Anyone working in business will tell you (and if they won’t, I will) — watch what your largest customers are doing.
What killed the video store? Online movies, On-Demand, NetFlix, iTunes, etc. Now I was a once a week rental guy, if that. But when their 7 day a week movie fanatics (the guys or girls that waited at the door for the latest release) went to 4 a week to 3 a week, to one a month — the signs were there, but was anyone listening?
Those loyalists are your foundation — absolutely critical relationships. Blockbuster is still playing catch up from their bricks and mortar strategy to a clicks, order and mortar strategy. Stubbornness, did someone not act, or a case of rolling over and playing victim? Even better, let’s blame gas prices and the economy!
Your loyalists may not necessarily be fans — if you’re providing convenience and someone else enters the marketplace with more convenience, you’re history. I refer to that as loyally screwed.
Convert your loyalists to fans for a stronger foundation and begin to LISTEN.
You can see your own future, your crystal ball is at your fingertips — all you have to do is listen. You may be able to determine the next curve in your industry through these relationships — pay very close attention.
Let’s face it. There’s been a lot of talk about Snuggies in pop culture this year. “The blanket with sleeves” came out of nowhere and gripped the nation. From themed bar tours to the Washington Post’s annual Peeps diorama contest, you’re never far from Snuggie’s influence.
And if that weren’t enough, the brains that brought you the outstanding three-color collection have upped their game and expanded their product line to include… collegiate licensed Snuggies!
If you haven’t seen them in their full glory, take a gander:
Picture Source: Blanket Wars (Even better, this picture is from a blog post entitled “OU Will Choke Versus Texas.”)
How does one make an eyesore like the Snuggie even more hideous? Make it look like it was made from the contents of the clearance rack at the fabric store. That fabric ain’t just for pajamas anymore!
Though I’m not (yet) a member of the cult of the Snuggie, I understand why people would buy them. Who doesn’t like being warm? And being able to eat whilst wearing a blanket? Or the ability to change channels without exposing bare arms to the draft of a room?
I also understand why people would want collegiate Snuggies in particular. Every sports fan relishes the opportunity to show off a little team spirit. I mean, if I got a Snuggie, you’d be darn sure I’d get a college team one. (Looks like I’d have to get Texas though, because the makers of Snuggie don’t offer a UVA one. Good research on that one, I must admit. They know their audience, and UVA alums likely wouldn’t bother with a Snuggie: it would clash with their ties or pearls.)
Well, instead of continuing to mock Snuggie, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and offer a design suggestion: K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid.) Good design should be minimalist, simple and straightforward. Not cluttered.
How should Snuggie go about this? Pretend to make team sweatshirts, just with tons more fabric. Like this:
Or this:
Yes, UVA can have its own Snuggie after all!
Texas should prominently display the Longhorn logo on burnt orange. Carolina the interlocking NC on its signature Carolina blue hue. Virginia Tech would use the interconnected VT. Florida: the Gator. The Jayhawk for Kansas. You get the picture. Make it simple. Make the primary team color the star, not the blinding repetition of several logos.
How would you redesign the collegiate Snuggie? Would you make them like replica jerseys with the ability to personalize a name and number on the back? Add a belt in a contrasting color? Build in a foam finger at the end of one sleeve? Share your ideas in the comments section!
Pe când mergeam în lumea mea cu căştile la urechi, îmi lovesc ochii de o maşină mare pe care trebuia să o înconjor, pentru că dragului de şofer i-a fost mult mai uşor să parcheze pe trotuar să descarce marfa decât acolo unde ar trebui regulamentar. Pe când m-am apropiat de gigantul cu motor şi bujii, m-a plesnit în faţă motto-ul ce scria pe maşină. “Ca să trăieşti sănătos, trebuie să consumi pită de lugaş”.
Am eu aşa o “fiţă” să studiez motto-urile astea, să găsesc greşelile şi să “sancţionez” pe cei care se cred “profesionişti” şi nu folosesc diacriticile. E păcatul meu şi merg cu el.Asta e.
Dar să revenim la “pita de lugaş” a noastră. După ce am citit, recitit, oprit şi belit ochii la motto, mi-am urmat drumul şi mă bătea un gând. “Ca să trăieşti sănătos, trebuie să consumi pită de lugaş“.
CONSUMÁ vb. 1. a folosi, a întrebuința, a utiliza, (înv.) a metahirisi. (A ~ doi metri de sfoară pentru…) 2. v. pierde. (Și-a ~ toată ziua reparând bicicleta.) 3. v. mânca. 4. v. bea. 5. a cheltui. (~ energie.) 6. (fig.) a înghiți, a mânca. (Soba ~ multe lemne.) 7. a intra, a merge. (Se ~ mult unt la această mâncare.) 8. a (se) epuiza, a (se) isprăvi, a (se) sfârși, a (se) termina, (reg.) a (se) găti, (fig.) a (se) topi. (A ~ toate proviziile.)
PÍTĂ, pite, s.f. (Reg.) 1. Pâine. 2. Fig. Hrană necesară pentru trai; mijloace de existență;
Poate că încă nu vi se pare relevant sau chiar normal dar pe mine unul mă cam calcă pe nervi. Ţăranii(respect) şi chiar şi noi, cei care trăim în oraşe şi ne credem orăşeni că doar avem o facultate şi ne credem culţi, folosim acest termen pentru pâine/pită. Îl folosim când suntem undeva într-un cerc unde ne permitem să fim “ţărani”, un cerc mai familiar, un cerc mai relaxat, DAR acolo unde încercăm să fim ca toţi cei din jur şi nu e “normal” să folosim cuvântul “pită” folosim termenul de “pâine”, că doar ne facem de râs sau ne scade popularitatea. Deşi dacă stăm să ne gândim, pâine sună mai dulce decât pită, dar pită e mai familiar decât pâine şi mai ales că “pită” e de la mama ei de acasă.
Dar să revenim. Cum poţi folosi cuvântul “a consuma” în aceeaşi propoziţie cu “pită”?
Am ajuns să trăim această boală a “crizei” pentru că am consumat mai mult decât am produs. Deci. Negativ
Cum e posibil să pui un cuvânt folosit ca regionalism cu un cuvânt care e folosit deobicei în termeni economici şi nu numai?. Adică, ţăranul care foloseşte “pită” nu se va gândi el “oare consum prea multă pită?” sau oricare alt gând unde există în aceeaşi propoziţie “a consuma” cu “pită”.
Poate că “idiotul” sau “idealistul” sau “cel cu idei” sau… a vrut ca să-l urbanizeze pe “pită” dar să nu cumva să îi iasă din brand. Dacă e “pită de lugaş” atunci lasă d-le ca toate cuvintele din motto să fie pe aceeaşi lungime de undă, brand-uieştel cu regionalisme şi crede-mă că vei fi mai respectat decât dacă încerci să-l urbanizezi.
It’s that time of year again when everyone is counting down the top moments of 2009: the top movies, the top songs, the top news stories, etc. In the spirit of the season, this week’s post is dedicated to the most read articles posted on my blog this year. Without further ado, here is the Top 10 Posts of 2009:
1. How to Setup a Facebook Business Page
2. Twitter Your Way to New Clients, Part One
3. Worksheet: Using LinkedIn to Market Your Business
4. How to Construct a Marketing Plan & Budget
5. How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business, Part One
6. Worksheet: Twitter Your Way to New Clients
7. A Social Media Marketing Success Story (Guest post by Cathy Curtis, CFP®)
8. Touch Your Clients 24 Times per Year without Breaking a Sweat
9. Four Marketing Mistakes Every Advisor Should Avoid
10. Social Media Marketing for the Everyday Advisor
I look forward to helping you prosper in 2010 by providing you with more great marketing tips and strategies through this blog. Happy New Year! Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.
as i wrote earlier, i had this project on my mind for over three years. now i’m constantly hitting reminders of the fact that i may have hesitated for too long …
first i hit that with the name/domain issue. then we found out there is a similar project launched by a university team on a non-for-profit basis and funded by government grants. now, after we developed a marketing concept, we have discovered that the same idea is embedded into the university project as well.
now i have another dilemma. i like our concept. we have developed several characters with different profiles like age, interests, reading preferences and so on. each profile has a cartoon “personality” and is to be linked to parts of the portal content so that it’s easier for users to navigate. and now i found out that exactly the same scheme is already implemented (may in a less sophisticated way, but the main idea is still the same) in the university project.
so the dilemma is – if i stick to our marketing concept, will it look like we are plagiarizing the university project or is it possible to make it work anyway?
What make a consumer buy? This the core question of any business….and everything is business. Don’t mistake that. You are always selling something. Maybe you are selling attendance to an event, or a line of sweaters, or tax advice or yourself to get a new job. No matter what you are always selling.
So the major question of every endeavor becomes…..what makes a person buy?
The answer is quite simple and complicated at the same time. People buy a good story.
As humans we are all connected to our emotions, so more, some less. But all connected none the less. When we tell an effective story, one that combines our passion, our product, our beliefs, our struggle and our success…our listeners become engaged. They want to know more and they want to participate.
The greatest teachers I have ever had were great storytellers. The were able to wrap wisdom and learning into a great fable that answered the “Why’s” and “How’s”. I would also say the same of the greatest sales professionals I have ever met….and the greatest entrepreneurs.
Take a moment and think of Steve Jobs. He is responsible for selling the story of Apple. He has the most fanatical users and has established his company as an innovator by telling a story of the triumph of design. He is known as being ruthless on design specific details. His keynotes are riddled with references to poor design and it’s even prevalent in the uber-famous “Mac vs, PC” commercials.
His story is consistent and engaging. It speaks to a niche population but invites in anyone who may be listening with a small amount of interest. Mostly though, the story is authentically Steve Jobs. Some will argue that the story then will die with Steve Jobs. I challenge that it is too soon to see where the story will lead.
When you choose to root your business strategies in the art of storytelling, you are opening your business to be flexible and to grow. A traditional fable takes twists and turns, embraces new characters and takes on new risks. But it also has a core set of values. These are what guide the customer through the transition of characters and ultimately drive the engagement with the product.
In this day and age, a business cannot be nameless and faceless. Consumers are demanding that “Oz” be revealed. Let the world see that you are behind the business. Let them understand and relate to you as a person. Share your successes, failures, dreams and accolades. Your story is the story of your business.
Here are 3 steps to crafting and sharing your story.
1. Determine your core values – What do you and your business stand for? Many a motivational and business speaker have discussed virtues of having defined values. They were right. I’ll also say that these values should be realistic and able to be upheld. Identify 3 strong values that your customers can count on receiving each and every time they interact with your product. From “Fun” to “Honesty”, take the time to Identify and Define these.
2. Define where and how you communicate - Really these two are at the core of all marketing plans and should be at the core of your business strategy. If you don’t have a pre-determiend path you’ll spend all your time looking for the right path. Forget “right” for now and focus on movement. Will you reach your customers via Social Media, print ads, Radio, direct mail, phone call, horse and buggy, lighting of lamps….you get the point. Figure out where you want to put your focus and then start applying your values to that message. Think “soft sell” in this part and leave the hard sell to the so called advertising professionals.
3. Listen to the story you are telling – Too many business owners and professional marketers get caught up int he details of what they are trying to share. do yourself a favor, go find a six year old and ask them if they understand what you are saying. If they get it and are excited by it, your on the right track…if not, time to re-evaluate. Keep it simple and focus on the big picture. What gets people excited about your product? What builds engagement? These will lead to the deeper questions down the road.
Your ability to tell a great story will have a profound impact on your business if you take the time to build it. These tips and this concept is not a simple “How To”. This a concept and mind set that you must adopt….for the long term.
Salah satu iklan Walls yang istimewa, Saya selalu suka iklan ini. Menurut saya, iklan ini berhasil menarik perhatian saya, karena pada akhir iklan tersebut berhasil membuat saya tersenyum “nyengir” tidak jelas.
Iklan ini ditujukan untuk kaum muda atau lebih tepatnya remaja. Hal tersebut dapat kita lihat penggunaan RAN sebagai lambang dari anak muda yang dinamis, kreatif dan aktif. Saya rasa penggunaan RAN tersebut adalah hal yang tepat. Kenapa? di satu sisi RAN cukup digemari remaja dengan aliran musik mereka yang ringan dan ceria. Hal ini menjadi salah satu keunggulan tersendiri dari RAN, karena aliran musik tersebut cocok dengan remaja yang tidak menyukai hal-hal yang memusingkan diri mereka.
Hal kedua yang menjadi titik kecocokan antara walls connelo dengan RAN adalah tema dari keda belah pihak yang mengusung tema “cinta”. Tema tersebut terlihat dari bentuk skenario drama sang cowok mau nembak sang kekasih, yang notabene menggunakan cara kreatif. hihihi, lucu banget iklannya..
Hal menarik lainnya dari iklan tersebut adalah konsistensi penggunaan lingkungan taman. Tempat ini adalah sarana paling mudah untuk menggambarkan suasana ceria, tempat orang untuk melakukan berbagai aktifitas, dari mulai berolahraga, santai untuk menyegarkan pikiran, sampai dengan tempat menyatukan dua hati, sebagaimana tema walls “2 become 1“. Walaupun terkesan kurang kreatif, karena tema ini juga digunakan di iklan Walls negara lain, menurut saya iklan ini cukup berhasil meningkatkan “brand awareness” dari calon konsumen es krim tersebut
The fourth in series of ten posts in a series titled: 10 Essential B2B Sales Rep Attributes (and their 10 Essential Opposites).
If you have not seen the first three seasons of Mad Men, buy them from iTunes, go to the library and borrow them, or set up your DVR to record them. It is one of the best ever television shows on sales and selling. The main character, Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), is a great communicator. The character has a tremendous ability to communicate ideas that persuade the prospects and clients of his advertising firm, Sterling Cooper, as evidenced here.
The Great Communicator
One of the most valuable attributes a salesperson can possess is the ability to clearly and effectively communicate ideas. Great salespeople have this ability and the accompanying benefit of being able to use it to persuade or influence people. Salespeople with poor communication skills (both oral and written), have a tougher time making their message clear and lose the trust and confidence of their prospects.
What happens when a salesperson can’t come up with the words or the message that would influence the prospect to take action? A lost opportunity. What is the result when the great communicator with a mediocre product or service goes up against the poor communicator with a great product or service? The great communicator often wins.
But the dark side of this powerful attribute is that the great communicator uses this skill too much. Because they can speak, because they can entertain, and because they can tell a great story, they do. Heaven forbid they get too excited about their product or service; there is no stopping them. Because their skill is in speaking, they speak when they should do something else equally or more powerful.
The Great Listener
Listening is a form of communication with a more powerful impact than speaking. When you listen you convey they message that the person who is speaking is important and that what they have to say is interesting and important to you. Listening is one of the most powerful ways we communicate that we care about the other person and their ideas. The person speaking can see and feel that you are truly listening. This generates a trust and a confidence that is difficult to match by anything you might say.
What is the danger for those that don’t (or can’t) listen? They convey an important message too, one they may not mean to convey. Their message is: “What you have to say is not important enough for me to listen to.” Too often this is the curse of the great communicator: they are working on what they will say next instead of listening with the intention of of understanding and demonstrating that they care.
Conclusion
A great salesperson must possess the ability to communicate. This includes the ability to communicate that they care, which is done most effectively by listening. As in each of the prior the three essential attributes, this is a difficult balancing act.
One of my great mentors in sales had the ability to ask three or four questions on a sales call, saying very little, but expressing how much he cared by listening. He made more deals with fewer of his own spoken words than I believed was possible then (or now). At the time, I struggled to understand how he won deals without communicating our ideas or our value proposition. It took me years to learn that he communicated something far more important. Something he communicated without words.
Questions
How much time on a sales encounter do you spend speaking? How much listening?
Divide the first number by the second number. This is the Caring Ratio. If it is higher than 1, you are talking too much.
Are your speaking skills what they should be? Have you joined Toastmasters?
What is the message you are communicating when the prospect or client is speaking?
What could you do to convey a more powerful message when the client is speaking? Who would you have to be in order to convey that message?
This whole 10 part series was put together by S. Anthony Iannarino, please check out his blog for more great info Thesalesblog.com
I’m a person who really likes to get involved, with anything, really. I have a wide range of interests, and often like to find out more or get some hands on experience. That’s why I write for the school paper, tried and am training for both track and rugby, singing in choirs, work at several places, am learning chinese opera, volunteer for events, and now, it may seem, I’ve got myself involved with the local asian canadian theatre.
I think it’s a lie when I say I don’t plan to be this busy; to some extent, I do. I like seeing new things, and meeting new people, so I put myself out there. Being with the paper definitely taught me a few things in meeting new people and making things happen for yourself, which is terrific. But I digress.
What I really want to talk about is, the curious nibbet of realisation I’ve had so far. So I had emailed the volunteers coordinator for the local asian canadian theatre about volunteering, maybe with the lighting or sound, something I’ve always wanted to get better at. I get an email to meet up with the founder of the group, and so I did.
And I kind of expected what happened next. Besides being told what the group was all about and checking what my availability was, I was also somehow roped in to help with the marketing, aka put up posters and tell my friends to come watch the shows.
The same thing happened with my other group. They were all so keen for me to get onboard, so I could get my friends to come watch the shows.
To be honest, most of my friends are immensely broke. I lived with some of them, and I was also as broke as them. For an entire month, I survived on rice and onions because I couldn’t afford groceries, though that was a bad month. But you get the idea. No one was going to pay $30 unless it was a really good show. And really, if they did pay that much to watch a show of yours, they would only do so if you were one of the leads at the very least.
I don’t mind helping with the marketing, but I can’t gurantee anything. I hate feeling like I have to do it, being pressured into doing this. And I barely know these people. I hate how they get super excited and optimistic when they tell me how it’s so hard to sell tickets now, and how would I feel asking my friends to come for the shows?
The lady I met with talked about how it’s so hard to get kids from my generation to come out and watch plays, but I don’t think it’s true. Well, not entirely true. I, personally, find it extremely hard to get out of campus and sit on the transit for hours just to catch a play. I usually can’t afford to watch the plays (writing reviews for your school paper = free tickets), and I usually also don’t have the time or energy. I do watch plays, but only if it’s by a really good company, a really good play, or on campus. If plays were more affordable, I would go more often.
All the theatre groups I’m involved with are very niche-d groups; they kind of only cater to a certain type of people, which isn’t bad. It’s just harder to push for sales.
Oh well. I guess that is a problem with most independant theatre groups. It’s all about earning at least just enough so you can put up another show after the last.
Ok. I realise there is no “point” to this post, so I’m going off. Studying for finals really put my off me regular sleeping schedule.
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Businesses & consumers have begun to embrace online videos in recent months more than ever before, with viewers reaching 168 million in September. And with the online video surge, arrives a distinct business investment splurge on video advertising. The research firm e-Marketer projects a 35 to 45% growth in online video advertising for each of the next five years.
YouTube, the renowned media marketing giant, acquired by the mega-marketing internet search engine, Google, has contributed much to this evolution. How?
Posting a YouTube video incurs a $0 investment. As a business marketer, you can align your promotion with your company marketing budget to create the appropriate video advertisement. Some techniques include: infomercials, presentations, trainings, testimonials, property tours, and video blogs.
YouTube’s “feedback analysis” tools persistently co-developed by the technical brilliance of Google, allows automated consumer behavioral analysis for businesses to target their internet marketing investments. YouTube & Google technicians are also testing the ability to add video captions to all online videos, allowing businesses to search engine optimize their video posts using the familiar techniques utilized by businesses to attract users to their online portfolio(s) & network(s).
YouTube accounts for 40% of all online video views. It is essential for businesses to identify their target consumer, grab their attention, elicit reaction, and escort them to take action. And unlike TV advertising, this does not necessarily call for professional production(s).
Internet Marketing specialist, Rohit Barman President of DPS America boldly claims that, “YouTube is the stepchild of social media marketing, with significantly more marketing potential than his sister social media networks”.
By Bruce Lacey
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The seminar follows the life cycle of creating a convincing online presence, while identifying the key components of branding, drawing an audience to a firm’s online portal, engaging an established network through viral promotions, and expanding consumer base through extensive internet marketing campaigns.”
Ernest Hemingway was famous for his sharp, sparse prose, but he never pretended it was easy. He once confided to writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, “I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit.“
Hemingway’s influence on modern writing is staggering. Couple that with his bullish, machismo persona and it’s no wonder his advice and his work continues to haunt writers to this day.
In a nutshell, he seems always to have believed that less is more when it comes to writing. It’s been a while since I read his work. A few years ago I read all of his novels in succession, but I haven’t revisited them since. I remember being awestruck by the amount of detail he was able to convey in the dialogue between characters.
Hemingway had this theory that writing should be like an iceberg:
If a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.
Knowing that Hemingway was all about economizing words, I always felt that his heavy use of dialogue (in comparison to other works of fiction I’d read with the exception of say, Raymond Carver) somehow fit that purpose, but I never understood how until I read his iceberg theory.
If you want to know a person as quickly as possible, do you go ask their friends to describe them for you? Isn’t the fastest way to know a person to speak with them directly?
One hundred words of intensely personal dialogue could take a thousand words to convey with description and by then the impact will be diluted. Then again, I don’t write fiction, only bullshit. I don’t get a lot of opportunities to write fictional dialogue.
Can you think of ways to use more dialogue into your writing? Are there other writing tools you employ that allow you to say more with less?
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More marketing tips can be found at: www.attractcustomerslikecrazy.com … Marketing Strategy Strategies Small Business Consulting Services Markeitng plan ideas marketing know-how Teleclasses Pound independent service professionals sell services to more customers with professional business plan writing me my free content coaching mentors Adam Urbanski
See Also : DIY home management.blogs.thaihealth.net project-management.blogs.thaihealth.net strategic-planning.blogs.thaihealth.net
I know a guy that is never wrong. Ever! I kid you not, if he hits a curb pulling into the grocery store, it is the @#$% engineer’s fault for not knowing how to design a parking lot.
Now, before any clients or prospects get the wrong idea (sorry, I could not resist) allow me to explain what I mean when I say I love it when I am wrong…I am not talking about ‘not in accordance with what is morally right’ but rather ‘in error’.
The reason I enjoy being wrong is that, through the years, as I have often been wrong, I learn and grow from each experience where what I thought to be true, turned out not to be so.
Therefore, in order to share my “growth” experiences, here is a list of things where I was quite wrong.
Sushi – I use to think that the only reason anyone would eat sushi is so they could say, “I eat sushi.” That there was no possible way it could, in fact, be something somebody would want to eat.
I was wrong.
Napoleon Dynamite – The friend who told me about this movie, in my mind and at the time, way over-sold it. There was no way it could be as brilliant and funny as he described and, to be honest, the first time I watched it I was only ‘half wrong’. However, after the second, third, fourth and fifth times…I revel in its humor and brilliance. (Vote for Pedro!)
I was wrong.
Bob Chinn’s Crab House – I have many favorite eating establishments in Chicago but one in particular was a Polish restaurant on Milwaukee Avenue called ‘Irene’s’. Years ago, before children, I happened to be in Chicago on business at the same time Lane, my wife, was and we both wanted to go to our favorite place. At that time, her’s was a place called Bob Chinn’s Crab House. I was convinced here was no way I would enjoy my meal there as much as I would Irene’s. Naturally, I lost that argument and am glad I did.
I was wrong.
Nirvana and Green Day – I will lump both of these together because, no pun intended, they are the same song, different verses. The popularity of each band preceded anything I had heard from either regarding their music. I convinced myself that there was no way there could be an ounce of real talent amongst them before hearing one single song.
I was wrong.
Time Management Course – I enjoy telling people that I have found a way to make a fairly decent living out of my ‘healthy amount of OCD’. Back in the day, before Palm Pilots were the rage, we were all encouraged to sign up for a time management course with a local company and the ‘trophy’ from attending was being able to walk around with this HUGE leather, three ring binder.
If you can remember Dr. Suess’ classic, ‘The Star Belly Sneetches’ it was very much a local case of ‘those with stars and those without.’ I prided myself on being organized ‘without’.
Push came to shove and I did end up taking the course, getting my large binder and loving the processes I learned then and still use today.
I was wrong.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – I had a passing fancy in high school and college with Tae Kwon Do and Aikido. Then, about ten years ago, I started reading about this family from Brazil, the Gracies, who had developed their own form of jiu jitsu and my first thought was, there is no way this new martial art can be all that. In order to keep this blog offering from going on and on and on…I will just say that my passion for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has yet to find its match as far as items on my list of activities that are not work related.
I was wrong.
I could offer many more concrete examples of where I thought I knew the truth only to be shown otherwise. I am happy to report that the amount of time between such incidents has grown because I have learned to be more open-minded to new thoughts and ideas. I know this past year, I have learned a great deal that has helped build my business in ways I would not have though possible…thanks in part to those gentle reminders of when I was wrong before.
I believe 2010 will be a better year business-wise than 2009…but I could be wrong.
If your sales are down or you have hit a sustained revenue plateau or even losing market share, what are you doing differently? What do you plan to do differently? Have you pulled out your business plan and reviewed it? Do you have a business plan or are you one of those who plan on one day having a business plan?
In today’s economy, as we try to build new business, is there any better time than today to look at new ways of doing things, listening to new ideas, trying new techniques, moving towards the 2.0 version of your company and/or yourself?
I don’t believe there is a better time than now to possibly prove ourselves wrong. I also don’t believe I am wrong about this one.
——————–
Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.
http://www.cmconl.com/
Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com
By Quak Hiang Whai, a Potato Mobile executive consultant
For many organisations around the world, mobile newsletters are already proving to be the way forward.
Once optimised for the mobile platform, these digital newsletters offer a more interactive and impactful way to communicate with your multiple stakeholders.
They let you promote your brand and deliver your message to everyone, from your current employees to your future customers, with two-way engagement processes.
Many corporations are already evolving to tackle this mobile opportunity, because they realise the benefits of this smart technology:
They’ll have a dynamic and interactive way to showcase their company’s executives, events and products, on a multimedia platform.
They’ll have the ability to send their company newsletters to customers anywhere in the world.
And they’ll potentially be able to tap into a worldwide base of 50 million smart phone users, and reap the benefits from this.
Imagine all this potential at your fingertips, made possible through a mobile touchscreen device.
It’s a good example of how technology is constantly forcing businesses to evolve.
Do you already recognise that your customers, shareholders and employees all want you to communicate in a smarter way, with richer media?
If you do, then you’re definitely ready to enter this new age of corporate communications.
Welcome to the mobile economy!
Quak is a veteran journalist and former news editor of Business Times. He also used to head the United Overseas Bank Group’s group communications and investor relations divisions. Quak is the author of “No Comments And Don’t Quote Me! — Media Fiascos, Crises And Lessons”.
It was a short-lived celebrity status Tackfilm had bestowed me. In the early hours of Sunday morning I noticed Tackfilm had suffered and subsequently resorted to radical measures:
Thank you for visiting our International Hero Movie Application! Unfortunately, we’ve been forced to close this site for non-Swedish users due to the huge amount of visitors.
It seems, united we crashed it. United we mourn the short-lived existence of virtual heroes we were. Or perhaps we just flock to the next interactive video…supposed we find another one that promises just as much fun as Tackfilm had managed to give us.
Of course, Tackfilm is still available on its Swedish domain Tackfilm.se. Use Google Translate in case you can’t make sense of the Swedish instructions. If you use Google Chrome you will be able to access the site by help of a new incognito window, in case your non-Swedish IP address excludes you.
Yesterday, I had also trouble accessing Stopp.se’s website, the producers behind Tackfilm. More details on them in my previous post about Tackfilm.
A September 2009 survey of 5,000 moms conducted by The Parenting Group reveals that while 60% of moms have used social media in the last 24 hours, they are four times more likely to purchase through direct referrals, than proposals through social networks.“When it comes to influencing brand perception and purchase decisions, the data shows that social media still has a long way to go,” said Stephanie Molnar, Work Place Media. “Most of our meaningful recommendations continue to be old-fashioned, word of mouth recommendations from friends, co-workers, and/or family.”
While consumer analysis seems to challenge the effectiveness of social media in internet marketing, businesses continue to invest in this tool, reporting significant gains.
In April, Ford loaned 100 top bloggers their new Fiesta for six months, on one condition – they wrote about their experience driving the car. Comcast, the cable company, has invested in Twitter marketing for the last year, using this social media bigwig to supply their 28K+ consumer base with news updates, while collecting feedback & analyzing their behavior trends. Social media marketing has also been a success for Dell, which reported $3 million+ revenue from consumers who clicked through Dell’s Tweets, funneling purchases.
While only a few businesses have demonstrated a clear ROI on their social media marketing efforts, it would be silly for most to ignore this latest trend -Facebook has 250+ million website users, while Twitter is up to 40 million consumers. As we approach 2010, social media marketing has proved to be a tremendous asset to businesses who utilize offline promotions to offset internet marketing campaigns, engage consumer audience through service expectations, and create strong business strategy that delivers immediate consumer purchases.
Also this week, our regional business magazine, Lancashire Business View picked up on a previous post of mine and have used it on their e-shot and their website. It’s called ” To pitch or not to pitch?” . It’s obviously a subject close to the hearts of marketing agencies like ours. If you’ve a minute you can read it on this link..
The marketing page includes market analysis, similar books, and what you, the author intend to do to market your book.
Market Analysis:
This is the section where you tell the demographics, target audience, of who would be interested in your book. Include age, gender, interests, religion, or anything else you think might narrow it down. Don’t write that everyone would like this book. You want to narrow your niche.
Similar Books:
This is usually the hardest part to do. You aren’t looking for books that are the same as yours. List novels that have some similarities. For instance, if you’re writing a romance about the Revolutionary era, list other romances from that era. Don’t be afraid to list movies or crossovers. For one novel I said it is Redeeming Love meets Outlaw Josie Wells. This is that important to get exactly right. You’re just giving the agent or publisher an idea of what kind of people this story will attract.
Marketing:
This is where you list what you, the author, is willing to do to market your novel. Here’s some ideas of what you could list here.
So, its been a while since my last post and I apologize for that. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and gave thanks for the opportunity to have a business and the ability to serve others. Speaking of serving others, what are you doing to keep your regular customers/clients happy? Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of it all we pay more attention to forging new relationships and forget about the people that consistently come back and take advantage of our offerings. I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating, people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Your existing customers/clients are worth the effort it would take you to remind them how much you appreciate them. I know we have become a society of emailers, tweeters, and facebookers, but I promise you, a nicely written (I did say written) note would go a long way. How often are you sending coupons or providing some sort of customer loyalty experience? We get caught up in the “Advertising” of it all and forget the best form of advertising is “Word-of-Mouth”. When you existing customers/clients are happy, they will spread the word. Those are the best kinds of referrals. While doing my daily reading, I came across this great article that reinforces this post. Take a look and tell me what you are doing to “keep the regulars happy”.
Dave Snowden told a good story at a knowledge management conference a couple of years ago about the sailing ship. In the early 19th century, mighty sailing ships with giant masts and sails were the dominant form of sea transport in the modern world at that time. Along came ships constructed of iron and powered by motorised engines which were more efficient (they could power along whether the wind blew or not) and became more reliable and versatile shipping vessels. The sailing ship industry responded with even bigger ships with more masts and more giant sails but in the end the sailing ships were doomed by a new technology that made sea transport more efficient and effective. Perhaps the sailing ship may make a return in an oil-depleted and global greenhouse environment in the 21st century but that’s another story…
And that poor old bird, the dodo, was no match for the slaughter by humans, and by invading pigs plundering their nests and territory. Alas, they were unable to adapt to the ravages brought upon them in such a short space of time and they became extinct.
Which brings me to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald about a conference in India at which the media moguls of the 21st century are battling to stay in the game in a world enriched and informed via the World Wide Web. The World Newspaper Congress is hearing from embattled media moguls about how unfair the internet is making the news and information business since they haven’t been clever enough to work out a successful business model for the changed world media environment.
Like the 19th century sailing ship industry, the newspaper moguls are desperate to keep alive a form of business that is actually being surpassed by more modern and disruptive technologies. The internet and social networking is changing the way content is published, consumed, and valued. Content on the internet is more immediate, more personal, more varied, and more versatile compared to traditional newspaper publishing. Not only that, but people these days do not have to rely on newspapers for their dose of worldly information since much of the information out there on the internet is provided by people for free and can be accessed for free! Even newspapers and television news programs seek out these stories from ordinary folk who witness events first hand or who have some other form of newsworthy story.
Of course, the newspapers are indeed part of the problem. Over the past twenty years (at least) newspaper proprietors have dumbed down journalism and investigative reporting so much that newspaper content is hardly superior to much of the informed news and information provided by ordinary people. In fact, it is ordinary people who actually have something interesting to say, without the caveat of having to say something that will generate advertising revenue or hanker for the bouquets from supporting ideologues.
Reading newspapers these days is like reading a bevy of opinion pieces; the opinions being no more informed or relevant than that of bloggers and social networkers. Instead of lifting quality and gaining some comparative advantage this way, newspapers have taken the easy route and proffered a multitude of opinion, loose reporting and drivel that can be easily replicated anywhere.
At the same time, newspapers continue to search for more “eyeballs” to convince advertisers that newspapers are still relevant. Newspapers still want to be found on the internet to capture these “eyeballs”, yet they want to determine and control the method and channels of being found. They want to use the 21st century technology but only in the manner of their 20th century world view of dominance and control of the news. Even advertisers are shifting their world view. Advertisers are increasingly using new methods of messaging and advertising utilising the new communication mediums available via the internet, social networking, and other forms of communication channels.
At least the newspaper industry hasn’t had it as bad as the dodo. The dodo had relatively little time to adjust to the ravages of invading species before they finally met their final and irrevocable end. Newspapers have had plenty of time, and had plenty of warning about the competitive content available via a host of alternative sources.
Newspaper organisations are like the 19th century sailing ships trying to battle their way forward using their existing tired techniques and old-century attitudes, and failing to confront the new realities of a brave new world. Like those 19th century sailing ships, newspapers as they exist today will die off and be replaced by a more efficient and effective form of news communication that does not rely on old thinking and old technologies.
Newspaper moguls can whine all they like but they need to accept the new communication realities and make the necessary adjustments, or go the way of the sailing ship and eventually, the dodo.
Or this:
Yes, UVA can have its own Snuggie after all!
Texas should prominently display the Longhorn logo on burnt orange. Carolina the interlocking NC on its signature Carolina blue hue. Virginia Tech would use the interconnected VT. Florida: the Gator. The Jayhawk for Kansas. You get the picture. Make it simple. Make the primary team color the star, not the blinding repetition of several logos.
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