I still remember my first Clubhouse event ever, with Dr. Chris de Armitt (click here).
Almost one year has passed since our first online meeting, I have held one Clubhouse event per week, with the exception of one week, because I was flying in an aircraft at the same time when our regular 4×4 Innovation Meet happened.
And I have learned many new things from that experience over almost one year.
Please let me share.
The World Of Innovation Is Huge
Organizing and holding the weekly Clubhouse meeting showed me that the world of innovation is an exceedingly large space, and everything depends on the perspective.
When I started with my 4×4 Innovation Meet, I could not find any commonly used language. To start with the term "innovation" itself – which became a buzzword – there are dozens of different definitions. But after six months into my Clubhouse events, I was able to unify the language used, and especially that term "innovation" (click here). That came with an important tool that I have re-purposed for classifying innovation: the Ansoff Matrix. This would not have happened without my regular Clubhouse meetings.
If you have read my book "The 4×4 Innovation Strategy" (free download here), then you know that when it comes to describing innovation, I like to use the allegory of a forest and its trees. To me, innovation strategy is like a forest, and innovation tactics are the trees. If you see only the big picture forest, you miss out on the many details that require attention. And here is what I learned from reading the book "Serial Innovators" (click here): both my own book and the "Serial Innovators" book talk about the same "forest of trees", but from different perspectives. While my book stems from the lifelong experience of the practical side of innovation, the book "Serial Innovators" takes a scholarly approach to the same area. And that gave me even more insights into the area of innovation: how to explain to ordinary inventors where they are in their innovative journey, and who can be a true "serial innovator". That book was recommended to me by a participant of our regular clubhouse meetings. I would not have found it without being there.
I could continue this for hours. Our regular 4×4 Innovation Meets on Clubhouse are a valuable source of stimulation for my calling and for my job as a patent attorney.
The World Of Innovation Has Many Facets
As described in detail in my own book, the area of innovation comes with at least four (4) distinctive areas: research & development (R&D), Freedom-to-Operate (FTO), Intellectual Property (IP) and Market Response Testing. Plus the Innovation Financing part that plays such a big role today: most innovators are looking for investors even before they look for customers. Which is a big mistake in my opinion, but this is as it is.
Everything within the area of innovation is related. Everything functions within a well-ordered system. Successful innovators need to be able to switch their perspectives as needed, use the right tools at the right time, and also not waste time.
My own regular Clubhouse meetings, therefore, touch all these areas, and I must say that this constitutes probably the biggest difference when comparing the "4×4 Innovation Meets" with other events in the area of innovation.
Yes, we have sometimes 4×4 Innovation Meets that are heavy on the patent attorney side. But we also have 4×4 Innovation Meets that dig deep into the marketing side of innovation. And we discuss FTO issues on a regular basis, as well as techniques to improve R&D, and how to manage innovation.
You will probably not find any other regular interactive online event that touches on such varied issues in the area of innovation as we do.
I have set up an overview page with recurring interactive online IP events that I have identified over time (click here). The emphasis is on "interactive" here. It is required that the participants can take part in the online conversation if they want. In case you know of a recurring online event that is not yet listed there, please send me a message and will take that event up into my list below.
Online Meetings In The Area Of Innovation Serve Various Purposes
These are some of the purposes that come to my mind when I think about our 4×4 Innovation Meets:
- we highlight important literature when we touch on certain areas of innovation
- we share ideas that participants can pursue in their own daily work
- the 4×4 Innovation Meets are a platform for sourcing services in the area of innovation
- a lot of learning is provided to the participants because we come from very different areas
- we are a networking platform in the area of innovation
- we are a good mix of newbies and experienced people in the area of innovation
The people who attend the 4×4 Innovation Meets come from
the following backgrounds:
– marketing & sales experts
– engineers
– university teachers
– lawyers
– patent and trademark attorneys
– Intellectual Property (IP) service providers
– product development managers
– Intellectual Property (IP) managers
– start-up founders
– inventors
– serial innovators
– entrepreneurs
– law and engineering students who are seeking
direction
– investors
– venture capitalists
... and many more.
Why Trust Is So Important In Marketing
I found that the 4×4 Innovation Meets create a lot of trust between the participants. And trust is an important ingredient when it comes to marketing.
There are basically four things that you need from each new client: I call it "TiTTA"
The first "T" that you need stands for "thoughts". Think about attention, interest, fascination, excitement. If somebody never, ever thinks about you and your products and services, there will not be any deal. You have to get into your clients` thoughts, at least for a little while.
Example: when you hear "Singapore" or "Patent" then the first thing that you should think about is my name "Martin Schweiger". And that works, test me. Without paying for it, I own the first 3 result pages for a Google search for "Martin Schweiger Singapore" or "Martin Schweiger Patent".
The second "T" stands for "thirst". Thirst as in desire, longing, want, need. Thirst can come from greed, from fear, or from a dream. If somebody doesn't want your products or services, there will not be any deal. Open objections will reduce the thirst for your products or services. So if you can increase the pain, the greed or the dream, and also remove the objections, you are ready to sell.
The third "T" stands for trust. Trust as in social proof, authority, reciprocal liking. There are four kinds of trust, and a buyer needs all of them. Buyers need trust in you or in your business, they need to trust your product or your service, they need to trust in themselves, and they need to trust in the future. And all of that, of course, depends on the size of the purchase that they are going to male. So different levels of trust are required when you buy a candy bar as compared with buying a used car.
The capital "A" in "TiTTA" stands for attention, and your new clients need some attention because otherwise there are a thousand other things that take priority. Think about scarcity, deadlines, consistency. Attention leads to motivation and action. If you have the attention of your client, it is easy to make a sale.
The small "i" in "TiTTA" has no meaning. But it makes the formula "TiTTA" easier to pronounce and remember.
The Most Active Participants Are Those That Are On Social Media Anyway
The social network of choice in the area of innovation is clearly LinkedIn.
This is a group for successful innovators and for successful people who work with innovators.
We have our weekly "4×4 Innovation Meet" on Clubhouse, every Thursday 22:00pm Singapore time (which is 00:00am Melbourne time, 16:00pm Munich time, 09:00am Chicago time, and 07:00 am San Francisco time)
The 4×4 Innovation Meet covers a large territory: R&D, Freedom-to-Operate, Intellectual Property, market response testing, innovators & entrepreneurs psychology, innovation management, company structuring for making innovation happen, just a few that come to my mind, innovation financing, company structuring, and practice for building a sellable company that makes innovation happen ("build to sell"). And all this from a pragmatic point of view
New posts are welcome! Please note that our group is extremely value-driven. This means that new posts should aim to improve Return-on-Investment (RoI) when it comes to time spent. If you want to have a head-start it is recommended to read the free version of the "4×4 Innovation Strategy" book, here bit.ly/4x4innovation. It is also helpful to read through the earlier events, there are plenty of materials provided.
Audio-Only Online Meetings Are Easier To Manage Than Video Online Meetings
What I found out over time is that people like these audio-only events because they are so easy to attend. All what you need is a smartphone and a headset. No need to arrange a camera and a lighting system. I have one participant who walks his dog while attending our 4×4 Innovation Meets.
Another advantage is that no attendee can show Powerpoint slides. Everything has to be communicated over audio. That forces people to be on the point.
No, You Do Not Need To Record Audio Meetings For Later Use
I have started with recording the 4×4 Innovation Meets but that turned out to be useless. Nobody is listening to old recordings. Those who attend take a note or two for following up at a later time, and that is it.
Easy.
Other Findings About Holding Clubhouse Events
This is how it works, how you get leads and clients on clubhouse: during the event, have a helper who identifies those people that take part in the event. Check out their profiles and contact them over email or LinkedIn.
Those who join over the parallel LinkedIn event (click here for my own example) are identified there so that you can contact them directly. Build up your mailing list and the list of your LinkedIn contacts.
While the above are the mechanics, there is a crucial marketing element to Clubhouse: audio-only is an amazing trust-builder. From listening to a spoken voice, people can immediately distinguish a genuine person from a fake. And the entire attention is on the voice in Social Audio Media.
Audio works much quicker than any other media. Voice is all about social proof, authority, and liking reciprocity. Some call it the "campfire effect".
Now imagine yourself at a campfire. It's late at night. You have great conversations. The darker it gets, the more prominent the audio becomes, while the visual stimuli are going down. The audio becomes more important. And that is the entire experience of people in Clubhouse as well. It is audio only, it is alive. Clubhouse is not just listening to a podcast or to a radio show. It's a live interactive conversation that you are part of or that you are listening to. A Clubhouse event is also entirely different from Zoom etc. where you also have a video.
Starting and ending the event on time is crucial.
Starting to discuss a new matter when there are only 15v minutes left does not make sense. It is then better to finish 10 minutes early.
Slides can be shared with the attendees via SlideShare (click here).
A group chat for the Clubhouse room can be organized as part of a parallel LinkedIn event. I have done so for my own Clubhouse events and I publish the group chat in a short article after the Clubhouse event, together with an audio recording of the event.
The advantage for the listeners is that – if they don´t like the talk – they can sneak out silently for coffee and come back at a later time. Nobody notices that practice in Clubhouse. Good.
Clubhouse is a new medium that comes with its own advantages. One of these advantages is that it avoids some annoying aspects of social media, like snarky comments from "Anonymous".
In short words, I will keep the 4×4 Innovation Meets and they are part of my regular schedule.
Call To Action
If you have not yet done so, join our 4×4 Innovation Group on LinkedIn, here https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13984404/ You find our meetings advertised there.
Then install the Clubhouse app on your smartphone. Have a cable headset ready, don't use Bluetooth connections.
And then join us in one of our next 4×4 Innovation Meets, every Thursday 22:00pm Singapore time (which is 00:00am Melbourne time, 16:00pm Munich time, 09:00am Chicago time, and 07:00 am San Francisco time).
Martin "4×4 Innovation Meet" Schweiger
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.