April 24, 2006
Carnival of Marketing
Welcome to this week’s Carnival of Marketing!
Jack Yoest’s thoughtful post on Wilberforce and Gapingvoid connects two great successes that I have long admired but had not, until now, ever thought about as marketers. Or likely to appear in a single paragraph.
Virginia Miracle looks at the importance of a name that clearly represents your product. When you are making a cheesy, over-the-top action/horror flick about a plane full of snakes, you can’t call it "Pacific Flight 121." It has to be "Snakes on a Plane."
Noah Brier looks at user generated content in the context of the advertising industry. But what struck me most about his post were the implications for non-advertising content. “The branding opportunities of the future lie in the filtering and repackaging of content.” If he is right, the new media future bodes well for old media brands.
Robbin Phillips blogged an article by Laura Casey on why we need to name things. It made me think about the two vacuums in my house: one is named “the vacuum”, and the family regards it as one of the villains Laura mentions. The other is called "Roomba" and it is treated like a particularly industrious pet.
"The single biggest thing you can do to build your brand is to make promises and keep them." J. Timothy King points out that all the branding in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t deliver the package.
Spike Jones looks at Delta’s new plan to have their long-suffering employees volunteer to clean planes on their own time.
Despite the hype, there is never much new in business or marketing. The basics are ancient. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to be reminded again. Denise O’Berry does just that by suggesting you differentiate your business by doing the simple things no one does anymore. Like answering the phone.
Look for the Carnival next week at Global Market Development!
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 12:04 AM | TrackBack
April 17, 2006
Carnivals
The Carnival of Capitalists is up at Free Money Finance, and you will find the Carnival of Marketing at devinreams.com.
I am hosting the Carnival of Marketing next weekend, so don't forget to send your submissions to bob@firesomeonetoday.com by the afternoon of April 23rd.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 7:57 AM | TrackBack
Reading Contracts
Chapter 13 of Fire Someone Today is about contracts: The One Who Writes Wins. In it I mention that you can find surprisingly specific contracts to use as examples and inspiration when writing your own.
One great site for finding real contracts is FindLaw for Corporate Counsel. It has thousands of contracts organized by industry and type: employment agreements, licenses, merger documents, stock option plans, etc.
For example, if you were going to rent your own house to your company for business purposes, you might want to read the details of Martha Stewart’s $2 million-a-year agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 5:00 AM | TrackBack
April 4, 2006
Peer-to-peer learning for business leaders
When I joined the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization I was surprised to learn that I had to participate in a training session before I could participate in the small group meetings, called Forum. I had participated in a monthly, industry-specific CEO roundtable before, and I was a bit cynical about needing training just to join a meeting of entrepreneurs. It seemed silly.
I was wrong.
I have been involved in YEO for almost a decade now, and consider it one of the best learning experiences of my life. The best part is that the learning is peer-to-peer. While YEO does offer access to some amazing classroom experiences, most of what I learned was from other entrepreneurs, in our Forum meetings.
I learned by hearing others present problems, by presenting my own issues, and from the shared experiences of others around the table. And the unique structure and rules of a Forum meeting made it possible. Forum is safe, confidential, and incredibly productive. Advice is forbidden. In Forum, nobody can give you “the answer,” they can only share their own experience. It is a small but powerful distinction.
YEO is now EO, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Within EO, which serves businesses with over $1 million in sales, YEO is for entrepreneurs under 40, and WEO (World Entrepreneurs’ Organization) for those over 40. There is also YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) and WPO, where the businesses are typically larger and the members lead companies they may not have founded. (It was in YPO that the Forum concept was developed.)
Joining a peer group is a smart move for any business leader. Joining a peer group using the Forum structure is even smarter.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 5:00 AM | TrackBack
January 30, 2006
Carnival of the Capitalists
The Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Phosita.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 10:51 AM | TrackBack
January 27, 2006
Survey says...
I crave feedback. That is why I love SurveyMonkey.com, which makes it easy to build a survey on any subject in just a few minutes and to collect and analyze the responses. I use it to survey my employees and customers all the time. I have conducted anonymous surveys for 360-degree reviews, collected and collated conference registrations, and solicited suggestions on improving the company Christmas party.
Small surveys are free; for $19.95 per month you get larger surveys and other benefits. And (how convenient!) you can try it out by answering my tiny survey about this blog. Because I crave feedback from you, too.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 12:04 AM | TrackBack
January 20, 2006
Get thee to Buckley
Sign up for The Buckley School of Public Speaking right now.
I still have a day left, but I don't need more time to recommend this program. The Buckley School is one of the best values in professional education. Our class of ten meets in a purpose built room under the constant care of Reid Buckley and six wonderful coaches and staff, supplemented by three outside professionals brought in to share their special expertise.
Every student is getting personal attention and honest, detailed feedback. There is no time wasted in the day, and we have been graciously hosted two evenings in a row.
The method is confrontational and at times uncomfortable, but always in a friendly and encouraging context. And it is effective.
Mr. Buckley is in his seventies. Though full of vim and vigor, I fear (for you!) that he might too soon choose more pleasant pursuits than untying the tongue of yet another would-be-speaker. Don't miss your chance to learn from him personally.
(I am told that the program is already sold out until summer, except for the just-added session in April.)
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 3:00 AM | TrackBack
January 19, 2006
And the answer is...
No, the Buckley School schedule is not allowing me time to blog. It is after midnight as I write this, and I am not done with my homework yet!
Today, after the initial pleasantries, they had us up on stage right away: under the lights, addressing camera and crowd. An unsparing critique followed immediately.
Tomorrow promises more of the same, only with less pleasantries.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 4:00 AM | TrackBack
January 18, 2006
On the road
Just in case, a note of warning: I am at the Buckley School of Public Speaking for the remainder of the week, and I don't know if the school's schedule or rigors will allow for posting here before Monday.
I haven't started the instruction yet, but I have been reading Reid Buckley's Speaking in Public and Strictly Speaking, and they are wonderful. Strictly Speaking is more directly applicable to the kind of speaking business leaders do, but both have been entertaining, inspiring, and humbling.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 4:00 AM | TrackBack
January 16, 2006
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week's Carnival is up at Wordlab.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 9:28 AM | TrackBack
January 2, 2006
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week's Carnival is up at Chocolate and Gold Coins.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 7:04 PM | TrackBack
January 1, 2006
Guy Kawasaki is blogging
Guy Kawasaki is a great writer and an incredibly entertaining keynote speaker. I love his funny, straight to the point approach. In a world of empty, fluffy business books and speeches Guy always delivers something I can put to use right away. His new blog is going on my daily list.
If you are reading business blogs I can't imagine you aren't already reading Guy's books, but if not, do. And don't pass up a chance to hear him speak.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 4:12 PM | TrackBack
December 26, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week's Carnival is up at Multiple Mentality. My contribution was about the vomit-inducing Richard Branson and the price of being the face of your business; Yaro Starak's Carnival contribution provides the other side, explaining the benefits of being your brand, with Branson as an example.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 10:29 AM | TrackBack
December 21, 2005
Minipreneurs and other trends
The Amazon Web Services Blog put me onto Trendwatching.com, which uses the term minipreneur to describe consumers who are becoming entrepreneurs by leveraging other businesses. Minipreneurs let other companies handle many of the high-bar obstacles to setting up a business – e-commerce, web presence, marketing, manufacturing, etc. – and focus on their specific contribution. Examples include freelancers, bloggers, eBay merchants and more.
I have seen many of the individual pieces of this puzzle, but Trendwatching.com’s newsletter really pulls it together and gets me thinking about ways to leverage the trend.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 6:14 AM | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists
This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Coyote Blog.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at 8:13 AM | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
Joel on Software, shipping, and everything else
I love Joel Spolsky's writing. Joel on Software is an absolute must read for people in the software business, but don't let that put you off if you're in another business. His articles on software development are full of concepts you can apply broadly and his brass-tacks articles on business always get me thinking.
His company's recent need to ship thousands of DVD's prompted him to attack the three minutes it took to ship each one. Ideas like using 5x8 cards for packing slip invoices, to save time folding and stuffing, got me thinking about the small, time consuming tasks in our repetitive processes. A minute isn’t much -- unless you are repeating the process thousands of times.