Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Suggest You - In Small Business, It's Not Easy Being Green
It was a noble effort, even if I was naive. Last week I returned from a thirty-day trip to Germany, China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. In each country, I led Skilled Facilitator workshops. Some of you reading this participated in these workshops.For years, my clients have asked, "What do people outside the United States think about The Skilled Facilitator approach? Can it work in Europe and Asia, especially given the emphasis on saving face? How?" I set out on my trip, naively thinking that I could come back with ready answers. I have begun to form some answers; but mostly, I have developed more questions. If I have learned anything on the trip, it's that the issue of using the Skilled Facilitator approach in different cultures is a complex one. Mastering this topic in a one-month trip is about as realistic as e
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of fre
Here’s a true story to shine a light on what can happen to top marketers in the face of failure. Details have been changed to protect the innocent.The Alpha Company has recently brought in a new marketing department head to drive revenues. Three months ago, company leaders sought outside counsel to reduce the marketing budget by 25% to compensate for downward trending revenues. Advisors said the lower budget could work if several marginal programs were cut and all remaining dollars were focused on the most important market segments.Upon arrival, the marketing leader is confronted with entrenched programs and people resistant to change. To new eyes, it is hard to spot the sacred cows because the organization does a poor job of tracking results. Another department head served as interim marketing leader and is not at all
In 1981, only 25 years ago, the Personal Computer was introduced by IBM with a modest flourish. It was received with a thunderous “ho-hum" by the corporate world.
It was inconceivable that these cute but puny little machines would ever replace those behemoth main frames with their huge computing capacity and endless banks of modular, external memory units that promised almost unlimited power.
What the hell can you do with a “toy" machine like the PC?
Enter Bill Gates and company. In the movie, “The Pirates of Silicone Valley" it is alleged that Mr. Gates conned Xerox out of the now famous operating system called Windows. Then, purportedly, he conned IBM into a $5-a-machine license to use the O.S. The IBM guy thought he had struck a deal because, “…the real money is in the hardware." Yuk, yuk. (It was not the first time that IBM didn’t see the market for the forest (or the chips). Their Mr. Watson had predicted some years earlier, when IBM was basically a typewriter company, that the entire worldwide market for computers was six).
Another difficulty held back the PC – they required extraordinary training to use them. Some of us are old enough to remember those first PC’s required program language commands, stuff like /goto/Line 343 or /P-C3 (print three copies), to make them work.
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of free
Becoming a pharmacist may be easier than you think. It only takes two years of study but you must commit to this profession. To become a pharmacist, you must get a license to practice pharmacy. This license is required in all the states even including the District of Columbia. To get a license to practice pharmacy you must graduate from an accredited college or pharmacy, and also pass a state examination where you practice. You also must internship under a licensed pharmacist. After graduating, you have the choice to continue three or four years of medical school, which offers the option of minoring in Chemistry or majoring in Biology. Here are some courses in high school you should take if you want to become a pharmacist.FRESHMAN Math: Algebra English: English Science: Physical Science Social Sciences/Human
What the hell can you do with a “toy" machine like the PC?
Enter Bill Gates and company. In the movie, “The Pirates of Silicone Valley" it is alleged that Mr. Gates conned Xerox out of the now famous operating system called Windows. Then, purportedly, he conned IBM into a $5-a-machine license to use the O.S. The IBM guy thought he had struck a deal because, “…the real money is in the hardware." Yuk, yuk. (It was not the first time that IBM didn’t see the market for the forest (or the chips). Their Mr. Watson had predicted some years earlier, when IBM was basically a typewriter company, that the entire worldwide market for computers was six).
Another difficulty held back the PC – they required extraordinary training to use them. Some of us are old enough to remember those first PC’s required program language commands, stuff like /goto/Line 343 or /P-C3 (print three copies), to make them work.
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of fre
So assuming you're a self publisher or book publisher and you've already published your book; you need to immediately implement a strong, no-holds barred, book marketing and promotion program to sell your books fast if you haven't done so already. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin well before your manuscript is completed. In today's publishing marketplace, the success of a book entirely depends on a strong marketing plan.Make sure you have at least one good timeless press release, written in AP style. You can send it out for the lifetime of your book. Make sure it's written in a timeless fashion. Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media.Sen
Another difficulty held back the PC – they required extraordinary training to use them. Some of us are old enough to remember those first PC’s required program language commands, stuff like /goto/Line 343 or /P-C3 (print three copies), to make them work.
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of fre
You invest a lot of time and money in developing a loan officer marketing brochure that will get results. But maybe your materials are starting to have the same look and feel as your competition. What can you do to solve this problem?First, think about why it is a problem. Maybe consumers are not as focused on differentiating loan officers, but Realtors certainly are. If you focus on building a thriving business (one that relies on them), materials that make you look just like everyone else brings it to a dead stop.Most loan officer marketing brochures have three common mistakes:Feature Focused MessagesMost basic sales training programs focus on delivering features and benefits as a standard part of the sales process. But this is a huge mistake when developing your brochures for mo
Another difficulty held back the PC – they required extraordinary training to use them. Some of us are old enough to remember those first PC’s required program language commands, stuff like /goto/Line 343 or /P-C3 (print three copies), to make them work.
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of fre
Without strong direction and motivation, any hotel, is doomed for failure, an operation is successful only when a good leader surrounds themselves with other good leaders, and good leaders surround them selves with good staff.Staff and managers may have personal problems and deliver inferior results due to lack of training, unrealistic expectations, or failed attempts to innovate. In some cases the proper response to these issues can turn a hopeless employee into outstanding employee. “Fir’em” is not always the right answer.Correct poor performers. Ask poor performers if they enjoy what they are doing. Think about it. Do you enjoy what you are doing? If you do you are probably very good at it, if not it’s nearly impossible to be very good at something when you absolutely hate it.All staff have potential to be
Mr. Gates changed all that with Icons and multi-tasking, thereby making the PC easily useable by the common office worker. Then large company managers realized they could obtain a degree of freedom from their monolithic and powerful Information Services Departments by using PC’s for their more mundane tasks. When the systems also became easy to learn, Microsoft was well positioned to capitalize on the frenzy for the machines. Later the Internet revolution simply made the PC explosion inevitable and an order of magnitude greater.
The point here is not about the back room antics and intrigues of Silicone Valley. The point is, interesting history aside, Microsoft made the PC better. So much so that it spawned a giant industry and a bevy of very rich executives.
It is an axiom in business that, if you want success, make or do something better or different.
This axiom holds every bit as much for small businesses as it does for the giants. The “me-too" companies will fall by the wayside constantly. If being better or different means reinventing yourself periodically, then do it! The alternative is to perish as a thriving business.
We need to think like Kermit the frog: Being green isn’t easy but it does make us stand out!
YOU'RE NOT BEING GREEN IF...
- You think your quality is better (even if it is). Sorry to say, but quality does not qualify as being green. It may differentiate a product but i
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.suggestyou.com/article/42200/suggestyou-In-Small-Business-Its-Not-Easy-Being-Green.html">In Small Business, It's Not Easy Being Green</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.suggestyou.com/article/42200/suggestyou-In-Small-Business-Its-Not-Easy-Being-Green.html]In Small Business, It's Not Easy Being Green[/url]
Related Articles:
1031 Exchange as a Marketing Tool - For Realtors
Let Me Tell You a Little Story
Bookmark it:
|