Consider the Message, then Consider the Source

The other night I had the strangest dream: I had a dream that I was in a room with some of the greatest minds in history: Einstein, Plato, Socrates, Stephen Hawking, etc. and they were all wearing the most ridiculous hats. Furry fedoras right out of Alice in Wonderland, beanies with spinners on top, you name it. We all sat down and they proceeded to reveal some of their most intimate knowledge to me that would elevate my understanding of the world and how it worked...and I didn't listen to a word of it because I couldn't get past the hats.

I woke up and sent myself an email from bed that said "things learned in dreams: ive been focusing too much on the person and not enough on the message. who has the message i want?" My problem in the dream was that I was focusing on the PERSON and not on their MESSAGE. But what does that mean in real life?

It means if you are searching Twitter or Facebook and following Tom Cruise and a fan of Morgan Freeman's voice, and you think that's an effective business maneuver, you are mistaken. When you look at following someone or becoming a fan, that person MUST either A) Provide you with some real value B) Be someone whom you can provide real value to C) Be a close friend or D) All of the Above. Remember that whomever you follow or fan, you're odds of making a real connection to that person are 1 in x [x=their number of followers].

You have much better odds, however of really connecting with someone who has similar interests to yours. You can find these folks by doing a Facebook search or by using Advanced Twitter Search. Locate messages you agree with, then see who's delivering them: Visit their site, blog, etc. and connect with them. When you do, send customized messages instead of the standard ones. You're network of people with similar interests will grow rapidly!

P.S. AirCut sales have been brisk this week, and we've hit our first sales goal. The word is out!

The other night I had the strangest dream: I had a dream that I was in a room with some of the greatest minds in

Sorry Early Adopters, Your Time is Up

I've really been going at helping people discover AirCut for about 4 months now, because frankly that's how long we've had stock of our product. I don't claim to really know where the line in the sand is when it comes to where someone is considered an "early adopter of a product" versus when the item is more mainstream, but I know one thing for sure--AirCut is no longer for the early adopter.

I can say this not because this is my blog and I have the microphone, but because I have seen our product go through a small metamorphosis in these last 4 months. It started as a small idea and an online presence that crept along like a caterpillar until we received our first shipment of our product. It was a great caterpillar, but it needed wings. It then entered a cocoon wherein all of the early adopters got in on the AirCut and helped it to grow. Recently though, we have emerged from the cocoon as something more beautiful and have begun to stretch our wings as we move toward taking off.

This is not to say that we don't appreciate all of the folks who braved their own vanity for the sake of being among the first to use our product, far from it. We are grateful for them because throughout the early adoption phase we were able to make sure we had the best product on the market. It has been a joy to watch this process and to see so many embrace the AirCut for the easiest way to cut their own hair.

So the age of early adoption is up for the AirCut, but that's great news for the rest of you who may be holding off on the AirCut out of fear of it or of making a mistake. There's nothing to fear...and we have a cocoon full of early adopters to thank for it.

Valentine's Day is Coming, So it's time to Share the Link Love

With Valentine's day quickly approaching, love is in the air. As we all creep closer to the terrifying realization that we had been skewered by a flying cherubic toddler, I wanted to write a short post before the weekend about a few folks who have given AirCut some press recently. This is a business where friends are the last thing we want to be without, so I wanted to share the love first, then the links to our recent press.

Thanks to Melissa from  Multi-Tasking Mama for coming to us regarding a sponsorship for Blissdom 2010. We jumped at the opportunity to sponsor a hard-working mom since hard-working moms are part of our niche, and Melissa has not disappointed. She has posted our ads and mentioned us to her followers. She also had a T-shirt with our logo printed and wore it to the conference! Very cool.

Thanks to the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce here in Waukesha, Wisconsin. They have helped get us great exposure and notified me of social media events I have attended, including LinkedIn training with Wayne Breitbarth with M&M Office Interiors, who is a super guy (and a satisfied AirCut customer). The Chamber also worked with the Milwaukee Wave Soccer Team recently and put together a great reception and night of soccer for myself and other Chamber folks.

Thank you also to Chris Brogan, who took a slice of time recently to meet a group of us in social media, and even took a small slice of time to listen to my rambling 2-minute "elevator speech" about the AirCut haircutter and what I do in social media. He needs no help from me to promote him as he is already becoming a legend, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Here are the links to our recent press, including Melissa's video review of our product:
~Video review of the AirCut by Multi-Tasking Mama
~Article about how our product can help moms save money on Inexpensively.com
~Recent article on our beginnings and our owner in the Living Lake Country Newspaper in Wisconsin

As a reminder, this blog is as much yours as it is mine. If you have a question, comment, observation, etc. that you would like to share, or if you would like me to dedicate some link love to you, please feel free to comment or email. Have a great weekend!

The Brand is Your House - Build it Well and Protect it

For years when I was a Systems Administrator, friends and family would ask me what exactly I did all day. For those of you whose occupation is self-explanatory (like a plumber, fire-fighter, etc.) I envy you. People just couldn't understand how baby-sitting a network, even one attached to a $60 million company, was a full-time job.

As I have spent the last 3 years making the move to social media and brand marketing, but what I do day-to-day has now become even harder to explain. I tell people: "I'm building a brand, and it's like building a house. I take an awesome product like the AirCut. A product no one has heard of, and I create a foundation, walls, run wiring, and put the roof on. Eventually, I get folks talking about it."

I've told that story several times, but I never realized how truly relevant that analogy is. Building a brand is EXACTLY like building a house, also because when the house is built, your work is not done. You still have to dust, vacuum, mow, rake, weed, shovel, etc. You have to MAINTAIN the house and yard and keep insects, mice, and burglars out. A brand is no different: Maintain your brand online, respond to customers so they don't end up belligerent and scorn your brand. Most importantly, keep the lights on and always let your customers know you're home :).

Customers: It's Why Were Here, After All

I've had a couple of funny experiences lately with customers that I was hoping to share with you. I've changed the names as I did not persue their permission, but I wanted to just give you a picture of where we are in terms of our business development at AirCut. First, it bears repeating that the best part of coming to work every day for me is that I like what I do. I don't just throw that out there because my boss reads this, I say it because it's true. Admittedly, If I hated it here, I would tell it to a bartender instead of a blog. 

STORY 1
One day we received a call from "Jack" who had lots of questions about the AirCut. Jack had a curious nature and was really trying to decide if the AirCut was right for him. He had cut his own hair, but wondered what advantage it would be over a traditional clippers. After explaining the "no mess" and "easy to use" and "hard to make a mistake" highlights of our product, owner Norm asked Jack to think it over and take a look at our site. Norm also explained to Jack that he learned to use the AirCut and he was older than Jack, so if he could do it, anyone could. Jack's response was "you're older than 82?!". Norm had to admit that Jack had him there. Norm then asked Jack cautiously about his internet access, to which Jack replied "I'm calling you from a rotary telephone, does that clear up me and technology?" Moral of the story: If you think you're too old or too backward to use the AirCut, you don't know Jack. 

STORY 2
We sell AirCuts to all types of people. On occasion, we have even sold AirCuts to minor celebrities and politicians. One of our sales to a politician recently required "Ted" to stop back to visit us after the sale. It seemed that the blades on Ted's AirCut weren't starting up right away. He could still use it just fine, but Ted wanted to know if it was a design problem or if that's how it was supposed to be. We assured him that it was not supposed to be that way, and soon realized the problem was easily fixed with a new cord/transformer we had in stock. Don't you wish more politicians would recognize when something wasn't working the way it was supposed to? Heh. 

That's it for today's post. Just a heads-up that we are coming out with an iPhone app in the coming week. I'll be talking about it right here, so stop back or subscribe to our feed so you don't miss it! Don't forget about the Twitter background contest, too!

AirCut to Send Haircutter to Conan in Time of Need

Wisconsin Entrepreneur Offers Free Haircutter to Conan

Wisconsin Businessman Yerke pledges to send $100 haircutter to “help Conan find work”

 AirCut (http://www.aircut.com) company president Norman Yerke on Tuesday drafted an open letter to NBC Late Night Host Conan O’Brien via Facebook, Twitter, and Conan’s recent Craigslist posting offering O’Brien a free way to cut his hair at home in the even he was displaced from NBC and could not find work. An excerpt of the letter to O'Brien appears below:

 “…In your memo to the ‘People of Earth’ you said ‘Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.’ We don't want you to have to apologize for your hair and we would be happy to send you a free AirCut haircutter to keep your hair looking perfect in the event you have to be out of work. We are huge fans and would not want to see you looking anything less than precisely and perfectly pompadoured.”

Owner Yerke said that because O'Brien's settlement with NBC is only $40 million we knew he would need help in buying our $100 AirCut.    “We want to help Conan look his best and find work” Yerke said. AirCut might just make the cut, even if Conan doesn’t.