by Joyce Schwarz, marketing and business development consultant www.joycecom.com blogging at www.hollywood2020.net.
It's always great to be in the driver's seat -- especially when it's a SPACE ROCKET!
after organizing more than 75 venture funded company and new product launches -- I thought I'd share my secret of success. After all, my firm JCOM marketing (www.joycecom.com) is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year!
But rather than me reciting case histories of all of the 75 companies I've worked with on launching in the USA and beyond ranging from emusic.com to Primesense, I thought I'd share some advice from one of my favorite resources Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I met Adams once at the BEA (Book Expo of America) back in the early 90's when my book SUCCESSFUL RECAREERING had just launched. Wish I could say that I got some shrewd advice from him but all I remember is a rather stranger in a strange land --standing waiting for an audience to form for his 3 pm talk at the LA Convention Center. Ahh to have the power of creating a flash Lit (literature) mob today like we could do with mobile!
In designing my newest business card for JCOM Marketing and New Media, I knew I wanted something high touch to promo the high tech services. Because that's what I know is my competitive edge-- really getting in there and rolling up my sleeves and not just 'consulting' but guiding -- a bit like an Air Traffic Controller or a co-pilot I guess you might say.
HERE is an excerpt of Adams' advice on what else -- HOW TO FLY!
You can draw your own analogy to start-up companies and product launches-- but yes, you do have to throw yourself AT THE WIND...and of course JCOMlaunches.com can help you do just that, [email protected]
How To Fly
© by Douglas Adams
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.
The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.
That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.
Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.
It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.
If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.
This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.
Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.
DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.
When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.
You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your maneuverability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it were going to anyway.
You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly screw up, and screw up badly, on your first attempt.
There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitchhikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them.
PS if you'd like to try it out with a paper airplane, email me for your JCOM Launcher template and instructions! [email protected]
