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?
Sep 8, 2014 | Change, Customers, Marketing, Small business
www.strategyaudit.com.au
In 1968 a seminal Book called “Consumer behaviour” Engel, Blackwell & Kollat described the 5 steps in the marketing process that dominated marketing thinking for the next 45 years.
It is clear that they are still as valid now as they have been for all those years. It is just that the tools we now have to manage the process are at once way more sensitive, and way more complicated than they were.
The 5 steps are:
Problem recognition. Not much has changed here, although we are way more sophisticated at discovering when someone may be seeking a solution to a problem, and can step in and assist, but essentially, the recognition of a problem to be solved remains where it has always been, with the consumer. In B2B, the sophisticated sales approach has evolved to what Neil Rackham calls “situation questions” that lead to unearthing and defining a problem, or opportunity for improvement the buyer was not immediately aware of.
Information search. Here the world has been turned upside down by the search tools available to consumers. In addition, sellers now have the opportunity to recognise an information search, and try to engage in the process with the searcher to deliver valuable information, and perhaps progress the sales process in their favour.
Alternatives evaluation. Perhaps this stage is where the greatest changes have occurred. Pre-web, it was the sellers who had most relevant information, and they were in control of the timing, type, amount of information, and how it was given out to a prospect. Now, the power is with the consumer, and in most cases this 3rd process is well advanced before a potential supplier has any idea that the buyer is in the market. However, it is also here that the tools available have exploded, from personalising the web site delivery of information to rapidly evolving promotional and informational mobile apps, emerging geo location mobile promotions, product and service review websites, and more .
Purchase. Amazon and Ebay turned the retail experience on its head, aided more recently by the penetration of mobile. However, when you look at the numbers, the percentage of a consumer total purchases made on line is not more than about 5%, but the spread is uneven across categories, and there is all sorts of research that offers a different, nuanced view. Just ask your local bookstore of music retailer if you can find one. In addition, new ways to purchase have evolved. Apple for example built an entirely new purchase eco-system with iTunes, which in itself is now being disrupted by Spotify and other subscription models.
Post purchase. The notion of the purchase transaction being the end of the game is also over. Lifetime value of a customer is now a really important consideration, as is the consumers opportunity to express their views post purchase via social media. Businesses that ignore the value and opportunity of the post purchase period, indeed the opportunity of consumers to express views on virtually anything, will probably not live long enough to fully realise their mistake.
These 5 steps still “step out” (sorry) the process, it is just that the tools being used have changed radically. It does not matter if you are the corner store, or Walmart, the steps hold true in almost every consumers approach to a purchase more significant than a box of paperclips, sometimes even paperclips.
Human behaviour is too hard wired to evolve at the speed at which the tools have evolved, so the manner in which the tools are used fits with the established behaviour, and changes it over time, rather than radical changes in behaviour emerging as a result of the new tools. Even the most widely adopted tool set of social media is just automating existing behaviour patterns, enabling the existing behaviour to be more effective, rather than introducing new ones.
Jul 30, 2014 | Change, Governance
www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk
Last night (July 29) I watched Rod Simms (ACCC chairman) interviewed on the ABC about the price reductions consumers can expect from the removal of the carbon tax. He was assuring us that consumers will receive these benefits because in effect the ACCC had the interview transcripts and documents that confirmed prices went up as a result of the tax, therefore they will go down similarly. If not, he would use the competition powers of the ACCC to ensure businesses, particularly those on whom he “had the goods” complied.
Mr Sims has generally been a pretty good advocate for the ACCC, taking on some challenging projects, but I wonder if he really believes himself when he says this stuff.
The carbon tax has just been a corrosive component of a superficial, emotional and nasty period in our political lives, devoid of facts and intelligent debate almost anywhere. However, to say prices will just drop as a result of the removal is, even by our political masters twisted standards, like asking us to believe in Santa Claus.
Politicians have systematically and capriciously distorted the truth about the state of the economy, over the last 20 years. The source of budget problem we have is on the revenue side, stemming from income tax cuts delivered by the Howard government, rather than being all on the spending side, as eloquently outlined by Dr. John Edwards in his terrific essay published by the Lowy institute, “Beyond the boom” Not addressed by Dr Edwards is the institutional waste I see in Federal expenditures stemming from the cultural imperative never to be wrong, which ensures no risks are taken, and every tiny detail is quadruple checked and backstopped before it is passed up the line, at great cost to us all.
Australian politics is stuffed.
Very low public engagement by any measure, seemingly universal cynicism about the motives and actions of politicians and their cronies, absolute lack of intelligent debate in the House of Representatives, and mayhem in the senate. Little has changed since this December 2009 rant, but I remain an optimist.
Australians have shown a remarkable ability to absorb change, and to enable the evolution of a society unimaginable to those who authored the constitution 114 years ago, so perhaps this is all just a component of the recipe for more change.
I hope so, but it does seem that this lot have polished the political game to within an inch of its life. In a debate, you can usually count on the truth being somewhere between the starting points of the adversaries, but in our current political climate, the truth, and any facts seem to be somewhere else entirely, utterly disassociated from the discourse.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see politicians held to the same standards they impose on the rest of us in relating to misleading statements, fraudulent conduct, false advertising, and the rest?.
Whoops, stop, there is a pink, flying pig going past.
For those few who got this far, thanks, but you must have too much time on your hands if you are to indulge my rant, but thanks anyway.
Back to work, to seeking ways to assist SME’s navigate the shoals of reality, and I will not be advising them to just drop their prices by 10% of the cost of their energy, that would see most of them broke.
