Tytusblog 6/28/11: Marketing is MORE than just Advertisements (4 Ps of Marketing)

Tytus explains the 4Ps of Marketing (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion)... and how Marketing is NOT JUST promotion (advertising)... and in fact, PRODUCT has the biggest impact on marketing & sales success.

Summary from my Entrepreneurship Speech at The University of Texas: Austin Technology Incubator

Sometimes I wish I had a little camera the followed me around taping some of my ranting/speeches.  Would certainly save time having to type anything up!  Usually I speak about either Marketing or Entrepreneurship; so when I was asked to speak on "What it's like to be an Entrepreneur" at The University of Texas: Austin Technology Incubator I thought I knew just what to say.... but after some thought I realized, the usual crap people say about Entrepreneurship is just flat wrong.  Hard work WILL NOT win the day.  An awesome idea is NOT the way to success.  What is needed is 1 skill: Sales.

I began this speech saying that I wasn't going to say the usual stuff about Entrepreneurship.  Yes, you'll be poor for a bit, and yes, you'll work hard, etc.  But in truth to be a successful entrepreneur all of that barely matters; what matters is:

1. Sales (your ability to sell product/service/and STOCK).  
2. Presentation/Showmanship (your ability to present ideas and put the best foot forward; even when sometimes "THERE IS NO FOOT".
3. Persistence (your ability to NOT QUIT, even when everyone around you [especially potential investors] make it seem hopeless.

Theses skills can all be learned and practiced, and here are a few "Sales books" that I think are really, really good:

Sales Dogs: A great intro to sales and YOUR personality for sales.

http://www.amazon.com/Sales-Dogs-Attack-Successful-Advisors/dp/0446678333

Sales Bible: Amazingly good book filled with tactics and skills you NEED to learn to be good at sales:

http://www.amazon.com/Sales-Bible-Ultimate-Resource-Revised/dp/0471456292/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309044636&sr=1-1

I also went into great detail about the organization of VC funds (their management structure and decision making process), and also some small bit about my Laser-beam-Shotgun approach to fundraising!

More on those topics soon.

Tytusblog 6/22/11: Give a Sh*t Already! (How to be Indispensable)

Tytus explains how to become a "Linchpin" like Seth Godin's awesome book.
A.K.A. How to "Give a Sh*t"!

Video Blog 6/14/11: Magic Marketing Formula for Engineers

Discover the "magic" of Marketing in an Engineering Formula.  The Dominant Coeffecient might surprise you... it's what makes a product/service SUCCESSFUL vs. UNSUCCESSFUL.

In case you missed it, the Formula is:
       SALES = REVIEW_SCORE * (SUM_OF_OTHER_MARKETING_STUFF_YOU_DO)

This is a true statement for at least the Killer NIC and various iPhone games I've worked on.

Is it true for you?

Video Blog: Engineers Hate Fashion

What is Fashion?  Why do Engineers not get it/hate it?  Why do Marketers Love it?

Fashion, Function, and their interplay in Marketing

First Video Blog: Be Different! Create a "polarizing" product.

Welcome to my first video blog entry.  This quick video is a brief introduction to me, and goes into something that is super important to me: Seth Godin's principle of creating "unique" products... I call them polarizing products.   Watch on!  It's short.  Feedback welcome... I'm new to video blogging.

Where has Harlan Been? Where is Karmaback Going?

I've been away from my Blog lately, and recently realized that not only do I miss it; some of my faithful readers miss it.  What can I say, I've been busy working!  Read on to see exactly on what...

So where have I been?  
First, I've started living what I preach: I've taken on some major contracting/consulting work in Marketing.  I am leading the Marketing strategy and teams at 2 different companies, and advising on marketing at several more.  Why?  Well, I needed some steady income as Karmaback is on hold [more on that later].  Second, I really wanted to put into practice all I've been saying here on this Blog into the real world.  The great thing is, that because I'm working with several companies, I can leverage what I learn one place at another, and vice versa.  I can also take what I learn and post it here, for you!

What companies are you working with?
I think it may be interesting for you to follow some of what I'm doing, so here's a quick rundown of companies I'm helping with Marketing.  First, an iPhone Game/App company called ingZ, Inc.  This is my primary contract and I'm basically full-time here running all of Marketing and Sales.  Second, a Facebook Game company called Night Owl Games.  This one is part-time contract only, but I'm fully in charge of all Marketing and Sales efforts.  (cool side-note, my Marketing assistant starts today!)  Third, I'm helping several young startups with their Marketing direction and also general strategy.  I can't list those all here, but one of my favorites that I'm helping is CuttingEdgeGamer who "leases" high end graphics cards, WITH infinite upgrades!   Why all the gaming companies?  Well, mostly because I'm a gamer and love it.  But also because it's been "my industry" now for almost 10 years... so my industry expertise and contacts help me to land gigs like these.  You'll be hearing more about all these companies and all my goings on right here in the future!

So what's up with Karmaback?
Very short answer is that it is "on hold" from a growth standpoint until our new server work is completed.  We actually grew too fast (really!)!  We outpaced our server infrastructure and had to move to a multi-server, cluster approach that is taking time to get just right.  When we're done, we'll be able to sustain a MEGA twitter blast from the likes of Kim Kardashian or Terrel Owens twitter feed: up to 10,000 hits per second shouldn't be a problem!   We'll be able to take on bigger customers and help smaller customers get BIG bang for their marketing dollar.  In addition we'll be rolling out new products and new features at a very nice pace: and generally speaking, Karmaback will be back in business.  We're hoping to get it all ready by the end of the summer.

So, what about the blog?  
Here is the good news, I've been reading Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin (for the third time) and realized I not only am passionate about Marketing, I am passionate about talking about Marketing: SO... This blog is going to grow.  I'm going to start doing regular video blogging, and also starting a Facebook Fanpage, just for blog readers.  Stay tuned: MUCH is coming very very soon!