Developing Your Business Genius
January 8, 2007
Yesterday, I sat down with Charlie Byrne, ETR's Editorial Director, and Jason Holland, a former journalist, to talk about one of the books I'm writing now. Jason, a very bright young man with experience covering business and government, has been hired by ETR to help me with these projects and, in doing so, to develop his skills as a writer.
The book we talked about yesterday has the working title Business Genius. It will contain about a dozen "big secrets" about building a business that I've discovered during my career of building (and failing to build) just about every kind of business you can imagine. I've sold electronic goods (televisions and radios), personal accessories (jewelry, watches, perfume), published products (books, newsletters, magazines), and educational programs. I've run bars, restaurants, furniture stores, and art galleries. And I've provided both blue-collar services (printing, landscaping, home remodeling, pool construction) and white-collar services (marketing, copywriting, business development).
Needless to say, I've got lots of business-building "secrets" that could be included in the book. But I want to narrow them down so I can go into detail on each one - so I'm hoping to get some feedback from my readers to help me focus on those they'd be most interested in.
Here are my rough notes on what I think are the best of the bunch:
- Understanding the difference between a self-employment business (making a decent income by being an employee of a business that you own) and an equity-oriented business (being CEO of a growing business that other people run for you).
- Why you should always begin a new business with a personal wealth plan.
- Why being good at doing something isn't the same thing as being good at selling it. Why selling is the core of every business, and why selling poorly is the problem with most floundering or foundering businesses.
- The importance of picking the right partners. How teaming up with great people will quadruple your chances of success and quintuple the fun you'll have in business.
- How to become your company's number one marketing genius. Why you can't leave the role of marketing to anyone else. How to unlock the marketing genius that is inside of you. (Don't worry. It is there.)
- The Internet Opportunity: The opportunity to make big money with an Internet-based business isn't because of the greatly reduced cost of storage and shipping, as Chris Anderson argued in his 2006 best-seller The Long Tail. It is because the Internet and the personal computer have made it possible to communicate to your customers for practically nothing.
- Cutting Losses and Riding Winners. This is the most time-honored money-management system for gamblers and investors. But it's also helpful for entrepreneurs. It's about how to set expectations for new projects, how to keep yourself from falling in love with new products, what to do if a new launch does "just okay," etc.
- Mentors and Proteges. How to develop knowledge and skills in half the time and at a fraction of the cost that it would take for you to develop on your own. Finding the right people to learn from and to teach.
- Creating a Network of Resources. Get the money, ideas, talent, and technology you need simply by flipping a Rolodex and making a call. This is a powerful secret that's easier to accomplish than it may seem.
- Incremental Augmentation. Business schools teach the danger of incremental degradation: allowing your product or service to deteriorate by small, almost imperceptible, degrees. This is how to prevent that too-common phenomenon. How to constantly improve every aspect of your business and steadily make success easy and fun.
- One-Step-at-a-Time Product Development. One of the biggest mistakes growing companies make is to launch products that seem related to their core business but are, in fact, two or three steps removed. Moving away from my recommended, one-step growth formula is unnecessarily risky.
- Laissez-Faire Management. How my main client grew beyond its original leadership by hiring smart people and allowing them to do pretty much whatever they wanted to.
- Motivation. You can't motivate your employees by following the advice that most business magazines talk about. Here's what works.
- Consumption Frenzy. Understanding how and why people buy things will make you 300 percent stronger when it comes to marketing.
- Productivity Techniques. Everybody is different, but these 24 techniques work very well for me.
[Which business-building "secrets" would you be most interested in learning? What other problems/challenges/questions would you like my book to address? Please write to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com with "Business Genius" in the subject line.]
posted by M. Masterson @ 1:25 PM,
15 Comments:
-
At 8:36 PM,
Mike said...
-
I'm really interested in:
Why being good at doing something isn't the same thing as being good at selling it.
How to become your company's number one marketing genius
One-Step-at-a-Time Product Development
The Internet Opportunity
Thanks for sharing. -
At 6:41 AM,
David Airey said...
-
Hello Michael,
All the best for 2007. Keep up the good writing - which I mentioned in a copywriting post I've just added to my blog. -
At 6:49 AM,
said...
-
good topics! another important topic for our generation and the next is thinking global / acting local.
-
At 7:24 AM,
said...
-
Excellent; I like 'em all!
-
At 9:35 AM,
said...
-
I am most interested in productivity teachniques and also how to stop sabotaging myself. I know that I have what it takes to be successful but I was the younger child and told all my life I would be #2. Guess what, all my life I have been #2. It's time for me to become #1 but I need input on how to change my mindset to do that.
-
At 9:48 AM,
said...
-
Hello Michael,
What were your biggest mistakes, and what did you learn from them. I think a chapter on that would be most interesting. -
At 9:50 AM,
Dale said...
-
Exellent topics. Also include a section on how to put yourself in your customers shoes. The requisite for any successful business.
-
At 5:26 PM,
said...
-
Definitely...were your biggest mistakes, and what did you learn from them. I think a chapter on that would be most interesting.
-
At 7:10 PM,
Anurag said...
-
What's a personal wealth plan?
How to unlock marketing genius?
Evaluating when to hold and when to fold a business
Mentor and proteges
Continuous improvement
Motivation
Productivity techniques -
At 7:27 PM,
said...
-
Creating a Network of Resources.
Mentors and Proteges
The Internet Opportunity
Consumption Frenzy -
At 6:14 PM,
said...
-
Sounds Great!
A few I have been struggling with as a new business owner.
Regulations, Tax, and Write-off tips.
Back-end product brainstorming to implementation.
Decision Making Skills.
How to see a good deal when presented to you?
Thanks! -
At 11:15 AM,
said...
-
Dear Michael,
Productivity techniques, please.
Thanks,
Bonnie -
At 2:12 PM,
Kelley Ann said...
-
These are the ones that I'd love to read about:
- Self Employment Business vs. Equity-Oriented Business
- Being Good At Something vs. Being Good At Selling It
- The Internet Opportunity
- Cutting Losses and Riding Winners
- Consumption Frenzy
- Productivity Techniques
Thanks Michael! -
At 12:01 PM,
said...
-
The topics that would interest me most are self-employment vs. equity-oriented business, becoming your company's #1 marketing genius, constant improvement, productivity techniques, and consumption frenzy.
Thanks for undertaking this task. -
At 5:59 AM,
said...
-
I am interested in the internet beginner business,eg "cut and paste for R1,000.00 a day"
Subscribe to RSS Feed