Hard work, smarts and being a nice guy has its rewards. Nan Palmero become a Partner in Sales by 5
August 27, 2009
Erik Darmstter has a simple business proposition. Hire his firm and he will help you increase sales, hence the name, Sales by 5. Hanging out at the Sales by 5 office is a ton of fun and there’s lots great energy in the air. (Oh, they are also do really great and effective work). Ever since the supposed economic downturn, the good people at Erik’s office have been holding “Pitty Parties.” The idea is for friends and clients of the firm to have fun on Friday afternoons by dropping by for a drink and some good food, provided by a local restaurant. So the Pitty Parties are indeed great fun, and a great place to network and meet new people.
As it turns out, Tuesday was Nan Palmero’s birthday. ( In case you don’t know Nan, then you probably live on Mars). Nan’s works for Erik; but no more. As as birthday gift to Nan, Erik made him a Partner in his firm. And that’s pretty cool. So while this post is not about another startup, it is about the mentality of startups that thinks in the vein of growth and big thinking.
During the Flicks and Food Tweet Up at the Roaring Fork, we also celebrated Nan’s birthday with cake, and of course Erik’s surprise for Nan. The lighting was pretty bad, and I tried to tweak the adjustments to the video output. Regardless, I hope it captures the moment in which we all shared.
Congrats Nan!
Salesby5’s Nan Palmero Writes About Keeping Priorities - Worth Over $400,00.00
June 14, 2009
By Nan Palmero
Most people have heard this story, but it is worth repeating because the information is as relevant for startups today as it was in the early 1900’s.
Ivy Lee called on Charles Schwab offering to help him manage the Bethlehem Steel Company better. Schwab was used to offers like this and flatly responded that he wasn’t “managing as well as I know how.” He offered to pay Ivy anything he asked if he would teach him how to take action on the things he already knew he needed to do.
Ivy pulled out a 3×5 sheet and said to write down the six most important tasks he needed to do tomorrow and to number them in order of importance. The next day, Schwab was to start at the top and work his way down the list, checking it every 15 minutes to make sure he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Ivy explained that if he didn’t complete his tasks in this fashion, he wouldn’t be able to complete them anyway. A few weeks later, Schwab sent Ivy a check for $25,000 with a note saying it was the most profitable monetary lesson he had ever learned. Using this tactic, Schwab personally made $100 million dollars and became the most recognized steel mogul of his era.
With inflation, that $25,000 in 1916 would be worth $482,057.34 at the end of 2007! With the constant connection of emails, Twitter and smartphones, Sales by 5 has modified the top 6 into the Top 3 Daily Priorities.
Have everyone at your startup begin the day with the top 3 daily priorities and don’t move to #2 until #1 is complete and so on.
You always have 3 priorities.
Ideagin Takes Leadership Role for San Antonio’s Startup Community at SXSW
February 25, 2009
Next time you run into Ideagin’s Dean McCall or Jason Cronkhite, buy these guys a beer. Or, if your budget permits, a case of Alamo Beer (another startup on the radar of this blog).
Dean and Jason are renting 4 contiguous booths at SXSW and showcasing some of San Antonio’s coolest startups: BlogCatalog, Salesby5, and IncSpring. Think San Antonio Fab 4, if you will.
Now back to Ideagin….
Last week, I paid a visit to their offices. They are not only doing cool coding and web stuff, but they’re getting Podcast Ready back and up & going. Dean managed to get Podcast Ready moved to San Antonio for a re-start, so we can all re-rock and roll.
If you are going to SXSW, be sure to make Ideagin’s outpost a must see!
Startup Advise: by Salesby5’s Nan Palmero and Erik Darmsetter
February 17, 2009
San Antonio has some really smart people here in town who can help you with various elements of your startup. We’ll periodically have contributions from local thought leaders like Salesby5’s Nan Palmero and Erik Darmsetter.
In this post, Nan and Erik give their view on focusing on benefits.
When was the last time you saw a restaurant advertising free salt and pepper?
We often ask startups this question and always get the same grin – they know we are trying to tell them something, but they’re not quite sure what.
Advertising “FREE SALT AND PEPPER – ALL YOU CAN EAT!” is ridiculous and guess what, you might be advertising exactly that. How many millions of dollars per year are spent on banners, posters and mailers advertising “Free Checking?”
If we asked what is special about your startup, would your answer be your people, your customer service or your prices? Is any of this truly remarkable; meaning would anybody want to remark about any of those offerings? If they would, then what exactly is it that is fantastic? Do your reps deliver flowers to clients that are having a bad day? Does your customer service stay after hours to help you figure out your BlackBerry, even though their job has nothing to do with technology? Are your prices DRAMATICALLY lower or maybe dramatically higher than the competition?
What the world wants is new news. If you have this, your startup is on the right path. Now go out and tell people what the benefit is in working with your startup with 5th grade simplicity in under 15 seconds!
Remember, even if your startup is best in class, you may not have stretched enough to do something remarkable where people want to talk about you.