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| mastering_financial_services_marketing_on_linkedin.pptx |
Trend analyses
Methodologies
Tools
- McKinsey Healthcare Market and AI Analysis
- Most promising app development areas in 2020-2021
- Top 5 IoT trends in 2021
Methodologies
- Value Chan analysis
- Business Model Canvas by Strategyzer
- Value Proposition Canvas by Strategyzer
- SWOT analysis
- TOWS analysis
- Cross the chasm
- Competitive analysis (Online tool)
- Launching a startup (generated USD 2000 after the first 30 days)
- Singularity University's 6D
Tools
How to Write Effective Emails
TIP 1: KEEP IT UNDER FIVE LINES
I don't read emails over five lines. I just don't. I don't have time for it.
No email should be over five lines.
If you can't communicate your message in the first few lines, it shouldn't be an email—instead, the email should be a request for a phone call or meeting (see below).
TIP 2: MAKE THE SUBJECT LINE UNIQUE, MEANINGFUL & EASILY SEARCHABLE
The subject line is one of the (if not THE) most important parts of the email.
You'd be shocked how little people actually pay attention to it and how many people mess it up.
The subject needs to be unique and compelling—just like a headline on a news article, the subject should capture my attention, pique my interest and make me want to open your email.
The subject line should be meaningful: I should know what you want, based on the subject.
And importantly, it needs to be searchable…
Searching through emails on mobile is bad enough (a big business opportunity for the entrepreneurs out there), so I need to be able to remember unique keywords in your email subject to find it quickly. Otherwise, it's going to get buried.
TIP 3: USE EASY-TO-READ FORMATTING!
It sounds intuitive, but you'd be shocked by how many emails I get with font size 9. It's impossible to read on my phone.
"Hard to read" means "it's not read."
Keep your audience in mind, and assume they are going to read the email on their phones, or better yet, their smartwatches.
Keep your font size 12 (or even 14) point… and keep your font style simple, ideally sans serif. I like Arial.
Use bold, underline, and ALL CAPS for the MAIN QUESTION, IMPORTANT DATES, and other KEY DETAILS.
Use line breaks to your advantage. Spacing is key. Give important details their own lines.
TIP 4: PUT YOUR SPECIFIC ACTION REQUEST IN THE FIRST LINEA
busy exec wants to touch an email once and take action: delete, respond or forward for action.
I want to know what you're looking for in the first sentence.
Don't bury the lede. Don't give me three paragraphs of context—this can come after.
Start with the action/request, and then explain if you need to.
This can be as simple as "FYI:" or "Have time for a 10 min phone call?" or "Can you sign the attached document?"
Then, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, be specific in your request…
Instead of saying, "Can you meet sometime next week?" say, "Can you meet Wed, Sept 10 in XYZ location between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. PST?"
Or, you can say, "I'm available to meet at these three time windows. My EA is copied. What works?" (Then list the three windows.)
This will save you about five emails back and forth figuring out logistics and a lot of unnecessary clutter to your inbox.
TIP 5: MAKE THE ASK REALLY, REALLY SIMPLE—SUCH THAT IT'S HARD FOR YOUR READER TO SAY "NO"
Have your email make a single, specific, simple request:
If you ask for lengthy feedback on an idea, or are asking for a big favor, or want to set up a three-hour meeting, you're going to dramatically decrease the probability that a busy executive responds.
Not to mention, these things shouldn't really be done over email.
Email is not a replacement for a phone call. Keep emails very short and factual. If they are long, then schedule a call or a meeting.
In general, meeting with someone is best, calls are second best, and an email is the third option if you can't seem to get either of the first two.
FINALLY, IF SOMETHING IS TRULY URGENT, THEN DON'T EMAIL… CALL OR SEND A TEXT
We've gotten so addicted to email that sometimes we assume this is the fastest way to get someone's attention. It's really not.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMETHING BETTER?
Email really hasn't changed much since it came out over 50 years ago.
Platforms like Slack and a few plugins and AI assistants have been useful additions to the professional communication ecosystem, but I still think there's an opportunity to reinvent email in a big way.
We need to rethink email from first principles.
I don't read emails over five lines. I just don't. I don't have time for it.
No email should be over five lines.
If you can't communicate your message in the first few lines, it shouldn't be an email—instead, the email should be a request for a phone call or meeting (see below).
TIP 2: MAKE THE SUBJECT LINE UNIQUE, MEANINGFUL & EASILY SEARCHABLE
The subject line is one of the (if not THE) most important parts of the email.
You'd be shocked how little people actually pay attention to it and how many people mess it up.
The subject needs to be unique and compelling—just like a headline on a news article, the subject should capture my attention, pique my interest and make me want to open your email.
The subject line should be meaningful: I should know what you want, based on the subject.
And importantly, it needs to be searchable…
Searching through emails on mobile is bad enough (a big business opportunity for the entrepreneurs out there), so I need to be able to remember unique keywords in your email subject to find it quickly. Otherwise, it's going to get buried.
TIP 3: USE EASY-TO-READ FORMATTING!
It sounds intuitive, but you'd be shocked by how many emails I get with font size 9. It's impossible to read on my phone.
"Hard to read" means "it's not read."
Keep your audience in mind, and assume they are going to read the email on their phones, or better yet, their smartwatches.
Keep your font size 12 (or even 14) point… and keep your font style simple, ideally sans serif. I like Arial.
Use bold, underline, and ALL CAPS for the MAIN QUESTION, IMPORTANT DATES, and other KEY DETAILS.
Use line breaks to your advantage. Spacing is key. Give important details their own lines.
TIP 4: PUT YOUR SPECIFIC ACTION REQUEST IN THE FIRST LINEA
busy exec wants to touch an email once and take action: delete, respond or forward for action.
I want to know what you're looking for in the first sentence.
Don't bury the lede. Don't give me three paragraphs of context—this can come after.
Start with the action/request, and then explain if you need to.
This can be as simple as "FYI:" or "Have time for a 10 min phone call?" or "Can you sign the attached document?"
Then, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, be specific in your request…
Instead of saying, "Can you meet sometime next week?" say, "Can you meet Wed, Sept 10 in XYZ location between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. PST?"
Or, you can say, "I'm available to meet at these three time windows. My EA is copied. What works?" (Then list the three windows.)
This will save you about five emails back and forth figuring out logistics and a lot of unnecessary clutter to your inbox.
TIP 5: MAKE THE ASK REALLY, REALLY SIMPLE—SUCH THAT IT'S HARD FOR YOUR READER TO SAY "NO"
Have your email make a single, specific, simple request:
- Do you have time for a 5 min call this week?
- Please review and sign this document.
- Can you make a quick intro to XYZ person?
- I’d love a letter of support from you. I’ve attached a draft for your review.
If you ask for lengthy feedback on an idea, or are asking for a big favor, or want to set up a three-hour meeting, you're going to dramatically decrease the probability that a busy executive responds.
Not to mention, these things shouldn't really be done over email.
Email is not a replacement for a phone call. Keep emails very short and factual. If they are long, then schedule a call or a meeting.
In general, meeting with someone is best, calls are second best, and an email is the third option if you can't seem to get either of the first two.
FINALLY, IF SOMETHING IS TRULY URGENT, THEN DON'T EMAIL… CALL OR SEND A TEXT
We've gotten so addicted to email that sometimes we assume this is the fastest way to get someone's attention. It's really not.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMETHING BETTER?
Email really hasn't changed much since it came out over 50 years ago.
Platforms like Slack and a few plugins and AI assistants have been useful additions to the professional communication ecosystem, but I still think there's an opportunity to reinvent email in a big way.
We need to rethink email from first principles.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
HOW MINDSETS WORK...
Before you choose which mindset(s) to focus on, it helps to understand how mindsets work.
Here’s an analogy: if you’ve been following developments in AI, you know that we can train neural nets to do image recognition. The challenge with these neural nets is that they’re only as good as the data you feed them.
For example, if you show the neural nets thousands of pictures of cats, and then you show them a picture of a dog, the algorithm will tell you that the dog is actually a cat. It doesn’t know any better.
The same is true for our brains, which are also neural nets.
If you constantly feed your brain with negative perspectives, your outlook will be negative. You won’t know any better.
So, how are you training your neural net?
Most of us don’t realize that we’re already doing this training. It operates in the background. For example, through social media echo chambers or in our daily news intake of CNN (“Crisis News Network”) or Fox.
So, what shapes your mindset? What are the things that have you trapped thinking the way you do? What would you need to change?
CRAFT YOUR MINDSET
The two key inputs that shape our mindsets are: the people we spend time with and the media we consume.
Life is who you go through life with
There’s an old saying in business that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
If you want to be fit, hang out with friends who exercise.
If you want to think big and aspire to change the world, hang out with people who have Moonshots and a Massively Transformative Purpose (MTP).
Garbage in, garbage out
Just as you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, the same is true for ideas.
The news and media we consume are data that we allow to flow into our brains (AKA our neural nets).
What is your news diet? What kind of movies or documentaries are you watching?
What books or blogs are you reading?
Do these inputs reinforce the mindsets you want? Or do they reinforce mindsets you’re trying to avoid?
As an entrepreneur, answering these questions is a critical part of your journey to be successful during this era of exponential change.
The next step on that journey is choosing the mindset(s) that works best for you.
SELECT YOUR MINDSET
There are MANY mindsets you can choose from. But for me, there are four specific mindsets that I find most powerful and important to hone during this era of exponential growth.
Here are the four mindsets that I personally focus on and use to coach entrepreneurs:
Can you imagine the benefits of having an Exponential or Abundance mindset?
What would happen in your life or business if you flipped the way you see things? Instead of seeing a problem, can you see an opportunity?
Remember that the world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s biggest business opportunities.
Credit to Peter Diamandis
Before you choose which mindset(s) to focus on, it helps to understand how mindsets work.
Here’s an analogy: if you’ve been following developments in AI, you know that we can train neural nets to do image recognition. The challenge with these neural nets is that they’re only as good as the data you feed them.
For example, if you show the neural nets thousands of pictures of cats, and then you show them a picture of a dog, the algorithm will tell you that the dog is actually a cat. It doesn’t know any better.
The same is true for our brains, which are also neural nets.
If you constantly feed your brain with negative perspectives, your outlook will be negative. You won’t know any better.
So, how are you training your neural net?
Most of us don’t realize that we’re already doing this training. It operates in the background. For example, through social media echo chambers or in our daily news intake of CNN (“Crisis News Network”) or Fox.
So, what shapes your mindset? What are the things that have you trapped thinking the way you do? What would you need to change?
CRAFT YOUR MINDSET
The two key inputs that shape our mindsets are: the people we spend time with and the media we consume.
Life is who you go through life with
There’s an old saying in business that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
If you want to be fit, hang out with friends who exercise.
If you want to think big and aspire to change the world, hang out with people who have Moonshots and a Massively Transformative Purpose (MTP).
Garbage in, garbage out
Just as you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, the same is true for ideas.
The news and media we consume are data that we allow to flow into our brains (AKA our neural nets).
What is your news diet? What kind of movies or documentaries are you watching?
What books or blogs are you reading?
Do these inputs reinforce the mindsets you want? Or do they reinforce mindsets you’re trying to avoid?
As an entrepreneur, answering these questions is a critical part of your journey to be successful during this era of exponential change.
The next step on that journey is choosing the mindset(s) that works best for you.
SELECT YOUR MINDSET
There are MANY mindsets you can choose from. But for me, there are four specific mindsets that I find most powerful and important to hone during this era of exponential growth.
Here are the four mindsets that I personally focus on and use to coach entrepreneurs:
- Abundance Mindset: You have clarity, evidence, and conviction that technology is dematerializing, demonetizing, and democratizing products and services, creating increasing abundance on a global scale.
- Exponential Mindset: You understand that computation and derivative technologies (AI, VR, 3D Printing, etc.) are growing exponentially. Thirty doublings drive a billion-fold improvement that the human (linear) brain finds difficult to grasp.
- Longevity Mindset: You are focused on maximizing your health span, tracking the biotech breakthroughs able to add 20 to 30 healthy years onto your life and making “100 years old the new 60.” You seek key insights and early access.
- Moonshot Mindset: You understand that most people are focused on incremental (10%) growth, but you seek 10x Moonshot growth. You desire tools and techniques that enable you to select and implement your Moonshots.
Can you imagine the benefits of having an Exponential or Abundance mindset?
What would happen in your life or business if you flipped the way you see things? Instead of seeing a problem, can you see an opportunity?
Remember that the world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s biggest business opportunities.
Credit to Peter Diamandis