How to Create a Vision Board for Business Ideas on Pinterest http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224006
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How to Start Conversations That Make Instant Connections
How to Start Conversations That Make Instant Connections http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223993
Why Your Business Needs an Operations Plan
Why Your Business Needs an Operations Plan http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223973
7 Tips to Successful Fundraising for Young Entrepreneurs
7 Tips to Successful Fundraising for Young Entrepreneurs http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223960
Apple’s Simple Marketing Manifesto
Apple’s Simple Marketing Manifesto
The first glimmer of what was to become tech giant Apple Co. appeared in 1971 when electronics engineer Steve Wozniak developed the circuit board that would evolve into the Apple I computer. But in Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Wozniak says Apple probably never would have existed had it not been for Jobs’ vision for selling the computers in consumer-focused packaging.
In the book, Isaacson describes an encounter between Jobs, Wozniak and Wozniak’s father, Jerry, a rocket scientist who usually discounted the merits of anyone who wasn’t an engineer. During the exchange, Jerry told Jobs (in slightly more aggressive language) that he hadn’t actually created anything and didn’t deserve a 50 percent stake in the burgeoning business. To that, Jobs, still a teenager, began to cry, and said he’d walk away and let Wozniak run the operation himself.
But Wozniak understood the harmony between himself and Jobs, and knew the company wouldn’t exist without Jobs’ entrepreneurial drive. “It was Jobs who had turned his [Wozniak’s] ingenious designs into a budding business,” Isaacson writes.
Related: Steve Jobs’ Surprising First Business Venture
Indeed, it was Jobs who pioneered Apple’s customer first, a “computer for the rest of us” marketing plan. Instead of creating products they wanted to make, Jobs aimed to produce products that addressed consumers’ needs, feelings and motivations.
By 1977, as Jobs and Wozniak were frenzied, taking orders for the Apple I and looking for venture capital as they developed the Apple II, the men brought on investor Mike Markkula into the business. In addition to injecting $250,000 into the company and becoming a third partner, Markkula penned “The Apple Marketing Philosophy,” a three-point call to action that has served the company well. It can also be an example for other startup businesses.
Point No. 1: Empathy
Apple should strive for an “intimate” connection with customers’ feelings. “We will truly understand their needs better than any other company,” Markkula wrote.
Point No. 2: Focus
To be successful, Apple should center its efforts on accomplishing its main goals, and eliminate all the “unimportant opportunities.”
Point No. 3: Impute
Apple should be constantly aware that companies and their products will be judged by the signals they convey. “People DO judge a book by its cover,” Markkula wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.”
What do you think has been critical to Apple’s marketing strategy? Let us know by leaving a comment belowhttp://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220603
Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success
Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success
BY Carmine Gallo | Steve Jobs’ impact on your life cannot be overestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect — computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs’ greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success. Over the years, I’ve become a student of sorts of Jobs’ career and life. Here’s my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our “inner Steve Jobs.”
1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, “I’d get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about.” That’s how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.
2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, “Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?” Don’t lose sight of the big vision. Related: Why Entrepreneurs Love Steve Jobs
3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn’t have any practical use in his life — until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don’t live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.
4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the “A-Team” on each product. What are you saying “no” to?
5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?
Related: 10 Things to Thank Steve Jobs For
Related: 10 Things to Thank Steve Jobs For
6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can’t communicate your ideas, it doesn’t matter. Jobs was the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.
7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It’s so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don’t care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you’ll win them over. There’s one story that I think sums up Jobs’ career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that’s the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas. Related: Remembering Apple’s Steve Jobs
Empowering Women 