Burke Alder Blog | Business Leader | Marketing Professional

Be a Riser - 3 Ways to Positively Take On Life

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 15:33:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I heard country star Dierks Bentley perform at the Deer Valley outdoor concert series. It was a great night up in the crisp mountain air. Dierks has a song called Riser. The song has an awesome message. He reminds us to be a riser.

Be a Riser

So what's a riser?

Dierks Bentley describes the characters of a riser with these lyrics:

"I'm a riser. I'm a get off of the ground, don't run and hider. Pushin' comes to shove, I'm a fighter. When darkness comes to town, I'm a lighter. A get out aliver, of the fire, survivor"

'Riser' Characteristics

Rise Each Time You Fall
Have a Never Give Up Attitude
Be the Light in the Dark Room
Give Others Hope
Fight for the Good Things in Life
Learn from Your Mistakes
Set Your Goals High
Give 110% Everyday
Overcome Tough Challenges
Seize Each Day
Help Others Rise

Now we understand some of the characteristics of a riser. Let's discuss 3 ways to be a riser and positively take on life.

3 Ways to Positively Take On Life

1. Rise Each Time You Fall

Doing hard things and growing up to meet our true potential means we're going to fall and make mistakes. Many times these are little mistakes and many times these are big mistakes. Not matter what, rise up.

We need to rise each time we fall or make a mistake. It first starts with doing our best to make things right and then moving forward—rising.

I've learned that no matter how hard we fall, it's the getting back up that feels the best. I know it's hard, but you can do it—be a riser.

2. Light Up the World

Each person that's in the process of rising needs a helping hand. Look for ways to help and serve them. You'll become their light in a dark room. Not only will it help the person who is rising, but it will help you. Service is the medicine that works 10 out of 10 times.

3. Learn to Love

I know this sounds cheesy, but it's true. We're all going through different circumstances and challenges. Learning to love others for who they are and who they want to become will help them rise. Love breaks down hate, differences, and life challenges that seem impossible. Spend time each day learning to love those around you. Who doesn't need a little extra love.

Be a Riser.

Each of us can be a riser. As we rise, we help others rise.

If you like this article you might also like:

3 Ways to Reenergize Your Life

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4 Leadership Principles from Tim Howard

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 01:53:00 +0000

It has been almost two weeks since Germany was crowned the 2014 World Cup Soccer Champion. For me, one game stood out and has inspired me in life and business.

Belgium vs USA

Tim Howard Leadership Principles

Tim Howard, American goal keeper, faced a never-ending Belgium onslaught for 120 minutes. Howard tallied an amazing 16 saves, the most in World Cup history.

Even though the United States ended up losing the round of 16 match, Tim Howard quickly became a nation's hero.

I could really tell that he was in the zone and that he really wanted to win. He was courageous and humble during the whole match. This attitude is crucial to succeed in life and business.

So how did he do it? How did Howard have the game of his life?

4 Leadership/Success Principles

Let me try to keep it simple and say that he applied a few success and leadership principles

1. Consistent Hard Work, Every Day

Nothing happens without hard work. The moments leading up to the zone or having the best game of your life, first start with learning and applying the principles of success. Not just for one day, but day in and day out, rain or snow.

My favorite quote is, "To perform like a champion, you must practice like one." Consistent hard work focused on the right principles set Tim Howard up for his amazing world record game.

2. Lift Where You Stand

With 16 saves, I saw Tim Howard apply the principle of lift where you stand. This is a simple principle. Give it your all in the area you've been assigned.

It's easy to point out how others are not doing it right or how they could be doing their job better. The lift where you stand principle was in full effect for Tim Howard. Each time it was his turn or in his area he made sure he lifted and lifted hard.

3. Quickly Align Team Members (Players)

Being a successful leader is helping every member of your team be positioned in the right area at the right time. Tim Howard did this awesome. I could see him quickly point and shout out positioning statements with his team. Once everyone was aligned in the right place, it gave Howard the right angles to be successful and save goals.

4. Show by Example

This is simple. Be the person you say you are and show it by your actions. Tim posted this on his Twitter.

As Howard entered the field, you could see that he was determined to win. During the game, he gave it his all. This translated into energy for other members of his team. Energy can make or break performance.

There you have it, the four success/leadership principles Tim Howard applied to have one of the best games of his life—world cup record in goal keep saves.

It you liked this article you can also read:

4 Principles to Put Yourself in Position to Win

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4 Principles to Put Yourself in Position to Win

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 06:20:00 +0000

Tonight I had the opportunity to listen to, six time Olympic medalist and champion, Jackie Joyner-Kersee as part of the National Athletic Institute speed camp kickoff event. I grew up cheering her on. She is a true champion with a story that inspires each of us to believe anything is possible.

Put Yourself in Position to Win

During her keynote, she said a profound statement, "Put Yourself in the Position to Win." This she explained, was a state of mind, an attitude—as much mental as physical.

She explained how the 1984 Olympics really drove this point home. Even though crowned with an Olympic medal she felt as if she had much more to give and was personally disappointed with her performance.

Like any great athlete, Jackie learned from her mistake and would change her approach to training in preparation for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. It paid off and she won Olympic gold in the Heptathlon and Long Jump.

4 Principles to Win

Her success, she mentioned, was due to applying four principles. Each of us can apply these and win.

1. Be a Little Better Each Day

Jackie said, "I wasn't the fastest day one. I had to work a little harder each day. I knew if I didn't, another competitor would. I knew as my legs burned that I was improving and becoming better. This is how I really began to grow as a world-class athlete."

2. Mind Over Matter

Jackie said, "I really had to learn to compete. Not just how to compete physically, but how to compete mentally." I agree with this, it really starts with our attitude. How we approach each day, each challenge, will largely determine if we have the capacity to win.

3. Learn Your Pace

Jackie said, "You must learn your pace. Many athletes would start out fast and slow down at the end. Other athletes would start slow and turn on the kick toward the end of the race. For me it was always knowing my pace. If I trained hard enough than my pace would be good enough to win."

4. Be the Ultimate Decision Maker

Jackie said, "Many people make excuses for how the day is going or why they are failing. Each of us are the ultimate decision maker of our day. We each need to believe in ourselves. You should never put your self in second place. You need to go out to win. A big part of this is having the right mental state of mind, so the physical can really kick in high gear."

I think each of us can really benefit from Jackie Joyner-Kersee four principles to position ourselves to win. It was a privilege to listen to her speak.

I also got to take pictures of her as she spoke tonight. These pictures I have highlighted in this blog post.

If you like this article you might also like:

3 Ways to Reenergize Your Life

You can follow me on twitter here

7 Steps to Increase Personal Productivity

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 17:29:00 +0000

I'll start with one question about your business work day, "How many hours do you work uninterrupted?

Productivity Killers

When I mean uninterrupted, I am not just talking about people who may stop by your office or desk looking to chat, collaborate, or just ask an important question.

There are other distractions or productivity killers that can cause each of us to lose our productivity, distract us, drain our energy, and make use feel like we are running around in circles.

Here are a few productivity killers to watch for:

1. Email
2. Checking social media
3. Unplanned drive bys
4. Doing non important tasks

7 Steps to Increase Personal Productivity

Lets start here.

Just imagine a day with 3 hours of uninterrupted work. Just imagine the focus and progress you would make that day.

In an article by David Franzen in this month's Content Marketing Magazine, Franzen explains 7 steps to achieve personal productivity and high performance.

Franzen first explains three important elements that need to be present to achieve productivity.

1. Clarity
2. Organization
3. Systems

Below are Franzen's 7 steps that will help you achieve better personal productivity at work.

1. Clean Your Desk

Your desk should be reserved solely for the few items that your are currently working on. Place everything else out of your field of vision.

2. Separate Projects Into Folders

This can be physical or digital. The key is to focus on one thing at a time.

3. Keep a To-Do List

Keeping a to-do list with items prioritized based on importance keeps your brain focused. This way the next action you should take is always right in front of you.

4. Do Your Most Important Task First

Making progress or completing a high priority task is vital to productivity. It sets the stage for the rest of your day. You will also tackle it with the most clarity and energy.

5. Do Not Check Email, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter

If doing the most important thing first is setting yourself up to win, checking emails or any social media is setting yourself to lose. Don't do it. You brain will go into instant distraction mode.

A better strategy is to designate a specific period of time each day to reading and checking emails.

6. Eliminate Distractions and Interruptions

When you're working, you should shut off the sounds of email, tweets or Facebook messages. Imagine hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of your mind. Mentally you can achieve a high level of focus by setting clear start and stop times for your work sessions.

7. Eat, Move, Sleep, or Suffer the Consequences

Recent studies have shown that eating at the right times, moving (walking, running or just getting in motion), and getting enough sleep daily help to invigorate your life with energy, creativity, and clarity—which are three important things to be more productive.

Get started today and get in the productivity zone more often—get more of the right work done at the right time.

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Oakley's Green Frame Olympic Branding Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 03:26:00 +0000

The 2014 Winter Olympics were full of amazing stories of victory and defeat. From the underdogs to the favored champions, the Sochi Olympics did not disappoint.

Seize the Moment - Oakley's Gold Medal

With million of eyeballs watching, companies try to use creative marketing techniques to seize the moment. Oakley did it perfectly—it started with green.

Branding in the Olympics - The Green Frame

The Olympics has many rules against marketing and branding. Logos have to be a certain size. Olympians can't have stickers and patches all over their apparel. Signs along side the venues only promote the host city's Olympic logo and graphics.

Companies spend millions of dollars to be the sponsored apparel for athletes in each discipline. Oakley used a green frame product placement strategy to unite its athletes during the Olympics. In every discipline you saw the green Oakley frames.

Why the Green Oakley Frames in the Olympics?

Simple—it was genius. Like any great marketing strategy Oakley's product placement strategy started with a why. The why helped carry their story and the why helped explain their cause. Oakley said, "Oakley introduced its first goggles in 1980. The green color honors a heritage of innovation as one of our first goggle colors. During Sochi, green will unite athletes from competing nations."

Their strategy was brilliant. Oakley put a stake in the ground—the best athletes around the world wear Oakley and unified they will accomplish big things.

Check out some of the great pictures of the green frames.

Three Reasons Oakley Wins Olympic Branding

1. The Why - Using green goggles and frames Oakley drove product awareness & branding around a cause—unify top athletes around the world.

2. Bright Green - Brands are built on color. Oakley used a bright green color to stand out. The color's purpose was to celebrate 34 years of Oakley innovation supporting top athletes around the world.

3. Eyeballs - Millions of people watched as Oakley green goggles and frames stood out and were noticed. Announcers even commented about the cause and reason for green frames.

Each Olympics I watch for innovative marketers to take a different approach to marketing and branding. This year, Oakley was the clear winner.

Nice work Oakley marketing.

A brand is summed up by every touch point and an Olympic touchpoint is gold.

If you liked this article you might like this article

How Sol Republic Stole the Show in the London Games

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3 Ways to Reenergize Your Life

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 03:35:00 +0000

As a business leader or athlete energy is crucial for success. Life has some ups and downs that can drain your energy. Here are three ways to reenergize your life.

3 Ways to Reenergize Your Life

1. Exercise

This is simple—get in motion. There are tons of medical studies that show the importance of exercising. It sounds counterintuitive, but the results are amazing. Start now and you'll see the difference. You'll have more energy, be more creative, solve problems better, sleep better, you'll increase your self confidence, and you'll be more healthy. You'll find ways to confront and overcome any challenge. Creating this habit in your life will pay off huge. You'll reenergize your life.

2. Serve Others

I know of no better feeling then serving others. Helping others succeed is one of life's greatest gifts. It brings with it tons of positive energy. If you're feeling down, start looking for someone to help or serve. Each day people are in need of help, whether you give someone a smile, a confident pat on the back, or just a nice compliment—you'll reenergize their life and yours.

3. Be Grateful

Focus on the positive of life. What are you grateful for? I know the storms of life hit each of us and it seems like there is nothing to be grateful for. Start with a simple list. What are the good things that are going on in your life? If you think about it enough, you'll find many things to be grateful. This exercise daily will reenergize your life.

There's so much good for you to do in the world and you'll need energy to do it. There are people waiting for your positive influence. If you are feeling down, try these three things. One thing I promise—you'll find energy and you'll find your purpose.

Never give up

Learn more about my philosophy here

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Two Success Factors - Persistence and Determination

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:57:00 +0000

One of my friends recently shared a quote with me from Calvin Coolidge.

Coolidge said,

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

I agree with Coolidge. I believe success in life comes down to these two success factors—persistence and determination. It's always the last 10 yards that are the hardest. It's always the extra effort that helps us discover our real potential. It's always the storm before the calm that makes the sunshine meaningful. So many people come so close only to lose the prize because of persistence.

Two Success Factors

I think it's important to define these two success factors to really understand what it takes to be successful.

Persistence:

Refusing to give up or let go
Insistently repetitive or continuous
Existing or remaining in the same state for an indefinitely long time; enduring tenaciously
Lasting without falling off
Retained permanently, rather than disappearing in a early stage
Occurring without interruption

Determination:

Firmness of purpose; resolve
Resoluteness
Never giving up, never
Unshakeable resolution to finish
Controlling the outcome
Fixed and firmly held

Now it's up to each of us.

What goals are you currently working on that will require real persistence and real determination. Think of those goals and write down your plan to "press on" and finish what you've started.

This is not for some of us. It's for all of us.

#nevergiveup

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Learn more about my life philosophy here

Build a Culture of Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:32:00 +0000

Many of the most successful companies in the world establish cultures of learning. What do I mean?

It's simple. Just apply what you learned during your seventh grade science project—start with a hypothesis. What do you want to learn about your customer? What do you want to learn about your business? What are the do's and the don'ts? How do you create the best experience possible?

Everyone Learning

Start by having each department of your business focus on learning. What are they currently learning and what do they want to learn?

These questions are easily answered with experiments. Once you get enough data to make the experiment valid, record what you learn, apply it, and move on to the next learning.

Have each department report on what they are learning. You can do this on a weekly basis. Too many times I've seen companies learn something really important and forget to really learn it, so they do it again—the same costly mistake.

Use your learnings to your advantage. I like to write them down in a google doc so I can share them with other members of my teams. We ask ourselves, "Now that we know this, what are we going to do about it?"

You will be surprised by all the important learnings your team makes if you establish a culture of learning.

Some of the top business leaders in the world take this advice to heart. Here are some important learning from the world's top business leaders.

Top Learnings

Weigh Your Priorities

"Most start ups are focused on growing faster. That alone would not make us a great company. We realized we had to focus on three things: love, growth, and foundation."

Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb

Celebrate Each Step

"The best way to make employees happy is to set realistic goals and achieve them. I make sure those small steps are pointing us in the right direction."

Leila Janah, CEO, Samasource

Get Better As You Get Bigger

"We grew like crazy in 2012, but we had a lot of growing pains. Make sure your structure is efficient before piling more people on top of it."

Ben Lerer, CEO, Thrillist

Entrepreneur is a Job Title

"Entrepreneurship is a new corporate function. If companies are looking to have teams build new disruptive innovations, each team should have a leader whose business card says "entrepreneur."

Eric Ries, Author, The Learn Startup

Overcommunicate, Overcommunicate

"Ideas go nowhere if they stay in your head. Everything has to be communicated to the people who execute the ideas."

Dennis Crowley, CEO, Foursquare

Data Trumps Opinions

"The highest-paid opinion matters the least. Data from experiments is critical so that the best idea can prove itself."

Brad Smith, CEO, Intuit

Don't Skimp on Talent

"This year was all about having the conviction that when you hire great people, despite the cost, great things will happen."

Jonah Peretti, Co Founder, BuzzFeed

Don't Overcommit

"The commitments I make don't affect only me. Next year I'll set more realistic goals for my company so our employees can have a healthy work-life balance."

David Chang, Chef and Founder, Momofuku

Assemble a Dedicated Team with a Shared Vision

"Commitment to the vision trumps funding, technology, gold-plated degrees, and press. It remains our primary qualification. Everything else can be taught."

Marci Harris, CEO, Popvox

Focus on Collisions

"Innovation is often the result of random conversations, collisions—where ideas outside your industry are applied to your own. We want to accelerate those collisions among our people."

Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

Users Deserve An Roi

"When you put your information about yourself out there, that's a transaction. You need to feel that your getting something in return."

Margaret Stewart, Director of Product Design, Facebook

You can see the power of learning. Just imagine what you will learn if you focus on it. Build a culture of learning.

Follow me on twitter here—to receive real-time insights about high-performance business.

Learn more about my business philosophy here.

Surround Yourself with Believers Part 2 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:40:00 +0000

Blog post two of the series, "Surround Yourself with Believers". You can read my first blog post in the series here.

Our Life Mission

Our mission in life should be to discover our talents. Each of us have been given a unique set of talents and skills. Our personality combined with our talents make each of us unique. The combination makes each of us great. After we discover our talents we need to align them with our passions. Our talents aligned with our passions will guide our life, give us fulfillment, and help each of us live our life mission.

The next important step—surround ourselves with believers. Those who know our skills, our talents, and who we will become if we are patient, work hard, and believe.

Henrik, You Got This

A prefect example of this occurred behind the scenes at the 2013 X Games in Aspen Colorado between Tanner Hall and Henrik Harlaut.

Let me set the stage. Henrik was in first place at X Game Big Air competition. As he walks up to do one of his final jumps he gets a pep talk from Tanner Hall. Tanner understands Henrik talents and skills. The result was powerful.

Watch the clip to see how important it was for Henrik to surround himself with a believer—Tanner Hall.

But I Can Win Without It.

To me one of the most game changing lines was when Henrik says, "yeah, but I can still win without doing it." Tanner's response, "I know you can do this, you got this! Believe in yourself, believe in your skill. You know exactly what your are doing. Let's put it in the history books. Let's take skiing to the next level!" The right response from a believer.

The Power

As you watch the video, you can see the words start to have an impact on Henrik. He even smiles back at Tanner. As Henrik gets ready to take his run you hear Tanner say, "You got this son!"

Henrik skis down and does the world's first ever Nose Butter Triple Cork 1620 and claims the gold medal. I watched this live on TV and it was incredible. To listen to the words of Tanner to Henrik minutes before the trick was inspirational.

The Key

In life each of us will have naysayers. There will be those who don't care to understand our skills, our potential, or what we will become. Don't waste your time with them. Discover your talents, align them to your passions, and surround yourself with believers. We are all meant to do great things.

"You got this son!"

Follow me on twitter here—to receive real-time insights about high-performance life.

Learn more about my philosophy here.

Drive Strategy to Ownership to Execution

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:20:00 +0000

The power of strategy is found in execution. Many of the best strategies and plans fall flat without great execution. I have found that strong execution comes from empowerment and ownership of team members at every level and in every department.

Two Ways to Drive Strategy to Ownership to Execution

In this blog post, I will explain two simple ways to drive strategy to ownership to execution.

1. Define the end goal
2. Know where you want to arrive

Commander's Intent

I've been reading the book, "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath. In the book they explain a concept called commander's intent. I think there is a lot to learn from the commander's intent concept.

Let me explain it. The Army, Navy, and Air Force build extension plans and strategies. Each plan and strategy contains extensive detail—when, where, what, who. These details are then sent to every military level to prepare for its execution.

In the 1980's, they recognized a roadblock to this process. They found that even after a detail plan was in place, it would change within seconds on the battlefield. No plan survives contact with the enemy. So they built a process called commander's intent

1. Define the End Goal

Commander's intent (CI) is simple. Instead of the trying to plan out everything. CI starts by asking what is the end goal? This is a simple statement. It's very clear. Each tactical level then builds their own CI. Now it's very clear the strategy to execute. Without detailed plans, CI gives complete trust and ownership to those who execute. This is the key to successful world-class execution of strategies and plans.

You can see how this would apply to a business. Each department head, manager, and front line worker would clearly understand the end goal and build their own CI to align perfectly to the strategy. They are given liberty to come up with the appropriate solution or execution path to best achieve the end goal. This promotes leadership growth and one of the greatest gifts you can give an employee, ownership. The ability to put their mark on the business.

2. Know Where You Want to Arrive

To arrive at the proper commander's intent. You can ask yourself two simple questions.

1. If we do nothing else tomorrow we must...
2. The single most important thing we can do tomorrow is...

If the CI or strategy is clear, it should be easy to answer the above questions. If not, spend more time collaborating with your teams until it is very clear where you want to arrive.

It should be very clear and simple. Now let your teams take ownership of the game plan or path to execution. You will be surprised what they come up with. This is where trust and onwership come in. This is where the world-class execution comes from.

These two simple ways will help your business drive strategy to ownership to execution—creating an impressive culture and building future leaders.

Follow me on twitter here—to receive real-time insights about high-performance business.

Learn more about my philosophy here

Surround Yourself with Believers Part 1 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:13:00 +0000

What do I mean?

In our lives and in our careers we all have managers, coaches, and mentors. Our goal should be to surround ourselves with believers.

What are Believers?

Believers are managers, coaches, and mentors who recognize your talents, see your potential, and believe in what you will become. They help coach, manage, and mentor toward greatness, even when you might doubt.

Believers are critical to success.

Stay Away from Non Believers

Life is too short to hang around non believers. Non believers are those who never take time to discover your talents, understand your skills, or even care who you are. These are poor coaches and managers. Non believers are short sided and mostly think of themselves. Do your best to stay clear of these type of people. They will do you no good. And of course, you will prove them wrong 10 times out of 10.

Branch Rickey was a Believer

Branch Rickey believed in a young baseball player named Jackie Robinson.

It was 1943. There was a color barrier in baseball. Branch Rickey did not believe in color. He believed in talents and skills that would produce a winning result. That was his focus with Jackie Robinson. In 1943, Rickey got approval from the Dodgers Board of Directors to begin the search for "the right man".

Rickey recognized Jackie's baseball skills. He also recognized Jackie Robinson's greatest talent, the ability to not fight back even under intense moments of racism.

Jackie Robinson Believed Branch Rickey

In the new movie 42, The True Story of an American Legend, there is a scene with Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson that exemplifies an interaction between a believer and his student.

Rickey knew that Jackie Robinson was "the right man", but wanted to make sure he could withstand the storm they were about to create.

During their first meeting, Rickey says, "I want a ball player with the guts not to fight back." Jackie Robinson responds to his statement with, "You give me a uniform, you give me a number on my back, I'll give you the guts."

The Believer Effect

Branch Rickey helped Jackie Robinson believe in what he was about to do. Rickey saw the future. He believed in Jackie Robinson. He knew it was going to be tough, but believed Robinson would do it.

Rickey was right, right from the start, Robinson faced intense discrimination from players and fans. Robinson would not retaliate and on April 15, 1947 broke the baseball color barrier starting on first base with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Surround Yourself with Believers

Each of us are meant to do great things in this life. We need to use our talents to change the world, to make it better. We all can do this. Your first step will be to surround yourself with believers.

Follow me on twitter here — to receive real-time insights about high-performance business and life.

Learn more about my philosophy here

The Two Truths of Team Management Success

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 13:06:00 +0000

I was talking to Ty Kiisel, a good friend and Forbes writer, about the two truths each manager should know about their team. We have discussed this over many months and have summed it up with two truths.

The Two Truths of Team Management Success

1. Every Team Member Wants to Do a Good Job

No one wakes up in the morning and says, "Today I want to do a bad job." The truth is that every person wants to do a good job. This is where you come in. As a manager, you get to positively or negatively impact that statement daily.

Start with this.

Look at each team member with this phrase in mind, "Today, <insert team member's name> wants to do a good job. How can I help them do that?

Then.

Start recognizing the good work each team member does. Be specific with each compliment. You can't just come up and say, "George, good job today." Be specific. "George, thanks for taking the lead on the product launch strategy. Your analysis and recommendations were very clear and spot on. I am excited to execute what you suggest. Awesome job."

Define their job (role) clearly.

The more clearly defined a team member's job or role, the more consistent they will be at achieving a "Good Job". Once again, this is where you come in. Each of your team members should be able to say. "My job today is to <team member inserts what they focus on each day>.

Truth: Each team member wants to do a good job.

2. Every Team Member Wants to Win

The truth is simple, but very powerful. Each team member comes to work to win. Here is where you come in.

Start with this.

Look at each team member with this phrase in mind, "Today, <insert team member's name> wants to win". How can I help them do that? Are there any obstacles I can remove to ensure they win?

Then.

Define what a win is. In sports we do this everyday, we clearly define how to get points and how to win. Many times managers forget to clearly define what a win looks like. Not only that, but they forget to teach teams to learn to recognize and celebrate wins. This is key.

Celebrate wins, even tiny ones.

Once your team members understand what it means to win. Start celebrating. Many times wins go unrecognized and uncelebrated. It you want to create a winning team environment teach your team to recognize and celebrate wins, even tiny ones.

Truth: Each team member wants to win.

The Power of These Two Management Truths

As a manager, you are only as good as your team. You can't do everything. You can't be every where, nor should you want to. Winning teams utilize the strengths and talents of their team members. Winning team managers utilize the two truths we discussed above. Remember the two simple truths to team management success:

Every team member wants to do a good job and every team member wants to win.

Follow me on twitter here to receive real-time insights about high-performance business and life.

Learn more about my philosophy here

4 Ways to Increase SaaS Success and Decrease Client Churn

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:13:00 +0000

First, you might be asking what is SaaS? It is also referred to as "The Cloud". Burke come on. Alright, let's make this simple.

What is SaaS?

SaaS is Software as a Service, which is software you use via the internet. No need to install a software disk. It's the future of software. Many of you already use SaaS products. Netflix and Spotify are SaaS companies. They have changed the way we watch movies/shows and listen to music. No more DVDs or CDs. Typically clients buy SaaS software on a per user per year basis.

I am a huge fan of the SaaS model and like to build SaaS companies. SaaS and it's delivery method make life simple. It really makes software implementations quick, easy, and cost effective. This model is the way of the future.

Tons of SaaS companies are popping up each day. I will focus the rest of my post on how to make a B2B SaaS technology company that succeeds and doesn't lose customers.

I am going to assume two important things. You have built a product that resonates with your target audience and that your target audience is willing to buy your product or service. These are two huge items you need to nail before you succeed, but for the sake of this post. I assume you "Nailed It".

The SaaS Revenue Compound Effect

SaaS is awesome because of the revenue compounding effect. The happier your customers, the more renewing customers, and the more revenue. SaaS companies have the potential to have year over year hockey stick growth. You get a compound effect as you build upon your paying customer base.

SaaS Kryptonite

There is a kryptonite for SaaS. Currently many SaaS companies struggle with renewing their customers. This is also called client churn. So what are 4 ways to decrease client churn and create raving fans. Once again, I assume you have an awesome product that is easy to use.

4 Ways to Increase SaaS Success and Decrease Churn

To best take advantage of the SaaS compound revenue effect, I propose 4 best practices that will help you decrease churn.

1. Develop An Account Management Team

Most companies have sales professionals that do the selling and the renewing of products or services. After years of building SaaS companies, I have learned that there are two different sales personalities, hunters and farmers.

So account executives go after new logos and account managers are measured on renewing customers. Dividing up these roles will help you succeed with renewals.

2. Define Success

This is huge. I always teach to under promise and over deliver. This focus is the first step to decrease client churn. The best practice is to have your account executive introduce your account manager to the client before the deal is closed. This is the prefect check and balance for sales. The client's definition of success should be very clear. I know this sounds so simple, but most SaaS companies forget this important step. If you miss this, you might miss the renewal. Define success before you close the deal and you will renew more clients.

3. Strong Implementation Process

Your account managers should follow a simple, but outlined implementation process. Change management is a huge part of creating a successful client and a raving fan. It should not be a complicated process, but should help ensure your clients are set up to succeed.

4. Regular Cadence Calls

This is the most important part of renewing a customer. As a marketing executive, I use tons of SaaS tools. You would be surprised how many of these SaaS companies close a deal with me, help me implement the tool, and then disappear.

I can almost guarantee I won't hear from them until 60 days prior to renewal. Sometimes it's 30 days or less.

Cadence calls are a must. They can be short calls, but really need to focus on knowing the pulse of the client. Are they red (mad), yellow (just alright), or green (a fan). Regular cadence calls will help you keep clients and take advantage of the SaaS compound revenue effect.

Don't forget #4. Most SaaS companies do this very poor. These are 4 ways to ensure SaaS success and decrease client churn. Do these 4 very well and realize the full advantage of the SaaS compound revenue effect.

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Life Without Regrets

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 05:36:00 +0000

Each moment of this life is precious. We must live a life without regrets. Dieter F Uchtdorf, former Lufthansa Airlines executive, gave a great talk about living a life without regrets.

Life Without Regrets

In his talk Dieter reflected on a nurse who cared for the terminally ill. The nurse would ask her patients one question as they prepared to leave this life, "Do you have any regrets?" Many of them had regrets. Dieter than discussed the top three regrets people have before they die. As I read about these top regrets, I knew I would want to write a blog about this topic. My goal is that these words might help each of us focus on living a life without regrets, a life to our fullest potential.

My goal has been to learn from history and to learn from wise people who have gone before. If I do, maybe I can make less mistakes in this life and live life to its fullest, without regrets.

The World's Top 3 Life Regrets

#1. I Wish I Had Spent More Time with the People I Love

People deeply regretted that they spent so much of their lives on the daily treadmill of work. Many had lost out on choice memories that come from spending time with family and friends. If this is the top regret. How can each of us not have this regret?

How to Not Have this Regret

I believe it will take a life of balance. And when we are given leadership responsibilities over teams or we run companies, it will be vital that we make sure we promote a well-balanced life outside of work.

#2 I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential

To me this is an important regret we should never let happen. Too many people look back on their lives and realize that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung.

How to Not Have this Regret

Each of us must spend time understanding our talents. Each of us have talents. We also have many talents that are undiscovered. It needs to be our pursuit to understand our talents. Too many times in life, we only focus on our weaknesses. As a manager, an executive, or a coach, the goal needs to be to understand the talents of our teams and help our team members unleash their talents. Finding our talents will help each of us live up to our potential.

#3 I Wish I had Let Myself Be Happier

Dieter said, "So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial. The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don't really determine our happiness. We determine our happiness."

How to Not Have this Regret

Each of us must be grateful each day. We must look at the positives of our situations and the positive of others we meet and work with. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react. To be happy is to enjoy this journey of life and help others succeed. Helping others is the easiest way to find happiness daily.

Let's make the commitment today to live a life without regrets.

About Me

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Mark Twain - Explore. Dream. Discover.

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:28:00 +0000

One of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Many times it's our fear that stops us from moving forward. Find your talents, use them for good, and live a fulfilled life focusing on the positive and the positive of others.

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3 Things Marketers Can Learn From Justin Timberlake's Launch

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:03:00 +0000

What can marketers learn from Justin Timberlake's new album launch? It has been awhile since Justin Timberlake produced a music album. Over the past years, Justin's number one question was, "You going to sing again or did you just quit?"

On January 10, 2013, with one tweet Justin Timberlake answered that question.

Justin Timberlake's Tweet

"To whom it may concern...I think I'M READY! #JT2013."

Within an hour, Justin Timberlike was trending on Twitter. The tweet contained a link to a YouTube video that showed Justin walking through multiple doors at a recording studio telling us why he has waited so long to do another album. In essence Justin said, "I don't want to put anything out that I feel like is something I don't love. You just don't get that every day. You have to wait for it." Then he walks through the last door and up to the mic and says, "I'M READY". Then the video routed you to a sign up page with a countdown (days, hours, minutes, seconds). Once you signed up you were directed to a letter from Justin telling you more about his new music venture.

I thought the execution was brilliant. I said to myself, "Nice work Justin. That was awesome."

Three Things Marketers Can Learn from JT's launch

There were three reasons I really like Justin's launch and think they apply perfectly to marketers.

1. The Why

The why is one of the most important parts of good brand positioning and a strong marketing campaign. As you watched Justin's video you understood why he had waited so long to launch his next album. I wish I could find the video, but it is no longer on the site. The why is an important part of telling a marketers story.

2. Exclusivity

Exclusivity or what I define as the seat to the inner circle has always been a big part of creating music fans. Justin took this music & marketing principle and used it to his advantage. To kick off his campaign, he tweeted to his 15 million twitter followers. He did it with one tweet. Within the hour, Justin was trending on Twitter. Social media has really changed the game for the music industry.

3. Creativity

Without creativity marketing is stale or old (been there done that). I wrote another blog post how to find your creative genius here. Justin's approach was creative and definitely out of the box. He used new technologies like twitter to step out of the box and launch his campaign in a unique but exclusive way.

Nice work Justin.

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Run Up Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:12:00 +0000

It's a new year. As we set goals for 2013, let's not forget the importance of overcoming the challenges that will stand in the way of these goals. These challenges will be like mountains. Run up them.

Run Up Mountains to Achieve Goals

There is something about running up mountains that I love. The ability to move one step forward closer to the summit. You can apply a lot of what it takes to run up a mountain to what you need to do in life to achieve goals. You can't give up. You've got to move forward with every step over the challenges to the top of the summit. The vistas from the top are worth the climb.

And that is what we need to do, move forward, up mountains, making ourselves and our lives better step by step until we achieve our goals.

When we look back on the journey to our goals this year, we will say, "You know what, the climb was well worth it and we are stronger because of it." Keep moving forward with your challenges. Never give up. Keep running up mountains.

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Why Responsive Web Design is the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 04:43:00 +0000

3 Reasons Why Responsive Web Design is the Future

Let Me Set the Stage

Reason #1: Smartphone & Tablet Growth

The way the world consumes the web is changing. By the middle of next year, 50% of your potential customers will be consuming the web via their mobile devices and tablets. It will be vital that your website look good and perform well on all mobile devices and tablets.

This can be a pain. Enter responsive web design.

What is Responsive Web Design?

Responsive web design is a web development technique and strategy that builds a single website the works on a computer, a tablet, and a smartphone.

Reason #2: Smartphones & Tablets Are Different

Every company has entered the smartphone and tablet space. Each of their devices are a different size. It might take you a little more time, cost, and resources to build a responsive website, but maintaining one site versus 6 to 8 versions will save you time and headache in the future.

You brand is every touch point. Building a responsive website will make your brand and content more accessible on whatever mobile device it's viewed.

Reason #3: Customers Learn & Buy from Mobile Devices

More and more research shows that your first brand touch points occur via mobile devices. There are also trends that show the increasing number of mobile users who spend time learning about your company from their mobile devices (smartphone or tablet)

Smartphones and Tablets are the future and responsive web design makes staying ahead of this trend easier in the long run.

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The 12 Brain Rules

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 04:22:00 +0000

12 brain rules could have a huge impact on our lives. Seriously, we can learn to use our brains to unleash success in life, work, home, and school.

I just finished reading a book called Brain Rules by John Medina. I learned a lot of insights that I can apply to business, life, and home. I am going to write 2 to 3 blog posts about what I learned from reading the book. First, let me introduce you to the 12 brain rules.

The 12 Brain Rules

1. Exercise - Exercise boost brain power

2. Survival - The brain evolved, too

3. Wiring - Every brain is wired differently

4. Attention - We don't pay attention to boring things

5. Short-Term Memory - Repeat to remember

6. Long-Term Memory - Remember to repeat

7. Sleep - Sleep well, think well

8. Stress - Stressed brains don't learn the same way

9. Sensory Integration - Stimulate more of the senses

10. Vision - Vision trumps all other senses

11. Gender - Male and female brains are different

12. Exploration - We are powerful and natural explorers

The book discusses each of these 12 brain rules in detail. The 3 rules that were most interesting to me were the brain rules about exercise, sleep, and stress. These three rules can have a positive impact on our lives. They also can have a negative impact on our lives.

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The Four I's of Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 04:04:00 +0000

Is their a simple process to be creative?

There Is

In 1972, Alka-Seltzer launched one of the greatest ad campaigns in history. It was called, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing". The ad campaign really spoke to the problem Alka-Seltzer solved. It was a big idea that had legs. It helped Alka-Seltzer triple sales and put them on the map.

One of the main people involved in the idea was Howie Cohen. Howie says, "People need to be communicated with an emotional way and storytelling is the best way to do that.

Howie teaches 4 stages of creativity, the Four I's.

The Four I's of Creativity

I - Intuition - You kind of have an idea, but you don't have much information.

I - Information - You collect all the information. You need to understand the real problem. You find what it's all about. You understand every angle.

I - Incubation - Now you let it incubate. Forget about it. This is when the creative soup happens. This is when the big ideas come.

I - Inspiration - Then your creative ideas will come. They will come when you least expect them. Write down every idea.

I agree with Howie. Many of my best marketing ideas do not occur at the desk or in a creative brainstorm. They occur after I have incubated them. These are the shower moments, the moments when you first wake, the GYM moments, or running moments.

The 4 I's of creativity really work. Give it a try. You will thank Howie later.

These are four easy steps to be more creative in everything you do.

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Resonator #3 - Evernote

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:17:00 +0000

My "Resonator" blog series highlights companies who build products or services that resonate. Learn the 3 rules of developing a resonator here. This week I am highlighting Evernote, the Inc. 2011 "Company of the Year".

Evernote Company Overview

What is Evernote?

Evernote has had success on a global scale. The reason is simple, it resonates. Their concept is simple. Make it easy to capture everything, find it fast, and access it anywhere. My introduction to Evernote was from a close business friend. I was always taking notes on my legal pads and he was always taking notes on his computer or phone using Evernote. He could take a picture from the whiteboard and put it right along side his notes. He would grab concepts from the internet and put them alongside his notes. He had everything in one place. Something my legal pads of paper never did. I now use Evernote everyday and am a huge fan, a brand fanatic. I could not live without it.

Resonator Test

1. Painful Problem: We take notes on legal pads of paper, mole skin notebooks, post it notes, loose papers, napkins, whiteboards, and many other things. All our great ideas and notes are scattered. They are not in one place. This is a big problem when we want to find those great ideas, those strokes of genius. I have spent countless hours trying to remember where I wrote something important down. What notebook was it in? The stacks of notes get higher and higher. Evernote solves a real painful problem. Now, all of my notes are in one place. It passes test one.

2. Pervasive: In the world, billions of people take notes each day. So billions of people feel the scattered notebook pain and so billions of people could use Evernote. So, they pass the pervasive test. Big problem, big market.

3. Willing to Buy: Yes, yes, yes and yes, but it is free. What? Yep, Evernote makes the basic version free. It is part of their vision, their mission to help the world remember and be great. Even though it is free, I would pay a monthly fee to use Evernote, but I don't have to and I get tons of value out of it. The CEO of Evernote said this in a interview with TechCrunch, "Make people fall in love with your free product and they'll be all the more willing to give you their money without even having to ask." You can read the interview here.

Evernote is a real Resonator and I highly recommend it. I would like to hear from you. What are the products or services you know that pass the resonator test?

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4 Pillars of Preparation - Setting Up Success

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Last night I saw Chasing Mavericks. Chasing Mavericks is movie based on the life of surfer Jay Moriarity and Mavericks, a famous big wave break. The movie focuses on Jay Moriarity's goal of surfing Mavericks as a young 16 year old. I highly recommend the movie.

4 Pillars for Strong Preparation - Setting Up Success

In the movie, Jay's surf mentor (Frosty) Rick Hesson discusses 4 pillars needed to survive and surf Mavericks. The movie focuses on these 4 pillars of preparation.

Here are Frosty's four pillars of preparation - setting up success:

1. Mental - Use your mind to be smart. Know your surroundings and circumstances. Know how to adjust quickly to what you see and learn, so when everything breaks loose you are prepared.

2. Emotional - Emotions both too positive and too negative can kill you. Fear will be the biggest emotion that will paralyze you. You have to be able to remain clam, identify the emotion, and suppress it. You have to practice this. This is a key to successful preparation.

3. Physical - You have to be stronger than you think. When you drop into a Maverick's wave, it is going to require strength, power to not let the wave eat you alive.

4. Spiritual - You have to dig deep. As you approach dropping into Mavericks, the spiritual is going to have to be with you. The connection with the wave and your soul will be key to surfing and conquering Mavericks.

For me, preparation has always been a key ingredient to success in sports, business, and life. You can never forget the foundation of preparation.

Here is the simple formula:

Strong preparation = strong performance

Weak preparation = weak performance

This sounds so simple but it's so true.

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Chasing Mavericks Movie Review

I would not consider myself a movie critic, just someone who enjoys the escape and inspiration of a good movie. Chasing Mavericks was one of those movies that positively impacts your life. It has a great message. You leave the movie theater wanting to be better, wanting to fine tune your life's mission. I highly recommend this movie.

Jay Moriarity's famous Maverick's picture

10 Product Innovation Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 02:28:00 +0000

In a previous post, I discussed the top 10 product questions a company must answer to ensure success. Now that you have answered those 10 questions.

How do you innovate? How do you disrupt a market or change an industry? Easy right? Innovation is a big buzz word. To succeed with innovation, make sure you understand 10 challenges that stop innovation.

Top 10 Innovation Challenges

1. Weak product management function

2. Weak user experience function

3. Inside out thinking (not enough time outside of the office with target audience)

4. No product discovery process

5. Stake holder driven roadmap

6. Not utilizing engineering early enough

7. Lack of holistic view (whole product focus)

8. Focus on dates & features, not business results

9. Missing the rapid test and learn product culture

10. Missing product discovery team collaboration

Of course there might be more challenges that stop innovation, but I think this is a good start. Your goal is to build a product or service that resonates. A product that is so tuned in to your market that it sells itself. Of course, with good messaging, proper channels/distribution methods , and high-performance marketing.

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Culture Drives Results - USA Women's Gymnastic Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 15:07:00 +0000

My favorite parts of the Olympics are the lessons learned. The olympics teaches what it takes to be excellent at life, business, and sports.

Culture Drives Excellent Results (4 Ways to Create a Winning Culture)

The 2012 Olympic gymnastic women's team competition was a tight race between USA and Russia. As I watched the drama of the event unfold, I heard the announcer discuss the training cultures of the two teams.

He said:

"There is a big difference between the training sessions of Team USA and Team Russia." He discussed how during the Olympic training sessions (a designated training time for Olympic athletes and teams), Team USA's culture is one of positive reinforcement, strong focus, individual excellence, and powerful team support. In stark contrast, Team Russia's training sessions were full of angry, individual dominance, hostility between coach and athletes, and negative energy.

I have always believed that how you practice is how you perform and that team cultures has a big impact on results when it comes to competition time. Such was the case from Team USA & the Fab Five who were crowned with Olympic Gold.

So how is your business culture?

Because if your team culture is based off of fear, hostility, and title dominance, watch out. You are depriving your greatest resource and hindering huge results.

Creativity, productivity, individual excellence, and inspiring results come from strong a culture. How do you create a team business culture that drives huge results? Build a Team USA culture.

4 Ways to Build Winning Culture

1. Positive Reinforcement: As a manager you are a coach. Tell your teams when they do something right. If all you do is point out how they could have done better you will miss creating a winning culture.

2. Strong Focus: As a manager you drive the strategy. Help drive focus. This is tough, you might want to keep adding stuff to your team's to do list. This causes confusion. You want focus. Help build a culture that drives focus on not doing everything, but doing the right things.

3. Individual Excellence: As a manager your job is to put people in the right place where they can win. A team is only as strong as the weakest link. You have hired people for certain skills. Help them succeed with those skills. Team USA brought McKayla Maroney to the Olympics because of her vaulting skills. It paid off big.

McKayla Maroney's perfectly stuck vault will go down in Olympic history as one of the greatest vaults ever. (except maybe Kerri Strugs, 1996 Vault)

4. Powerful Team Support: As a manager your job is to promote teamwork. Teamwork comes with trust. Build trust among team members and you will build strong team support. Your team will be strong and their results will show it. You could see the team support from Team USA. They were strong. So strong that it provided a winning confidence that propelled them through each event until gold.

Build a gold medal culture.

Build strong cultures of positive reinforcement, strong focus, individual excellence, and team support.

Michael Phelps - Genius Olympic Product Placement

noreply@blogger.com (Burke Alder Blog) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:43:00 +0000

Last night just like many of the world, I watched Michael Phelps walk into his last Olympic race. The 4x100m medley relay. How would Michael Phelps, the Olympic's most decorated athlete, finish up the London 2012 games and his olympic career? Would it be gold in a race the Americans have never lost? Chances looked gold (good).

Something Different

I noticed something different last night as Michael walked into the London Aquatics Centre. Michael was wearing a hood to cover up his headphones that he had displayed proudly during his 6 other olympic races. There was even white tape covering the headphone's company name. So what was up? I knew, the Olympics finally noticed the genius product placement.

Genius Product Placement - The Simple Formula

Lets go back a few days and review the genius product placement.

1. Millions of Eyeballs

The excitement of this Olympics has been its focus on Michael Phelps. How would he perform? Would he live up to his Beijing results? Would he become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history? These questions caused the world to pause and focus closely on Michael. Millions watched, dvr'd, tweeted, facebooked, and blogged about his every move. So what do you do with an athlete who wears headphones and is watched by millions? Well, you have him wear your company's headphones. Sol Republic did just that.

Here is the simple marketing formula:

Millions of eyeballs + millions of brand impressions = instant brand recognition & increased sales

Which without Michael Phelps and the Olympics, the same formula would take years and millions of dollars.

2. Creativity (Olympic Sponsorship Rules and What Sol Republic did)

The olympic sponsorship rules are tight (read details here) and if broken can result in disqualification.

What Sol Republic Did

Michael has been using over the ear headphones before races for years. It's part of his routine. So during his first olympic race, Michael appeared with Sol Republic headphones. Millions noticed. Millions were intrigued. Race after race Michael appeared with a new color. This was the genius of the product placement and Sol Republic seized the moment.

Hand Slap

It looks like the Olympics took a little longer to catch onto the creative move by Sol Republic. During his last Olympic race, Michael wore a hood to cover up the headphones and placed a white piece of athletic tape over the Sol Republic logo.

Dr Dre Beats was also trying to be creative and got there wrist slapped also. Read here

Was it a coincidence? Phelps understands the importance of sponsorships and even studied sports marketing in college. Does anyone know what the Phelps/Sol Republic contract looked like? It had to be worth millions or shares in company ownership. It would be interesting to find out.

Shout out to Sol Republic

In a world where big companies have all the money for major paid Olympic sponsorships. It is great to see the creative marketing strategies and moves of the smaller companies who use out of the box thinking to get their brands and companies noticed.

Also, I really like Sol Republic's product idea of interchangeable head phone pieces. Definitely a big move in a market that is getting crowded. #Brilliant