John le Carré once wrote, "A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." I’ve taken that to heart. My office is often a seat on a Cathay Pacific flight, a guest house in Asia, or a hotel room with a view of the Hong Kong skyline at 2 a.m.
When you’re trying to turn a promising idea into a viable business, your entire world revolves around hitting the next milestone. Every bit of effort is about raising enough capital not just to reach that next goal, but to have a cushion for the inevitable surprises and a budget to market for the next round of startup funding. It's a game of levels. Even if your grand vision is an IPO or a legacy business, you have to win the level you’re on right now.
It all started with a simple Christmas gift mix-up, but it taught me one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned about human psychology—a lesson that’s essential for anyone looking to sell a product or .
It sounds completely backward, but sometimes the best way to make customers want your product is to make their experience a little bit worse. As a marketing CEO, I saw this play out firsthand. I remember sitting in meetings with Coca-Cola executives who were stumped by the explosive growth of Red Bull. Sales of sugary drinks were tanking, but for some reason, the equally unhealthy, almost medicinal-tasting energy drink market was on fire. What was going on?
I’ve read my fair share of business books—probably hundreds. And while they’re full of valuable lessons, I’ve always found that nothing beats learning by doing. It’s a cliché, I know, but think about learning to ride a bike. No one gives you a manual on balance; you just get on and figure it out, collecting a few skinned knees along the way. It’s one thing to be told what to do, but it’s another thing entirely to internalize it through your own experience.
Networking often gets a bad rap. Many people see it as just another sales channel—a place to pitch your services, collect cards, and hopefully land a client. But if that’s all you’re using it for, you’re missing the bigger picture. Real networking is about more than just a quick sale; it’s a powerful tool for growing your entire business, and it requires a different kind of thinking. It’s about taking your networking activities and seeing them as more than just a marketing tactic.
Walking into a room full of strangers can be nerve-wracking, especially at those unstructured "open networking" events. Many of us find them intimidating, but with a little preparation, you can learn to navigate them effectively and build valuable new connections for your business.
When you're starting a side hustle while working full time, the key to making customers happy is simple: understand them. People want to feel valued, whether you’re walking them through a process or just reminding them how important they are to your shop's survival. The first step in building a successful ecommerce side hustle is to get inside your customers' heads.
Getting your affiliate marketing journey off the ground can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re staring at a seemingly infinite number of niches. When you’re trying to build a new , it helps to see where other, more experienced marketers are finding success. Looking at established markets can give you a solid starting point.