SOCACT/CSR/GralInt-AT&T-TOMS commercial scripts,miscellaneous articles on Social activism & more

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How I Focused My Startup to Achieve Success


By SUCCESS on Feb 20, 2014


by Mary Juetten, founder and CEO of Traklight, winner of SUCCESS magazine's 2013 Start Small, Win Big Challenge.


While watching morning surfers paddle out into the Pacific in beautiful Southern California, I met with SUCCESS magazine publisher Darren Hardy. As a first-time entrepreneur, I was grateful and honored to talk with Darren, who provided a wealth of feedback and advice not only for Traklight, but also for me as an executive.
Several weeks have passed since our breakfast, and I’m still thinking about our discussion. If only I could simply write out all the wisdom Darren shared with me. However, I think it’d be much more beneficial to share how his best advice—particularly the topic of focus—has helped shaped some recent changes at Traklight.

Coding or Selling

I talk too much. It’s been that way forever. And if you get me going on our mission to educate people on intellectual property (IP) and empowering them to take control of it, I cannot shut up. Furthermore, I didn’t realize that when I blurt out an idea, others think I mean to work it on it right away. These things happen when you’re the CEO. I need to understand that with power comes responsibility. And I’m responsible for keeping my team on track.
One of our Advisory Board members, Dan Tyre, has coined the phrase “coding or selling: you must be doing one or the other at Traklight.” Short version: no distractions. Here’s an even shorter version per Darren Hardy: Focus.
Through his sage advice, Darren has forced me to reassess my limited bandwidth—and that of my team—to ensure we always know what we should be coding or selling, and focusing on doing just that. While we’re purely focused on the two, I have taken a vow of silence in terms of talking about our ancillary stuff. I’m that serious about laser-like focus.
We now have a parking lot for great ideas, and every project must have an owner, a timeline and an entered spot in our new project management system.
I have empowered everyone to blurt out “not now” if we get off track on something that is not coding or selling.

Mine to the Bottom of the Shaft

Darren explained that ideas or projects are like oil wells. You have to get all the oil out of the well before you move on. And yet, many entrepreneurs struggle with spreading themselves over too many wells with either too many products or services. Our CFO works full time in the mining business, so we’ve switched Darren’s oil drilling analogy to mining. (It still applies!)
Up until recently we were trying to mine our software as a service (SaaS) products with entrepreneurs, our SaaS and enterprise products with attorneys, and private beta testing with established companies. Beta testing is important, especially for a growing startup. But all these mineshafts have spread our miners too thin.
We are now focused on mining that SaaS shaft for entrepreneurs. We can’t sit and wait for new versions of code, for new API functionality, for improved shafts. We have delighted entrepreneurs with our SaaS products and need to repeat that success until we have a larger market share. We have to mine one shaft before we mine another.

Start with the End Goal in Mind

Another great story from Darren was that of Michael Dell, who turned down Walmart as a client after extensive pursuit because he had a different vision for Dell. He did not wish to become like Compaq. Michael knew his end goal and he made decisions based on it.
The competitor in me says we can do it all but I have to remember our end game. Traklight is not a lifestyle business. We are building a scalable SaaS company for entrepreneurs to identify and protect IP. We have a three-year plan. My team and I need to focus on that.
It’s been about a year since I entered the SUCCESS Start Small, Win Big competition. Back then, sales were not at the forefront of my mind. Instead, I was dedicated to hiring stellar people who would help Traklight succeed, and stellar people we have! We’re more than 10 Trakers strong. And with this incredible crew, it’s time to focus. We have to mine that SaaS market so we can achieve our end goal.
Thank you, Darren, and all the amazing people at SUCCESS for your support.


Mary Juetten, Founder and CEO of Traklight.com, developed the idea for Traklight while earning her JD and has 25-plus years of business experience. Traklight is an innovative software company with a mission to help educate and empower entrepreneurs to be proactive in identifying, protecting and leveraging ideas through the use of online IP identification tools and resources. Follow Traklight on Facebook, Twitter or their blog.



- See more at: http://www.success.com/blog/how-i-focused-my-startup-to-achieve-success#sthash.IpTFRbw9.dpuf



7 Steps to Achieve Your Dream


Want to get going on your goals? This is how.



Chris Widener


“Vision is the spectacular that inspires us to carry out the mundane.” —Chris Widener

Can achievement be broken down into steps? It isn’t always that clean and easy, but those who achieve great things usually go through much of the same process, with many of the items listed below as part of that process. So if you have been struggling with achievement, look through the following. Begin to apply them and you will be on the road to achieving your dream.

Step 1: Dream it. Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask “What if?” Think big. Don’t let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a “dreamer.” Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is too short to let it go.

Step 2: Believe it. Yes, your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. Good example: A person with no college education can dream that he will build a $50 million-a-year company. That is big, but believable. Bad example: That a 90-year-old woman with arthritis will someday run a marathon in under three hours. It is big all right, but also impossible. She should instead focus on building a $50 million-a-year business! And she better get a move on!

Step 3: See it. The great achievers have a habit. They “see” things. They picture themselves walking around their CEO office in their new $25 million corporate headquarters, even while they are sitting on a folding chair in their garage “headquarters.” Great free-throw shooters in the NBA picture the ball going through the basket. PGA golfers picture the ball going straight down the fairway. World-class speakers picture themselves speaking with energy and emotion. All of this grooms the mind to control the body to carry out the dream.

Step 4: Tell it. One reason many dreams never go anywhere is because the dreamer keeps it all to himself. It is a quiet dream that only lives inside of his mind. The one who wants to achieve their dream must tell that dream to many people. One reason: As we continually say it, we begin to believe it more and more. If we are talking about it then it must be possible. Another reason: It holds us accountable. When we have told others, it spurs us on to actually doing it so we don’t look foolish.

Step 5: Plan it. Every dream must take the form of a plan. The old saying that you “get what you plan for” is so true. Your dream won’t just happen. You need to sit down, on a regular basis, and plan out your strategy for achieving the dream. Think through all of the details. Break the whole plan down into small, workable parts. Then set a time frame for accomplishing each task on your “dream plan.”

Step 6: Work it. Boy, wouldn’t life be grand if we could quit before this one! Unfortunately the successful are usually the hardest workers. While the rest of the world is sitting on their sofas watching reruns of Gilligan's Island , achievers are working on their goal—achieving their dream. I have an equation that I work with: Your short-term tasks, multiplied by time, equal your long-term accomplishments. If you work on it each day, eventually you will achieve your dream. War and Peace was written, in longhand, page by page.

Step 7: Enjoy it. When you have reached your goal and you are living your dream, be sure to enjoy it. In fact, enjoy the trip, too. Give yourself some rewards along the way. Give yourself a huge reward when you get there. Help others enjoy it. Be gracious and generous. Use your dream to better others. Then go back to No. 1. And dream a little bigger this time!


- See more at: http://www.success.com/article/7-steps-to-achieve-your-dream#sthash.wf8TEi2C.dpuf







Can AT&T Count Its TOMS Shoes Commercial as CSR?


AT&T’s commercial featuring TOMS Shoes was so publicly enjoyed that AT&T introduced a 60-second version of its 30-second spot. The commercial profiles TOMS Shoes–a for-profit company that donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased–and founder Blake Mycoskie who uses his AT&T Blackberry to conduct business from around the world (More bars in more places).

This was a genius branding move for AT&T, which garnered attention and customer goodwill simply by making a commercial about a do-gooding business. I’d even wager that AT&T acquired new customers by painting an aspirational picture of AT&T users as entrepreneurial and altruistic.

For no more than the cost of a commercial, AT&T netted public acclaim, engaged customers and forked a bite of the corporate social responsibility-flavored pie.

So is this good or bad? Did AT&T pull off a cause marketing coup by setting a precedent for companies to claim credit for social or environmental stewardship without lightening their pockets or putting nail to hammer? Or did AT&T provide an indirect route to shoeing more children by introducing TOMS Shoes to a national, prime time audience?

From a business perspective, the impact is exceedinly positive for both AT&T, TOMS Shoes and TOMS’ beneficiaries, which is a key criterion on which cause marketing is judged. Could AT&T have done more? Always. Did the company put together a commercial that was handily self-serving. Yes, which is a principle role of business. I argue that in addition to profit, another role of business is social impact. To gauge just what impact the commercial had, I contacted TOMS. Mycoskie shared that since the initial airing of the spot, TOMS has seen more awareness of its buy-one-give-one business model from an “incredibly diverse and extensive group of people.” There’s been increased consumer demand for the shoes which has encouraged stores “across the country to carry a larger variety of TOMS, helping to solidify TOMS ability to give 300,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world.”
What’s not measured in the number of shoes bought (and therefore donated) since the commercial’s launch is the ripple effect of more companies adopting a buy-one-give-one model and an increased awareness among consumers that they can make a social impact by virtue of their product choices. Since its launch in 2006, TOMS Shoes has inspired other social enterprising businesses like LJ Urban, WeDrink Water Bottles and SunNight Solar. Buy-one-give-one is an appealing model to consumers and is gaining traction as a viable business model.
I did a quick Twitter search to glean real time reaction to the commercial. Overwhelmingly, the tweets were positive. I’ve included some below. What’s your take on AT&T’s commercial profiling of Blake Mycoskie and his One for One shoe business?


Source: http://causecapitalism.com/toms-shoes-att/#sthash.chY5ipQM.dpuf










































































AT&T –TOMS commercial (Script, by CM)

Blake Mycoskie:


My name is Blake and I´m the Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS Shoes. I operate my entire business from my phone. I need a network with great coverage because for every pair of shoes that we sell we give a pair away to a child in need. It would be impossible for me to do this without a network that works around the world.

Speaker:


More bars in more places. AT&T. The best coverage worldwide.











AT&T and TOMS Shoes Commercial: Behind the Scenes (unedited script, by CM)




Blake Mycoskie-BM-: TOMS started with myself and a couple of interns about three years ago in my loft in Venice, California. TOMS is based on a very simple formula which is for every pair we sell we give to a child in need.

Vance Obervey-VO-: The agency came to us with a very unique story about Blake Mycoskie and TOMS Shoes.

BM: TOMS´s based on a very simple formula, for every pair of shoes we sell, we give away to a child in need. ONE for ONE. We got the call from AT&T agency asking if I would be interested in doing this commercial; they´ve got the idea of it. I was in Argentina giving away shoes when the call came in. They said this kind of concept sounds great. It´s very authentic.

Stephanie Solberg-SS-:We integrated the use of the phone and how Blake really runs his company; in his office, on the road, when he´s doing other type of publicity and sales events and also the actual shoe drop event around the world.

BM: They came in and made it look beautiful, while still preserving our culture.

SS: We found in Uruguay because it was a location that TOMS Shoes has never actually done a shoe drop in. It was really exciting for them. It was a first for them, a first for us.

VO: We wanted to really be careful with this spot and not use the good he did in a blatant way (you know) in a way that get to look at us (you know) you would try to take credit for anything that he has done. So we really needed to be careful on the balance.

BM: The truth is that I`ve been using AT&T since 1997. I live on my Blackberry. It is what allows us to operate this business.

SS: When you are in a community, you don´t want to disrupt that community. You don´t want to do anything that would seem unreal. So we use things that are already there. We had five tires that were already in the five formation. So we took advantage of that.

VO: You know the five bar icon is an immediate visual reminder to consumers that they have good quality wherever they are. The main thing we´ve done with that idea is weave the five bar icon visuals into a story.

BM: One of the things we were really careful with was that we wanted it to be a documentary. If we are gonna do this, we gonna show exactly how it was. We don´t want to kind of recreate things. And, thankfully they had the exact same vision themselves. And they hired an amazing director, Bennett Miller who has done incredible documentaries and been nominated for an Oscar for Capote. I mean, this guy is a real filmmaker. And so when I heard that they were hiring him and we got the story board and it was very truly my life. I mean I didn´t have to act at all, that´s a good thing, I´m not an actor.

SS: With this particular shoe, we were shooting live action. We didn´t know what kind of moments we were gonna capture with the children. And you can´t have them go back and do it again. And (you know) it´s the first time they receive their shoes. It´s the moment.

BM: Our business´s not frame, it´s based on authenticity, so when we get to put it by AT&T to do a commercial they were already doing, it was just a great opportunity for us to tell our story to the world.

SS: It´s a wonderful story, it´s meaningful, it is relatable. I think everybody would want to help and give children shoes. But at the same time, it really shows how AT&T´s network really can help make that happen.

BM: The energy on the set was amazing and I think that it was one of the things, probably the most special memory for me in this whole experience is having the guys with the grips and the lines. I do hundreds of commercials a year and I´ve never felt this connected to what we were actually trying to do. I think this is gonna be a life-changing experience for me and for everyone here at TOMS.











































Blake Mycoskie: START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS (Video script, by CM, unedited version)














(TAKE PART)




Blake Mycoskie: One of the things that frustrates me is when I meet people now and they think that TOMS has always been this big company and movement and they assume that they can never do something like this. And I´m very quick to remind them that I had no experience to shoes, no experience in retail. I only had US 5000 (five thousand dollars) in my account to invest initially and this is the result. It was because it was a big idea and we went for it.
This book has the potential to change the way a whole generation thinks about how they involve their work and their passion. I wanted to inspire more people with all the lessons that I´ve learned the last five years. The book is mainly for people who might wanna start a new non-profit, they must just start a commitment to volunteer and get more involved in their community. I felt that right now is the best time because of the excitement around the kind of social entrepreneur landscape, to put a book like this to help people kind of take the next step. We´re so busy working all the time now and I find chasing these elusive goals but the truth is that everyone wants significance; everyone wants to start something that matters.

Simplicity has been a theme in my life; I mean, I live on a sailboat, I don´t have a lot of stuff, I don´t like to have my desk very cluttered and I specifically feel that in a business model, simplicity wins. Simplicity that people get tripped on.

When they´re starting something, they feel insecure, they want to add all these bells and whistles and pride features. Instead they get onto what´s the one thing that I´m trying to say or do. People who understand better so therefore they can share better, that´s what ultimately gonna leave the kind of vital effect that all founders are looking for.
In the book I talk about imagination, trumping money and there´s probably a lot of cynics and skeptical people saying “well now it´s easy to say now that you have some success for TOMS “.

But I very purposely chose entrepreneurs and people to feature in the book that did not have a lot of money when they started their organizations.

Method cleaning products was down to US 16 (sixteen dollars) in their account when they got their first big order. Lauren Brush started FEED bags with just thousands of dollars, nor tens or thousands. TOMS started with less than US 5000 (five thousand dollars). So I hope to motivate you to take that step and start something that matters.






















TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie discusses social entrepreneurship



Omaha February 24, 2010 by Jeff Slobotski


For every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a child in need.





I had the opportunity to interview an individual that I've been inspired by for some time, Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes. Blake has an amazing story of how he's built the TOMS Shoes name into an internationally recognized social entrepreneurship success story.
Blake will be the lunch keynote speaker at this year's Greater Omaha Young Professionals Summit on March 4, (registration closes this Thursday). He was gracious to share a few minutes with me to provide the background of TOMS Shoes, his thoughts on who inspires him, and what he thinks the future of social entrepreneurship holds.
Also in the interview, we talk about the AT&T commercial that served as the tipping point for TOMS Shoes. I've included that video and its "behind the scenes" video below.































(Video interview with Blake Mycoskie & www.siliconprairienews.com)

























Sources: www.success.com/www.siliconprairienews.com and others