ABC-GLA Co-Director of Education Amber Gustafson gives us the details of the evening on her Amber Events Blog.

The fabulous Viceroy in Santa Monica was our host venue this month, and it was a treat! We were in the Bristol Room with the patio attached and we started off the evening mixing, networking, and listening to the fun tunes played by DJ Martin Felipe of Invisible Touch Events (Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It” was my guilty favorite for the night)…. (read more…!)

Images by Ellice Schwartz of ES Photography

Thank you to Ellice Schwartz of ES Photography for these wonderful images!!

Posted by nkoller on June 23, 2009

Hi Everyone,

For thise of you who follow me on twiiter – Icalled out some great trades today. I’ll be blogging two of them – because they are classics. I traded these in the morning as there was Non-farm payroll out in the US at 13.15 (GMT time), I wanted to make sure I was out of the trades before the data release.

I noticed that the AUDUSD kept testing the R1 level – but just didn’t seem to push through and on the third attempt it made an inverted hammer. Took my trade with an entry at 0.82434, placing my stop 21 pips away (just above the momentum high and the R1 level).

My target was the Pivot Point – that was 87.4 pips away.

Cheers,

TB

In no consecutive order:

1. The Art of Innovation: Great book on innovation.  This will push you to push yourself.  If you’re an entrepreneur, you need to read this book.
2. A Whack on the Side of the Head: Kinda cheesy, but relevant for any of you who feel that the corporate world has gotten your whitey tighties too snug.  This book will show you how to start being creative.  Also has a good section on creative destruction that you need to read.
3. The Creative Habit: This is a book by the world renown choreographer Twyla Tharp.  This is good stuff for those of you who earn a living through your ideas. Creativity is not just about “thinking outside the box”.  Its work and its just as hard as any other intellectual pursuit.  Persistence makes us great, and that’s what you’ll find in this book.
4. Creating: Robert Fritz is a creativity consultant and former composer (like me) who’s authored a few good books about creativity.  Although he’s an indirect competitor of mine and I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, I do recommend this book.  My favorite part of the book is on assumption.  Humans want to know the answer to everything and we often make assumptions to achieve this unconscious desire.   However, false assumptions stifle our creativity because they keep us from being objective about what step we’re on in the creative process. Its not super-light reading, but worth your time.
5. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Peter Drucker classic. Offer 4 thoughtful strategies for companies to stay ahead of the curve.  I like this one because Drucker has a vast business history knowledge, which is insightful.  This is a greatbook, but don’t believe everything Mr. Drucker says about innovation just because he’s a world famous guru.  Read The Art of Innovation and this one back to back and you’ll see why.
6. Creativity: A book by a guy who’s name I cannot pronounce.  Great book discussing the results of many years of research on creativity.  For those of you who desire to be great, to be remembered and to leave a lasting legacy… you owe it to future generations to read this book.  This will show you the way my comrads.
7. Read everything you can about business history!!!! Why?  Why can’t I just read how-to books all my life and take the best practices from other industries and be super-creative… blah blah blah?  The most successful people in any field usually have an expansive knowledge of their field’s history.  In music, just read a little about Brahms, Mozart, Igor Stravinsky, Phillip Glass, Debussy, Ravel…. or even Bob Dylan.  In business, learn about Warren Buffett, Peter Drucker, etc.  The past does not repeat itself but it does rhyme.  Do yourself a favor and become a business history expert.  You will be far ahead of the curve.

I had the fortunate opportunity to be at my girlfriend’s office (Behavior Specialist at a Middle School) today and witnessed some kids bullying a student and then proceeding to becoming angry with a teacher (my girlfriend’s friend) who attempted to point out their less than exemplary behavior.  I was shocked with my observation of this event because for the most part I still see these types of behaviors, especially while I was still working in the corporate environment a couple of years ago.  Of course these days I don’t see it as much since I am usually speaking with more ore less real professionals and/or mature adults and because I attempt to place myself only  in environments that are somewhat calm, controlled, and professional.

So..back to the experience….  It was to my surprise that my girlfriend left me alone with one of the students who was being so mischevious.  Since I was to be alone with this kid for a couple of minutes, and since I knew our world is still rife with people who act like this,  I thought I would take the opportunity to maybe influence the future.  So I took a chance with this young lad while he was still impressionable, and decided to perhaps shed some light on his  actions,  and so I asked him why he was acting this way.  He didn’t give me a clear answer and actually responded with more attitude than he had before he entered the room.  I tried again and he quipped some rude remark in haste to shut up the “old anonymous guy”.  So, after a couple of seconds, I tried once more and calmly asked him…”Did you know that the world for the most part (the intelligent portion of course),sees being an angry and negative person as synonymous with being unintelligent and powerless”.  He, obviosly said “what’?  And I calmly repeated but in a different way…..”The world views people who are angry and negative as people who are for the most part unintelligent and powerless….WEAK!”.  

The student’s eyes grew and  he looked as though he was about to do something, but then something happened, the tension slowly dissapated and he appeared to really get what I was saying. 

We sat in silence for the next 10 minutes and then got up to leave when his parents arrived.  Before he got outside the door the student quietley turned around and said…”Thank you.”  I was so surprised.  No crying, no temper tantrum, no anger…just understanding.

This child got it…he understood that anger and negativity are unintelligent and powerless ways to react to situations.

Moral of the story.  Sometimes children do come to us more highly evolved than adults, and if children can understand this…so can “mature” adults.  

This idea applies not just to bullying students, but to the whole lot of us.  There are many “mature adults” out there who for whatever reason, seem to have chips on their shoulders and remain constantly in a mental state of negativity and in a continual disposition of anger….you know who they are.  You might know one or two or three of them, heck…you may even be that person yourself (hopefully not of course).

 To Being Intelligent and Powerful.

Below are some great ideas to share with your friends or family who can still do a little bit of growing up.

Keeping Yourself Positive
By: Brian Tracy

The most important thing you do for your success is to take control of the suggestive elements in your environment. Be sure that what you are seeing and listening to is consistent with the goals you want to achieve.

Listen Your Way to Success
Listen to educational audio programs in your car. The average person drives 12,000 to 25,000 miles per year which works out to between 500 and 1,000 hours per year that the average person spends in his or her car. You can become an expert in your field by simply listening to educational audio programs as you drive from place to place.

Take Courses in Your Field
Attend seminars given by experts in your field. Take additional courses and learn everything you possibly can. Learn from the experts. Ask them questions, write them letters, read their books, read their articles and listen to people with proven track records in the area in which you want to be successful.

Get Around the Right People
Associate only with positive, success-oriented people. Get around winners. As we say, fly with the eagles. You can’t fly with the eagles if you keep scratching with the turkeys. Get away from the go-nowhere types and above all, get away from negative people. Get away from negative coworkers. If you’ve got a negative boss, seriously consider changing jobs. Associating on a regular basis with negative people is enough in itself to condemn you to a life of underachievement, frustration and failure. Associate only with positive people. Get around winners.

Let us Begin Being Intelligent and Powerful People.  Cause We Can.

This article is Part II of a three part series which is based on the marketing book Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies. In Part I I had discussed what exactly a groundswell is, the changing rules of the free market, outlined the concept of the sum being greater than individual parts and added some personal reflections on these topics. In this article I will address why a brand is dictated by customers and not by an individual or company providing the product or service representing the brand.

Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing was based upon a company developing an advertisement and said company would release their advertisement to the public via print media (magazines, newspapers, etc.), radio commercials, or television commercials. This was one-way communications where the company who was marketing the product or service would push the information to the general public in hopes that sheer repetition and timing would increase the likelihood of someone making a purchase of the advertised product or service. The consumer would accept the advertised product but had little influence concerning the shaping of the advertisement for the product, the product development cycle or the product itself. Given the explosive growth of the Internet, social media, and online communities this concept is dramatically changing.

A New Way Of Thinking
Yesterday in The Groundswell Effect Part I I had mentioned that institutional power is being challenged by the groundswell. This has all come about due to a convergence of three forces which are people, technology, and economics. People are being connected more thoroughly and rapidly than ever before through such avenues as social media. Technology serves as the enabler of people due to the rapid advances in technology and connectivity. Finally, the economics of the Internet is traffic = money. The collision of people, technology and economics create the groundswell.

As discussed in The Groundswell Effect Part I the groundswell is changing the way the free market operates. No longer are manufacturers of products or suppliers of services defining the rules and pushing information to the consumer. The groundswell has allowed for two way communications, and  even in increasing regularity the consumer is defining the brand for the manufacturer or supplier as a result of interactions occurring in the groundswell. The discussions occurring in social networking communities such as Facebook and Twitter, definitions posted in such open source forum as Wikipedia, and even dialogue prompted by independent bloggers  such as myself are all defining individual brands and the world in which we interact.

The Groundswell authors, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff provide numerous examples of this hijacking of brand identity within their book. I will not reprint those here but I highly recommend their book if this is an area of interest for you; the point is – this is happening with increasing regularity and there are documented examples. As introduced yesterday in The Groundswell Effect Part I, the rules are changing – crowds are more powerful than individuals and the crowds are redefining the rules and reshaping our products and services. This is bad news for some but a tremendous opportunity for others.

Is The Groundswell A Threat Or An Opportunity?
There is no doubt that the groundswell is a threat to traditional business. Individuals and companies operating in the old way of thinking will undoubtedly have difficulties, and although I hate to revisit the overused mantra of “change or die” prominent in so many business books I believe in this instance it is true. Web savvy consumers will no longer accept poor product or service quality coupled with superb marketing. The Internet allows people to discuss products and services effortlessly with the whole world to see, therefore the product or service delivery must be flawless from beginning to end.

On the other hand, there are an abundance of opportunities for those who embrace the change brought about by the groundswell.  In my opinion the organizations with the most opportunity are startups. Since startups do not have the baggage of a traditional organization they can start with a clean slate and begin building their processes for optimal execution within the groundswell. On the other end of the spectrum are the traditional, established companies who have a greater challenge as change within an established firm is often the most difficult – there are opportunities here though, it just depends mainly on people’s willingness to change.

Other opportunities lie in the area of product or service development.  The Internet allows for a greatly increased product development cycle of rapid prototyping, failure, and adaptation. As such the Internet allows for a greatly increased rate of evolution than has occurred in the past. Rather than researching the feasibility of an idea for a long duration, developing the product for another year or greater, and then releasing the product, the new method will be, release the idea to the public and monitor the groundswell chatter. The feedback from the groundswell will be used to improve the idea, which will next be prototyped and the cycle repeated. Increased feedback frequency and product and service development cycles generally equal faster time to market and increased profit.

I ask you to consider one final point. Groundswells and the Internet are also changing the way customers behave in regard to the manner in which they make their purchases. In the past customer loyalty was nearly guaranteed, as people operating offline generally do not change behaviors quickly. However, the groundswell creates an environment of fickle, uninhibited customers, as when operating online, people may often change as soon as they see something better. Take the points of increased rapid prototyping and change in customer behavior and magnify this across millions of people across the Internet and you can imagine the impact this has on business and society.

To Be Continued…
In Part III I will conclude this series by discussing the growing importance of relationships and how relationships are impacted by the groundswell.

Individuals and company brands must evolve to meet the business evolution brought about by groundswells!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

This article kicks off a three part series entitled The Groundswell Effect. This series is based upon the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed By Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. While making my way through this book I walked away with three important concepts, each one will be addressed in a separate article:

1.  The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts
2.  A brand is dictated by customers not by an individual or company
3.  Relationships are key

Part I will address what exactly a groundswell is, identify the changing rules of the game that we each take part in, and in doing so reinforce the first concept of the whole being greater than the sum of it’s parts.

What is a Groundswell?
Groundswell was a term originally coined by Forrester Research in a 2006 report titled Social Computing: How Networks Erode Institutional Power, And What To Do About It. According to the Groundswell authors “the groundswell is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from companies.” Simply put, in the past if I had a question concerning the quality or usefulness of a particular product or service I would go to the company offering said product or service. Most recently though, if I had these same questions I would go online and read things such as blogs, customer reviews, discussion boards, wikis, etc. and not even  go to the company. The groundswell is the gathering of individuals and their interactions in these online communities which is essentially the Internet as we understand it.

The Rules Are Changing
This new dynamic is essentially changing the rules by which the free market game is played. In the past a company controlled communications regarding a product or service by being selective or limiting the amount of information released to the public about said product or service. The concept of the groundswell shifts the power away from the manufacturer or service provider to the user community. Manufacturers and service providers are realizing this is occurring whether they like it or not and are attempting to adapt by participating in the groundswell and as a result have a stake in shaping the communities perception of their product or service.

The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of It’s Individual Parts
As a result of my engineering background I have known this concept to be true for years but mainly in a high technology system context. Consider your car, although the individual parts such as the brakes, engine, onboard computer, etc. may be complex, powerful, and add value it their own right, it isn’t until they are combined into a complete functioning vehicle that their true power and value is unleashed. The whole vehicle is much greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Now consider this concept in a marketing and crowd behavior sense, which is the context of groundswells. Simply stated, an immediate assumption is that one person + one person = two people or 1 + 1 = 2. However two people working together is a much more powerful force than the two people working in isolation as individuals. Interestingly enough, the more people you add to the mix the more powerful the effect becomes – this is the essence of the whole being greater than the sum of it’s individual parts. Anyone who has ever worked in both an individual and a partnership situation knows this to be true.

Personal Reflection
In my experience I have found what the authors are saying to be true. Word of mouth is generally the biggest item to convince me to try something, especially when it comes from a friend or group with similar tastes. The web makes retrieving this information extremely easy, nearly instantaneous. As mentioned in my Consistency and Exclusivity post I tend to gravitate towards certain brands and stick with them over time.

Pockets of information form around these brands through groupings of user communities, this is certainly the case with brands such as Apple. If I am to purchase a brand, product, or service that I am unfamiliar with I almost always check online to find quality information about the expected purchase which is generally at my fingertips. Personally, the only meaningful contact I have with a company is at the point of sale where my opinion has already been formed through groundswelling. Another example is Starbucks, where this company actually formed it’s own individual Facebook and Twitter to tap into the power of the groundswell. For your convenience I have provided links both the Starbucks Facebook Page and the Starbucks Twitter Page as examples. For more on the role of Social Media in business development refer to my past articles titled Social Media Parts I, II, and III.

From a personal context consider the effect this has on your purchasing decisions. Personally, it is true that I am interested in nice ads and marketing campaigns that attract my attention based upon my interests. However, I am much more interested in online user reviews as opposed to industry experts and critics and most interested in friends and colleagues with similar taste. To finalize this point consider the impact an opinion a friend with similar taste and interests has on your decision making, now take it to the next level and consider the impact an online user community demonstrating trends concerning a product or service prior to your purchase and you will understand the power of the groundswell.

To Be Continued…
In Part II I will discuss why a brand is dictated by the groundswell and not the company offering the product or service.

The power of the collective groundswell is much higher than that of an individual!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

While writing What Is Class? Parts I and II, I had almost gone down the path of discussing “The Dumbest Person In The Room” concept, however I stopped short as what was meant to be a sidebar quickly took on a life of its own. Furthermore, a reader had made a comment to the effect of surrounding yourself with greatness in response to my Snow & The Snowball Part III article. Given the timing of the comment this seemed an appropriate time to discuss this topic.

The Dumbest Person In The Room
Throughout my career I have always tried to position myself as “the dumbest person in the room.” At first glance this may appear to be repulsive, especially to professional minded readers of this blog, however there is a method to my madness. When first entering a group, company, or organization and if in fact you are the dumbest, or to be kinder, least knowledgeable in a subject matter, there is a tremendous learning opportunity – nearly everything and everyone you come into contact with is a new experience – if you take in the knowledge like a sponge and properly apply it – you have nowhere to go but up. On the other hand, if you are the smartest person in the room, you are pretty much topped out and really there is a risk you may be dragged down by your environment.

Stretch
The smartest person in the room is the most comfortable position and as a result the least challenging. Lobsters (see The Power of Positive Part II for more on lobsters ) are most comfortable in this environment because it is easiest to stay on top and keep others down. Conversely, the dumbest person in the room is downright uncomfortable – at least in the beginning – however this is where the most learning takes place. Like anything else worthwhile, this is challenging, however the rewards are great.

In my career I have found once entering a situation I would be the least knowledgeable – on purpose, and then over time gain enough knowledge to gain mastery of a subject or situation. Once upon a time I was a young man in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and was newly promoted to the rank of sergeant. Once promoted I had the opportunity to attend the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) academy which is basically a leadership school. While attending I learned at least one valuable lesson that I have carried with me throughout my military and civilian career passed down from an instructor – “a little bit of stress is a good thing.”

The idea being not too much, not too little but just an optimal amount. If you are not at least a little stressed, you are not growing or in other words, stretching. When you position yourself as the dumbest person in the room you will likely be uncomfortable – but this is not a bad thing. You are in essence, growing and stretching, and in turn positioning yourself for bigger and better things. After some time has passed you will transition from being the dumbest person in the room to the smartest and it will be time to move on. There is not a set time, but you will know based on your feelings towards a given situation – just trust your instincts.

Concerning your feelings on a group or situation – are you empowered and energized? Admitted it is difficult to position yourself in situations where you are empowered and energized, however it is well worth the effort. In situations where I am growing and stretching I feel a burst of energy, although there may be a bit of uneasiness about the unknown, the overarching emotion is excitement and motivation. Conversely I have experienced environments and projects with minimal challenge or growth – uneasiness was missing, but so too was the excitement and motivation.

This ties in perfectly to the concept of “marrying up” that I had introduced in Snow & The Snowball Part III. In surrounding yourself with people in either your personal or professional life you should attempt to position yourself with others who bring something to the table and you learn from just by mere association. Again, this has nothing to do with wealth, fame, or success, but has to do with intangible qualities such as class and your feelings in a given environment or group – are you empowered and energized?

Strive to be the dumbest person in the room!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Background

Definition of Class
So if one’s class is not directly related to one’s wealth, formal education, or pedigree, what is it then? In my opinion, class is really the respect one demonstrates to another, regardless of wealth, formal education, or upbringing. It is really how a person or group behave or handle, people or situations in their lives and the perception of others towards this behavior. Class is also maintaining a positive attitude throughout even the most trying of situations. Consider the following example.

A Practical Example
A sterling example of class may be viewed in the case of Drew Bledsoe. For the complete story please refer to the referenced blog, however I will provide a brief summary. Before those of you who are not sports fans or from New England decide to quite reading here, I must note that this is not meant to be sports oriented but just a relevant example. In short, during the 2001 football season, Drew Bledsoe was injured and had to cede to second string (at that time) quarterback Tom Brady. When Bledsoe recovered, Brady finished the remaining season with a Super Bowl victory and Bledsoe watching from the sidelines.

As an unwritten rule, Bledsoe was entitled to finish the season, and would have likely had his teammates backing. However, Bledsoe put his individual needs aside and conceded to the needs of the team. In addition, when Bledsoe left New England that same season, he took out a full page ad in two newspapers thanking fans for their support. So, let’s look at this a bit closer. What made Drew Bledsoe classy in this situation?

He put the needs of others ahead of his own, which is consistent with a service mentality. Drew Bledsoe demonstrated a tremendous amount of class by putting his needs aside for those of the team and fans. Lesser men, without as much class may have pushed to be put back into the first string lineup and may have been successful in doing so. However, Drew Bledsoe had made a conscious decision to behave selflessly and therefor exhibit a true example of class.

Drew Bledsoe had also demonstrated much class with his farewell message by  means of several newspaper ads in New England. He could have shown bitterness for being sidelined during his team’s success, however even with his departure he had shown class, which was consistent with his overall behavior and individual brand. In closing, remember that class is not tied to wealth, education, pedigree, one’s social circle, but to the respect shown to one another. Individually and/or as a business treat others with respect and over time your brand will be recognized as a class act.

Class is a combination of respect towards others and maintaining a positive attitude throughout!

-John Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

In starting Cape Cod Branding a concept that Amy and I discussed was that of class. The naming of Cape Cod Branding was purposeful in that Cape Cod denotes a certain level of sophistication and draws association with small upscale specialty boutiques as well as a world renowned vacation spot for the wealthy. The branding aspect is meant to connote a certain level of business knowledge and convey this to our customers. This article launches the first of a two part series titled What is Class? In Part I I discuss the concept of class and in Part II class will be defined as well as a practical example provided.

What is Class?
What exactly is class?  I would like you to ponder the following questions relating to class:

1. Is it the amount of wealth one possesses?
2. The level of formal academic education achieved by an individual?
3. An individual’s pedigree or upbringing?

I have found the class question to be a tough nut to crack and have had countless hours of discussion with Amy concerning this topic and will provide our conclusions.

While reflecting on this topic I found myself drawing upon my past experiences and those of my business partner to answer this question.

Wealth and Class
Does wealth define class? While cataloging the individuals I had known with wealth there were some I would consider classy, while others were most assuredly not. Conversely, I know of individuals considered poor by material standards but who I consider contain much class.

Education and Class
What about formal education – does this indicate class? Again, as with the wealth aspect, I have found that education does not define class. In my travels I have had the good fortune of interacting with a wide range of individuals from high school dropouts to those educated within the Ivy League. As with the wealth test, I could not surmise a direct correlation between education and class.

Pedigree and Class
Surely then, one’s pedigree or upbringing must indicate class. As with the other aspects, not necessarily. I have witnessed that those with a “proper” upbringing can perhaps erect a facade of class, however those in the know (either raised or self taught) will easily pierce this, regardless of upbringing.

To Be Continued…
In Part II I give you the answer of how I define class based upon my experience and provide an example of class.

Class is an elusive quality and not easily defined!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

When I first spoke with Mary, she told me about her vision for Heritage Stories, and how helping families connect is her driving motivation. Mary’s story is perfectly suited for Christmas. She has just released an E-book entitled The 12 Gifts, and it is her gift to all of us. The 12 Gifts is a treasure trove of suggestions for strengthening the bond between family and friends. It offers ideas for thoughtful gifts and mementos that can be shared among family, and passed down to future generations.
Mary told me that we all have a basic human need to connect and be social. She feels that for her, personally, understanding her history helps to ground her.

Her insightful blog, www.Heritage-Stories.com is dedicated to helping families re-connect, and keeping that connection strong. She offers advice, links to beneficial sites and stories that others have shared. It’s a fun and informative site, whether you’re just starting your journey of tracking your family’s history, or you’re already well on your way to a fully filled-in family tree.
As we celebrate with our loved-ones, remember this should be a holiday season of “connection not consumption”.

Mary’s complimentary E-book, The 12 Gifts may be found here.

Happy Holidays from CCB!

-Amy Stevens Adams of Cape Cod Branding

A former classmate from the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Carey Business School had contacted me and asked how we ramped up so quickly. Since there was interest on his part, I thought others might be interested as well so I am providing the top three items that we here at Cape Cod Branding believe attributed to this. My plan is to touch briefly on each of these points for today’s discussion and then follow up at a later time and discuss each in greater detail.

Driving Web Traffic
When we launched CCB Buzz in early December I recall our traffic was in the single digits for about the first week. After a short time we ramped up quickly, double digits, and then triple. In my mind I had a goal of attempting to drive towards doubling web traffic every day. Initially this equated to something as simple as increasing web traffic from two hits to four hits, which of course does not sound very exciting and was the equivalent of watching paint dry. However over time as the numbers grew, so did our excitement.

That being said I thought about the top three things that got us to where we are today and they are the following:

1. Partnering – Two are better than one.
2. Content – Offer value to your readership.
3. Frequency – Post often.

Please keep in mind the following when reading this article and reviewing the accompanying WordPress screen captures:

1. The three items identified in this article are in addition to the Five Keys to Success that I identified in my previous articles titled the The Five Keys to Success Parts I and II and serve as a foundation for the more blog specific topical items of partnering, content, and frequency
2. The CCB Buzz blog was launched on 12/1/08
3. The screen captures were taken at approximately 1:30 PM EST on 12/23/08

Above all, keep in mind that there is not one set method of generating traffic – this is simply our view on the world. My thought is that there is a certain magic that takes place based on a convergence of factors; for me it was a mixture of partnering, content, and frequency but for you it may be different. Experiment a bit – try an approach, monitor the results, and then adjust if needed. Stick with it and enjoy yourself.

For today I just wanted to introduce the topic and identify the three items which I believe were instrumental to our success in such a short time. After the Christmas holiday I will delve deeper in each area providing a separate blog article for partnering, content, and frequency respectively.  In the meantime, Amy will be providing a feature of our first client at Cape Cod Branding which will be similar in scope to the first feature from Amy on Why We Started Our Business Cape Cod Branding.

Partnering, content, and frequency have been the formula to our success!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Nothing is more Cape Cod-ish than a seashell stuck in the snow.  Now say THAT 10 times fast!
Yesterday was a pretty exciting day and evening as we had just received the first major snowfall of the season here on Cape Cod. It was another first as it was also my first time of being on a beach in the Winter with snow. As part of this blog I have provided a few pictures to share with you the beautiful, almost magical atmosphere in the aftermath of the storm which occurred most of the day and into the evening. While walking around town and down to the beach and looking at the snow covered streets and beach I was thinking of a book I had just read that is on the New York Times Best Seller List at the time of this posting called The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. There were three items of interest that I would like to share with you from this book:

1. Accumulating wealth may be likened to building a snowball
2. Zig when everyone else zags
3. Marry up, not down

I will discuss each of these items in greater detail as a two part series.

Like a Snowball
For those not familiar with The Snowball, it is a biography of the life of Warren Buffett, excellently documented by Alice Schroeder. The title The Snowball comes from the fact that Warren Buffett likened his slow but steady accumulation of wealth to building a large snowball – he started with a few flakes, but gradually over time as more snow (or money) became available he added to it, with a snowball that grew dramatically over the years. Although the author discusses the snowball in terms of money, I believe it may also be applied to business or your brand (either as an individual or company). In the Five Keys to Success Parts I and II, I had identified time, persistence, and patience as three of the five keys – Warren Buffett possessed all five, but most certainly these three attributes listed here. I will elaborate on all three a little more.

Building anything of quality takes time, especially at the start. In the beginning everything is a blank slate, a hunk of clay ready for the molding. However the more effort and time you put into accumulating wealth, building a business, or establishing a personal or professional brand, the greater the results you will see. As you accumulate more snow and pack it into your snowball, so to will you accumulate money, clients, and a reputation which will grow larger as you accumulate more and more. As the snowball grows, the results will compound and be greater than the sum of their individual parts.

Because building greatness takes time, it will require a large amount of patience and persistence. Success does not occur overnight and you will need to persist day in and day out, slowly but steadily to achieve your end objective and patiently await the results. Of course from time to time you will need to persevere through some difficult obstacles which will seem insurmountable at the time, but I guarantee you they are not and will appear trivial in hindsight, especially if your perseverance is fueled by passion. This was certainly the case with Warren Buffett; in The Snowball there are many examples of obstacles that Warren Buffett had to overcome to achieve greatness and build his snowball.

To Be Continued…
In Part II I will discuss why following the crowd is not the way to greatness and the concept of marrying up.

Building a snowball of wealth, a business, or individual or company brand takes time!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

During Part I of this series I had mentioned that CCB Buzz had exceeded the 1,000 site visitor milestone for the first time and that 722 of those visitors were from yesterday alone. Today, for Part II I have the pleasure of announcing that we have exceeded over 1,000 visitors in a single day! A fitting accomplishment given the title of today’s blog, The Five Keys to Success Part II. Once again I would like to take a moment and thank everyone for making this happen as we certainly could not have done this without you.

Yesterday
The Five Keys of Success Part I identified five attributes that will lead to success in a given endeavor which were the following:

1. Time
2. Patience
3. Perseverance
4. Passion
5. Persistence

I had discussed where in my experience I had come across each item and how they were relevant to success. In The Five Keys to Success Part II, I will discuss limitations, or constraints with the five keys as well as provide a practical example using this model.

Constraints
In my experience I have found that given enough time, patience, perseverance, passion, and persistence one can accomplish anything. There are a couple of constraints here though. First, keep in mind that it may take some longer than others based on their level of experience to accomplish a given objective. For example, is this an individual’s first new business or their tenth new business? In most cases the person who had started other businesses in the past will ramp up faster due to past lessons learned.

Second, this model requires a certain level of sacrifice. With Cape Cod Branding, Amy and I will often ask one another, “How much is it worth to you?” Really, meaning, what are you willing to sacrifice and how bad will we let things get before we pull the plug. Will you sacrifice your present quality of life in order to launch the business in trade for a quality of life that is estimated to far exceed anything prior known? Obviously the sacrifice and difficult questions are asked with most intensity on day one and generally reduce with frequency as time passes, progress is made, and results are witnessed; but it is an important factor nonetheless.

Passion Fuels Excellence
What does this mean to your business and brand? Let’s use CCB Buzz as an example. During the first few days of launching the blog there were greater ups and downs. We would spend time researching information, writing, and then publish. While monitoring the analytics, one would be less than optimistic, at least initially. However, Amy and I are both passionate about CCB Buzz, it’s really a labor of love. So we persisted. Gradually traffic increased, and then increased, until we reached our high points this week which exceeded our wildest expectations.

So my point is if you are really passionate about something, whether it is your individual brand, company brand, or a profession – then stick with it. It is always difficult to overcome gravity in the beginning. However, over time, with your passion fueling you to patiently persevere with great persistence, people will take notice, word of mouth will spread and it will become easy, and eventually effortless over time. If you are not passionate, you will likely not overcome gravity, so if you lack passion, find something you are passionate about and then press forward!

Passion Fuels Excellence And Will Push You and Your Brand to Success!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Background
In commemoration of achieving two significant milestones today I decided to move this two part series up in the rotation and mix things up a bit due to the relevance of this series. I’ve entitled this series the Five Keys to Success as I believe they are instrumental to nearly anything that you do, especially to starting a business or promoting a brand. The five keys are as follows:

1. Time
2. Patience
3. Perseverance
4. Passion
5. Persistence

Perseverance and persistence are arguably the same, however I found each in a different context and therefore thought it important to separate the two.

Time, Patience, and Perseverance
The timing of this milestone was interesting in that I am currently reading a book titled Born in Blood by John J. Robinson . This book provides a history of the Knights Templar and a potential connection to Freemasonry, which at first seems to have nothing to do with business, or branding for that matter. However, at one point the author describes a monument erected to honor a legendary Masonic character that contained a Figure of Time which “reminds us that time, patience, and perseverance accomplish all things.” This statement struck a chord with me given the basic simplicity yet ultimate truth implied. Also, this statement triggered recent thoughts I had that seem particularly relevant to personal, business, and brand development which lead to the passion and persistence pieces I had picked up in another experience.

In yesterday’s Branding and Outliers post I had discussed the 10,000 Hour Rule as outlined by Malcolm Gladwell the author of the best selling Outliers: The Story of Success book. The gist of this theory is that a person or group is usually considered world class when they have achieved 10,000 hours of experience within their chosen area of expertise, with an assumption of 20 hours a week over 10 years.

My opinion is that this is the time portion of the time, patience, and perseverance statement. Not that it should take you 10,000 hours to turn a profit, or be successful, just generally to be known as a top contender in your field. My thought is that it also takes a great deal of patience and perseverance to achieve 10,000 hours of anything. Patience to wait for something good to happen, and perseverance to push through the low points or valleys that all entrepreneurs know all too well. If one has the patience to wait for the resultant good things to happen, the perseverance to push through the tough times, and the wherewithal to achieve 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in a given field, then excellence will be achieved and many good things will happen along the way.

Passion and Persistence
Gene Theus, a former classmate at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Carey Business School had prompted a discussion concerning “passion and persistence” while we were wrapping up our MBA program. The statement was in response to a faculty query concerning business opportunity within the new economy and may be summed up as follows: “Recognizing the opportunity and delivering a cost effective solution needs to then be followed with passion and persistence.”  This statement has stuck with me since that point and has resurfaced from time to time during the peaks and valleys that I have experienced since founding Cape Cod Branding with my business partner Amy.

To Be Continued…
In Part II of this series I will discuss a practical example of how the five keys to success may be used to propel your brand.

Time, Patience, Perseverance, Passion and Persistence Are The Keys To Your Brand’s Success!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

What Are Outliers?
In layman’s terms an outlier is a scientific term that describes something that is outside of a normal group and different from the majority. In this book the author speaks of the factors that make certain people (outliers) successful in their careers and ultimately in life and what they have done differently than the ordinary rank and file to achieve such extraordinary success. I found two important points that relate directly to branding:

1. Outlier performance has been said to be linked to the person being exposed to a set of circumstances that uniquely positions them for success; sort of like being in the right place at the right time.
2. It has been determined that in order for a person or group to be considered world class that they generally had achieved 10,000 hours of experience within their chosen area of expertise. This was based on an assumed 20 hours per week over ten years.

In the next section I will discuss how this relates directly to your brand.

So What?
Although there are no substitutes for hard work, drive, discipline, education, and experience; for a person or business to achieve greatness they must be at the right place at the right time. For your brand this means putting yourself out there for people to find you. A clean, simple, creative website which effectively communicates your brand is a great way to do this. In addition, in my three part social media series I had discussed the effectiveness of social media tools for promoting your brand which will drive traffic to your website and ultimately to you. A solid web presence ensures you are always virtually there, ensuring that you are at the right place at the right time.

Secondly, it is important that your brand drives towards world class performance as represented by the 10,000 hour rule. This is really a guidepost but seems realistic in my opinion and a good rule of thumb. The Outliers book provides a number of examples of well known superstars in their respective field to prove this point. Researchers have coined this term “deliberate practice” meaning activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results, and involves high levels of repetition.

I am recommending that you deliberately practice the creation of your product or service in a manner that is consistent with your exclusive brand. You should strive for this 10,000 milestone; but ensure it is consistent with what you want your brand to become good at and as a result known for. By the mere act of consistently practicing and promoting your brand you will by default improve your product or service offering and as a result your standing within the marketplace. Make your brand stand apart as an outlier among a sea of common offerings.

Position Your Brand To Be At The Right Place At The Right Time and Strive to Achieve 10,000 Hours of Deliberate Practice Within Your Brand!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

In Part II of this series I had introduced a practical example of the power of positive concept. In addition, I had discussed lobsters, and how their aggressive behavior is relevant to the human experience. In Part III I will discuss the positive implications these concepts may have on your business if employed effectively.

A Rising Tide
The rationale of lobster behavior is that one must fail in order for another to succeed. The mindset of a positive person is that the success of others will ultimately translate to their success. John F. Kennedy captured this concept beautifully in the aphorism “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Therefore, success is contagious and so is failure – I know which one I would rather promote.

So What?
So what does all this talk of positive, lobsters, and a rising tide have to do with my business or brand. Easy – positive thoughts, statements, and actions are contagious. The powerful projection of yourself as an individual or brand will project onto others just as other positive influences will project onto you. Like attracts like – as other lobsters congregate to step over one another in hopes of reaching success, positive boats will congregate to help one another achieve success by lifting one another to success.

This translates to a myriad of individual actions that can be taken on a day to day basis. Being aware of one’s thoughts, treating other individuals and brands with respect, and positive blogging are all fine examples. This will start a trend with others following suit. Generally I have found that when someone is doing something different, and therefore interesting, others will follow.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Lift one another, and by default yourself, up to success and clearly distinguish your brand in a world of lobsters!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Background
Recently I had stumbled upon articles written about Calvin Coolidge and his non-confrontational campaign style. During the 1924 Presidential election Coolidge never once maligned his opponents, or even mentioned them by name, but continued on to win the election nonetheless. Given the recent elections this truly appeared to me as an amazing concept and demonstration of character, which prompted me to think of its application to business, specifically branding. I will discuss this concept in a three part series titled The Power of Positive.

The Power of Positive
There has been much written on the power of positive thinking and the affects it may have on one’s life. It may appear obvious to most that positive people attract other positive people and that positive people attain positive results, however try enacting this in real life – it is easier said than done. Each time you have a negative thought, attempt to reframe the situation into a positive thought and translate this to a positive statement or action. You will soon realize how difficult this exercise is – especially if you are yourself the direct target of a negative statement or action from another. But with repeated practice you will soon find this exercise becomes natural and very much worthwhile.

My business partner Amy has been on board with this concept for most of her life, but I required a bit of selling. Not that I consider myself overly negative, but historically one of my most valuable traits is the ability to find the negative or problem point in a given situation or business and recommend a corrective action. Furthermore, this skill had been honed for years in my previous life as an engineer and assisted in my climbing the corporate ladder. Finally, factor in the idea that I am human, and therefore flawed to a certain extent, and needless to say I required some training.

To Be Continued…
In Part II I will discuss a practical example of the power of positive approach and what it means for your brand.

As an individual or business, try taking a negative thought or situation and transforming it into a positive statement or action and witness the results!

-John Sedivy

As with many important decisions in life, Cape Cod Branding was formed after a string of events that all seemed to point in one direction…

Let me pause here and first tell you my philosophy in life. We all have multiple ‘paths’, and just like Robert Frost said, sometimes you need to choose the one least traveled. What’s right for 99% of people may not be right for YOU.  Of those many paths in front of you, most are blocked. It’s up to you to choose if you’re going to push through a roadblock and go down a difficult path that isn’t right for you just because society/family/friends say you should, or if you’ll follow the path of least resistance (least resistance doesn’t mean ‘easy’, and it is usually the path least traveled).  So here’s my belief…. watch for the signs, follow the obvious path that is right in front of you. It may be hard to see at first because you’re not expecting it, but it’s there, and it’s wide open.

CCB was like that for both John and me. It was a 100 little signs and ‘nudges’ pushing us down this path, and in all reality (even though it’s hard work), it’s an easy path to follow.  While we both had other businesses under our belts, Cape Cod Branding came to us like a huge “Ahh-ha” and the clarity was immense.

For us, we love forming businesses. We love creating something new and giving it life, watching it grow. With each of our previous companies, our favorite part was the ‘starting’. Taking an idea and making it real. For me, it’s all the little details, like design, color, font, image, ‘vibe’, etc. John loves the concept, and determining the ‘brand’ of a new business. We love the fast-paced creative brainstorming that fuels decisions about identity, value, target market, image and perception. (Perception is perhaps the most important, and often most overlooked attribute of any company. Just because you view yourself one way, and want the world to as well, doesn’t make it so.) Everything clicked into place, and we decided that if our favorite part of any business is creating it, then why not create businesses? So now we work with small specialty boutiques to create their identity, and bring their businesses alive. We each do what we love, and as a team we make a pretty cool company.

So this is our path, in front of us and wide open, and we’re following it. Most opportunities in life are temporary, and if you wait for the ‘right time’ they’ll be gone. Don’t be concerned about the risk of loss, be concerned about the risk of missed gains.

It’s a certainty that over time our business will continue to evolve, as our mutual need for change forces us to grow. Our paths may be different in a year, or 5 years, but all that matters is doing what’s right in the present….

Find your passion, whatever it is, and pursue it.

-Amy Stevens Adams

Tim Klabunde, who is a former classmate of mine at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School pens a blog titled cofebuz of which I am a regular reader and subscriber.  As fellow students of a MBA program I had witnessed firsthand Tim’s knowledge and presentation skills concerning the field of marketing, and I credit Tim in part for sparking my interest in branding and marketing. Although we both blog about marketing, his target audience is focused on the corporate sector while my audience is for small specialty boutiques and our individual styles reflect this. Tim recently wrote a blog concerning effective use of social media such as Linkedin for networking. The blog emphasizes the importance of multiple points of connection such as the “intersection of multiple communication points, including online networking sites, networking functions, follow-up e-mails, letters, association events, phone calls, lunches, coffee, and meetings.” The main point is that social networking in and of itself is ineffective and must be augmented by the other listed items. I have been thinking about this topic quite a bit lately as it is integral to my business model and I have heard strong arguments for either case. Should one limit their Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter connections to individuals they plan to follow-up with or meet, or is simply linking when invited sufficient?

My Experience with Social Media

I have used social media for about two years. Initially I was very strict with my connections and limited connecting with people I had known well, using the rationale of quality over quantity. This approach maintained a high quality level, however it was slow building and my network was really inbred with people I had known within my industry with little diversity, in other words not terribly exciting. As part of a New Years Resolution for 2008 I had resolved to increase networking and as a result met many, many more people throughout this year. This led to an increase in connections with people who became friends, acquaintances I had met at dinner parties and other events, as well as friends of friends who sent me invites to connect on the various social media outlets. As a result my network grew exponentially, increased in diversity and became more difficult to track. In some instances quality had suffered slightly and I have had to remove connections, but this has been extremely rare and it became easier to screen as I gained more experience.

To Be Continued… In Social Media Part II I will discuss what I consider the evolution of social media and my preferred approach for the use of social media. In the meantime…

What has been your experience with social media? Have you discovered an optimal approach for its use?

-John Sedivy

Examples
Each of the above mentioned companies are both consistent and exclusive. The message of Apple is consistent, from the cleanliness and trendsetting nature of their stores, to the elegance in their product design and packaging. Barnes & Noble and Starbucks also provide clean, modern stores which are consistent regardless of location and their websites offer warm, soothing tones which are in line with their overall message.

Each company is also exclusive in that they market to the middle to upper income brackets who are less sensitive to price. Mainly this demographic is not looking for a bargain and is willing to pay more for the experience offered by the business. Sure, I could easily brew my own coffee at a greatly reduced cost, but I would miss the atmosphere which breaks up my day in a comforting, modern environment. Also, I could purchase a less expensive personal computer, but then I would miss out on the elegance of an Apple product and the sense of belonging to a community of Mac users. Finally, Barnes & Noble provides a modern store, with a large selection of books, magazines, and other materials and a comfortable reading environment consistent with its upscale Manhattan headquarters.

Another aspect of the exclusivity theme is that each of the example brands discussed in this blog offers an exclusive membership club type experience which rewards their members for membership. Barnes & Noble and Starbucks offer membership clubs which offer discounts and other member benefits. Apple offers a less direct method through training classes, their in-store experience, and finally the group of Mac users who willingly help one another through online forums.

Relevance

This begs the following questions:

• Is your business consistent and exclusive?

• Does the compiled set of your logo, website, business cards, product and/or service invoke a consistent image to your client base?

• Is your business exclusive or are you attempting to cater to everyone and anyone?

• Are you offering a truly unique “experience” to your clients?

• What sense of belonging do you offer to your clients?

Offer your clients a truly unique experience conveyed by a consistent and exclusive branding package.

-John Sedivy

Why Cape Cod Branding?
Cape Cod was chosen as the scene for our company as my business partner and I recently relocated to Cape Cod. Upon living here for a few months we noticed the high concentration of high-end specialty boutiques that are characteristic of the area. Although there are a large number of such shops here on “The Cape” each has a unique presence and message, or brand. Cape Cod is meant to bring to mind images of high-end, unique, specialty shops, while branding is meant to conjure an image of each shop or business possessing a unique message.

Why Should I Read This Blog?
The Cape Cod Branding blog, or CCB Buzz will provide occasional posts in two segments. One segment will be from me, John Sedivy, and will contain technical information relating to branding, current market trends and the latest techniques related to branding. This information will be based upon the latest branding and marketing books, as well as information gained from client experience through Cape Cod Branding. In essence, this will provide you with a summarized resource without doing all the legwork that I will be doing; each blog will provide a new topic of interest.

My business partner, Amy Stevens Adams, will provide more of the softer, human side of the blog. She will blog about each of our clients, with each blog focusing on a specific client. This section will provide you with information about who we provide services for, as well as the people behind each of the showcased businesses. The bottom line is that you can read about companies just like you and the benefit they had received from branding.

-John Sedivy