AirwaysExpress

Excellent Advice

Seth Godin is an entrepreneur's entrepreneur. A successful and seasoned entrepreneur himself, plus a fountain of excellent advice for other entrepeneurs. He is remarkable!

The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market

by Seth Godin

Expecting gratitude in exchange for having done something that was hard. Yes, you built a company, you might even have bootstrapped it. Yes, you've got the machinery and the packaging and the retail space. Yes, you've navigated hiring people and yes, you finally shipped. I couldn't care less. I'm not going to buy your brownie/consulting/services just because you worked hard on it.

Spending money as a substitute for doing something great. Spending on marketing an average product isn't working anymore. You're far better off spending money on making your product better. A lot better.

Not realizing that it's your company, and your marketing better be as good as everything else. It doesn't matter if you don't like marketing or don't think you're good at it. Figure it out or go home. Sooner or later, you succeed because you were able to spread your ideas. So go to school and figure out how it works.

Listening to other people. If they're so smart, why aren't they running your company? Don't take a poll. Don't ask your mother-in-law, that's for sure. Cover your downsides, double your desire to take a risk and then just do it.

Failure to measure. All this is worthless if you don't test and measure relentlessly. Do what works. Kill what doesn't. Repeat.

Seth's latest book Small is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants and Remarkable Business Ideas. This is a must read!

You're Never Ever Stuck

“You’re never ever stuck unless you choose to think, act or feel stuck”
Dr. Mike Thomson
Professional Speaker-Author

Don’t ever give up ought to be printed on your forehead. The reason is that the most successful people are the ones who choose to not give up. They hang in there. They persevere. They keep on looking for the good even in the negative. In fact, they know down deep that almost nothing is as good or as bad as it first appears.

Losing the big account, going through difficult contract negations, dealing with strikes, downsizing or change in company management and direction are examples of frustrating events. The key is that they are all just "events." These events are not the end of the world. They might be frustrating to different degrees but you will not die from going through any one of them.

One of the secrets of success during these tough times is learning to turn all experiences into building blocks. Asking yourself what you are learning from each and every one of these events will keep you focused on the positive and not the negative. You will also be teaching and modeling to everyone you come in contact with to never give up when problems arise. They will also see in your that in tough times you can make the right choice to turn the event into a learning opportunity.

Now don't get me wrong, losing the big account or downsizing is frustrating. But it’s not the end of the world. It is just an event. Sure you might be depressed, angry or miserable. You can choose depressed or angry behavior all day long and be miserable about the event. You can even take it out on others around you and even the dog at home. But guess what? Once you come out of your chosen funk--you quickly find out that depressed turned into depressing. Anger turned into angering. Miserable turned into miserabling. The "ing" denotes action and a "choice" we make.

I hope you noticed I said "chosen funk." The reason is that successful people know that they choose funk and that they have the power to turn funk into something else with the next choice on "their part." It has nothing to do with the "event" that has already happened. Go beyond others and choose to make the event an opportunity to learn. You have the power of choice.

Accelerate revenue by accelerating trust.

AirwaysExpress is a digital marketing agency with offices in Denver and Los Angeles.

Let's face it, your marketing firm is only as good as the people who work on your campaign. Airways has assembled teams of experienced marketing, creative and technical professionals representing the most relevant experience today.

By focusing on accelerating trust, we improve your sales tactics and conversion rates. We integrate brand strategy with emerging Internet, Social Media and PR tactics. Then a funny thing happens: the community we create shortens your sales cycle and increases your revenue.

Our teams design, execute and manage high performance marketing solutions serving many vertical markets. We create maximum customer value from our client's marketing investment. No juniors here.
Email Me: Richard Allen

Innovative Leadership - A Definition and Roll Call

Fast Company

Innovate (Word Net definition: n 1: to create (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation [syn: invention] 2: to create something in the mind [syn: invention, excogitation, conception, design] 3: the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new...

Lead: 1: To show the way to by going in advance; 2: To guide or direct in a course [syn: guide]; 3: a) To serve as a route for; b) To be a channel or conduit for; 4: To guide the behavior or opinion of; to induce; 5: a) To direct the performance or activities of; b) To inspire the conduct of; 6: To play a principal or guiding role in; 7: a) To go or be at the head of...

By definition Innovation is a creative act that has implicit leadership characteristics. Leadership itself does not necessarily require innovation.

Innovators possesss inate natural-born leadership qualities. This doesn’t mean they are good leaders by any stretch. They do, however, seem to draw a following as a natural outcome of the drive, capability and internal confidence that fuels their efforts. Whether the individual is a "right-brained" creative or a "left-brained" quantitative genius, the innovator seems to be in touch with an internal drum beat that is intriguing, catchy and attractive. They possess a vision of what's possible that is refreshing and inspiring, and people naturally want to be inspired.

Solid Leaders are not necessarily innovators. They may be very skilled and disciplined managers who know the fundamentals of business management and industry dynamics. They may have strong communication, organization and delegation skills, as well as effective interpersonal and teaming skills. Leaders typically create structure and guide direction. People like a sense of order and will follow leaders who create it.