Giving with No Expectation of Return.

How many books have you read that describe “tit for tat”?  Classic and neo- negotiation tactics books all describe tit-for-tat as a way to give and expect something back.  According to Seth Godin in Linchpin, this time-honored tradition is simple barter, not gift giving.  Giving a gift has an entirely different meaning according to Seth, and I find myself really enjoying its simple charm and Karma.

For Seth and I, a gift can be anything…  not just something that cost you money, not just something that is physical, and you can even charge money for it.  How?  A Gift is anything whose value far surpasses its price.  People who put their soul, their art, their passion, into their product or service, and for no expectation of “extra/tip/reward” are giving a gift.

In my own life this has lead to 2 things I realized recently: 1.) I should not feel bad about going above and beyond for my customers… it’s okay… it’s a gift, and I give it freely because I love what I do and I take pride in hard work and others success.  2.) I find myself “leaning forward” into the concept of charity a bit more.  Charity under my own terms, with my own gifts, of course.  Helping others start and manage their business.  Helping grow my beloved town of Austin.  and more… (stay tuned Karmaback fans!).

So, consider… is there something “more” you can “lean forward” into at your own work?  MORE you can do in your own job or art or life that is NOT REQUIRED, but that will likely delight?  Try it.  Give it.  Lean forward.  You’ll soon find that you are a Linchpin.

Entrepreneurship: Does early revenue matter?

I define early revenue is the money your business makes before or shortly after a first serious investment.  In  the old days, many companies started up and raised money with no plans for early revenue.  These were R&D type business where the R or the D was going to take several years AFTER the investment.  In the information age, and post-bubble(s), I sense something has changed.  Investors seem less likely to invest in businesses without Early Revenue.  Do you agree?

“Leaning Forward”: An attitude of Emotional Energy in the workplace.

Seth Godin is inspiring.  His latest book: “Linchpin” is not only a best-seller, but also an amazingly motivating and rewarding read.  It should be read in conjunction with Timothy Ferriss’ “4-hour Work Week”.  The book Linchpin is the “how” and 4-hour Work Week is the “why”.. together they can reshape America.  One of the smaller chapters in Linchpins is sticking with me.  It’s the idea of “posture”.  People who “Lean Forward” as opposed to “stand by”. Are you spending enough Emotional Energy on the job?  Read on.

People who “stand by” are ready to help, but not offering.

People who “stand by” may be skilled and talented, but do only what is needed.

People who “stand by” spend as little effort as is needed to do the job.

People who “stand by” aren’t willing to spend Emotional Energy without getting paid for it.

In contrast:

People who “Lean Forward” are looking actively for how to help.

People who “Lean Forward” want to take ownership.

People who “Lean Forward” spend extra effort to make sure its done right.

People who “Lean Forward” spend Emotional Energy, and put more into their job, usually for no “visible” reward.

The question is this: can America afford to “stand by”?  Or should we be “leaning forward”?  Realize this, you can outsource a job… but you can’t outsource a person.  People who lean forward can never be replaced.  They are a linchpin.

Karmaback Social Sweepstakes’ new Pricing & new Look.

Whenever a new service or product is launched, getting the word out is job #1.  Job #2 is converting that buzz into real sales!  If done right, you can use Google Analytics to measure how people are flowing through your site.  You can even set up conversion events and tracking to see how people are converting and where they are coming from.  Here is the thing: the data doesn’t lie!  Fix whats broken!  2 things were a bit broken according to Google for our website sales funnel… first, people were confused about the pricing.  second, people were bouncing on the sweepstakes page.

So without further gilding the lily, and no further ado, I present to you the new look of Karmaback.com and Karmaback.com/sweepstakes.  (Check them out, leave feedback, let me know how else I can improve!).

And what’s better?  Simpler pricing: $0.25c per relevant fan or follower we bring you… and a cap of $299.99 no matter how many we bring you.  (You can set a lower cap if you want).  That’s it.  Brain-dead simple.

Want 1,200+ new fans & followers for your Facebook or Twitter pages?  You got it!

Enjoy

Maximum-ally Buyable Product (what is next)

Onstartups has a great article and a very excellent read about what to do next AFTER your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) succeeds.  I think it should be opened up to a debate: Should you BUILD IT BETTER (MBP) or should you BUILD ANOTHER MVP?

My argument for building another MVP is: why ruin a good working product?  By definition success means its working.  STOP.  Let it work.  Build something else!

My other argument for building another MVP is: your current MVP is probably not working.  DO NOT Go from MVP that fails to Maximally Viable Product.

Finally the ideas that make an MBP good from the article, probably should be PART of your MVP!

1. Easy To Understand
2. Easy To Try
3. Easy To Buy
4. Easy To Stay
5. Easy To Leave

Finding your Focus.

Some people have a big vision.  It is complex.  It is beautiful.  It is impossible.  These kinds of people (myself included) need to find a focus for their energy, a single “part” of the vision that we can execute to.  Here are 3 steps to finding a single focus.

1.) Consider a formal marketing plan.  A formal marketing plan (such as I have described how to develop in detail), can help to focus your thoughts… specifically the sentence: “we are a x, that does x, for x, and unlike other x, we x”.  Very effective (thanks Barry Raskin for teaching me!)

2.) Minimize your MVP.  I’ve spoken about MVP in the past, but this time, consider, is your MVP truly minimum?  Sometimes to find your focus, you have to build an MVP & discover if it really is V (Viable).

3.) Revise.  Inevitably you will fail.  Recognizing the failure and buliding a NEW MVP (in line with the original vision) is a must… in short: revise.

Now, get out there and build something!

My new startup, Karmaback, nominated for COOLEST NEW COMPANY from Austin Business Journal (ABJ).

We’re very pleased to have been nominated for “Coolest New Company” by the Austin Business Journal.

Please take a moment to vote for us!  (takes just 5 seconds)
http://abjentrepreneur.com/contest_nomination.html

And if you don’t know what Karmaback is… shame on you!  Check us out here: http://karmaback.com 

Vote for us… its good Karma!
You could Get Some Karma Back!

Obvious and True: Fans and Followers are a Very Targeted Audience.

One of my favorite blogs (The Marketingsherpa Blog) recently posted the result of a study that showed “like search traffic, social media traffic tends to be very qualified” This stunning statement came from Maura Ginty, Senior Manager, Search and Social, Autodesk.  Is it any big surprise?  

Let me think, people who like you, follow you, fan you, or are searching for you on social networks are a targeted audience.  While this does seem obvious at first glance, what is interesting about what Autodesk has done is that they actually developed a keen way to measure it.  Unfortunately, their measurement stops at “sentiment”.  Karmaback would like to take that measurement all the way through the sale.

According to Adam Sutton (Marketingsherpa),  “the [Autodesk] team can calculate the velocity of a marketing message — the number of people a message reaches in a certain amount of time in social media — and combine it with a sentiment analysis”.  And while this is nice… speed of message, sentiment of message, I find it lacking in 1 key area: the Sales!  Why is it people assume that sentiment leads to sales?  

Remember, for a sale to happen, you need to have 3 key elements: demand (sure, we can call that sentiment), price (there needs to be a match between price and demand!  Economics 101), and place (a place to buy, to shop, to complete the purchase, that is convenient & fast).

Here’s a Social Marketing Tip.  Ask for the sale!  Heck, even play with the price (promotions).  While you are at it, why not let them go ahead and buy, directly inside Facebook?  (place).

Months and Months of work PAY OFF. Karmaback Social Sweepstakes+ is live.

After months and months of hard work, Karmaback’s Social Sweepstakes+ is finally live!

My new startup, Karmaback, is finally finished with our private Betas, our testings, our public Betas, and our trials.  We have the case studies, we have the FULLY AUTOMATED setup process, and we’ve hooked in to Paypal for payment.  Karmaback is now officially live.

In case you wonder what Karmaback Social Sweepstakes is, and why we created it… here’s the skinny:

Karmaback is a Social Network Marketing company that helps companies grow fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter and uniquely rewards users for engagement and sharing with Karmaback Points.

The Benefits:
  • Gain Fans & Followers
  • Build Loyalty & Evangelists
  • Get Sales & Justify Marketing
How do we do that?  Simple.
  1. Set up a Social Network Sweepstakes with Karmaback (a Social Sweepstakes+)
  2. Let us manage the sweepstakes & provide “viral growth” features, like social sharing & more.
  3. Use Karmaback’s other tools for “after-sweepstakes” follow-up, including Social Discounts & Karmaback rewards for purchase!
Yep.  Our vision is here.  We really can help companies get real measurable increases in Fans and Followers, and help turn that attention into “Rewarded” engagement & “real” revenue.
Enjoy folks,
And do provide feedback to help us make this service even better!



What New Facebook & Twitter Rules mean to Business.

“There is no spoon” – The Matrix

Recently, several enforced rules by Facebook and new rules from Twitter are causing Heart-ache and pain for Social Network Marketing companies and customers alike.  Facebook recently banned a company from “paying” people to refer fans & customers to companies using Facebook.  Twitter announced new rules to prohibit “paid” advertising in peoples twitter feeds.   What does this mean to marketing companies and service providers like Karmaback and Tweetup?  What does this mean to the millions of companies, just trying to get their word out?  My answers below:

Companies that “use” Twitter and Facebook:

For companies that use Twitter and Facebook, this should be a wake-up call.  You have to stop thinking of Twitter and Facebook as “advertising”, and start thinking it as a “company public forum”.  This means making a place on Facebook and Twitter that is rewarding and engaging for users.
Here are 5 ways to make Facebook & Twitter more rewarding & engaging:

  1. Consider a sweepstakes/giveaway!  http://karmaback.com/sweepstakes  –  This reward people for following you and is fun as well!
  2. Provide content that creates discussion between members.  – Posts that ask questions, invite discussion, and generally are not ‘just advertisements’.
  3. Use the feedback you get, and let people know you used it.
  4. Share relevant stuff in your industry that people might not know about (and how it will effect them).
  5. Reward positive comments and feedback with Karma points!  http://karmaback.com/sweepstakes

Something else to consider:

Twitter and Facebook want to MAKE MONEY off of you.  Period.  They also don’t want OTHER companies to make any money off of you (if it is something they could get from you instead).  So, remember this when thinking about the rules & regulations of Twitter & Facebook.

Marketing Service Providers:

First, remember that Twitter & Facebook DO NOT want you to compete with them.  If you do (such as providing advertising services/etc.), then you are likely to get into trouble.

Second, do stuff that Facebook & Twitter don’t do.. to ENHANCE the experience (not copy it).

Finally, be transparent.  Karmaback is crystal clear (or we try to be)… we provide Sweepstakes services (something Facebook doesn’t do)… and a simple Karma points reward system (again something that Facebook doesn’t do).  Stay transparent, and stay competitive.