Nic M Rayce | Art, Music, Technology: 2015

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Photomanipulation - Look How I Change A Simple Picture into a Cool Abstract Picture

If I can do this to my own branding, imagine what I can do for your business.

To browse my other photomanipulation portfolio, visit http://nikharith.deviantart.com/

and contact me at nharith_linkinshinod@hotmail.com to ask for quote.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Hasil Karya Artis SoundCloud Malaysia Berinspirasikan Band Luar Negara (PART 2)

Ok, berbalik kepada sambungan daripada Part 1 hari tu, mmg aku decide untuk menulis lagu tentang kecurangan wanita iaitu salah satu ketakutan semua lelaki yang setia dan menyayangi wanita mereka - so, aku cuba membayangkan bagaimanakah perasaan lelaki apabila dia ternampak awek/isteri dia bersama dengan lelaki lain beraksi di atas katil - aku cuba merasakan kesakitan yang dirasai itu dan lahirlah lagu, "Ever Again" yang aku buat jadi satu kompilasi lagu.

Bermula daripada satu demo electronic:

berubah menjadi satu lagu konsep alternative:

After that, aku rasa macam the expression isn't enough and rasa macam perlu ada more aggression in the music so aku extend lagi lirik lagu tersebut dan memperkenalkan rap ke dalam lagu and pitch chorus ditinggikan sedikit untuk match kan kekuatan chorus.

Then, saya slow down balik dan fokus kepada expansion of followers so decided untuk buat kolaborasi dengan beberapa artis dari SoundCloud:

Band: Naru/Naftaly
Single : Let's Celebrate
Genre : Pop/Rap
Origin : UK / Netherlands

Band: SMS Illimite
Single : No Regrets
Genre : Pop/Rap
Origin : Paris / France

Band: Crywave
Single : Infected
Genre : Rock
Origin : Brescia / Italy

Band: Dominic Luizza
Single: Can't Be Undone
Genre : Hip-hop/Electronic Rock
Origin : Caldwell / United States

So far, mmg best dapat berduet dengan artis-artis SoundCloud dari luar negara - plus, support yang diorang berikan untuk menghasilkan karya bersama2 mmg terbaik.

Then, penggubahan lagu2 saya put on hiatus sebab nak beri ruang kepada kerja full-time dalam Digital Marketing. Tapi sambil2 tu ada la jugak berjinak2 dalam membuat soundtrack dan remix:

TO BE CONTINUED (PART 3)

Hasil Karya Artis SoundCloud Malaysia Berinspirasikan Band Luar Negara (PART 1)

Aku ni mmg minat band-band luar negara semenjak kecil. Aku sukakan bunyi-bunyian dari pelbagai genre dan mostly layan old-school alternative/new wave seperti Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Electric Light Orchestra, Nik Kershaw, The Police dan sebagainya. Itupun cuz' aku selalu dengar lagu2 mcm ni time ayah aku pasang dekat kaset kereta waktu pergi berjalan2 balik kampung dari KL ke Kelantan.

Then, later on, masa time2 remaja dulu, minat ler layan lagu2 rock cam Wings, Search, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Avenged Sevenfold, My Chemical Romance, dan sebagainya. Lepas tu, minat tu berubah ke arah hybrid genre - genre yang sukakan variety - mixture of everything under one genre - ala2 rojak gitu - but not dangdut rojak - totally not me. But all in all, I love rock with a mixture of hip hop and a bit of electronica. Because why? Maybe sebab rentak dan alunan tempo yang berbeza dalam satu lagu makes your life more interesting. Kinda symbolizes your ups and downs in life - maybe masa verse slow sekejap, then datang chorus, boom letup abis.

Again, dari dulu sampai lar dah kawin sekarang, aku mmg minat bunyi-bunyian especially bunyi2 pelik yang boleh dimasukkan ke dalam lagu. That's why minat tu berubah2 dari new wave ke rock ke hip hop ke electronica. Sebab ingin mencari elemen kreativiti di dalam lagu. Ingin go in depth beyond the sounds that we normally hear.

Aku start tulis lagu pun lepas dah pandai main piano sekitar tahun 2009-2010 dulu (by ear - mmg aku tak pandai baca note - everything by hearing - maybe aku dpt ni from my dad kot) - time tu umur aku pun lebih kurang 19-20 tahun mcm tu. Lepas je aku balik from Ohio, United States from my Student Exchange Program, aku start bergiat dalam pembuatan lagu (right from recording till mixing till production - and mostly aku guna FL Studio) tapi on part-time basis lar - lagipun susah nak buat full-time career dalam industri muzik zaman2 sekarang ni.

Believe it or not, aku guna Mic RM10 je to record. Desktop mic. Aku just adjust lagu punya volume tu kasi kuat supaya dia bole cover bunyi desing2 dalam recording. My first song was published on MySpace (zaman tu MySpace kan gempak lagi) - the song was called It's So Wonderful.

https://www.facebook.com/nicmraycemusics/photos/pb.135853719806668.-2207520000.1448305768./147929085265798/?type=3&theater

Then, followed by another single called, "I Don't Want to Lose You" - haha lagu jiwang la jugak - yang ni first rap/vocal single yang aku release on MySpace and SoundCloud. Kisah macam mana bole lagu ni terjadi pun cuz' aku time ni rindu kat girlfriend aku (sekarang dah bergelar isteri lar - nak masuk 2 tahun dah pun) - dia kat PLKN 3 bulan - aku kat sini melara je x dpt jmpe dia - so rindu ler - time2 rindu ni ler aku buat lagu ni.

Bole dengar lagu tu kat sini: https://soundcloud.com/nicmrayce/i-dont-wanna-lose-you-single

Lepas release tu, aku tengok follower2 aku dari luar negara bertambah, so aku pun ingat nak test different market and see mana yang respond better, plus it's also meant to show my skill as a musician/producer - aku nak test myself composing different genres, so I decided to make a song that has 4 versions. Satu electronic version, satu intro, satu alternative version, satu nu-metal version.

So feel free guys to listen yang mana suit your preference.

VIEW PART 2 DI SINI

Photomanipulation (Client: Pappy's Coffee Shop)

I love photomanipulation works with Photoshop. Whenever I got the chance to do it for any client, I will use all my creativity to make it look good in the final results.

STEP 1

Just the artwork with the chalkboard background

STEP 2

Added the wood frame and surface texture

STEP 3

Added some hanging pictures with wall accessories, a lamp and lighting effect

If I can do this to Pappy's, imagine what I can do for your business.

To browse my other photomanipulation portfolio, visit http://nikharith.deviantart.com/

and contact me at nharith_linkinshinod@hotmail.com to ask for quote.

About the author:

Nik Harith, Community Marketing/Analyst/Digital Content, Ebizu Sdn Bhd – A person who constantly strives to be bold and different than anybody else, married and Kelantan-borne, he aimed to follow the footsteps of Michael Kenji Shinoda, a technopreneur from Linkin Park – which is to be one of the top recognized technopreneurs in Asian region by 2018 – with the aim to join the technopreneurs’ league such as Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Apple and many others. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicmrayce

Nic M Rayce basically owns a startup design agency back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and has been a website/multimedia designer since 2008 - serving both the government clients and the private sector's corporations - building collateral for their marketing campaigns on TV, radio and the social media. He aims to produce his own production studio & marketing agency by 2018 which helps bands both artistically and musically. Check his artwork out here: http://nikharith.deviantart.com

TEKNIK / TIPS SKOR PEPERIKSAAN CEMERLANG / TEKNIK UBAH MALAS BELAJAR

Mengimbau kembali kenangan 7 tahun lalu selepas dinobatkan sebagai Tokoh Pelajar dan Pelajar Cemerlang SMK Hillcrest, memang ia kenangan yang manis.

Namun, perjalanannya tu tidaklah semudah disangka.

Yang sukarnya, saya ini bukanlah seorang pelajar yang rajin dan ‘top scorer’, maka teknik saya skor peperiksaan mungkin agak berbeza skit daripada teknik pelajar-pelajar yang lain.

Biar saya brief skit crita saya, memang pada mulanya saya Top Scorer dari Tahun 1-5 – memang confirm nama tu naik nombor 1 larh dalam kelas dan keseluruhan darjah (boleh tanya geng2 cikgu di Sekolah Kebangsaan Tunku Mahmood 2 Kluang Johor & Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Seri Gombak 1). Tapi start je Tahun 6, almaklumlah, dah membesar nak meningkat umur ke remaja, saya pun menjadi ler seorang yang agak nakal dan pemalas sewaktu Form 1 sampailah Form 3 – dan markah pun tidak kurang teruknya.

Namun, ada beberapa perkara yang berlaku kepada saya yang buat saya berubah menjadi seorang pelajar yang rajin by the time saya masuk Form 4.

a) Member2 kelas, jangan citer ar, kerja nak bahan je bila kita ni ‘kurang bijak’ – layan kita pun tidak – mcm acuh tak acuh – maklumlah, dulu pun masuk geng2 kelas ‘A’ – apatah lagi cikgu2, bila tengok kita malas study skit, mula la membebel kata kita ni tak pk masa depan ke and so on. So bole kata 90% member tu hipokrit – smua pandang kepandaian or status.

b) Kesusahan yang melanda keluarga tu makin perit – dan benda ni pun member buat bahan jugak sampai kata apa la sangat hang duduk kat rumah kecik, kereta buruk..(ada ke patut, ada sorang member ni bahan kata, “Eh, orang Kelantan memang camni yer?” – Mak aih…berderau 'kawe' mendengarnya. Ada ke patut dia kaitkan dengan Kelantan plak. Racist ke apa.

Anyway, kedua2 faktor ni buat saya banyak termenung setiap kali saya tengok kertas result (yang slalu korang dapat lepas Hari Terbuka tu - perasan muka ayah mak cam sedeyh tengok result tu) – tapi adui, diri ni rasa malas sangat nak belajar – bukak buku je mula lah ‘syaitan’ datang bagi salam – bagi ngantuk kepala rasa nak tidur. Terbaik.

But somehow, dua2 faktor tadi tu betul2 buat saya rasa bengang dan rasa ingin buktikan yang saya ni tidaklah se’bodoh’ yang disangka. Maka, saya pun tekad, masuk Form 4, nak stop ‘fooling around’ and start making me and my family proud. Itu je nawaitu yang saya letakkan pada diri.

Alhamdulillah, lepas je start nawaitu mcm tu, minda tu automatic menjadi terbuka menerima pelajaran. The rest is then history.

So tips2 nak skor peperiksaan / mudah belajar / ubah dari malas ke rajin belajar adalah:

a) TETAPKAN DULU NIAT BELAJAR - MENGAPA PERLU BELAJAR?

Mcm kes saya, tujuannya adalah hanya untuk membuktikan walaupun saya dari keluarga yang serba kekurangan, tapi saya masih boleh capai setaraf dengan orang yang serba ada kesemuanya. Kita mungkin tiada wang, tapi kita kaya ilmu. Saya ingin buktikan yang ibubapa kita ni telah mendidik kita sebaik mungkin untuk kita ni dipandang dan direspect oleh masyarakat sekeliling kita. Bukan menjadi hantu atau buaya.

b) BILA RASA MENGANTUK LEPAS BUKA BUKU, PASANG LAGU YANG KORANG SUKA DI HEADPHONE WAKTU BELAJAR

Masa time belajar dulu, memang favourite ler pasang lagu Rock cam lagu Search/Wings ke Linkin Park ke Avenged Sevenfold ke..pergh..layan beb...tapi jangan terlampau layan sampai tak belajar plak. Kenapa saya kata teknik ni menjadi? Sebenarnya, bila korang mix benda yang korang x ske dgn benda yg korang ske, contohnya mix kan subjek Sejarah dengan lagu fav korang, you are associating your brain with a motivation factor - making yourself unconsciously wanting to learn and absorb the stuff that you are learning.

c) BILA RASA MALAS NAK STUDY LAMA2, BUAT A SHORT BREAK DI ANTARA TEMPOH BELAJAR TU

Sebagai contoh, korang kena study sampai berjam2 lamanya (agaknya ni jenis yang study last minute sampai tengah malam - pastu mula la esok mata lebam masuk periksa) - elakkan study terus-menerus - beku beb, otak tepu abis - esok pandang paper nangis pasal blank kepala. Jangan ambil risiko macam tu - try your best to create a short 5-10 min break in between your study time to do something that you like. Mungkin korang boleh gi tengok TV jap ke, main game jap ke, anything...sama macam poin (b), let's do our best to associate brain with motivation factors - bagi semangat pada brain untuk menerima benda yang korang paling tak suka (iaitu belajar)

d) KALAU KORANG SUSAH NAK MENGHAFAL (cth: Agama Islam, Sejarah, Biologi, Sains), GUNAKAN TEKNIK BERCAKAP DENGAN DIRI SENDIRI

Jangan terkejut. Teknik ni memang menjadi. Cuba try baca kepada diri sendiri mana2 satu perenggan dalam buku teks. Then, ulang beberapa kali. Lepas tu, try baca balik pada diri sendiri tanpa tengok buku. Anggap la korang ni konon2 pembaca berita Sejarah - nak bagitau satu dunia pasal Sejarah Malaysia. Masa tu mula ler terkial2 nk ingat apa yang korang baca tadi - tapi bagus bila korang nervous nak ingat sebab masa tu korang paksa otak korang utk ingat - secara x langsung, tuptap2 dah ingat dah dalam kpala.

e) KALAU KORANG ADA PROBLEM DENGAN MATHS/ADD MATHS, YANG NI TAKDE CHOICE, KENA BANYAK PRACTICE (ULANG2 KALI)

Kalau boleh, untuk method ni, korang kena start dari basic - try faham konsep permasalahan Matematik tu. Tujuan praktis banyak kali ni pun utk bantu korang faham the entire concept of the question. Saya dulu pun blur2 je tengok buku Add Math tu tapi because kat belakang ada jalan kerja complete dengan solution, saya just study tengok jalan kerja tu je and praktis sampai dapat hafal mcm mana nak solve.

Ada banyak lagi tips yang saya boleh share pada korang.

And if you guys berminat maybe ingin membuat home tuisyen bersama saya on weekend basis (preferably area Taman Melati/Wangsa Maju/Setapak/Gombak/Melawati), boleh je hantar inquiry ke nharith_linkinshinod@hotmail.com dengan tajuk: Berminat Ingin Membuat Home Tuition

Alternatively, saya juga turut membuat ceramah di sekolah2 untuk membantu para pelajar mengatasi masalah belajar dan cara teknik skor - dan kepada mana-mana sekolah yang berminat, boleh menghubungi saya di talian nharith_linkinshinod@hotmail.com dengan tajuk emel: Berminat Ingin Menjemput untuk Sesi Ceramah Pelajar.

About the author:

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Finding the Point of Balance between Good Art, Good Music and Good Marketing

This article was written in response after reading a post by Joseph Becker, Esq.entitled "For success, is the business plan more important than the music?" Here, not only I respond to the post, but I even add my insights based on my 6 years (3 years of design + 3 years of marketing) of experience being a marketer, a musician and a designer myself.

Here goes the article:

Designers speak their artistic lingo.

Marketers speak their marketing lingo.

Musicians speak their musical lingo.

What makes a successful artwork or music or a business as a whole?

It is definitely by finding that point of balance between creating a good artwork, a good music to merge with the marketing/business plan that will generate a symbiosis connection between the three.

For example, I've been running successful Facebook posts for a client of mine where the post engagement rate over a period of 2 months was almost 4,000 conversations across the social media. But before that can happen, I did quarrel with the creative team (I used to be a designer myself, but due to my tendency towards marketing, I am now a passionate marketer).

The argument:

The creatives: I don't like the idea of having CTA texts on the picture as it will only make the posts ugly.

Me: But pictures without CTA will not be successful as there won't be any CTA at all from the public.

Now, I understand where the creatives are coming from - where they are talking in their artistic lingo - they are more concerned about the typography, the 2:8 text-picture ratio, the resolution of the picture used and so on. So a picture that has CTA texts will only make the picture seems 'crowded' and it will reduce the artistic branding.

Unfortunately, being a designer who has transformed myself into a marketer after a few years doing door-to-door sales, telemarketing, SMS marketing, eDM and doing MLM, I found to realize that that was not the case at all. A successful design is not because it is just beautiful, but it must be commercial on the same time. The CTA text is important as the customers won't know the meaning of the design or what do they have to do with the design upon seeing it. So what's the point of having an artwork if it's not meaningful enough to get customer-conversion in return?

The same case if it was to be a music - a successful music must not only be artistic, but it must also be commercial on the same time. An abstract artwork/music will only be understandable by the niche, but in order to approach the mass market, designers/musicians must think in the perspective of an entrepreneur/marketer. The crafting of the music/artwork must comply with the idea of stuffs that sell.

As a musician myself, I tend to ask my band to be creative but also on the same time, commercial as well. What are commercial musics? Definitely, pop, of course. Because the structure of the song would be the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. And if you realized almost all the songs on the Billboard Top 100, they are basically using this same format for all their songs - no matter what genre they are; rock, country, nu-metal, hip-hop and many others.

Why the verse-chorus-verse format? By far, this has been the most acceptable music format that will make song more organized and more memorable in the ears of the listeners. Instead of ramming through the solos, the riffs, the drums, the synthesizer too much until it's 5 minutes long, bear in mind that the songs will only be appreciated by the substream niche instead of the mainstream niche. Creative is good. If a band should publish an album, their songs must be well-balanced of what should be in the mainstream and what should be in the substream.

The substream is mostly the fanbase - the ones who appreciate the creativity of the band and would love to hear all those 5-minutes long of the crunching of the guitars, synthesizers, keyboards and many others. But remember this. Fanbase will never be as much as the mass market out there. If the mass market is 2 billion on the planet, your fan base may be up to 10-20% out of that number. As a musician, you still need that money for your wife, your kids, your parents and yourself! To survive. That is why the best way to make it work out there is to have something like a 4 mainstream:6 substream ratio for an album compilation.

So that the mainstream songs can be playable as singles on the radio - reaching that mass market to reach that targeted fanbase or niche you want to buy the whole album to hear the creativity of the band as a whole.

Now, this is also the same case for creating artworks. That is why in my definition, there are 2 types of artworks:

a) The abstract artwork - the artwork that mainly focuses on artistic value as a whole. the type that may not get the interest of the mass market - but it will certainly be ideal to the lovers of art and creativity

b) The commercial artwork - the artwork that has that point of balance between keeping the artistic value as meaningful so that to get the message across the targeted audience in which in return, it will bring commercial value (the ones that lead to sales generation)

In case you think I'm not walking the talk, you can search 'Nic M Rayce' on Google to find out more about my musics and my artworks. I wouldn't want to give you the link here myself as I'm not trying to convey a message as if I'm promoting my music/designs. But if you seek proof, Google can be your friend. :-)

Is Graphic Design Marketing? [RESPONSE POST]

This is a response article to "Is Graphic Design Marketing?" by Bryan Lindenberger on LinkedIn.

As a person who was previously a designer until I got exposed and professionally trained by qualified business trainers into business and entrepreneurship discipline including getting out there applying those knowledges successfully for the past 3 years (door-to-door sales, telemarketing, SMS marketing, email marketing (eDM), multi-level marketing and internet marketing), I will have to say graphic designers are only a piece of the whole marketing puzzle.

Designers speak their visual lingo.
Copywriters speak their literature-ish lingo.
Marketers, on the other hand, like an entrepreneur or a business founder: cover everything right from the acquiring business accounts, market research, SWOT analysis, project implementation calendar, setting up the goal of the marketing techniques, identifying the communication channels, strategic planning, and so many others.

As the marketers identify the right communication channels and the potential audience of that channels, this is where a point of balance needed to be present between a good marketing element and a good visual artistry within the design that serves as the execution mean of transporting the message across the public.

When making the final call on what works, copywriters will speak the benefits of their copywriting, designers will speak the strength of their visuals, while in the end, marketers will have to ensure the copywriting and the design meets the targeted end-goal : which is a CTA that serves as a definitive answer of a design that works.

In reference to my article that I wrote about, "How to Find that Point of Balance Between A Good Design, A Good Music and A Good Marketing" (http://linkd.in/1okqwN6) I stated that there are two types of designs out there:
a) The abstract artwork - the artwork that mainly focuses on artistic value as a whole. the type that may not get the interest of the mass market - but it will certainly be ideal to the lovers of art and creativity

In conclusion, is graphic design marketing? Yes, graphic design is an integral part of marketing from the whole 360 communication plan. With the condition that the implementation of the graphic design must be well-balanced between a good art and a good marketing. In short, a graphic designer must acquire a certain level of marketing basics in order to execute a design in the perspective of a business founder/marketer. Should the designer does not have the marketing basics, it is the responsibility of the managers/directors to brief the designers with a proper guideline, a goal of the design and a rational behind the design so that the designers can create something that is both visually attractive and in line with the marketing goal.

A Lifetime Contract If You Treat Clients as Friends and Vice Versa

Many have thought to start a business is hard. But why is it hard? What makes it so hard that only a minority 10% who made the cut? The utmost importance of establishing a business is to have a sufficient of time invested to establish a sufficient amount of friendship with a sufficient amount of clients. And why did I say friendship?

Because this is where 90% of the typical salespersons fail. (I know I used to fail too, countless of times - tell me about the rejection I faced every single time they shut down on me) They thought most of the time, it’s all about getting new deals closed every single day. No, it isn’t. It’s not the quantity that sustain a business – it’s the quality of each deal closed. And to ensure a quality of a deal closed really depends on how strong and well-connected you are with your clients. Have you ever heard of a company’s CEO who actually has friends everywhere throughout the industry and of the same level and position? Have you ever heard of your Sales Leader or your Sales Director actually knows all his or her clients very well? Is it a coincidence that these people actually know each other that much?

Yes, we have business events, networking, conferencing etc. etc. where all these places are typically the best platform to leverage on to expand your network and know people. But then again, how many business cards did you actually manage to contact and follow-up by the end of the day? And how much percentage of closing the deal happen from just meeting an acquaintance during events? Very unlikely you will need a period of 3-6 months to scout your client before that moment of truth can happen especially if the deal you're scouting for, involves such a big amount of money.

So, back to the question above, how did the CEOs and Sales Directors know people that much very well? Simple answer. Those people are their friends. At some point of life, they may have met either in school, college or university and be close to each other. A natural intervention without any strings attached. Just a casual talk which happened to be pre-destined of what's bigger to come - and by the time each of them decided to venture the business of their own or perhaps, work towards the top of the management hierarchy, eventually, both of them grow together - and this bond is an unshakable bond where no man can step in between. It is what I called 'ideal client/partner relationship'. This case happens rarely in our current era (especially with a current ongoing depleting economy and high cost of living) - but when it happens, businesses are likely becoming joint-ventures, corporations or sometimes even something that is larger than themselves. Even if no partnership did occur, businesses can also happen like a trade barter - exchange of services.

So, what's the lesson learn here? Make friends. And when I say make friends, you need to start this from a very young age. I was unfortunate that I didn’t learn these very keys (see below) towards a successful business back then. It is important to start your networking right from the start – by conveying a strong, leadership personality among your friends to earn their respect – and from this respect, a mutual bond towards business can easily be established due to that trust and respect from knowing you and what you are good at. Two examples I can give here are:

a) REAL LIFE EXAMPLE 1: Someone who was an all-rounder and respected back in high school, someone who was constantly there for any high school events, someone who can claim himself/herself to be the 'cool kid on the block' - now becoming a Top Sales Leader (a self-made millionaire) just by selling insurance. Remember, it is not insurance that made her the money - but it is the network and its quality that helped her climbed the ladder.

b) REAL LIFE EXAMPLE 2: Another person who actually was the Student's Council President. Due to his strong voice towards the university community, he became rich himself due to leveraging that voice by making each student his downline for his Multi-Level Marketing that he was into. Again, remember, it is not the MLM or the system that makes him rich - it is the network and its quality that helped him (the MLM structured commission scheme just made him even easier money) - same case as Example 1.

Okay, so what’s the equation again?

Successful business = (First key) Amount of time + (Second key) Amount of friendship + (Third key) Amount of clients = Lifetime Contract. Simple. It’s not even a rocket science.
And when you combine friendship and clients, what will you get?Friends. What happens when all friends are your clients?

'Contract' is a business layman's term. To sustain a contract is all what it takes to sustain your business. Try to reimagine the words: Having multiple lifetime friends who are devoted to your business are the same as having successful multiple contracts due to having devoted clients. You get to hinder your competition because your friends will definitely back you up just like how real friends do - you get to entertain your own friends (because why? Because you are happy and honest doing it! Not for the sake of money, but because you know them very well and in account management, we definitely call this client’s entertainment!) So, you can see - the higher the amount of organic and authenticity in your marketing, the higher the potential of winning the deal and keeping the business. Say no to fake (for the sake of keeping the contract) account/client management as the account deals will never be sustainable due to its high tendency and sensitivity to collapse should any external party choose to interfere. A successful account/client management is when you convert that client who was just an acquaintance into a friend of yours.

This is the main reason how a CEO knows the other CEOs of the same industry very well and so as your best Sales Rep of the Team tends to sustain his reputation. It’s because it doesn’t even take spammy techniques (the door-to-door sales, constant push notifications on your app, random daily email newsletter you receive on your inbox, a constant follow-up call right after your first sales pitch appointment) – No, it’s not even that. It’s just that natural technique of closing your deal by having that network of
~~clients~~ friends where it makes your daily business very seamless and doesn’t even feel like it’s a business. The moment when you play golf with your ‘friend’ while talking about the business that both of you are passionate about, you can talk with ease because that mutual bond of trust and respect is already there.

If you think you have those 3 elements of the equation in your life, you can jump into any business right now without having to worry too much of having sufficient technical knowledge (well, I should advise you should do a business that you are passionate about and at the very least, have a bit of technical knowledge). But let me tell you this, technical knowledge is limitless – the more you spend time to be expert in one particular skill, the more you will likely waste your time as they evolve so fast and you may have a hard time catching up with the pace. The moment you thought you have mastered one skill, the education industry will evolve that skill to another thing in few years and you are back to square one. So, just know the groundwork and leverage your own hired staffs to do the flattery, flowery toppings.

Let me requote what Dale Carnegie used to say, “85% of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate and lead. Shockingly, only 15% is due to technical knowledge.” Therefore, balancing your interpersonal relationship skills and technical skills are important to excel in any endeavour. Too much of technical, you risk losing the trust and respect and the very cause of why people should listen to you on the first place. Too much of interpersonal, then you risk of looking like an empty can (someone who babble with no substance inside).

Same thing if you are a marketer, by having these ground rules in your equation, eventually, all your future sales or marketing campaigns will tend to be natural instead of being too 'forced' - when you are trying to tap the market as if they are already your friends, you will definitely channel the message in a right tone and manner - a message with an attitude - where you will eventually create a pulling effect from the market to you - just like how you want to gain respect from your friends - in branding, we call that the brand's pride in the market. Moreover, you will never see sales pitching the same way again - you will never be too scared or nervous to see new clients - because you are already visioning it in your head. It's not only about winning the contract with all your excellent skills and all those fancy points in your sales deck, but it is also about how good you can nurture a strong, long-term relationship with your client - and treating them as if they are already your friends.

Same thing goes when you want to carry out any campaign whether it is a newsletter, or an app push notification, or a YouTube/Facebook campaign, or when you want to push for an ATL advertising to launch a product; the very same rule applies - when you treat the market in a way that you are not too desperate to get them into making your customers - when you treat the market as if you are the market leader, you are the pioneer, the customers need you, not you need them - there goes the power of attraction.

Clients must be treated like how you will treat your friends because both of them have one thing in common; they are humans - they eat, they play, they socialize, they convey emotions, they want to be pampered, they seek social confirmation and validity among their community, they want to be heard, they constantly crave for financial freedom, they want to be recognized. These are the common traits that most CEOs and best Sales Leader recognize and they leverage based on these little things to win a contract deal.

And that carries the vision, "Client = Friends = Lifetime Contract."

Original post here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-secret-keys-unlock-your-businesss-success-nik-m-harith

The writer, Nic M Rayce or Nik Harith is the main vocal/rapper, an aspiring Malaysian artist for his own band, Nic M Rayce Musics, and is basically the principal producer for the all the songs from scratch till its very completion. Inspired by bands like Linkin Park, Blue Stahli and Within Temptation, Nic M Rayce Music aims to create a genre of their own - venturing wide from the range of alternative, rock, hip hop, electronica, ambient soundtrack to trip-hop - hunting for a sound on its own. His vocal style is mostly influenced by Chester Bennington, Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, Adam Levine and Adam Young. Meanwhile, his rapping style is influenced by Rakim, Eminem, Mike Shinoda, Ryu of SOB, B.o.B. and Shawn Chrystopher. His musical style ranges from electronica with the likes of Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode, hip-hop like Fort Minor and Styles of Beyond, to modern rock like Blue Stahli, Linkin Park, Apoptygma Berzerk and Within Temptation. Hear his music here: Nic M Rayce Musics

Nic M Rayce basically owns a startup design agency back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and has been a website/multimedia designer since 2008 - serving both the government clients and the private sector's corporations - building collateral for their marketing campaigns on TV, radio and the social media. He aims to produce his own production studio & marketing agency by 2018 which helps bands both artistically and musically. Check his artwork out here: http://nikharith.deviantart.com