I recently finished the career planning book
Can This Elephant Curtsy On Cue?
written by Danielle Weinstock.
It is a great book.
I especially enjoyed
her unique insights
on dealing with unemployment
(a sure thing in the movie business).
However, I am unlikely to recommend it.
Why?
Because I can never remember the title
(too long)
and when I do,
it is too cutesy to be taken seriously.
Names are important.
Brand names, titles, company names.
Put some thought into choosing one.
A loved one moved on the weekend
and I was asked
whom I would rope in
if I needed help moving.
I said no one.
I’m lucky enough
to have a group of people
whose favors I value at
more than $10 an hour
(what I could pay people to move me for).
People are busy
and
favors are not unlimited.
I’m very particular about my requests.
That means when I ask,
contacts are more likely to do.
Social networking is a hot buzzword
around the marketing watering holes.
Everyone wants a social network component
to a business.
They want to be the next Facebook.
Not likely to happen.
IT entrepreneur Robert Herjavec
points out
“To make a Facebook,
you need something
everyone would log into.”
It has to have mass appeal.
I was told yesterday
we’re in a recession.
The person was 100% certain.
Why?
Because an Allstate commercial
mentioned recession.
The viewer remembered the commercial,
the mention of recession
and especially Allstate.
Being first meant taking criticism
(we’re not officially in a recession
and the Allstate commercial, in fact,
doesn’t say we are)
but that is more than offset
by being remembered.
It is possible to make a six figure living
writing romance eBooks.
But not by writing what
everyone else is.
Raelene Gorlinsky, publisher for Ellora’s Cave,
points out that the
two big money making genres
are
erotica and sci fi romance.
Why?
Because these novels aren’t
as readily available from the print publishers.
To compete with the big publishers,
eBook publishers have to offer something unique.
Is your offering unique?
I’ve been called a messy person.
I’m a piler.
If information is not important enough
to file in a binder,
it is in a pile.
Is being messy a bad thing?
Not if you’re organized.
Studies show that messy people
make more money than non-messy people.
Why?
Mess analyst David H. Freedman thinks
it may be because the world is messy
and neat people can’t cope.
He also says
“If you’re going to do stuff,
you will make a mess.”
Fans of Chris Brown
will recognize the line in
his latest hit
‘Forever.’
“Double your pleasure,
double your fun.”
Yep, the Doublemint slogan.
He is also shown in the video
opening the distinctive silver paper covered stick.
Is this a happy coincidence
for Wrigleys?
No.
Wrigleys has partnered
with
Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, and Julianne Hough
to remake
Big Red, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit
jingles.
A marketer’s dream.
Chris Brown’s Forever
has been downloaded
on YouTube over 20 million
(yes, million)
times.
On a tv panel
with health food business experts,
the consensus is
that saying a product is
healthy
means nothing to the consumer.
The word is used so often
prospects filter it out.
Instead talk about the specific benefits
but avoid too much medical lingo.
Be specific, not scientific
(put the scientific on the website).
With succession planning,
business leaders have a choice.
They can promote from within
or they can look outside of the organization.
Which route to take?
It depends on what future challenges
the company will face.
Business succession expert
John Szold advises
to groom internal candidates for leadership
if the company expects the future
to be “business as usual”,
with
no fundamental changes.
If the business landscape is expected to change
dramatically
(the merging of tv and internet as an example),
then an outside candidate may
have the new skill sets required.
More and more companies
are using auctions to find suppliers.
Suppliers bid on the business
and all services remaining equal,
the low bid wins.
That is a good deal
if you are buying.
A bad deal
if you are selling.
How to avoid having your margins squeezed
by auctions?
GE’s CIO Gary Reiner
explains their strategy…
“The more commodity-like the part or service is,
the easier it is to auction;
and the more differentiated,
the less easy it is to auction.
By design, every year we try to make
more of our business portfolio be
products and services that are noncommodity –
that are differentiated.
So we have been fortunate not to be
as auctioned on the sell side as
we are on the buy side.”
Are your products noncommodity?