Kind words for "Rhetoric for Engineers"
Steven McGahey, who contributed to some of the subjects in
Rhetoric for Engineers, wrote me this week to say...
...I'd say your running of the Rhetoric for Engineers list was a great thing, which I always really enjoyed.
Especially now, as I go back over the entry for "Jargon" (Hey, I was googling myself over lunchtime), and see your comment "excessive jargon can lead to bullsh*t", which made me grin.
Anyway, well done on coalescing some seriously useful philosophical discussions. There's a lot of crap out there, but you managed to pull a lot of good stuff together. I suspect people may still be checking it out for a long time to come.
There's a thought... why don't you send your ebook to Gutenberg or something? Would be good if your work is available/archived for the future...
I'm working on that. In the meantime, although the online version is deprecated and won't be updated any more, anyone who wants a copy of the e-book version needs only to contact me.
Labels: rhetoric
I'm Dr. Ron Graham, and this is start me up! with light and clarity for young entrepreneurs, volume 1, number 4.
I'm often asked how to go about writing a business plan. No real surprise there, as I've taught on the subject for several years and written or co-written a few myself. I have to point out that there is no one true format for a business plan. Some may think there is a single format that works, but history tells us otherwise. It is said that the original business plan for Cisco Systems could be written on the back of a business card: "Cisco networks networks."
That is an extreme example, but it reminds us that there are as many formats for a business plan as there are people willing to read one. Your job, in writing one, is to make sure it's neat, correct, and answers the questions your readers will ask. My job in this podcast is to remind you of some of those questions. I will recite the questions, which come in five major categories by my reckoning, and I will let you know which are the most critical, as the critical questions are the ones that you must put forth the greatest effort to answer.
Major Ingredients of a Business Plan- The market!
- Can your management team get you there?
- Do you know whom it is you are selling to?
- Do you know whom it is you are up against?
- Are you working with reasonable assumptions?
- The money!
- What's in it for ME?
- How much do you have? What are you doing with it?
- How much do you need? What will you do with it?
- What other assets do you have?
- The product!
- The selling!
- The staff!
- Are you hiring? Who? When?
- Is your staff loyal? Are your workers enthusiastic?
- Do you have a training and development plan?
- Do you offer the staff a piece of the business?
Like to read more? I have a blog dedicated to the care and feeding of young entrepreneurs. Send me an e-mail, at rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com, and I'll tell you all about it. You can look forward to hearing more on answers to business plan questions during this podcast in the future.
For this podcast, I was yet again my own producer. The music is "The Judgment," by the central NJ hard-rock band
Danger! Von James! I use this space to promote young artists as well. Find this great young band at myspace.com/dangervonjames. [Note: I love these guys. "Using the song in a podcast is pretty kick ass of you." LOL]
This has been start me up! volume 1, number 4, and I'm Dr. Ron Graham -- I've been your host. If you'd like to contact me, the e-mail address is rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com. I'll spotlight you or your start-up if you'd like. Just ask me how. Until next time, keep moving forward!
Labels: education, young entrepreneurs
LI Philly/Central NJ Networking Event, F 08.22, Morrisville, PA
The LinkedIn Philly/Central NJ Networking Event will be held on Friday, 08.22, starting at 6:30 PM, at
Concerto Fusion, a fine sushi/Chinese restaurant at 2 South Delmorr Ave. in Morrisville, PA, just across the "Makes Bridge" from Trenton, and jazz and top-40 music will be provided by
DJ Fatha Ramzee. There will be door prizes, and (maybe) a round or two of "speed-friending." The cost will be $45/person -- a bargain!
Plan on bringing your business cards and other paraphernalia to trade, but don't plan on much time for selling anything other than your winning personality. :-) :-) :-)
Here's the menu:
- SUSHI -- choose from volcano roll, asparagus roll, dragon deluxe roll, eel roll, yellowtail guacamole roll
- APPETIZER -- choose from spring roll, crab Rangoon, satay chicken on a stick
- MAIN COURSE -- choose from mango chicken, Thai salsa beef, and Bangkok basil shrimp
The restaurant will provide soda and iced tea; there's also a cash bar.
Here's a map and directions.
You can send me a check (156 Durand Ave, Trenton, NJ 08611) to pay for your seat, or you can use Paypal, below.
Labels: diversions, internet
Triple-feature and strawberry warlocks!
A lover of movies like me (some rightly say I am addicted) will be naturally attracted to
New Jersey's only remaining drive-in, in Delsea. So about five weeks ago, my daughter and I made the hour's drive to the place for a triple-feature of
Iron Man,
Indiana Jones 4, and
Penelope.
Last time I saw a drive-in movie, they might well still have been showing trailers for a Russ Meyer exploitation film. LOL This place has the same look and feel: the bumpy dirt parking lot, the (apparently) small concession stand, the docking stations for speakers you'd mount in your car window. But the days of speakers are long past, as probably they are too easy to break off the docking stations. Nowadays a drive-in theatre would come with its own FM radio station, broadcasting the sound for the movie with the approximate coverage range of a walkie-talkie. So if you don't park close enough to the screen for Iron Man to reach you with a chirp, you will pick up interference from a more serious Christian radio station 25 miles away.
That's it for the complaints.
You can watch two movies, sometimes three, for $8/ticket. And as is the case for indoor theaters, these guys make their money from concessions, not tickets, so they don't want you bringing in food from outside -- unless you pay for the privilege, at $7 per carload. If you bring four people in your car, that can be economical. BUT... it must be said that their concession stand is a highlight. It isn't just popcorn and soda. They offer, among other things, pierogies (potato filled) with sour cream, stir-fried asparagus (!!!), and chocolate-covered strawberries -- the one here being compared in length to my daughter's index finger. Hence the term "warlock," which she applied as a nod to the movie
Superbad.
Labels: diversions
Mysterious special characters
The very slick Web-based FTP service
YouSendIt allowed me the chance to enter a raffle for $150 if I recommended it to a friend. In the attempt, my "referral" was said to contain "special characters." (Asterisks?) In four attempts, I could not isolate these special characters and create a referral to YouSendIt's liking, as the image below illustrates (my friend's e-mail address has been mostly erased). No raffle for me.
Click on the image to view it full-size.
Labels: diversions
Another silly act of customer "service"
Yesterday I went to the local Fantastic Sam's for a haircut. I made sure to check the open hours before making the drive, because I'm kinda sensitive about wasting gas these days. And sure enough, they had a sign on the door that said they were open until 9 PM on Tuesday and Friday, while they close at 8 on other nights. So I get there at 8 and I find them closing as I arrive. I hold up my hands and say, "what about the sign on the door?" They ask me to look at it more closely. There is an artist's conception of the sign in this post: look at it closely. That's right, somebody hand-scrawled "hur" over "ue" on the sign, magically converting Tuesday to Thursday, saying they were now open until 9 on Thursday but close at 8 on Tuesday.
Here's how the conversation went:
Me:
I'm supposed to see that hand scratch in the dark?Staff:
We didn't do it.Me:
Well, you can tell whoever did it. from me, that...Staff:
We lost a customer?Me:
That's right. You guys jobbed me.I must have been angry, to address two women as "you guys." LOL I missed whatever they may have said after that. I went home instead and made plans to stop at the Great Clips today, and guess what? I got a "great clip."
I'm not angry any more. But hand-scrawled signs, only partly legible, and no doubt made hurriedly to save time and money, are not good examples of
customer service. So my decision stands for now. And not just for that location, but for all Fantastic Sam's locations everywhere.
Labels: office space
I'm Dr. Ron Graham, and this is start me up! volume 1, number 3.
Social networking cannot be ignored as a tool for your small business. So I've got a few words to say about three of the major social networking Web sites:
MySpace,
Facebook, and
LinkedIn.
MySpace gets a bad rap from many business owners because its profiles may resemble - according to one user I interviewed - bad Geocities pages of the mid-1990s. But face it: don't some businesses' hosted Web sites look just as bad?
Some professionals are unwilling to use MySpace as a tool for conducting business - though they may use it to follow their favorite musicians. Pay attention to that phenomenon! Event-driven entrepreneurs such as comedians, musicians, independent filmmakers, and pro wrestlers are flocking to MySpace in large numbers. One wrestler told me that his promotion will never have a hosted Web site again. "Why should I? MySpace is free, and it's better for reaching the fans!" If you are event-driven, or do business with others who are, maybe you need a MySpace. If you think you can put up a profile that looks as good as or better than a hosted Web site, maybe you need a MySpace.
If you want to do business on Facebook, you must want college students and recent grads to be your target audience - the high-school age audience is growing and many professionals appreciate the clean layout, but within Facebook they are the minority. This makes Facebook the ideal platform for those who are doing recruiting of college students and recent grads: hiring managers, agencies, contractors, consultants, and the military. Also advertising there are airlines and college savings plans.
Your business method will probably include designing plug-ins, which Facebook uses heavily, or perhaps customizing those already created. Plug-in applications include games and surveys, and the best ones spread throughout the site as great examples of viral marketing. If you can design a viral survey, or can post a viral video for an audience between 18 and 25 years old, you can be very successful there.
There is also the powerful technique of creating "social ads." Marketing on Facebook can be made VERY tightly targeted through a multi-keyword search capability unmatched by MySpace. Combine that with Google-esque Pay Per Click capability and you can have very good returns on a marketing investment.
LinkedIn is for a more mature audience than the others I've mentioned, and is also more about the network itself than selling to the network per se. The people you meet on LinkedIn are the people who will help you iron out problems with your business, and may also help you meet other valuable contacts. BUT... you really aren't going to see much to them apart, perhaps, from consulting services.
Don't ignore what LinkedIn has to offer just because it won't market for you! The people in a LinkedIn network are seasoned professionals in most cases. They know a LOT, and a LOT more than your connections in MySpace and Facebook. And LinkedIn is built for you to ask them lots and lots of questions. Take advantage of that knowledge, entrepreneurs. They will love making you smarter.
In all these cases, your marketing depends on having a very large number of friends, and on having your profile completely dedicated to marketing (in such a way as to convince your connections to visit it frequently). You also want to avoid a marketing plan that uses only one tool, however good and cheap that tool may be.
Like to read more? I've got a free white paper where I go into more detail. Write me if you want it.
For this podcast, I was - alas! - again my own producer. The music is "Plant a Seed," by the great New Brunswick, NJ band
Communipaw. I use this space to promote young artists as well. Find Communipaw at myspace.com/communipawmusic.
This has been start me up! volume 1, number 3, and I'm Dr. Ron Graham - I've been your host. If you'd like to contact me, the e-mail address is rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com. I'll spotlight you or your start-up if you'd like. Just ask me how. Until next time, keep moving forward!
Labels: education, young entrepreneurs
[The second podcast is easier than the first. I don't care about sounding like Rice Krispies any more. LOL]
I'm Dr. Ron Graham, and this is start me up! volume 1, number 2.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?
You don't have to look very far to find some guy who will tell you he became an entrepreneur so he could "be his own boss." And yeah, women do it too. Nobody's immune!
I'm here to tell you that the idea of the self-managed entrepreneur is, in most cases, a MYTH. It's a dream. It's a snare and an illusion. There's no such animal.
So if you're not your own boss, who IS the boss? Your customers, that's who. They are the ones who will have you working 50 or 60 or 70 hours a week to get your business off the ground. So you need to understand them a little bit. This podcast is your primer.
Here are the major characteristics of your customers:
- They usually don't know what they want.
- They usually DO know what they DON'T want.
- They will know what they want when they SEE it.
- They will probably need you to show it to them.
You should be able to guess at this point that there are all sorts of corollaries to this description of your customers. We'll get to a few of those. But for now, if you are starting a business, I want you to really think through what the customers – who have become your bosses – are asking of you. For some entrepreneurs, it's gonna be patience, and lots of it. For some, a fair bit of enthusiasm for what they're doing. For some, detailed memory of what's in the catalog. Your mileage is likely to vary, but you'll probably need some combination of all those.
You must not think that you'll get away from customer contact because you have a business to run. Not even if it's a home-based business, and all your sales are over the Internet. Big deal. Maybe your contact with them will be via phone or e-mail. Then you need some slightly different skills, but for the most part it's the same thing. Most of your customers will need to be educated, and you are the user interface for your company.
Keep in mind that, even after you fulfill your duty to the customers, they could still choose someone else. If that irritates you, try to remember that superior customer service – if you offer it – will win customers from your competitors as well. Try to remember to cackle with glee whenever you remind yourself of this.
What are the rewards of customer service? That's hard to quantify. Unless your service is downright viral – fanatical – over the top – you might not see new customers come to you in droves from recommendations. What I can tell you is that if a satisfied customer won't talk you up, that customer will sure as heck talk you down – and to every friend who will listen – if left unsatisfied. That's why we have this rule of thumb: there are no unhappy customers. Just happy customers, and someone else's.
Like to read more? I recommend the blog entitled
Church of the Customer, featuring Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. My own e-book,
Rhetoric for Engineers, features
a section on customer service as well. Contact me for a free copy!
For this podcast, I was once again my own producer – I may not be the best producer but I don't go too long! The music is "I’ll Be Your Accident," from
Look What We Did, by the New Romantics. I use this space to promote young artists as well. Let me know if you'd like to know more about the New Romantics, or if you have a fledgling band that needs an exposure.
This has been start me up! volume 1, number 2, and I'm Dr. Ron Graham – I've been your host. If you'd like to contact me, the e-mail address is rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com. I'll spotlight you or your start-up if you'd like. Just ask me how. Until next time, keep moving forward!
Labels: education, young entrepreneurs
[The following is the script for my first podcast. It should be available on iTunes soon -- if anyone will want it. LOL]
I'm Dr. Ron Graham, and this is start me up! volume 1, number 1.
Seven seconds.
That's all the time you get. Just seven seconds. In that time, you have to convince someone who could change your life that you have something to say that's worth listening to just a bit longer.
Why is it only seven seconds?
That life-changing person, the one you just met totally by chance?
- may be walking out of a crowd and toward a car
- may be on an elevator and about to get off – that's why many people call this an "elevator pitch"
- may be heading into a meeting
- may be about to meet someone else
What do you have to say to those life-changers? It's all about what you want for yourself out of that chance meeting.
- If you want to be hired, you have to tell them "here's why you should hire me."
- If you want to be funded, you have to tell them "here's what my program gives you."
- If you want to work on a project together, you have to tell them "here's what I have that you need."
They come from out of nowhere, these people. Or it seems that way, anyway. The reality is that you are preparing for them, every day. If you want to meet someone who can change your life, you are spending each day becoming more of the person you need to be to get their attention. Part of becoming that person is you knowing who you are and what you stand for so well that you can say it off the top of your head – no nervousness, no mistakes.
If you’ve done the work and prepared your seven-second "elevator pitch," and the first time you meet a life-changer the pitch doesn't work, that's fine. Get ready for the next one. There’ll be a next one. Trust me.
But if that pitch DOES work, that's something else. What happens next? Here's the order of events.
- They'll give you 30 seconds more to explain. Then your seven seconds must grow into 30, and must add value.
- They'll take something – one thing – that you give them. Make sure that one thing is no longer than a page, and that it has your contact info.
- They'll accept a phone call. But they should know the call's coming. That means it might take more than one try.
- They'll take a meeting with you. If they take the phone call, your chances are good. You'll spend the phone call trying to convince them that the meeting is a good idea.
- Who knows what can happen after that?
Here's a sample that I use:
I bring light and clarity to young entrepreneurs.Like to read more? I recommend Ben Casnocha's
My Start-up Life.
For this podcast, I was my own producer – we'll see how long THAT lasts. The music is "Jesse," from "Look What We Did," by the New Romantics. I use this space to promote young artists as well. Let me know if you’d like to know more about the New Romantics. [Thanks to Anthony Thompson of
Juterphusion for fixing me up with the music!]
This has been start me up! volume 1, number 1, and I'm Dr. Ron Graham – I've been your host. If you'd like to contact me, the e-mail address is rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com. I'll spotlight you or your start-up if you'd like. Just ask me how. Until next time, keep moving forward!
Labels: education, young entrepreneurs
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