The child prodigy Adora Svitak gave a talk at TED about what we adults need to learn from kids. We need more childish thinking and wild imagination to dream up a better world. I love the part where she said that kids don't care about how hard something is or the limitation but rather they just think about good ideas. Check out the talk below.
Taking sides
In politics, you'll often see parties taking the opposite sides not to stand for what they believe in but rather just to not be on the same side as their opponent. They are taking sides for the sake of taking sides. I'm all for doing things differently and going against the status quo as long as that's what you truly believe in. However, just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean they are your opponents. There can be more than 2 sides in a fight.
Maybe we are heavily influenced by sports where it's always between 2 opposing teams or by the media that tend to over-generalize the demographics, we tend to believe that if you are not on the winning side then you are on the losing side.
I think that it's important to be able to take sides and make a stand for your ideology, principle or argument. Just remember that there can be more than 2 sides and the other sides aren't always your enemy.
Let's go on an adventure!
Do you know anyone who seems to be doing something new and exciting every time you meet him or her? These are the ones that try all the latest stuff, visit exotic places or attempt yet another seemingly impossible project. For most of us, life is pretty routine and bland. We do pretty much the same stuff over and over again every single day. Why not try to sprinkle some spice and inject a little fun into your life by doing something completely different and unexpected?
You could get your boss to agree to try a new tool to improve your productivity or plan a road trip over the weekend. You could also organize an charity event or start a club for your passion.
There's no one better to lead your life than yourself. You could go on an adventure or lead a boring life. It's your call.
Blogging is marketing
Someone asked if I'm using blogging as some sort of marketing strategy. The simple answer is yes. In fact, if you remember the picture below from REWORK, everything you do is marketing.
You might be blogging to talk about your personal life, to share your passion or to improve your writing skills. Whatever the reason may be, since your blog is public, you are directly or indirectly marketing yourself.
This is true for the other online presence you have like Twitter and Facebook. Marketing isn't just about the product. It's also about who made it, why it was made and how it was made.
I'll encourage everyone to start a blog because it's really free marketing. However, you need to realize that everything you post on it will affect not just your personal life but your professional life too. When it comes to marketing, everything matters.
First and last impression
When someone visits your blog, depending on the font you used, the theme's color scheme, your photo or the things you blogged about, they can and will form an impression of you. It will probably be a stereotypical assessment but since it might be their last impression, that will be what they think of you.
This is the reason why I'm very careful about things I do online. As I said before, the web never forgets so I wouldn't one someone to stumble on my rant on my blog and have the wrong impression.
Every online interaction someone have with you could be their first and last. I suggest you make it a good one.
Googling skills
If I'm interviewing someone, I would most definitely test their googling skills. The skill to look for information online, usually by using search engines like Google. Google doesn't only deliver facts from sites like Wikipedia, it also provides definition of words, perform calculations and even tell you how's the weather outside.
As a blogger, I use Google as a dictionary. As a programmer, I use it to locate references, documentations and examples of code. As a gamer, I find strategy guides and game related articles by googling.
If one day, for some reason Google cease to exist, my productivity would plummet. But until then, I'll keep on googling for everything and anything.
Complements
Complements or complementary goods are products that are consumed together and if either of the product's price increase, demand for both products will be reduced. A common example would be a computer and the Operating System (e.g. Windows) that comes with it. Because complements are consumed together, there is always this tension between the products to reduce the price of the other in order to increase demand. Dell would want Windows to be cheaper so it can reduce the overall cost of the PC while Windows would also benefit from cheaper PC which will sell more Operating Systems.
There are some products which must be consumed with another. These are called perfect complements and the simplest example would be the left and right shoe. The sales ratio between them is always 1 to 1 because you buy them in pairs.
In order to control the price and demand, many companies will try to control both ends of the complements. Twitter's recently bought Tweetie (a 3rd party Twitter Client) to do just that. A cheaper (free) and better Twitter client will allow more users to use Twitter.
Complements can be your best partner or competitor. If you are just starting out, embracing your complements is one way to improve the attractiveness of your product. Microsoft funded most of their XBox games for that very reason. However, Microsoft is also been known to destroy their complements by bundling complementary apps directly in their products.
Many people cited their reason to buying the iPhone is for the thousands of applications in the App Store. In this case, the iPhone and the applications are complementary. If you are still interested in reading more about complements, check out these articles by Chris Dixon.
Raising kids to be entrepreneurs
This an awesome talk by Cameron Herold at TEDxEdmonton about why we should encourage kids to be entrepreneur. I love his insight on allowances for kids. He argues that allowances train kids to expect a steady income like a paycheck. It trains them to get a job instead of starting their own venture. Instead of allowances, he tell his kids that they can look for tasks and jobs they want to do to get paid. Then they negotiate the price for the job. This teaches them about how to look for opportunity and improve their negotiation skills. Half the profit is then channeled into a bank account and later used to invest in stocks. They are taught the importance of savings and investments at such early age.
I wish I was raised this way. Every parent out there need to watch this.
Get permission first
While I was enjoying one of my favourite food Hokkien Mee, the owner came over and asked for my contact number. She says that they might be moving to another location and would like to keep me informed. I thought that was a brilliant idea and gave her my number. It might sound as if I just allowed someone to spam my phone but that isn't the case. She specifically asked for my permission to keep me informed about something I'm obviously interested in. Assuming she keep her end of the deal by not spamming me with unrelated stuff, this is a win win situation.
Traditional marketing approaches like advertising tries to interrupt as many people as possible. A better approach would be Permission marketing (a term coined by Seth Godin) which focus on building your permission base first before marketing to them.
This approach feels more personal for the customer and also more efficient for the marketer since they are marketing directly to someone who are interested in their product. And once you have a group of people who are willing to listen to you, you will have a better chance to turn them to a regular and loyal customer.
If you are running a business, writing a blog or starting a group, ask your prospective targets for their permission first before spamming them. They'll thank you and might actually listen to what you have to say.
Growing is for everyone
In a business, growth can come in different forms. You can grow your customer base, increase your production capability or you can expand into other revenue streams. Ultimately, a business aims to be profitable and growth is one of the ways to increase profits. As an individual, you will also need to grow not just in the physical sense. You can read books to increase your knowledge or invest in better equipment so that you can perform better in certain tasks. You could also explore uncharted territories to experience something new.
Like how companies strive to increase their stock value, you should also do what is required to improve your own personal value. Growing isn't just for kids, it's for everyone that wants a better life.