Archive for March, 2008
In The Wisdom of Crowds, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki argues that “under the right circumstances, groups of ordinary people are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them.” So, I was excited to read about Dell’s Idea Storm in Laurie Clemans’ blog.
Apparently, Dell has been inviting customers to share ideas for new/improved products and services for over a year. Anyone can register, post an idea and rate (promote or demote) ideas posted by others. and see what Dell is planing to develop. According to Clemans, “the Dell Community has contributed: 8,949 ideas, promoted 615,131 times, and posted 69,456 comments.”
Continue Reading March 29, 2008
In a recent post, I talked about the importance of seeing your products/company the way your customers see them. This morning, I stumbled across an article written by Tom Zahniser, a former colleague at Vistage International. He adds a second, equally important dimension to the mix. Speaking to entrepreneurial leaders, Tom said that the surest way to grow a business is to understand who you are and how your customers see you.
Continue Reading March 28, 2008
Confession: I didn’t really GET this whole Web 2.0 thing. Then, while doing a bit of what used to be called “research,” I found a 3 minute video. Amazing. Lee and Sachi LeFevre (aka Common Craft) have created a series of videos to explain some complicated ideas. They don’t treat their audience like “Dummys.” Instead, they simplify the message to make it understandable. Isn’t that the whole point of marketing, and the biggest challenge facing marketers? Hasn’t it always been?
Continue reading to view the video…
Continue Reading March 27, 2008
A successful website can help your company cut costs, generate income and expand your horizons with new product and market opportunities. An unsuccessful website wastes precious time and resources. Worse, it can damage customer relationships and destroy business development opportunities.
The following ten steps will help CEOs and senior executives manage the development and implementation of successful ebusiness initiatives.
Continue Reading March 26, 2008
Companies have been building websites to support marketing, sales and customer service since 1994. Along the way, they have made a lot of mistakes that you can avoid… or repair.
Continue Reading March 24, 2008
A website works when it solves a problem for the site visitor. Visitors may be prospects, customers, sales reps, distributors, retailers, job hunters, investors or the media. When you solve a problem for any one of these, you will benefit by increasing sales, satisfying customers, finding new employees or improving investor/media relations. You may also cut costs and expand your business with new product and market opportunities.
I have selected ten business problems as a starting point for discussions about ebusiness strategy. What is the most important problem you can solve online?
Continue Reading March 18, 2008
My veterinarian is good with animals. She takes great care of my two cats, Mozart and Sting. She gives me excellent advice, like “keep the cats indoors, you’ve got raccoons, coyotes and eagles in the neighborhood.” Good stuff, but I’ve got a bone to pick with her, doggone it. (Sorry)
Read on…
Continue Reading March 17, 2008
Let me begin by saying that I have tremendous respect for sales people. They have an extremely difficult and vitally important job. When they are successful, everyone benefits—customers, owners, managers, widget makers, support staff, consultants. Therefore, it is in everyone’s interests that sales people are given the support, encouragement and tools they need to succeed.
To that end, I offer the following strategies for increasing sales productivity. When they are successfully implemented, your customers and everyone in your organization will benefit.
Continue Reading March 14, 2008
