Shoedog: Business Takeaways from The Creator of Nike

I share key business takeaways from Phill Knight (well, from his memoir!) the creator of Nike, one of the most successful brands of all time…

I love reading books! Absorbing as much knowledge as possible. I try with audio books, but when I am tired I often end up falling asleep so I normally stick to doing it the old fashion way!

I like to try and get through a book or two a week – almost always business related of course – and I’ll be bringing you the key takeaways from some of my recent reading. Now is definitely the time to get stuck into those books you’ve never got round to!

Going forward, I’ll be posting loads of reviews of memoirs, autobiographies, biographies and more from across the entire business world. First up is this fascinating book about Nike’s journey from a tiny shoe distributor to one of the most recognisable and successful brands of all time…

The very first part of selling anything – whether it’s a product, or yourself and your skills – is being noticed. If people can’t see or hear you, they won’t buy from you, it’s as simple as that.

So what can you do to get noticed?

Being visible means putting yourself out there. So get over your embarrassment, or worrying about what other people think, and just BE YOURSELF. Talk about what you know, share what interests you, give your followers your own take on things. Don’t try and pretend to be something or someone you’re not, but don’t limit yourself either. If you’ve never done video content, Facebook Live or TikTok before – ask yourself, what’s the worst that could happen?! Here’s my guide on how to make worthwhile content.

If the answer is ‘I’m worried people won’t like it’ or ‘I don’t know how’ then educate yourself! Try it, see what the reaction is, and deal with it from there! The only real failure is not trying. 

Ignore the haters

Not everyone is always going to like every single thing that you do. If someone thinks that your latest post or video is shit – so what?! Who cares! Building your audience is about gathering people around who DO share your values, and have a genuine interest in hearing what you have to say. The people who don’t like it are going to have their bitch and moan and then piss off to moan about someone else – so let them go! Letting go of the haters is a key business takeaway.

I’ve had my fair share of negative comments and trolls online. In fact my team joined me to film a video about it for IGTV! But I also know that for every one vocal person telling me I’m shit, there’s hundreds of others who have not left a comment, but follow and like what I do. So pay attention to the positive, and forget about the negative!

Don’t be dull!

The number of followers you have at the moment is exactly the number you deserve. If it’s not where you want it to be – then change it! It’s just a matter of putting the effort in.

If you’re not getting any engagement, look at what sort of content you’re putting out there. Would YOU pay any attention to it?! If not, why not?! If it’s just boring corporate bullshit then no wonder people scroll on by.

The other reason people don’t see any growth is because their content is not consistent. If you only post once a month, don’t be surprised when no-one sees your content. You have to post very regularly, and put the work in. It does take time, but if you’re serious about growing your following, it’s time well spent.

Collaborate!

This is something I spoke about in a recent Young Money video with Harlie and her friend, the talented junior racing driver Maxwell Dodds.

Content is what retains your audience and stops them unfollowing you. But the best way to increase your audience is through collaborations – ideally someone with a similar size audience, but in a different area. This example is perfect really – Harlie’s a girl who loves horses, and Maxwell’s a boy into his cars, so each of them will have completely different audiences! If they were to collaborate then they’ll each have access to these new audiences.

How do you find these collaborators? Ask them! DM them! You have nothing to lose. Even if only two or three reply, you then have two or three new collaborators.

Competitions are great for engagement

Competitions are great for engagement on social and it’s something I’ve been getting increasingly involved in. I’m lucky enough to know a lot of influencers very well so have been getting them on board to promote some of these competitions – but it’s vital these link-ups are authentic. There needs to be a genuine reason for people collaborating to be together – no-one would believe a social media link up between Jeremy Corbyn and Kim Kardashian!! So that’s why I only do it with people I’ve got an actual relationship with. Maybe we’ve done a podcast, or even had a night out together and there are some good photos of us enjoying ourselves! We don’t have to be best buddies – but as long as we know each other, both of our audiences will believe in the collaboration and will be far more likely to engage with it. 

Keep an eye out for more business takeaway blogs to come! 

If you want to check out the kind of stuff I post on social, you can follow my LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube channels. There’s a real mix – everything from interviews with business and sporting legends through to stories from my nights out! Check it out and let me know what you think – I’m always happy to hear your suggestions, I read all the comments! Also take a look at my ‘day job’ – funding businesses of all shapes and sizes.