Posted by Elena del Valle on November 20, 2015
The Art of the Start 2.0
Photo: Guy Kawasaki
This year, Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start first published in 2004, released an updated edition 64 percent longer than the original book. In it, he shares his ideas on starting a new business or launching a new product or service and advice about social media, public relations, advertising, business plans, pitching, and crowdfunding among other topics.
In The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything (Portfolio Penguin, $29.95), a 326-page hardcover book, he says business plans are part of the past along with advertising and public relations.
The book is peppered with questions and answers sections and exercises.
Guy Kawasaki, author, The Art of the Start 2.0
It is divided into 13 chapters in four sections: Conception, Activation, Proliferation and Obligation. In Chapter 6, Kawasaki says, “I pitch, therefore I am.” Through the sentence he seeks to emphasize the importance he assigns to seeking buy-in through fundraising, agreement, partnerships, sales and hiring staff. He ends the book with a short chapter, recommending that readers seek a greater goal than riches and self promotion. He proposes that they help others who cannot reciprocate.
Kawasaki, chief evangelist, Canva, is trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. Formerly, he was an adviser to the Motorola business unit of Google and chief evangelist of Apple. Some of his other titles include APE (see Entrepreneur, app developer self publish book on digital publishing), The Art of Social Media (see Social media fans share their techniques in book), and Enchantment (see Guy Kawasaki, former Apple executive, discusses Enchantment in book).
Click to buy The Art of the Start 2.0
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 11, 2015
Sergio’s Mahi Mahi
Photos: Sergio’s Restaurants
Twenty percent of sales at Sergio’s Restaurants, a Florida company of Cuban franchise restaurants, are to customers with special dietary needs or preferences. The company caters to people who care about what they eat, be they vegetarian, vegan, lactose intolerant, or paleo-friendly. For example, by the end of November 2015 the restaurants will serve all-natural, hormone and antibiotic free, Wagyu beef fed a vegetarian diet from Jackman Florida Natural Wagyu Beef in Clewiston, Florida.
Citing a Lactose Intolerance: Information for Health Care Providers, a 2006 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development publication that estimates 50 percent to 80 percent of Hispanics suffer from lactose intolerance Sergio’s Restaurants recently added products for people who suffer from lactose intolerance.
“Sergio’s is always thinking outside of the box in order to better serve our customers – and this means making more options available,” said Carlos Gazitua, chief executive officer, Sergio’s Restaurants, via email when asked about why the restaurant chain caters to customers with varied needs. “We respect everyone’s diets.”
Sergio’s dishes
Its La Flaca menu offers healthier alternatives to customers including cauliflower rice, baked (instead of fried) dishes and recipes with coconut oil. Some La Flaca dishes are Grilled Chicken with garlic, herbs, and pico de gallo rice; Mahi-Mahi with pico de gallo; and Turkey Picadillo with Lean, Cuban-Style ground turkey.
Target customers range in age between 25 and 50. Staff reach out to customers via Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, and Instagram. The restaurants appear on NBC Miami for Food Presentations and competed in the Tampa Cuban Sandwich Showdown. Founded in 1975 in Westchester, Florida by Blanca Cabrera, Gazitua’s mother, and her mother, Sergio’s has six restaurants and two cafes in South Florida. They are independently owned.
Posted by Elena del Valle on November 6, 2015
Twitter Power 3.0
Photo: Wiley
Joel Comm and Dave Taylor believe Twitter is a powerful business tool, that viral content doesn’t happen by accident, and that videos and photos are necessary to engage effectively with customers on the social media site. In the updated edition of their book, Twitter Power 3.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time (Wiley, $20) published this year they discuss measurement, case studies and their strategies to connect on Twitter, among other Twitter related topics.
They are convinced that the power of Twitter is the possibility of immediate feedback and its broad reach. At the end of the book, they share a short list of people they follow on Twitter and recommend to readers.
“Not really,” Taylor said by email when asked if there were any unexpected findings for the new edition. “Twitter is a pretty straightforward system and while things like sponsored hashtags are relatively new, the basic idea of engagement remains the same as it was from the early days both of Twitter and social media in general. If you use it to broadcast, it’s not interesting or successful.”
The 272-page softcover book is divided into 12 chapters that address social media in general, Twitter’s popularity, first steps as well as setup and design, finding followers, communicating with customers and teams on Twitter, brand building on Twitter, using Twitter to influence the behavior of followers, making money on Twitter, and third party tools.
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Twitter is definitely trying to find its way, but Joel and I are confident that the future is bright: It’s a simple, popular service with a realtime aspect that’s unlike any other popular social media service and widespread adoption in the media. We’ll all get to see how that plays out!” Taylor said in reply to a question about the future of Twitter given recent news of staff layoffs and profitability uncertainty.
Comm, a serial entrepreneur, is the author of ten other books, including The AdSense, a New York Times bestselling title. He didn’t reply to email questions. Taylor has launched four internet startups, written 22 books and is the host AskDaveTaylor.com.
Click to buy Twitter Power 3.0
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