Nothing to Lose » PR

How the Gift and Resort Industry Can Use Social Media To Increase Business – A Seminar

Brian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:23:19 +0000

This summer has me flying all over the United States, not just exhibiting Sand Shack products at trade shows, but speaking at them as well.

I am conducting hour-long seminars at multiple trade shows in front of buyers for gift and resort merchandise shops across the United States. I am honored and privileged to be the one to educate my industry about how they can use Social Media to increase business.

I am not a Social Media expert – First of all, it is a dirty title, and there are far too many marketers out there that tout themselves as Social Media Consultants…I don’t want you to think that I am one of them. The reason I am conducting these seminars is because I have successfully been using Social Media to increase business for my business Sand Shack. And I am conducting these seminars at trade shows that deal in the same industry that my company is in. Therefore, I am a perfect fit because I can relate to the needs and desires of everything from a small mom-and-pop gift store to a multi-unit retail store.

Despite calling myself out on not being an expert on this subject, I can help your retail or wholesale business devise a Social Media strategy – and help you increase your business as a result of it. If you are interested in my services please send an email to me at brian[at]sandshack.com. I can help with everything from blog setup to advanced consultation.

Below is the presentation I will be giving at the trade shows. If you attended a live seminar and came here to review the material, welcome to my website – feel free to check out sandshack.com and reach out to me with any questions.

There is sound with this presentation – please press the play button below.

Social Media Presentation

View more documents from Sand Shack.

entreTip – Stop Wasting Time, Listen to Podcasts

Brian — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:58:45 +0000

entreTip is a short video clip that provides you with entrepreneurial advice to help you think bigger, work smarter, and grow your business faster.

How many hours do you spend each day listening to music? Do you spend hours in the car or on the plane doing nothing? You should stop wasting time and do something that enriches your mind and improves the way you run your business. Watch today’s entreTip to learn more.

entreTip – Listen to Podcasts from Brian Linton on Vimeo.

Hello From The Virginia Gift Show – Random Updates

Brian — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:34:36 +0000

The Virginia Beach Convention Center

Today, is Tuesday and an episode of The Entrepreneur Road show was scheduled to air today, however, I am staying in a hotel with very week internet connection and can’t upload the video online, so this weeks episode will be pushed back to next Tuesday.

I’m in Virginia Beach right now exhibiting Sand Shack products at the Virginia Gift Show. The first day went fairly well, and took in enough orders to make this show worth coming to…but then the worst storm of the winter swoops through yesterday and all but shuts down this state. If the economy was not enough reason to keep buyers from coming to a tradeshow a little ice on the road is, especially in these southern states. Hey! But I don’t like to complain, and I don’t like complainers. So, instead of worrying about the lack of buyers I’m planning my next attack…which will be with a revamped sales force and myself diligently travelling around the US making crucial sales. March should be very exciting!

Today is the last day of the show, and then I’ll head back up to Philly for a while. I move into a new office next Monday, and I’ll have to tell you more about it and why I got rent and ample resources free for 6 months in a future post.

Recently, I have been getting really into twitter and I am happy to notice a few of brianlinton.com’s regular readers have already found my user name on twitter and are following me. If you are on twitter I encourage you to follow me, I’ll follow you back. I do like to know who I am following, so make sure you leave a thoughtful comment on one of the posts here so that I recognize your name when I see you are following me.

Check me out on twitter @brianlinton

I hope you enjoyed the random updates. If not, sorry, come back tomorrow and I’ll have something posted of more insight and value.

Daily Entrepreneur Tip – Project Update

Brian — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:05:45 +0000

Last week I mentioned that I am launching a new site called ‘Daily Entrepreneur Tip’. I am launching the website to provide short, daily tips on entrepreneurship to help people start and grow their businesses. The only catch is that each tip is 150 words or less. As I mentioned before, brevity is now king of the Internet and people don’t want to read more than they have to, so Daily Entrepreneur Tip (DET) will keep things short, simple, and direct.

As it is Friday and you may not want to read a lot I will keep things here short, simple, and direct.

Daily Entrepreneur Tip’s official launch is March 9th 2009. On that day multiple tips will be published to kick-start things, but thereafter, only one tip a day will be published.

What I would love for you to do now is check out the website if you haven’t done so already. And while there, I would be honored if you subscribed to DET either by RSS reader or email (have daily tips sent straight to your inbox!). Then, when March 9th roles around you will start receiving the daily tips.

Also, if you are an entrepreneur and you feel like you have a tip that is worth sharing, please go here and submit your tip. If it is unique and useful I will find a day to post it and you will receive full credit for it.

Please mention any feedback on the site or the premise for it the comment section. Thanks!

here is the site:

www.DailyEntrepreneurTip.com

Have a happy weekend!

Questions Answered – Feel Free To Email Me

Brian — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:21:11 +0000

Feel free to contact me

Hello from somewhere in the middle of North Carolina. I stopped here last night on my way down to Atlanta for the upcoming tradeshow. I wanted to take today and show you an exchange of emails I had with an aspiring entrepreneur this past week.

I wanted to show it to you for a couple of reasons:

1. The content will be of use for you to read.

2. Encourage you to contact me for a variety of reasons, even just to introduce yourself. I am more than happy to receive your emails and questions (although I prefer article related questions to be posted in the comments section of this blog). Email: brian@sandshack.com. Follow me on twitter @brianlinton.

Thanks Scott for letting me post your email!

________________________________________________________________________________

Hey Brian,

I really can’t say thanks enough for taking the time to write me these long emails. You’re the only person that I know of, doing what I’d love to be a part of. In short, you’re very much an inspiration for me right now. That said, I could probably read & ask questions to your emails back and forth for a long time, so if you need to do other stuff don’t feel like you need to write me back all the time . As for the article on BL.com regarding motivation, I read it this morning and enjoyed it. Particularly the part about not reading the doom & gloom type news, as my dad and I had a fun conversation about that the other day. Well, it sounds like my idea will most likely not come to fruition in the next month of two, but when I get my first prototype I’ll take some pics and send them to you to get your feedback. I hope to have something worth showing by the end of January.

What I struggle to see clearly in mind is the whole, I have an idea, maybe I’ve developed some tooling to make my parts, but where do I make them, market them, what does the business (Legal) side of things look like from paying taxes and so on. You mentioned a trade show, is that how you got the Sand Shack started? Who comes up with your designs? What about manufacturing them? Do you have employees? When you say sales reps, what do you mean by that? have you hired a company that sells based on commission?

Sorry for the load of questions.

I found myself in Barnes & Noble the other day with Jen (my wife), reading a book on inventing & the patent side of that. I started looking for patents that might apply to my idea this morning but didn’t come up with anything.

As for Rich Dad Poor Dad, that was HUGELY inspirational to me! I read it the first time 5 years ago and have read it a couple more times since then. Thanks for the other book suggestions.

Thanks again,
Scott

___________________________________________________________________________

Scott,

Not a problem at all. There will never be a time that I won’t want to respond…having discussions like this is one of the reasons I started brianlinton.com. What’s the purpose of going through something like starting a company if you don’t share what you learn with friends? That being said, I would really love it if we had future discussions on general topics in the comment sections of relevant articles on brianlinton.com, that way everybody else can see them too (and I think comments add value to an article and the site)… Emails or facebook are totally fine though if it is sensitive info or detailed things like your product info that should not be out on the net. So if you ever have one or two questions or just a remark about a topic mentioned in an article, put it in the comment section, if it is something more detailed don’t hesitate to contact me here or at linton.brian@gmail.com.

Here are answers (to the best of my ability) to your questions:

What I struggle to see clearly in my mind is the whole, I have an idea, maybe I’ve developed some tooling to make my parts, but where do I make them?

–Well, I would say it really depends on what it is you want to make. If it is technology based you will probably need to be able to do it yourself or get engineers or other experts to help develop it…if it is something less complex you can probably make a prototype yourself. I do a lot of the designs for Sand Shack myself…I ‘borrow’ designs from similar companies like J Crew or Vineyard Vines. Clothing is fairly simple. I just have pictures of similar products and drawings that I’ve done on the computer. I send them to my manufacturer in China and have samples made. I’ve written a lot about outsourcing if you go here all the articles are listed: click here. So for my products I don’t really need to develop a prototype because it is not complex, and if your product is not complex, pictures and designs may be enough to get a manufacturer to make you samples (click here). Once you have samples made you can start taking orders. I always talk about making products in Asia, but if you do a google search for manufacturers in the US, you can find them here too… I may be able to help you locate a manufacturer once you have your concept finalized.

Where to market them?

–Tradeshows, Store-to Store Selling (click here), getting sales reps, and having a website are all ways to market your product. An entrepreneur should be the best salesperson for their products, and you would be surprised at how receptive stores are to hearing about and possibly buying your new product if you just walk in and talk to them. That is how I’ve made most of my sales, and gotten my largest accounts, for Sand Shack.

What does the business (Legal) side of things look like from paying taxes and so on?

This really depends on what type of product you are selling and where you will be doing business. I would recommend incorporating your company so that it has a legal status as a separate entity, so that you are not personally liable if your company gets sued (or anything bad happens). Sand Shack is a LLC (Limited Liability Company). I think an LLC is usually the best fit for a small startup company, but you will have to read a little bit about the other forms (S Corp and C corp) to determine what is best for your company. Consider registering your company in Delaware though, it is the most favorable state to have your company in…just google Delaware corporation to see why. You will pay taxes based on your profits…that’s something you can worry about once you have money starting to come in.

You mentioned a trade show, is that how you got Sand Shack started?

I actually started Sand Shack by just going into stores in Cape Cod, MA with product in hand and giving a sales pitch. That was probably the most exciting part of starting a company, selling. Tradeshows are expensive and not completely necessary at first. When you start, consider approaching people or stores you think may be interested in your product. It is free. And the worst that could happen is they say no. I am going to Atlanta in 2 days for a show that is running me almost $6,000 followed by another one that is over $3,000 the very next week. Tradeshows therefore come into play once you establish your brand and have a little money to work with. There are however smaller, cheaper shows you could find and consider attending early on.

Who comes up with your designs?
I come up with them and so do some freelance designers…but mostly me…from outside ‘inspiration’ (aka, going to the mall and looking at what the big guys are having success with).

What about manufacturing them?

China, India, and the Philippines. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, and I will be writing a lot more about this topic on my website…and I am launching an eBook about it on brianlinton.com as soon as I finish writing it.

Do you have employees?

I get a lot of freelance help. Employees are trouble because of taxes, benefits, and salary…so I hire people for projects such as web design, tradeshow help (this weekend I’ll have part time employees in Atlanta), summer help, and sales reps. They are not employees, they are subcontractors. Check out this out: click here. At the end of the year you simply report how much you paid each subcontractor on a 1099 tax form. It’s very simple. But I am getting to the point where I will be hiring full time staff this year.

When you say sales reps, what do you mean by that? have you hired a company that sells based on commission?

Yes, I have a number of sales reps. Most are from a company that approached me to represent my products. They are subcontractors too and work solely on 15% commission. They get 15% of whatever they sell. They don’t get paid until I get paid so it is a great scenario.

I hope that all helps, I know a lot of what I just said is pretty general and maybe not exactly what you were looking for. Articles about what I learn will be posted at least every couple of days (but not weekends), that will go into more details about a lot of what you need to know to start your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Keep on hanging out at Barnes and Nobles. I’m there a lot and learn so much from reading books I pick up in their business section.

Also, please feel free to tell other people about brianlinton.com who may be interested in entrepreneurship, I would love to get more people reading it.

One more thing, I just looked up at what I wrote and thought that this would make a great blog post latter this week. Would you mind if I post this on BL.com? That is, just the last email from you and my response. I can cut it down and take your name out if you want. It might be of interest to some other readers. You ok with that?

Thanks again for your email, and never feel hesitant to ask more questions.

have a good night,
Brian

Exploiting vs Leveraging – How To Choose Your Company’s Social Cause and Avoid Exploitation

Brian — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:30:40 +0000

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.

Entrepreneurial Success Part 8: Get People Talking About You and Your Company

Brian — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:02:55 +0000

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!

Entrepreneurial Success Part 7: Always Seek Great PR

Brian — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:11:45 +0000

I’ve been excited to write this segment on Public Relations for a while, and now that I am writing it I realize that covering PR in just one article will not suffice, so don’t expect to find all the answers here. This article, however, will touch on some of the reasons you should always seek great PR and some of the ways to get it. For me, seeking and getting PR is one of the most exciting parts of being an entrepreneur.

5 Reasons You Should Seek Great PR

1. PR is a cost effective way to build your company’s credibility and increase sales.

2. Great PR does not cost much money, and most of the time it is free.

3. PR is better than advertising, and more convincing to your customers

4. PR can take a company from a ‘no name’ to a ‘name’ overnight

5. You can target your customers with great PR

5 Ways To Get Great PR

1. Contact the media directly

As an entrepreneur you have a great story, and there is no shame in asking a media outlet to cover your story. Don’t forget, they have pages to fill and you might be just what they need to fill one.

2. Hire a PR firm

PR firms may be costly, but if they place you in any large media outlet, it may be money well spent. Don’t, however, jump into hiring a PR firm to work with you until you have given it much thought and decided they can accomplish things that you cannot on your own.

3. Conduct an outlandish marketing and PR stunt

Whenever you read about a company doing a crazy thing like giving away gas or buying the Liberty Bell, they are not doing these things just for “fun”. If a company gives away $10,000 in gas they expect to receive press coverage that will result in business much greater than the $10,000 they spent. Do a stunt that fits your brand and budget. Currently I am running a $5,555 Sand Shack giveaway on my company’s website www.sandshack.com. Click here for more details on that.

4. Network and attend important social events

If you don’t put yourself out there and meet lots of people it will be difficult for you to get great PR. By attending important social events you will meet other important people. You may or may not meet somebody that directly leads to a story in the media about you and your company, but the more people that know you, the more likely great PR will come your way.

5. Use online resources to your advantage

There are plenty of free online resources that you can use to help you get great PR. Most recently I have started to use a service offered by the PR Guru Peter Shankman. His service is called ‘help a reporter out’ (HARO.com). Three times a day he sends out an email with a list of queries he receives from reporters, which you can browse and respond to if one is relevant to you or your business. It is free and can lead to great PR. Also, look into free press release services.

PR is the lifeblood of a young company and an entrepreneur’s existence. Without positive and consistent PR many young companies and their founders fail to distinguish themselves and fade away. Don’t let this happen to you!

If you are new to entrepreneurship I will give you a good starting point. Right now imagine what a newspaper or magazine would write about if they did a story on it. Make a list of things that may interest them. Make sure you have a focus and you know exactly how to describe your business. Now, get up and go to your local newspaper’s office (our University paper). Don’t be shy, approach the editor or business editor and pitch your story to them. If you do this you may just be in next weeks paper.

Getting great PR is a lot easier than you may think.

Thoughts and comments on PR? Let’s discuss them in the comment section.

Entrepreneurial Success Part 4: Live What you Sell

Brian — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:43:14 +0000

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.

Entrepreneurial Success Part 3: Blag About Yourself

Brian — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:35:30 +0000

As if we don’t have enough new words that have spawned out of the Internet, I have created a new one, ‘blag’.

Before I go on and explain how the word ‘blag’ fits into Brianlinton.com’s Series for Entrepreneurial Success I must first apologize to my British readers for stealing one of their slang words, or so Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary tells me.

“Blag, n. robbery or theft, often a con or a scam; used in British slang”

So anyhow, Brits aside, I have a new, modern, definition for the word ‘blag’.

Blag v. Tasteful bragging about various accomplishments or skills through the use of a blog. n. A blog used to leverage an entrepreneurs accomplishments and credentials, building their personal brand and promoting their company.

Don't be afraid to tell people what you are good at

Blag is a cross between blog and brag, and it is when a person uses a personal blog to showcase his or her accomplishments or credentials in a certain field. But blagging does not carry the same negative connotation as bragging does; by blagging you help create your online image and personal brand. By approaching blagging carefully, you can promote yourself, garner respect in a certain field, and indirectly promote your business.

The importance of business blogging has increased tremendously in recent years. Many people become viewed as a professional or expert on a certain topic because of their blog. Also, the majority of businesses with websites also have a blog, which they use to better connect with their customers through frequent updates and online discussions. The blog has become an integral part of online business and commerce, and its importance will only continue to grow. Blagging is common in business blogs. For entrepreneurs and businesses, blagging is an important part of their blog.

Entrepreneurs mostly start blogging to promote themselves and their company and indirectly generate revenue from their online activities. These entrepreneurs know that in order to be viewed as an expert in their area of business they must showcase their various accomplishments and abilities in their blog. In this way, even if their blog does not generate a dime in advertisement revenue, the results of their blagging may generate a significant amount of income for their business, and the entrepreneur may even be able to generate additional personal income from being invited to paid speaking events or the publication of a book. A blag is one way an entrepreneur can successfully leverage their accomplishments and generate revenue from them.

Not convinced about blagging? Follow the below four points and you’ll be blagging like a pro and see your personal brand improve and your businesses bottom line grow.

Blagging 101

1. Blag tastefully – Nobody wants to hear you brag about yourself

2. Allow a blag to also be informative – showcase your accomplishments and talents, but at the same time teach people how they can do it too.

3. Don’t blag all the time – Just like in conversation, you know when it is the right time to talk about yourself; same goes for blagging

4. Start a blog so you can keep track of all your accomplishments and knowledge in blag format – You’ll be happy you did.

So will ‘blag’ become a household word like ‘blog’, probably not. But what do you think? Are there any blaggers reading this now? If so, comment and tell us a little bit about how you blag.