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View Full Version : Who do you follow on Twitter, etc. to get insight about your business venture?



Jim Briggs
05-22-2013, 09:27 PM
If you're a small business person (seems there are a few on this site), especially if you're starting up or want to startup a business, Who do you follow on Twitter? Whose books do you read or whose blog do you subscribe to? Whose kool-aid do you drink? ;)

May I have a followup question please? Are there any techniques or strategies or methodologies or -ologies of some sort that you see as key or important to your success?

(Or are you a provider of the kool-aid? Pearls of biz-wisdom dropping from your lips 24/7)

Seems an appropriate question to ask at the water cooler.

Yea, yeah, I know, Justin Bieber. (I mean for general business stuff.)

vangogh
05-23-2013, 02:14 AM
I don't specifically follow anyone on Twitter for business advice, though I've certainly read my share of business books and business websites. I'm not sure if I dink anyone's Kool-Aid, but there are definitely some people who's advice resonates a little more with me. Are there specific business topics you're interested in? I think a lot of the advice, strategies and general ologies are sometimes specific to certain types of business, so what might come across well to one person may not come across well to another.

Most of the business books I've read were probably marketing books. That's what I thought I needed help with the most when I was first getting started. I read some of Seth Godin's books, a couple by the Eisenberg brothers (might have been more copywriting), Made to Stick by the Heath Brothers. I've read a handful of copywriting books. I think most of the ideas in all of them originate somewhere with David Ogilvy and I've read one of Ogilvy's books. I've read a few of Malcolm Gladwell's books, which aren't specifically marketing, but have a lot of application to marketing. A recent book I read was Insanely Simple. It's written by an advertiser who's company worked closely with Apple and it talks a lot about how simple permeates Apple's business philosophy.

I read a lot (I mean a lot) of books about design and many have thoughts about marketing. And I've picked up tons of little bits of info on various blogs. All of it gets mixed with my own observations about my business and businesses I've worked for and advertising and other marketing I see in general.

In the end I don't there's any one ology I follow. I tend to view the whole thing as building the best product or offering the best service you can, geared specifically for specific groups of people. Product/service and market should inform and influence each other. Whatever it is you're selling should have a story to tell that will resonate with the people you hope will buy it. With product/service and story ready, you have to find a way to reach the people you're selling to and convince them to buy from you. And in between all that there are a lot of details I glossed over. :)

Jim Briggs
05-23-2013, 12:38 PM
I'm interesting in understanding how small business people think and what words and ideas have power.

As for me, I read a lot too. I have read some of the authors you've mentioned and also read a lot that has come out of the lean startup movement--Steve Blank and Eric Ries in particular.

Harold Mansfield
05-23-2013, 03:54 PM
I personally am not a big Twitter fan so I don't pay attention to it. I'm more apt to follow a blog or industry magazine on Facebook, and click through to read their daily posts when they show up in my news feed.

Other than that, I subscribe to most of what I read on my tablet and browse through them at the end of the day on the couch.
Can't say I'm a person follower....there are a few like Seth Godin, Richard Branson, T Boone Pickens, but mostly I read blogs. I'm not one of those people who needs "Words of wisdom", motivation or personal philosophies. I generally look for specific information on how to do stuff.

I probably subscribe to about 60, but usually check the same few everyday.

Website Magazine
HOW Design
Entrepreneur
Mashable
All Things Digital
Tech Crunch
Pop Sci
Gizmodo
Engadget
PC World
Android Central
Search Engine Land
Marketing Land
SlashGear
ReadWriteWeb
Fast Company

There are a few others, but that's probably the top few.
I also blog when the mood strikes me and I have something to say, teach, or share.

Freelancier
05-23-2013, 05:42 PM
None of the above. If I have any time not thinking about work, I'm spending it worrying about what someone else thinks about their work. And if I'm spending time on work, then I'm doing things that are going to drive sales in my business and following someone else is not going to do that.

So... that's how I think. Probably not as useful to you as you'd like, though. :)

Harold Mansfield
05-23-2013, 05:45 PM
None of the above. If I have any time not thinking about work, I'm spending it worrying about what someone else thinks about their work. And if I'm spending time on work, then I'm doing things that are going to drive sales in my business and following someone else is not going to do that.

So... that's how I think. Probably not as useful to you as you'd like, though. :)

Aren't there some things that you're just interested in? If you look at my list, most have nothing to do with web design or running a business. I just generally like web technologies, and electronics.

Don't you have something like that?

Freelancier
05-23-2013, 06:09 PM
Aren't there some things that you're just interested in?

Generally speaking, not so much. Sports, politics, investing, whatever my kids happen to be doing. Nothing about my businesses or technology... I live that stuff day-to-day anyway, but I just read articles on it, not follow someone or read blogs about it.

vangogh
05-24-2013, 12:27 AM
I'm interesting in understanding how small business people think and what words and ideas have power.

Makes sense. I guess for me the words and how I think are simplicity and balance. People like to make a lot of things much more complicated than they really are and I prefer to strip away as much as I can and understand the core of different ideas. Once I understand what's going on at the foundation it's easy to vary it ad the edges. I also think people often focus too much on one specific aspect of things as though that one thing is the end all and be all of business.

When it comes to reading different authors I tend to pick our some core ideas. For example I think Seth Godin had it right with the idea of permission marketing. I think that's how things work online. I don't remember all the details from the book, but I agree with the main one. Similarly for being remarkable in Purple Cow. The specific words don't mean much to me though. After awhile they just become buzzwords or industry jargon and I stop paying attention to them. It's the ideas that matter more to me than the words that end up getting associated with them.


I live that stuff day-to-day anyway, but I just read articles on it, not follow someone or read blogs about it.

I read what I do about work in part because I genuinely enjoy what I do and like reading about it in addition to other things in life I'm interested in. I also ready as part of my learning to do what I do better. When I read something that resonates with me or I learn a lot from I pay more attention to who wrote it and what else they've written. I figure if I enjoyed and learned from them once, I'm likely to again.

fluffythewondercat
05-24-2013, 11:11 AM
I'm new here but was intrigued by the question.

Thinking about it, I only read business gurus when I'm on vacation or in downtime. Like vangogh, Seth Godin's permission marketing book resonated but I've been underwhelmed with many of his other books.

So many business books are brain candy. An insight lights up my brain but looking at it later, I find there's nothing actionable about it. I liked _Made to Stick_ but I haven't been able to make much use of it.

Since I have an inventory-driven business, I'm now reading books on inventory management techniques.

vangogh
05-24-2013, 12:53 PM
I only read business gurus when I'm on vacation or in downtime

Welcome to the forum fluffy. Can I call you fluffy?

I always have a couple or more books going. I guess I read more during downtime, but I do make a point to always be reading something that helps me learn some aspect of what I do better. That tends to mainly be design and development books, but I mix in business books as well. I hear you about some of the ideas not seeming actionable and not every idea being great. I'm not sure every idea needs to be directly actionable though. Sometimes it's just an idea to keep in mind that little by little helps shape some of the things I do.

You mention Made to Stick. I think there are plenty of actionable takeaways, though they might not be of the type that says do this specifically. For example the first idea is to simplify the idea and find its core. There's no specific recommendation that says do this and you'll find the core, but for me it's always a constant reminder to think about what's the essence of an idea. I use the concept to think about my business and why someone should choose me to design their website. I could list all sorts of reasons, but following the idea of simplicity, I'm always thinking about what the core reason is. What connects all the different reasons I think someone should hire me and how can I express all those reasons in a single and simple message.

Jim Briggs
05-24-2013, 02:11 PM
Similarly for being remarkable in Purple Cow.

Purple Cow was a solid book because it made the case that having a remarkable product is often more important that pure marketing. Some entrepreneurs just need marketing to be successful especially if they have a skill-based business: technical people, dentists, etc. While marketing is important, its one part of a larger picture.

Here are some business related trends (and associated books) that have contributed to the entrepreneurial conversation.

Design thinking. Change by Design by Tom Brown CEO of IDEO. (IDEO has designed many popular products include Apple early mice). Good book to read if you're doing something creative that can benefit from prototyping or if design is essential to your value proposition.

Business Modeling. Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder. His book is a worldwide sensation and is important not just for what he said in the book but for the conversation around business models that he created. (Books are often the opening salvo in a conversation)

Customer Discovery. Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank. Horrible book to read (his Startup Owners Manual is better), by Steve Blank who was a successful entrepreneur and professor of entrepreneurship at Stanford and who is leading the charge in the tech startup world to "Get out of the office", talk to customers, don't fail because you're solving a problem or developing a product that nobody wants. He developed a system for how to develop your understanding of the customer while you're developing your product or service. Steve Blank represents the most significant recent contribution to entrepreneurial discussion (in my humble opinion). In the tech world, he's the undisputed leader.

Lean Startup. (the book being The Lean Startup) Eric Ries was a student of Blank and developed customer discovery by applying lean principles to startups--principles that were originally developed by Toyota (a pretty decent company), then applied to American manufacturing and software development. Ries coined the term Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and helped startups to think of their process as a rapid build-measure-learn loop: quickly get something out there, find out what customers think, then decide whether you can refine it or you need to make a big change (pivot).

Putting this all together...there is a new way to think about and look at and do a startup. Start with a business model (not a business plan); use customer discovery techniques to test your business model. Quickly develop and test a MVP. This process makes sense for anyone who is doing anything tech-related or where there is significant risk.

And its a cultural phenomenon. The lean startup movement is literally exploding worldwide. Use any measure you want.

Facts. If you measure by the growth of Lean Startup Meetups, worldwide RSVPs to local Lean Startup Meetups have gone from about 500 in 2010 to 9000 by the end of 2012--that's 18x growth in 2 years. University entrpreneurial programs and business schools all over the world are adopting lean startup (include Harvard Business School). Lean startup is also being adopted inside government and in the National Science Foundation.

Is it a fad? Of course. And ideas get distorted and wildly exaggerated as they spread. But the fad is based on sound principles and real contributions to how to start and grow a business.

All of these trends and ideas are interrelated because those involved in small, medium, and large businesses are having a conversation in books and blogs and meetings and elsewhere. And its all getting mashed up and evolving but at a fast pace because of technology.

Wozcreative
05-24-2013, 11:12 PM
There are about 3 tiers/groups of people I follow on twitter, and I'm pretty active as well. Took me years to get on it, but I stay on it to be informed of what's going on around me. It's a news feed for me.

People/things I follow:

Business:
• Some dragons den/shark tank people
• Graphic Design Associations (RGD)
• Software I really am a fan of (I like to know their current updates)
• Some of my clients/partners
• Other designers


Hobbies:
• Museum's/Art galleries
• Certain travel destinations (alaska, iceland.. )
• Extreme sports courses (to know whats available, when their specials are etc.)
• Coupons/sales

Other:
• Friends/colleagues

vangogh
05-29-2013, 01:42 AM
@Jim - I liked Purple Cow. The other two that I enjoyed are Persuasion Marketing and All Marketers are Liars. I guess I could all count Idea Virus in there too. I haven't read his more recent books. Thanks for the additional books to read. I've heard of a couple of them, but haven't ready any. More to add to my wish list.


There are about 3 tiers/groups of people I follow on twitter, and I'm pretty active as well.

I tired to be more active, but unfortunately for me I find most social media too distracting while I'm working so I can't keep things like Twitter clients open. I also find many of the people I want to follow live in different times zones and just aren't tweeting when I might be. From time to time I do keep a client open and see if I can catch on with a conversation, but most of the time it doesn't happen.

KristineS
05-29-2013, 12:18 PM
I follow a pretty diverse group. I like Seth Godin quite a lot. I read Peter Shankman, UnMarketing, Brains on Fire, John Morgan, Six Pixels of Separation, and a few more blogs that are industry related. Since I also write about social media and marketing for the industry in which I work, I tend to try and keep up with what others are saying. I don't know that I consider anyone a guru, but I find the people I mentioned interesting and helpful.

vangogh
05-31-2013, 04:29 PM
Yeah I don't think of any specific person as a guru. For me it's more about finding some people who's ideas resonate with me and thinking of them more as mentors. I try to learn from them, but I don't take what they say as automatically true. I just try to learn from them and let their ideas inform mine.