If You Build It, Will They Come?

I've seen this so many times. People believe that if they build something (an amazing web service, website, tool etc.) then people will come and use it. Unfortunately that's rarely the case.

The amazing product/service/_________ (fill in the blank) is just part of the equasion. You need to work on a lot more things than just the quality or the unique idea. One of the very important things are the brand and the story.

Using the brand and the story, you will have a chance to engage people even before they try your product. Once you've developed a certain mindset for them, it will be easier for them to understand what you are doing it, why you are doing it and eventually buy into it.

So stop waiting, build it and don't wait for magic to happen. Build a brand, craft a story and then start telling it. That's the only way people will find out about you.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Quick Guide to Conversation

No matter what type of business you are in, people want to speak with you. They want to know if you understand what their biggest concers, how you can help them and if you really care about them. Yet when it comes to promoting their brand most people act like conversation hogs. Always talking, not listening and rambling about how good they and their products or services are.

This can be easily fixed, if you take the right approach. Stop hogging the conversation and start engaging with people. Here are a few tips on specific situations:

• At events. I've seen it at networking events, exhibitions and any other type of professional gathering. People start rambling about how good they are and how their products and services are the best money can buy. If you want to engage with the other person, you need to stop talking and listen. Find out what their concern is and engage with them on a personal level. Share a story demonstrating how you have helped someone in a similar situation as they are, that's how you build relationships.
• At meetings.When meeting a new client, supplier or partner, most people again go into rabmling mode. Instead introduce yourself quickly and start listening. Do whatever you can to create a personal connection. You need to build trust and if you act like a used car salesman, people won't trust you.
• At presentations. This is where it is actually largely acceptable to just talk and not engage with the audience. Unfortunately that's wrong. That's why people hate going to presentations, because at the end they will have forgotten what it was about and the presenter didn't engage with them. To make them feel like they are having a conversation, keep eye contact and allow questions at any time. Even if the latter interrupts your presentation's flow for one minute, it's worth it.
• On social media. With the availability and openness of social media, we are all tempted to just talk all the time. At the end of the day it's a free channel with so many people in listening mode. Although broadcasting your message is fine, what you do afterwards is important. When people reply, do your best to start a conversation with them. Thank them for their comments, mentions, likes, retweets or any other effort they might have shown to spread your message.
• On any other media. Altough it's not really possible to have a conversation on other media, you can still engage with people in a way that shows them that you are listening. Target your promotion to specific groups and use messages that they will relate to. If they see something that feels close to them, they will know that you understand and care.

This list and suggestions are non exhaustive so feel free to try other things, experiment and fail, so you can learn what works. The most important thing is to have real conversation and never let yourself go into rambling mode.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Say it Simply

Because of my interest and studies in computer engineering, I learnt from a young age, that if I wanted people to engage with me I had to talk about my interests simply and in a language that people understand.

Having studied in a field that is full of technical terms, jargon and acronyms, I know how difficult this can sometimes be. The way that universities studies are structured actually makes this worse, since you always have to write using all the possible terms and in a language that is not easy to understand. As one of my old lecturers told me a few days ago "Academics write for academics". As a result, when the time comes for us to talk to people about our passion, invention, innovation or product we start using terms that people don't understand.

Of course using terms and jargon when speaking to your peer group and people in your field is fine, as they will understand you. However, when you speak to the general public and people outside your field you need to be able to express your knowledge in common language and terms. If you do this, you will have people's attention and they will engage with you.

Here is an example that I came across on Apple's website:

Integrated memory controller.
With faster access to memory, each core can get straight to work on your data, rather than waiting for it to arrive. That’s why the new Intel Core architecture uses an integrated memory controller to connect fast 1333MHz memory directly to the processor. Together with up to 8MB of shared L3 cache, the integrated memory controller helps your applications run at peak performance.

Here is how the same controller is described on Intel's website:

Feed more data to the processor with the integrated memory controller
The Intel® Core™ i7 processors incorporate an integrated memory controller which handles the data flow between main memory and the execution engine. This means faster access time to memory and less latency for requests. Now applications can feed more data to the processor and you can spend less time waiting for results.

Do you see the difference? The first explains the technology as simply as possible, so people can understand why this makes a difference. In the second example, and because the intel website is not consumer focused the technology is explained in more technical terms.

We know you have the knowledge and that you are good at your job, but you need to be able to communicate this to your audience. The only way that you can grab people's attention and engage them is by speaking to them in a language that they understand. Speak as simply as possible and people will listen.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis