Three things I’ve already learned while not running a company

Posted on January 9, 2013 by markkolier

CheetahNote:  This post first appeared in December on the Vistage.com business blog.  

It’s been six months since my former company began the process of dissolution. While the fallout will have an impact on my former employees, production providers, me and my family for some time to come, my day-to-day professional life is quite a bit different than it has been for many years. In thinking about the differences I’ve identified three of them that may not seem that large but combined together have helped me manage my own psyche during this unusual time in my professional career.

1) When you don’t have a regular and predictable income focus and making some cash.

Sounds too simple right? But I’ve been very conscious of my own productivity especially in protecting myself from being active but not necessarily productive. I wrote about that last year http://wp.me/pn6jX-EW and the post was admittedly a bit biographical. Being concerned about my own situation and not as concerned with the fates of my own team members has been liberating in a number of ways. It’s not that I’ve stopped caring about the people that used to work for me. I still do and will continue to try to help them in any way I can and expect that I am far from unique in that behavior.

While I am balancing what at times feels like ten different things at the same time (things like maintaining and leveraging longstanding personal relationships, building new contacts, looking for the right opportunities, just to name a few), I realize that winning a few assignments even if small is very important both for whatever cash they might throw off as well as having that feeling of winning. The feeling of winning should never be underappreciated. The cash is not flowing in quite yet but I’m a lot closer than I was back in July.

2) Leverage your new-found quickness.

Not having to pull the whole boat is like losing fifty pounds. It makes you so much quicker. There is flexibility in my schedule now that I’ve not experienced in many years. Being able to explore things that in the past I might have passed on due to personal time and resource constraints has taken me down paths I would have missed. Some of these paths have interesting potential and that’s both exciting and motivating. I will remember that and try to keep those paths open once things are more settled and ‘regular’.
Caution: To get the most out of your quickness you must be ultra-organized. If you have many balls in the air at the same time the last thing you can afford to do is drop one since you don’t necessarily know which of the opportunities might turn out to be the golden one.

3) Networking for new relationships is good but connecting and reconnecting with business associates is much more effective and a better use of your time.

If I’ve heard one thing from just about everyone it’s ‘tap into your network’. While I had that notion already the universality of that advice shows its power. In fact I’ve not yet had one person tell me to attend more networking events in order to meet new potential business partners and contacts. At the same time I receive countless offers to attend networking events in various industries. While there can be value in going to networking events to meet new people, the few that I have attended have been less than worthwhile when it comes to making new connections of any real value.

Since my time (and your time and everyone’s time) is so precious and valuable, the ROTI (return on time investment) has to be considered for everything I do. Meeting a friend, former colleague, or seeing someone that you’ve been personally referred to should be viewed as being much more valuable than attending a networking event where you may or may not know people. Ask yourself what you are will be really getting out of a networking event. Spending one on one time with someone is almost always the better choice.

It’s a brave new world for me and there are a number of other things I’ve learned while not running a company. I’ll share more when I have had more time to assess the impact of those things. What’s become evident to me is that support of my family, friends and colleagues has been invaluable during this time of transition and I remain both optimistic and excited about the new and different opportunities that are coming my way. I know it won’t be easy but that’s ok, I never expected it to be easy.

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A $10 bottle of wine isn’t what it used to be

Posted on January 7, 2013 by markkolier

wine storesIf you hate or don’t drink wine at all this post will be of little interest. However, if you have been a regular consumer of wine you already know that these are the days of wine and roses for wine consumers. Consistent and good wine, sometimes very good wine, has never been less expensive. I’ve noticed this more since the aisles down which I travel in the wine stores are lower priced than when I was shopping ten years ago.

As I first thought maybe my tastes had changed, perhaps becoming either dulled or less sensitive. But I recently had a bottle of 1994 Opus One and it was AMAZING! There was no chance of mistaking that bottle for anything but a spectacular wine and nothing like the wine that I drink most every day – figuratively speaking of course.

There are plenty of reasons why this can be the case if you accept my premise. Probably the most important is overall category competition which would be closely aligned with the laws of supply and demand. There is a lot of supply and in the U.S. modest demand at best. Also keep in mind that the average cost of a bottle of wine in the U.S. is something less than $8.00. While $2 Buck Chuck (the Charles Krug wine of several years ago) is no longer $2, more wine is sold for under $5.00 per bottle than over $5.00 per bottle. Felix Salmon wrote an excellent blog last September on the size of the U.S. wine market – In the article Eric Asimov of the New York Times notes that ‘$20 is the sweet spot” but for the consumer I think that number is getting closer to $10.

I remember my father always telling me that nobody can tell you what tastes good to you. And if it’s only a $100 bottle of Caymus Cabernet then I hope you make a lot of money. If you’re like the rest of us the trick is always to find the best bang for the buck that can possibly be had.

One of things that make wine expensive is perceived exclusivity. I recall doing it myself where I would find and love a bottle of $25 or $30 wine which only had 300 cases and feel like I was in on a secret. A cool thing that I could share with my friends since it was difficult to obtain. It leads to the thinking that craft and small batch winemaking is the only way to make great wine. It’s obvious that if there were 100,000 cases of Opus One each year it would not sell for well over $100 bottle retail (not at the restaurant).

Modern winemaking techniques have made it easier than ever to produce a consistent and better quality bottle of wine be it white, red or rose. This doesn’t mean that there are not horrible and insipid (often both at the same time) wines being consumed every day. Sadly that is still the case and truly is a shame. With a little research and the right store you can test your way through good wines at far lower prices than ever before. And for me finding something I like to drink for less than $10 is both fun and a worthwhile endeavor.

I think it’s even a little bit cool – don’t you?

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Tablets and mobile phones are NOT the same experience

Posted on January 3, 2013 by markkolier

tablets and smartphoneesOver the past month I feel as if I have had countless conversations with on the subject of people who use mobile devices and tablets to search and purchase goods and services. In looking at Google Analytics data for our various clients, it’s obvious that with each passing day people are increasingly comfortable and interested in the immediacy that smartphones and tablets offer when it comes to searching for things to buy that interest them.

What’s fast becoming a problem is the lack of a singular design for a ‘mobile’ page, one that can be used to deliver a smartphone experience as opposed to a tablet experience. As anyone that has a smartphone and/or tablet will tell you the experiences on the two different device types are vastly different.

The statistics are very telling. One of our clients had more than 70% of its online pay-per-click sales attributable to the mobile channel search that resulted in a sale. You’d think the company had a mobile application or website. You’d also be wrong. Yet despite that people came and purchased. While more of those mobile PPC sales occurred on tablets than smartphones, the experience on the tablet (not to mention the smartphone) has not been optimized but people soldier on when they are in their own preferred channel.

The mobile applications for this client are being built as of this moment. But keep in mind that the mobile experience designed for a smartphone will be optimal for that environment but it would be different if the mobile experience were to be designed for a tablet. When it comes to designing mobile content one size definitely does not fit all. Apps are great because they can deliver an experience optimized for the device. .Mobi sites recognize the type of device but if the design is a catch-all mobile design it will need to be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator – the small screen of a smartphone.

When designing your content for mobile devices companies have to consider what most popular activities are and will be for their site. If it’s viewing photos and content then make that the focus of the experience and build around that. If it’s viewing a product list and making a subsequent purchase then make that experience as easy and intuitive (i.e. FAST loading and fast navigation) as possible. I know this sounds too basic and too simple as in – what company wouldn’t do that?

Handling the multi-channel world is more complicated than it’s ever been. Make the extra effort to get it right the first time and you’ll never be sorry. Don’t take the shortcut and vow to fix it later.

You agree?

 

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Will 2013 be the year the metric system takes hold in the United States?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by markkolier

metric-systemThe short answer is – NO!  We’ve all seen this movie many times haven’t we? I was thinking about this yesterday as I plan a trip overseas for early 2013. Every time I visit another country that has the metric system (seemingly ALL of them) the disadvantage that Americans face when traveling is palpable as well as being a pain in the neck. When I was a kid growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s schools were teaching the metric system with the idea that the U.S. would adopt the metric system since it was used all over the world. In fact today, Americans are part of a very exclusive club – along with Liberia and Myanmar as the only countries not fully adopting the metric system (the UK is more metric than it isn’t so I did not include it).

The United States has recognized the metric system for more than 145 years. In fact in 1971 there was a plan to transition the U.S. to the metric system over the course of ten years. That obviously did not happen. Why? It turns out there are a number of reasons. If you are interested there is an article worth reading on How Stuff Works – that describes the history of why the U.S. isn’t on the metric system.

Since I travel a good deal I still have to keep in mind that a meter is roughly 39.37 inches, a kilogram is roughly 2.2 pounds, and a kilometer is .62 miles and to convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius (centigrade) you subtract 32 and multiply by 5/9 or .55. Celsius back to Fahrenheit is easy – 9/5 (or 1.8) x Celsius plus 32. I do these calculations in my head and it makes my head hurt. 72 degrees F is 22C. Since American performance in math and sciences has been declining in relation to a number of countries it amazes me that a protocol of mental gymnastics is required when Americans travel overseas.

Changing to the metric system costs money. This is probably the number one reason it has not yet occurred. That Americans are stubborn (we Americans prefer to use the term fiercely independent) is no secret to countries around the world. The U.S. Congress failure to make adoption of the metric system mandatory is the other primary reason.

As the world moves into the ‘global economy’, the U.S. has more motivation than ever to make the move. That the metric system is easier to use (i.e. better) is indisputable. At least when it comes to sports the metric system has infiltrated the American mindset – track and field and swimming are good examples of how the transition has been made. To say that adoption of the metric system by the United States is long overdue would be the understatement of the century. (repeated)

In the meantime Americans traveling abroad as well as doing business will have to continue to have to calculate things like temperature – is 13 degrees Celsius cold or warm? (Neither, it’s 55 degrees F) Distance – 142 KM is how far? (229 miles). I’m betting the world is saying with a snicker – ‘Good luck with that’.

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Christmas to New Year’s – maybe my favorite week of the year

Posted on December 24, 2012 by markkolier

Businessman talking on telephone with feet upI was thinking about that yesterday. How here on Christmas Eve (a Monday this year) I actually looked forward to going to my office since I knew most people were either not working or not working the way they usually do. I realized then that there is no other week in the entire year as business-relaxed as the week between (Christmas and New Year’s). Because Christmas Eve is a Monday here in 2012 it actually extends a couple of days. In fact not much work will have been done between the evening of Friday December 21st and Tuesday January 2nd, 2013. It’s about as long a period of non-productivity as can be had during the holiday season. And I love it.

I love the fact that although my family did not go on ‘vacation’ for the holidays, I get up later than usual (a half hour seems like hours), and move at an overall slower pace than at any other time of the year. If clients, colleagues, and vendors reach out to contact about something, there is not the expectation of a an immediate reply – in fact not replying at all is acceptable until after New Year’s since nobody really knows for certain if I am in or out of the office.

I’ll use the time when I am in the office to clean out unwanted and unneeded files and correspondence. I’ll make some outlines of what I’d like to accomplish in 2013 – three, six and twelve month goals. I’ll tackle some of the things that I have put aside under of the headline of ‘I just never have the time’. I will not finish all of them and I’m ok with that.

If you are around this week and ‘working’ I hope you can have some semblance of a similar experience. Take a longer lunch than usual. Show up for work right on time instead of a half-hour early. Leave a little earlier. Make a few phone calls to people you have not talked to in a long time. More importantly, reflect on your 2012, what went well, what did not go well, and the things you’d like to change and how you can accomplish those objectives.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for many reasons. I have mine. What are yours?

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What story might be interesting enough to write about?

Posted on December 21, 2012 by markkolier

debt-reckoning-budget-poll-blog480-v2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I blog about three times each week I often write the blog within a day or two of its posting. This enables me to think about and opine on topics that are top of mind since they are current topics. However this morning (Friday Dec 21 being the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere) I did not have a post in the can. I chalk it up to the remote possibility that the Mayan calendar prediction that the apocalypse could happen and then there’d be nobody to read the post so why bother. It was my personal single concession regarding the possible end of the world as we know it.

Reading the newspaper (the physical NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Norwalk (CT) Hour should surely bring some thoughts to mind on what to write. I’ve stayed away from commenting on the tragedy in nearby Newtown as my feelings are still too raw and personal and I really have nothing to say or write about that would contribute to the ongoing discussion.

It was a graphic in the Times that caught my eye and got me thinking. The story – ‘Where Americans are willing to Cut’ was by far the most interesting thing I read today.

I was fascinated by the contrast in what polled Americans (from 2011) would support in terms of minor or major reductions versus the program’s share of the federal budget. Take a look and see if you feel the same. To offer that there were incongruities would be an understatement – at least in my opinion.

There was no mention of funding for the arts but I know that the share of the federal budget that goes to supporting arts is extremely small as a percentage of the entire budget. For example the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) has a budget of $146 million for 2012. Apparently it did not even make the list. My point is that cutting funding to the arts will have a negligible effect on helping balance the budget based on the program’s share of the budget. Education was a much smaller share of the budget than I would have thought – disappointingly so.

I guess my feeling on those things would label me a ‘liberal’ in the eyes many people. That may or may not be entirely true. But pardon me if I don’t understand why supporting the arts and education funding (over salaries and benefits for government workers, foreign aid and Afghanistan) makes me a bleeding heart. By now most people are aware that improving education is the key to the U.S. remaining a leading nation. Add to that the U.S. reputation for supporting arts (and by extension innovation both in and beyond the arts) and you have an important reason the U.S. remains a place where people want to go to have a chance to realize their own dreams.

I guess I had something to write about after all. Merry Christmas to all and enjoy the time spent with your families and friends – there’s nothing more special than that.

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Snapchat is spreading faster than a virus – but it’s a good virus

Posted on December 19, 2012 by markkolier

Snapchat logoIf it had not been for my 19 year old daughter I only would have first heard about Snapchat today via a TechCrunch article – Snapchat is a photo sharing application in which photo messages are snapped, sent via MMS and then evaporate ‘forever’ within a designated amount of time. Launched in May of 2011 Snapchat has an unreported amount of users but more than 50 million Snapchats are occurring daily. The article cites that Facebook is ready to offer its own self-destructing app to compete with Snapchat.

I wonder about the ‘forever’ aspect, it may be lost to the sender or viewer forever but is Snapchat expunging all those files? Those files would take up massive space so it’s conceivable if not unheard of.

From the Snapchat site –

‘Snapchat is the fastest way to share a moment with friends. You control how long your friends can view your message – simply set the timer up to ten seconds and send. They’ll have that long to view your message and then it disappears forever. We’ll let you know if they take a screenshot!

Build relationships, collect points, and view your best friends. Snapchat is instantly fun and insanely playful. Show your friends how clever you can be and enjoy the lightness of being!

We believe in sharing authentic moments with friends. It’s not all about fancy vacations, sushi dinners, or beautiful sunsets. Sometimes it’s an inside joke, a silly face, or greetings from a pet fish.  Sharing those moments should be fun. Communication is more entertaining when it’s with the people who know us best. And we know that no one is better at making us laugh than our friends.  There is value in the ephemeral. Great conversations are magical.  That’s because they are shared, enjoyed, but not saved.’

A Forbes magazine article from Monday December 17th outlines why Facebook needs to pay attention to this particular fast-growing photo messaging service.

I find the logo a bit odd but I like the way the four-person Snapchat team explains it –
“What’s the deal with the ghost? He’s our mascot, Ghostface Chillah.”

Apparently college students are finding Snapchat to be a way to allow their parents a look in at their lives without leaving an indelible imprint. (I did not know they were sending to parents, I personally have not received any as yet). Here’s hoping parents stay away from using Snapchat so we don’t ruin it (apparently the way we ruined FB), I’m sure if I tried to Snapchat with my daughter I would only serve to make myself even more uncool. If that could even be possible.

Have you had personal experience with Snapchat and if so do you love it and why?

Posted in Customer Experiences, Marketing stuff, Mobile Communication, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Annoying Automated Algorithmic ‘Suggestions’

Posted on December 17, 2012 by markkolier

SuggestionsI’m not sure if Amazon.com was the first company to offer crowd-sourced algorithmic suggestions of books I might like to read based on my browsing and buying history but certainly Amazon was one of the first.  I’ve written about this in prior posts – http://wp.me/pn6jX-37 , http://wp.me/pn6jX-75. I think Amazon has improved its algorithmic searches (at least I don’t get offers to buy an SAT prep book since my children have not taken an SAT any more recently than three years ago) and I do find them useful – although like almost all online retailers Amazon tends to go overboard with its frequency and amount of recommendations.

Spotify.com has a fairly robust integration with social media sites like Facebook (if you allow it) and I do find it interesting to see what my friends are listening to when I happen to notice. Just last Friday I received an email from Spotify (oh joy!) – ‘Hey Mark, we found 3 artists that you may like’. Based on the history of my listening to Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Django Reinhardt and several other musicians, it was suggested that I might like Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker and George Duke. Really? Of course I like them and have been listening to and enjoying their music for many years. The intimation is that I might not know who ‘Bird’ Parker was, and I find that annoying and (to me) it makes Spotify look dumb. It’s not as if the artists in question are current artists. All of these are giants of jazz and if you know one you at least have heard of them all if not listened to them all. It would be like saying because you listened to the Yardbirds you might like Eric Clapton. Again – Really?

I understand that algorithmic suggestions are still evolving as a platform and why data aggregators would argue that the more data people are willing to share the better and more relevant the suggestions on what you might like could/would be. However unintentionally insulting the user with suggestions of artists the user might like (with no way to know if the user is familiar with) just strikes me as annoying.

What I might suggest is using the algorithm to suggest current artists that may be of interest to me based on my listening history of artists from twenty or more years ago. That might be interesting and useful.

I still really like Spotify but think it is over-reaching. What do you think?

Posted in Best business practices, Customer Experiences, Entertainment, Innovation, Marketing stuff, Personal Privacy, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sandy relief concert – better viewed live than on DVR

Posted on December 14, 2012 by markkolier

Sandy relief12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden - Live ConcertI’ve posted before on the notion of how DVR’s (and I LOVE DVR’s) have changed the social behavior of people in the U.S. and beyond. The 12/12/12 concert was a good example of that. Granted the concert which was broadcast from Madison Square Garden went on for six hours until 1:30AM and watching the entire thing could be seen as a chore. What I liked about watching it live (I hung in there until Kanye performed and figured I’d watch the rest another time), was participating in all the discussions both during the event as well as the next day. If you’re interested I wrote about it in the context of viewing the World Cup Soccer tournament several years ago. http://wp.me/pn6jX-ca

Most people I know were very aware that the concert for Sandy relief ended up being a sort oldies show (sad but true aside from Alicia Keys, Kanye and Chris Martin). There were surprisingly good performances (Pink Floyd) and ones that were not so good (I thought The Who’s performance was tedious). So if you are under 40 you probably had little interest in the show. If you saw the people attending the concert there was a fair amount of gray hair in the audience.

But watching the performance live (if you recorded it there were no commercials to DVR through BTW) and even having Brian Williams urge you to call the long list of celebrities that were answering phones (we could not get through as the lines were always busy and donated online – something I’ve heard from most of my friends), you had the feeling that you were a part of something. That could only be felt if you watched it live and the shared experience lingered both during and after the concert.

What do you think? Is that kind of experience the same watching it live or recorded?

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Ode to the New York Knicks – watching a high functioning team is inspiring

Posted on December 12, 2012 by markkolier

NY Knicks champs_reed70

J.R. Smith, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Bill KennedyAs my fellow Knick fans also know, there rarely has been that kind of commitment and performance since 1973. This is not to disparage the two NBA finals teams (1994-95 and 1999-2000) but those teams cannot be compared to the two hallowed championship teams. The current NBA season is only one quarter finished and this year’s Knicks are (so far) one of the best teams in the league. It’s dangerous to get too excited particularly with a team that is full of veteran (older) players that are at risk of being injured because of their collective age (the Knicks are the ‘oldest’ team in the NBA). But in watching the games so far this year, and I’ve watched quite a few, the high-functioning team aspect has been in evidence in every single game – win or lose.

Imagine being a leader (Carmelo Anthony) who has always performed at a high level on an individual basis. Carmelo was the unquestioned leader of the USA Olympic team that won a gold medal this past summer in London. That experience appears to have resonated with ‘Melo as his NBA play this season is not only remarkable for his scoring ability, but his commitment to defense, passing and TEAM is palpable. Prior to this season the Knicks were a collection of individuals with more talent than many other NBA teams. Under the leadership of head coach Mike Woodson the Knicks are currently showing how the old adage ‘There’s no ‘I” in team’ is so true.

It’s not a coincidence nor should it be undervalued that the coach of the ’69-‘70, and ‘72-’73 teams Red Holzman, was Mike Woodson’s coach in Woodson’s rookie season. Woodson learned at the feet of a leader who knew well how to get his team to perform at the highest level night in and night out. Former Knick coach (and now L.A. Laker head coach) Mike D’Antoni tried his best to get the players to buy into his system but it never quite worked out. For many reasons coach Woodson has been able to reach his players and motivate them to play for each other more than for themselves. In a player’s league like the NBA that is all too rare. Just ask LeBron James (and head coach Eric Spolestra) who led the Miami Heat to a championship last year by altering his style to make other players around him function at their highest level.

The Knicks are not the favorite to win the NBA championship this season and may not even be the best team in the Eastern Conference (the Heat have that title until they are dethroned). However after twenty-one games the Knicks have proven that a highly functioning team feeds off its leaders and a team’s commitment to one another is one of the most beautiful things to watch be it sports or business.

I know that I have been inspired watching the Knicks’ metamorphosis into a high functioning team and hope it results in an NBA championship, but if not it will be easier knowing that the team is first and what can be achieved when that happens.

Does your team have a leader that inspires you?

Posted in Best business practices, Team performance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments