Re-blogueando. Pequeño emprendedor mexicano.

Es una madriza. Emprender en un país como el nuestro, con una economía de amigos, con una cultura tan poco enfocada en calidad, con créditos caros, monopolios de medios, bla, bla, bla, bla.

Pero después de mucho intentar, de leer, hablar, cagarla y volverlo a intentar, algo debe suceder.

Por eso les comparto como me ha ido en la feria. Soy Alex Berea, un emprendedor mexicano en el área de servicios, y quiero que sepan que pueden tener un biznez de poca, que los haga felices y que les de más billete que dolores de cabeza.

Por eso empecé tWistvox, que es el nombre del Emprendedor con Wevos.

Les dejo unos tips sobre como Empezar con tu propio marketing.

Saludations del @AlejandroBerea 

IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS, PART II

Again – it’s the principal word in the vocabulary of anyone who has ever succeeded at anything. Those who have been successful will tell you that their success was built upon obstinacy – they failed again and again, and they kept plugging at it until finally succeeding. Success requires a certain kind of obsession. Not a certain kind of obsession, actually. It requires an obsessive obsession, period. It requires you to be headstrong and stubborn and, in many ways, being a royal pain in the ass for many if not everyone around you.

This is particularly relevant for me because I’ve been dealing with precisely this issue lately. Failing, again and again, and having to redouble my efforts, again and again. And at times it has been immensely frustrating, and I have had to butt heads with those around me, from my boss to my wife, leading me to be this close (thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart) to getting fired and getting divorced. I must admit: I don’t handle frustration well. Often times, my attitude has been to just say “screw it” and just go on my way and take up, I don’t know, gardening or something.

But here’s the thing: anything worth doing is rarely easy. We are bombarded by media messages that encourage us to take the path of least resistance, that we shall achieve happiness by the mere act and fact of breathing, leading to entire societies of very frustrated individuals because what marketing promises is NEVER what real life delivers. So we feel gypped, and sometimes take it out on others because those who push us to excel are the ones who we think are defrauding us, the ones who stand between us and the allegedly easy happiness waiting for us on the other side. But it is to those who challenge us the most that we should be most thankful. As Nietzsche wrote, in a friend one should have one’s best enemy.

Tune in for the next and final installment where we’ll see that the path of MOST resistance is the one that most often leads to extraordinary results.

It is not the critic who counts, Part I

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

This, by Theodore Roosevelt, is one of the great, inspiring speeches in all of human history. In a single paragraph, it perfectly depicts the native heroism of the human condition. Often quoted, it bears quoting again, and again and again, because every time you read it, it renews your faith in yourself, and reminds you that succeeding is not about not stumbling, but about getting up, again and again, after you’ve stumbled (again and again).

Perhaps you noticed that “again” was repeated, again and again. As was said of Hamlet, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.” In part II, we’ll be looking at the method in this madness.

ENOUGH OF PRODUCTS – WE WANT PEOPLE!

Hey you!

 

What do you sell?

 

…

 

If your answer included one or more of the following elements:

 

1. You described some product

 

and/or

 

2. You talked about a lower cost or price

 

and/or

 

3. Used adjectives

 

…you’re TOAST!

 

 

But why?

 

Because:

 

1. There are several THOUSAND people out there who sell the same product as you

 

2. Almost all of them can offer the same thing you do a little bit CHEAPER than you

 

3. If you need adjectives, it’s because you need to compensate for the HIGH degree of COMMODITIZATION of whatever it is you have to offer

 

How do you go about doing something about it? The answer is very long, but you can start by creating a “Non-Product Concept” that offers benefits beyond what the product offers directly. It’s not alchemy, it’s a method, and you need to THINK about it and apply a twist to what you do.

 

I hope you’re pissed off enough now that you actually do something about this problem.

 

With conceptual-marketable-love: @alejandroberea

Freakyyyy Friday: What the $%&@* is a Brand?

We all buy them.

We all love them.

We all spend our paychecks on them.

What are they?

 

They’re not lovers, nor spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends/friends with benefits.

 

They’re brands. Entrepreneurs start businesses but, how many actually create brands? Almost no one does it because, although we all want them and if we have the money we all buy them… the concept of what a Brand actually is, is quite confusing.

The concept of what a Brand actually is, is quite confusing

 

Some say: It’s the name!

Others are convinced: It’s the logo!

Still others insist: It’s the image!

tWistVox says:

 (Image + Identity + UPB) =

 1 Solid Concept, Valuable, Seductive and/or Necessary

A business without a brand is a business that is always flirting with death and/or stagnation, because we human beings are loyal to ideas and fall in love with them. In fact, our personal relationships are created because we are loyal to an Idea/Concept of the other, not to a concrete reality. And so it is logical that as consumers, we have a propensity to consume ideas. What all of this means is that a brand is the strongest component in the creation of business $value$, because consumers buy Ideas/Concepts more than they do Products.

Consumers buy Ideas/Concepts more than they do Products

So businesses Without a Brand sell Products, which you can almost always find cheaper somewhere else.

What do you want to sell?

Ideas/Concepts?

or

Products?

 

Guilty as charged: El Berea @alejandroberea

Next Freaky Friday: What the #$&#$ is Corporate Image?

The cost of not taking notes: 5 how-to’s to become a master note-taker

A good entrepreneur is obsessive and monothematic. We speak, dream, eat and breathe our project.

Losing ideas is costly, and it is costly for your brand and your project. So then, what the heck do I do?

Even bad ideas almost always help lead us to good ideas, or good ideas can be improved, but that will never happen if they are lost in the mess inside your head. Imagine how much your business could be making with those potential innovations or differentiators that slip through your fingers… Taking notes is one of the most fundamental tools in the arsenal of creativity and entrepreneurship.

I’ll share with you some of my own techniques.

1. Post-it notebook. Start with a notebook, or block of Post-its that you always carry around with you. I would even suggest you put on your bedside table to capture whatever occurs to you before sleeping, in the middle of the night or in the morning.

2. Evernote. They don’t pay me a commission, simply, if you are reading this, I like you, and having an Evernote account leads to a happier, more satisfying life because it’s a panacea for organizing the mess we have between our ears.

3. Stop. If you’re driving, stop, jot your idea down and continue on your way. If you are doing something else, STOP, jot down your idea and move on. The brain’s subliminal region processes a lot of information while you are doing things on automatic, but almost always, while we are on automatic, we don’t stop because… we are on automatic!

4. Process. Take a look at your notes every day before you go to bed. What works? What could be of use to somebody?

5. Pending Items for Tomorrow. Include valuable items in your list of “Pending Items” for tomorrow. I make a Post-it list daily. I use “1, 2 and 3” for priority items on my daily list.

 

Do you have a story about some note that changed your life?

 

Guilty party: L Berea @alejandroberea

 

Share your opinion, share this post or de both, but do something with this tasty, steaming slice of tWist.

A “BRAND’S UNDERLYING STRUCTURE” – DO YOU KNOW YOUR CLIENT?

First of all, sorry about the long absence but we promise it will be worthwhile. We’re returning with a solid concept and clearer themes. Faithful and devoted to you and to ourselves. Thanks for reading!

 

Do you have the faintest idea of who buys your products?

 

What do they like? What do they listen to? What do they loathe?

 

One of the most valuable components of a brand is knowing the public interested in the product. In fact, your job as brand owner is creating a personal relationship between “YOUR VISION” and “what your fans want.”

 

But… what does the Mexican entrepreneur answer when she is asked about her target?

 

This is a real excerpt that I have repeatedly found in many business plans and executive projects:

 

“According to INEGI data [equivalent of the U.S. Census Bureau], the Mexican population is divided into YYY urban population and CCC rural population, of which NNN% are female heads of household…”

 

Another:

 

“At a national level, XX% of entrepreneurs are male and employ between X and Y people.”

 

Good grief.

 

This is one of the principal reasons why Mexican SMEs fail: they have no idea who they are trying to sell their product to.

 

So we blame the economy but… honestly, how do you expect someone to take some of their money and give it to you, when you haven’t demonstrated the slightest bit of interest in knowing who that person is?

 

So, start by asking yourself the right questions…

 

      What problem is my product addressing?

             Who has this problem?

                     Why do they have this problem?

                              How does it affect them?

                                      Who are these people?

                                                Where are they?

 

Come on!… You can do it… Resist the temptation of looking for that information on Google or the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

Go out on the street and look for those people, have a cup of coffee where they drink their coffee, listen to their conversations, observe them…

 

How do they dress?

 

Anyway, I think you get the idea.

 

Get your butt off your chair and start by understanding your client so that you can convert him into a fan; a client buys, but buys  whatever is cheapest, while a fan will buy what you have to offer because what you offer will speak directly to him.

 

 

Tell us, what do you want to know about brands? We love listening to you… we are tWistvox and we are here for all you entrepreneurs out there!

 

 

@alejandroberea, guilty as charged: Obsessive entrepreneur, criminally over the top, unabashedly irreverent, eager mentor and public enemy #1 of all things boring.

Who the #@%! buys my products? Looking for the Ideal Client…

Who is your ideal client and why?

Send us your reply to @twistvox

But why is it worthwhile doing this exercise?

Because knowing who your Ideal Client is allows you to speak her language, visit the places he frequents, listen to her music and so on, creating a connection that can translate into $ value.

What happens if you don’t know who your Ideal Client is? It’s like trying to shoot mosquitoes with a shotgun. That means you may get one or two mosquitoes every now and again, but you’d be wasting enormous amounts of energy and resources to achieve very poor results. In other words, you’re selling your product to NO ONE, and so, almost NO ONE will buy it, only the clueless few who didn’t have any other option, and it’s very unlikely that even they will return to buy from you. So,

how do I assemble the Ideal Client puzzle?

111. Think about problems. What PAINFUL problems does my product address? Who has those problems? Now is the time to talk to your current or potential clients and listen to them. You can eat at a café near your ice cream shop and listen to what these people talk about. What do they complain about? Understand the problems they face and how they solve them. Think about how your product can solve those problems, or in what indirect way your product can help provide the solution…

Short story: A small town’s night watchman would scream every night: “ALL IS WELL!” This made the townsfolk feel very safe. One fine day a bunch of thieves came and stole a huge loot right from under their noses. That was the day they realized that the watchman was blind as a bat.

The point of the story? Human beings’ soft chewy center is easily scared, but… if you can convince your soft chewy center that “everything’s fine,” for example, by screaming something like “ALL IS WELL!”, you’ll find the balance and strength to follow your goals intelligently. When you take fear out of the equation, you only have strength, conviction and a lot of trial and error left, but we all know that enough stubbornness winds up achieving what it sets out to do.

Now back to your issue: Find a way for your business to work like an “ALL IS WELL!” for your clients, but you will only achieve this if you know who they are, what pains them and what they want.

Instead of investing in sales tactics and community managers, THINK about what’s most logical and simple, get to know your Ideal Client and focus on getting to her and speaking her language.

Guilty as charged @alejandroberea

Complain, suggest, share your opinions. tWistvox is viralizing the “invisible structure”. What can we do so that it gets to you and you are able to use it?

NOTHING BUT STINKIN’ IDEAS … “FEAR OF DOING” SERIES

If you’re known as

having tons of brilliant ideas

about business

for stories

of wonderful solutions

but if all of them have stayed in your head, or as mere words while drinking with family and friends, I’m afraid to tell you that ideas can also rot and STINK if you don’t take them out for a walk.

In fact, it’s quite easy to spot people who have nothing but ideas and who never do anything about them, and if you are one of them, everyone can tell who you are.

– ¿so what do I do?

Air out your ideas, that is, start by Writing them down.

>>>>Buy a notebook, or download a notepad app for your phone, tablet or computer.

>>>>>>>>Categorize your notebook or folders. That is, create a classification system to help you figure out where to put your:

o   Story ideas

o   Ideas about ways to bring down the government

o   Solutions for the worldwide problem of water fleas

o   Ideas for your business

o   Brilliant observations about the office

>>>>Commit to RESPECTING your ideas, that is, when they occur to you, jot them down immediately.

>>>>Once a week, read some of your ideas and decide which of them SEDUCE you.

>>>>>>>>>>>Share them with one person at a time. It can be someone you know, or some guy you talk to on the bus, the café or wherever.

We will continue our “Fear of Doing” series to explore “the origin of apathy”…

We want you to start creating – if you like this, share it… if NOT, tell us.

I’M SCARED! LIVING IN FEAR IS NOT SMART

But I don’t live in fear… you must be thinking.

Perhaps, but it’s quite likely that you are living in fear and you haven’t even noticed. But first, what kind of FEAR are we talking about?

It’s not fear of being unsafe… so what could we possibly be afraid of?

First, let’s answer some questions…

Are you paying off credit card debts?

Do you have a mortgage?

Do you live paycheck to paycheck?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you are probably caught in that cycle that was designed and imposed as the only way of life.

Live –> work –> pay off debts –> get rid of stress –> 30 days –> repeat cycle –> 12 30-day cycles –> repeat cycle

One by one. If you pay your credit cards like clockwork every month, you don’t do it because you are well-organized, or because you’re a good citizen, you do it because you’re AFRAID of the consequences of NOT paying, for example:::::::::::::::

Afraid of the shame of being thought of by others as a debtoooooor….

Afraid that they’ll take away all your “nice things”

Afraid you’ll be sent to jail for not paying

Afraid they’ll go after you for not paying

Afraid of being left empty-handed

So… what’s your solution for this FEAR? I’ll get a “stable” job that gives me enough money each month to pay off my debts.

You pay your debts, and the solution lasts… 30 DAYS.

30 days later, you have to pay off that FEAR again, and so on

time

after time

after time

until you die

and you’ll most probably die WITHOUT having done THOUSANDS of things that you REALLY wanted to do…

/\

|

That whole cycle I refer to as “the ordinary,” and the only way of getting out of it is by “tWisting the ordinary” which is accomplished by actively using that which you carry around between your ears, otherwise known as a brain.

That’s what creativity is all about, that’s what it means to be Creative.