“Observe the masses, then do the opposite” – Slogan for leftlane designs (Houston, TX)

I think this slogan is far closer to the “American Dream”.  It’s what we all want, whether we are business owners, employees, or something in between.  But in my experience, I’ve been feeling some “hot air” and it’s not just because I reside in Houston.

The Danger of Me-ism

You know, it’s all fine and dandy to walk around claiming you’re the town gunslinger, boasting of your quick draw, your ‘steel’, and your undefeated lifetime record in 1 on 1 gun battles.

But are you shootin’ blanks, “pardner”?  Have you only been successful because no one’s calling your bluff?  Are you the proverbial cloud with no rain?

In our boastful advertising genius, we lead with our expertise, our services, and mostly ourselves.  After all, we are our brand, right?  People want experts, and it’s our job (via social media and every other channel you can think of) to let them know we are the best of the best.  We are unique.  Superior in every way.  

We are married inseparably to “customer worship, innovation on your behalf, and excellence.”

Knickabocka pleez.  You can’t even manage your own schedule.

Culture of Risk

OK.  So we know when our business gets to wear big boy pants someday, we want to have that swagger.  We want to buck trends, innovate, and really keep our industry guessing what our next move will be.  

If we are to truly embody leftlane’s slogan, “Observe the masses, then do the opposite” – we are going to need some exercise built into our routine.  

Here are three that I hope will help you.

1.  Your website & website strategy must change:  Since the early 90s, websites have been largely an online brochure for your company.  No more!  One simple look around tells us that successful companies – both large and small – are using websites for (a) building relationships and (b) providing value.  

There are volumes written about this, but a good start might be converting to a WordPress site and learning to blog through your website.  Get started w/ a $39.95 WordPress tutorial here.  I did this series and it was phenomenal.

Your website should have an explosive sound <FOOM> when people arrive.  I’m talking about design, here, primarily.  But after that initial impression, do you think you know what they are looking for?  Hint:  It’s usually not a widget, a service, or a coupon, or heaven forbid “information about your company”. It’s a living, breathing person who can help them.  

So make it impossibly easy to identify with you, find you, and connect to you.  This can be as simple as asking a question or making a statement that’s hard to ignore.  For my site, www.Oberata.com, I make a simple statement at the top banner of the home page.  I hope they read it first!  It says:  

“YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS!  OBERATA helps you to put them into action.”  

This is more than a slogan.  It puts them at ease in a few ways.  First, it says, “I’m not going to attempt to dazzle you with sales trickery or fancy answers.  I’m not the Answer Man.  YOU are.  This is good, because I can come alongside you and help you to implement what you know is right.”  

This snubs the traditional, brochure-esque, “Hey welcome to our site now what can we sell you?”  It hints that there is a buying process that starts with a relationship, a sharing of a common problem, etc.

2.  Reverse engineer problems:   I love this problem solving ethic.  Take any problem you or your clients have and reverse engineer it.  In other words, pretend you’ve lost your mind and you actually want to create the problem.  For example, if a clothing retailer is having lots of turnover because of frustrated employees, ask yourself the question, “What could I do to cause managers to leave within 6 months of their hire date?”  Answers could be, “Train them poorly, under-compensate them, overwork them, ask for more work without more pay, ridicule them in team meetings, etc.”  

Once you’ve done this (and enjoyed a hearty laugh), solving problems becomes so much simpler!  What usually happens is that we find management and leadership oversights, enabling us to identify quicker solutions.

3.  Literally observe the masses and literally do the opposite:  Yes, I mean it.  Take the top 5 stalwarts of your industry and fire cannonballs into their strategy.  Pick apart something you loathe about them and do an about face in your own offering.  

A good example of this is the Patagonia Company, who realized in retrospect that a “grow or die” business model almost killed them completely.  Known for their natural niche in the specialty outdoor market, Patagonia had expanded the variety of its clothing line by more than 30%, but the diversity hurt the company’s performance significantly.  The CEO cited “fear of runaway growth” as a major stop sign.  

“The fewer styles we make, the more we can focus on quality.  We think the future of clothing will be ‘less is more’ and that a few good clothes will last a long time.  We have never wanted to be the largest outdoor clothing company in the world, we have only wanted to be the best.” – Yvon Chouinard, CEO Patagonia

This type of swagger requires an appointment with yourself.  If you’re beyond ‘white belt’ and actually have time for strategy / research built into your schedule, why not make it rebellion-themed?  I mean, if I see an appointment with myself Thursday at 3 p.m. entitled “Industry Research & Education” I’m just about lulled to sleep.  But if it says, Thursday, 3 p.m. “Swagger / Ass-kickin’ time” then I’m much more likely to execute.