American business has been greenwashed. Every business that strives to reach the masses has come up with or attributed their brand to some form of environmental mission.  Many companies simply support environmental works because they believe they will be more appealing to their customers.  Although this could be viewed negatively, I think it is great.  Even if the management of the company doesn’t care, let them throw money at various conservation works…as long as something gets done.

But I believe the greenwashing of American business has inadvertently affected those businesses that truly strive to make a positive impact on the environment.  As a result of so many businesses making some form of environmental pledge, the consumer is less likely to praise any small environmental impact a company is making.  Unfortunately small businesses that are “just” environmentally friendly will no longer stand out in 2010 as they may have in years past.

So what can and should a small business that wants to have a positive impact on the environment and stand out from the crowd do?

I believe the answer is to become more specific with environmental missions. For instance, instead of having a blanket statement that a certain percentage is being donated towards saving the rainforests a company will need to donate money towards saving gorilla babies who have been orphaned due to poaching.  The reason for this is that people are more likely to take note of a business that is accomplishing a concrete goal than a company who has a vague and somewhat confusing, albeit good, environmental mission.

The concept of having a concrete and SPECIFIC mission can be applied to other forms of socially responsible businesses as well.

One company that does not necessarily have an environmental mission has been incredibly successful with a concrete socially responsible mission of donating one pair of shoes to a child in need for every one pair they sell.  As many of us know from a popular AT&T commercial last year, this company is TOMS Shoes.  TOMS has a nice product, but without their concrete and impressive mission, it is not anything very special.  Competing in the highly competitive footwear market and growing as fast as they have is a direct result of the press and publicity they have achieved from their mission, not their products.  If TOMS had a similar mission and took the same amount of money they put in to giving one pair of shoes away for every one they sell and gave it to children in need through lump sum monetary donations, their mission would not be nearly as visible or impressive sounding as it is.  In fact, they may spend far less on giving children shoes than another company that helps children in need…but they must not be very successful, as I haven’t heard of them.

The association between the sale of a product and accomplishing a concrete social or environmental action, rather than a vague monetary donation, is very influential to consumers deciding whether or not to buy a product.

Having a concrete environmental or social mission can be cheap, and a concrete mission will deliver a far greater return on investment than a non-concrete mission that costs the same amount of money.

What do you think? Do you agree with this?  Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section.

I’m selling more flip-flops this fall than I did this summer.

This may seem strange, but it is simple.  I had a fairly large surplus of flip-flops in stock at the end of the summer selling season and had to face a difficult decision.  Either I hold onto my inventory of flip-flops and begin delivering them to stores next spring, or sell them at a steep discount now contingent upon a business taking delivery and paying for them right away.

I have decided to sell them now rather than hold onto them. Have I made the right decision? Lets explore both sides.

Yes – Sell the Inventory Now!
As far as cash flow goes, the answer is a no brainer.  It is better to sell them now at a steep discount (still making some money) than it is to hold onto them for 6 months and sell them at full price.  Inventory is death.  Holding onto any quantity of product for 6 months means that all the money invested in that product has no way of making me more money.  Money needs to be continuously moving in and out of a company in order to make money.  Without that money moving, I don’t make more money on that money for 6 months.  So, if I sell it now at a steep discount, I can use that money to make new money – and 6 months from now I will have probably made more money off of that money than if I had waited to sell the flip-flops at full price.

No – Don’t Sell Now!
Although selling inventory at discount has obvious cash flow benefits, it may not be the smartest decision for the health and longevity of the brand.  When I sell my products at a discount, the stores who buy it will sell it for a discount.  These discounted prices may be interpreted in a variety of different ways – and how people perceive your brand depends on where the discounted products are sold and how it is merchandised. Unloading excessive amounts of discounted merchandise may undermine your relationships with your customers who purchase your product at full price – meaning they won’t buy your product at full price, or at all, next year.  I have strategically unloaded my inventory in a manner I believe will not harm my brand. Furthermore, the products I am selling will not be available for purchase next spring, when the discounted products will be on sold.  But only time will tell if this was the right decision.

Recently, many brands have reluctantly discounted their merchandise.  Those that have not discounted their merchandise during the recession risk losing fans to brands that offer discounts – and when the economy improves, they may not be able to get their fans back.

What are your thoughts on discounted merchandise? Am I a making the right move?

I began personal blogging more than a year ago.  For the first 8 months I was religious about posting, pumping out quality articles three to four times a week. Now I’m lucky if I put out two a month.

Sandshack.org is a new website we just launched with three blogs focused on various ocean conservation issues - These blogs are where I will be spending more of my time in the upcoming months - The ROI potential is much greater than on my personal blog.

Before this summer, I was spending more than 15 hours per week writing articles and working on developing my personal brand online, which I soon realized was robbing my company of my time and making no money.

Throughout much of my blogging career I convinced myself that the more I blogged on my personal website, the more exposure and success my company would obtain.  And although this is true to an extent, I came to the following realization:

If you have a business and you want it to succeed, focusing on a personal blog is not the answer.  There are plenty of other activities that you should be doing to increase company revenue and grow your business.

However, while my personal blogging slowed down, my focus on business blogging and social media use has increased.

More importantly, I forgot about my personal blog.

As a result, my company is making more money.

But I am not completely denouncing blogging or social media – the shift in focus towards my business means I redirected the time and energy I spent on personal blogging to developing a social media presence for Sand Shack.

What are your thoughts on personal blogging? If you run a business (not through your blog), has personal blogging shown a sizable ROI?

When should you sacrifice quality for consistency? Or should you at all?

I have a dilemma.  It is Tuesday and for the first time in 7 weeks I do not have an episode of The Entrepreneur Road Show ready to air today.

Although I have plenty of content from filming my travels across the east coast I don’t believe I could edit and make a high quality video by the end of today.  But instead of not posting anything I decided that my dilemma made for an interesting topic that applies not only to my video show but to all aspects of business.

Being consistent in everything you do is an important part of running a successful business.  At the same time, it is also always important to provide quality products, services, and support in all aspects of your business.

Can a company be successful with one but not the other?  Should an entrepreneur focus on consistency but not quality, or quality but not consistency? Or should an entrepreneur always strive to run their business with consistent quality?

Although The Entrepreneur Road Show is just something I do for fun, and is by no means my business, deciding not to make a haphazard, low quality video, has made me think of the importance of consistency and quality in how I run my company, Sand Shack, on a daily basis.  I realize that today although I may be sacrificing the consistent nature of airing The Entrepreneur Road Show every Tuesday, which my viewers have come to expect, I am preserving the quality of the show and the brand I am creating around it.

So I guess in not posting the video show today I am saying that quality trumps consistency, however, it is best if they coincide.  Do you agree?

Consider reading Entrepreneur Tip – Always Focus on Quality Customer Service No Matter Your Size for further reading on ‘quality’.

Part 1 of a two part series on ‘How to Leverage Your Company’s Social Cause and Increase Business’

A Sand Shack volunteer event in Cape Cod, MA. Don't just say you support something, actually DO something to support it.

Never before have start-ups focused as heavily on various social causes as they do now.  For many young entrepreneurs launching their first company it is almost obvious to them that they need to help the world while building their company. The new generation of entrepreneurs has (so far) successfully mixed conventional and social entrepreneurship, creating hundreds of thousands for-profit companies with strong social causes embedded in their DNA.  People realize more than ever that a company does not have to be a nonprofit organization to accomplish a lot of good.  In fact, attaching your company to a social cause not only has the potential to help the world but your bottom line as well.

If your company is to have a social cause, as an entrepreneur you should be able to leverage it and increase business as a result of it. But, an important thing you must first understand is the difference between leveraging a cause and exploiting a cause.

Leveraging a cause is NOT exploiting a cause.

The above statement is directed towards two different types of people.

The first type of person doesn’t like to use their company’s social cause to increase business because they are afraid they will be exploiting the cause and looked down upon.  These types of people need to realize that using their social cause to increase business is not only good for their company, but also good for the cause they support.  The larger their companies get the more help and exposure they can provide for their associated cause.  This is not exploitation.

The second type of person the above statement is directed towards are those who blindly associate their company with a cause and make false statements and promises that play off the emotions of the public in an effort to increase business.  This is exploitation.  If a company associates themselves with a cause they better intend on actually doing something meaningful for it.

When I first started Sand Shack I did not immediately associate my company’s social cause with the conservation of our world’s oceans and beaches, however, it was something that I very quickly realized I wanted to do.  I grew up in Singapore, which is a tiny (but very powerful) island nation in Southeast Asia.  While growing up I traveled to countless countries, seeing both pristine beaches and waters and those strewn with waste and trash.  From my life experiences I became very passionate about ocean conservation.  So, shortly after starting Sand Shack I realized that the nautical inspired brand I was building and the markets that I was selling my products to would fit perfectly with a cause such as ocean conservation, a cause that luckily was in line with my passions.  Hence, Sand Shack is now strongly associated with ocean conservation. Some of the things we do are organize and host volunteer ocean conservation events during the summer months and donate 5% of all company proceeds to ocean conservation outside the company to help ‘keep it blue’.  Building Sand Shack around this cause has helped us distinguish ourselves as well as grow at a faster pace than we would without it.  But the success of this association is due to a carefully thought out and planned strategy of how to leverage the cause without exploiting it.

So, when you are trying to figure out what social cause you want your company to be associated with, and want to be able to successfully leverage your cause without exploiting it, consider the following points.

1. Choose something you are truly passionate about

• If you choose a cause to support that you don’t care about, you will not only find it difficult to allocate time and money for the cause, but you may also find yourself exploiting the cause and making false promises and statements that you know people want to hear, rather than actually DOING things for the cause. I am truly passionate about ocean conservation, and therefore, it is a great cause for me to associate my company with.

2. Choose a cause that makes sense for your company to support

• The tobacco giant Phillip Morris is a real good example of a company that supports a cause that makes NO sense for them to support.  Every year, Phillip Morris spends billions of dollars on youth anti-smoking programs while continuing to make hundreds of billions of dollars from the sales of cigarettes.  Ok, I don’t smoke and certainly do not support the tobacco industry, but come on…do you really think that Phillip Morris wants to prevent teens from smoking?  On the other hand, Sand Shack is a nautically inspired brand and is sold to stores in coastal resort regions…ocean conservation is therefore a great fit.

3. Choose something other people care about

• Although it would be great to support research and development of furniture that you can’t stub your toes on, it may not be well received by enough people to make it a cause that will help grow your company (although you may get some interesting PR from it).  But at the same time I am not an advocate for associating your company with something that already has thousands of companies associated with; find something that people care about but that not too many people or companies are doing something for.

4. Do something big and meaningful for your associated cause

• Don’t just say, “We support the conservation of our oceans and beaches”, DO SOMETHING to show your support of ocean and beach conservation.  And don’t just do something small, do something, big, bold, and press worthy.  Do something that actually helps your cause.  Remember, every time a story is written about your company and associated cause, it is not only good for your company, but it also helps build awareness for your cause.  We give 5% of Sand Shack’s proceeds to ocean conservation efforts: 5% is a big number. We don’t give a portion of our proceeds, or 1 or 2 percent…we give 5%. It sounds good, and it is good for the cause.

If you decide to associate your company with a social cause think long and hard about what it is you want to support, because the cause you choose should not simply be something that receives a yearly sum of money from your company, it should be visible in every aspect of your company; whether that be the people who work for you, the products you sell, or the press you receive, your cause will become apart of the DNA of your company.  Choose something you will be passionate and excited about for as long as you plan on running your company.  Choose something that needs your support. Choose something that in the long run will increase your business and help grow your company.

Do you have a social cause associated with your company or are trying to figure out what social cause to associate your startup with? Let’s discuss them in the comment section.

Part 5 of Brianlinton.com’s Series for Entrepreneurial Success | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |

There are infinite ways to get people talking about you and your company.

Getting a great story written about you or your company in a newspaper or magazine is not the only way to build awareness and get people talking about your company.  Every single breath you take is another opportunity for you to get people talking about you or your company. As an entrepreneur and leader of your company you are the most prominent, if not only, spokesperson for what you are selling, therefore you need to take advantage and capitalize on every opportunity you have to get people to notice and talk about you and your company.

The list of ways to get people to talk about you and your company is infinite. Every minute you are awake is an opportunity for you to showcase your company and yourself, so instead of listing hundreds of ways here I have put together a short list of things that I have recently done that have gotten people talking.

1. Be Generous

You may have already read about Sand Shack’s most recent marketing campaign; the $5,555 Sand Shack Giveaway.  In this campaign we are giving anybody that comes into contact with Sand Shack a free $5 gift card to be spent online at sandshack.com.  And the best thing about this gift card is that there is absolutely no catch. There are $5 items online and everything comes with free shipping, so those that receive a gift card may purchase something online and get it delivered to them without spending a dime.  This generosity has translated into thousands of new visitors to sandshack.com and hundreds of new accounts created.  The key with being generous is to give something away with no catch, this will get people talking; giving away something with strings attached will make people run away. And obviously, don’t give something away you can’t afford to lose.

2. Speak at Events

Although many people fear public speaking it is one of the best ways to get people to notice you, and if you impress them, to talk about you.  Since becoming a full-time entrepreneur earlier this year, I have had the opportunity to speak at a few conferences.  I was invited to participate in panels that focused on the challenges associated with being a young entrepreneur.  Not only did speaking at these events put me in front of hundreds of earnest listener, it also helped distinguish me from other young entrepreneurs and set me aside as a knowledgeable source on the subject.  Speaking at these events have helped make me more recognized in the business community where these events took place, it also has gotten people talking about Sand Shack and me in positive ways.   Pursue opportunities to speak at events where your knowledge will be perceived as valuable.  If you know things that other people want to know, you will be well received. And whatever you do, don’t underestimate your knowledge!

3. Blog About It

If you’re reading this you’ve read enough of my blog to get to this point and chances are you now know my name (by the URL brianlinton.com) and my company’s name (from the above mention).  By writing quality content that people are interested in you are able to build awareness for your personal and business brand. Although I am still relatively new to blogging, I have already experienced how it can open up doors and present you with opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise of had.  People who find value in what you write about will refer their friends to your website, further expanding your reach and influence.  Furthermore, blogging for me hasn’t just been about writing content that is valuable for my readers, it has helped me become a better entrepreneur by forcing me to write down my thoughts and the lessons I learn.  By writing what I learn down I am more likely to remember it.

4. Do Something Unexpected

When do you actually remember the expected? It is the unexpected that is memorable.  You and your company should seek out ways to do something extraordinary, out of this world, and unexpected.  I hate to keep on coming back to our $5,555 Sand Shack giveaway, but it is the most recent and appropriate example for this point, but I will use a different story about it to illustrate this point.  I was at Temple University in Philadelphia on Election Day (Nov. 4) to drop some things off at the Entrepreneurship office there.  While at Temple I saw that Ben & Jerry’s was giving away free scoops of ice cream to people who voted (or didn’t vote…they couldn’t really tell).  At that moment I realized that this was a great opportunity for me to also ‘reward’ people for voting by giving them $5 gift cards to sandshack.com.  Ben & Jerry’s had already attracted the crowd, I simply had to pass out the cards I already had made up for our giveaway.  Due to the generosity of Ben & Jerry’s and the spirit of Election Day, Sand Shack gift cards were well received and I believe it made more sense to people that they were receiving a free $5 with no strings attached on that day. If they were given a gift card on any other day, many people would question the legitimacy of it.  This free $5 gift card was unexpected by many of the students in line for free ice cream, and as a result of my unexpected decision to distribute cards there, sandshack.com received a thousand unique visitors to the site that night, and it began taking orders from Temple students while I was still standing there passing out cards.

Like I said above, the things you can do to get people talking about you and your company are infinite, I have merely shown you four things I have recently done that have got people talking about my company and me.

I am very interested to hear what you have done that has gotten people to notice or talk about you.  Feel free to mention them in the comment section!

| Part 1: Have a Great Personal Story | Part 2: Be Serial at a Young Age | Part 3: Blag About Yourself | Part 4: Live What You Sell | Part 5: Be the Nicest Person Your Customers Know | Part 6: Always Ask For Business | Always Seek Great PR |

Pepsi's new look. How important is your logo? Not as important as the product or service you sell.

This week Pepsi said they will be changing the look of the Pepsi brand over the next few years. How much Pepsi is spending on this transformation I do not know, but I am sure it is millions of dollars.  This got me thinking about brands and branding and the link between your logo and success.

I like to consider myself an artist, and therefore love to design logos.  When launching my companies I have spent hours upon hours pondering over what to call my new ventures and what images should represent them. And I hate to admit that the amount of time I have spent coming up with the perfect logo could have much better been spent on marketing or selling my new products.  I, like many other entrepreneurs, have committed the all too common mistake of obsessing over my company’s logo and spending far too much time and energy making sure it is ‘perfect’.

If you are an entrepreneur and have just recently, or are in the process of, designing a logo, here is a wake up call for you.  Nobody cares if your logo is red or blue, a lobster or a crab, in italics or bold; ultimately, you will succeed not because you have a killer logo, but because you offer a superior product or service.

But this is not to say your logo is worthless, in fact your logo is an important part of your brands identity, so it is important to have a good logo.  But a good logo is not a complex logo, nor something that needs to cost a huge amount of money to develop. To illustrate, let’s look at the logos of some multi-billion dollar companies who either have very simple logos or logos that are simply the company name.  We don’t have to look at their logos; you should know the logo when you see the company name.

Microsoft
Exxon
Nike
Apple
McDonald’s

The above companies have extremely simple, memorable logos.  Microsoft’s logo is simply the company name in italics while McDonald’s is a golden ‘M’.  We buy these companies products not because of their logo, but because we either need or want what they are selling.

Sand Shack does not sell lobsters, but our simple logo accurately reflects our theme and mission.

So what should you look for when designing your logo?

1. Make it Memorable

2. Make it Unique

3. Keep it Simple

4.  Use Only One or Two Colors

5. Make Sure it Accurately Reflects Your Company

• It is important that your logo reflects what you are selling.  Sand Shack does not sell lobsters, but the blue lobster reflects the nautical theme all our products share as well as our central mission of ocean conservation.

6. Make it Versatile

• Think how it will appear on different surfaces, in grayscale, and on advertisements.

7. Don’t Pay Too Much

• Do it yourself or hire a design company to do it for you, but don’t pay more than a few hundred dollars.

So is Pepsi’s new logo a good change? It might be. And for them, spending millions of dollars on a new look may be worth it.  But most entrepreneurs should not waste too much time or money developing their logo.  Follow the above steps, get a good logo and then put all your time and energy into offering the best possible product or service you can; this is where the true value in your company lies.

Part 5 of Brianlinton.com’s Series for Entrepreneurial Success | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 |

Being nice can be learned. Smiling is one simple way to show your niceness.

Nice is a relative term.  But face it, we all can tell a nice person from a jerk, and if you had your choice, you would prefer to do business with the nicest person possible.

Niceness communicates more to your customers than just how polite or happy you are, it instills confidence in them about the business they do with you and assures them that you are the right person to be working with.

Being nice is probably one of the simplest and most obvious characteristics an entrepreneur should have but it is all too often forgotten about.

Niceness is an integral part of entrepreneurial success, and as an entrepreneur you should always strive to be the nicest person your customer knows. Entrepreneurs are usually the face of their company, and if they are nice, their company will be viewed in good light.

Furthermore, being nice and customer service are directly linked.  Niceness is the most important aspect of good customer service, and good customer service is an integral part of entrepreneurial success.
So if being nice is so important, why aren’t we all nice?

Well, it is tough to be nice if you are not already a nice person. Niceness is a form of communication we learn throughout our lives, and some people don’t learn it too well.  But the good news is that it is something we are not born with, like red hair, but something that we can and do learn.  And it’s never too late to learn, right?

So if you want to be nicer, or if you are just a plain jerk and know it, follow the below steps.  And even if you are nice, paying closer attention to these steps will help you capitalize and monetize on your niceness through increased business.

Steps to Being the Nicest Person – In Your Customer’s Eyes

1.   Be Happy

• Happiness is a sure fire way to niceness

2.    Always Return Calls

• There are few things worse than not returning a customer’s call

3.    Send Thank You Letters

• A hand-written thank you letter for somebody’s business will help cement your nice status with a customer

4.   Smile and Laugh

• These are sure signs of niceness

5.    Never say you ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’

• A positive attitude is a nice attitude

6.   Dress nice

• Dressing nice shows your customer you respect them – nice people respect their customers

7.    Ask for your Customer’s Advice

• Ask your customers what you can do better – this let’s them know that you respect their opinions and value their business and want to serve them better

8.    Show up for Meetings on Time

• Never make excuses for being late – make your customers feel like they are the most important customer to your company

9.   Ask Them How Their Business has Been

• Be careful with this one. You don’t want this question to have the same, often, un personal tone that “How are You” has.  This should be a sincere question delivered as a question and not as a greeting.  I often call a customer just to ask them how their business has been.  Don’t be noisy, but show you care.  It’s the nice thing to do.

10.    Don’t Bash Other Customer’s – Or Anybody

• Be neutral.  Don’t talk politics. Don’t say mean things about other people – EVER.  As soon as you start saying mean things about other people you may lose the trust of the person you are speaking to. Nice people don’t bash others behind their backs.

On a personal note, many of Sand Shack’s customers have told me they buy our jewelry because they like me and think I am nice, and some of these customers have even told me that if a sales rep takes over my job of interacting with them they don’t know if they would still buy Sand Shack’s products.  I attribute my recent entrepreneurial success to my persistent effort to be the nicest person my customer’s know.

Don’t lose out on business because you don’t say ‘thank you’ or serve your customers with a smile.  It is just plain dumb not to be nice.

Did I miss an important step in the above ‘Steps to Being the Nicest Person – In Your Customer’s Eyes’? Let us know in the comments section.

| Part 1: Have a Great Personal Story | Part 2: Be Serial at a Young Age | Part 3: Blag About Yourself | Part 4: Live What You Sell | Part 5: Be the Nicest Person Your Customers Know | Part 6: Always Ask For Business | Part 7: Always Seek Great PR | Part 8: Get People Talking About You and Your Company | Part 9: Sell Something you are Passionate about and can Easily Get |

Sand Shack's Blue Lobster Logo. A blue lobster is extremely rare in nature.

Sand Shack’s logo is a blue lobster. They are a 1 in 2,000,000 occurrence in nature. Therefore, it is a symbol of how rare a company Sand Shack is and how our products are superior to other companies’ products. Furthermore, it symbolizes the rare elements of the ocean that the Sand Shack is dedicated to protect. This is not to say that we all don’t love eating lobster, but without finding a balance between use and protection of the ocean, we would lose the opportunity to see such a rare creature as seen in the below video, and we would also miss the opportunity to enjoy seafood, scuba diving, and sushi.

In essence, Sand Shack is not about being overly protective of the oceans and beaches, but finding a balance between what we take and what we give back. We take pearls and some shell for our jewelry we sell, but we give 5% of the proceeds back to go towards ocean conservation.

Now enjoy the video of our mascot. Ain’t he cute?

Part 4 of Brianlinton.com’s Series for Entrepreneurial Success | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 |

If you owned a Toyota dealership but you drove around in a Hyundai, what do you think a potential customer would think?

As an entrepreneur you have to live what you sell. If you sell a certain type of car you better drive that car. Showing confidence in your product or service that you sell is of utmost importance when a potential customer is deciding whether or not to buy from you.

I wanted that hat so bad, and I'm not even a tennis fan.

This may mean making sacrifices. One of the main products I make for Sand Shack is our Sand Shack brand baseball caps. I love them, I really do. But this summer there was a Lacoste hat that I just had to have. It was the white one with the crocodile logo and mesh backing. Andy Roddick wears it on tour. So a few weeks ago I succumbed to my desires and bought one for $55. And as I sat in my room with the hat on and tags still hanging off I felt so good, it fit perfectly and I looked so good in it.

_____________________________

Last week I returned that hat. It was hard to part with it, but I knew it was the right thing to do. 30% of my company’s sales this summer were from our hats. How could I possibly bring myself to wear a Lacoste hat in public when I am trying to build my own brand? I couldn’t, it wouldn’t do anything for Sand Shack; and if it did anything it would be hurting my brand if a customer saw me wearing it. It could be seen as me not having enough confidence in my own products to wear them in public.

This may be extreme; after all it was just a hat. But it was my product, my design, and my brand that I disowned when I donned that Lacoste hat.

You can wear whatever hat you want, as you probably don’t sell hats, but think about what you sell and always make sure you use your product or service. I say services because this applies to them too. If you sell financial advice you better adhere to the same advice you are selling.

Always live what you sell. This picture appeared on the front page of the Cape Cod Times over the summer. The red plaid hat was our best seller.

This is all obvious, but it is essential for entrepreneurial success. You will fail if you don’t live what you sell. All great entrepreneurs are passionate about their products and you can see it in the way they live. Think about Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and many more.

As I come out with more and more products I will continue to wear my products with pride. Eventually I will be able to clothe myself completely in Sand Shack apparel.

3 Reasons to Live What you Sell

1. You show your customers you are confident in your products or services

2. You will be able to find flaws in your product or services, and fix them

3. As an entrepreneur you are the face of your company, always using your products or services means you are a walking advertisement

Are there any other benefits in living what you sell? Let’s hear what other people sell, or are thinking of selling, and how you live or will live what you sell.

| Part 1: Have a Great Personal Story | Part 2: Be Serial at a Young Age | Part 3: Blag About Yourself | Part 4: Live What You Sell | Part 5: Be the Nicest Person Your Customers Know | Part 6: Always Ask For Business | Part 7: Always Seek Great PR | Part 8: Get People Talking About You and Your Company | Part 9: Sell Something you are Passionate about and can Easily Get |