Trent365

When I head off on my morning walk each day, it's still dark.

I don't know if it's going to be fine and sunny for the next couple of hours or if it will pour down rain.

If it looked like rain, I probably wouldn't head out.

But I can't see the skies and so off I go...out into the darkness.

And that's a great metaphor for life.

We don't really know what awaits us. 

We can't be sure what's around the next corner.

And if we wait until we know for certain, we would miss all the opportunities.

Life gets much more interesting when we head off into the metaphorical darkness.

#metaphor #philosophical #lifelessons

It always amuses when people talk about the amazing opportunities previous generations had to get in early on something.

'They were lucky because they were there when the internet first started. So they were able to get in early and win.'

But the same could be said of the generation before that.

And, most importantly, the could be said in the future about YOUR generation.

The reality is that every generation has multiple unique opportunities.

Instead of lamenting the ones you weren't around for, keep an eye out for the opportunities happening around you - at this very moment.

#opportunities #generations #awareness

If you want to succeed, you need to put in the time. You must make the effort.

But Effort and Time are not necessarily the same thing.

It's all about the quality and intensity of that effort.

To an extent, we can measure that in terms of physical effort.

But not when it comes to your intellectual effort or your emotional effort.

And then of course, there's the effort it takes to put in the effort in the first place.

If you're working 12-14 hours a day, just getting to the gym at the end of the day requires a huge effort.

Same applies if your 8 hour work day is on a construction site, doing very physical work.

Effort is Multi Dimensional.

And Effort is Relative.

#effort #hardwork #success

The messaging is very different.

A Sales advertisement must have a very clear Call-To-Action.

Simply taking your generic brand ad and placing the current offer or promotion on top of it...does not cut it.

Understand your objective.

#branding #sales #advertising

The best way to understand if someone really knows what they're talking about, is to ask them to explain it to you in as few a words as possible.

Generally speaking, the less words you need to explain it, th edeeper you understand it.

Not necessarily 'deeper' in terms of your technically knowledge of the subject.

But 'deeper' in terms of how widely you understand it.

That may initially seem like a contradiction.

But it is in the depth and breadth that the real value and impact can be unlocked.

#understanding #deep #wide

The point of advice is not to simply, blindly, follow it.

The point of advice is to help you understand.

Then, once you have gathered the various pieces of advice, you need to run it all through your own filters.

How does that advice make sense to you, in your context, in relation to your previous experiences, where you want to be, etc.

Once you've done that, then you make your own decision.

Don't absolve yourself of the responsibility for the decision by simply following someone else's advice.

NB: Shout out to Matthew Kobach on Twitter for the wise words.

#advice #accountability #understanding

One of the keys to success in any business is reducing friction.

Making it as easy as possible for your customers to buy your products and services.

But it may be that the very thing you've put in place to help reduce friction - ie: your customer service team - is actually contributing to the friction.

One example I experienced recently was when we went for lunch at a restaurant.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, we had to scan a QR code to open the menu on our phone and then place our order on the phone.

The staff simply delivered the food to the table.

The only extra bit of customer service was the filling of our water glass. 

The phone ordering process worked well. Super efficient.

But I struggled to get the attention of the waiters to have my water glass filled.

The only friction I experienced during that meal, was the one element of human customer service they had put in place.

#customerservice #frictionless #painpoints

These days there are so many different ways to communicate with our customers.

Email, Online Form, Phone Call, Messaging Platform.

And if it's a Messaging Platform...which one?

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or just a good old fashioned SMS.

The key thing is to make sure you communicate with your customers on the same platform they communicate with you.

If they've sent you a WhatsApp, reply to them there.

Don't call them. Unless they asked you to.

Customer-First...always.

#communication #customercentric #customerfirst

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are a form of provenance.

If you create something, then attach an NFT to it, forever and a day, you will be creator of that thing.

And the owner...unless and until you transfer the rights to someone else, via the blockchain.

A trademark is proof that you own a unique symbols or word or words.

Now, ponder this...

In a world where NFTs become mainstream (which I genuinely believe is not that far away), do we even need trademarks anymore?

Will trademark offices around the world embrace the utility of NFTs and the blockchain?

I see interesting things emerging in this space.

What do you think?

Who love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

OR...you can leave me a short voice message here -

https://sayhi.chat/trent

#NFT #intellectualproperty #trademarks

Whenever we ask a question, or seek feedback, we already know what we want to hear.

And so, once we hear that bit that we were waiting for...we kinda tune out.

But oftentimes, the real value in the feedback is in the other comments around the part we wanted to hear.

You pre-launch your new product to a small test market.

They tell you they love it.

Great! That's what you wanted to hear. 

You stop listening - even though you pretend to be paying attention.

What you missed hearing was that the test market though the packaging could be better and that the price point was a little high.

This is invaluable feedback.

But if you are only listening for what you want to hear, you'll miss it.

Try to discipline yourself to almost tune out the bits you do want to hear, and tune in to the bits you do not want to hear.

#customerfeedback #listening #marketresearch