Tedded - Business Book Review

Today, I’m having fun commenting on blogs of my favourite sites
from this: Seth Godin’s How to Lose

I was trying to play a devil’s advocate there by using the words from Seth Godin himself!! from his book I’m reading- Meatball Sundae to counter his idea

Smart arse… I know I’m just trying to be a bit remarkable in commenting but it might turn out to be a lame approach but what can I lose?!

So, Seth’s idea in How to Lose is:
When you make mistake in your service or offering (in his case, as a shoe store) by not meeting your customer’s requirement, it is wise (maybe I interpret it wrongly but at least, not a bad idea) to honestly point to your competitors to show that you are friendly and helpful.

here’s my comment on it:

Is that really the only options for the long-term success; by generously and honestly pointing to the competitor?

because this;

“the recipient of this friendly advice would tell everyone at the wedding exactly what happened”

might sound like this;

“you know, I was insane, like totally, and couldn’t find a store and I found a gorgeous one ..(tell the direction)…. I was fortunate, another store just told me the way”

Is it possible that (quote from Seth’s book, meatball sundae) “extremely short attention spans” of customers is extremely short.

It’s not game over when you say: “I’m sorry I don’t. Perhaps you’d like some in a size 8?”

It’s game over when you don’t have size 6…

“the idea must be embedded into the experience of the product (or service, or offering) itself”

Anyway, I like the post! Just trying to play a bad guy here

I read a blog - Business Opportunities Weblog - Shoppers are Suckers for Stats
it is taken from this blog by ars technica

In a nutshell, it is saying that shoppers (for mainly electronic products), in this case, students, often go for a product with a bigger number (who wants 2megapixel camera when hundreds of 10megapixel ones are available!)

This is my answer…

This is not true for everyone but it is prominent nowadays

Marketers try to digitalise the message. Once a brand say one, the other must say two (or in some case, zero!) and you’ll win.

I know marketers are smart and they know this kind of game will often lead to lose-lose situation. You need more investment on research and more ads expense.

But most consumers are drawn to the number game because they have short attention span and 2 is more than 1. They have less time to evaluate many factors and features but there’s a way.

For marketers, talk to the product development team more and if you think you talk much already, talk more or even join the team. Develop a product that speaks for itself.

Who cares if the other mp3 player brand has double the capacity of iPod?

For consumers, yes, take the numbers out of your head and buy from your gut, trust your feeling. If it does not work the way you want, out it in eBay!

Earlier this morning, I read the blog “smashing magazine” 40 Beautiful Grunge Workshop Tutorials. They are simply great!

And I logged onto PSDTUTS - Creating and Urban-Style Piece of Artwork.

I tried it myself, haha, this is my finished work!!

To be perfectly honest and unbiased, I thought I did alright!

To quote Jack Welch from his book “Winning”

“I’ve heard it said that best practices aren’t a sustainable competitive advantage because they are so easy to copy. That is nonsense, it is true that, once a best practice is out there, everybody can imitate it, but companies that win do two things:

They imitate and improve”

I obviously imitate the original and hardly improve anything yet. We’ll see whether my designer instinct will shine or not. Last time I check, there was no trace of “design” in me!

What do you call a person who, within a span of two days, does the following

1. start using iGoogle
2. learn about RSS and start using Google Reader
3. start a blog in blogger.com
4. sign up SecondLife

?

In two days, am I serious??? who could it be?

a. a cyber geek
(no brainer, wouldn’t that person do it like 5 years ago if he or she is a cyber geek?)

b. an I-have-every-app-in-facebook-already teen
(probably, but not likely)

c. a hibernated grizzly bear just woken up
(nah, being a bear is fun enough, SecondLife is unnecessary)

d. an American Republican
(what? are we actually losing an election?!, noooo, need to do something quick!)

e. none of above

it’s me, yes, me

I have read much about these technology and community-driven internet tools but I have not always been comfortable with interactions over the internet

I used to be addicted to MSN Messenger while I was in U.K.
I was alone in my flat nothing to do and it was my saviour
Lately, I just stop it completely. This is another reason.

So, why did I do the four things listed above?

I was trying to find a reason..

and came up with the precise answer.

“fear of being left behind” to quote the words of Jim Collin in his book, “Good to Great”

That is, companies adopt new technology because others have ones. To put it simply.

The question is, in the world of unlimited tools to expose your feeling, espouse your capability, exhibit yourself

How should we choose?

Choose like you choose you a place to live in physically, home or business front.
- how do you live your life?
routine?, systematic?, in a fast lane?, like there’s no tomorrow?, hedonistic?

- what is the place that you find yourself most comfortable in?
safe and secure or on the edge?, buzzing or serene?, isolated or clustered?

- who else is in your life? and who do you want to have in your life?
just yourself? in a closed family? extended family? with lots of friends? with lots of friends and foes?

- what kind of neighbour would you like to have?
fun or reserved? a few or a lot of them? supportive or critical?

When starting Tedded, I pictured

Ristorante in Venice
(photo: Marie Gunton)

What? How? Why?
(arrogant cocky newbie blogger)

I want a place where it’s bright, busy but not crowded with a breezy atmosphere and a touch of an aesthetic feeling.
A place with an elegant culture but culturally diverse visitors.
A pleace where culturally rich local people enjoy lunch next to the tourists who are excited by the state of being in this atmosphere.

The restaurant is open but the waiter (me) has nothing to serve yet!

I’m still reading Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae

From the 14 trends (you can’t ignore) part

Trend 4: Extremely Short Attention Spans Due To Clutter

What I’m telling is not from the book per se but I believe it’s an essential talent we ALL need to master in this era

An elevator pitch! (you know from the topic!)

I once read a book by John Assaraf and Murray Smith “The Answer”. Their simple and short powerful elevator pitch technique starts with
“You know how… (description of customer’s problem)?”
and
“Well, what we do is… (description of your business’s solution)?

For more information on an elevator pitch, you can google and find
1. Elevator Pitch 101
2. How to Craft a Killer Elevator Pitch That Will Land You Big Business, Dumn Little Man
3. The Art of The Elevator Pitch, Business Know-how

Now, craft Elevator Pitches for yourself. In my opinion, it’s not only about business proposal or business-related it can be
- when you are caught by a traffic warden
- when you write a love letter
- when you ask for a break up
- when you try to ask your spouse for a night out

I’m reading Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae at the moment and these two sentences struck me

“ads are about you, a blog is about your readers”

The paradox:
The only reader of my blog is me, how about that!

I’m finding the readers now (yes, you, whoever you are). And I’ll contribute, promise

On “how to blog”, after a brief of googling, I came up with three sources:

1. From Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae: honest communication
2. Ten tips for writing a blog post, PROBLOGGER
3. 101 Blog Tips I learned in 2006, Daily Blog Tips

I saw the no.3 of ten tips of PROBLOGGER
“Write less”

You know what, I had written this post for about 4 hours with a detailed insight of expert blogging fully packed with examples, researches, anecdotes, tips, analysis, and so on. It is a top piece of post.
But I deleted it!!!

oops, honest communication, sorry peep Actually, I’ve been trying to find a way to link to other sites! (this is honestly honest)

When a blogger starts a blog, the first post (in some cases, many more than the first, my previous one for instance!) is talking to yourself

Uncool

So be it

Purpose:
As long as there are knowledge and people in this world, there are going to be talent in people and enterprises of people.

“Tedded” cherishes this notion

Isn’t it cool if more people are talented and collaborating with one another in the network within and across enterprises. And Tedded will strive for that

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I know you’re thinking “yea right”

(hang head in shame)