1. Introduction
There was an old adage that I used to believe and still believe, which was: “A pretty face hides a multitude of sins”. It was a saying attributed to the first wife of King Solomon.
It is probably one of the most misused, abused and misunderstood truisms in the world.
But it is also perhaps the most powerful one. It has kept many a man from marrying his second or third wife (or even fourth or fifth) and it has encouraged him to marry his mistress right after he’s had sex with her (and sometimes before, if he’s ready for it).
It works both ways, as many have discovered since.
The point is, you need to understand what people think they want and then translate that into your terms. If you do not understand what people think they want and then translate that into your terms, then you are making decisions based on your own perceptions rather than on what people actually want out of your product or service or brand. You are not actually listening to them for long enough to get their feedback and inspire them toward an open mind toward your product or service.
To achieve this requires you…
1) understanding who your customers are and where they are coming from 2) knowing where they live 3) being able to identify their needs 4) being able to successfully communicate with them 5) building relationships 6) understanding what motivates them 7) being able to listen 8) getting people excited about doing business with you 9) knowing how much value you can add 10) leveraging data 11) creating simple campaigns 12) maximizing ROI 13) having a good attitude 14) running experiments 15) staying focused 16) keeping on top of all sorts of things 17 ) building up credibility 18 ) working hard 19 ) never giving up 20 ) always being open 21 ) always listening 22 ) always being there 23 ) building strong relationships 24 ) staying calm 25 ) always smiling 26 ) knowing when not to push 27 ) never letting go 28 ). . . . . 29 ). . . . 30 ). . . 31 ). ). 32 ). 33 ). 34 ). 35 ). 36 ). 37 ). 38ة بأنيل بكرة – تبقى من الجدارتين 34 و 40ة بالعروس 41 و 44ة
2. The who, what, when and where
This is an article I wrote a while back to help newbies find their way through the process of launching a product.
It’s a little different from what you might be used to reading. In fact, it’s not really an article at all: it’s more like an essay on my own experience of launching four different products in the last few years.
I hope it helps someone else out there, who has been staring at your screen for half an hour wondering what the heck is happening and how to do it.
3. The dolled up divas
There has been a lot of recent buzz about “the dolled up diva”, but from a pragmatic perspective, it is a misnomer. The term makes the assumption that women are more concerned with what they wear than men are; and that women who wear “dolled up” clothes are more successful.
The truth is clearly somewhere in between these two extremes:
• Women who dress like their mother are not necessarily more successful than women who dress like their daughter (or vice versa)
• Dolling up is not a sign of success, but rather an indicator of how much money you make in return for your efforts (in addition to the value of your product)
As an example, my wife wears a kind of uniform: black pants and skirt with a nice jacket to work. It doesn’t really matter what kind of jacket she wears: if you see her in it she is a success. And she can take her jacket off at any time without compromising her success — even if she isn’t wearing it for work. Make no mistake about it: I would be nuts to think that this is the only way my wife dresses — or that her modestly dressed colleagues dress any differently. She dresses this way because it makes her feel better—and better than most people who don’t put as much effort into looking good.
#AllThingsDollingUp #AllThingsDolledUp #EffortsDidNotProduceBusinesses
4. What is a dolled up diva?
“Dolled up divas” is a term that was coined by Erich Schuurman of the Inc. magazine to describe those who simply don’t seem to get it about what it means to be “fun”. They are the ones who are so convinced of their own brilliance and importance that they make no effort to share it with others.
In any industry, we have the people who think they know everything, and the ones who think they don’t know anything. The latter group tends to dominate most industries: scientists, writers, economists, marketers…
The former group is the more common class and tends to dominate almost all industries: entertainers, dancers (and especially singers), corporate executives, accountants. It is this second group most of us work with every day that makes life interesting. Most of these folks are as focused on their own work as they are on their personal lives. They want you to believe that they can do no wrong; that they have mastered all there is to know about their craft (and in some cases not even know there is anything left to learn). So imagine them sitting around in a room full of other people who have nothing but time on their hands and think nothing but themselves – or worse yet – whom you might call “friends” — just reading about your product for ten minutes at a time over coffee or lunch. Imagine them muttering to each other things like “oh my god… hipsters…” or “I wouldn’t drink that if I were you” or “I don’t think I could live one day without my iPhone…”
If you are lucky enough to have such an individual working for you as a colleague, boss or friend; here is where both sides will benefit from listening carefully:
• You can learn something valuable from this person not only about what his/her thoughts on your product may be (and therefore how you can use it), but also how he/she thinks outside the box when it comes data analysis, customer feedback, business insights etc…
• They might just give you fodder for your next pitch!
5. Examples of dolled up divas
Here is a quote from the intro to John’s book, The Doomed MBA (). (italics are mine)
“The funny thing about business is that all entrepreneurs want to be dolled up divas, but all divas want to be entrepreneurs.”
It’s true. I see people dolled up with a sort of “I’m really good at this and I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I just have great ideas.” It never works out that way. I see people fail because they don’t believe in themselves enough, or are too confident and not humble enough to have a plan for failure—or because they believe their time is worth more than others’ time, and they try to hustle their way out of trouble. It never works out that way.
Most entrepreneurs are decent human beings and some are genuinely brilliant (the latter don’t get the same level of self-congratulatory praise), but let’s face it: most entrepreneurs aren’t particularly interesting people in real life, at least not compared to most people we know on Facebook or YouTube or wherever. They are more like the bottom two thirds of our class at college than any random person you could meet on the street.
If you’re an entrepreneur, here’s something you need to remember: there is no market where your product will ever sell well no matter how much attention you give it; markets exist in the minds of customers and value must be defined by them (not the other way around). Just like there isn’t a market for a dolled-up diva, there isn’t one for an entrepreneur. If your product doesn’t fit into someone else’s vision for how things should work as much as your own vision does, it won’t sell—and if you think that’s what every startup needs to do — well… that has nothing to do with how things work in reality, and everything to do with how things work in your head, whether or not anyone else agrees with it . That being said: if nobody agrees with your idea , most likely nobody will buy it either .
6. Conclusion
This is a song from the series “The Sound of Music”, written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It is sung by the childhood friends, Maria and Liesel, as they try to win over the heart of their teacher Dannemann. The lyrics are
We are sad because we love you and we want you to be happy
But I think that you will be happy when I get a perfect rating on my algebra test
So please don’t get mad at me if I say that it takes two to make a mess
We are sad because we love you and we want you to be happy
But I believe that it takes two to make a mess
Let’s do our best work and keep our minds open
You think that I know how you feel but don’t worry; if I were your mother I would tell you right away That this is not just an attempt at writing for your class, but for all of us
And what about him? Don’t forget about him who didn’t have any problems with math!
I am very sorry because he doesn’t really care about his grades, but he does care about his folks And all he has done is send them ever so often… And what about him? Don’t forget about him who didn’t have any problems with math! [Sung in unison] We can do better than this! Listen now! You must do your best work And never underestimate the value of these little girls Are they not great writers? They made some mistakes We do not want them to go down in history But they just want some good grades too! So please don’t let them down Are they not great writers? They make some mistakes We do not want them to go down in history But they just want some good grades too! So please don’t let them down Let’s start by singing Once again (and again) Are they not great writers? They make some mistakes We do not want them to go down in history But they just want some good grades too! So please don’t let them down (Let’s start again) Let’s start by singing Once again (and again) This is just an attempt at writing for everyone It isn’t really for anyone In the past people had many names But now this is just an attempt at writing for everyone It isn’t really for anyone In the past people had many names But now it’s