As I work with clients, or evaluate social media sites as part of the research I do on the topic, I frequently find that many sites–even those owned and managed by some top organizations–are more engaged in conversations with themselves than with interested followers or fans. They’re not sharing information that is of interest or value to their audience–they’re talking about themselves! That’s a strategy destined to fail. Why? (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Business development’
The Value of Business Dashboards
Thursday, October 25th, 2012One of the most important elements of successfully implementing a strategic plan of any size (whether a business plan, an annual company plan, a marketing plan, etc.) is establishing benchmarks or objectives that are specific and quantifiable and that will be tracked throughout the planning period. The use of dashboards is a great way to visually – and simply – convey information on how the organization is doing. Sharing this information openly (more…)
The Value — and Limitations — of Leading Indicators
Thursday, August 9th, 2012Working in large organizations I became very familiar with “leading” and “lagging” indicators and, admittedly, sometimes I found what I thought was the “complexity” of the concepts to be a bit overwhelming. But, I’m very data-driven and very committed to measuring the impacts of my efforts whether working in an organization, for a client or for myself. The premise is really quite basic: if you are looking for (more…)
Create, Co-create, Collaborate or Die
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012We’re all familiar with the saying: adapt, migrate, mutate or die. Charles Darwin put forth his theory of evolution in 1859 and its relevance to businesses has long been applied by academics and business experts. But, in today’s fast-paced environment, while still applicable it suggests a pace that is much slower than our reality.
Adapting, migrating and mutating takes time–sometimes a long time.
While it may not be relevant from a biological standpoint, businesses today might be well advised to follow a different piece of advice: (more…)
Do Happy Employees = Happy Customers? No!
Monday, July 16th, 2012Common wisdom suggests that there is a direct correlation between employee and customer satisfaction. Common wisdom, of course, is often flawed. Just ask a couple of my favorite business authors, Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational) and Steven Levitt (Freakonomics). Sometimes the things that we believe to be true, simply aren’t.
A few years ago an article in the Harvard Business Review (more…)
Are Travel Agents Making a Comeback (and why you should care)?
Monday, April 23rd, 2012The Internet has had a dramatic impact on many industries and businesses–creating opportunities for some and destroying them for others. Consider the changing nature of the publishing industry and the impact of being able to buy online for companies like Best Buy and many others. But business tends to be cyclical and it is often true that “what goes around comes around.” A recent article in the New York Times suggests that this may be the case for at least one industry — (more…)
Small Business Predictions for 2012
Sunday, December 4th, 2011A new year is right around the corner and I, for one, am looking forward to a great year! Based on feedback from my clients, and my own experience in 2011, it seems that there are some early signs of an uptick in consumer demand for products and services. Here’s hoping that’s true and that it’s something that all of you are benefiting from. I was recently asked by a business reporter and colleague for my small business marketing predictions for 2012 – here they are: (more…)
Don’t Be Afraid of Strategic Planning — Debunking the Myths
Sunday, November 27th, 2011Someone told me once that the definition of creativity is the ability to pull a range of random pieces of information together to develop an idea. It might be an idea for a new product, an idea for a new process or an idea for a new approach to a vexing problem. The point, though, is that the more you know about a lot of things the more likely you are to be able to use the things you know to create new ideas. (more…)
Subcribe to This Blog
Brand Evaluation
CONTENT CREATION
PR/MEDIA RELATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA
STRATEGIC PLANNING
