Thoughts From An Entrepreneur: Effecting Change

Why the company that figures LBS out will be as big as Google

Sometimes trends sit on the horizon for so long that people start to dismiss them.  LBS is one of those.  LBS stands for "Location Based Search" and it means just that - you can search for what you want, where you are, when you want it.  Let me explain:

Searching is a necessary part of the Internet experience because of its massive size.  Without Google or the other search engines, you'd be lost in the Web, literally.  The promise of being able to search based on your location has been around for 20+ years.  But it's never quite worked right.  Until now.  Or to be more precise, until about 2 to 3 years from now.  While the mainstream population hasn't quite grasped its significance, LBS is all the venture capital community can talk about right now, and for good reason:  it's going to be huge.

Here are some numbes to show the staggering growth that's already begun:

• Global mobile ad revenue:  $1.3BN today, $7.6BN 2013  (Juniper)
• Phones worldwide: 2.6 billion phones with 17 million of those being GPS enabled worldwide today.  By 2015 there are projected to be 4 billion phones worldwide, with 500 million being GPS enabled.
• In the US alone there are 250 million phones today, with 1.8 million of them GPS enabled.  In 2015 the US will have 300MM and 80 million of them will be GPS enabled (staggering - and the US is the one of the least interesting growth players worldwide!)
• Converged Mobile Devices (Smartphones):  4MM US today / 9.6MM worldwide.  In 2011, that number will skyrocket to 82MM worldwide 

So what does all this mean?  Why should you care?  Let me give you an example.  If you're standing on a street corner today, you could whip out your laptop or phone and search for things around you.  The irony is that today, the Internet is everywhere virtually, yet it is nowhere physically.   20 years from now, that's going to seem very silly.

Imagine a world where, just like the TV remote can access your on-screen TV guide, your phone could access the Internet and harness it to the exact location you were standing.  You phone would know what stores are around you, what their hours are, and what items they have in stock, what videos were taken and uploaded to YouTube near where you're standing, when the next Metro train is arriving at the station near you, and so much more.  The Internet would become your personal guide wherever you go, all on a device you're already carrying with you today.  A personal butler of sorts, that can tell you anything about anywhere you're standing or anywhere you're about to go.   Want to know what restaurant your friends liked best that's within 5 blocks?  No problem.  Want to know what houses are for sale in the neighborhood you're driving in?  No problem.  And while you're at it, want to know what tenants that building across from you has, how long they've been there, how highly they're rated, and what businesses they're in?  No problem.

To that end, I'm one of the co-founders of a company called PointAbout that hopefully you'll be hearing much more about in the next 18 months.  We're running very fast and working very hard to harness this virtual Internet, and tame it into a personal guide for wherever you are and wherever you want to go next.  Let's enjoy the ride!

Being around smart people

I'm trying to decide if most people are dumb, or just lazy.  Or maybe there isn't a big difference between the two in practical terms. 

Don't get me wrong, I love people.  I'm an ENTJ on the Myer's Brigg's personality test, and that "E" stands for Extrovert.  I get my energy from being around people.

And I do plenty of stupid things.  But it hit me the other day when I was giving Steve, a friend of mine, directions to our office.  I offered to give him our address, and he said, "nah, I can find it."  And it hit me that he just knew that he could find our office without my help.  I bet he hadn't even tried, but he just knew he could. 

Why is that attitude so rare in our world? Are most people not smart enough to realize they can do something if they just try it?  Is it a time allocation issue, where people don't have the time or motivation to go find the answer themselves, so it's just easier to ask someone else?

There are so many times in life that I have not known how I was going to accomplish something, yet I knew I would, because I had to.  Failure simply wasn't an option.  I would find a way to do whatever I had to get done, even though I had no idea at the time how I would do it.  I think once you face that feeling enough times, you start to be more relaxed when the unknown comes about.  I do believe that most people simply get the idea in their heads that they can't accomplish something and stop trying.

My mother had the best advice for me as a kid:  When a problem seems insurmountable, just break it down into a series of smaller problems and accomplish those first.  Pretty soon that big problem won't seem so difficult anymore.  I also played with LEGOs incessantly when I was young, instead of watching TV.  I wonder if the problem solving skills I gained in that capacity have helped me now.

I've already written a post on checking Google before asking me questions.  But this issue really goes deeper than that.  It touches on how people make decisions based on fear instead of logic.

So, next time you have to go to someone's office and they offer to give you the address, try telling them, "nah, I'll find it" and see how they react.  Chances are they'll be pretty dumbfounded.  And then go use the resources at your disposal to find the address, and get really good at doing things like that over and over until you're efficient at it, and it's easier for you to find information on your own than ask someone else for it. 

Global vs. Vertical vs. On Demand Marketing

I've found that a good way to think about marketing is to first decide which of the following 3 categories you have the budget for:

Global Marketing: Companies in this space spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually or more to become known worldwide.  Brands in this category include Coke, Nike, The Olympics, etc.  The litmus test for this category is that you know the brand even if you're not in the market to purchase its product.

Unless you have an unlimited marketing spend you won't even be able to consider playing on this field. 


Vertical Marketing: The next category is for brands that are well known within their segment.  Never heard of Gibson?  You must not play guitar.  Ask anyone who knows guitars and brands like Gibson and Fender will probably be at the top of their list.

This category requires millions of dollars in marketing budget or the ability to be really, really good at viral marketing.  Once consumers become familiar with the vertical segment, they'll know your brand.  In the real estate world companies like RE/MAX and Century 21 have done an excellent job of branding as vertically dominating brands.


On-Demand Marketing:  Since brands like our real estate company have hundreds of thousands, not millions, of dollars to spend on marketing, we have to resort to being really good at on-demand marketing.  Using Google AdWords is an excellent example of this approach: Consumers find your brand when they're searching for specific items or terms that you offer.

The best way to compete against the other two segments with on-demand marketing is to offer a clear, concise and immediate value proposition to consumers thinking of spending in the space you're in.  You have to get past the "safe" play with demonstrable value that surpasses the other two categories.  Blogs are a fantastic way to do this.  By showcasing our expertise on our blog we're able to make connections with consumers and show them our value.

No matter what your approach is, just make sure you have the appropriate budget to apply to the marketing segment you're going to target, and if you have little or no marketing budget then really focus on the most efficient use of the funds you have.  Doing Google search engine optimization and focused, targeted AdWords spends is probably your best bet.

Matt is my hero

From www.WhereTheHellIsMatt.com

Why do I insist on being called "Daniel" vs. "Dan"?

If I directed you to this post, it's probably because you referred to me as "Dan" vs. "Daniel". 

The reason it's important to me to be called Daniel instead of Dan is because my full name is actually "Daniel Ruben Odio-Paez", and as you can probably tell by the name, I'm of Latino (technically of Costa Rican) descent.  In fact, I'm a first generation American; my father came to the US when he was in his 20's, I grew up speaking both Spanish and English (and more recently, Portuguese).   My parents chose "Daniel" because it works equally well in both English and Spanish.  "Dan" doesn't translate so well. 

If you want to pronounce my name perfectly, it would actually be pronounced "Dan-yell" (like Danielle in English), but Daniel is fine, and I don't mind being called DROdio either.  Thanks for understanding!

Good Old Fashioned Customer Service

One of my favorite sports is kiteboarding, a sport involving a really large kite (upwards of 15 meters) attached to a board. 

Really good kiteboarders (also called kitesurfers) can typically get 20+ feet of air on extended jumps.  It's quite a thrilling sport.

So imagine my dismay when my practically-new kite burst a seam.  These kites are not cheap, and it was just out of warranty.

I emailed the manufacturer, Best, who, surprisingly, did not bat an eye, and sent me a new kite promptly, only asking for pictures of the failure as proof of the defect, and so they could evaluate any engineering issues.  In fact they didn't even ask for the old kite back (not sure what I'm going to do with a busted kite, but maybe I'll turn it into a tent!)

There just aren't enough companies out there these days that go to such lengths (unfortunately uncommon lengths) to make their customers happy, and it's very appreciated.

So for any of you considering a new, insanely fun and fast growing sport, give kite boarding a try.  There's literally nothing like it.

From NPR: How the credit crisis happened; a look from Wall St to Main St

Anyone who is even mildly interested in how the real estate bubble, foreclosure crisis, and ensuing credit crisis happened absolutely must listen to this broadcast called “The Giant Pool of Money,” a joint broadcast between NPR and This American Life. It’s the most entertaining, educational 60 minutes you’ll have spent in a long time, I promise!

You can "read" your voicemail... Using Callwave

I've mentioned before how much I like Callwave.  Well, time to increase that "likeability" measurement again!  Callwave has introduced a "visual text" system they call "vtxt" which automatically translates the spoken word to the written word.  And the kicker is, it actually works. 

I recently was persuaded by Callwave to try their voicemail system in lieu of the iPhone's stock "visual voicemail" system.  I have to say, I can't believe I waited this long to do it.  By swapping Callwave in, I can now get a text message and email with the message someone leaves typed into the message!  Meaning, I can read my voicemail.  How good is it?  I decided to call myself and leave myself the following message, which Callwave then converted into text:

"(Vtxt) Hi, this is Daniel Odio. I am leaving this as a message on my voicemail, which might sound a little strange to you because you're probably reading this on my blog, but that's the beauty of CallWave's voice transcription service, which is an automated transcription service that they have created. CallWave service allows for speech to be transcribed into text, which is then sent to the user as a text message or as an email or both, and so you can read your voicemail, which is a very strange concept to most people. So, let me just repeat how it works. You can actually read your voicemail by - whenever somebody leaves a message on your voicemail, it then gets transcribed by callwave.com into text and that text is then sent to you via text message on your phone or to your email or both. It's a pretty neat service, and I found that the accuracy is generally very good. We'll see how it is once this gets transcribed into text. But generally, I find it to be very good. Let me go ahead and just give my number so that you can see how a number transcribed. It's 202-250-3846. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to copy this text message that I get into my blog and post it as a blog posting, which also raises a lot of other possibilities about posting audio, you know, in text form and not having to actually write everything out. So, enjoy it and check the tool out. I'm very impressed."

You can also listen to the original audio message I left myself by clicking here. 

Check the the service out at www.Callwave.com

The Quest for Original Content

Google loves original content, and so my real estate firm finds itself on a never ending quest to create this original content so Google will rank us higher in its search engine algorithms.

The strategy has worked very well thus far.  Our traffic has risen 100x, from an average of 20 unique visitors per day in the summer of 2007, to 2,400 unique visitors per day this past winter.   This puts us within striking distance of the top 100,000 websites mark.  We are currently at 135,007.

Our strategy has been working, as evidenced by the graph at right, and we have a new trick we're just now introducting.  It's too early to know for sure that this will work, but I have high hopes for our new approach.  Let me tell you about it:

We've found that it's generally very difficult to consistently create a high volume of good quality, written content.  Usually the experts who are able to write the content are too busy getting deals done or otherwise adding value to the company.  So we have, until recently, found ourselves in a conundrum.   But, we just found the solution, which can be accomplished in a few easy steps:

1. Have people within your company do phone interviews with clients, vendors, or experts in the field.  Doing a phone interview is much easier than writing original content.  We use the third party provider Audio Acrobat to record our calls.  We simply start the call with, say, a client, put them on hold, bring Audio Acrobat on the line, and then presto, we're recording.
2. Audio Acrobat automatically uploads and puts the file on the web with HTML code to easily paste into web pages.
3. We then use a transcription company to transcribe the content into written form.  This allows us to provide both audio and written versions of the content.  Google only cares about the written content.  Here is an example of an interview with a lender, another lender, and a loan broker. 

We'll keep you updated and let you know how this affects our Google rankings!

The "1-2-3 Punch" with web leads + followup

There's a very specific approach that works with web leads, which we've found through trial and error.  (Here I go giving away all our secrets again.)

Step 1: Good SEO: The first thing is to have really good search engine optimization (SEO) so people can find you.  You can "rent" space at the top of Google by buying AdWords or you can pay an SEO expert to convince Google you're an expert so they'll rank you first naturally.  AdWords is immediate but more expensive while natural SEO work takes time - 6 months or more.  You can also use a combination of both approaches.

Step 2: Website tricks:  I've said this before and I'll say it again:  Most companies simply have no idea what the purpose of a website is.  They seem to have this idea that a website is a great place to put lots of marketing literature.  While that is fine, the purpose of a website for most companies is to get to a phone call.  That's it.  You want someone to pick up the phone and call you, or have the person email you, because they're impressed with the information they find on your site.  But how is someone going to easily contact you when you have a small "contact us" tab or link at the bottom of your site?  We have a big "contact us" form on every single page of our DROdio.com site.  And people use it.  On some of the pages, we have multiple "contact us" buttons & forms.  There are 3 on our property listing pages, like this one.

Step 3: QUICK contact.  A really fast response to a web lead is key.  In fact, the speed of response is more important than anything else about you.  It's more important than your subject matter knowledge.  It's more important than your helpfulness.  When people submit leads online, they don't wait for you to respond.  They move on to another site and submit a lead on that site too.  Whoever responds first gets the customer.  Period.  Our goal is to always respond within 15 minutes.  In fact, we try to respond in under 5 minutes when someone submits a lead on our sites.  And think of it this way - when you submit something online, you're not really expecting to get a response for several days, right?  So when you get a call within a few minutes, that really builds trust with the client.

We use an advanced custom-build CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system that is PHP-based and FREE called XRMS, which we've been modifying for the last 4 years.

This CRM system lets us have multiple employees interfacing with each contact using a "sales funnel" approach.  When a lead comes in, it starts in "no contact."  As we interact with the lead, we move him to different statuses, such as "first followup" or "second followup".  This lets us easily see at what stage each person is in.

You don't need an advanced CRM system to do this yourself.  You could, for example, make a series of folders in your Outlook that mimic the same behavior.  As your business prospects move through different stages of interest, you can move them to different folders.  We do, however, highly, highly, highly recommend you start using a CRM system if you intend to do any selling at all.  Trying to sell without a CRM system is like trying to eat without utensils.  It's possible, but not pretty.  There is a very good subscription-based CRM tool called Salesforce.com which is $50/month-ish.  You can view their demos here.

We also have a very systematic approach to following up with each lead that comes in.  We "tag" each lead with a very detailed set of tags specific to that person's interests.  For example, if the buyer is looking to buy a home in Alexandria, VA, we can easily pull out of our database all of the prospective clients we have that meet that criteria, and market directly to them (when a new listing is available in Alexandria, for example).  These "tags" are an important part of what's called "drip marketing" which is revolutionizing the way companies stay in touch with consumers.

These days, consumers often are just "kicking the tires" online, looking for some information.  They're often not read to commit to you immediately.  I've heard many salespeople get frustrated at this online behavior.  But if you know how to harness it, this can become a real asset.  Become a trusted resource for these potential clients over time, and use technology to leverage your knowledge transfer.  For example, why do you think I spend so much time writing these blog postings?  I know that there are many subscribers to this blog that I will eventually want to do business with in some form or another.  If I can share my expertise to you now, then you'll be more likely to listen to what I have to say when I have a business idea for you.  The same thing should apply to your business.  You should be using a drip marketing campaign tool such as Constant Contact so you can keep your consumers on a "drip marketing" campaign and let them come to you when they are interested in something you write.

Our process is as follows:

1. Lead comes in via email or phone.  If via email, we respond within 15 minutes.  We offer to put the home buyer on a "set it and forget it" alerting system so they're notified when new properties come one the market that match their buying criteria.  You might be able to find similar ways to leverage technology to do some of your work for you.  Once we've responded, we move people from "no contact" to "first followup" in our sales funnel.
2. If no response, we follow up again via phone & email within 24 hours.  We move the lead to "second followup"
3. If no response within 2 days, we follow up again via phone & email.  At this point we move the contact to "discarded" BUT we set them up on a "drip" marketing campaign to have them keep receiving occasional (usually weekly or every 2 weeks) emails from me about trends in the marketplace.  About 30% of those on the drip campaign will eventually contact us, and of those, 25% to 40% will turn into clients.

As you can see, this process isn't difficult; it just requires discipline and a bit of a process framework to help you get things done in a consistent manner.  Sales is a numbers game.  The more people you have coming through your sales funnel, the more business you'll get.  You have to be ready to face rejection; if 1 in 10 of your leads turn into paying clients, you're doing well.  That means you'll be told "no" 9 out of 10 times.  Most people can't handle that kind of rejection.  But those of us who love selling thrive on the 1 "yes" in 10, and on providing true value to our clients.  Good selling!

Being an entrepreneur means bending the rules... carefully

This is going to be a tough post to write, because unless you're an entrepreneur, you're probably going to take what I have to say the wrong way.

Being an entrepreneur means bending the rules... carefully.  (It does not mean breaking the rules).  Here's an example - a litmus test, if you will - about what the mentality of being an entrepreneur is all about:

If you are male, and you are in a Starbucks, say, or any location that has a "women's" and "men's" bathroom, and the men's bathroom is occupied, would you use the women's bathroom?  Let's assume that it's just 1 person per bathroom, meaning if you were to use the women's bathroom, you could lock the door and know that no other women would come in.

Now, as an entrepreneur, my mentality is that both bathrooms are, generally speaking, exactly the same.  One just has a sign that says "women" and one has a sign that says "men".  To me, I would be bending the rules by using the women's bathroom.  Of course, I would be extra courteous when in the women's bathroom (think: "don't sprinkle when you tinkle"), but I would have no problem using the women's bathroom, because the signage is meant more as a guide than an absolute.  This is the mind of an entrepreneur in action, folks!  Some people would steadfastly argue that the bathrooms are not interchangeable.  If that's your mentality, then you probably wouldn't make a very good entrepreneur.  I'd love to hear your comments on this perspective.

UPDATE:

I've been getting some great comments!  Please share yours.  I'm introducing the "Bathroom Entrepreneurial Scale" and would love to know how "entrepreneurial" you are based on your behavior.  Here's the scale, please let me know in the comments section where you land:

Rank yourself on this scale in the comments section:

1) NOT ENTREPRENEURIAL AT ALL - I would never go into a bathroom designated for the opposite sex

2) SOMEWHAT ENTREPRENEURIAL - I would go into an opposite-sex bathroom but only if it's a "1 stall" type of bathroom where I knew nobody else would come in AND I knew that there was no way anyone would ever find out

3) PRETTY ENTREPRENEURIAL - I would go into an opposite-sex bathroom if it were "1 stall" and would not care or be embarrassed if someone from the opposite sex was waiting when I got out

4) OVER-THE-TOP ENTREPRENEURIAL - I would go into a multi-stall opposite sex bathroom if I had to, and risk someone of the opposite sex coming in while I was inside!

NEW ADDITION! 5) TOO ENTREPRENEURIAL (?)- I would go into a multi-stall opposite sex bathroom knowing that someone of the opposite sex was already in there and use a stall next to them!

Learn to SELL effectively. My secrets, tips & tricks.

Let's face it, we all have to be salespeople in some aspect of life - most of us just don't like it.

There are some people - myself included - who do like selling.   

A great salesperson is just about 180 degrees opposite from a used-car salesman.  A great salesperson is a trusted partner in business.  And if that statement sounds as strange to you as it does to most people, you'll realize how un-great most salespeople are.

First, let me tell you about my background.  I was selling sodas to construction workers in my neighborhood when I was 8 years old.  I sold candy bars on my school bus in high school.  I paid for college by licensing the University of Virginia's "V" logo and producing Frisbees with the logo, which I sold in the school bookstores (my self-portrait, at left, with my Frisbees in the window of one of the bookstores, dated 1996). 

I spent 4 summers at GE while in college, working as an intern in the telesales department, where I beat the sales numbers of some full-time salespeople, selling Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) solutions to banks in Brazil.  Since then I've been an Entrepreneur full-time; I've gotten massive amounts of press, including a cover in the Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, TLC, Discovery Channel, CBS News & many, many others.

The best sales book I've ever read is called "Selling to VITO". (That book was pre-Internet; the author has since come out with two similar books, "Getting to VITO and "Secrets of VITO: Think and Sell Like a CEO" that are updated).  The main point of the VITO books is that sales people have value and should approach their clients as equals.  Never apologize when pitching a client.  You are bringing value to the table.  The client needs you as much as you need him.  You just have to convince him of that.  I highly recommend this series.

I get sales calls all the time from telemarketers that don't take the time to do their research.  They call me and ask, "May I speak to the person who handles your internet marketing?"  I just can't believe they're wasting their time.  Have they even taken 30 seconds to see what I'm even doing with internet marketing?  If these salespeople would just Google my name or my company name, they would be able to call me and say, "Daniel, I noticed you've raised your traffic from 40 unique visits per day to 2,400 unique visits per day.  That's really impressive, but I have a way to raise that to 10,000 unique visits per day.  Want me to show you how?"  An obviously more powerful pitch.

So if you need to pitch clients but are afraid to, or for another other reasons don't enjoy the sales process, here are a few tips to make it less painful:

1. Do your homework on each prospect you're calling by, at a minimum, Googling their name.  Then, find their "pain" point and hit 'em where it hurts.  You'll get their attention, and you'll actually know what you're talking about.
2. Use Jigsaw or Hoovers to find the top decision makers.  Don't start at the bottom - start at the top.  Believe me when I tell you that when you pitch a CXO or a VP, and that person then asks one of the people on their team to follow up with you, you'll get much better results.  Think of it this way - when the CEO of a company sends an email to someone on their team asking them to follow up with you, it gets read, and it gets acted on.  You're "blessed" by the top and people don't usually question the top, they just say 'yes sir, I'll get right on it' and 'the boss wants this.'  Don't waste your time selling into the bottom of an organization - sell to the "VITO's" (Very Important Top Officers) of an organization.
3. Believe in yourself.  If you follow steps 1 & 2 above, you'll be adding value.  You are not being a pest by contacting these people.  You are helping them.  They need you.  I mean it.
4. Use a CRM system to keep yourself organized.  I'm not a big fan of ACT or Goldmine but they are better than nothing.  Don't use Outlook.  Don't use a spreadsheet.  Salesforce.com is pretty good.  I don't use it myself (we took an open-source, PHP-based CRM system and have been modifying it for our needs) but it's probably the best thing out there for individuals or small companies,  it's very inexpensive for small groups, and it integrates well with Jigsaw.
5. 
   Force yourself to pick up the phone and make outbound calls.  Set aside several hours per day to make calls.  Set a minimum number of calls that you'll make every day.  Take notes in your CRM of every call you make and set reminders to call the person back.  Sales is a numbers game, even when you're really good at it.  I am always amazed by how afraid people are of the telephone.  They're afraid of picking it up, and they're afraid of rejection.  Get over it.  You won't have any success if you can't get on the phone.

Lastly, let me tell you about communicating your message.  So many inexperienced salespeople forget that "it's all about the customer."   When you call a VITO or someone you're pitching, don't use words like "me" or phrases like "I need."  They don't care about what you need.  You are asking them for their money.  Focus on the value you're providing them, and the pain you're solving.  They want to get home to their families too.  If you can make their life and their job easier/faster/better, they'll buy from you.  When you leave a voicemail, make it quick and to the point.  Here is my take on a perfect VM:

Good: Joe, this is Daniel Odio.  I understand you need to ship 1,000 widgets to Nebraska by Tuesday.  I've got a solution for you.  Call me at 202.250.3846 for details, again that's 202.250.3846.

vs.

Bad: Joe, my name is Daniel Odio.  I wanted to talk to you about your shipping needs.  Is there a time we could schedule an appointment to talk?  We have some very innovative shipping solutions.  You can reach me at 202.250.3846.  I can also tell you about our specials.

Keep it short.  Very short.  Joe is a busy guy.  If he doesn't see immediate value, you're gone.  I can't tell you how many VM's I delete after the first 5 or 10 words.  And never leave any information after you give your phone number.  Most people, if they are going to call you back at all, are going to hit delete as soon as you give your number so they can dial it.  Say your phone number slowly and repeat it.  Just get in the habit of repeating your phone number every time you leave it on people's VM's, so it sounds natural, not forced.

The tone of your voicemail is important too.  Here's some audio of me rattling off the "Good" version of the VM above in two different ways:

The same thing goes for emails.  I see inexperienced salespeople all the time writing novel-length emails. 

Keep your emails short.  Maximum 3 sentences.  Remember, the point of an email is NOT to convince the prospect to buy.  He or she is not going to just call you up and place an order after receiving your email.  The point of an email is to get the prospect on the phone. 

Let me repeat that.  The point of your email is NOT to close the deal.  The point of your email is to get a phone call, or possibly a meeting.  Do NOT write long emails.  If you want more tips on writing emails, read my blog on getting good press; the same rules apply.

If you need to be selling as part of your job, make yourself start right now.  Seriously, go and sign up for Jigsaw.  Pull a list of 10 people you'll call in the morning.  Go sign up for an account with Salesforce.com.  Do some quick research on those 10 people and find out if what they need is what you're offering.  Get organized and get started, and do it now.

The critical importance of dates & commitments

Being a business owner, I have a bit of a different perspective on life than most people.  For one thing, to me work is more of a passion than a job.  Owning a business is like having a child.  Even though I don't have any children (yet), I think I can imagine what it's like based on the parallels:  You have to tend to the business at all hours, things are never as easy as they seem they should be, you have to put the business before yourself, etc.

One of the perspectives I've gained is the importance of keeping everyone in the company on the same page & prioritizing the company's needs correctly.  And I've learned that there are two really, really important aspects to this:  One is setting commitments and the second is always attaching a date to those commitments.

Sounds obvious right?  It's not.  Here's the difference in interaction I'm referring to:

Bob:  Hey I have a great idea - let's create a widget!
Jane: I don't know, Bob, we already have 10 different widget types.
Bob: Well I'll look into it some more, but I think it's a great idea.
Jane: OK let me know.

Versus:

Bob:  Hey I have a great idea - let's create a widget!
Jane: I don't know, Bob, we already have 10 different widget types.
Bob: Well I'll look into it some more, but I think it's a great idea.
Jane: OK when can you let me know?
Bob: I'm not sure yet, but how about this - I'll let you know by Friday when I'll know for sure if it's a good idea.

Do you see the HUGE difference here?  Jane is asking Bob to give her a date by which he will give her a date.  He is telling her that on Friday, he will tell her when he will know on what date he'll be able to determine if it's a good idea.  So when Friday comes around, Bob might say, "Hey Jane, I'll know by March 31st if this is a good idea."  But the important thing here is that he is committing to a date NOW instead of leaving things hanging, even though the date he is committing to is just to give Jane another date.

This is an incredibly hard habit to get into.  You have to really force yourself to always give dates by which you'll do things - even if the date is just a date by which you'll give a date, as in the example above.  I learned this when I worked at GE.  In fact, GE takes this one step further, requiring anyone who comes up with an idea to either take ownership of the idea - with a date attached, of course - or immediately relegate the idea to the "good idea, but no action" bin.

In order to accurately track tasks with employees, I use a hosted task service called TasksPro.  It's an inexpensive way to track the tasks employees commit to doing, and I have a weekly review meeting to go over progress.

You'll be astounded at the difference insisting on dates makes.  Just try catching yourself and those around you when an idea or action item comes up and force yourselves to commit to dates, and then track the dates.  I'd love to hear about your experiences.

The Incredible Power of YouTube & Goliath

Yesterday, my iPhone stopped working. No warning, it just stopped receiving calls. I could still make calls, but not receive any.

After 2+ hours on the phone with both AT&T and Apple customer support, I got fed up, and I posted a YouTube video of my phone not working (see screenshot at left).

I also used www.Jigsaw.com (of which I am a member) to find a few VP-level AT&T employees, and I sent them this email:

Patty, Erika,

I'm sure you're both very busy. I hope you have a minute to handle a customer issue.

I was hoping there was someone within AT&T wireless' executive support I could speak to about a big problem with my AT&T iPhone.

I posted a YouTube video explaining the problem (my phone often doesn't ring when people call me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydZugwZfc9Y

And the most amazing thing happened. By this morning I had received a phone VM from the Virginia area regional customer service manager and the email below:

Daniel Ruben Odio-Paez, We have received notification of an issue with a wireless account. Unfortunately, we did not receive the wireless number or account number with the issue. We will need this information in order for us to better assist you. Thank You, Kim Kirtley Office of the President NE Region

It just goes to show you how aware even big companies are of the power of YouTube. The video had only gotten 23 views but it still garnered a very immediate response.

Kim and the Virginia VP rep were both very helpful in getting my issue resolved, so I took the video down (I'm not trying to be mean, after all). I still can't fully recommend the iPhone because it's been so buggy, but at least now I have VP-level contacts I can call when I have my next problem.

A PC User's Guide to Using A Mac

I've made a YouTube Video on my experience switching from a Dell PC to an Apple MacBook Pro, which I've had for almost 2 years now. This video also includes my favorite applications on the Mac. Enjoy!

The Ultimate in Productivity!

UPDATE!  UPDATE!  UPDATE!

I've upgraded from my original design (post below).

I'm now using a NordicTrack Commercial 400 recumbent bike ($499 shipped from Costco.com, also available in most stores for $399).  This bike works better for me than my original bike, because the resistance levels go higher.  The original bike had a dial-resistance which was not sufficient for me, although overall it was a fine bike, especially considering the low price.

Because the NordicTrack bike couldn't accomodate the original laptop stand, I had to fabricate my own laptop stand, which I made out of aluminum.  You can watch a YouTube video of the bike + stand below.

If you're interesting in a stand like this, I might consider fabricating them on a production-level scale, and probably sell them for something like $99 each.  I'm already doing way too may things, so to make this worthwhile I'd probably have to get at least 200 orders.  If you're interested, please email me with the type of recumbent bike you have, so I can determine the feasibility  of creating a stand for your brand of bike. 

If you haven't purchased a bike yet, but you're considering one, I recommend the NordicTrack - it's a great value in the world of "almost gym quality" bikes.  You can also see a slideshow of pictures of the setup.

Here is the YouTube Video:

Here is the original Posting, with the original bike setup:

I've recently set up a pretty sweet work station - on a recumbent bike!  I've found that yes, I can in fact work while biking (how sweet is that to those of you who, like me, value every minute of work time!).  I can burn about 500 calories an hour doing this.

Here's how I set it up - the best part is that the cost was under $300.

I bought this recumbent bike from Amazon.com for about $220 and this work desk, also from Amazon.com, for about $70.  The work station fits over the bike perfectly, and my knees don't knock on the work station at all.

I had considered much more expensive bikes ($500+) but this bike got such great reviews on Amazon, I figured I'd give it a try.  Very happy thus far; we'll see how it holds up to use.

You can also see more pictures of the setup here.  Give me your comments!

My next project: "Personalized Mass Marketing"

I'm working with a top internet ad-serving company to create a web advertising solution that will result in "personalized mass marketing." 

Instead of website visitors drinking from a firehose, you'll only get the types of ads you want, when you want them.  After all, if I'm a car lover between 25-40 years of age, I wouldn't mind seeing an ad, or even better, being contacted by a car company about a hot new model they're rolling out, but it's doubtful I'd want to hear about the new line of Depends undergarmets that Kimberly-Clark is rolling out.  Today, I don't have much of a choice in the matter.

The point is, we've become so jaded by useless advertising that it's become a bad word.  But it doesn't have to be this way.  Think of the brands you are loyal too.  If I had more interaction with, say, BMW, and I could provide them with feedback on their new models, and be invited as a "VIP guest" to their showroom, I would welcome the high-touch experience.  The key is to know what brands, products and services people want to be associated with.  For some people it's cars, for others it's pet-related, or beauty product related, or clothing related, etc.

 

We're creating a 'personalized mass marketing' solution by teaming up with the ad-serving company to build a profile of the sites people visit.  Over time, as we learn people's likes & dislikes, we can target the ads they see based on their browsing preferences. 

I have most of the team in place, but I'm looking for a really good senior database programmer to help me create a database that can withstand millions of visitors per day (yes millions).  If you, or anyone you know, might fit the bill, please email me with a few paragraphs detailing your experience and qualifications.  You should also be ready & willing to work in an entrepreneurial environment.  That means little sleep and lots of innovation.

 

What makes an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur?

Why is it that so few of us in society are entrepreneurs?

Is it fear?  Is it comfort with the status quo?

A lot of it, I think, is cultural.  Not so much on a macro level (although that matters) but also on a micro level - your immediate family.  When I was growing up, my father would give me small ways to be entrepreneurial by saying things like "boy, I bet those construction workers must be thirsty", which led to me selling sodas out of a wheelbarrow in my neighborhood, as it was being built.  Those little nudges made all the difference to me, because I grew up trying small businesses, failing at some of them, and succeeding at others.   I sold candy bars on my school bus, I sold parking spaces at my school, I sold frisbees at U.Va., etc. etc.  My younger brother, Sam Odio, is also very entrepreneurial, and I think it was my dad's influence that got him thinking as an entrepreneur as well.

So if any of us can be "taught" to be entrepreneurs, why don't more of us do it?

I think that for many people it's a combination of a fear + life balance issue.  An entrepreneur must treat his business like a child, protecting it from all things bad and coaxing it into growth.  That takes a lot of time and energy, and if you have a spouse and/or children, they definitely need to be very, very understanding.   Very understanding.  Did I mention how understanding they must be?  Yes it's that big of an issue.

And yet, any of us pass tens or hundreds of chances by daily to be entrepreneurs - to solve a little problem that nags society.  here's a great story about Richard Branson:

Carpé Diem

We can all learn a lesson about recognizing opportunity and making the most of a "bad" situation, from Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Airways.  His airline got its start partly because of a last minute flight cancellation.  When his flight to Puerto Rico was cancelled at the last minute, he found a company he could charter a jet from for $2000.  Figuring the cost per seat in the jet, he borrowed a blackboard, wrote "Virgin Airlines, $39 single flight to Puerto Rico" and walked around the airport with it.  He filled every seat on the plane, and a new company was born!

How often do we see only the "bad" side of a situation?  Being successful in life and in your business requires that you seize the day.  Turn issues into opportunities and negative experiences into new positive processes!

Adapted from The New Yorker, May 14, 2007

And yet how many of you would have done what Richard Branson did? 

Here's one way to put a little entrepreneurial spirit in you:  Think of your biggest pet peeve, and then think about how you would solve it.  For example, my pet peeve, for whatever absurd reason, is tables with uneven legs, which makes them rock back & forth.  I just find it highly irritating for some reason.  So, I could sell table chocks to restaurants.  See, a little entrepreneurial spirit right there.  Of course with that comes many other things to consider, namely among them whether other customers have the same need to have steady tables, but that's a discussion for another time.  For now, just try to notice all the entrepreneurial opportunities that pass by you ever day, and consider how you might solve them.

Why Henry Ford would LOVE blogs

Most of you know I run a real estate company, DROdio Real Estate, Inc. which is a technologically progressive firm.  For about 2 years now I've been hearing about blogs, but I never really understood their power until the last month or so.

If you're anything like me, you have probably heard the buzzword "blog" a lot, but  you might be wondering how an "online diary" could be useful in the business world.

First off, a word about what it takes to write a really good blog.  You can't be in the game for a week or a month.  You have to be ready to consistently write really good blog postings for at least 6 months, and probably longer.  I'd guess you need about 100 to 200 blog postings before you'll see any kind of ROI on your time investment.  If you can write 500+ blog postings, you'll be getting to where you need to be.

I see two major benefits of blogs:

1. Blogs let you answer a question once, and then refer to that answer multiple times - like an assembly line
2. Blogs give you a published area of expertise that will attract new clients.

Let me show you some examples:

#1: Henry Ford would love blogs, because they let you be much more efficient in your writing - like an assembly line.  When a client asks you a question, you probably take some time to answer it - maybe 15 minutes max, right?  But I'd be willing to bet you that if you only had to answer that question one time, and you could re-use the answer multiple times, you'd be much more likely to spend some real time on the answer, right? Enter the blog.  You can spend a lot of time answering a question (I spend from 30 minutes to several hours) and then every time you get the question, you just send your client the blog posting as an answer.  Over time you can build up a knowledge base of answers, which will benefit you in other ways (more on that in a minute).  As you add to this rich media of content, you'll find it easier & easier to spend the time an answer really requires because you know you won't have to keep writing it over & over. 

Here are some examples:  When a client asks me, "What is a HUD-1 statement?, I send them this link.  When they ask me, "how do foreclosures work?" I send them this in-depth response.  And so on.  Get the idea?

Setting up a blog is really, really easy.  You can use Typepad, (which is what I use for this blog), or Blogger or a host of other options.  It'll literally take you minutes to set your blog up.  If you want a fully customized blog like our knowledge base, you can get in the door for $500 to $1,000, or a developer friend that's willing to customize a Wordpress installation for you.

#2: Blogs get you noticed by Google.  And when Google thinks you know what you're talking about, it'll send clients your way who are querying terms you write about.  This is where the 500+ posts comes in to play.   Google isn't going to pay much attention to you until you can prove that you're the smartest kid in the class.  But once you do, and clients start finding you, you'll be in for a surprise.  Instead of having clients who call you to price-shop, you'll have clients calling you to discuss your blog postings.   You'll have clients that already agree (or disagree) with your position, but either way, respect your knowledge and want to benefit from having you represent or help them.

Here's a related blog posting about how this happened to me - Google referred me to my own blog when I searched for a term I wasn't sure about! 

Want to see some really good blogs?  My friend Frank LLosa has the absolute best blog I've ever come across, at http://blog.FranklyRealty.com.  You c

Maptimizer: A new technology-based, commercial real estate tool

In addition to DROdio Real Estate, we also run a commercial brand, Cardéa Commercial. We are hard at work on a new tool for our commercial lease & sales clients called Maptimizer. In fact, we think it’s so good that we’re in the process of filing a patent on it (you can click on the image below to enlarge).

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you run a law firm that has 50 attorneys, 20 support staff, and an executive office of 5 people. Your lease is coming due and you want to find a new office, but you’re not exactly sure where to move. Enter Maptimizer.com. Our tool will let you enter the home addresses of all your employees, and then prioritize their importance to the company on a scale of 1 to 5. (i.e., the receptionist gets a score of “1″ and the CEO gets a score of “5″… or should it be the other way around?!) After entering all the employees’ home addresses, you can then choose from several office locations (actually an unlimited number of office locations). The tool uses some pretty complex math to calculate the best office location based on all the weighted employee locations. We can also tell you what restaurants & shops are near each of your office choices, and what the traffic is like. Pretty nifty, eh? If you’d like to learn more about it, please let me know. This tool would also be great as a way to figure out where to hold conventions, build churches, or have any other large gatherings of people, where many people have to commute via driving.

We are also looking for branding clients.  Is this a tool your firm would like to brand and use as a competitive advantage?  How much would your company be willing to pay as a monthly licensing fee?  We have not worked a pricing model out for this yet but it would probably be a licensing fee + setup charge.  We’ve talked to some of our clients and feel that Maptimizer will be a good way to get in the door with prospective clients (i.e., “let me run an analysis for you using Maptimizer and I’ll sit down with you to go over the results.”)   If this is something that you’re interested in, please email me.

Beating Cancer: An Entrepreneur's Approach

What would you do if you were a successful entrepreneur and you suddenly found out you had cancer?

This happened to a client of mine, and like any resourceful entrepreneur, he didn't just wait to see what would happen. He proactively researched solutions, but impressively, did it in a very creative, entrepreneurial way - by following the money trail.

What he found was that small companies with promising cancer treatments would see large stock gains, and he spent his time tracking down exactly what those new treatments were, and where they were being held in clinical trials. He ended up getting a progressive DNA-based treatment that has proven very effective for him.

I found his approach so powerful that I asked him if I could post it to my blog for others, which he agreed to do. Here's what he had to say:

"...these are the best sources in the US I know about:

www.cancer.gov is the website for the National Cancer Center based at NIH in Bethesda. All Clinical Trials aimed at cancer are supposed to be registered here and with the FDA. They are THE clearing house for what is going on in the US. However, they do not record what may be going on elsewhere as far as studies, developments, trials, etc elsewhere in the world. The US Government including the FDA and NCI are tougher on approving procedures, bio-therapies, techniques, surgeries, etc...thus you may find that in places like Germany, Japan, France, Belgium, and Spain..new ideas are more common because there is less regulation by the government,...however if something is working, you can be certain that it will hit the US markets 1st. The NCI sponsors clinical trials that are not just held in Bethesda, but to get a good read on effectiveness, they are often scattered around the country at various hospitals and centers who agree to follow the det ails and terms of the trial to the letter and proved accurate and continuous monitoring and reporting of all sorts of data. That's how these trials learn what works.

www.ASCO.org is the website for the American Society of Clinical Oncologists. These are not the surgeons but rather the cancer doctors who use chemotherapy, bio-therapy, radiation, immunotherapy, genetic therapies and every other treatment shy of surgery. These oncologists hold various seminars around the country for specialized discussion on certain problems or on specific cancers and also hold an annual conference in the US. In anticipation of the conference, during the conference, and immediately after the conference, certain stocks go crazy as results and disclosures of the efforts of this huge group, maybe 40,000 doctors, are released. People watch this website for what is being done, what advances are made and who is making progress. Like many problems, advances are made often in very small or very slow steps, but way more people are living with cancer than dying from it.

www.curetoday.org is an online and published monthly more in lay terms than the ASCO or NCI site. It usually focuses on maybe 10-12 topics a month with incidental news. You can look back in the archives or order back issues to learn what is going on with a particular form or stage of cancer. This is a pretty good way to keep up.

CANCER HOSPITALS-self referral or family and friends can refer to any of these hospitals..you do not need to be friends with the Chairman of Pfizer to be seen.

www.mskcc.org Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center based in Manhattan-Hospital and labs on East 65th through East 70th Street-also tied in with Cornell Medical Center, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and Rockefeller University...Outpatient facility at 53rd St. and 3rd Ave. with other facilities in Long Island, Connecticut, out counties in New York, and Norther New Jersey

www.mdanderson.org MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Located in the medical city a section of Houston with 350,000 medical professionals, all kinds of hospitals, clinics, etc. Medical City skyline is bigger than Boston. They do a lot, I mean a real lot for people, an enormous facility. Also has a natural medicine and eastern medicine department which works in conjunction with western medicine. This may very much appeal to your father's friend. As many of our western medicines are derived from the plant, root, and herb world, the combination makes a lot of sense.

www.jwci.org John Wayne Cancer Institute outside of Los Angeles, affiliated with UCLA Medical Center-tops on the west coast, has really well backed departments with all the labs, staff, facilities that any cutting edge group could want..thanks to Hollywood stars. Home of the SWOG or South Western Oncology Group, a school of thought in and of itself which often takes different approaches than people on the east coast.

www.mayoclinic.org in cold Rochester, Minnesota..around for a very very long time, this is the
top center in the midwest. The Cancer Center there is big but shares a lot of research and information with other centers.

www.dana-farber.org Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston is affiliated with Mass. General Hospital and Harvard University Medical Center. The top center in the New England area with some very very very smart researchers and doctors.

Also, Medical Centers at the University of Chicago, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Pennsylvania (particularly the Wistar Institute) are doing some very good things, as is Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

There is a huge huge amount of information out there and it is easy to become overwhelmed with what might be the best choice. One thing is certain, no one oncologist anywhere can possibly know about all that might be available and what can be done, as if he or she tried to keep up, they would be unable to see any patients. That's what makes these big Centers so good, there are teams and teams of researchers, teams of clinicians, and teams of specialists to continue ongoing maintenance of what is more and more becoming a manageable illness. Unfortunately the Washington area is growing so fast, that established oncologists simply cannot pull up and re-establish a group practice of experienced oncologists in a growing city-especially when the hospitals around here are by hospital standards very small. The Doctors do their best, patient loads are enormous, and unfortunately, they work with what they know and have used.

It takes a lot of reading and a lot of networking and talking to people to see what might be best, but if you can get a consensus of 2 out of 3 to agree on a path to follow, you have placed him on the right path towards the best possible help. Again with over 300 forms of Cancer
This is my take on things, and as a lay person who has done some reading, I certainly know only very very little, but I really do believe if I did NOT do what these doctors recommended I might not be here today."

Google “Multiple Destinations” fastest & most efficient trip routing

A Norwegian gentleman named Geir Kokkvoll Engdahl has created an absolutely stunning Google map overlay which will allow you to calculate the most efficient route between multiple destinations, which he calls Optimap. No doubt Realtors are going to go gaga over this tool once they learn about it. For now, as a DROdio Real Estate, Inc. client, it’s yours to start using today, and it’s free! Here’s a screenshot of a recent calculation we did using the tool, to find the best route to 9 destinations (click the picture to enlarge):

You can learn about how the math is done or start using it yourself here: www.DROdio.com/route

Betty Crocker = Key to life?

How good are you at seeing the truth behind a statement?  How often do you admit to yourself that you've made a mistake?  Take this quote, for example:

This week a man told me the story of Betty Crocker cake mixes, the kind of story that marketing people love to tell: “Betty Crocker failed at first because all you had to do was add milk. Women didn’t buy it because they felt they would be cheating their families. So the company took the powdered egg out of the mix. Then, when women had to add both milk and egg, they felt like they were ‘cooking’ and the product began to sell.”

Seems like those marketers just figured out the key to life & human interactions, right?  Hmmm.... here's what the author wrote next:

Assuming that the basic facts are true, what probably happened is that the original mix produced a bad cake; powdered eggs are never as good as real ones. The explanation that “women didn’t feel like they were baking” is a romantic misinterpretation of the data.

People make these excuses because it’s hard to say, “Our product fell below the customer’s expectations.” It’s easier to say, “we ran into unforeseeable circumstances."

And the author continues,

The problem with making excuses is that we convince ourselves they’re true, and in so doing, learn nothing. What we might have learned from the mistake is lost forever, buried under a pile of lies. And now history must repeat itself one more time.

The weasel who announced the cake mix failed because “women are mysterious creatures” was not the last of his breed. This tendency to save face is why so few people who hold a job for ten years get ten years of experience. The average blame-shifter gets one year’s experience ten times. Don’t let this be you.

To learn things most people will never know, you must:

1.    Summon courage
2.    See clearly
3.    Swallow your pride.
4.    Speak the truth.

And be sure to run with the pacesetters, the risk-takers, the possibility thinkers, people who will try what’s never been done, hitters who keep their eye on the ball.

And never forget: Stay at the plate until you get a hit. You’re not out until you quit trying. (The three-strike rule applies only to baseball. This is the game of life.)

Quotes provided by my friend Steve Conn, who forwarded it from his friend Roy.

The iPhone vs. the Treo from a Realtor's perspective

Note: If you like this article, you might also like this FAQ on how we use technology to help home buyers in the home buying process.  You can also read this article on this page where there are photos accompanying the text.

You’ve heard all about the iPhone in the media - now let’s evaluate how a Realtor would compare the Apple iPhone to the Palm Treo, a staple among Realtors.First, a little background: I used several versions of the Treo, including the Windows version, the Palm 600, 650 and 700. I found the Windows version of the Treo difficult to navigate, requiring multiple button presses for even simple functions like calling a contact in an address book, and quickly switched to the Palm version, which I used for several years.Surprisingly, I find the iPhone interface to be slightly reminiscent of the Windows iPhone in some ways. It can take several button clicks and some scrolling to get to a contact, for example. However, the iPhone is much more elegantly executed. Here are some of the “Pro’s” and “Con’s” of the iPhone as compared to the Treo:

Making & Receiving Calls: The iPhone is great in some ways and frustrating in others. The Treo has a feature where you can assign a key to your speed dial list. So if I want to call ‘Jane’ for example, I might assign her phone number to the “1” key. Then I can just hold down the “1” key to automatically dial her number. The iPhone doesn’t do this, because there are no physical keys. It does have a “recents” and “favorites” section but it’s not quite as quick as the Treo.

As a Realtor, I find myself making conference and speakerphone calls all the time. The conference call volume is much better on the Treo than the iPhone. However, the iPhone handles 3-way calls in a much more elegant way than the Treo. One thing I always had a hard time with on the Treo was that when I wanted to do a 3-way call, and I put the first caller on hold to call the second party, if the second party did not pick up (i.e., the call went to voicemail), there was no way to hang up on the second party and continue the call with the first party. However, the iPhone does let you hang up on the second party if they don’t answer, so you can continue your conversation with the first party, which is a lifesaver if you do a number of three-way calls, which I’m sure most of us Realtors do!

The iPhone handles voicemail very well, allowing you to see the name or number of the person who left you a VM, and easily scroll forwards and backwards in the message (i.e., when you didn’t quite catch the phone number someone left in a message). You actually never call into a voicemail system, which is a change from a regular phone. You simply “view” the messages on the iPhone screen and hit “play” to listen to them.

You can accomplish something similar with the Treo using a third-party voicemail system called “CallWave” which is free, at www.CallWave.com. It gives you the ability to listen to have your voicemail sent to your email so you can manage it from there.