As you slide into summer, a book recommends you slow down and rethink traditional time-management techniques, a podcast shares the journeys of startups that scaled to success, and a nifty product puts presentations in your pocket. This month, the Hit List also asks: what if your old product was repackaged as “vintage”? It’s a gift to your bottom line – and the environment.
An Environmentally-Friendly Business Idea: Thrifting
When it comes to marketing ‘old’ as ‘new’, the fashion industry is making moves to weave a few business trends together. This year, clothing label Banana Republic released BR Vintage, a limited collection of 225 vintage Banana Republic pieces from the ‘80s and ‘90s, hand-selected from sellers across the US. Denim brand Madewell also partnered with resale platform thredUP to sell and alter used pieces in a Brooklyn pop-up.
Following a jeans buyback program by Levi’s and a ‘Certified Vintage’ range from Guess, these initiatives tap into consumers’ interest in sustainability, the lure of a limited “drop” and nostalgia for times past.
SEE ALSO: How Officeworks’ Tree Planting is Restoring the Environment
The Book Worth Stopping For: Four Thousand Weeks
If your time-management strategies are more stressful than time-saving, Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It is the salve that asks you to pause and reconsider time.
Author Oliver Burkeman recommends readers refrain from tracking and optimising hours in order to become the “infinitely capable … fully independent person you’re officially supposed to be” and instead embrace what Germans call eigenzeit. If something’s worth doing (and doing well) in your work, family or community, it takes its “own time”.
SEE ALSO: Clever Time Management Skills for Working From Home or Office
The Podcast About Building a Business: Masters of Scale
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman interviews business founders to get the nitty-gritty of their journey from a good idea to making a gazillion in this eye-opening podcast. More than sharing companies’ origin stories, Masters of Scale tests and discusses theories of scaling with the people who’ve navigated its obstacles.
Hoffman has also distilled the podcast’s wisdoms in a new book, Masters of Scale: Surprising Truths From the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs. Sample concept: don’t ask people if they like your idea; instead, ask why they think it won’t work. “Because the answers you get will force you to ask yourself, ‘What do I know that they don't know?’”
Whether your long-held dream is to start a business, or you’re a small business owner who’s ready to take the next steps to grow your business, both the podcast and book offer a motivational (and highly applicable) masterclass in growth strategy.
A Gadget for Portable Presentations: Asus ZenBeam E1 Pocket Projector
Light enough to tuck into a handbag, satchel or briefcase, the Asus ZenBeam E1 Pocket Projector allows you to easily carry your movies, presentations and slides around between home, the office or wherever you are working or presenting. The projector has an in-built speaker and transmits bright, clear visuals from any device through a range of ports including USB-A and HDMI. Bonus feature: it doubles as a power bank to charge your phone.
The DIY Guide to Selling With TikTok: @tiktokforbusiness
With nearly 2.5 million Australian users each month, and amateurish videos among its greatest viral hits, TikTok is a huge opportunity for small business and online businesses. (Cautionary note: given TikTok’s youthful skew, some products and services sell better through other social media.)
If you do want to add the platform to your digital marketing mix, go to the @tiktokforbusiness profile in the app for marketing tips, troubleshooting and tutorials on subjects that include using hashtags, royalty-free music and Shopify.
