Innovation and the ability to turn ideas into action are key ingredients of our success.

We are not the only company out there with innovative ideas.

However, there is often a total disconnect between conception and execution, particularly in companies whose culture doesn’t embrace a rapid connection between the two.

When a cool techie idea comes to us, we study it, and our industrial designers produce a concept.

We don’t quantify the opportunity. Our thought is, “If we build it, will it sell?”

We are motivated by the urgency to create, execute and deliver.

If we worried about quantifying the opportunity, we wouldn’t move before seeing a signed contract for a large quantity along with substantial financial guarantees.

Instead, we would say;

“Look, we all like the idea, there are no others like it out there and the risk/reward ratio looks pretty good, so let’s go for it.”

Once we say “go”, we never look back, and fast forward with a total commitment.

At PowerStick.com, it is not about worrying about the potential down side.

It is about innovation with urgency, and staying one step ahead of the competition.

What is a USB, and how is it important when charging my mobile devices?

As most of us know, all computers have at least one USB port.

All USB connectors are the same with four pins.

One pin is Ground, two are Data and the fourth is 5V power.

The Ground and 5V pins are used to provide power to whatever is plugged in.

The two data lines are for transferring files between the computer and the PowerStick flash drive.

Now when a flash drive is connected to the USB port, it sends out a warning that it is about to send/receive data.

However, when a power charger connects, it gives no such warning, and simply helps itself to the maximum 500 mAh available.

Now not all USB ports are created equal.

A USB plugged into the wall, charges at 1,000 mAh, double that of the computer.

A PowerStick charger also charges at 1,000 mAh, again double the computer USB speed.

So let’s summarise.

Both the PowerStick and the wall, will charge your device twice as fast as the USB port on your computer.

Sometimes the USB port on the computer will not only fail to charge, but provide no indication.

Often the temptation is to blame the PowerStick.
However, in 90% of the cases, it is the USB port that is at fault.

Try another USB port on a different computer to be sure.

Finally, the PowerStick has patented over-charging protection ensuring safe and speedy charges in any USB port.

Seth Godin wrote the following piece, which should resonate with many of us who worry if we are focusing our selling attention on the right individual or not.

The message here?

Qualify, Qualify, Qualify.
Ask the right questions.
Invest your time for the long term, instead of wasting it on the short.

The Easy Trap

The prospects that are the easiest to engage with online–the ones that believe big promises, simple come-ons and garish interfaces–are often the very people who will become your lowest-value customers.

The person who’s the easiest to get a first date with might not be the person you want to marry. When I was selling new media promotions in 1994 (!), many big companies had someone in charge of buying new stuff. They were easy to meet with, easy to make a small sale to–but ultimately a waste of time. That’s because they were charged with buying things that were new, not what worked. Once we weren’t new, we couldn’t get repeat business from them. No, it was the other guy, the guy who bought what worked, the one in charge of the real budget–he wasn’t easy, but he was worth it…

If it’s easy to get a meeting or make a first sale, consider that the very ease that enabled that sale might be a sign that the long-term value of this customer is pretty low. It’s easy to get the door answered if you’re selling vacuum cleaners house to house, not so easy to get a meeting with the head of merchandising at Wal-Mart. It’s easy to get the tech-savvy hordes to sign up for your new whiz-bang free beta, hard to visualize how these easily bored window shoppers are going to become your tribe.

But if all you’re doing is measuring the response rate of your initial pitches, you’re going to ring more doorbells, not do the long-term trust-building work of earning a reputation.

Image from Statista.

The news this week was expected.

The magnitude of it was not.

The demise of the PC with its weight, expensive software and slow start-ups, has been apparent for some time.

But the results from IDB showing sales plummeting by 14% in Q1 2013, was a surprise to all.

Some time ago. people saw the Netbook as the natural follow-on product to the PC, but it too has seen sales slide and interest wane.

Today the story is tablets, then mini-tablets and then smartphones, though not necessarily in that order and the distinctions between them are getting blurry.

There is very little the tablet can do that the smartphone can’t.
In fact, new apps are invariably introduced to the smartphone platform before tablet versions are released.

Furthermore, with automatic synching available between tablets and smartphones, many people run the same apps on both.

As people have migrated to “always on/with” technology, rather than just in the office or at home, reliable and portable back-up power has become essential.

Maybe that is why we at PowerStick.com are enjoying record revenues from our increasing line-up of chargers.

What’s next in the world of mobile technology?

Wearables.

Stay tuned.

In business, we often measure our performers by the dramatic deals they bring in.

“Oh Pat just closed a $450,000 deal. She is so good at landing the big ones.”

But businesses and those who work for them, shouldn’t be measured by the dramatic, and often irregular, spikes in their results.

Banks like to lend money to firms who have a consistent and reliable pattern of smooth and sustained growth.

They like to see quarter after quarter of increases in top and bottom line numbers.

They don’t like to see jerky performance numbers where quarters show dramatic increases that only offset previous quarters’ disappointing numbers.

The following article by The Gate’s Dave Trott, a personal favorite of mine, beautifully illustrates the importance of the talents less dramatic.

READING THE GAME

By Dave Trott March 12 2013, 8:43 am

At BMP we had a planner called Steve Harrison.
Steve had played football to quite a high amateur level.
He was a goalkeeper.
I was talking to Steve about West Ham’s goalkeeper, Mervyn Day.
He was a big favourite with the crowd because he constantly made spectacular saves.
Steve said that wasn’t the sign of a good goalkeeper.
Steve said the fact that you had to constantly make spectacular saves, to fling yourself acrobatically across the goal, meant you were out of position.
Steve said the great goalies were the ones where the ball just seemed to come to them.
Goalkeepers like Gordon Banks.
Of course they’d occasionally have to make spectacular saves.
But most of time they made it look effortless.
They’d be constantly reading the game, covering the angles, and they’d be in the spot the ball was most likely to end up.
It didn’t look like a great save because they’d done all the work beforehand.
So they didn’t have to fling themselves across the goal.
It reminded me of an interview Jonathan Pearce, the football commentator, had with Bobby Moore.
Bobby Moore was captain of the only English team ever to win the World Cup.
Jonathan Pearce said he’d played a lot of football himself before becoming a commentator.
Bobby Moore asked him if he’d ever fancied turning professional.
Pearce said “There was no point: I couldn’t head the ball, I couldn’t run much, in fact I never crossed the halfway line.”
Bobby Moore said “Leave off, you’re talking about my career.”
Jonathan Pearce said that stopped him dead.
He thought, he’s right.
One of the greatest players in the world and he didn’t run around doing spectacular things.
But wherever he was, the ball just seemed to come to him.
Because Bobby Moore was known as perhaps the greatest reader of the game, ever.
Watching the attack develop, watching the players running off the ball, not just the player with the ball.
Seeing which of the opposition was most likely to receive the ball.
Getting into position before they did.
So the ball just seemed to come to him.
In marketing terms, he was running a constant SWOT analysis on the game for the full ninety minutes.
SWOT is a marketing tool that’s fallen out of fashion.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
More fashionable formulas have taken over.
But it seems to me most of these fashionable formulas are just flashy gimmicks, crowd pleasers.
Because a lot of marketing is out of position.
We’re not constantly reading and anticipating the game as it develops.
So we’re surprised by what crops up.
And we have to do something spectacular to try to save the situation.
But that’s not the way the great practitioners in any sport or business behave.
Worrying about the latest flashy gimmicks instead of concentrating on the fundamentals.
We should be reading the game, analysing what’s developing, and we should be in position.
Like all the greats, we should constantly be doing a SWOT analysis.
Then there wouldn’t be any surprises.
Then we wouldn’t be out of position.
Then we wouldn’t need to make any spectacular saves.

I’ve been doing it for a long time, starting when running was just running.

No fancy fluorescent attire.

No distracting music systems.

No electronic monitoring gadgetry.

But I have gotten used to my iPod and my Sportwatch.

I bought my first Sportwatch last year and absolutely loved it. However it was lost in Argentina over the holidays, so when I returned home, I bought another.

It worked fine for awhile, then stopped finding the sensors that allow it to track my speed/distance.

I took it back to the store.

“Where and when did you buy it?” she asked.

“Your store, two months ago,” I responded.

She looked my purchase up on her system.

“Unfortunately, your purchase was made 64 days ago. Our warranty is 60 days.”

Now why would a technology manufacturer provide a 60-day warranty?

Is it because their technology is flakey and prone to failure?

At PowerStick.com, this is our warranty policy:

“If your Powerstick was purchased from our website or through our corporate branding division, you have a life-time warranty. In case of defect, you may return your PowerStick to be repaired or replaced.
This warranty will not apply to units that have been purchased from non-authorised sources or ones damaged through improper use.”

Not 60 days
Not 12 months
A Lifetime!

We believe in our products and believe that absolute satisfaction is what our customers deserve.

When you buy a new piece of technology, including ours, you should see a label which looks like this:

Have you ever wondered what all these symbols mean?

First of all, they mean that the manufacturer has taken both legal and ethical steps, to ensure that the product they are supplying meets all government safety standards.

Secondly, it means that the manufacturer has incurred lots of time and expense to ensure that its products meet or exceed these exact standards.

Technical products that are designed and manufactured in North America invariably have all of the prerequisite certifications. Many less expensive products that are made overseas, do not.

When a company submits its products for certification, they go through exacting scrutiny, which they realise must happen if they wish to sell their products in world markets.

If you see the UL, CSA, CE, or CCC symbols on your product, you know that they have been tested for safety, and that they won’t overheat or even explode in your hands.

With the FCC symbol, you know that it has been tested for radiation, so you are safe from emissions.

UL and CSA are interchangeable between the US and Canada. CE is Europe and CCC is China. Be careful if you are sending electronic gifts to an event being hosted in China, because if your product doesn’t have the CCC designation, it may be held by China customs.

Product safety and legal liability are interchangeable these days. If one elects to save money by buying and selling uncertified technology items, he or she should be well aware of the consequences if the unit overheats or worse, catches on fire.

All products designed and engineered by PowerStick.com go through all of the certifications necessary to give our distributors and their customers absolute peace of mind.

Less than two years ago, we were seven employees with a single product. Today, we have grown to twenty-five employees with four products, three more launching within the next few months and an additional four on the design table. Two years ago we had a single CES award; and now, today we have four in our trophy case. From a couple of salespeople and engineers, we have grown up to include customer service, production, industrial designers and design engineers.

We develop concepts, based on feedback and research that comes from you, our partners. From concepts we move onto prototypes, to pre-production and then to final production, all in less than six months. Along the way we may go through many iterations, because we have to get it right for us, and it has to be right for you, and your customers.

For us, quality has always been of greater concern than quantity.

We are an entrepreneurial organization, full of young and enthusiastic employees who share a customer-first culture. Our design and engineering teams are proud of their innovations and the delight they bring to customers. Their concerns for you are typical of a tightly-knit community, rather than a large-scale corporation.

From them, you always get beautifully designed and well-engineered gadgets that you are proud to present to your customers. When it comes to customer support, we are often told that we go above and beyond expectations.

We have an incredible year ahead of us with new technologies and markets, and exponential excitement. You won’t find us in Best Buy or Amazon; your clients can only buy our branded products from distributors like you, or unbranded and in small quantities from our website at full retail pricing.

In this column we will bring you current news of our company, our upcoming products and our ideas for future products.We welcome feedback, so please respond with your comments and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Nigel
CEO

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