Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is one of my favorite books and profoundly relevant as we launch new ideas within our existing businesses or with the aim of getting a brand new concept off the ground. The authors are two brothers who provide a roadmap and “stickiness” tools that if followed can help take your business to a whole new level. Below are the six key attributes of making an idea stick that the authors reference throughout the book:
Simplicity: Your idea needs to be simple, easy to understand and articulate in one sentence without taking away from its originality.
Unexpectedness: Capturing peoples’ attention with the freshness and uniqueness of your concept is key. The authors address how to do this.
Concreteness: Something about the way you communicate your idea must be easy for people to remember so that they can virally spread the word and create buzz for you.
Credibility: You want people to believe in your idea and “trust” it on a gut level. Backing up your idea with things like facts and data, as well as your experience and research will be key.
Emotional: Engaging peoples’ emotions and inspiring them to care about your idea gives you a much higher likelikhood of success.
Stories: Your idea needs to tell a story that is relatable and forces a call to action on the part of other people.
Making your ideas stick is probably the most important aspects of getting the word out there about your products and services. This concepts all point to one thing: You must be able to clearly convey your idea, product or service in a way that is inspiring and makes distinctive from anyone else who may doing something similar to what you are doing. I will continue to delve into these concepts in greater depth in future blogs and tips but I highly recommend this book for budding entrepreneur or anyone who wants to take their business to the next level.
Yes, I have the book, and am reading it. Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking had referred to it in one of his ezines! Thanks for reminding me, that I have to finish that book!
Trina Hess
http://www.yourshiningexample.com
Simple makes things stick because it’s easy – like duct tape. When I was in college the profs said KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Of course the last S is now Smart woman.
Smokie Sizemore
http://www.smartwomansclub.com
I’m going to use these pointers the next time I pitch my expertise at http://www.PitchRate.com. I’ve landed some great media placements from this free site but I might have even greater success by fine tuning my pitches per your tips. In fact, I need to re-visit some of my collateral pieces to see what can be improved in that arena. Thanks!