bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

Keep sowing.

Keep meeting new people, keep blogging, keep the conversations going.

The return will come.

New Marketing isn’t about create x get x.

It’s not a strict formula.

You need to keep investing, and the rewards will come and like your investment they will compound.

This week, as a result of conversations have around my brand some neat things have happend:

• A referral to become a Mobile Content provider (no work on my behalf)
• I have heard of another project I have secured (before the official word)
• Been offered a speaking gig

Wow today marks 6 months of blogging.

From 1 post a week, to 3 posts a week, to a post a business day. (91 in total).

I just want to thank YOU for reading now, last week and those that were here 3 months ago.

And if you came across the blog at the start, take a bow, pat yourself on the back.

It has now reached a point where the blog receives more attention (in time) than my input. Yay!

I have been wondering whether to increase to two posts a day.

And I have decided no.

That stimulates quantity and dilutes my message.

So I will continue with one post a business day. For now at least.

Thanks again! I really really appreciate all the feedback, comments, support, tweets, emails from all of you.

It is just as important to celebrate the small wins as the big ones.

Leadership is powerful.

Pioneering, Revolution, Change

Magical.

However leadership is lonely.

You are at the front, carving a new path, and have to endure the flak.

It’s a hard hard battle.

You need to persevere,

Through these hurdles.

To change.

Obama will be reflecting on this today (and realising)

Perseverance is genius.

And THIS is what leadership is all about.

Swearing is a short cut.

Jerry Seinfeld said swearing is a short cut for comedians to get a laugh.  So he didn’t swear during his acts.

They are a short cut for expressing yourself (some say lazy).

They are also a short cut for getting your point across.

You will not hear me swear much, if at all.

On the odd occaision you may, when I really want to drive a point home.

Keeps people on their toes and lets them know when I really mean it.

A bookstore with a difference.

Mix traditional bookstore + Amazon = a bookstore for the 21st century.

Normal bookstore. 

Build an online store (or co-brand Amazon) using recommendations & reviews off Amazon for use IN the store.

Consumers are not stupid, they know they can get books online cheaper, we go to the bookstore for the experience and we want it now (not in 2-3 days).

If that’s what we want why not enrich that experience?

Provide recommendations and honest reviews of the books, provided by customers.

You can then model purchases, and when someone purchases one book give them an instant 20% off certificate to buy another one, or to give to their friends.

You can see that bookstores are far from reaching their potential.  

What else would you do?

(I’m thinking blogs, communities, facebook, online ordering)

Sometimes you need to destroy, abolish, smash, obliterate an idea, a project

Just so you can unlock the new possibilities.

Retaining old systems, structures, ways of thinking hinders the move forward.

Thinking inside the square that has already been created stimulates limited thinking, lower horizons.

If you have an idea, something you want to move forward with and there are barriers in the way.

Get rid of them completely.  Destroy them.  Remove them from your systems.

I am constantly destroying something, this didn’t work, flag it, be dynamic and keep moving.

For example I regularly delete old blog drafts, it frees up space for new posts and directions.

It is human nature to put things into boxes.

We need them there so that we can relate and understand something in relation to everything else we know.

What box are you in?

What box have others put you in?

Are you happy with them? Identify some boxes…

Wait. 

Why do we need to be in a box? Our name is enough.  We need Ben Young.  We need Nike.  We need Alibaba.

Build a brand, let that be what defines you, avoid boxes, build your brand.

You need to ask, How can I build our company brand so that people ask for us not our box category?

Why do I have Monday Ideas Post?

Firstly it fulfills my criteria of being, short, snappy digestible bites that make you think.

It has a dual edge though.

As an entrepreneur (or just someone that questions everything?) I come up with ideas all the time, as I’m sure a lot of my readers do or at least someone you know.

Quite often we will hold these ideas close to heart, not express them, only to regret it.

Or we lose focus with every new idea.

This is the dual edge, Monday Ideas Post also let’s me have an outlet for ideas I come up with so I can remain focused but also as an opportunity for discussion.

It’s about making you think just as much as its about making me think.

So

What outlet do you have? How do you get ideas out there? What do you do to find out if your idea is rubbish so you can remain focused or move onto the next great thing? 

(Hint: like any muscle, the more you exercise this part of your brain, the better you will get at it)

I was reflecting on an opportunity that is coming up, a big budget with a big client…

What would I do? and the common thread was to

Invoke action. Why?

Well new initiatives are now transparent (and you should stimulate this) which communicates a message.

For example::

• CEO on Twitter -> We are listening.
• Customer Helplines with real people (no computers…) -> We value you
• Product Development stemming from customer feedback -> We’re here to help you succeed

Assume everyone who reads your content has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Which means

• Keep your message clear
• Break it up & segment it
• Into small digestible bites

Increase readership, retention, referrals.

Succeed.

I don’t need to tell you that attention spans are increasingly shortening… as you’ve already stopped reading by now (see what i mean).

Think about Newspapers, and actually read the content in them, it’s typically very low key and more press releases and quotes than actual editorial.  

They weren’t always this way.  Once their distribution was locked down, the game shifted from how can we maximise readership (through great content) to how can we maximise profits.

You see the same things with bands, how often do you hear so and so has sold out now the’re big.

Blogs are the new content medium, surely they’re not the same? Or are they?

Think of some of the more popular bloggers, once they hit a certain readership or tipping point they too appear to slack off.

Others don’t, some to take it as a good sign and work harder.

They’re in it for the long term.  

You see with blogging, once the distribution is set (through feedreaders / email subscriptions / syndication) the foundation is weaker.  It is easy for one single reader to drop off.  

You need to keep on your toes, keep active and use engagement or return visitors or attention time as a measure of success.

(and someone to give you a dead arm when you slack off)

That’s why you see such great content out there, for free, competition is fierce.

To bring those up to speed who don’t know what the 12 Hour Startup is, i first posted it as a Monday Ideas post here, then did a follow up after presenting it to 200 or so people at a local web meetup.

Since then I have had emails or comments about some existing examples:

• Atlassian has done Fedex Day | A good model for the 12 Hour Startup
• Ryan Carson building Matt a web app in 4 days | Just shows what can be done in these compressed time frames. 
• Tom was built as the result of a 12 Hour Startup initiative I undertook

Very neat.

To help spread the idea I submitted a proposal to ChangeThis.

They distribute manifestos, small 10 / 20 page ebooks on ideas, based on facts, the good ones spread, the bad don’t.  

The idea is to leave change in their wake.  Excellent concept, I suggest you check them out here.

I would like to produce a manifesto on the 12 Hour Startup (to spread the idea) and it would be great to have your support.

Simply visit here to vote. 

Click the button that says ‘Yes, write this manifesto”.  It only takes 20 seconds.

Thanks ever so much.

Also check out the other proposals and existing manifesto’s there are some real gems in there like, Art of the Start, Bootstrappers Bible and The Long Tail.

I read a lot of books but almost never upload a review.

Why bother uploading a book review? It’s trapped in their system forever.

If your really passionate about a book forget writing a review.

What I suggest is you create a manifesto sharing the best parts of the book, your commentary, or some insights.

Give people a taste of what the book provides.

Sell them by helping them (giving them an inside look) and giving them a taste.

I thought, the best way to do this, is by showing you.

So I have prepared a manifesto on, Business Stripped Bare by Richard Branson.

You can download it here (if your having trouble downloading) or view below (best viewed fullscreen).

If you enjoy it, print it out, share with your friends and grab the book.

Makes sense huh? have a book of your own? Trying to convince a friend to read this great book you love?

Make a short manifesto, sell by showing, and help your idea spread.