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The Blue Ocean Strategy

Diving in a blue ocean strategy um it's directly tied to paul arden's whatever you think think the opposite and I'm gonna give you some examples and then we're gonna work through an exercise both here in the room and online because it's kind of mind bending what you can do with it. Now one of my best examples on this is a symphony we all know several things about symphonies and if you want to jot these things down these air, what we know about the normal typical successful symphony works for the top five in the country all have these things in common they have a multi million dollar conductor, they have million dollar guest soloists there in a fancy venue you dress up to attend the symphony, you do not generally take young children. There is no dancing in the aisles. Ticket prices are expensive and interestingly, none of the top five make money. None of the top five symphony orchestras make money, so a less than top five symphony orchestra applied blue ocean strategy. They took all of ...

the things I just listed the assumptions about the industry. This is how you do it if you're in this industry, this is what the top people do and we're going to the same thing well, if you do the same thing, you're not going to successful either, but you appear successful because you're in the top and instead they went to a casual fun you know fancy venue that in a sports stadium the orchestra didn't dress in black tales or black at all they dressed in khakis and t shirts or costumes depending on the case they lowered the ticket prices they did away with the million dollar multimillion dollar conductor they have guest performers but they're not at the million dollar level and they encouraged families a different audience and the normal symphony gower instead of the niche of only the high end, well educated formal symphony go er they went completely outside and what do you suppose happened? They were an outrageous success complete runaway hit making more money than the big boys with blue ocean it takes everything that is expected standard in normal and what you're doing and flips it it's not just one piece of what you're doing but everything. So what I want to invite you to d'oh is to write down at least three to five assumptions typical ways you're expected to perform your service deliver your product that have been done for decades everybody doesn't this way and we're going to look at flipping them and how you can do that now if you've already done that in your business I want to know about it and I want to know about it from the online audience as well it sounds really hard and I'll give you another um example that's really pretty interesting um in the military most branches of our military require unique aircraft they all have their own set of specifications goodness forbid you could never use the same at aircraft for any two branches of our military which seems a little crackers to me anyway ok and typically those aircraft were running one hundred ninety million dollars apiece wow ok so one of manufacturers when apply blue ocean strategy and they took the requirements but then they distill the list down from the wants to the must haves and they looked at all the commonalities and they created a single aircraft that encompassed all those common features and sold for thirty million instead of one hundred ninety million and every branch of the military was able to pick it up so they what they did was instead of going after just the marines were just the navy or just the army or just the air force they said wait a minute I want to expand my base and I want to do something differently which means not one customer aircraft reach one it's one aircraft that meets the needs of all of them okay different audience different manufacturing different cost structure different in product symphony different audience different venue different ticket pricing different dress all of that so where are the places in your business that are expected it's always been done that way and let's look at how we can turn that on its here and I've got the flip chart here behind me to help do that we got any questions coming in on this we're good as people are starting to share them here I'd love to hear from our our students here to share some of their examples yeah, I want to hear at least three to five things their standard expected in your industry and your typical practice if you're not sure what they are because you haven't gotten into your practice yet ask me there's a pretty good chance I'm going to know okay but I really encourage you to do things differently and that's what blue ocean is all about is doing it differently yeah, you have any for my practice yeah, I mean let's think about normally how you would operate is you're going to be doing pieces on a commission basis. Okay? So right that piece down um what kind of timeframe would you be working on for those um uh salmon for nine square feet. Okay, so put down thirty days you're gonna get a deposit up front. Okay. Um the balance of the clothes um what other pieces would be included in in creating your work? Ah, so may completely by hand um so I don't mean right that first sketch that made completely by hand write down all those pieces and then I want you to see how you can flip him okay, I can help you flip them in a minute anybody else got pieces? Well, mostly digital but rich man should go ahead what we do different we've already talked about pieces that you d o I mean, I just thought, you know, if one that I always their comments on is that most when they go in to pitch to the corporations you know, going in suits or they get all dressed up come in power point presentations, things like that and I come in jeans, I come in like this many times jeans and tennis shoes and I have no power point presentations nothing um I walked them through an experience I take them through an experience and the feedback always get his your spit, our culture so well and you're so comfortable to talk with you're going into an immediate taste you're going into an immediate taste and experience with you and no one else is providing free to yes, I've prayed to do it because they're not professional they're not this and I walked in I go because they go you're just like us. Yeah culture perfect you're really you're human and they get you and you're not some slick suited up fancy power point that doesn't necessarily understand them and you provide them with that taste immediately that's a critical piece that you also knew about blue ocean before you got in here okay, that makes a big difference too but they're there are such simple things you can do as changing the dress really? What dress are you wearing to you in your industry? Are you dressing a certain way so as an artist you may be like well, all artists dress bohemian lee so I'm going to do is throw him into well what if you didn't what if instead you were something that you were more comfortable and maybe you're more comfortable is something a little more tailored and you would attract a completely different set of clients by doing it that way so you want to think about all the different ways you can shift and change this from the market that you're serving from the price is that you're charging to the way you're dressing and the delivery aspects of it all right, judy you're looking puzzled. Well, I'm trying to think how I would flip that house services air delivered that tell me how you're delivering now well, I'm trying to think which piece of the business I would talk about we'll talk we'll talk about the marketing strategy and karen um typically I would be doing it you depend on the clan, we can do it in person, we can do it by skype um I want to respect what they need so I'm comfortable doing it face to face real live face to face or doing it does everybody do it that way? Um most yeah or buy in or just by phone so I'm trying to think how else I would do it, okay, take off the limitations, okay? Because you've got a lot of limiting beliefs that are coming in here that won't work. I mean, I can almost feel I'm coming at me, so if you didn't have any limitations and you could pick a completely different way to do it for today, well, what I what has been the most effective I love doing mastermind groups, okay? And because I'm really I feel my expertise is in facilitating getting the right people together. Okay? And that doing one on one is never the best solution. So what if for you and your business you change this from a one on one into creating uh, you could call it a circle of trust you could call it, um a circle of brand strategy that's much nicer like that brand strategy could have that one. Thank you. Okay, yeah, and you create that in a manner that they pay a fee to join that circle and you find out a particular length of time that they'd be in that circle, whether it's a three month commitment or a six month commitment or even a year long commitment and you create the delivery, will bulls based on what they're getting out of that experience that you then work on an implement. But if that's also a better format for you to work in, how much more powerful is that nobody else is doing that say so, yeah. It's unusual, but it's so much more powerful because they get the benefit of the circle. Yeah, so I would really encourage you to look at and pursue that. I also think it's going to attract a different type of client for you, I think it will. I mean, I did it informally before I was before it was a business coach with my peers on we did it, and everybody's business took off like while our flight you get wildfire? Yeah. There you go. The other piece to this is based on the conversation we had yesterday in office hours. Yeah, a couple of those, um niches that I suggested you may want to create strategy in a box. Oh, I like that too, because those are people who are going to have any interest in joining a circle. They don't have the time for it. They know, like, trust you and are going to say, just do it, just apply the best strategy you think I need in my visit just just go teo yeah and that's going to work so you got the two kinds going on you've got the strategy and boxers and you could have three or four boxes of strategy to pull from yeah, but they don't want all the interaction that would intimidate them and that would be very off putting to them and yet they're very lucrative clients ok, yeah so you really want to look at ways that you can serve audiences that you're not necessarily currently serving that would be very lucrative and at the same time you're going to have fun in the process and deliver a quality product. Okay, okay. Does that make sense? Everybody how we did that how we flip those things all right, so given that catherine have you got anything you think you might be able to flip? It was losing I hadn't been thinking about uh I mean it's a pieces on commission it seems like that's the most practical thing to dio is the most practical thing to do. But, you know, on the other hand you could have a system of stock designs e I mean, you certainly want to work on custom designs, but you could have a siri's of stock designs because here's the other thing is they're going to be people who might want to work on a shorter timeline they don't want to go through the whole process, they want something quicker right? Are you prepared to do that right? How can you work differently? How can you be different than the other artists out there serving them? Yeah and I suppose I could you know, maybe if there's some sort of standard shaper size for, you know, behind the stove medallion or something, right? And can you actually have something you created? Yeah, make a few and I have a radio and there is a there are staters on that you just need to look at the size of the the typical stove that's going to be in your client's homes that's an easy one it's probably a thirty six or maybe even a forty two so that's pretty simple and designs that are flexible to go from the kitchen could also show up in the shower could show up in the wine cellar sort of day so yeah, and pursuing different avenues of work. You may also elect tio create a different pricing structure in that you could require all the money up front and guarantee delivery on a specific date. Artists don't typically guarantee deliveries that would really set you apart and depending on who you're working with, a would be bloody thrilled because that's one of the hardest things about working with artists we creatives don't love deadlines, we just don't, um it's important if you have the ability to guarantee it uh what I've worked with contractors aa lot of times will put in the contract that if you do not deliver by x date, you'll be paying us back one hundred or two hundred dollars a day for every day you're late. You better believe those contractors working on time? What about a situation where I mean I can do deadlines but let's say there's some sort of emergency air, you can have a clause, you know, acts of god, okay, as an act of god clause it's like what our insurance companies have on us as an act of god, we're not covering you, okay, yeah, there are always those extenuating circumstances, but you want to create this in a way where they're like, wow, nobody else has offered me a guarantee that's available to me when I pay in full of the front end that's how they get the guarantee so there's some skin in the game for them too that's really important because that you've also got the incentive you already got the money. Now you really gotta deliver and that's a great way for creatives to do this because many creatives that I know and have worked with are like, oh no, I don't want any money upfront at all I just want the money once I deliver well, then the deadline stretches and stretches and stretches get the money up front, it sets a fire up you like nothing ever will to deliver on what you committed to get that money up front. And it also means you're not afraid to ask for it, because what happens a lot of times is you'll get that initial payment and then all of a sudden you need to collect on the balance and you should collect that balance always before final installation and you get busy and ngo together, install date and you don't invoice and then you're chasing the money with no um, incentive left, the client can stretch you out as long as they want. I don't recommend it hey, been there done that got the bank account to prove it, so you really want to be careful about that? But does that makes sense now? Yeah, yeah, that was a really good you want to flip everything, the symphony's flipped everything. Obviously you don't flip everything but even flipping a couple of things, doing it differently. Yeah, and creating a way that feels wow, this feels pretty good, you know you're the ideas coming to us from the online we are there's a great coming here from indigo who says, I've embraced by introversion and anxiety, and I started making it a feature of what I do instead of something that I try to hide I was assuming that I had to be present as a super outgoing mover and shaker because my industry tends to present it that way but that's not me so they flipped that ok so she's basically featuring what some would call a weakness but turning it into a strength okay, what industry is in to go in? I don't know what the industry is but we can have them check out I'd love to know transform to strength that's really a key statement there featuring a weakness and transforming into a strength that's a very cool thing to dio and judy gets a little bit like what you're doing because you're looking at really rather facilitate melissa I don't really want to do all this one on one so we got two ways for you to do that we also have in update from indigo there actually are a corporate business technology consultant oh how interesting yeah the fact that she's an I t would would definitely indicate to me that she's more of an introvert andi is going to be much more effective behind the scenes and they say that now they're not we're focusing to help introverts launch and sell their tech companies so she's connecting with the introverts as an introvert so that's beautiful that is really really beautiful they need part about that too is my my tech my web master has taught me how to work with him effectively because we might have four, five phone calls a year, everything is email. I've also learned that if I need to understand his hours for the week, all I have to do is ask him he's taught me that he prefers email, he likes a thread and I've also learned, but if I ask a question, don't get an answer quickly, it's because he is doing analysis and research on it and I'm going to get a very long answer, which I didn't necessarily want, so I'll say shortest or only on this one, okay, but you have the ability just like heated to teach me had in iraq with him we have never met he lives in nashville, he's domestic and we worked together for ten years yeah it's pretty wild so you have the ability to teach people he's definitely on the introverted side and he also loves to give me long explanations. I've learned if I want that fantastic if I don't let him know that and let him know I need something quick. So indigo did it's a real service by sharing that you can take the way you behave inherently intuitively and leverage that as a strength instead of a perceived weakness into your business brilliant thank you so much into go, michelle, you got any ways you can flip things um I I actually made with my clients in my home because being in certain intuitive it's really important to me that I collaborate with my client isn't and so I have them bring pieces when we're working on an heirloom of family things that we can incorporate into new pieces at the same time use stones that are supportive to them in there process and it's amazing what turns out with that and then we can incorporate other things that are found into their pieces and it's that collaborative process is something that's really phenomenal and has a life of its own and that's really a unique thing I don't think people know you're already you've already applied blue ocean to this without knowing that you were doing so I I think so and, um one thing that I'm doing that I think people aren't doing and I don't know if this is new or not is that I believe that women should wear pearls all the time because pearls of the oceans, oceans of the sea, everything has a cycle, women have cycles, and so I used pearls in very an r and orthodox ways that are meant to be worn twenty four seven and so that's my kind of my mission is to get women to wear pearls and all kinds of different weird ways ok? And that's been really, really popular that's a very commission and I even do I do a lot of children's curls and they start off it like fifty dollars and that's an unusual price for women to be or families to be able to be willing to spend that much money on a three year old but they do oh gosh, in my experience parents spend a whole lot more than that on their three year olds a two year olds or one year olds and so on children are a significant financial investment and the parents that I worked with over the years they'll redo their children's rooms three times over before they ever touched their own master bedroom that still has the castoffs from college when they got married. So but to buy a piece of jewelry for three year old that's you're handing on the cultures there they're certain cultures that do that on a regular basis yet different different cultures are a totally different thing, but to get them to wear pearls at this age is really a coup in and are so you really have already applied blue ocean to your business without knowing that you were doing so because you do things differently, which is which is a wonderful gift it truly is catherine we figured out a couple of ways that you can do things differently judy we've worked on on you rich has already done it right so lisa, how can we help you makes him blue ocean transformations well as faras my instruction to help people get over their fear of technology most family historians will go to genealogical conferences they have three or four times a year and I'll do what I call cattle calls built this workshop for an hour then they go down the hallway you go to that one for a now er and they're just going around and round around I mean, people great this is fun and come back fired up but they didn't really learn anything. They got a lot of pretty materials, so to turn it on its end, um I was thinking of doing one on one instruction using remote access from my home to their computer and showing them how to do stuff um holding the retreats that I'm trying to develop so we're getting them out of the genealogical venue and into bed breakfast somewhere where there's just eight or ten of us and we're going through for four days and we're personalizing it so that they're getting in and there are no stupid questions whether there mac or pc or unix it doesn't matter we're going to do all that, um hands on the strategy in a box then I kind of like that that kind of resonated with me because I'm thinking for some people that are more, um there they have the potential to become um a real real maven, and they just don't know where to start, and I could customize something and basically sent into a box and follow the step to step this step, and we'll check in every week with you. So none of this hands on stuff it's actually been being done, and so that's the one the one what kind of price point of looking at it and say, that's the thing because you hear one on one hand, you don't want to do one on one because you want to be able to replicate yourself over massive grow up crowds because it makes a lot more cost effective. But I'm thinking around twenty five hundred bucks for that, okay, if you're going to do twenty five hundred dollars for it, how what's the time frame on it over how long? Six weeks. Ok, that's, that's. Great. If you could make that work, go for it. I think that sounds terrific. And the one I want model works really well, when you can do it at at at a level that makes sense. If you were having to do it for, you know, three hundred dollars for back then it wasn't gonna work, okay, that's, what I want to check on and the other thing that I would look at, and that is doing spring boarding some group sessions off the one on ones because there are people who want the one I want attention and then there are other people who are going to be you know, I don't know that either one on one and I really can't invested that price point, but it sure love that skill set some betting there's a lot of that's where the retreats come in those air going to be a slower progress but it's still were in the same building, right? But as far as doing so requires travel example limits you yeah, so the bigger thing is to try to find a way to get it out to a group session or we still got and then I get into the problem I have when I was trying to do my weapon are it was the last time you did that about six months ago and we just had so much troubles I I used to do trainings regularly with go to weapon or I didn't have any issue remember amusing live ancestry, amusing live this and live that's so spoke six when I do my speaking engagements are you screen shots but I'm showing them ok, now we're going to do this type of search, we're going to do that type of search I need the live in it and I just the problem I had was I could I needed to see I had to monitor set up so I could see what they were seeing and I see what they're I'm showing some software wouldn't allow me to do that I was a blind to what they were actually seeing and then I got into an issue with bandwidth and freezing up and oh and I tried different programs that's ok, well go to read it and work we're going to try this one and try that a coach all right camp tasia no, I didn't try camped asia tour I can't asia get a trial of camped asian try that and then you mentioned g plus or whatever the edgy plus google hangouts google hangouts yeah, I was if you're hard lined in, you shouldn't have any problem with that and and as I said, people right now particularly are still incredibly forgiving on g plus you know, you tell me if I'm wrong on this but when we watch a hangout and it crashes and burns in front of us we'll sit there, let them go through the tech machinations and come back to it so yeah, really forgiving on that front take advantage of that opportunity um I think that could be a good tool camped asia the best guy to learn from is lawn naylor l o n and a y l o r what you just did was your younger for the mind and we listed the standards in your industry so frequency of service, how it's delivered style of service, duration of agreement. One of the things that sets me apart on the design side is my ninety day turnaround. I guarantee that I will turn the project within ninety days, and I often do forty five days, and I've never missed a deadline yet. So that is highly unusual for anybody. But to be able to do a full renovation on at the time of the was a two thousand square foot town home down to the studs in ninety days and bring it completely back up. Fully furnished. Um, not a lot of designers can pull that off and not a lot of we want tio I prefer to I like to get in, get out, it's. How I like to do my business coaching I work with you intensively for ninety days. I boot you out the door, give you a chance to go implement and realize some of your successes, and then you're going to come back for that reboot that reenergize that next level, that up leveling process. I have no desire to keep people around for a year. It would drive me crazy um, I just think that it's designed to be more of a push behind you, here's, your resource is here's your strategy, nail it down, here's the steps go dio I'm here is support and then we'll get back in touch when you're ready to up level again. That makes a big big difference so and typical investment or service. I mean, michelle, I think you've created a really unique pricing structure, and I think you've created an incredible guarantee, extraordinary guarantee. If you can guarantee your services on any level, do it. I'd love to hear anyone in the online audience who has a guarantee on their services or on their product. I would really love to hear about that because it's rare and it's so valuable when you do that it becomes a no brainer to do business with you. It truly does. So we already did do the flip upside down. I have to say, I do love the slide isn't a great fun delivered differently. Change the frequency, refresh the style, changed the duration like I did and transform the investment you know, there's all sorts of cool ways you can do this.