Free Management Advice from the Big Shots (and you don’t even have to buy their books).

wisesyracuse — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:00:06 +0000

There are actually great things about failure: you learn a lot in the process… so much that you may actually be able to help other people. Hence, every year, a multitude of “How To” manuals keep surfacing, in the aim to share (and, um, monetize) tips and tricks on how to achieve almost anything: awesome career, stellar weight loss, killer relationships… you name it. Entrepreneur.com contributor Carol Tice explores a few of those books, and unveils some interesting management tips from the most famous names in business.

P&G: When Core Values are Strategic, from Rick Tocquigny:

Hire people for their fit with you company, not their resumes. (Interestingly, this past post advises the exact opposite in certain cases: “You want business innovation? You may have to hire innovators.”)
Build a strong and consistent brand
Focus on the consumer, and base your product on their suggestions.

Apple: Inside Apple, by Adam Lashinsky

Have someone accountable for every single task.
Do not be scared of letting people confront each other and defend their own ideas
Have a secrecy culture that builds up excitement

Gilt: By Invitation Only, by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Build a real relationship with the members of your management team.
The execution of your idea may be more important than the idea itself.

These tips may seem trivial, but overlooking even the simplest things can break a venture.

For more advice from business giants, please read the whole article at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/222853

Also, please tell us about what YOU think: do the tips above hold true? What is YOUR main business struggle, or unique advice to get on the road to success? Leave a comment below!

Thank you for reading, and until next week, stay WISE!

wisesyracuse

Pinterest: Are you Pinning yet?

wisesyracuse — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:00:38 +0000

Pinterest for small businesses

You probably already heard about this new platform, revolutionizing the already dynamic social media landscape: Pinterest! Just like its name indicates, this website is about pinning stuff. Pictures, namely. Snapshots of your dog, new shoes, attempt to make the perfect chocolate cake, fashionable scarf … Whatever you want to share with the world, pin it to your Pinterest page!

You may be thinking: “OK, all that is nice and dandy, but why do I need to join yet another social media thing? I have no business sharing pictures with people- I already have Facebook or Twitter for that.” Right? No.

The unique thing about Pinterest is that it is ALL about something that is a mere feature on other platforms: pictures! Not all people who visit your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter will browse through your pictures. This changes with Pinterest: people actually show up expecting to see your life in images. They are open to seeing more and reading less, and that is an opportunity for businesses to generate some awareness and/or some revenue.

Indeed, think about it: you would be able to take your consumers a little more into your world, by maybe starting a series about the materials going into your product, happy customers showing off their purchases, or anything else. You could, of course, also use the website to promote your items, but consumers may be turned off is your page turns into a giant billboard.

In summary, go ahead and share what you are passionate about! Allow people to feel connected to the person behind the business. Analyze the following you are getting, and use it to choose the kind of pictures you should be posting. And, in the end, just have fun!

So tell us, are you pinning? If you are, leave a link below! We will stop by and say hello. If not, tell us what you would like to pin… or not.

For more info, visit the entrepreneur.com article about Pinterest: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222740

Until next week, Stay WISE!

wisesyracuse

Watch and Learn.

wisesyracuse — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:00:33 +0000

For a business to survive, it has to be memorable. This is rather hard to achieve: consumers are so used to being under constant marketing attack that they tune everything out… but the most unique, intriguing or simply brilliant ideas. Business owners should hence not be afraid of stepping out of the beaten paths, and should learn how to use social trends to their advantage. Jennifer Wang, in an Entrepreneur.com article, tells us about some of the best marketing ideas of 2011, combining “ a perfect timing and flawless execution”:

1- The CONTAGION billboard: the marketing team for the Warner Bros movie went to new promotion heights: they spelled the word “Contagion” on a billboard, by injecting a sign with mold and bacteria. As time went by, the fungi grew, and the result was a repulsive but quite unique ad, which generated a lot of interest about the movie.

Lesson #1: Guerrilla marketing works. Do not be scared of trying new things!

2- 7-11 Slurpee Unity Tour: President Obama’s comical depiction of Republicans “sipping on a Slurpee” while Democrats did all the work, and his later allusion to organizing a Slurpee Summit at the White House with a Republican Speaker did not go unnoticed by 7-11. The company actually jumped on the occasion, and created the “Slurpee Unity Tour”, with a logo featuring an elephant and a donkey sharing a Slurpee cup.

Lesson: You should pay attention to your surroundings, and use what is happening around you to your advantage.

3- The Spotify launch: With such big players as Pandora, Google Music and the like, Spotify’s entry into the U.S music streaming market could have easily been a flop. Instead, the company appealed to people’s competitive side: they focused on key influencers and early adopters (also known as cool people), and made sure they created a huge buzz around the product. Then, Spotify used methods successfully used by websites such as the much awaited Google+: they made their access by invitation only. Finally, last September, the website started a collaboration with Facebook, allowing people to share what they were listening to with their friends. Brilliant.

Lesson: Be exclusive. Create demand for your product by selecting a few lucky consumers, and letting the others wait!

For more brilliant marketing ideas, please read the whole article at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/222591#1. Also, we want to hear your opinion: what do you think could be a great marketing move in 2012? Please post your answer below!

Thank you for reading, and until next week, stay WISE!

wisesyracuse

You want business innovation? You may have to hire innovators.

wisesyracuse — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:00:29 +0000

As a business owner, when hiring a new team member, it often makes sense to go for the candidate who shows the best fit with the company and its employees. Indeed, skills may always be learned and polished, when personality can rarely be altered. However, according to Forbes contributor Bill Fischer, this approach may only get you average results. For a firm looking to be revolutionary, raw smarts and exceptional skills may simply take precedence over “fit”.

In fact, hiring the best employees obtainable will lead to having a team of high-performers. Bill Fischer uses examples such as the notorious Broadway musical West Side Story; the producers were looking for a musical revolution, and hence hired the very best playwright, lyricist and set-designer in the business. They may not have gotten along the whole time, but their collaboration resulted in a masterpiece.

Following that example, entrepreneurs ready to take their business to the next level should surround themselves with people extremely skilled at what they do, even though they may never be one big happy family. Fischer pushes it even further, and states that a position should remain vacant until the best person to fill it is found.

Moreover, after finding all those brilliant minds, a requirement is to actually let them be creative! After being given clear definitions of expectations, they should be allowed to demonstrate the innovative abilities for which they were hired in the first place. Hence, instead of micro-managing employees, the main role of the leader(s) here should be to calm and resolve the inevitable work conflicts that may arise, while letting the employees work in peace.

Want to read more about putting together the dream-team? Please read the whole article at : http://www.forbes.com/sites/billfischer/2012/01/25/want-innovation-hire-for-skills-not-attitude/

Also, please leave your opinion below: Fit or Skills? What is the most important?

Thank you for reading, stay WISE, and see you next week!

wisesyracuse

SOPA and PIPA: Liberation from piracy, or death knell for small businesses?

wisesyracuse — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:31:30 +0000

You heard about them. (If you hadn’t, now you have). They are causing an uproar. People are protesting. On January 20^th, Google sported a black banner, and Wikipedia even shut down. So, what is all the fuss about, and how does it affect us mere mortals?

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) “is a United States bill … to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.” (Wikipedia.com). The Protect IP Act (or PIPA) is “a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the US government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods”, especially those registered outside the U.S.” (Wikipedia.com). Well, those two bills sound great on paper, so they should be passed. Right?

Wrong. According to The Small Business Authority, and to innumerable entities all across the web, those two bills would put a severe limit to freedom, and would lead to several undesired consequences:

Censoring technology would have some negative repercussions on the overall economy, and would hinder newcomers’ creativity.
Governmental intervention in the cyberspace would cause small business to stop innovating, out of fear of infringing laws.
No more free information would be readily available, causing smaller players to wither, in case they do not have sufficient funds to purchase everything. (No Wikipedia, anyone?)
Nobody would be able to do business with websites judged noncompliant, and even internet providers could be banned of hosting certain pages/websites.

This list is in no way exhaustive, and represents just a few things that could happen in case SOPA and PIPA are passed. And you, what do you believe? Do you think the bills are legitimate? If not, what changes would you prescribe? Make sure to leave your comment below, and until next week, stay WISE!

wisesyracuse

Identifying the Best Form of Direct Communication

wisesyracuse — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:13:02 +0000

In today’s business world, there are many ways to communicate with customers or clients… through e-mail, using any number of social media platforms, advertising, and of course the old stand-by: the telephone! In an article posted by Inc.com Hollis Thomases, founder and CEO of Web Ad.vantage, explores the idea that in today’s digital media world, it can be difficult to identify the right medium to make (and strengthen) connections.

How to reach your ‘audience’: In today’s fast-paced business world, sometime it’s hard to ask a person what the best way is to contact them and get one answer… sometimes the answer could depend on their schedule, if they’re traveling for work, any number of factors. The passing of a business card doesn’t always yield the contact information that is the best way to reach that particular contact. Over-communication (through a voicemail, e-mail, LinkedIn and Facebook request, can also lead to confusion. You may have connected, but have you communicated? The attitude of many people is that unless the person is communicating in the way they, as an individual, specifically respond to then message will not reach its intended audience.

To read the complete article, visit: http://www.inc.com/hollis-thomases/communication-challenge-call-email-text-or-facebook.html.

Decision Making 101: Outsourcing or Not?

wisesyracuse — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:00:04 +0000

In the current economic landscape, outsourcing sure seems to be trending! Indeed, businesses often rely on third parties (in the United States or abroad) to provide them with items they cannot, do not want to or cannot afford to produce themselves. These collaborations usually lend to fruitful partnerships, but also imply a certain level of supplier bargaining power… which leads us to our question of the day: Outsource or Not?

In his Huffington Post article, Tom Grasty, Co-Founder of Stroome, attempts to answer the question… by asking three other questions:

1- How dependent are you on proprietary technology?

Is the item/ platform/service you are offering a bundle of several pieces, or is it a single piece? If it is a bundle, you may be okay outsourcing a few components. If it is a single piece or item that may fit into someone else’s value chain, you may be better off developing the technology on your own, because is that case proprietary technology will insulate you from competition (at least for a while)

2- How important is your time-to-market?

If time is the deciding factor of your success, you may not have the latitude to develop the technology on your own, and may have to outsource it to win a precious amount of time.

3- How many resources do you have available?

It is okay to outsource minor tasks, if your team could be better used elsewhere. It is also okay to outsource something you just do not have any competence in. However, it is always best not to outsource the “killer” part of your technology (read: what makes it special), and it may be beneficial to start performing some tasks in-house as the venture grows and more people are hired (if it makes business sense).

4- Retain ownership of outsourced work

If you decide to outsource, you have to make sure that everything designed for you falls under a work-for-hire agreement. You should also try to license technologies in perpetuity, and make sure you have the legal right to re-sell the technology you are licensing.

For the complete article, please visit : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-grasty/third-party-vendors-pros-cons_b_1149411.html , and do not forget to check out the video!

Have a great day, and Stay WISE!

Land a spot in a national media publication!

wisesyracuse — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:00:33 +0000

Small businesses tend to be just that: small, with limited manpower and lots of

things to do. The shortage of people often leads to nobody really being responsible for Public Relations. Media outreach is therefore often assigned a place of oblivion, to the advantage of more “pressing” issues.

According to entrepreneurial writer Adriana Lopez, this strategy is a recipe for disaster. Indeed, it may hurt businesses in the long run, because PR should be used to portray ventures in a positive light. Ms. Lopez hence maintains that PR should be emphasized, and offers insightful ideas to gain recognition in the media world.

Tip 1: Use social media to build relations with national publications:

The ever-present social media strikes again! Follow national publications on Twitter or Facebook and keep up with their updates, waiting for the opportune moment to join the conversation (when the discussion gravitates towards your industry, for example). Be genuine in the way you engage with writers, and DO NOT “(…)ambush their already overcrowded email inboxes”. Also, do pay attention to their blogs and websites.

Tip 2: Take advantage of free or cheap media tools:

Free PressRelease, PrLog, PRWeb, and MarketWire are press release services to distribute news about your business to journalists or media outlets.

Help A Reporter, Reporter Connection, Expert Tweet, and News Basis are services for journalists and writers to get sources and experts for topics they want to write about.

All these services hence allow you to reach out to writers, AND to display your expertise in your field.

Tip 3: Pitch Emails

While it may be time consuming, it is a great way to get the attention of journalists. Just make sure to: catch their attention in the subject line, NEVER EVER send mass emails, and follow-up with a phone call. Otherwise, you will just get lost in the clutter.

Tip 4: Never stop looking for opportunities

Set up Google alerts with relevant keywords, stay up to date with your favorite writers and publications, and monitor your industry closely. You will gather valuable knowledge, and will be ready when the opportunity arises.

For the complete article, please visit: http://www.nola.com/nolavie/index.ssf/2011/11/tips_for_getting_national_medi.html .

Happy New Year, and Stay WISE!

Growing your business is great. Doing it wisely is better.

wisesyracuse — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 08:00:21 +0000

Growing a business is arduous. Indeed, it does not even matter what stage a venture is in; unforeseen things will always arise, and business growth always seem to be compromised by something: competition, capital, etc. However, according to Martin Zwilling (Forbes Contributor), in spite of all these unwanted distractions, small business owners should, while still trying to expand their operations, remember a multitude of things that tend to fall on the back burner.

1- Incorporate!

Sure, it sounds boring, costly, and you are busy saving the world; however, Zwilling underlines that the cost of incorporating as an LLC is affordable, and that is quite easy to later change to a C-Corp.

2- Keep it in Writing!

Verbal promises may only lead to issues. All founders may be best friends today, but things change; incorporating and issuing shares, or keeping legal records of agreements may save you from never ending court battles.

3- If they are not working out, fire them!

You are expanding at the speed of light, and are desperate for help; do not make the mistake of hiring anybody, just to have “extra help”. Hiring nonqualified people may only lead you to waste money, because you will be paying them to sit around. If you realize that certain people in your team are just not working out, get rid of the dead weight: let them go.

4- Do not hire clones of yourself!

Sure, it is comforting to have co-workers who think just like you, but you may need to challenge yourself with intelligent people who think differently. Also, please remember your co-workers are your business partners, not your friends.

5- Plan your cash needs accurately!

Double check the amount of cash you will need before funding; money gets used up really fast, and with people depending on their paycheck, your company CANNOT run out of cash. Zwilling even states that cash is more important than profit.

For more tips on how to grow a company wisely, please read the whole article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2011/09/28/10-mistakes-growing-companies-routinely-make/

This holiday period, show Wonder Woman who’s in charge.

wisesyracuse — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:00:47 +0000

It’s Christmas time! You are ready to spread the cheer, but, if you are anything like most business owners, this time of the year probably finds you tired, swamped with orders, and ready to snap. This is where WISE comes to the rescue! (Well, technically, Susan Miller.)

Indeed, as the owner of a booming jewelry business, she is well too acquainted with the long hours characterizing the holiday period. Still, in a PRWEB article, she shares tips for entrepreneurs (especially parents) to keep their sanity through the holidays.

- Plan Ahead: Estimate your holiday demand, and adjust your production in the previous months as needed, so you do not end up with a mountain of orders and no time for family.

- Get Organized: Get wish lists early, so you may put them in a master shopping list (spreadsheets, anyone?). Also take advantage of technology, and have a mailing address template for Christmas Cards.

- Shop Online: Again, technology comes in handy: skip the long lines at the retail stores (unless there are MAJOR sales), and use the web for as many items as possible.

- Do not over-commit: It is okay to turn down business opportunities you know you will have issues honoring, or to schedule some projects for later dates if possible.

- Share the work: Involve your family, even the little ones: they can help sticking labels to envelopes, or contribute in any other way they can. Moreover, they may be glad to be a part of the action!

- Get “just in case” gifts: There are always people you forget, or last minute presents that do not make it on your list. Have a few items tucked away (sales are a great occasion to stock up).

- Have set family and work times: Entrepreneurs may be tempted to work all the time; have a balance, and do not try to do too many things at once.

- Breathe! : Be calm, and you will get through your tasks a lot quicker than if you lose your temper. Prioritize, and tackle your to-dos in an orderly manner.

These tips should get you safely though the holiday period, and could even be applied to the whole year! To read the whole story, please visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/SKMartworksartisanjewelry/handmadewearableartcroche/prweb9036325.htm

Happy Holidays, and Stay WISE!