Nov 4, 2014 | Change, Marketing, Small business
In the 35 years I have been practising marketing, absolutely everything has changed.
Well, almost everything.
What has not changed are the foundations.
The recognition that delivering value to a customer is the “raison d’être” of marketing, and that seeing everything you do from the customers perspective is absolutely essential if you are to understand what “Value” really means in any given context.
It is a fact of life now that marketing is controlled by software.
Marketing was pretty late to the software game, but in the last 5 or 6 years, it has exploded. Now we can not only automate a whole lot of tasks previously taking up valuable time, and gain vast leverage from the automation, but we can measure the performance of activities, bringing a whole new world of accountability and reach to the practice of marketing.
What we cannot automate, and really only measure after the fact is the influence of creativity on the process, the ability to see what others cannot, to interpret a given set of numbers and circumstances through new eyes, to connect the unconnected dots.
This explosion of automation and tools has created a new “middleman” in marketing, he/she is called “Software”.
Like all middlemen, “Software” needs to be proactively managed. There are many choices of middleman that can be made, often more than one may be appropriate, but those chosen need to be managed, and these tasks require a whole new set of capabilities many businesses do not have, and smaller ones often think they cannot afford.
They also need a new way of working, a collaborative, and cross functional culture that encourages hypothesis generation and experimentation. It must be “failure tolerant”, simply because failure is not really failure, it is an opportunity to learn about your market, competitors and customers.
Nov 3, 2014 | Change, Small business, Social Media
Believe it or not, Social media is a mystery to many, particularly those of us of a “certain age”, many of whom are running their own small businesses.
They know it is important to their businesses, know that their competitors are probably using it too beat them over the head, but how to proceed and find a way to understand and leverage the power, and importantly, where to find the time is still a mystery. Often managing and engaging on Social media is a task left to their kids, the summer intern, or the bloke next door who dabbles a bit, which almost inevitably ends in tears.
Couple of weeks ago over the course of a morning, I collaborated with a colleague, Nelson Luc of Asprout to deliver an information session to a group of small business people and their friends and colleagues from Inner West Referrals in Sydney.
I did the “strategic” stuff, what it was, how it worked, when to use it, and a bit about the evolution that is going on at the speed of a rampaging bull, while Nelson gave a session on the specifics of Google adwords and Facebook ads. These were things they had specifically asked about in a pre-session survey, and a couple of days later, I gave a couple of them a session over a coffee on the basics of Linkedin, and some of the simple tools available in the free version.
The intention was to remove a bit of the mystery, to create a sense that curiosity and experimentation , to offer a few simple tools to start with, and to leave them with the understanding so long as you applied a bit of common sense, and an open mind, Social Media is not so scary. It is just a tool, one that when well used is a wonderful tool for small businesses to get their message out in a way impossible for them just a few years ago.
It all went well, the scores given in the session feedback form were the sorts of scores I usually just dream about, and I see several have dipped their toes into the water, that now seems a little less murky.
Oct 28, 2014 | Change, Small business
You know the old story, the plumber who goes around fixing other peoples dripping taps, but has a houseful of leakers himself.
This site has been my home since march 2009, and it has been full of leaking metaphorical taps. All the things I admonished my clients to do, or not to do were here.
A freebie hosting that prevented a whole host of functionality
No analytics beyond the most basic few measures
A boring and dull site template
Well, all that is in the process of changing, I am taking my own advice, and fixing the leaky taps.
The hosting has been moved, several plugins added, along with an analytics package. Progressively over the near future you will see the changes evolving as I progressively fix the taps.
About time!!
What will not change is the commitment to bring original marketing thinking and ideas to the small businesses that are the lifeblood, the reason for being of this site. I hope you continue to enjoy, comment on, share and learn from the posts and the comments they elicit.
Let me know what you think, your comments are both welcome, and vital to improvement.
Oct 15, 2014 | Change, Management, Strategy
There is no such thing as “equalibrium”, just constant change.
I have a mate who is an academic economist, a really smart guy used to arguing a point of view, and with a box of stats on call to support any contention he makes, alternatively to pull down anything that runs contrary to his argument.
He is very convincing.
An ongoing debate has been around the nature of management, and particularly marketing in the face of the changes that have been wrought by the digital revolution. His view, if I can summarise, is that the forces that have emerged will find a new point of equilibrium, and it is our task as managers to identify that point, minimise costs on the path towards it, then be in a position to leverage for the maximum outcome when it is reached.
Economics 101.
My contention is that the assumption that an equilibrium will be found is flawed, and that the better analogy is the ecosystem, constantly evolving and changing in response to the adjustment of the forces that interact on the inhabitants, and the better strategy is to assume that everything will change, some things over night, some with a bit more lead time, and the forces that are interacting to drive the changes are not necessarily evident from wherever it is you sit.
My evidence, in contrast to his is all anecdotal and perspective, challenging for an econometrician.
Often I refer him to the antitrust suit brought by the US government against the “monopoly” that Microsoft had, an action that was finally binned by President Clinton. The equilibrium argument suggested that the Microsoft empire would endure and continue to crush competitors, and that the brakes had to be imposed externally, when the reality is that Linux came along, followed by the rise and rise of Apple, emergence of Android, and within a very few years Microsoft was relegated to the role of an also-ran, albeit one with a mountain of cash.
Enterprises of any type and size that fail to accommodate the ecosystem metaphor, preferring to rely on an emerging equilibrium that they can leverage is in for a long wait, and ultimately a visit to the insolvency practitioner, unless of course they are a public body in which case the just continue to cry poor, and suck at the teat of the taxpayer.
My conclusion therefore is that there is no new equilibrium on the horizon, continuous and pervasive change is with us and the only thing that will change is the speed of the changes themselves, and our ability to respond.
Planning to disrupt your apparent equilibrium, the existing business model that has served well is a confronting undertaking, but a necessary one for commercial survival. A depth of experience an understanding of the traps can save much heartache, so I would be happy to apply my experience to help navigate a path.
Sep 10, 2014 | Change, Governance, Management, Sales, Strategy
Courtesy Hugh McLeod
http://gapingvoid.com/2014/02/26/how-to-be-successful/
In life, and all its aspects, business, social , relationships, there are no shortcuts, just easier and simpler ways of doing things. It is just that it takes time and effort to find the easier, more productive, and value additional way.
The rules for success are the same in every context.
- Understand the selling process. Business, pleasure, social, you are always selling, a point of view, activity, feeling, yourself. Always selling!.
- See through the eyes of the other person. Again, customer, partner, casual acquaintance, it does not matter, it simply is better to see yourself as others see you, rather than just as you see yourself.
- Have a deeper understanding of whatever it is you are talking about than those to whom you are talking. If listeners are to get any value from listening, they need to think that there may be something of value for them, and that you know something they don’t, otherwise, why would they spend their valuable time on listening. Another of my old dads pearls of wisdom: “If you can’t say anything useful or sensible, keep your trap shut.”
- Seek ways to simplify. Our world is increasing complicated, finding ways to simplify even small bits of it are enormously valuable. Finding a way to reduce the friction to get a better, more valuable to someone outcome is the competitive advantage of the 21st century. Most things are done the way they are done because that is the way they have always been done. Not a good idea for the future.
- Start anything you do with the end in mind. This enables you to manage by compass, rather than by a map, which enables flexibility, agility, and room for the unexpected, serendipitous, and wonderful to emerge.
- Be nice. Nobody likes being around jerks, so be nice.
Sounds easy, but in fact it is very hard, that is why so few people are able to find the success they would like, and in many cases, deserve.
Call me for a confidential discussion about how to best leverage your opportunities.
Sep 9, 2014 | Change, Communication, Social Media
Man has always found ways to communicate, Social media is not new, it is just the tools we are using today are upgrades of those we used yesterday.
Alex Bell patented the telephone in 1876, after many inventors had played with the physics of electro magnetism and its applications to voice transmission. By the 1890’s farmers were using the barbed wire fences that were strung the length and breadth of the US to communicate. Phones in those days generated their own power by means of a crank and batteries, all you needed to do was hook up to wire, give the mail order telephonic device a crank, and bingo, a phone.
Downside was that someone had to be on the line at the other end waiting, and there was no direct dialling, so everyone was on at the same time, the ubiquitous party line, where privacy was a victim.
Sound familiar?
(Reliability was also an issue, everything from rain to the neighbours randy bull causing problems with the wire)
Point is, all this fancy new technology is no more than a new solution to an old problem: how to communicate effectively with those to whom we have something to say, from the mundane and trivial to really life altering messages.
Small businesses need to remember this simple truth, as they are bombarded with “opportunities” to expand their reach via social media. The only useful contacts are those with whom you have something in common, and with whom you can collaborate to generate value for you both. Those sorts of “friends” are invaluable, and do not just “happen”, it takes time and effort to find them and build relationships individually. Just getting a “like” on facebook is as useful as Harold Holts flippers, particularly as the organic reach of facebook is now down around 5% as Facebook seek to financially leverage their membership base.
Fancy some barbed wire?
