Has it really been 6 months since I last posted an entry into my blog? What an eventful 6 months it's been, too bad you missed it... I will be recapping it over this week, so stay tuned!
Jonathan
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Rubber Hits the Road
So briefly, here's what I've done in the past few weeks:
My dad did a lot of work to help me send out 8 smoke detectors retrofitted with a special customized message I mailed to various CEOs and Sales Execs about how my product can help them. I got a iPad application completed which is basically a proof of concept for more complex programs to sell to customers later on. I completed two versions of an interactive demo of my software, one of which is highlighted in a demo I put on youtube, and one you can download from my website.
I also just finished working out a deal with a PR firm who is going to give me unlimited press releases each month as well as access to a number of PR tools for $25/ month. Normally it costs about $200 for *each* press release you have. This will give me some extra credibility for subsequent contact with future clients.
One of my virtual assistances recently finished up a list of 150 prospective clients, and I've already lined up my next 40 I will be contacting.
Speaking of contacting, this week will be the week I start calling up lots of prospects. Probably my least favorite thing to do, but that's what I've been working hard on the website and my mailers for, so here goes nothing. I'm sure I'll learn a lot, and hopefully I'll make some sales this week too!
My dad did a lot of work to help me send out 8 smoke detectors retrofitted with a special customized message I mailed to various CEOs and Sales Execs about how my product can help them. I got a iPad application completed which is basically a proof of concept for more complex programs to sell to customers later on. I completed two versions of an interactive demo of my software, one of which is highlighted in a demo I put on youtube, and one you can download from my website.
I also just finished working out a deal with a PR firm who is going to give me unlimited press releases each month as well as access to a number of PR tools for $25/ month. Normally it costs about $200 for *each* press release you have. This will give me some extra credibility for subsequent contact with future clients.
One of my virtual assistances recently finished up a list of 150 prospective clients, and I've already lined up my next 40 I will be contacting.
Speaking of contacting, this week will be the week I start calling up lots of prospects. Probably my least favorite thing to do, but that's what I've been working hard on the website and my mailers for, so here goes nothing. I'm sure I'll learn a lot, and hopefully I'll make some sales this week too!
Balance in My Life
Wow, has it really been over 3 weeks since my last post?? Here's a brief recap:
First, I want to say a big thanks for my parents who were up here for the past two weeks. While things have been very exciting, they've also been very stressful with Debbie working nearly full time, and me trying to get my website up, demo ready etc. I really could not have launched the website and be ready for the next phase in the business without my parents coming up and helping out, watching Elliana, preparing marketing mailings for me, etc.
Secondly, I have been reminded of Dan Miller's words about mortgaging areas of success in your life for the sake of the business, and I've definitely been borrowing heavily on areas such as exercise, time with Debbie and Elliana, etc lately and it's time to throttle down the business efforts and get a better balance in other areas in my life.
I ran a half marathon with Debbie a week ago, and I think it pretty much served as a metaphor (ok, maybe prime example) of borrowing from areas of success. Debbie's been training the past 14 weeks for this 13.1 mile run, and while I didn't feel I needed to train as much as she did since I've run 13 mile distances many times in prior marathon trainings, obviously you do need to run a decent amount. Well, in the past 60 days leading up to the race, I think I ran right around 20 miles total. I ran a few 5 mile runs here and there, a 10 mile run 6 weeks earlier, and then a few 3 mile runs after that. To put it another way, I should have averaged at least 20 miles each week for the past 8 weeks, i.e. 160 miles run, and I ended up running almost nothing.
This wasn't by choice mind you, I had planned to run more, especially the 4 weeks leading to the race, but between a few colds, being crazy busy, etc, one day I just realized the race was 4 days away. Whoops. So I ended up running it, and amazingly, I survived. Between caffeine and ibuprofen, I kept up with Debbie, and came through as her encouragement to finish the longest race she's ever done. I paid the price in pain the next few days, but I survived.
So back to the whole metaphor deal, that's pretty much how other areas in my life have gone as well. I've just managed to eek out victory on the brink of seeming massive failure, and while I've been bruised and banged up, I've survived. While it might make for a good story for someone reading about such an adventure, it most definitely is not the smartest way to roll, and is a bit like playing Russian roulette.
So, starting this weekend, even though I have a ton of things to do on the businesses as I finally kick off selling in earnest, family needs to come first. The business is either going to blossom or wilt with the amount of time I'm able to allocate towards it, (and obviously with God's guidance and direction in our lives), but the break neck speed of the past 6 months needs to slow down considerably.
Today I must say has been considerably less stressful than many previous days despite the fact that my parents left, Elliana was fussy, and I had tons of ideas swirling in my head about the business. Debbie, Elliana, and I spent a lot of good quality time together, and things just seemed to work out. In the past, a day like today could have lead to lots of stress and frustration as the worries and problems piled up, but I think we're off on the right foot. We'll see how the week unfolds...
First, I want to say a big thanks for my parents who were up here for the past two weeks. While things have been very exciting, they've also been very stressful with Debbie working nearly full time, and me trying to get my website up, demo ready etc. I really could not have launched the website and be ready for the next phase in the business without my parents coming up and helping out, watching Elliana, preparing marketing mailings for me, etc.
Secondly, I have been reminded of Dan Miller's words about mortgaging areas of success in your life for the sake of the business, and I've definitely been borrowing heavily on areas such as exercise, time with Debbie and Elliana, etc lately and it's time to throttle down the business efforts and get a better balance in other areas in my life.
I ran a half marathon with Debbie a week ago, and I think it pretty much served as a metaphor (ok, maybe prime example) of borrowing from areas of success. Debbie's been training the past 14 weeks for this 13.1 mile run, and while I didn't feel I needed to train as much as she did since I've run 13 mile distances many times in prior marathon trainings, obviously you do need to run a decent amount. Well, in the past 60 days leading up to the race, I think I ran right around 20 miles total. I ran a few 5 mile runs here and there, a 10 mile run 6 weeks earlier, and then a few 3 mile runs after that. To put it another way, I should have averaged at least 20 miles each week for the past 8 weeks, i.e. 160 miles run, and I ended up running almost nothing.
This wasn't by choice mind you, I had planned to run more, especially the 4 weeks leading to the race, but between a few colds, being crazy busy, etc, one day I just realized the race was 4 days away. Whoops. So I ended up running it, and amazingly, I survived. Between caffeine and ibuprofen, I kept up with Debbie, and came through as her encouragement to finish the longest race she's ever done. I paid the price in pain the next few days, but I survived.
So back to the whole metaphor deal, that's pretty much how other areas in my life have gone as well. I've just managed to eek out victory on the brink of seeming massive failure, and while I've been bruised and banged up, I've survived. While it might make for a good story for someone reading about such an adventure, it most definitely is not the smartest way to roll, and is a bit like playing Russian roulette.
So, starting this weekend, even though I have a ton of things to do on the businesses as I finally kick off selling in earnest, family needs to come first. The business is either going to blossom or wilt with the amount of time I'm able to allocate towards it, (and obviously with God's guidance and direction in our lives), but the break neck speed of the past 6 months needs to slow down considerably.
Today I must say has been considerably less stressful than many previous days despite the fact that my parents left, Elliana was fussy, and I had tons of ideas swirling in my head about the business. Debbie, Elliana, and I spent a lot of good quality time together, and things just seemed to work out. In the past, a day like today could have lead to lots of stress and frustration as the worries and problems piled up, but I think we're off on the right foot. We'll see how the week unfolds...
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Chillin' at the Flying Saucer in Nashville, to Collect my Thoughts
Met with Dan Miller today. I have to admit I was a bit concerned considering I was flying out to Nashville for a few days, and dropping a good bit of dough for a few hours of the guys time seemed a bit caviler even by my standards. I guess I was basically going "all in" with my business poker chips if you will, and it's sink or swim time, if you don't mind the mixed metaphores.
My first observation was he wasn't as tall as I'd expected he'd be. He was about 5'10", but not didn't look like he could leap buildings in a single bound,like the persona I'd made him out to be. Despite this, he really ended up giving me some excellent advice. Some of it was nothing new and earth shattering, after all I'd been following the guy for over a year, and have read tons of the same books he has. However, he did have a few really good nuggets, and had a number of suggestions for books, websites, and ideas to research.
Most importantly, he was able to tell me how I could make my company personal, and not just a cold corporation. There's basically two schools of thought out there for biz. development it seems. One says you get real slick marketing, throw money at google ad words, etc. and your clients are compelled by your persuasive marketing to go out and buy your product. The other school says it's all about connections, networking, and relationships.
I couldn't figure out how to combine the two with a engineering software program, so I was gearing up to do the slick marketing route. This left me with the problem that with maybe 120 potential clients, after I contact all of them and make say 20 sales, then what? His solution was to consider the clients as not a single thumbs up or thumbs down sale, but as a pool of potential. Dan suggested I need to establish about 30 close contacts with my pool of contacts, and instead of simply try to market to the clients, think of ways I could help them with podcasts, articles, etc, and send them useful info for their industry. In short, become one of acoustical group who also happens to sell products as well.
I've already made 3-4 good contacts in my sales efforts, and this approach seems to fit my personality much better, and take the pressure off of just trying to extract a sale. It also seems like an excellent long term strategy as well. When I start making my calls, it will be as much to form a relationship and find ways to help potential clients, even if that's not with my product right out of the shoot.
Anyway, I won't ramble about all the details of my biz, but I'll just say that going in I felt like I had a lot going for me but wasn't hitting on all cylinders, and now I feel I have all the pieces in place to go out and and making waves in the field. Just as importantly, this biz will serve as a model for future businesses, so even if it didn't pan out, I could switch gears, and quickly move in another direction.
I can't wait to kick off my new marketing campaign and launch my website. We'll be visiting family this weekend so I won't be able to work on the biz much, but next week I plan on hitting it hard and hopefully generating some sales in the very near future.
Meeting Dan Miller Today...
Things are a little crazy right now. I'm in my hotel room on Nashville, and will be meeting Dan Miller in about two hours. I've been working with a marketing guy this morning, and a layout guy on my software to make it look more professional. This weekend I need to launch my marketing campaign where I'll be sending letters and other info to 20 potential clients. A week after that, I want to have my website up and running. Once these to hurdles are crossed, things should be slightly less hectic.
We'll see how things go, so far I've really enjoyed my trip here. Things seem more peaceful and laid back here in the Bible belt, and I've been able to collect my thoughts and spend time in prayer. This still doesn't seem like a real business but more of a pipe dream, and I imagine it will stay that way until I make a number of sales and can support the family for a number of months in a row. Still though, I was looking at RVs last night, and dreaming about traveling the US. We'll see...
We'll see how things go, so far I've really enjoyed my trip here. Things seem more peaceful and laid back here in the Bible belt, and I've been able to collect my thoughts and spend time in prayer. This still doesn't seem like a real business but more of a pipe dream, and I imagine it will stay that way until I make a number of sales and can support the family for a number of months in a row. Still though, I was looking at RVs last night, and dreaming about traveling the US. We'll see...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Am I In A Made for TV Special (part 2)
Wednesday was indeed, a new day. Still kind of reeling from the faux invader of the previous night, I didn't have too long to dwell on this as I had a meeting with the fortune 500 company who wanted to use my technology. Now when I try and learn a new subject, I go on a reading spree, and so I've recently purchased about 6 books on marketing.
I was going through one such marketing book about a half an hour before my meeting, and one of the points it made was that competition in the market place can be good. The whole Coke v. Pepsi thing actually helped both companies by increasing awareness of the dark cola market. Polaroid shot themselves in the foot by suing and kicking Kodak out of the instant development film industry. I'm not sure why, but then I began to wonder to myself "but what if you could own both "competing" brands? You could market one against the other to create a buzz, get loyal followings for both, and come up the big winner".
Putting that though aside, I went downstairs to my computer to get ready for my meeting. That's when the crazy made-for-tv light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel music would have began if there was a producer in the house. I checked my e-mail, and I had received an e-mail from my former company which I had proposed to work with on this type of technology, back in October.
At the time, I gave them a totally sweet offer that would have cost them nothing, but looking back, the marketing mistake I made was I didn't "find the pain". They didn't have a need, so the potential reward was outbalanced by the perceived risk of working with an outsider.
Wednesday morning, they had their pain. For the past 3 years since I left the company they've been advertising this program that only I knew how to create. Now it seems, someone wants this program, in a big, big way. A typically customer might have 5-8 products they want highlighted. This company wants 50. In short, it's roughly 8 times bigger than the standard project. It's so big, that it would take about 2 months of engineering development time.
So now, a half an hour prior to my first project which is very large in it's own right, my former employer, who only 7 months ago thought this type of technology was not worth pursuing, now has a very interested client.
So only 7 hours from the faux burger incident, I have the potential to have my first two projects, both of which are unusually large. And remember the Pepsi v. Coke scenario I had been thinking about only minutes earlier, it could totally happen here. My brand takes off, I create a project for my former employer with their company brand, and presto! There's a buzz in the industry, and the two leading brands are controlled by yours truly.
Granted, there are about 50 ways this whole thing could go wrong, but I do think God's timing is really interesting. Who knows what the future holds, but our dreams of traveling the world 2-3 months out of the year to do mission work, school Elliana in far off cultures and places etc. seem more and more like a real possibility each day...
I was going through one such marketing book about a half an hour before my meeting, and one of the points it made was that competition in the market place can be good. The whole Coke v. Pepsi thing actually helped both companies by increasing awareness of the dark cola market. Polaroid shot themselves in the foot by suing and kicking Kodak out of the instant development film industry. I'm not sure why, but then I began to wonder to myself "but what if you could own both "competing" brands? You could market one against the other to create a buzz, get loyal followings for both, and come up the big winner".
Putting that though aside, I went downstairs to my computer to get ready for my meeting. That's when the crazy made-for-tv light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel music would have began if there was a producer in the house. I checked my e-mail, and I had received an e-mail from my former company which I had proposed to work with on this type of technology, back in October.
At the time, I gave them a totally sweet offer that would have cost them nothing, but looking back, the marketing mistake I made was I didn't "find the pain". They didn't have a need, so the potential reward was outbalanced by the perceived risk of working with an outsider.
Wednesday morning, they had their pain. For the past 3 years since I left the company they've been advertising this program that only I knew how to create. Now it seems, someone wants this program, in a big, big way. A typically customer might have 5-8 products they want highlighted. This company wants 50. In short, it's roughly 8 times bigger than the standard project. It's so big, that it would take about 2 months of engineering development time.
So now, a half an hour prior to my first project which is very large in it's own right, my former employer, who only 7 months ago thought this type of technology was not worth pursuing, now has a very interested client.
So only 7 hours from the faux burger incident, I have the potential to have my first two projects, both of which are unusually large. And remember the Pepsi v. Coke scenario I had been thinking about only minutes earlier, it could totally happen here. My brand takes off, I create a project for my former employer with their company brand, and presto! There's a buzz in the industry, and the two leading brands are controlled by yours truly.
Granted, there are about 50 ways this whole thing could go wrong, but I do think God's timing is really interesting. Who knows what the future holds, but our dreams of traveling the world 2-3 months out of the year to do mission work, school Elliana in far off cultures and places etc. seem more and more like a real possibility each day...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Am I In A Made for TV Special (part 1)
5-26-10
The last 24 hours have been drama. Full of highs and lows, victory, and failure, love and um, anger. Here's a recap...
Last night I went to state street in Madison to work after Debbie came home from work. I've got it down to an art. I've got an extra battery, a desktop wireless mouse, headset for talking with my VAs over skype,and a list a mile long. The evening started off pretty well with a conversation with a marketing expert about how to position my brand. He thinks my product could be really big because it's not a "me too" brand. No one else is out there doing this sort of thing, so being the first is always a good place. We discussed a marketing campaign followed by a press release a month down the line after I have my first 5 clients. Etc.
This got me feeling pretty good about the business. By the time the coffee shop closed at 11pm, my mind was buzzing with ideas, and a walked up and down state street for awhile to process things. Then I was off to buffalo wild wings - they're open until 1:45am, and free wifi, plus .45 cent wings on tuesday. Win-win-win.
Anyway, at about 12:30 I felt like I had gotten a lot done, and didn't need to push on to 1:45am, and would come home early. I really felt like things were really starting to fall into place with the business, and things were getting better and better. I probably wouldn't need to do many more late nights out until 2am as things were starting to gel. I decided to take a victory lap up state street, around the capital, and to my car, smoking a victory cigar. I was making my way 'round the capital building, and on my way back down state street to my car when the trouble began.
I got a frantic call from Debbie. She though there was a burglar in the house. Normally she can be a little skiddish at night, but she seemed particularly worried. She was whispering and I could barely hear her, and it was noisy on state street, so that didn't help. She told me to "get home fast" and I tried to explain that if there were indeed a burglar in the house, then me arriving home 30 minutes later despite a highly accelerated pace and sprint to my car would probably not be the best course of action.
We went back and forth for about 10 minutes while I tried to tell her she should call the police if there was truly a home invader, and she told me to wait, and then hush, and then she couldn't talk loud. Meanwhile, I was so distracted trying to determine the legitimacy of the home intrusion that I was unable to find which lot I parked at. She kept asking if I was almost home, and not wanting to alarm her further, I told her I was on my way.
Finally after about 25 minutes of agony on the phone, her fear coupled with her frustration that I was not home resulted in a hanging up of the phone. When I finally got home, there was no burglar, but there was a very angry and scared wife who told me that I should never go to Madison to 2am again, and that I should just get my work done and home, etc. etc.
Not the best way to end the night, but a fitting spot for a commercial break.
The last 24 hours have been drama. Full of highs and lows, victory, and failure, love and um, anger. Here's a recap...
Last night I went to state street in Madison to work after Debbie came home from work. I've got it down to an art. I've got an extra battery, a desktop wireless mouse, headset for talking with my VAs over skype,and a list a mile long. The evening started off pretty well with a conversation with a marketing expert about how to position my brand. He thinks my product could be really big because it's not a "me too" brand. No one else is out there doing this sort of thing, so being the first is always a good place. We discussed a marketing campaign followed by a press release a month down the line after I have my first 5 clients. Etc.
This got me feeling pretty good about the business. By the time the coffee shop closed at 11pm, my mind was buzzing with ideas, and a walked up and down state street for awhile to process things. Then I was off to buffalo wild wings - they're open until 1:45am, and free wifi, plus .45 cent wings on tuesday. Win-win-win.
Anyway, at about 12:30 I felt like I had gotten a lot done, and didn't need to push on to 1:45am, and would come home early. I really felt like things were really starting to fall into place with the business, and things were getting better and better. I probably wouldn't need to do many more late nights out until 2am as things were starting to gel. I decided to take a victory lap up state street, around the capital, and to my car, smoking a victory cigar. I was making my way 'round the capital building, and on my way back down state street to my car when the trouble began.
I got a frantic call from Debbie. She though there was a burglar in the house. Normally she can be a little skiddish at night, but she seemed particularly worried. She was whispering and I could barely hear her, and it was noisy on state street, so that didn't help. She told me to "get home fast" and I tried to explain that if there were indeed a burglar in the house, then me arriving home 30 minutes later despite a highly accelerated pace and sprint to my car would probably not be the best course of action.
We went back and forth for about 10 minutes while I tried to tell her she should call the police if there was truly a home invader, and she told me to wait, and then hush, and then she couldn't talk loud. Meanwhile, I was so distracted trying to determine the legitimacy of the home intrusion that I was unable to find which lot I parked at. She kept asking if I was almost home, and not wanting to alarm her further, I told her I was on my way.
Finally after about 25 minutes of agony on the phone, her fear coupled with her frustration that I was not home resulted in a hanging up of the phone. When I finally got home, there was no burglar, but there was a very angry and scared wife who told me that I should never go to Madison to 2am again, and that I should just get my work done and home, etc. etc.
Not the best way to end the night, but a fitting spot for a commercial break.
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