Employee, Don’t Hire Me” on her resume. All it takes is for one prospective employer to Google her and she’s no longer a candidate.

Too often people pour their souls onto the Internet, whether it be a friends wall posting or a blog post, and once it is up, it is permanent. A snapshot of how you were feeling at one point in time has been published to the world, and you can’t change your mind on it. We are the first generation that grew up with social media, our lives are practically public information from politically incorrect jokes we write on a friends facebook wall, to the many many inappropriate pictures of us that other people took and tagged us in. For many it won’t really matter, but for those with big dreams (specifically business, political, or athletic) it may.

For the last 7ish weeks I’ve obviously taken a bit of a hiatus from writing. Some of the hiatus had to do with writers block, some had to do with a lack of desire to write, but a good bit of it was actually me censoring myself. As a writer who draws from his own life experience for just about every post, it’s now much harder to write since my co-workers know about this site. Now, if I write about a bad day at work, even if I write about what I’ve learned from it and try to spin it in a positive light, I could come off as complaining (something no one likes). If I write about how I really messed something up, I could (or would in one instance) become a direct target for all the blame, when I shouldn’t be.

Protecting your personal brand online is fairly easy, and protecting it offline is too, but when those worlds collide it becomes a much different world. These instances are even becoming newsworthy: someone on disability posts facebook pictures of them skydiving, someone fires an employee then updates their status telling the world why, or my personal favorite someone gets a job offer then tweets about it saying how the money is great but the company sucks. I’m not saying to have two different “brands” but think of it like this: your work persona vs. your out at the bars persona. Your friends may not care how you act at work, but your boss may care how you act out at the bars.

Over the coming years, as more members of Gen-Y run for office, and further succeed in business and sports it will be interesting to see the scandals that come from all of this, but I think the bigger question is, as Gen-Y becomes even more of an influence will anyone care about poor decisions posted on facebook or twitter? After all we’ve all had them.

Why I Blogged a Tweet

Posted by Daniel in Advice, House, Life, Planning, Stuff, Uncategorized

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On Monday I posted the following:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” -Antione de Saint Exupéry

All 135 characters of this quote fits snugly into the 140 character limit of Twitter, but instead of just tweeting it (which I did), I blogged it.

I think it’s fairly obvious why, but at the risk of having excess I will explain. I had a whole blog post centered around the quote, but the rest wasn’t an improvement on what he wrote, it was excess.

All I can say is that throughout our lives we surround ourselves with excess, excess house, excess car, excess cable channels, excess words in a blog post. And all of this excess only leads to more excess; electricity bills, gas bills, cable bills… We live highly inflated lifestyles believing that these things make us happy, but the feeling of happiness is fleeting, takes us off track, and leaves us wanting more. Our car is no longer the latest and greatest, so we trade it in for another, a bigger/slimmer TV comes out so ours is already outdated, our wants turn into “needs” and we truly think of them that way. When this happens we lose focus of the little joys that make us happiest; things like watching the sunrise, reading a good book, meditating, and spending time with loved ones.

I won’t proclaim to have the answers to perfect happiness, but I would bet that it starts out by stripping away the excess in our lives.

The Case For Less

Posted by Daniel in Advice, Finance, Frugality, House, Jobs, Life, Planning, Stuff

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“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” -Antione de Saint Exupéry

The Playful Entrepreneur

Posted by Daniel in Advice, Entrepreneurship, Jobs, Life, Uncategorized

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I have a friend who is a very successful entrepreneur, so successful that at 24 he is the youngest CEO listed in the 2009 Inc 500 (a listing of the 500 fastest growing, privately held companies in the country). He is the person who instilled in me that entrepreneurship isn’t about what you are doing, it’s about the fact that you are doing it. (Something that I also wrote about in Entrepreneurship: Just Do It). This phrase is something that I have really taken to heart, and as a result I’ve gotten the ball rolling on multiple projects. But I want to add something crucial to the phrase: entrepreneurship isn’t about what you are doing, it’s about the fact that you are doing it and having fun.

Having fun may very well be the most crucial aspect in the entrepreneurial process, because if you aren’t having fun you won’t stick with something long enough to see where it can go. The following examples are all people who started out by playing around, tinkering, experimenting, and flat out having fun.

In Steve Wozniak’s autobiography iWoz, he writes about how everything he did in inventing the personal computer was fun for him. He recalls how much fun it was when he played a game where he would try to design a computer using one less chip than he used the time before. Each time he would come up with a more creative way to accomplish his goal. To me that seems impossible, but to him it was playing around. Steve Jobs was the same way, he didn’t have a solid grasp on the engineering side of things, but running the business was his playground.

Michael Dell always loved computers, he loved them so much that he started making them for friends and family. By the time he knew it, he was running a successful business out of his dorm room at the University of Texas…and he was having fun doing it.

My friend in the Inc 500 started out experimenting to see if he could leverage a house he bought to buy another in order to rent it to his fraternity brothers. He had so much fun in the process that it spiraled out of control and by the time he graduated college he was running a $2 million business. 

My wife Mary loves to bake, she describes it as her labor of love. She looks forward to playing in the kitchen, baking for our local farmers market, and we both have fun doing a great deal of work to fulfill some orders that we now have from stores. We are by no means a successful business, but we are having fun doing it and making some extra money. For the time being that’s good enough for us.

Another friend of mine, Chris Anderson, combined the three things he loved to play with: wakeboarding, fluid dynamics, and working with his hands; into literally building a best in class wakeboarding boat in his driveway (article) and founding Epic Boats. In fact, he had so much fun doing that, after he found a manufacturing plant for the boats, he wanted to get his hands dirty again, so he started playing with aero dynamics and working with his hands again. This time around his play turned into one of the hottest electric car companies around: Aptera.

Too often we think of entrepreneurs as huge risk takers, but I hope that by looking at the few examples above you realize that often times they aren’t. In many instances it is just someone tinkering and playing around while having fun. When they finally look up they realize they have something great. That’s how Apple, Dell, Epic Boats, Aptera, our struggling bakery, a successful real estate venture, and even this website came to be.

What are you waiting for? Start playing.

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