Guy Kawasaki

Guy rose to fame as chief evangelist of Apple, where he worked to show people all over the world how Apple products and software could make their lives better.

He was raised in a lower middle class family in Honolulu, HI, and really had no idea what he wanted to be when he grew up. But he did know one thing: technology was bound to play a big role in his life. At Stanford, his friend and roommate Mike Boich introduced him to the Apple I and the Apple II, and he says the scales lifted from his eyes.

He was amazed at how much easier life was with the Apple. Its word-processing function was light years ahead of the old IBM Selectric typewriter he used to create term papers. How cool was this, and how could he not share this with the world?

Guy started his career in the jewelry business where he learned some valuable lessons about the importance of sales. Sometime later his friend Mike, who was an employee of Apple, hired Guy on as chief evangelist. Guy explains that an evangelist simply shares the good news about something with people.

His job as chief evangelist of Apple consisted mainly of persuading software developers to create software for the new Macintosh computer. By 1987 the Macintosh had plenty of software, and his job was done.

Guy has since been involved in many other ventures, including another stint at Apple from 1995 to 1997 where he revived the Macintosh cult. However his main endeavors have been speaking, writing and consulting. And last year, he resurrected his chief evangelist role for a company called Canva, which provides an online graphic design service. Canva’s goal is to democratize design.

There is a lot more to this episode with Guy, so be sure to tune in to hear it all!

Please join us in thanking Guy for being here today, and thanks to you for joining us too! We’ll see you next time on WordPress Elevation.

Elevation Round

Q: What’s the #1 thing any freelancer needs to know?

A: That they need to pay their dues. Don’t have the attitude that I’m not going to do anything for free or on spec. When I started speaking, I spoke for free.

Q: What’s the best thing you’ve done to find new customers?

A: “Guy’s golden touch.” Whatever is gold, Guy touches. The key to marketing and sales is to find or create something great. It’s so easy to evangelize for a great product.

Q: How do you stop competing on price?

A: At some level you have to. I’m not against premium pricing, but price is a variable. Your goal should be to have a valuable service that is unique. If it’s valuable but not unique, it’s always about price. If it’s unique but not valuable, nobody will be interested.

Q: Any tips for writing better proposals?

A: Never written one but shorter is better I would think.

Q: What’s your favorite CRM tool?

A: This is my CRM tool [Guy pointing to his brain].

Q: What’s the best way to keep a project and a client on track?

A: To have to pay tuition for four kids to go to college!

Q: Any ideas for getting referrals from existing customers?

A: That’s easy. Do a great job.

Q: What’s the #1 thing you can do to differentiate yourself?

A: That’s easy. Do a great job.