If you have a long-running business in an established industry sector, that’s not a hard question. Thousands of different types of businesses are understood by most people, as we interact with them and/or their products every day. “We manufacture car parts” or “we operate a chain of convenience stores” are uncontroversial, readily comprehensible statements.
“We’re a 21st century media company” is not.
Nor is “We’re an online fashion media company that makes it easier to find, buy and wear clothing, but not just any clothing, only the clothing that’s exactly right for you.”
Nor is “We create media properties that adapt perfectly to their environment.”
These are all ways we’ve attempted to explain our nascent business in the past. Needless to say, they all tanked.
I wish I could say it only took us three failed attempts to explain what we want to do, and that our fourth attempt was successful. It wasn’t. It was more like a year of failed attempts.
I’m not alone though. I know many startup founders who’ve taken many iterations to find a great way to communicate what their business does. I know some who are still trying after far more than a year of attempts.
Needless to say, they’re having great difficulty attracting co-founders, investors, customers, buzz etc. Long story short, their businesses are going nowhere fast.
So if you have a startup, iterate your communication the same way you iterate your product. If what you say confuses people, try something different. If the new version still confuses people, try something different again.
Keep going ’til you fix it — and that doesn’t just mean an end to blank stares. Your communication is ‘good enough’ when your target customers get really excited when they hear what you’re creating. Nothing less will do.
Vogue’s newsstand sales dropped 14.8%. Marie Claire’s dropped 12.1%. W was down 10.4%. Allure was down 9.6%; Glamour 9.2%; Elle 6.3% and Cosmopolitan 6.1%.
Lucky was luckier than most, dropping only 5.0% at the newsstand — but a figure like that is hardly cause for celebration.
The only good news amongst the fashion glossies’ circulation figures was In Style’s 4.0% increase at the news stand.
There is much speculation about why fashion magazine circulation has changed so dramatically in such a short time:
Whether the change is cyclical (uncertain economic times that include high gas prices, fewer supermarket trips and less disposable income) or secular (consumer behavior is undergoing a fundamental change away from newsstand, or from print magazines themselves) depends on whom you ask. Editors and publishers would have it be the former.
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But some advertisers and observers are beginning to wonder whether the second diagnosis is upon us. As consumers’ attention fractures, spoiled by choice and easy digital access, the culture and entertainment industries already have adjusted their expectations, counting smaller sales numbers than ever as blockbusters. The magazine industry might be falling prey to the same tectonic shift.
Several magazines, such as Glamour and Marie Claire, have seen disappointing sales for several periods in a row, even when the economy was flush, suggesting more of an overall move away from big women’s titles.
At the same time as their print cousins are falling from favor, online fashion magazines are starting to be taken seriously. Their growing user base, fashion-forward audience and relatively low costs are attracting forward-thinking advertisers:
Some [online fashion magazines] struggle for revenues, but a few are drawing blue chip advertisers, including Neiman Marcus, Tiffany and Lancôme. Advertisers can pay $10,000 to $50,000 to promote their products on a Webzine.
[...]
“The preponderance of ad spending is still in the traditional media,” [MediaPost.com editor Joe] Mandese said. But, he said, as marketers reach for Web audiences, which are widely perceived as hipper and more influential than those for print, “we are going to see a rationalization to shift money online just because it looks good.”
Whether there’s a shift from print to online — or just a coincidental shift away from print media at the same time as online fashion sites are gaining traction — it’s a good time to be in online fashion media.
Style Spice is our first official show here at The Wardrobe Channel; that’s the pilot above.
Personally, I think it’s a great result — especially when you consider that the studio cost $500 to set up and none of the cast or crew had made a television show before.
It’s an important step for us because it proves that:
“A high-quality online fashion show can be made by anyone with a good idea, some free time and a few hundred dollars”
…which is very important to our business model. Our big audacious goal is to be where everyone comes for style advice; this shows that one part of how we intend to do that really does work.
Long story short, to get into every possible niche, people within that niche need to self-identify, get the tools to create great content and get their message to their audience. We want to facilitate that — and we’ll start by showing others how to create their own Wardrobe Channel shows, using all the tricks it took to make Style Spice happen.
The Wardrobe Channel is launched. At last you get to see what all the fuss is about, and we’re going to leave it alone for a few days so you can tell us what you think.
Up until now, we’ve been a vapourware company, so all the hard work has taken place behind closed doors. We’re delighted to show you what we’ve designed, and invite you to consider this prototype for a 21st century media company.
We launch with three complementary media communities - a blog, a wiki and a video channel. More are in development, and will make it easier for people to find, buy and wear the clothes that are exactly right for them.
But first, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the prototype. Take a look around at wardrobechannel.com, test it out and tell us what you think.
Our own CEO Sara Goldstein co-wrote a chapter in the book above. Here’s what she has to say about it…
In a field as new as experience design, copying, borrowing and outright stealing are incredibly important research tools. If people in another field have solved a problem, adapting their solution is a sound strategy. Does it ever make sense to re-invent the wheel?
In that context, Digital Experience Design: Ideas, Industries, Interaction has the potential to be important in the experience design field. Each chapter is co-authored with a subject matter expert, to see what ideas from their field can be applied to experience design.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to co-author a chapter that looks at the intersection between fashion and experience design. The single most important idea that the fashion world knows (and the experience design world largely does not) is that we each have idealized selves as well as our real self.
Our ideal selves are an amalgam of who we’re trying to become and who we wish we could be. They’re not ‘real’ as they only exist inside their owner’s head — but they do effect our behavior in interesting and measurable ways.
In the fashion world, that’s taken for granted. People will purchase things they will never use in the real world if that item suits their ideal self. They will also pay much more for basic items that seem to reflect their ambitions and desires, like a Ralph Lauren polo shirt with its carefully cultivated associations with old money.
The nascent experience design field could learn from that.
Smash-hit products are the ones we collectively fall in love with. When a product evokes desire by helping us feel more like the person we want to be, it becomes a ‘must have’ — no matter how non-essential the item is by practical standards. For example, the iPod.
I’d love to see a web site as seductive as an iPod, but I’m not sure I have yet.
Here at The Wardrobe Channel, our big audacious goal is to change the way you buy and wear clothing. It will take a 21st century media company to achieve this, so that’s what we’re building.
Secondly, media properties will move beyond ads to be far more useful in helping people make purchases.
A 21st century media company will help people through every step of that process; they won’t just show products and leave you to figure out where to buy them. This will apply to everything from fashion mags to property supplements — and of course car mags and the technology press too.
To find out how a media property can make it easier to shop, it’s first necessary to understand how we make purchasing decisions…
How we make purchasing decisions
Shopping can be broken down into a series of steps that are remarkably universal. These are equally true whether the purchase home furnishings, cooking utensils, clothing, food, a car, computer, TV, stereo…
With relatively little variation, the way we go about purchasing things can be summarized as follows:
Need: Why you want to buy something, e.g. “My car’s breaking down a lot”
Research: Surveying the available options to find one that will meet your needs, e.g. “I’ve looked at 20 cars and the 2008 Honda Accord is my first choice”
Decide: Choose to proceed with a purchase, e.g. “I think I’ll buy a Honda Accord”
Search: Go to a retail outlet to find the item you wish to buy, e.g. head to a car dealership
Buy: Pay for your purchase, e.g. sign the papers and hand over a bank check for your new car
Use: Fit the new item into your lifestyle, e.g. drive your new car
This process is actually a loop rather than a linear process, as purchases often lead to other purchases.
In the example above, the owner of a new car will likely buy insurance straight away. Then maybe they’ll also purchase some floor mats to keep the car’s carpet pristine, or leopard-print seat covers to personalize their car. They might also buy an iTrip, air freshener, car cleaning products, a car cover, fluffy dice, mag wheels, reflective windshield covers, GPS… and they’re guaranteed to buy gasoline, oil, coolant, anti-freeze and regular servicing for their car throughout its lifespan.
We might make 20 trips ’round the shopping loop, just because our car was worn out!
This same process also applies to clothing purchases. To whit:
Need: “All my work outfits are looking tired”
Research: “I could get some colorful shirts like Lee wears each day”
Decide: “I’ll buy some new shirts to spice up all the suits I own”
Search: Trudge around the stores ’til you find the shirts
Buy: Wait your turn to hand over your money
Use: Wear them!
(For impulse purchases, the need is entertainment, i.e. “I’m bored”, and researching the purchase involves deciding what’s the most fun.)
Where 20th century media companies fit in
20th century media companies show ads that promote products or services offered by other companies. In addition to the ads, fashion publications are full of articles and photo spreads that show product their editors believe are desirable — with more than a few products from advertisers in the mix. This is also true of publications about home decorating, cars, investments, computers etc.
These publication can be incredibly helpful in steps two and three of the buying process (i.e. “research” and “decide”) because in that sea of ads and products, at least occasionally you’ll think, “hey, I need that!”.
In fashion mags, the stories about dressing for different occasions — for example, a summer vacation, spring wedding, job interview or pregnancy — are especially helpful in this way. If you’re at step one in the process (”What will I wear to Susan’s wedding?”) they can quickly guide you to step three…
..and that’s where they stop.
Beyond step three, you’re on your own. If you want to actually buy those desirable items, at best you’ll be given the name of a shop that might have them, or a phone number for the distributor. The legwork is up to you.
If you never manage to find the item you wanted, tough. You have to go back to step one in the process and find something different to meet your need.
21st century media will close the loop
To give great fashion advice, you need to offer an end-to-end solution. Telling people what they need but leaving it up to them to find, buy and figure out how to wear the item (i.e. what to wear it with) frustrates and annoys your customers — not the desired effect.
In the 21st century, media properties that help people make purchasing decisions will have to be involved in the whole sales process. It won’t be enough to run a story about summer sun-dresses; the reader must also be able to try and buy the product, have it delivered quickly and figure out how to wear it.
To their credit, the more forward-looking publications are beginning to do this. For example, Condé Nast have launched a companion site to Vogue magazine called shopvogue.tv where you can purchase items you’ve seen in the magazine. Their main site, style.com now also has links to web sites that sell most of the products they mention — although haute couture clearly isn’t something you can buy online.
This doesn’t go far enough though.
Why not guide people through the entire buying process, from “need” to “use”?
Why not personalize that experience to their own needs and preferences?
Why note combine automated and people-driven features, and use the most appropriate medium to help with each step in the process?
All of this is possible now.
There are a host of new technologies that are readily available and could make shopping considerably easier, but nobody has worked out how to fully leverage their benefits yet. The company that does could be huge, which is why we’re working on it.
Wish us luck — when our site is fully built, clothes shopping will be much simpler, for you and everybody else
If you have a startup, you’ll be working long hours. That entails a few sacrifices: you simply won’t have time to do most of the other things you enjoy. (For me, that means missing many social engagements, a few hair appointments, and a lot of sci fi )
There are three things you absolutely shouldn’t sacrifice though:
You also risk more serious illness if you neglect your health. If you’ve been letting your health slowly deteriorate, at some point your body will say “enough!” and you’ll be too ill to keep working. When will this happen? Usually, at the worst time possible: say, on the day of your most important investor pitch.
You’ve no doubt heard all the rules for staying healthy, so I’ll keep my summary short and sweet:
Eat some nutrients. You cannot live on Coke alone; vitamins are the real brain food. Even swapping junk food for nuts, popcorn or a piece of fruit when you snack in front of the computer will make a difference.
Do some exercise. You don’t have to be a gym junkie. Just go for a walk, stretch out your back, or do whatever physical activities you do enjoy. The immediate benefits include a clearer head and relief from the back aches most people get from too long in front of computers; the improvement in your overall health is a nice bonus.
Rest when you need to. When you work long hours, there will come a point when exhaustion starts to set in. It takes longer if you eat well and exercise, but it will still happen. If you learn to spot the signs early on, you can fix it with an evening off to read a book (possibly even a work-related one!) But if you don’t ever rest when you need to, the long-term health consequences can really suck.
Manage health conditions. If you have any chronic health condition, from asthma to short-sightedness to carpal tunnel syndrome, make sure you manage it properly. With the right treatment, you can keep most conditions under control — but start neglecting it and you’ll probably have a nasty flare-up when you want it least.
If you do all of the above, you won’t get incredibly buff, but you will minimize the health-related downtime you have to take each year.
Why startup founders need great partners
No way would I marry me. I work crazy hours and neglect all sorts of other things to do so. I’m slightly obsessed with my work, so I talk about it a lot (but only to my husband; I do have some manners!) I also convinced Merc to help with the marketing and PR side of the business because that’s his professional specialty, not mine — even though he’s plenty busy already.
As well as helping me out here, my wonderful husband takes care of all the life-stuff while I work endlessly. By keeping me fed, housed and wearing clean clothes, he frees up my time to concentrate on this.
In return, at the times when he really needs me, I’m there for him — work be damned.
If you have a wonderful, supportive partner, take care of them. Find out what makes them feel loved and make sure they get it.
Most people can count the number of true friends they have on one hand. If that hand is full, you’re really lucky.
These are the people who will always be your friend no matter what. They’re the people who will be there for you when times are tough. They’re the people who will tell you honestly when you’re full of crap. They’re also the people who are genuinely happy for you when you succeed, and love celebrating your successes. In short, they’re your support network.
Take care of these people. True friends understand that pursuing big goals takes so much time that they might not see you for a while — but if they have a major crisis and need you, make sure that you do for them what they would do for you. If that takes you away from your business for a short time, so be it.
If you have a loving and supportive family, they also fall into this category. (But most of the successful company founders I know don’t have this; perhaps you have to face some big challenges at a young age to be strong enough to stick with your business through the tough times.)
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If starting a great company is what you really want to do in life, none of the above is a substitute for that — but starting a great company is also no substitute for any of the above.
So work hard, work smart, but make sure you still have your health and your loved ones around when it’s time to celebrate.
It’s the best use of PowerPoint-style slides I’ve ever seen.
It tells the story well all by itself, but I’m sure she adds a whole other layer to it in person. If you’ve heard all the rules of doing PowerPoint well, it’s a great example of all those rules put into practice.
So to everyone who’s told me how awesome Tara Hunt is… OK, you’re right, I’ll stop rolling my eyes and join her fan club too
Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek has a devoted following among the alpha geeks I know. The mix of productivity tips, how-to-buck-the-system bravado and sensible business advice — not to mention his cool ‘jobs’, e.g. travel and martial arts — make it the current geek bible.
But if you follow the rules exactly, you’re guaranteed not to start the next Google / YouTube / Facebook. (And the author says as much.)
The 4-hour work week is for people whose passions can’t or won’t pay the bills. It’s for people who would happily put in four intense hours’ work every week, so they can spend the rest of the week elsewhere.
It’s not for people whose passion IS their work.
The productivity tips in the book are applicable to startup founders, as is the business advice and even the ethos of outsmarting the system — but a four-hour work week is only suitable for certain types of businesses. Next Big Thing internet startup is not on that list.
If you want to build that hot new thing, get used to long hours. (Or even better, build something you’re so passionate about that the hours fly by.)
Then use those productivity tricks to work smart as well as hard. Tim Ferriss achieves more in four hours each week than most do in 40. You can use those tricks to achieve more than most people think possible: what Joe Desk-Jockey does in 10 weeks, you could find a way to do in one.
That’s the 400-hour work week: being 10x as productive as the average person.
If you listen to any two entrepreneurs talking for more than a few minutes, chances are you’ll hear the words “have you read…?” or “I’ve just finished reading…”. That’s because business is tough, and who doesn’t want to believe that The Answer lies between the covers of that shiny new volume staring down at you from the Management shelves at Barnes & Noble?
And why not? There are very many worthwhile business books written by successful people who know what they’re talking about. And there are terrific courses and conferences starting every week.
But therein lies the trap – because we can’t run our business by reading books, taking courses or attending conferences. Knowledge is no substitute for know-how.
So as much as the books are great to read, and as valuable as the conferences are, they can’t give us The Formula For Success. That only comes when we put down the books, turn down the invitations, and get on with work…
…No Reading Required – hey, what a great idea for a book!
How do you explain what your business does?
