The Art of Story Telling
In the past 9 months, I’ve discovered that the art of story telling has become the most essential tool in my toolbox. Without developing my storytelling skills, I might be broke. Without developing my storytelling skills, my favorite co-worker might be out of a job. And without developing my storytelling skills, I don’t know how I’d keep my most fabulous girlfriend happy and entertained all the time! Here are my three thoughts on why storytelling should be essential in your life too: Learn How to Communicate Value Professionally: We have successful client relationships when we effectively communicate value of our clients’ products & services. Understanding Decision Points: What triggers lead to a decision being made? How can you more effectively communicate these decision points to other people? Root with ‘Em, not Against ‘Em: In most situations, I’ve learned that the majority of folks on this earth are inherently good people. They want to get behind you, your company or the cause that you promote … So make it easy for them to root with you! How do you use storytelling in your everyday...
read moreHow to Write the Perfect Blog Post
Quite a few people have asked me the following question: How am I supposed to write a blog post? Is there a ‘best practices’ guide, out there for me to reference? The quick answer to that question is: YES! To answer that question, I’d like to share an infographic from Derek Halpern of Social Triggers that shows exactly how to write and lay out what he’s calling ‘the Perfect Blog Post’. Check it out below! Like this description of how to write the perfect blog post? Then let Derek via Twitter by clicking here. Tell him Mike Krass sent ya! — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read more7 Tips to Become a Better Communicator (Hint: Listen!)
Do you know what trait all great communicators share? They’re fantastic listeners Great communicators listen to the individual(s) that they are communicating with. One of best communicators of our time, Larry King, used to only script two or three questions for each interview. So how did he fill that 60 minutes of air time every day? He would actively listen to the guests of his show, digest to their responses and react with additional follow up questions based upon their initial thoughts & answers. In his book How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication, King shared four bits of advice to become a better communicator when having an in-person conversation: Make Eye Contact: Don’t get distracted with your cell phone or shiny objects! Great communicators look their conversation partner in the eyes when speaking with them Lean Forward: Try leaning in on one elbow when speaking with your conversation partner to show that you they have your 100% undivided attention Use Silence to Your Advantage: When there is a natural pause in the conversation, try using silence to your advantage to encourage your conversation partner to continue with their thought Hand Gestures: The Italians were really on to something! Similar to silence, use hand gestures to encourage your conversation partner to continue speaking their mind But what if you aren’t in the same room? If you aren’t in the same room with your conversation partner, try the following tips to become a better communicator: Use Post It Notes: Tape a post it note to your computer or telephone that says ‘LISTEN’ or ‘SHUT IT’ … Every time you attempt to speak out over your conversation partner, look at the note to keep yourself quiet Use Call Tracking Software: Try using a conference software like UberConference that delivers a speaking report to your inbox every time you get off a phone. This will show you who is speaking the most during your phone calls. Ask More Questions: Regardless if you’re in person or on the phone, one sure fire way to guarantee you will listen more is … ask more questions! What tips help you be a better communicator? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreHow Lucky I am to Be an Entrepreneur
Sometimes, you just have one of those days where you walk out of the office and say … I can’t believe this s#!%. Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel once and for all … Starting a company is extremely taxing on you as a human being. Your heart, soul, mental & financial well being are all being throw into the mix. And guess what? There’s no guarantee that you’ll make it out the other side! I can honestly say I had one of those days in the not so recent past. Lucky for me, I ran into a recent Business Insider article that had some great bits of advice from successful start up founders. It was here that I read the comments above from Zach Coelius, founder of Triggit, an advertising technology company here in San Francisco, that totally lifted me back up. Next time you’re down, read Zach’s comments above and repeat the following: Regardless of how bad things might be, I should always remember how insanely lucky I am to get to do this and I should enjoy it while I can Fill your life with perspective. Take deep breaths. And get back to work 🙂 — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read more“What Can I Do For You?”
When I met Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics, Crazy Egg & Quicksprout, I had already done quite a bit of homework on him and knew he was going to kick off our lunch meeting with one simple question: What Can I Do For You? It’s a gracious way to start a business meeting and — guess what? — it puts you in the drivers seat of the conversation. So next time you go out for a business lunch, before you launch into your sale-sy or shmoozy pitch, take a step back and ask the person you are meeting with one simple question: What Can I Do For You Today? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read more8 Things You Need to Know Before You Start a Business
I’ve listened to quite a bit of advice over the past 24 months about how to start a business, some bits more entertaining than others … “Don’t run out of money. That’s a bad idea.” “You’ll only get audited if you try and expense things like private jets.” “People generally have the best intentions and will treat you as such.” After 24 months out on my own, I can definitely say: “No shit. Running out of money is very low on my to-do list this week.” “That’s not true. Federal, state & municipal governments can & will audit you and will gladly add penalties on top for the trouble it caused them.” “Yes, people have good intentions. Their bank accounts and ‘we’ll make sure to get you next time’ on the other hand, do not. As the great quote goes –‘In god we trust, all others must pay cash'” Which brings me to the purpose of this blog post … 8 Things to Know Before You Start a Business Right after we started our agency & prior to my leaving Seattle, I had the pleasure of sitting down with an esteemed colleague of mine who graced me with some words of wisdom as I set off into the wild blue yonder of start up agency founder & entrepreneur. The original notes from that conversation are posted in the photo above, but for those who have a hard time reading my chicken scratch, I went ahead and re-wrote them below. So, without further ado, 8 Things to Know Before You Start a Business: Understand the Future: Do a deep dive to understand the work your company will perform to generate revenue. How does that look today? What does it look like a year from now? 5? 10? Embrace Reality: The overall ‘vision’ for what your company will do and how that will be accomplished should have a solid foundation in reality Understand Burn Rate: Tim Ferris calls it ‘life burn rate’ while other start uppers simply shorten it to ‘burn rate’ … Whatever you call it, understand the dollar amount you personally need to earn to survive Revenue Requirements to Make Payroll: Additionally, understand how much money you need to generate each month and in what fashion that revenue needs to make it’s way into your bank account to pay your employees (prepayment? monthly payment? net 30 terms?) Insurance: You are operating a business — get some d@&% insurance! As we found out early, our first client (Box) refused to pay us until we could show proper proof of insurance Payment: We touched on this above, but it’s worth a second mention … understand how your revenue makes it’s way into your bank account! In total, you may pull in $50k in revenue per month and push out $50k in expenses (breaking even — that’s fine). But if you don’t receive your $50k until the very last day of each month and your expenses are due before that date, you will bounce a lot of checks and piss off literally everybody you do business with Avoid Assuming Liability: I can’t say it any better than my advisor in this conversation, so I’ll just quote him, “Avoid putting out a commitment before you assume liability”. In short — get paid or produce a written agreement for payment before performing work! Borrow for Growth, not...
read moreFour Pet Peeves Learned From Interviewing Job Candidates
Earlier this month, our agency began floating a job description for a new business internship over the summer. We’re looking for a somewhat inexperienced, hungry college student to come in and help us clean up our new business systems / tools, create best practices & actually go out and assist me during the client prospecting process. It’s the first time I’ve ever interviewed a group of candidates, and it’s been a real learning experience for me to understand what it is like to be on the other side of the table, so to speak. During this process, I’ve developed a few pet-peeves that have completely turned me off to a few of our applicants. Learn How to Formulate Your Thoughts in an Easy-to-Read Fashion I can’t describe how difficult it is to read through paragraphs that contain 7 – 8 sentences a piece and cross multiple lines of thought. It’s tough! Take these two examples below: Example #1: My name is Mike. I’m really looking forward to being a part of your organization. I have so much to bring to the table — I can write well, have experience with the Microsoft suite of products and understand how to manage deal flows in Salesforce. Please let me know what I can do to make my point clear that you should hire me. Example #2: Hello, my name is Mike. I’m really looking forward to being a part of your organization and have so much to bring to the table: I can write well Experience with the Microsoft suite of product Understand how to manage deal flows in Salesforce Please let me know what I can do to make my point clear that you should hire me. Now, as an employer looking to make a hire and has to read through hundred’s of job applications, which example would you prefer to see? Which would stand out and show that you are truly a proficient communicator? Less is More To the point above, learn how to communicate the value you would bring to the table in a very sharp, concise fashion. Get hyper critical with your verbal and written communication! Here are a few tips to keep in mind: Focus on the quality of each word in your sentences — what value does that sentence provide? Could you make your point more concisely? Focus on the benefit companies will see from hiring you. How can you make their lives better? Measurement, Measurement, Measurement! Again, focus on the measurable benefits employers have seen from hiring you in the past. How can you put your value in terms of numbers? Great examples include: My company saw a X% increase in new business prospects Reduced employee turnover by Y% Show me tangible measures of success! Make your skills an easy sell for me to understand why I want to hire you. Tailor Skills to Job Description / Interview Questions I’m completely fine with the fact that no one person will be the perfect employee out of the gate — there is definitely a learning curve to go through, especially for younger employees who are new to the professional realm. But I really need you to show me something. I’m not asking for you to be a guru and have every single item on the job description checked off, but show me that you care...
read moreDifference Between a Start Up & a Small Business
The other day, my business partner & I were having a very interesting discussion that centered around one single question: What is the definition of a start up & how is it different than a small business? The term ‘start up’ is thrown around every single day and, in my opinion, there is no set definition for what the term describes. For example, I’ve heard the following ventures be defined as a ‘start up’: A 150 year old company began a new division of business. They defined this division as a ‘start up’ within their existing company. A blogger that created a media outlet centered around their online blogging defined themselves as a ‘start up’ My friends mobile app company, which is less than one year old and has raised $5 million in venture capital A great way to define the term ‘start up’ is to take a page from the book of one of the masters, Y Combinator founder Paul Graham: “A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup. Nor is it necessary for a startup to work on technology, or take venture funding, or have some sort of “exit.” The only essential thing is growth. Everything else we associate with startups follows from growth.” So, what’s the difference between a start up & small business? Or, put differently: Why wouldn’t a small business want to be designed to grow fast? Both a start up and a small business have a number of similar characteristics: Less than 10 employees, with usually no more than a couple out of the gate Volatile, if any, streams of revenue that fluctuate drastically month to month AGAIN I ask you, what’s the difference between a start up and a small business? My brilliant business partner came up with a great way to make the distinction: A start up is a company that primarily relies on outside funding (angel investment, venture capital, etc) to fund operations & growth. A small business is a company that primarily relies on revenue (actual billable revenue to clients) to fund operations & growth. What do you think of the distinction outlined above? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreDon’t Rest Until You’ve Made Progress
Accomplishing your goals in life is centered around one simple idea: make little bits of progress every single day. Take the advice of Tim Ferriss, the best-selling author of the 4 Hour Workweek, whose main piece of advice from that book was … At the beginning of every day, pick three things that you want to accomplish Don’t look up, don’t check email, stay off Facebook, ignore all phone calls and save no kittens from burning buildings until those three items are crossed off your to-do list The idea is that once you get in the habit of making progress, you’ll be better at blocking out distractions and get more done. Why would you want to do that? … because it feels good … because getting things done gets you amped … because it gives you the mentality to not settle until you’ve made tangible progress This feeling is … Addicting, contagious & will help grow your organization into a beast filled productivity machines. Refuse to take no for an answer: push until it hurts and then push a little bit more. Trust me — it’ll feel a heck of a lot better when you’re through 🙂 — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read more16 Things I Learned in My First Quarter Century on Earth
Coming up on my 25th birthday, I was pondering on the most valuable things I’ve learned in the past quarter century. In the spirit of paying it forward, I wanted to share that list with the world. Enjoy! Your parents were always right No good decisions are made after 2 am It takes a lot of bad decisions after 2 am to slowly ween yourself off making them. Every one of those is worth it Love always finds you when you least expect it Embrace risk taking. It’s the fastest way to grow as a person Stop buying TV’s and start buying plane tickets Learn & actively practice the concept of paying it forward Avoid negative energy at all costs — it’s real & will destroy any positive momentum you have in your life Understand the difference between spirituality and religion Nothing is permanent, so stop acting like every decision is the end of the world Karma is real. If you act like a punk, the universe will make sure you are treated accordingly Learn how to judge situations and make decisions quickly Smile at strangers instead of scowling into your iPhone on the street Stop taking life so seriously Everyone can be perfect when everything is going right. You learn the most about another person in times of distress. Make personal ‘you time’ to reboot your brain every single day Since posting this list, I’ve had a couple additions from friends as well. Check ’em out below: Feel free to add your own! — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
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