Only in ‘merika! ..The latest sensation in NYC, the cronut, a cross between a donut and a croissant. Anyone had one? fastcompany: Introduced last month, the Cronut has customers lining up outside Cronut creator Dominique Ansel’s SoHo bakery at 6 a.m., and the store regularly sells out its daily production of at least 300 within a half-hour after opening. This enormous popularity is no accident. In fact, the Cronut’s success reflects the many strengths that characterize America’s small-business sector. Here’s the small-business recipe for a Cronut-level hit: 1. A dollop of
Tell me. Who gets to the end of a commercial and asks, “How can I learn more?” Answer: NO ONE! Exactly! Yet, isn’t it amazing that companies spend millions of dollars creating marketing that assumes this is the way we think? Why would they do this? Because, they aren’t really thinking about us, they’re thinking about them. They’re thinking about their product or service. Despite, what they may know intellectually about people and their behavior, these companies and the bright minds making their marketing decisions still often fall prey to
Need a job? Create it! “You may ask yourself, what is that beautiful house? You may ask yourself, where does that highway lead to? You may ask yourself, am I right, am I wrong? You may say to yourself, my god, what have I done?” – Lyrics from, “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads When I think about what crazy, disorienting times these are for job seekers I can’t help but recall the lyrics from this song by the Talking Heads. Are you, or someone you know in
There is absolutely no way Kanye West heard the news about Egypt and didn’t think, “I’d be the best President.” — kelly oxford (@kellyoxford) July 3, 2013
“New and Improved” ≠ Exceptional. Differentiating yourself, or your product from the competition is marketing 101, right? Pick me. I’m better. I said so. Or, buy my product, it’s “new and improved!” See, it’s right here on the packaging! Using these kind of tactics to persuade others may sound ridiculous and obvious but I’m willing to bet you see examples of this type of promotion all around you whether it’s a product sold at the grocery store or the self-promoting co-worker in the next cubicle. The trouble with this thinking
Not one person is expecting anything from you in the next 4 hours. So the ability to appreciate the task at hand and thinking creatively seemed natural. from why productive people get up insanely early. (via fastcompany) I know this is why I get up early. How ‘bout you?
“You don’t have to know the answers. Don’t waste all your time making it perfect … don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask questions.” – Katie Finnegan, co-founder of Hukkster. Katie and her co-founder, Erica Bell, on what advice they’d give to other startups. This is invaluable advice. Make it your mantra! …This much I know. (via fastcompany)
Shocking: Just 13% of the info on Google is actual search results! I bet you thought that if your company built a well structured website embedded with keywords in all the right places that your potential customers would certainly find you in a Google search. After all, you’ve been told that this is key to effectively generating traffic on the Internet, right? Yeah, well now… Not so much. In reality, if you run a search on Google today, you’ll see that only 13% of the information that appears on the
Don’t ask what the world needs. Rather ask–what makes you come alive? Then go and do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman
“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Hoffman, Founder Linkedin Hoffman and many other entrepreneurs believe that it’s better to launch a product and tweak as you go, rather than to wait until the product is perfect before launching. Of course, critics of this approach would say, “you only get one chance to make a first impression.” What do you think? -Jeanine