If 2016 was the year of the brand, 2017 will be the year of community as we seek more/better ways to authentically connect with our clients. I feel like the word I heard most in 2016 was brand. Everything was brand-centric and every brand was focused on branding their brand just right. I even got in on the branding fun, covering it on more than one occasion. The reason everyone was so focused on designing their brand was, and still is, because we've realized that in order for people to buy, they have to first connect. The brand is the story that garners that initial connection which is necessary for the buy. Once this realization hit the market in such a clear-cut way, everyone took notice and followed suit. That is, until a man by the name of Arthur Tubman introduced quite an opposite approach. What Is The Process Of Building A Community? Arthur's job in [...]

In both people and product, a lack of diversity spells disaster for your funding and success. I feel like we've reached a point with the word diversity, where we kind of skip over it. We've heard the word so many times we may not even be attaching meaning to it, when there is plenty of meaning begging to be addressed. In fact, there are two major ways diversity, or a lack thereof, can kill your start-up and its funding dead in its tracks. Let's Get Rid of the Buzzword Affect We can do this by loosely defining what diversity means in business. When I use the word, it isn't only to point out gender, race, or sexual orientation. Diversity can refer to perspective, background, life experiences, generation, and so on. The reason it is so important to consider this is because this isn't some hippie-love-and-peace idea, this is our [...]

CES lesson: Cool tech is not enough. Get a consumer-centric designer in your business today. You can't get more tech-excited than attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas each year. But this year, one thing is glaringly clear - cool tech is not enough.Businesses and products are getting lost in their own technology and what is being shown here at CES looks and tastes like flavors of the same technology or marketing spin. Innovative or not, unless you move your business and products quickly to a consumer-centric model and retro-think your way back to the technology of features, you are wasting valuable money and time on your way to sales success. If a consumer doesn't value your features, why are you including it? If they haven't yet chosen to become your consumer, why are you stalking them? Stop Stalking and Start Conversing During a talk at Pixels, part [...]

How one company is closing the gender gap and creating a way to engage women in STEAM and 3D printing. 88612875 - beautiful latina girl working as photographer for image production In the world of 3D modeling and 3D printing, women aren't just a minority... they're difficult to find at all. In the design world, it is easy to recognize this on a daily basis, and given the work and resulting products, it is even easier to see the true effect gender discrepancies are having on this field. Suz Somersall, female founder of KiraKira.com is working to close the gender gap once and for all. For Suz, it all started, a little bit at a time, during her time at RISD learning metal-smithing, industrial design, and 3D modeling. "3D modeling tools were really exciting for me because I figured out, pretty early on, that I could basically create anything I wanted to with these tools." [...]

Why taking a risk on future technology innovations can make your brand relevant to generations today. Beyond the cool experiences you see in disruptive technology like virtual reality, the truly unique brand proposition is that it is so immersive and non-interruptive. But inserting your brand into it in very inauthentic way could be detrimental to your brand promise itself. If you do it wrong, you're screwed. Today brands are passively interacting with their consumers and it's not enough to build loyal fans. In a Virtual Reality world, consumers will have the opportunity to make a stronger connection with that brand, self-selecting to interact with it and then personally identifying with the brand. Ask 'Why this technology?' More important than running out and buying into the latest future tech trend, is should you invest the time building new technology skills and expertise for your business or brand? Will it convert? Will it add value [...]

Just in time for Small Business Saturday: how to support small businesses in a really big way. In honor of this year's Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to helping small businesses thrive during the busiest holiday shopping season of the year, I wanted to point out that grassroots efforts to boost local businesses and small towns are happening across America. Maybe even in a small town near you. If you run into the problem Todd Thompson did, shopping in your hometown local stores might be difficult, especially if they've gone out of business or vacated the area. Todd is from a small town called Pekin, Illinois, where the vacancies and lack of small businesses, like in many other small towns, became the norm. So much so, that when Todd would tell people where he was from, out of embarrassment, he eventually started leaving Pekin out of it, and [...]

Why neuroscientists and other experts agree that mixed reality is evolving, not disruptive. 58576439 - hipster man in checked shirt wearing virtual reality goggles. studio shot on black background I consider myself a "tech skeptic" - one who really needs to see that technology fits or facilitates an inborn desire to do something and has the potential to convert for brands or developers. Without both, innovation is short-lived - a fad that stays in the early adopter world and never tips mainstream. So when I came back to my office after attending the FutureX Live event orchestrated by innovative brand-builder Moxie, beyond excited about the future of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, my partner thought I drank too much of the Moxie Kool-Aid. But right now, I am fairly sure you could use a little escape from reality too and are able to see the potential like have. Inventors and [...]

How to get your business into the right place, the right time, the right direction, and right thinking. 39244964 - he is businessman that can relax in office, while his work is doing. handsome businessman sit on table in office in lotus position and try to relax. I love writing about office design because my creative side gets lost in the details of choosing every right pattern, placement, and object to make a space really work. When it comes to design, there is so much more to every last element than what meets the eye. Pamela Edwards and Michael White-Ryan have built their business, Language of Space, around these very ideas, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to share their ideas with you. Pamela and Michael built their business around the ancient art and design philosophies of Feng Shui. Feng Shui, you might say? Hello, Tracy, and welcome to [...]

3 simple keys to unlock your potential and mature into a thriving business that runs itself. Something we can all agree on, when looking at the world of business, is that most entrepreneurs never actually evolve out of start-up mode. A lot of the time, in a start-up (especially with a creative type at the helm) there is a false belief that every aspect of the business must rely on you, must be controlled by you, and must be run by you. Otherwise the business will not be able to function. This limiting belief will prevent your business from growing to its full potential, and is one of the main reasons why a lot of start-ups never leave that initial mode of continuously starting-up. Strategy Isn't Just A Business Buzz-Word In order to change this truth for your business, you have to put in place strategies that are proven, to build [...]

How to avoid branding disaster; advice from a direct response expert on navigating an image-based world. The world of branding is changing. Just by way of technology and platforms alone, our pathways and possibilities to clients have increased dramatically, and with that has come more opportunity than ever before, to connect personally with potential or repeat clients. These pathways help companies to create a seemingly transparent branded image, with consistent and genuine messaging that hits home for these clients. Unless you're doing it wrong. Then, these pathways create plenty of opportunity for confused and inconsistent branding (which happens A LOT) and for companies to find themselves in a make-or-break situation because they aren't getting the right message through to the right people in the right way. There is so much noise on the internet when it comes to branding and marketing, but in order to start to sort out what [...]

Wouldn't it be amazing to manage your time so well, you'll have some leftover? Change your mindset first. Life, along with all of its wonderful distractions can be overwhelming and will eventually lead a lot of people, at one point or another, down a path that is lacking clarity, purpose, and energy. Laymen's Terms: When you get off track, you don't manage your time well, and as a result, your life lacks cohesion, purpose, and balance. There is one driving factor that will decide whether or not you avoid this type of cyclical dead zone. What I am talking about is time. The very thing that is said to stop for no one yet also stand still. The grand illusion and absolute. When you take a look at how time can be described, it seems to me there is some confusion about time. But more importantly, some confusion about how we spend [...]

How Chess can help your business make one smart move at a time instead of just looking for the big bold wins. A centuries old game is taking the business world by storm in a very new way, and I wanted to know more about the whole thing. So I tracked down the expert, bestselling author Jim Egerton, to learn more. Jim's book, Business On The Board: How the World's Greatest Game Can Build Better Leaders is teaching the front-runners necessary business and life skills through a game-based approach, applying the theories of chess to real-life. Top leaders like Paypal's, Daniel Schulman and billionaire Richard Branson are avid Chess players. We can not only learn winning lessons from the Grandmasters, but also from famous opponents too. Bill Gates even played an infamous game against Chess Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Spoiler alert: although Gates lost, every move has been analyzed to show telling insights into his weak [...]

Wish you could put the real Scorpion team to work on your biggest challenge for only $150 an hour? Wish granted. Let's go back in time a little bit... There was a lot going on in 1988, especially with NASA. This is the year they decided to resume their space shuttle program, only two and a half years after the Challenger disaster took the lives of seven NASA employees. As NASA set out to, once again, change the course of history, their forward momentum didn't go unnoticed. Walter O'Brien was just 13-years old at the time, and he was fascinated with the space shuttle program. So he did what any intrigued 13-year old boy would do. He hacked into NASA's databases, stole a copy of the shuttle blueprint, printed it out, and hung it on his bedroom wall. Imagine his surprise when all those black cars showed up [...]

Here are three alternatives to the cubicle: which one fits your business culture and work personality? We talk about innovation and office space design A LOT. With good reason too. The most recent studies on productivity, and maximizing your bottom line, are showing us that your office space plays a key role in both. The 1960's saw the absolute rise of the cubicle and office chairs, thanks to Herman Miller and companies began cramming as many people as they could into whatever space they could afford... and everyone learned a few very valuable lessons: Unmotivated employees are expensive. Distractions are also expensive. Getting your office design wrong... is very expensive. With all of this valuable information, and new office design options optimal for productivity, I thought I would spend some time sorting out the criteria for the top 3 alternative office designs to help you decide if any of these options are the right [...]

Tips from a networking group insider that can keep you accelerating to business success. In the 90's we had lunch and learn networking, always trying to be productive. The 2000's brought tightening budgets but a growth in personal crisis groups in the advent of 9/11. But this decade, cooperative networking has emerged as the must-have growth necessity of every entrepreneur. But has it really changed much over the past three decades or is it just the same message rebranded? After a year and a half witnessing these groups at work from the inside as a speaker, mastermind leader and faculty member, as well as from the outside, I have seen a few dangerous patterns emerge. So, whether you are auditing a free local meet-up, joining a mastermind, or attending a full conference, you need to be cognizant of how these organizations work. Be aware of these hidden dangers in cooperative networking before [...]

Getting beyond the buzz of disruptive technology into reality requires an innovative business approach. 45650880 - abstract high speed technology concept image from the yuikamome automated guideway in tokyo japan The most popular buzzword in the world of business and technology right now is: innovation. The companies that are looking outward and upward, are trying to guess the future, and get ahead of the trends by using innovation, and disruptive technologies. Our business economy is racing forward at hyper-speed, and the fast pace often sees companies left behind, simply because they couldn't change fast enough. There is also a huge percentage of the business world who are not being left behind, but they are just barely staying ahead of the curve... and then, there are the elite few who are seeing the curve from a few miles back, and transforming to meet it head on. Those elite few are [...]

It's about learning to starve your fears to feed your vision. 49505729 - man climbs the steps of collapsing ladder Lately the innovative entrepreneurs I have been meeting and talking to at networking events are full of stories of roadblocks, challenges and excuses for why they are not living their dream and moving forward. I'm not alone hearing this. Author and The Unshackled Owner Mentor, Aaron Young has been hearing the same thing. In a recent Livestream video on "What's Holding You Back?" Aaron asked, "You have a dream or an idea of something you want to do...get your product out to market. So, the question is what's the problem, what's the struggle?" Innovators should have an advantage because vision and hard work can more easily come together to be the recipe for success. To try to get to the essence of the inventor-specific barriers and issues, I conducted a [...]

Design a super cool office increases productivity, employee satisfaction, and your bottom line. As an entrepreneur, there are so many aspects to the success of your company that you must consider if you want to compete with the top performers. At the end of the day, when all the emails are sent, the meetings are closed, the bids are in, and the lights are out, you probably aren't thinking about which color paint might look best in your new digs. But you should. The success of your company and the productivity of your employees are directly tied to the design of your workspace. So I sat down with Kenneth Baker, of Gensler, a design firm that really gets the connection, to find out the nitty-gritty details on what office design has to do with the bottom line. It All Starts With a Strategy Design as a standalone, is not the only contributor [...]

How to get your financial models, realistic goals, and believable projections right. It seems that the work of an entrepreneur is never done. You've got your idea (the next big thing since sliced bread, of course) and you've put in the hours. You've pulled all-nighters, you've traveled around the clock, and you've talked and talked and shared and talked some more. You've sent uncountable emails and now you are finally ready... to meet with your investors. This is where it really gets tricky because there is a lot of outdated advice out there, and there are a lot of entrepreneurs who fumble their way through pitches because they weren't sure what to prepare or what to expect. Ahh the pitch... it's nerve-wrecking, intimidating, and has the potential to make or break the future of your 'next best thing.' It's Good to Know the Experts Self-proclaimed financial geek, John Shumate, founder and CEO of Venture [...]

Concerns over criminal use of 3-D printing spawns legislative action in California and hits home for the TSA. Up until now, it has been rare to find a 3D printed gun being used outside of fringe activists. But recently concerns over 3D printed guns has hit both the Reno, Nevada TSA and the California legislation. While this dark side of 3D printing has been a passing concern, it is hitting close to home and raising concern from law enforcement, legislation, and 3D print experts like author and intellectual property attorney, John Hornick, partner at Washington, DC based Finnegan IP law firm. "There are starting to be a lot of reasons law enforcement is taking a closer look at 3D printing," Hornick says. TSA 3D Printed Gun Find Surprising or not, the Transportation Safety Administration reported on their blog that they found 68 firearms in carry-on luggage this week - one of them was 3D printed. "While it [...]

Gig-economy freelancing realities: What the numbers show and how you can connect and compete. If anyone has ever tried to tell you freelancing is easy, it's because they've never freelanced. When technology took off, it dragged many creative types along for the wild ride holding on for dear life. When the prospect of leaving regular day jobs for the freedom and excitement of "gigging" became a real possibility, a lot of people jumped ship, leaving their conventional jobs behind. It was a glorious time of gigs as far as the eye could see. You want to write copy for a perfume company looking to expand its audience? That job is out there. You want to create blog posts anonymously for the design company you've been drooling over for the past year? Go for it! And then something happened. All at once it seemed like everyone realized the opportunity and the market became [...]

How to accelerate your business with the right resource at the right time Whenever I talk about hiring experts, I always think of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich story about a man who was '3 Feet From Gold.' After an initial find of gold ore, the man covered it up, returned home, raised money, bought equipment and went back to dig. He found some more but then the gold stopped. He kept on digging but eventually gave up in frustration and sold everything to a junk man. The junk man consulted a mining expert and found out that gold runs in a vein. They simply turned three feet and dug up millions. Perseverance to not give up would not have been the point of this story if the miner had just reached out for an expert. Your mindset can be blocking your from seeing the need for an expert. Once you get [...]

How a home crafting marketplace helps freelancers compete with the big agencies. We have watched trends in the workplace come and go with each generation, but for some of the trends, their staying power leaves such a mark it is sure to influence the tapestry of everything that will follow. The trend I am talking about, specifically, is freelancing. We are watching priorities change with each generation entering the workforce. Professionals are no longer forced into a cubicle box with a 9 to 5 schedule and a week of vacation. There are platforms popping up around the world for creative entrepreneurs, for professionals, for designers - to become freelancers almost overnight. Marketplace connector sites, like Spoonflower, allow home crafters to turn designs into commerce and allow professional designers to freelance more, shifting the design economy to be more accessible for freelancers at all levels. Freelancing Requires Low Barrier to Entry Technology I started my career in [...]

How Uncle Sam is quickly becoming Aunt Alexa and what that means for you. Imagine using your Apple watch to explore boat launches and water trails at state parks - (this is happening in Maryland). Or using an innovative technology product like Amazon Echo to quiz you for an upcoming driving test - (currently available in Utah). Or having your cell phone remind you and help you renew your driver's license - (thousands are using this in Arkansas). No lines. No paperwork. No bureaucracy. Which sounds slightly unbelievable given that we are discussing the government, but what we are looking at is the future role our government will play in our daily lives. The company at the heart of this innovation is NIC. With a slogan that reads "making good government great" NIC describes their purpose as making government more accessible and more efficient for all. NIC has spent the last 20+ years working [...]

A body language expert explains how to perfect your product presentation. Communication is the human connection. You are in a constant state of communicating with those around you, basically every waking moment. It is an ebb and flow of information, thoughts, emotions, and reactions being passed back and forth as you move throughout your day. When it comes to business and selling your product, this is no different. As the inventor, the creator, the designer... you must take on the job of learning how to present your products in a way that grabs the curiosity of others and makes them want to know more. The Perfect Pitch What I'm talking about here is the almighty, important perfect pitch. Before a product ever actually becomes, well- a product, it goes through several phases of development and growth. Once you've reached the part of the process where you are ready to [...]

If necessity is the mother of invention, then you need to follow the formula to find the need gap. Do you ever wonder why some products, brands, or designs seem to blow up overnight, while others fall flat instantly? My experience in bringing products to market (A LOT of products) has taught me quite a bit about what it takes to design products that will succeed in our ever-changing, and fast-paced marketplace. There is a slight method to the madness when it comes to knowing which product to create, why, and how to make that product work for those who need it most. Where there is a need, there is a gap waiting to be filled, and this is how you should begin your process of designing something the masses will actually buy. Innovating In the Gap I'm not the only one who has figured out the 'secret formula'. Lee Richter, [...]

Building perception for innovation can be the difference between growth and funding of your ideas. Calling your business innovative is getting to be common practice for almost every start-up. Who doesn't want to be perceived as new and noteworthy? But being seen as innovative and actually being innovative are two radically different things. Actually being defined as innovative - introducing new ideas or original and creative thinking - may come easier to you and your start-up than increasing perception and brand promise of innovation. That requires a much more consistent level of branding work. In a world of social proof trumping actuality here are three proven effective ways to brand your start-up as an innovative from branding and marketing expert, Karen Leland, author of The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. Consistency Being consistent with publishing content on the leading innovative trends in your industry or niche is important. Your [...]

When to stop your start-up or break-up with your business. In the business world, the norm is to start-up loud and then shut-down quietly. Except when it comes to Laura Beck, the founder of Stripedshirt.com. Her so-called Indie-No-Go, Kickstopper campaign is teaching us a few things about failing, the right and wrong way, and why sometimes, breaking up with your business is the only option. Just about every business blog, article, and website you see out there tells you the same thing: when it comes to business, you have to be willing to stick with your start-up, through the good, the bad, and the garage full of unsold t-shirts. Without arguing that perseverance isn't a key part of success, some businesses aren't meant to succeed, and knowing when to quit could save you an immense amount of time and money. It's So Hard to Say Goodbye After five years of barely [...]

How listening to their tribe helped this company triple annual profits. The internet is flooded with advice from branding experts all over the world. Each tip and rule of branding is meant to drive you closer to your customer while maintaining a business that is geared toward maximum profitability. But what if the best way to get closer to your customer... was to simply listen to what they were saying? This is what the founder of Big Ass Fans (previously HVLS - High Volume Low Speed - Fan Company) did and they haven't looked back since. Learning to Listen "We would answer the phones with HVLS Fan Company, how can I help you? And on the other end the people would say. "Hey, aren't you the guys who make those big ass fans?" and after a little less than a year, we went ahead and changed the name." In a culture that favors business [...]

Why you need a Pharrell Williams, Martha Stewart, Madonna, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs on your team. Every person you encounter throughout your day, every personality type, has blinders, shadow behaviors, gaps in their capabilities. Call it what you will, these exist in everyone. The design world is not exempt and I sat down with Paul Martens, founder of CORA and author of The Motivated Life, to discuss this and more. In 'The Motivated Life', Martens talks about a five-type system of design personalities with which designers can recognize their areas of expertise as well as their personality gaps. This thoughtful design theory shows us where our strengths are and also helps to point out weaknesses. 5 Core Types of Design Personalities Type One: Direction, designed to market oneself Type Two: Beauty, designed to please Type Three: Innovation, designed for popularity Type Four:  Entertainment, designed to entertain Type Five: Efficiency, designed for clarity If you are thinking [...]

How hiring veterans with bullet-tested leadership brings resourcefulness and real world experience to your company. As an innovative start-up charting new territory, you need strategy, structure, systems, quick deployment, inventiveness with meager resources, and a team that has your back. One day you are dressed up in full presentation mode and the next you are rolling up your sleeves and cleaning the office bathroom. Being in the midst of a start-up feels like a constant battle, but imagine if you had to do that with actual bullets flying. Imagine the powerful training you would have undergone and the skills, tactics, discipline and leadership characteristics you would have to guide you forward. Our discharged and retired military come home from deployment to a very different world. Veterans like Nick Ripplinger, author of the bestselling book, Front Line Leadership, received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (the third highest peace-time award) during active duty [...]

How the Uggs Founder survived and pivoted his brand from conception to birth and into maturity. Just as in life, business must always grow in phases. You cannot possibly run before you walk, or hit your teen years before the terrible two's, and you most definitely cannot give birth to an adult. The founder of UGGS, Brian Smith, learned this lesson and plenty more along the way as he turned his idea of bringing sheepskin boots to the U.S. into something that has become a household name, a fashion staple, and an icon for business success. Conception to Birth Is Only the First Phase How many times in the process of growing your business have you seriously considered throwing in the towel? For Brian Smith, as he grew UGGS, that answer was four.  Four times he almost walked away from it all because he didn't realize in those moments that he was [...]

This is how you draw strength and power from your mind-body connection to deliver the perfect pitch. There is a long history of researchers discussing the mind-body connection. Body posture "speaks" and is part of the non-verbal way people communicate with each other. In the workplace, this means that you are constantly communicating, whether you are talking or not. For example, eyes cast down or shoulders slumped are usually associated with lower confidence or even sadness. It is important to understand that our body language speaks to others but our body language also communicates with us internally. Amy Cuddy, a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School studied the question of how does our body language affect us? She gave a great TED talk on the topic. She coined the termed "power posing" to study how a certain body posture might actually help increase confidence. This pose consists of standing [...]

The Panama Canal expansion is turning Jamaica into the go-to place for sophisticated logistics. When conjuring up images of Jamaica the mind sees tropical beaches, mega resorts and friendly people saying 'Ya-Man'. The island has developed a clear brand in tourism as a friendly convenient place to vacation and relax. Behind the scenes where most tourists never visit you will find a sophisticated infrastructure that has been growing since the island's independence in 1962. Ambition and vision have been the key action statement driving the goal of becoming the business powerhouse of the Caribbean and helped it achieve an Inc. ranking of #7 as one of the Most Entrepreneurial Countries in the World. Advantages such as a highly educated labor pool, world-class infrastructure in telecommunications and a government that is expected to cut red tape for start-ups might make Jamaica your ideal business powerhouse location. Why Jamaica Should Be Your Next Business [...]

Send Out Cards is weathering a huge corporate culture shift from a company that makes a physical product to a tech-based brand with a personal touch. It's no secret that our world has taken a tremendous turn towards all-digital-everything. So when Kody Bateman, founder of Send Out Cards, and author of Promptings: Your Inner Guide To Making A Difference, built a company by going physical in the midst of a digital world, it seemed market counter-intuitive. Yet, for a business based on the idea that people still like to receive cards in the mail, the company is thriving by embracing technology. According to Bateman, the concept for Send Out Cards was born out of a missed prompt in his own life he still wishes he acted upon. Understanding the importance of being able to connect with the significant people in our lives, Bateman wanted to offer a service that combined handwritten letters and [...]

How to win business leaders and entrepreneurs and influence business tourism to your city. For decades, the Silicon Valley has been more than just a place on a map. The Silicon Valley is an international symbol of innovation. Other regions around the globe look to imitate the model that the Silicon Valley has established, in hopes of becoming the next big global hub and hot spot for innovation. The key to turning your town into the next Silicon Valley is in understanding why and how the model succeeds. Why the Silicon Valley Model Succeeds Silicon Valley is the birthplace of numerous powerful startups that are now known worldwide. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter are obvious examples of major billion dollar companies started in the Silicon Valley region, and are powered by their motivation to impact our world. Becoming the "go-to" place for innovation means being equipped [...]

What personality and genetics have to do with why creatives seem destined to get less sleep. It always seems to be the artists, the creators, the inventors, and the designers who suffer from insomnia. Imagine: Einstein in his messy haired glory working away in his lab on the general theory of relativity. Is it a coincidence that this genius stereotype is pervasive? Or is there something more to this 'up-all-night' stereotype? I am a night owl and my husband and business partner is a morning lark. He can fall asleep talking to me at 9pm. Two members of my family gave me a copy of Arianna Huffington's book for my birthday. Obviously I have an issue sleeping, but always thought genetics played a role in whether you are late to bed or early to rise. So it doesn't seem a far stretch to consider personality types as a driving factor in our [...]

Three reasons to get a shark investor to activate your business and two reasons to avoid becoming bait. Kevin Harrington, one of the Original Sharks, wants to be your 'Shark' too. He wants you to put into practice a secret shared by generations of Japanese fishermen for bringing fish back to shore as fresh as when caught in the deep sea. They put a shark in their fish hold. The small shark keeps the fish moving, energetic and fresh. Of course there might be a few sacrificed and eaten, but selling the freshest sushi or launching the hottest product is worth the loss. Many investor sharks have the philosophy that they bet on the jockey and not the horse. In this metaphor, you would bet on the fisherman and not the fish. According to Kevin, his philosophy is contrary, "In the early days of Shark Tank, I gave [...]

Plus how going green by 3-D printing is a sustainable and profitable business model. In conjunction with the Boston Marathon and Patriot's Day, Massachusetts-based New Balance released 44 pairs of the world's first running shoes with 3D printed mid-soles for sale. For Owner and Chairman, Jim Davis, this was personal. He bought the company 44 years ago on Patriot's Day. New Balance joins many other companies, with one foot in the past and one foot in a very innovative and tech-based future. Interestingly enough, this shift from goods manufacturer to technology business is going to do more than make these companies competitive and sustainable in the market. In the near future, 3D printing might just help these companies save the planet too. Here's how. Zero Inventory Model Because 3D printing is manufacturing on-demand, the inventory implications alone are worth exploration by every type of business. 3D printing can yield immediate bottom-line savings [...]

Dave Austin has helped top athletes in the NFL, MLB, and Olympics achieve a laser-like focus in high-stakes situations. Here's how. Wouldn't it be great if you could close out the world and the time pressure and calmly focus on only the next critical shot in front of you just like Villanova Wildcats forward Kris Jenkins? With a strong belief system, commitment to goal-focused mental performance and practiced daily intentions, you can. That's according to Extreme Focusmental performance coach Dave Austin, who says you can "be a beast" in your business by adopting daily habits that train you to "become a champion in anything." The reported statistics on retention from business lessons and a good business seminar hovers around 12-13%. Austin says Extreme Focus coaching achieves a 92% retention rate. The key is its use of a visualization concept involving animal models. "Animals add a useable and translatable trigger that increases retention of the mindset to adopt, allowing you to put it into play quickly [...]

Increase your sales velocity with these innovative selling tips to qualify leads quickly. Wouldn't it be surprising if at your next meeting the salesperson said, "Is it okay if I tell you no?" In a collaborative approach to sales, Top 10 Sales Guru, Bob Urichuck, CEO of Velocity Selling trains sales leaders around the world how to attract, engage and empower buyers to buy from you. Whether you are a start-up building a new sales force or an entrepreneur selling your own service or product, this results-oriented approach is geared to give you the skills needed to grow your bottom-line. Too quickly salespeople jump straight to selling points and solutions which is why you feel "sold to and icky" as Bob puts it. Buyers are in control in today's modern sales presentations - armed with information researched on-line, numerous ways to duck calls and emails, and able to get a [...]

Discover tech savvy action-oriented events that can move your business forward now. Spring is packed with business conferences and while I was attending one, I kept seeing many colleagues posting from another event spanning the same days. Feeling like missing out and torn between deciding which ones are better, you might have to decide your own priorities in choosing which conference will yield a better return on investment for your money and your time. The criteria used here to select Spring 2016 picks for the Top 5 Must-Attend Rapid Growth Conferences is simply that conferences must have the following characteristics. Be packed with action-oriented workshops and seminars that are not sales pitches from the floor disguised as a workshop. They must be full of free content that is useful to building a strong business that can accelerate your growth quickly. Be run by great people with strong desires [...]

Aiming just for 'catchy' isn't enough. Here's what goes into creating a brand that people remember. Crafting your brand messages and tag lines to be impactful and memorable is not just important for those entering a Shark Tank-style pitch. It is a marketing requirement to create sound bites with all audiences, on-line and off-line. Best selling author and master publicity strategist, Jill Lublin helps small business owners and entrepreneurs to refine both company and personal brand messaging because very likely you are the brand and the story too. Her technique is to have you first reflect a problem in the marketplace today. Jill Lublin coaches her clients to capture attention and be concise, very concise identifying that "the problem today is..." Then you can move on to why you are or have the solution in an "interesting and relatable way and, of course, giving it a little ooh and ahh." The core message should [...]

Advice from Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick on how to create a legacy of best-selling designs. Ten years after his death, the anniversary of Bill Stumpf's birth date is still being celebrated by those who knew him and his incredible international design reach. Two years into my career as a designer, which, gasp, makes that two decades ago, I was lucky enough to visit his studio and work on a project with him. The Aeron chair was in final production and we were working on custom colors and materials for a special installation project. His studio was fascinating and conducive to his iterative design process and philosophy. He openly shared his work, his process and his thoughts on how good designers are meant to be servant leaders. Those values were reflective of the Herman Miller core values, the company we both served at the time. Herman Miller Bill Stumpf in his [...]

Why a little battle for the sexes is good for innovative design and better selling products. Everything is personal nowadays, even business. Maybe a little too personal; especially when sex enters the workplace creating imbalance or counter-productivity. With women yielding the largest demographic for sales in any product or service category, can your company afford to avoid a battle of the sexes about what women and men want? Fear of being sexist removes healthy debate and collaborative conversations between men and women, negatively impacting product design. It goes against societal norms and professional self-preservation. According to relationship navigation specialist, Kimi Avary developer of the Beyond the Glass Ceiling Workplace Navigation System, "masculine and feminine modes of being are hard-wired, but it's when we get stuck in your own head that misunderstandings occur and productivity decreases." Here are 3 ways you can safely bring sex into your product development team and design [...]

Hiring an in-house or freelance designer is a daunting task, but these essential 7 practices are the keys to actually getting your intended innovation and productive value from those designers. Clearly articulate your design criteria Failure in design is most often failure in communication. Miscommunication of company goals, brand promise and target market understanding. You are doing the hiring and you are ultimately responsible for the results. Through the development of your design criteria, you will not only be clear about the outcome you expect but also on the key skills required when hiring. Design is really a team sport Hiring a solo designer or freelancer is a dangerous practice. Designers need to feed their creative minds off each other. Design refinement and innovation happens with mind share. Additionally, you need a team who can work simultaneously on both advanced projects and responsive immediate demands. If your budget permits, hire [...]