I was thinking about Apple’s iPhone when I was driving home yesterday. I became obsessed with the little gadget ever since I saw my blog on the iPhone. I love it so much that every time Apple’s commercial is on TV, my fiancée will try to cover my eyes and ears. I thought to myself some of the reasons why I like the $499 cell phone so much, which are almost all marketing related. This thought quickly moved onto what I can learn from Apple to help make myself rich. The first thing that came to mind afterwards was my income. Let’s face it, not everyone who does the same job earns the same salary. Let’s discuss how Apple charges $499 for a cell phone while other company sells theirs for $49 and how that relates to us.

Being Sexy
iPhone:
The phone has some very cool feature, and the blog showing up on the iPhone instantly connected with me. This made me want to buy it. At this point, it does not matter whether I really need it or not, because I will find a reason to convince myself of this need.

Us:
Create a reason for the company to want you. Salespeople like me simply do this by generating lots of sales. We have to remember that a company does not need any single employee. Many of us that think we are important to the company because we do everything are thinking in the wrong direction. The reason why people with the right attitude get promoted very quickly while people doing all the work don’t is because employers want the former, but only need the latter.

Stick with a Strong Core Competency
iPhone:
This cell phone is a consumer device. It has a great way to play music and a killer touch screen, but it is only mediocre as a phone because the device is quite hot after continual use so it is almost impossible to put against your ear. Also, the keypad that shows up on the touch screen just plain sucks. It is small and therefore impossible to type quickly. With the main features (phone and messaging) essentially bad, it still sold 500,000+ units in the first weekend because it does not have to be great at everything. People buy it because they like its strength (cool, great screen, everything an iPod has and more).

Us:
No one is good at everything, and we don’t need to be. I remember speaking to my friend a few years ago whether it is better to be mediocre in everything or be great at some but bad at others. For most of us, it is better to be great at something so there is something to recognize us by. Just remember that we are hired for a job because we can perform a specific purpose. It does not really matter if we are mediocre in sales, programming and accounting if we are working as an accountant. It is far more rewarding (to us, and to our company) if we are great at accounting since we are an accountant! This sounds pretty basic, but many of us know a little bit of so many things we wonder why people who don’t know as much are doing better than we are.

Let’s take Paris Hilton for example. Many would argue that she is a mess, which I tend to agree. However, one thing she knows how to do is market herself. She is able to turn her background into a multi-million dollar brand. She might be bad at everything else, but she is an amazing marketing machine.

Image is Everything
iPhone:
Apple has a reputation of engineering slick consumer products that works great. From the iBooks to iPods to the new iPhone, it just looks nice. This is built from the grounds up from the store to the website to the manuals along with the device itself. We subconsciously associate Apple with greatness, and even features that is not desirable is easier to ignore (people still buy the laptops even though there just aren’t as many applications readily available than Windows).

Us:
There is a saying that goes “dress for success”. We can argue all we want that Bill Gates dressed pretty sloppy but it was after he got successful. When he first started, he was wearing suits to see his first customers and even now when he comes on TV for an interview, he wears dress shirts and pants. We should always project an image to others that we are successful and it comes down to details like the clothes we wear. We don’t have to dress formal to work if it doesn’t require it, but don’t wear 15 year old white clothes that are turning yellow either. A good gauge is to look in the mirror each day and being able to tell ourselves that we look good today (those of us that have trouble with general taste might want to get a second opinion).

Don’t Be Afraid to Spend
iPhone:
Apple is not afraid to spend major time and marketing dollars. This is consistent from market research to TV commercials to high quality packaging material. This allows Apple to make the most profit because it can sell the most units by making a product that consumers want.

Us:
Sometimes it is more beneficial to spend some money. This is especially true in the job hunting process. This includes a good set of clothes for interviews, professional help to fix our resumes, and expensive paper to print the resumes on. Most of this involves creating a good image, which in turn creates the want that we mentioned above. For some types of jobs, it is also good to hire head hunters since they can most probably land us a better job based on of their connections with employers.

First is Not Always Best
iPhone:
Apple’s iPhone did not come out with the first cell phone, or the first portable phone to be able to go online. All they did was copied what worked with other phones and added their own touch. If you think back in history, most of the companies that became successful at something were not the company that invented it. These companies waited until others wasted all the time and money to create the need and want, then they stepped in and made a killer product that fill the spot.

Us:
Most of us don’t have time to invent the wheel. Part of the reason why experience at work is so important is because we can handle different situations based on what we have encountered in the past. The best people always try to adapt what was working in their old jobs when they moved to another company. They understand that there was a reason some things were done a particular way at their former jobs. Applying them again and again (although boring) just plain works. When you are at your current job, try to learn as much about how everything works as you can, since you never know how it might help you in the future.

There are so many things in life that inspire us to be rich. Today, it was the iPhone and it could be something else tomorrow. The key is to keep thinking about it because that is how we learn!