Catch the public mood and you can win for your startup - just like 'Trump Jump - The Quest For Votes'

At ‘245 days...’ I love to spend my time looking at the startup and entrepreneurial work that people come up with. There are so many great ideas out there and the fact that we live in a day and age where these ideas can be quickly transformed into products or services means that we are living in a great time for budding entrepreneurs. Via social networking or freelancing sites you can very quickly find the expertise to bring your idea to life.

As an entrepreneur, one of the things that I think really transforms the way that you are able to capture the market is by capturing the mood or capturing the moment. I know that there’s a whole lot of capturing involved there, so let me explain. When there is a movement, a news story or an event that dominates the media (especially if it happens for an extended period of time) then you can make great use of that for your startup.

One great example is the iOS game ‘Trump Jump- The Quest for Votes’ where on entrepreneur has come up with a great idea to take the global spotlight on the US Presidential race and use some of the spotlight to shine onto the game, available as an app. The fact is that the race will be at the forefront of the news for months to come and the main “character” in the race has become Donald Trump. He is a figure of equal support and derision and is never short of a sound-bite. Try out the free game and you will be able to play your own small part in the media circus that surrounds Donald Trump and the race for Republican US nomination and the subsequent battle for the White House.

It is a great game and one that can be enjoyed time and time again.

As for your own startup business you can learn some lessons here. If you can adapt quickly to world events then there is the opportunity to make some money by providing products or services that match needs or reflect the public mood. If you sell a series of products then limited editions or specials will go down really well with your market because people like to be up with the trends and to have something that marks a specific moment in time.

Startups have the advantage over large corporations that they are able to move quickly and react to the market. Make sure that you can do these things to continue your success – just like the game ‘Trump Jump- The Quest for Votes.’

Check it out at Trump Jump - The Quest for Votes by Banter Badgers, LLC

https://appsto.re/gb/cf7Tab.i

The lattice bracket is a great way to measure your atartup and where you need to be

At ‘245 days...’ I always like to take a look at the many sides of a startup business. Sometimes it is how you can save money; sometimes it is about how you can improve your business. I also like to take a look at other startup entrepreneurs and see how their inventiveness can mean something to your business. I took a look at the business at Rusty Frets a little while ago and today I will give you some ideas about your business (and probably the idea to go out and buy some of the product) by looking at another great invention.

There are many ways to start a great business. Some involve your experience in the industry you start in, gaining knowledge from an employer and then applying it for your own ends. Some involve an obsession you have to do something better than the rest, often drawn from your own experiences or passions. In my mind, the inventor is the ultimate in startup entrepreneurs. These inventions often come from years of experimentation and a prototype before a fully working product is available to the market.

One such invention is the lattice bracket which is fiendishly simple in design but solves an issue that has been around for a long time. Lattice work has been notoriously difficult to hang plant on. The option has always been to grow something in the ground and let this work its way up the lattice. This takes time. The lattice bracket solves this issue in an instant. It is a simple bracket that attaches to lattice work, whether it is metal or wood. It allows you to hang your plants on the existing lattice by placing a pot in the bracket. This solution is simple, elegant and cost-effective.

For your business, it shows how one great idea can change what you offer. I say that every great startup business needs to revolve around one great idea. The lattice bracket is a great idea that has started this company. You can find, and order lattice brackets at http://latticebracket.website/. By having a single great idea for your startup it can focus everything else you do. Ask yourself the question at every decision point –

“Does this enhance the great idea?”

By giving yourself a focus you can use this as a yardstick to measure what you are trying to achieve.

New website? Does it sing and dance about the great idea? No? Then change it.

Marketing letter? Can your customers clearly see in the first paragraph what the idea is? Yes? Well that is just what I want.

Bill is the owner and inventor of http://latticebracket.website/ and you can see his passion and knowledge in this area. When you are the entrepreneur, the startup owner, you want your customers to see your passion for your business in everything you do. You can learn from this great product for your own business. Take a look at the website, and get some lattice brackets to liven up your garden while you are there!

It's caught me up and passed me by

87

Just a week where I've felt that everything has caught me up and passed me by, and I've made little progress. I've conducted 4 mystery shops, done a couple of little chores around the house, but with a days overtime at work I've not really had the time to make much of an impact on anything and the what's next list feels like it hasn't changed since the start of the week.

I'm almost at the end of my photography course with just three weeks left. One to pull the folder together to hand in, one to frame and hang my prints for the exhibition and the last one is the exhibition itself. That will kick start the creative writing side of things. I've also looked at starting a distance marketing course run by a local university that will lead to diploma status if I follow through the three years (you only sign up for a year at a time.) I'm desperate to have as many skills as finely honed as possible and I believe that having all these things in place will hugely help me in setting up and running an estate agency. And I'm really interested in marketing. Looking three years into the future and having diplomas in marketing and photography will put me well ahead of the competition in terms of qualifications and it will be a case of applying this to the business.

I've made no moves towards even finishing my office for the business, after having found a wii senn strut gnawed through and mouse dropping in the floor if the garage I am still converting. The mouse bait has gone down and the strut has been patched up, pending a full repair. I need paint to finish this and then look at the desk, the flooring and the doors. A long way to go with this, but I'm sure there are brighter days ahead on this front.

Photography on location in Southend-on-Sea

100

There's only 100 days left of my journey and I'm away from home this week. I've taken some photos on my travels. One of  the things I wanted to get out of the course was the ability for my photos to tell their own story and I think in starting to get there with my final project and these photos.

I've deliberately under-exposed this to emphasise the sky and the dark, cold conditions. I liked the geometry of the fence and lamp posts and how this repeated through the image.

I worked hard here to ensure that the shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds showed up here. I've enjoyed shooting industrial scenes, often alongside natural features and this continues on that theme, which is also the theme for my final project.

The contrast of the flurry of colour at the bottom of the picture against the bleakness of the top half of the picture really appealed to me when I saw this. Again I've slightly under-exposed to ensure that the sea stays dark

And there isn't too much going on in the sky.

This is my favourite picture of the week as I've used depth of field and leading lines to capture the construction and length of the pier at Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Again I think it captures and conveys how cold and bleak the day was and how man-made structures can take on and reflect the elements.

Developments in my photography style

145

My photography course at the local college started again this week after the Christmas break. It was his to get back to it, and a chance to review and assess the photos I'd taken over the Christmas period.

Here are a few of them and my notes in how I've progressed over the course of the lessons-

The first two are taken with my new lens and are of a Buddha ornament into back garden. I have used the lens to create two depth of view shots of the same subject. One where the Buddha is in focus and the other where the branches of the plant in front are in focus and the Buddha a blurred into the background.

The second pair are a set of lights taken from two slightly different angles. I was at a museum and it was very dark inside the museum, so I wanted to capture something from a light source. I saw this strip of lights at the top of a set of stairs and thought their light against the darkness of the museum was quite a contrast.

The last photo I think is indicative of my developing style in portraiture. I captured my subject in light and dark, in the same museum. I was talking to one of the guys in the class and he showed me the work of Steve McCurry.

http://stevemccurry.com

I was taken by how he used the dark as much as the light to create his portraits. This is my attempt.

Books for Christmas - plenty of reading

156

I got several books for Christmas this year. I'm turning more prolific with my reading recent rely and I've been given several books as Christmas presents to keep me going.

I find that reading of any kind keeps my mind going and I always seem to be able to pull ideas out of most books that I feel I can use in business or my everyday life.

For instance, I've just finished an excellent biography of Robert F Kennedy. His ideals and the way he conducted his public life really struck a chord with me and I can relate his insecurities about the way he was perceived.

I received the following books for Christmas this year-

* Thirteen Days by Robert F Kennedy

* Fatherland by Robert Harris

* The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

* An Autobiography by Mohandas K Gandhi

* Roth Unbound by Claudia Roth Pierpoint

Happy reading!

Is any reading good reading?

189

I'm currently reading a biography if Robert Kennedy, by Evan Thomas. It's a really interesting book, filled with facts and opinion about RFK's life and how the brothers ran America as President and Attorney General. It has got me thinking -

Is any reading good reading?

I ask this because I'm trying to expand my mind and keep learning about this interesting world - not necessarily just reading books directly related to estate agency or marketing (although I've read many of these, as this blog will testify.) I have been thinking about my reading and whether the simple fact that I am reading and learning about something is as good (or near) as actually reading more and more material specifically about estate agency. I'm of the opinion that you can always pick up an idea or two from any source or activity. I'm the type that will sit through a day of seminars for the one gem that will give me an edge over my rivals, or an indication of one part of my operation that I need to question  and improve.

For example, from the book about the Robert Kennedy, I have picked up the relentless nature of his beliefs and how this transformed into the disciplined way he went about his, and his brothers, business. I will ensure that I have clearly defined business goals and I will make every decision and action with these in mind.

What's next on the non-business reading list?

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

Fatherland by Robert Harris

Strange Days Indeed by Francis Wheen

The Fatal Touch by Conor Fitzgerald

Any further suggestions? 

Photographs from my time away

209

I've been practicing my photography skills whilst away from "245 days" in the last week.  I am now trying to match the skills I am learning to the end product of photographing property and making it more saleable as a result.

This is my take on not following the crowd when I was in London and taking a photo of Big Ben.  I moved away from the tourist crowds and looked at the building through different eyes.  I hope to be able to use my eye for seeing something different and the framing effect when photographing houses.

This photo of the underside of a bridge in Central London is testament to my desire to overcome the fear of light and shadow in my photos.  In terms of taking photos of someone's property, the effect that light and shadows can have will add to the interest in the photo and hopefully this will translate into click-through.

The green and blues from the field and sky in this photo and setting up what I want to do when taking marketing photos of the gardens that belong to my client's property.  I see so many photos taken that do not conform to the rule of thirds, and this does the garden a disservice.  Being able to see the sky too will remind potential buyers of what they will be in the garden for.

I think that a lot of estate agents are afraid to embrace the seasons as they may date the property, and how long it has been on the market.  As an agent that believes he will sell every property quickly, I don't have this hang-up.  It's also really easy to go back to the property and re-take any photos that may be a giveaway that the property has been on the market for a little while - Autumn l;eaves, snow, Christmas decorations, paddling pools, etc.

Taking these photos has helped me to think about the photographer, estate agent and marketer that I want to be.

Making time for everything needs planning

227

Here comes another weekend, another weekend off work and another weekend where I've made loads of and for what I'm going to do to entertain the kids. But I am using today's blog to remind mysf that I need to make time and make plans for my fledgling business.

A trip out tonight and a quite full day out tomorrow make the weekend feel hectic at the outset, but there's light at the end if the tunnel. I'm going to a talk and discussion on the future of social housing tomorrow - a sort of busman's holiday. During the day out with my wife and kids, I will break away for a couple of hours, leaving them to explore the city. I'll be interested in the theory of the talk, in the future of social housing, but with always a slant towards how this relates to my business and how I can use the information to expand the business and earn money.

Tonight's trip out will be to an illuminations, and I need to use this time to get my homework done for my photography class.  I need to take one photo, bearing in mind the discussions we had last week on composition. It needs to be well composed, using the rule of thirds, leading lines, the balance of colours and textures. I will also need to present it to the rest of the group and explain my photo in technical language. Wish me luck!

I'll share the photo on here and the feedback I receive.