Steve Jobs' impact on your life

 Thanks Angie for finding and sharing this article:
I just thought I would share this article on Steve Jobs, his rules and
values for his success can relate a lot to building a successful business
Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be underestimated. His innovations
have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and
mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation
can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of
principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life.
Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us
can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the
world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be
entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured
out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him.
Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He
once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your
life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight
of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He
meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things
that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical
use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India
and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect
ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to
do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a
company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year
period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying
"no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in
the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for
the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just
moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience
you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life
and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand.
What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if
you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's
greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation
like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he
entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he
really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our
imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front
of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't
care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their
ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams,
you'll win them over.

There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive
who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and
asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice
he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself,
believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

Carmine Gallo is a communications coach, a popular keynote speaker and
author of several books including The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and
The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs. His latest is The Power of Foursquare
(McGraw-Hill, 2011).