Schappi

What Does Success Look Like?

• Want to accomplish and why…
• Approximate timeline for completion…
• Clear list of action steps…

Things Apple f**ked up over the last year (and how to fix them)

Problem: Magsafe 2 Connector, unlike it’s predecessor falls out all the time.
Fix: Use Magsafe 1 with the Magsafe 1 to Magsafe 2 adaptor seems to be magnetically stronger. 

Problem: Whilst editing notes in the Notes App, they can randomly disappear.
Fix: Use Evernote.

Problem: Facetime often tells me that not camera is connected. Ummm I’m using a MacBook Pro with a built in camera!
Fix: sudo killall VDCAssistant

Problem: Show in Finder / Reveal in Finder often not working in 10.8. Fix: sudo killall -KILL appleeventsd

Problem: iTunes 12 does not sync playback information with devices. Fix: iTunes Preferences → Store Tab →  Untick and retick “Sync Playback information across devices”.

Problem: Apple Maps.
Fix: Install Google Maps

Problem: “Save as” is missing form the File menu of iWork Apps.
Fix: Press option whilst looking at the menu and it will appear again.

10 Secrets of Entrepreneurs →

Secret 1

• Entrepreneurs take risks because of faith.
• Employees play it safe because of fear.

Secret 2

• Entrepreneurs look into the future.
• Employees look into the past.

Secret 3

• Entrepreneurs fly with eagles.
• Employees peck around with chickens.

Secret 4

• Entrepreneurs build wealth.
• Employees make money.

Secret 5

• Entrepreneurs say, “The buck stops here.”
• Employees say, “It’s not my fault”. 

Secret 6

• Entrepreneurs give and receive praise and correction.
• Employees don’t praise and try to avoid correction.

Secret 7

• Entrepreneurs know a little about a lot. 
• Employees know a lot about a little.

Secret 8

• Entrepreneurs are solution finders.
• Employees are problem solvers.

Secret 9

• Entrepreneurs have an empowering perspective of failure. 
• Employees see failure as bad.

Secret 10

• Entrepreneurs educate themselves more than they entertain themselves.
• Employees entertain themselves more than they educate themselves.

90 Things I’ve Learned Founding 4 Tech Companies →

UAVs and the Lean Startup: Applying Lean to hardware. →

50 Skills Every Marketer Should Have →

1. Customer-centric

The truly great marketer obsesses about the customer: his needs, wants, desires, dreams and problems. Every marketing conversation begins with the customer—and how they will benefit.

2. Storytelling

A good marketer understands that people love stories. He or she can identify and weave a good narrative. He knows that conflict is at the center of every good story. And he knows that people want to see themselves in those stories.

3. Speed reading

If you want to stay on top of your game, then you need to read every book, magazine article and blog post you can get your hands on. The more information you have at your disposal, the more ideas you will have.

4. Building associations

Great marketers can listen to an advertising idea, scan a business plan or watch a presentation about a client’s campaign goals and eventually bring together a comprehensive plan.  They can see how to maximize opportunities across several industries.

5. Interviewing

Marketers need to think like a journalist. No matter if you are talking to the CEO or a client, you need to know how to ask the right questions to get the best answer, hunt for the best hook and not be afraid to follow up if he has more questions.

6.  Describing the end game

What does success look like? How do you know if you are succeeding or failing? What milestones do we have to reach to know we are on track and schedule? These questions define the way a marketer thinks. He’s always thinking about the big picture.

7. Creative

Creativity is really all about the production of unique and useful products. A great marketer spends a good deal of time thinking or and refining these types of products. He’s not afraid to fail (he loves risk) and he’s not afraid to throw away a bad idea. He’s full of ideas.

8. Speaking

A lot of marketers are introverts, but that doesn’t excuse you from being a good speaker. You need to be able to handle yourself in both one-on-one situations and in front of a group. I didn’t say you have to love it—you just have to be able to do it well.

9. Teaching

In connection with speaking, a great marketer will love to teach. He will love to share all of his knowledge. You can do this through blog posts, podcasts, one-on-one mentorships, workshops or even teaching in an official classroom setting.

10. Writing

A great marketer will know how to craft just about any message. He’ll know the essence of creating an email asking for a favor from a business partner or writing a proposal for a client. He’ll be a decent speller and know the rules of proper grammar. And when to break those rules.

11. Listening

Communication is not all about what you say. True communication occurs when you hear what someone else says and you correctly understand what they say. That comes with good listening skills like asking questions, nodding, paraphrasing and concentrating on what the speaker is saying.

12. Collaboration

Marketing is one discipline that must play nice with several other disciplines like sales, finance and IT, which won’t happen if you don’t learn how to work with other people. Teamwork is essential to creating great marketing—so be humble and seek the success of other people, and not just your own.

13. Giving feedback

Steve Jobs wasn’t afraid to tell a designer his work sucked. Of course being diplomatic is important. But it is much better that you kill bad ideas quickly, than let them fester and gain momentum, which ultimately will lose you time and money.

14. Live for rapid change

Do you realize how much marketing has changed in the last 50 years? From radio to television to the internet, the changes that have influenced and transform the marketing world have only increased. You need to be comfortable in this environment.

15. Understand data and metrics

As a marketer you should also live for metrics. You don’t have to be a Google Analytics expert or a database mining guru—but you need to understand common terms and you need to know what to ask for.

16. Hard nose for results

Speaking of data, a great marketer thinks that ever thing he does should be tied to performance. This goes back to his love for the endgame, and his belief that without results you can’t tell if you are winning or losing.

17. Direct marketing

He’s developed this hard-nosed quest for results from his exposure to direct response marketing, which is a discipline inside marketing and made famous by the real Mad Men.

18. Persuasive

You should have a fascination with figuring people out—what are their hot buttons? What makes them tick? What do they want out of life? This campaign? And then figuring out how to get them those things so

19. Negotiating

Hate it or love it—you got to do it if you want to get things done. So it pays to learn negotiating tactics like “good cop/bad cop,” “deadline” or “be willing to walk away.”

20. Analyzing emotions

Whether it is your client, CEO or customers, understanding how emotions make people buy is an incredibly effective skill to have when it comes to marketing. And it all starts with the belief that people buy on emotions, not logic.

21. Search engine optimization

You don’t have to master the art of SEO, but it helps to know the basics like link building, on-page optimization and the impact social media has upon rankings.

22. Content marketing

This is another sub-set of marketing that should be in every marketer’s toolbox. This includes creating content for videos, conferences, blogging or book-length how-to guides. You will usually be a master of one of these areas, too, but not all.

23. Public relations

This boils down to the exchange of information between you and the public. How much do you tell them about the new product you are creating? How do you respond to a customer service nightmare? How you deal with these issues is all about good public relations.

24. Social media

Are you familiar with the major social media platforms out there? Do you have a general sense of each one’s target audience? Can you tell which corporations that would benefit from a social media program—and which ones that wouldn’t?

24. Manage multiple projects

It would be nice if you could just focus on one campaign or project at a time—but unfortunately that won’t be the case. You’ll need to be able to juggle multiple ideas, plans and end goals if you want to be a good marketer these days.

26. Research

Marketing is all about studying your market, customer, product and company. And all of that means you have to roll up your sleeves and dig for information.

27. Leadership

More than likely as a marketer you will work with a team to accomplish a goal. A great marketer is also a great leader, recruiting and encouraging people to accomplish a goal from the start to the very end.

28. Decision making

Even though you’ll probably have access to a ton of information, you’ll never have enough. Worse, you may get paralyzed by all of that information. Or you may fear making a wrong decision. Analyze the data, make a decision and then learn from your mistakes.

29. Networking

Marketers understand that the more people you know the more opportunities, ideas and help you will have. This is why you should spend a good chunk of your time connecting with people on social media, at conference and lunches.

30. Funnel focused

This is the person who constantly thinks about the systems that gets a suspect to become a prospect who becomes a customer who becomes an advocate.

31. Authority building

The marketer realizes that he’s only as good as what people think of him…so he constantly works to become a master in his field.

32. Anticipating and handling objections

Because of your extensive testing you can zero in on what annoys the client or what will make a customer say no to your product offering—and then adjust to overcome that objection.

33. Closing sales

People usually fail at sales because they are afraid to ask for the order. A great marketer knows that most customers won’t buy unless you tell them that’s exactly what they should do.

34. Sharpen the saw

The DNA in a marketer includes this relentless desire to get better at what they do. They are always trying to improve personally—and they are also trying to help those around them improve, too.

35. Reciprocity

Remember the Hari Krishna’s handing out flowers at airports? That was pure marketing genius. Their donations skyrocketed because giving someone a gift makes other people feel obligated to give them something in return. Marketers understand people don’t like to be in debt to other people.

36. Building scarcity

Another skill the marketer has is the ability to use the concept of scarcity to get people off of their butts to buy. Limited time to buy or limited supply are examples of building scarcity marketers employ.

37. Pricing

You understand the impact manufacturing costs, quality, customer expectations, market position and conditions and competition have on your product. And how to test price to reach maximal profitability.

38. Testing

Running tests is one of the things that makes marketing so fun. Whether it’s an A/B on an email headline or a multi-variate on a landing page you get a kick out of learning what will win out.

39. Metrics

You love to look at numbers: number of subscribers, traffic, page views and sales.

40. Compression

What I mean by this is the ability to clearly and concisely describe a complex or large idea into a short, easy-to-digest idea. After listening to clients or management ramble for hours, a good marketer will be able to say, “So you want X with Y by Z, right?”

41. Positioning

You can study a product, its market and target customer and eventually articulate the benefits that need to be promoted and the best way to craft that message across all channels.

42. Focus

Like Steve Jobs, a great marketer will shave off all fat and pour his concentration into making a handful of products the absolute best they can be.

43. Organized

Whether it’s your desktop or the latest marketing campaign, as a marketer you need to be able to coordinate smaller things into meaningful larger chunks. This includes building a marketing team or a content marketing strategy.

44. Architecting content

What I’m talking about here is how to best layout content like videos, articles and ads on a web page.

45. Planning good usability

Marketers need to be involved in the manufacturing of a product—whether it’s a door handle or website—and you need to determine what makes a product easy to use.

46. Recognizing great design

You don’t have to be a designer to be a marketer. You just have to be able to spot good and bad design, which means you have to know what attracts and repels people.

47. Creating innovation

Are you pushing to stand out from the crowd? Do you strive to create something that competitors can’t copy because they don’t have your resources? Are you always saying, “What if”? Then you are probably a pretty good marketer.

48. Kissing butt

Great marketers aren’t so proud that they aren’t willing to kiss butt to get stuff done. They understand that a little flattery goes a long way—even if the principle on the other side of the table knows he is being flattered. People like their egos stroked.

49. Motivating others

You might be a pretty passionate marketer, but no doubt you’ll run into situations where people you have to work with won’t be as motivated as you. This is why you need to take your passion and rub some of it off on your team.

50. Courage

It’s hard being a marketer—especially if you want to be a great one. You need to have the balls to stick to your ideas and to call crap “crap” when you see it.

Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question – you have to want to know – in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.

— Clayton Christensen

seanoliver:

I have to admit that I agree with the cacophony of criticism about Apple’s latest round of TV ads. In fact, I almost had an allergic reaction to them when I first saw them air during the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.

They looked and felt like ads that my former employer, Microsoft, used to release in attempt to position themselves as being relevant. 

So many issues abound:

• They don’t show the product. This is a product ad, not a brand ad or a perception ad. And Apple has always impressed me by the way that they have (almost) always made the product the star of their product ads. Consumers need to see what’s being advertised in order to understand the messaging in a tangible way. 
   
• They don’t explain the product. Apple doesn’t always show the product in its ads. A great example of this is the Mac vs. PC campaign that ran through the first half of the 2000s. But that campaign still made the product the star by focusing on each ad on a discrete feature or set of related features, and explaining how they work. That’s something that this campaign utterly fails at doing. In the ad above, the Genius asks the shopper, “It came loaded with all the great apps like iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband… Not ringing a bell?” The consumer at whom this ad is targeted doesn’t know what these apps are. As a result, he doesn’t know why he should care that he doesn’t have them. And if the ad doesn’t tell him that, he’s just going to hear marketing noise and tune out.
   
• They make the target audience feel stupid. This is Apple’s first real effort going after a less tech-savvy group of computer buyers, and this ad makes it clear that they really don’t know how to talk to them at all. The people in this segment are not idiots, in fact, a lot of them are doctors, lawyers, teachers, and otherwise very smart people.They just don’t think about the latest technology all that much, and this ad basically calls them stupid for not buying a Mac. When consumers buy PCs, they are usually doing it after lots of research — after all, it’s a big purchase for most people — and this ad is essentially telling them they made the wrong decision despite all the thought they put into making what they thought was the right one.
   
• They make the Geniuses look like unsupportive know-it-alls. In a similar vein, the Apple Genius in this ad comes off as a true embodiment of the elitist stereotype many have attributed to Apple’s core customer. When Apple first introduced the Geniuses, they worked because they weren’t that stereotype. No one wants to buy a computer from a cocky teenager who things their questions are stupid and that they’re wasting his time. 
   
• There’s no clear call to action. I’ve alluded to this a little already, but the most important thing missing from this ad as that there’s absolutely zero payoff. No moral. No happy ending. Nothing to tell the consumer what they should take away and do next. They don’t even explain that these “friendly” Geniuses can be found right by where you live at your local Apple Store. This is a product ad targeted at people who don’t know anything about the product, and Apple fails in the most fundamental way by not telling them anything about it or even where to buy it.

When I was with Microsoft, I saw vapid creative like this get created and published all the time. It wasn’t because people at Microsoft didn’t know what they were doing. There were and there continue to be a lot of extremely talented people at Microsoft.

Collateral like this happens when there is no creative vision coming down from senior leaders. When leaders delegate the vision downward, middle managers end up having to make the final call, but in almost all cases they don’t have the power to do so alone. So, they go about securing buy-off from multiple teams, and the result was leadership by committee. Not exactly the Apple way.

There’s been much said about whether Tim Cook can steer the great ship that is Apple into another decade of innovation. While he may still be getting his sea legs, this ad along with other marketing blunders over the past few months make it clear that this is no longer Steve Jobs’ Apple, for better or for worse.

Tim Cook Supply Chain Book →

How Google's Marissa Mayer Prevents Burnout →

1. Watch for signs of resentment.
2. Find your rhythm.
3. Grant employees one must-have freedom.