Hasta La Gadget!

 The first Android Wear smartwatches aren’t yet available to consumers (though two start shipping July 7), but already we’ve managed to enjoy some time with each of the new devices, and while we can’t speak to things like battery life and durability over time, we can share impressions on the relative merits of each so far. Is the Moto 360, the LG G Watch, or the Samsung Gear… Read More

First, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin exchanges went dark, then it filed for bankruptcy, suffered further hacking attacks and even faced a lawsuit. Now Mark Karpelès, Mt. Gox’s CEO, tells the Wall Street Journal that he’s liquidating what’s left…

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is different, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. According to a survey by Bain & Company a while back, 80% of businesses believe they have differentiated offerings, but only 8% of customers agree.

To highlight the impact of being perceived as differentiated, other experts project that businesses with truly differentiated offerings have an 80% chance of long-term success, whereas companies with ‘me-too’ customer perceptions have only a 20% chance. Differentiation is a key requirement for a successful startup rollout, and must be sustainable to keep ahead of new competition.

Since I’m a fan of real-world feedback, I was intrigued by the insights on differentiation in a new book, “Roadside MBA: Back Road Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives, and Small Business Owners,” by Michael Mazzeo, Paul Oyer, and Scott Schaefer. As well as having great academic credentials, these guys recently traversed the USA getting lessons from real small businesses.

Here are a few of their conclusions relative to product differentiation, supplemented by my own recommendations from experience and other experts:

1. Work on perceptions, as well as reality. It doesn’t do you any good to be different, if your customers can’t perceive the difference, or you don’t tell anyone about it. The days are gone for the “if we build it, they will come” mentality. Marketing and target customer relationships are always required, no matter how obvious the differentiation is to you.

   Of course, working on perception can backfire if the differentiation reality isn’t there. Remember the old saying, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still going to be a pig.” Like a damaged reputation, a discredited differentiation is extremely difficult to turn positive.

2. Quantify the difference for your customers. Use numbers to make your offering the clear alternative. Fuzzy marketing terms like easier to use, lower cost, and higher quality are not effective differentiators, since they have been overused to the point of having no meaning.

   Real data and customer testimonials say it best, such as get it done in half the time, or half the cost, or comes with a 5-year warranty. In my experience, numbers less than 20% are not enough, since small numbers are not likely to overcome the inertia and learning curve required of most customers.

3. Focus on customers you really care about, and who care about you. Trying to be all things to all people never works. Identify your target customer segment before you finalize your differentiation. For example, customers with high disposable income will likely respond better to unique features, rather than a lower cost.

   One business visited on the road had successfully implemented a product-differentiation strategy to appeal to the 20% of their clients who were the most profitable, and discourage the 80% who were more costly. They noted that customers’ loyalty grew with their real preference for the unique product features offered.

4. Customize to differentiate, but do it efficiently. The new generation of customers expect to get what they want, when they want it, customized to their taste. So customization is an important differentiation strategy, but be sure to strike a balance between the revenue potential of the effort, versus the costs required to execute.

   We have moved from the era of mass customization to collaborative customization. Today, differentiated companies enable customers to determine the precise product offering that best serves that customer’s needs. For example, MakeYourOwnJeans encourages customers to tailor-make jeans dynamically per their specifications.

5. Define a unique selling proposition (USP), and keep it simple. Complex or highly technical selling propositions are not good differentiators, since they will likely not grab people’ attention or be remembered by most customers. A good example is Dominos Pizza “We’ll deliver in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free!”

Successful product differentiation requires a conscious and continuous effort, including listening on the right social media channels, being consistently helpful to your customers, and continuous innovation. But the results can put you in that coveted 8% that customers remember for real fun and profit. Isn’t that why you signed on to the entrepreneur lifestyle in the first place?

Click here to watch the TEDTalk that inspired this post.

As an ocean scientist, undoubtedly, the most frequent question I am asked is about sharks. Is it safe to go into the ocean?

Based on how sharks have been portrayed in movies, television and in the news, a great number of people believe that humans are considered a snack sensation in the ocean. In reality, people are not good shark food. No juicy blubber or rich omega-3 oils, essentially just a bag-o-bones and water.

Statistically speaking, you are more at risk when driving to work or toasting a piece of bread (fatal toaster accidents are more common than shark “attacks”). Most so-called shark attacks are not acts of intentional hunting; they are cases of mistaken identity or a response to a perceived threat or competition. In the historical record, even brief non-contact encounters or sightings have been called attacks. That does not mean that the tragedy for those who are injured or fatally wounded by sharks should be minimized. And creating tools, such as Hamish Jolly’s intriguing wetsuits, which might help to minimize deleterious shark incidents, is certainly a good thing.

Shark Encounters
In all my years of diving, snorkeling and swimming in the ocean, including having twice lived underwater in the Aquarius Reef Base habitat for up to two weeks and diving six to nine hours a day, I have never been seriously threatened by sharks.

I’ve seen sharks, been approached by sharks and have been circled by a group of large, beefy hammerheads. Moments of apprehension quickly give way to fascination and a deep appreciation for their silent and powerful grace (no, they do not growl as has been suggested in several bad B-movies).

The Amazing Galapagos
I am currently in the Galapagos Islands as science advisor to Celebrity Xpedition, a small cruise ship. Here in the Galapagos, sharks are a wonder to behold. The Galapagos Park Service naturalists speak reverently about sharks and people here have taken action to protect them. With the passengers aboard we are actively on the lookout for sharks. It is one of the day’s highlights if we are lucky enough to snorkel beside a whitetip reef shark or watch as a Galapagos shark swims slowly around the ship.

In addition to whitetips, we see skittish blacktip sharks and, if one is really lucky, a big fat hammerhead. Also known to cruise the Archipelago are the less frequently seen silky, tiger, bull, whale and mako sharks.

Sea lions here have been known to make a game of pulling the tail of a whitetip shark resting in a cave. I imagine it is an undersea version of “chicken” and not a practice I recommend. Sometimes we see Galapagos sharks feeding on fish alongside sea lions, pelicans and diving blue-footed boobies. It goes squarely against the ingrained notion that sharks are relentless hunters, feeding on anything and everything at hand. Sea lions are on the menu for the larger pelagic sharks, but, in coastal waters, they tend to co-exist without bloodshed.

Nature at Its Best
The Galapagos Islands allow one to experience nature like nowhere else on earth. The wildlife as well as the landscape is well protected and respected. Except for the inhabited towns, the islands are kept principally pristine (other than the vagaries of human introduced invasive species or the impacts of climate change). A licensed Galapagos Park naturalist must accompany all visitors, and animals have the right-of-way.

Watching and swimming with sharks in the Galapagos, where they are not attracted by bait or legally fished, helps us to understand and appreciate their true nature and important role as top predators in the ocean ecosystem. It also allows us to comprehend how humans and sharks, as well as other animals, can coexist with respect and remarkable interaction.

El Niño
As I sit here writing, we wait to see if a strong El Niño will occur this year as many scientists have forecasted. Years of experience and several days of snorkeling suggest that the water is warmer than usual for this time of the year. Strong El Niños in the Galapagos shut down upwelling thereby curtailing ocean productivity. Sea lions, marine iguanas, the iconic blue-footed booby and even sharks can suffer from the lack of food and many may die. It is not possible at this time to determine if climate change has or will strengthen El Niños, but, for now, we have our fingers crossed that the approaching one will be weaker than predicted. And we continue to go out on in search of the ever-majestic shark.

We want to know what you think. Join the discussion by posting a comment below or tweeting #TEDWeekends. Interested in blogging for a future edition of TED Weekends? Email us at tedweekends@huffingtonpost.com.

WASHINGTON — The AFL-CIO is teaming up with local immigration reform and labor groups this weekend to encourage green card holders to apply to be citizens, partly in the hope that getting more immigrants to the polls will help move immigration reform forward.

At a workshop in Washington, D.C., lawyers and volunteers will give legal residents information about how to apply for citizenship, encourage them to do so, answer questions and help them fill out paperwork. The workshop is for legal permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship, and for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and hope for relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. Immigrant rights group CASA de Maryland, the Laborers’ International Union of North America and other organizations are also participating.

In general, green card holders can begin the application process for citizenship after five years of permanent residency in the U.S. But not all who are eligible apply, meaning they cannot vote, and could be deported in certain circumstances. As of 2012, there were an estimated 13.3 million legal permanent residents in the U.S., and 8.8 million were eligible to apply for citizenship, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security.

AFL-CIO executive vice president Tefere Gebre, a naturalized citizen himself, said the group hopes to educate immigrants about the benefits of being citizens. He moved to the U.S. from Ethiopia 30 years ago.

“Sometimes it’s a tough thing for immigrants to decide to disavow the country that you were born in,” he said. “It’s a difficult decision to do, but all of us came here because we chose this country. On election day, when I go to a polling place, that’s the most I feel an American.”

The AFL-CIO has been part of a coalition of groups pushing for comprehensive immigration reform, which has languished in the House of Representatives after passing the Senate one year ago. Getting more immigrants — who may be more sympathetic to the plight of undocumented immigrants, among other issues — to become citizens and vote could help in that goal, Gebre said.

“We’re going to get immigration reform down the road … but if this Congress is not going to do it, we have to get a Congress that will do it,” he said. “And that will be decided at the ballot box.”