Harvey Mackay at Portland BizGrowth

At the end of July I had the opportunity to attend an event put on by the Portland Business Journal. The keynote speaker was Harvey Mackay who I had never heard of before. His introduction was quite lengthy and so I reasoned that he should be pretty good (He is one of the top five speakers in the world according to Toastmasters). His performance certainly lived up to his reputation and I came away thoroughly impressed. He is an expert story teller.

Word of Wisdom:

I give you a dollar and you give me a dollar, we each have a dollar. You give me an idea and I give you an idea and we each have 2 ideas

Little things mean everything.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

People don’t care how much you know about them if they know how much you care about them.

It it is to be it is up to me.

TEDxPortland: Better late than never

On April 30th I had the privilege of attending the inaugural TEDxPortland (if you do not know what TED or TEDx is click here). I distinctly remember it was a gorgeous spring day and I was somewhat uneasy thinking that my next 7 hours would be spent sitting in a theater listening to people speak. However, I purchased my tickets to the event the day after that they came out (they sold out in a bout a week) and I was excited to enjoy my first TED event in person (instead of remotely through the hundreds of youtube videos).

The event was outstanding.

I came away with a plethora of new ideas, perspectives, appreciation and energy. I took several pages of notes but have simply highlighted a few below along with the accompanying videos. I strongly encourage you to watch all 16.

Greg Bell – Author & Thought Leader

Give away knowledge and give away love. It’s the only two things that will multiply.

Language determines how you think. How you think determines how you believe. How you believe will determine whats true.

Make your values your habit.

Roberta Conner – Tamástslikt Cultural Institute

It’s always someone’s home.

Think longitudinally.

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Visualize It

Like many individuals, I am particularly drawn to infographics that tell that story of data in innovative and original ways.  There are several pieces of particular interest that I have recently come across. I have provided screen-shots and links.

GOOD.is | What Congress Would Look Like If It Were Demographically Representative of America

Trulia.com – Price Reductions Map (A way to understand what housing markets are popular and which are not)

Top Marginal Tax Rates 1916-2010 — VisualizingEconomics

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Starve Ups

I recently had the opportunity to attend an interesting seminar for entrepreneurs put on by a local Portland organization called Starve Ups:

Dedicated to helping founders of start ups create successful and sustainable businesses through optimized peer mentoring.

Three facts about Starve Ups:

1. Only allows company founders to be members
2. Goal of getting 1/4 member companies acquired compared to the national average of 1/24
3. Out of 57 members, only 5 received Venture Capital financing (This tends to relate to the Portland start-up scene but emphasizes the role of angel investors)

This particular gathering was around the theme of ‘Raising $1 million in this economy.’ Several take a ways from the discussion with three founders included:

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Three start-ups I really like

Who: ShopIgniter

What: “Helps companies of activate their social network to extend their reach and generate revenue through social eCommerce efforts. Social Promotion Engine to power shareable coupons, referral and loyalty incentives, private and time-based sales, and group promotions; a fully transactional Facebook Store”

Why: Social is now. No matter who you are trying to reach they are most likely plugged into some kind of social network. Most likely that network is Facebook. We are at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to companies and brands utilizing this tool effectively for more than mind-share. What about wallet-share (applied as the amount of money the consumer is spending on your product)? Without substantial data to prove this I am simply going to go out on a limb (from personal experience) and say it is mostly non-existant on social networks & the most important being Facebook (excluding Zynga).

1. What is the big deal? Consumers increasingly will be shopping online. Especially if your brand or business is targeting younger users, lets say less than 40, you are missing revenue without a strong social presence (don’t trust me trust Pew).
2. Segmenting your user base is going to be big. Wow! Cool! Company X is offering me 30% off because this is the 5th transaction I have had with them this year. Or…Sweet! company Y is offering me free tickets to my favorite musical artist just because I shared this deal with 10 of my friends.
3. In a crowded marketplace where everyone is inundated with ads how can you stand out online? The targeting and promotions you achieve from Point #2 above ^ effects your customer acquisition cost and lifetime value. Better targeting and promotions means increased loyalty in a new day and age where lifestyle loyalty increasingly is replacing your brand loyalty.

Who: L. Condoms

What: “L. is a condom company with a cause; to support women globally by focusing on their sexual empowerment. For every condom that’s purchased; one is distributed in a developing country.”

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