How to Build a Business and Be Cool at the Same Time

Photo: alextakesphotos

There’s a common misconception in the media that business owners are cold, calculating and want to take money from customers and then leave them on the street to rot.

But it is possible to be a cool business owner. Plenty of people are doing that exact thing right now. To make sure I never become less cool (wait, I am cool aren’t I?) as I build my business I wrote up a list of things I need to remember.

1. Be human. Don’t be a machine. Speak your mind and embrace imperfection.
2. Be multi-dimensional. Do you have more than one interest? Of course you do! Share your love of reading, or video games or what you did on the weekend. Share your dimensions.
3. Blog. Have an outlet to share your thoughts on a regular basis. People care what you think. Seriously.
4. Give freely. The free line is moving: don’t fight it. Give more than you take. You’ll be rewarded in the long run and cool at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.
5. Share freely. Few businesses are in direct competition with others, yet there’s still hesitancy in sharing quality content out of fear of losing eyeballs. But if the eyeballs are that fickle then you’re in a worse situation that you thought. Find something awesome? Don’t hide it, share it. John, a commenter, has a differing opinion which you can read here.
6. Respond. Do people take time out of their day to ask you a question or send you a message? Sort of lame if you don’t respond. Become apart of the conversation. Become a celebrity.
7. Go beyond metrics. Metrics (visitor numbers, subscriber counts, no. of comments etc) can act as great motivation but don’t forget there are people behind those metrics. 10 comments on a blog post may not seem huge at a glance, but that’s 10 individuals who’ve connected with your content and were compelled enough to leave their thoughts. That’s pretty powerful.
8. Avoid cheap psychology tricks. Fake scarcity, playing off of your audiences self consciousness, or any other psychological trick is lame. Sell by explaining the benefits of your product and by simply being awesome. Avoid these 9 ways marketing weasels try to manipulate their audience.
9. Present your offer, don’t spam it. Show me your offer, and maybe even remind me about it every now and then, but don’t throw a billion pop ups in my face, make me go through 1000 pages of down-sells or use lame javascript hacks to make it difficult to leave. Then I’ll just remember to never come back.
10. Admit mistakes. I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. If you make a mistake don’t add PR spin to it, just say “This thing went wrong, so sorry about that.” Be clear and concise.
11. Fix mistakes. Quickly. Make it a priority.
12. Stay fresh. Adapt to change. Read blogs like Tech Crunch or watch This Week in Startups to stay aware of new ways to connect with your audience and enhance the user experience.
13. Make it easy. Confusion kills conversions. Make it easy to navigate your site, find relevant products, contact customer support, request more information, find pricing…
14. Use video. I’ve stuck with only screencasts so far, which are great, but sit-in-front-of-the-camera videos are something special. Aside from maybe a live stream, a recorded video is the best way to create a personal connection via the internet. It makes you real. It makes you cool.
15. Enjoy the process. Writing can be difficult at times and you’ll probably face technical troubles at times, but try to enjoy the process overall. If you’re not doing your work jovially 70-80% of the time then reconsider if the path you’ve chosen is for you.
16. Write out self-imposed rules and make sure you follow them. Success and money can change people for the worse. Before hitting your goals write out a list of your own “how to stay cool” rules that you can never break. Then, if you’re ever have a decision that could lead to piles of cash but disagrees with your ethics, it’ll be much easier to turn down the moolah.
17. Live. Over-worked and under-lived entrepreneurs have that “What am I doing?” look in their eyes. They’re tired, working out of habit rather than love and offer little inspiration to their audience. Do cool stuff and bring it back to your business.
18. Play. Make your work fun. Be silly. Say dumb things. Joke. If people are put off by your antics then they’re likely to have been draining members of your audience in the future anyways.
19. Kill stress. Stress negatively effects your output. Kill stress using technology, never be rushed and find other ways to achieve peace of mind. Build a carefree business. Don’t worry, be happy.
20. Do important stuff. Importance is decided by your audience, but do you personally feel that what you do is important? When you feel like you’re making a different wondrous things happen: you get more energy, become more creative, create stronger connections with your audience. Do stuff that’s important to you.
21. Be original. Avoid inbred thinking and do something that’s different.
22. Care about design. I’m not a fantastic designer but I do try to take care with how I present my sites. This has certainly been helped along after I picked up a copy of the Thesis Wordpress theme.
23. Don’t get bigger. Get better.
24. Make friends. Since starting this blog I’ve talked with a lot of cool people. They aren’t prospects, or walking dollar signs, they’re friends. I may not hang out with them on the weekends (most of them aren’t even in the same country) but I’m still happy to hear from them and have quick chats.
25. Please some people (but don’t be a jerk to others). Not everyone is going to like what you do, so if you try to please them you’ll dilute the value of your offering and that’s not being cool to your true fans. Accept that not everyone will love your business and let them go on their merry way.
26. Accept criticism. Criticism is free advice. Accept it! Trolls can certainly be ignored, but if you read a negative comment about yourself or your business and feel an emotional response, be mindful of that: there may be some truth in the criticism.
27. Respond to criticism. It’s easy to respond to praise but it’s not that easy to respond to criticism, yet I consider doing so far more important. Don’t reply sarcastically as if the critic is a lesser person than you, treat them as an equal (because they are).
28. Apologize. I’ve said dumb things before which I regret, and readers have called me out on it. Try to avoid these situations altogether, but if you publish words feel bad for saying, apologise. Say sorry to the individuals who called you out and say sorry publicly. They may not always accept your apology (I’ve been very lucky in that regard) but just sending the message (and meaning what you’re saying) sets the balance right.
29. Be cool. What does cool mean to you? I equate cool with mellowness, but that’s not a universal definition. Find people who share your vision of cool and emulate them. That’s not to say, be inauthentic – don’t be a fraud – but it’s important to pick the people who influence you, otherwise you’ll just model the next average joe that walks on by.

What are some ways you maintain your cool-ness in business?

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