Business Bricks

I like short copy. Always have. If you give people less words to play with, they write better. Like a review of 2 Fast 2 Furious: “Two fine performances, both by cars.” Or www.fwfr.com. Or 6 word sci-fi from 33 writers, 5 designers - inspired by that Hemingway once wrote a story in six words (”For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work.

by Phil.

Paul Graham lists the 18 mistakes that kill startups. “#1 Single Founder. What’s wrong with having one founder? To start with, it’s a vote of no confidence. It probably means the founder couldn’t talk any of his friends into starting the company with him. That’s pretty alarming, because his friends are the ones who know him best.”

Laura Barton made a good pick of Britain’s best 20 independent record shops in yesterday’s Guardian. I’ve shopped at seven out of 20: Rough Trade, Rounder Records, Selectadisc, Ray’s Jazz, Haggle Vinyl, Fopp, and Piccadilly Records. Edit out the descriptive stuff, and there are some really useful how-tos here - not only for indie record shops, but for indie retailers of any stripe. I made this quick list:

Start an album club. Customers sign-up to receive three, four, five or 10 CDs a month. - Rough Trade

Only hire people who can name at least 18 artists from 20 album titles. - Rounder Records

Call regulars with recommendations. - Disque

Introduce people to something they might not have heard. - Monorail Music

Offer a section for local artists, and a large noticeboard where you can advertise for a bassist. - Selectadisc

Offer mail order, because people have forgotten how to walk out of their houses. - Action Records

Love what you sell. - Clerkenwell Music

Do a maths degree. - Avalanche

Be like a delicatessen. - Reveal Records

Let shoppers haggle over price. - Haggle Vinyl

Be the opposite of a download. - Crash Records

Play your music very loud, so people can hear your shop before they get to it. - 3 Beat

Split your shop down the middle to form not one, but two shops. - Stand Out/ Minus Zero

Be a collector. Be sad when you sell a record. - Vox Pop