This week’s Entrepreneur University comes from Jay Hamilton-Roth. Jay founded Many Good Ideas to help small businesses brainstorm, design, and implement effective marketing strategies. He combines creativity with common sense to demystify the process of getting great results.
Jay shares with us his marketing advice for entrepreneurs:

“*You know how wonderful your product is.

*You know how great a value it is.

*If people could only hear about it, you think, the product would sell itself.

Communicating your offering to potential customers is marketing. The mistake people make is by simply showing the product (in a flyer, spec sheet, web site, etc.) that it will convince people to purchase it. Theodore Levitt (Harvard Business School) said: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”

It’s hard to change your perspective (from selling drills) to focus on the dis-interested potential customer (who wants a hole). How do you get their attention?

Here are three key questions your marketing materials need to address:

1. What problem does your product solve?

2. Why should they believe you?

3. Why should they care?

Let’s take an example of Janet, who makes earrings. The earrings are beautiful. Her friends love them. People ask about them when she wears them around town. How does she market them?

1. What problem does her product solve? Janet’s earrings allow the wearer to express their individuality, since each pair of earrings are unique. They are affordably priced.

2. Why should they believe her? Besides showing a gallery of people wearing her creations, she should seek out testimonials of how people feel when they wear them.

3. Why should they care? People primarily care about 3 things: money, relationship, or health. Janet’s earrings are relatively inexpensive ($19.95/pair) [money]. Janet’s earrings are made of hypo-allergenic materials, avoiding ear infections [health]. People that wear her earrings feel more attractive and if you feel more attractive, you are more attractive to others [relationship].

What could be some of her simple marketing messages?

* Unique earrings affordably priced. [money]

* Feel more attractive for $19.95 [relationship& money]

* Earrings that people notice. [relationship]

* You’re unique. Are your earrings? [relationship]

* What does your earrings say about you? [relationship]

* Earrings that are good for your body [health]

The right message is the one that works in the niche she’s focusing on, since each niche has different priorities of money, relationship, and health.”

Jared Reitzin – Mobile Storm – http://www.mobilestorm.com/

1. What ignited the spark in you to start Mobile Storm?
Jon Schreiber, he is currently serving on my board. At the time he was an advisor who told me mobile is gonna be big. I didn’t know anything about Bluetooth, WAP, and SMS. He explained the eco system to me and it got me fired up. He also got me my first project with Interscope Records. We launched the company around that project.

2. What is your definition of success and has your company achieved it?

My definition of business success goes in this order:

1. Make a huge difference in your industry. Everyone respects you and talks about you.

2. Become financially independent. Be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want.

I have not achieved these things yet. I am close, but I have about 10 more years of hard work.

3. To what do you attribute your company’s recent achievements?

Being focused. There are a million ways to take our company and business model. The death of an entrepreneur is being unfocused. You have to do one thing and do it as best as you can. When you really become successful is when you can diversify.

4. How important have good employees and team members been to your success?

Nothing is more important than this. Not how good our service is, not our marketing, or our persistence. It comes down to one thing and one thing only, good people. Its every companies largest expense, and well worth it.

5. What three pieces of advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Never give up

Work harder than your competition

Hire good people

6. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

Not growing quickly enough. This is due to a failure of not making a fast decision and sticking to it. Flip flop is bad for business. Make decisions quickly, don’t look back and stay focused.

7. Describe/outline your typical day?

I wake up at 7am. I am on the computer till 8. I get into the office around 9 and work till 6 or 7. I come home, spend time with my fiancé and baby girl and usually get on the computer again around 10:30 and work till midnight. Most of my days are spent on the phone, my headset usually dies out around 4pm. If I am not on the phone I am meetings with my team. I also take a lot of day trips to Vegas and SF where we have an office and clients. I work weekends but it is not nearly as much, I try to relax on Sunday.

8. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it?

We were looking for a round of funding and an advisor of mine introduced me to a company who invests in SaaS companies (software-as-a-service). We had a call and they liked what I had to say. They flew out and we gave them a presentation. Two days later they called me up and said they wanted to invest. We must have broken a record because the whole deal was done in less than 3 months, from introduction to funding. That never happens!

9. What stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up when you are frustrated?

I used to have thoughts about throwing in the towel. Nowadays I don’t see failure as an option. But I do get sad from time to time about certain situations. If I am not in a good mood, I don’t pick up the phone. I put on some great house music, close my door and work on internal documents and projects I need to accomplish. It helps take my mind away from things. If I carry it into the weekend with me, I do my best to not work and to just relax and have fun. Drink some vodka, go out to a club, take my girls to the beach. Anything I can to not have to worry about things.

10. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?

For sure. Some guys get lucky, but like Steve Job’s says “Pixar was an overnight success. It only took 10 years”. I speak a lot about the 3 things you need to become successful. Persistence, knowledge and networks. It starts with persistence. When you are persistent you become knowledgeable in your field. The more knowledgeable you become, the more people respect you and listen to you and the more your network grows. Ever heard of “the rich keep getting richer”? Part of this has to do with being part of a network of people who help each other out. The only other thing I would add to this is you need to be ethical the entire time or none of these three things will last long.

11. Who has influenced you most and been your greatest inspiration?

This sounds cliché but probably my mom. She taught me about the bigger things in life such as being a good person, and who God is. She also taught me about the smaller things such as how to balance a bank account, and how to earn credit. She is an excellent sales person and I got lucky and convinced her to come aboard mobileStorm about 5 months ago. She is the top sales person in the company right now.

12. What book has inspired you the most?

Harry Potter. Ok that was a joke, no offense Rowling. My dad got me 7 Habits when I was in High School and that really set me up for what I am doing now. Covey is brilliant.

13. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?

Nowadays it’s all about online. The best leads come from natural search, so SEO is a huge part of what we do. We do some pay-per-click advertising with Google,

but I am beginning to think it doesn’t have a great ROI, it continues to fail us after all these years, and I know we are doing it right. Also strategically placed banners and ads on sites and in emails that are geared towards new media have been good for us. But nothing beats picking up the phone and closing a deal. Sales is our real driver right now.

14. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.

Can I use two words? Can I cuss? “F**kg Fun”.

15. Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?

Google. They are going to take over the world. Their business model is brilliant and so is their leadership and staff.

16. How do you achieve balance in your life? Or do you?

Ah balance. Balance is one of the most important things in life. Anything to extreme, right or left, fails. I balance my life as best as I can being a non perfect human being and all. I do my best to always not take things to seriously, have as much fun as I can, work really hard and love my friends and family.

17. Where do you see yourself and your business in 5 years? 10 years?

5 years in a dingy. 10 years on a yacht.

18. What’s your exit strategy?

In the words of the late great Dave Chappell “I’m rich biatch!”. Ok maybe Dave’s not dead, but those words live on. My exit strategy whatever it is, will make the most amount of money for my investors and employees.

19. If we could introduce you to anyone, who would it be and why? (you never know who we know!)

Hands down Bill Gates. I might like Google now as a company, but nobody comes close to what this man has created. One of his 1,400 in house attorneys once said, “Bill knows law as good as anyone in this company”. Don’t forget his last position was Chief Software Architect. He is the Michael Jordan, no wait most recently the Tiger Woods of his industry. He is truly a captain of his industry. I am not sure if we will ever see someone create what he has in our lifetime. I met Bill Gates once, he was walking through the crowd at an event in LA (no security!). I walked right up to him, put out my hand and said “Mr. Gates, it’s an honor to meet you. Thank you for standardizing global business”. If YE can get me a meeting with Bill Gates, I just might give you a free year of mobileStorm service!

Did you get your college or university degree after finishing high school? Has it helped you with your entrepreneurial education? Most colleges train you so that you can get a job once you graduate but they don’t offer much in terms of practical experience for students who are looking to become entrepreneurs.

With all the stories of people who dropped out of school to go on and build multi-million (or billion) dollar companies, more and more students are wondering if college is for them.

The US news recently came out with three suggestions for how entrepreneurial-minded students can benefit from college:

1) Study entrepreneurship while developing an outside niche.

Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program at Stanford University, says that while successful company builders have a natural inclination to be entrepreneurs, sometimes it takes education to bring that inclination to full bloom. “There are people who are natural athletes,” Seelig says. “There are people who are natural musicians. That doesn’t mean we don’t try to teach them those skills.”

2) Expose yourself to as many different courses and experiences as possible.

What if you don’t go to a school that lets you study entrepreneurship directly? Seelig says she would advise trying to get as exposed to lots of different disciplines. Having broad knowledge can make it easier to identify opportunities as an entrepreneur. Hello, liberal arts education.

3) Consider even more education.

Depending on your field of interest, going on to graduate school can help a lot. Litan says that the stakes are now higher for tech startups because the world of technology has grown so much more complicated and expansive. “If Bill Gates were asked if when he was 19 years old, could he create Google, he’d probably say no,” says Litan, whose organization recently published a study that looked at founders of tech startups. It found that 31 percent of them had master’s degrees and 10 percent had Ph.D.’s. In addition, the study found that having an M.B.A. meant that a tech entrepreneur on average founded a startup 13 years before others.

What do you think? Is it worth going to college or is your time better spent working on your business?

Two weeks ago I talked about my favorite presenter from SES Toronto 2008, Ken Jurina (this is a picture of Ken with Google Guru Matt Cutts). Ken is the man behind Epiar, a search engine optimization service company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As I mentioned two weeks ago, with only 15 minutes to speak Ken listed off a new tool almost every 30 seconds and gave web entrepreneurs a fantastic list of SEO-related resources to add to their arsenal.

I’m pleased to now share some of the results from Ken’s presentation:

Firefox Extensions – www.getfirefox.com

Pros:
•Tools work right within your browser
•Very quick, very powerful, and very free

Critiques:
•None – critiques usually resolved with extension updates

Cool:
•Audit a clients site live: SE Issues, opt. improvement
•SEO Extensions: SEOpen, Search Status, SEO Links, Groowe Toolbar, Customize Google
•Others: PDF Download, AI Roboform Toolbar for Firefox, Search Keys, IE Tab

Cost:
•FREE

URL for Extensions:
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

SpyFu – www.spyfu.com

Pros:
•great competitive insight on PPC & Organic
•works in browser, quick & thorough.
•free stuff is good – though you can subscribe for more

Critiques:
•busy interface
•not intuitive as to what a particular button/tool does

Cool:
•dashboard: charts and data mash-ups

Cost:
•Some free options / additional subscription options

Browsershots – www.browsershots.org

Pros:
•works right within your browser

Critiques:
•Very slow gathering screen grabs
•May timeout when selecting multiple browsers

Cool:
•Can toggle screen size, flash, javascript, java and color depth.
•Great to see what your site looks like without manually
downloading and viewing all browsers.
•Fun if you’re bored.

Cost:
•FREE

What are your favorite SEO Tools?

Is this you? Are you working so hard on your business that you forget about taking care of yourself? You’re not alone.

I don’t usually cover health related topics in this blog but I’ve received a number of emails from entrepreneurs about how to maintain a healthy work-life balance and I also came across two great articles on how to get more sleep and how to eat better food that I thought I would share it with you today.

The first article was: Easy Ways to Catch More ZZZs and is an article from Reader’s Digest. The top 5 suggestions were:

1. Make your bedroom a haven for sleep.

Your room should be quiet and sufficiently dark, because darkness prompts the pineal gland to produce melatonin, the hormone that regulates circadian rhythms (your 24-hour body clock). Heavy drapes can help keep the light out, and a fan or white-noise machine can help drown out any annoying sounds. Cool temperatures help you sleep, so set your thermostat appropriately. For better air circulation, open a window or use a fan. If the air in the room is too dry, buy a humidifier.

2. Become a creature of habit.

A nighttime routine can be very effective in letting your body know when it’s time to sleep. Go through whatever rituals help you get mentally prepared for sleep. (Read a few pages of your novel, spend 5 to 10 minutes on personal grooming, meditate, stretch.) It’s also critical to go to bed and get up at the same time every day — even on weekends.

3. Reserve your bed just for sleeping and sex.

Avoid working, paying bills, reading, or watching television in bed. If you associate your bed only with sleep, you’ll be more likely to fall asleep when you get under the covers for the night.

4. Tame your tummy.

Going to bed either hungry or too full can disrupt your sleep. Don’t have a big meal too close to bedtime or the digestion process might keep you awake. Also, if you lie down after stuffing yourself you can end up with gastric reflux — stomach acid backing up into the esophagus. If you’re hungry, have a snack rich in carbohydrates, which trigger the release of the brain chemical serotonin, associated with relaxation. Try a graham cracker or bowl of cereal. Pair it with some milk or a slice of turkey, both rich in the amino acid tryptophan, which also induces sleep.

5. Watch the caffeine.

Too much caffeine throughout the day, even if it’s not consumed right before bedtime, can contribute to fitful slumber. Once you hit 50, your metabolism slows, so caffeine may stay in your system longer — up to 10 hours. Limit yourself to two cups of tea, coffee, or cola, taken at least 6 hours before bedtime. If that doesn’t work, try cutting out caffeine altogether.

The second article was The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating and was from the New York Times. Their top 5 foods were:

1. Beets:

Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.

How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.

2. Cabbage:

Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.

How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.

3. Swiss chard:

A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.

How to eat: Chop and saute in olive oil.

4. Cinnamon:

May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.

How to eat: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.

5. Pomegranate juice:

Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.

How to eat: Just drink it.

After reading the lists I’m pretty good on following the sleep rules but I am way off on the food – none of the ones listed in the top 5 are on my weekly list.

How do you stack up?

Wolfgang Puck’s signature catch phrase is: “Live, love, eat!” For the past 25 years, Puck has been experiencing the sweet taste of success by doing just that. He was ranked 89th on Forbes’ Top 100 Celebrities in 2006 and has created an empire worth almost $500 million, which includes everything from restaurants to catering to frozen foods to kitchenware. If this weren’t enough to establish Puck as an icon in the culinary world, he is also the host of his own weekly cooking show and has released several cookbooks.

When Puck was asked what he would most like to be remembered for, he answered, “For passing on my knowledge on to a lot of younger people. I think that that’s really the most important thing at the end of the day.” By the time Puck’s career comes to an end, he will have indeed left a rich legacy of not only gourmet cuisine, but also strong entrepreneurial lessons. He has become one of the most successful immigrants of the 20th century whose restaurants today typically receive over 3,000 reservation requests on a daily basis. What were the factors that led to his astonishing success?

“I really believe food has to look good by itself. If you buy good, fresh green beans, you don’t have to line them up in a row or anything like that. Just put them out on a nice-looking plate. I think people can walk by, and they see the menu. It’s not intimidating and the food is interesting. If they get good food, friendly service in a nice environment, people will come back and tell their friends.

Young people want to be famous before they know how to cook, before they know how to treat people, before they know what hospitality means. I stayed in France for seven years and Austria for three, so before I was a chef anywhere I was already cooking for 10 years. 

I learned more from the one restaurant that didn’t work than from all the ones that were successes. To expand [before] would have been impossible because I was basically alone. Whether you have one restaurant or 10 or 20 or more, the most important thing is to hire enough good people. Now we’re much better organized, and we have much better management.

The design is really the backdrop to great food and great service. It is the happy customer who makes the ambiance of the restaurant inviting and exciting. So I always believe great food, great service and wonderful customers put into the right space, will make a successful restaurant. 

Only you can judge your life. You have to live up to your own expectations.”

Are you currently living up to your own expectations?