Strategic Planning Analogy #466: You've Got Personality

THE STORY

Over the past year or so, I?ve been splitting my time between looking for clients for my strategy consulting business and looking for a full-time strategy job.? This has given me the opportunity to talk to a lot of executives at a number of companies.

In the vast majority of cases, I eventually received a rejection.? Now, one might at first think that these rejections would make me feel more negative towards these companies.? After all, they rejected me.

However, just the opposite is true.? After meeting with the people at these companies, I like the companies a lot more.? I feel that I?ll be more likely to patronize them than before and I even feel a bit more loyal to them?even though they rejected me.

THE ANALOGY
Before I met with these companies, they were just faceless, impersonal businesses?just words and numbers.? There wasn?t much of any reason to feel any personal connection with them.? But after I met and talked with people in the business, that all changed.? I got to see the people behind the company.? I got to hear the passion in the voices of the leaders.? I got to see people enthusiastically working at the company to do something great.? I got to see the awards in the lobby display cases, hear the chatter in the lunch room.

In other words, the company was no longer a faceless, impersonal entity.? Now it was a real living breathing entity with a personality.? I could feel the drive and the passion.? I could see there were people who cared.? Now I could relate to the business on a deeper, more personal level.? The emotional bonds became stronger, because now because there was a deeper connection.

Most businesses would be tickled to death if they could create these deeper, more loyal ties with their customers.?? In my case, these great feelings continued in spite of being rejected.? Wouldn?t it be great if customers had such strong feelings towards your business that it could even overcome an occasional consumer disappointment?

In most businesses, it would not be practical to fly all of one?s customers to headquarters to talk to senior leadership about the business, like I was doing for interviews and business pitches.? But anything a company can do to move from being a faceless, impersonal entity to being a personality that customers can relate to is a move in the right direction.

THE PRINCIPLE
The principle here is that the personality of the brand or company matters.? If done properly, it can help deepen the bonds between company and customers.? If done improperly, it can create an image that will turn people away from the company.? Therefore, as part of a strategic plan, one should consider the proper personality for the business and tactics for bringing it alive to the potential consumers.? The personality needs to be managed, just like any other asset. I first realized the importance of this fact when I was working at Best Buy.? I was shown some research Best Buy had done before my time there.? I believe the research was from the early to mid 1990s.?

The research was asking customers their opinions of the various consumer electronics retailers in the US.? At the time, there was a dozen or so regional retailers in this space who wanted to become national leaders.? It included retailers such as Circuit City, Silo, Highland, Fretter?s, Best Buy, and many others.? Today, all of them have long since disappeared?except for Best Buy.

Did Best Buy survive when others failed because consumers saw it as a far superior consumer electronics retailer?? This research at that time would say no.? In fact, consumers saw all of these retailers as pretty much the same.? On all of the rational variables of retailing (price, selection, etc.), all of the brands were rated fairly equally.? There wasn?t much of any reason to prefer one retail brand over the other.

As I say in my book ?The Most Important Question,? one of the most important tasks of strategy is to discover and strengthen reasons for customers to naturally prefer your company or brand more than the alternatives.? In this case, the consumer electronics retailers were failing on this most important point.? There was no reason to prefer a particular store because they were seen as indistinguishable from each other.

That is, except for one little difference.? At that time, Best Buy had a person who would dress up in a costume which looked like a giant price tag.? This walking price tag would interact with customers in Best Buy?s advertising.?

According to the survey, people liked this giant walking price tag.? Why?? Because it helped give Best Buy a personality.? They liked the way it interacted with the customers.? It seemed to enjoy the same fun, entertaining things they did.? It had a personality as being like one of them.

In a sea of faceless competition, the personality which came from the giant Best Buy Tag gave customers deeper, more positive feelings towards Best Buy than towards any of the competitors.? It gave a reason to like Best Buy more, to prefer it.

Now I?m not claiming that all of Best Buy?s success was due to that giant price tag.? Success comes from doing a lot of things correctly.? But I do believe that the uniqueness of having a personality gave Best Buy an edge at a critical time when industry consolidation was about to occur.? It bought time in order for Best Buy to improve a lot of other variables, so that Best Buy could be the superior brand which survived the consolidation.? Without that personality edge, I am not sure Best Buy would have survived the transition.

Lately, however, Best Buy?s future seems to be under threat.? There are many reasons for that, and it will take many changes to return strength to the Best Buy brand.? But I am willing to bet that if you asked consumers to describe the personality of Best Buy today, you would get a lot of negative attributes.

Based on the chatter I read on the internet, Best Buy appears to have lost control over managing that personality.? It is being redefined by disgruntled customers in a negative way.? That is not a good thing.? Now Best Buy has to fight an additional war.? Not only does it need to fix the problem of becoming irrelevant in a changing marketplace, it needs to overcome a bad personality.? It would have been easier to transition to relevancy if it had the advantage of a likeable personality on its side.? Then people would be more forgiving during the transition, just as I liked companies even though they rejected me.

So how can we manage the personality for our benefit?

1.????? First, think about personality strategically.? Decide which personality is most in sync with your strategic point of preference.? Figure out how to instill that personality into everything you do.

2.????? Consider a more public profile for the leadership, so that they can bring their face and personality to an otherwise faceless firm.? Richard Branson is a great example of this.? His strong personality is very public and has helped give a strong personality to all of the Virgin divisions.

3.????? In lieu of real employees, one can use symbolic representations to make the personality come to life.? This can be things as crazy as a giant price tag, or the Geico Gekko.?

4.????? Actively manage your interactions with customers.? Some lowly sales clerk on the front lines may be the only human interaction a customer has with your firm.? If that clerk has a bad personality, it can reflect negatively on the entire brand, since it is the only human reference point.? Work to instill the proper personality into all employees based on the way you hire, the way you train, the way you reward.? Zappos provides a good example of this.? They were so intent on having a staff with the right personality that they only hire people with the personality which fits their culture and mission.? It? a huge part of the interview process.? To make sure employees are there for the mission and not just the money, after someone has been employed for a week they offer them $2000 if they want to leave.? That weeds out the people who only work for the money.

?

5.????? Actively manage your interactions with society.? Society expects businesses to be good citizens.? They want you to give back.? This is particularly true with the younger adult generations.? If you are not seen as a good corporate citizen, it will damage your personality and you will lose business.

6.????? React quickly to threats to your personality.? ?Monitor what people are saying about you.? As soon as your personality is being threatened, act to rectify the situation.? Don?t let little issues grow into big negatives.? Be fast and aggressive in protecting that reputation. ?Cisco is a company which takes this very seriously and has developed tools to help others do the same.

SUMMARY

Personalities help companies build stronger bonds with their customers.? These company/brand personalities need to be managed like any other strategic asset.? Incorporate personality development/management/protection into your strategic planning.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ask the marketplace this question:? If my company were a person, what type of personality would it have?? You might be shocked at what you hear.

Source: http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/2012/08/strategic-planning-analogy-466-youve.html

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Tips To Consider When Marketing Your Business Online | Stephen ...

A lot of businesses rely on Internet marketing since it is both efficient and affordable. From running up websites, to sending emails, to setting up social media accounts, today there are a huge number of ways to market your business online. Look at this article to find out how you can use Internet marketing to your advantage.

It is important to estimate the ratio of visitors to customers to see if your site is effective. Most companies have add-ons and tools that will help you track all of your activity.

Another option is to sell bundled merchandise at a discounted price. Make sure to describe the terms of your offer clearly in your marketing literature.

Find unique ways to give gifts. One thing that you could do is to have questions based off of your website that your customers need to answer correctly. As a reward, offer them merchandise discounts or free prizes. Having activities on your site that involve customers makes the experience more personal and encourages them to come back.

Use AJAX and Flash sparingly. Don?t overload your site with Flash animations that annoy customers. If possible, try not to use them at all. If you want to employ Flash, use it sparingly and make sure you have plenty of other keywords and navigational tools available.

If you are responsible for providing online content, you need to familiarize yourself with certain HTML elements such as tags. These tags indicate the important content on your page and will display it in different levels of bold. Search engine bots will rank your page according to tags. Therefore, it?s important to emphasize the most significant keywords.

Look at your website from the customer?s point of view. Is your site easy to navigate through? Does it engage your customers? Can people place orders easily and quickly? It?s useless to use SEO on a site that is confusing or boring.

Direct marketing is complementary to any Internet marketing campaign. You can reach your customers by phone, email, or fax to let them know the specials and services you have. You can acquire much of the information you need by looking in the physical yellow pages or available online phone books.

The more ways you offer to take payments, the simpler it is for customers to purchase items on your site. Even if you?re using an e-wallet like PayPal, some people might have MoneyBookers or only a credit card. Diversify your payment options.

If you want your website to stand out from the competition, you need to offer visitors something that?s unique in your field. Offer quality information such as articles, videos, pictures, podcasts, games and anything else your audience might be interested in. Having an item that is exclusive to your site is great at attracting plenty of customers to your website.

It may seem overwhelming to decide which direction your business and website should go in. Narrow down your interests until an obvious winner is on top. It is best to choose a niche that you find both familiar and enjoyable. With your goals clearly identified and set, marketing your website should go smoothly.

If you haven?t yet, you should think about developing a squeeze page in order to build up your contacts. This page will ask your visitors for their email address. You can even give them an incentive to sign up like a coupon or promotional item to get them to fill out contact information. This provides them with something free and you can add them without any issues to your own list.

Your business website should include a PR page; this will benefit your Internet marketing efforts. Try creating publish-worthy content that could be used in magazines or newspapers. This can be a very effective, yet simple, strategy to give your business higher visibility to potential customers.

Internet marketing is not as hard to understand as you think. Use the advice you have read there to make yourself more visible online and target your campaign to your customer base. With the growth of technology, putting your business online can help you reach many more people.

Enjoy the Journey

P.S.?If you would like to increase your marketing exposure and use the internet to the fullest to promote your business, generate leads and grow your team, take a look at what we have available to help youTAKE A LOOK and observe how we can increase your productivity.

Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/spettis/blog/tips-to-consider-when-marketing-your-business-online/

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Why?s everybody so angry about Twitter ? and should you care?

17 hrs.

Thorin Klosowski , Lifehacker

People have different reasons for being upset with Twitter right now, and those reasons really depend?on what type of Twitter user you are. Here are the people Twitter's changes are going to affect the most, and why?they're angry about the new rules.

The crux of why people are upset with Twitter is pretty simple: Twitter is?changing its Application Programming Interface (API)and closing off how third-party apps communicate with Twitter. For casual Twitter users, this means that Twitter controls what information apps can access on Twitter, how they access it, and how the apps shoots out the data on their ends. On the surface, the main goal is to keep Twitter clients consistent, and push ads equally throughout all of Twitter.

The Twitter developers who are worried about what the changes mean for their Business
Developers who build Twitter clients like?MetroTwit?or?TweetBot?are the most clearly affected by Twitter's new rules. In Twitter's new?API Terms, Twitter states that Twitter clients need to keep in line with Twitter's layout rules, which require tweets to be displayed in a single way, with all their buttons in the right places. From a visual point of view, all Twitter apps should essentially look the same. However, in a?blog post?back in June, Twitter also stated that developers should not, "build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience." Essentially, this means Twitter doesn't want people building new Twitter clients.

Twitter has also instituted a user cap of 100,000 people for any app that uses the Twitter API, but they are giving a special allowance to any apps that already has over 100,000 users. When a new app gets more users that 100,000, it needs special permission from Twitter to continue on. This includes not just the Twitter clients that show your Twitter stream, but also apps that tap into the Twitter ecosystem like the aggregation tool?Storify?or the "what you did a year ago" webapp?Timehop. Essentially, if your app taps into Twitter for any reason, you're going to see changes.

From a strictly Twitter client point of view, the changes seem like they'll cut Twitter clients completely. However, in a blog post, Tweetbot developer Tapbots explains they'll?continue work their clients?(iPhone, iPad, and Mac), and the majority of the app will be unchanged. Twitterific developer Icon Factory?says the same thing.

Not all developers are so confident, and?several have sent letters to the FTC?requesting an investigation into possible antitrust issues that arise by Twitter forcing other apps out of the game.

Until we see how Twitter enforces these rules it's difficult to know exactly what to expect.

The Twitter power users who like third-party utilities

Twitter power users are going to see big changes in their Twitter clients, but many of the analytics tools they use will remain untouched. In fact, in Twitter's?blog post?on the issue, they specifically high-five the likes of?Crimson Hexagon,?Topsy,?Hootsuite, and others. In short, if you're using apps that are targeted at businesses, for data mining or otherwise, you're probably fine.

However, power users will likely see less customized clients built specifically for certain types of users. Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani sums it up on the?In Beta podcast:

I think the big thing people are upset about is that we're going to see fewer custom power user clients. Which really sucks for the power user who want the very specialized client who lets you mute keywords, or whatever.

The reason? With a new rules, developers might not put forth the effort to build specialized clients anymore. It could also mean that currently beloved clients will just give up. It's no fun playing in a playground with chains and locks on all the equipment. Since this hinges on how developers react, it's hard to judge exactly what the effect will be until Twitter starts enforcing these rules.

Twitter users who like services like Flipboard that plug into Twitter

The loudest outrage from most people is how Twitter's been tackling the way third-party services access Twitter. In a tiny way, this is about how?Tumblr, Instagram, and LinkedIn?users can't search for friends on Twitter any more.

More worrisome about the new API rules is how it might restrict apps like the popular social news app?Flipboard, which accesses tweets, but isn't a client itself. The worry comes from Rule 5a of the?Timeline display guide:

Tweets that are grouped together into a timeline should not be rendered with non-Twitter contents. Eg comments, updates from other networks.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment?talks about why this might matter in a blog post:

In other words, apps cannot interleave chronological groups of Twitter posts with anything else.

This is very broad and will bite more services and apps than you may expect. It's probably the clause that caused the dispute with LinkedIn, and why Flipboard CEO Mike McCue just left Twitter's board.

Closer to home for me, it affects Instapaper's "Liked By Friends" browsing feature, which will need to be significantly rewritten if I want it to comply. (If.)

Essentially, services that tap into your Twitter feed and regurgitate links into a new visual style could be blocked. This means magazine-style browsing apps like Flipboard?could?be cut off.

The likely reasoning from Twitter's point of view is simple. When you access links from who you follow on Twitter without ever going to Twitter itself, you can get the Twitter experience without ever looking at advertisements.

The optimistic Web nerds who want Twitter to be a platform, not a media company
When Twitter first launched, it was a wide-open, easy-to-develop-for platform that felt something like the wild wild west of internet communication. Now, Twitter is closing in on itself, and changing its overall approach from open platform for communication to media company. The reason? Money. (They're a for-profit company, so while the results are frustrating, it's silly to blame them for this.)?The Verge lays it out like so:

Creating a platform like Twitter is impossibly hard, but after years of fail whales, the company pulled it off. Monetizing a platform is harder still, and it looks like Twitter has taken the easier path: monetizing its social graph without sharing the wealth with the developers who helped build it.

The reason the social graph (who you follow/who follows you) is important from an advertising point of view is pretty simple: people use Twitter like they use a TV, they follow who they're interested in and that reflects a marketing potential. This makes direct advertising easy.

Twitter's original API was wide open, and out of it sprung all types of innovative apps and uses?the very same things that turned Twitter into the successful company it is today. The openness was the exact reason many of us started using the service in the first place. Twitter was a platform you could access in a variety of ways, and use for a number of different reasons. You could track celebrities, communicate with people, and share links with complete strangers. Users wanted to think of it as a platform similar to email as opposed to a media company (like Facebook). It's easy to see that Twitter needs to make money, but many people hoped (perhaps naively) that Twitter would still function as a platform. Not as yet another Facebook.

So, should you care?

Twitter's guidelines for some of these changes are still pretty vague, and interpretations of how Twitter will implement the changes are all over the place. Developers have six months to comply with the new API, and hopefully by then we'll have a better idea of how it's going to affect everyone.

So, should you care? That depends on how you use Twitter. The issues above effect different people in different ways, but even the casual user will see restrictions with the apps and clients they use.

More from Lifehacker

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/whys-everybody-so-angry-about-twitter-should-you-care-965306

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Bollocks to the Prohibitionists (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/243844891?client_source=feed&format=rss

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An Inspector of construction Enterprise | Home Improvement Blog ...

Many customers who are about to build houses in a new area are highly confident of their needs and also the obligations of manufacturers. Although construction inspectors are there for your help, do not contact them for every little thing. Building inspectors are paid to make sure the city?s building codes were followed and that the construction and electrical conditions are safe.

In addition to thinking about what is required by an inspector, owners often get caught with their work to help the Inspector will work just fine. The building inspector is required to work on important aspects of the construction process as the structure, strength, while the interiors are not under his control. He controls the solidity of the structure, not the cosmetic additions to the building.

The first day of the exam of your home, the inspector should look at the Foundation, reinforcements (along with the foundation wall) and once the water resistance as well. Basics like hydraulic, electric cables and gas pipes also need attention of Inspector during his second visit to the site. Subsequently, the rough electrical, hydraulic, gas piping, heating ventilation and framing are watched.

Check electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, once all have been covered is the next bit to the Inspector. If the work does not meet its specifications at this point, the electricity will not turn on and the buyers will not be allowed to move in house until the generator has corrected the situation. Building inspectors also check the licenses of people who work on site to ensure that the House is being built properly.

It is useless to argue with an inspector, because he represents the City Council and enforce the rules of the city. To get an understanding of errors or wrong done working, you have to dig deep within it. The furniture must be worked out between the buyer and his generator.

Entering a new city and trying to find a reliable Builder may present a problem for some people. Is a great idea for the buyer to make contact with the building inspector. An inspector will recommend builders usually good though he couldn?t tell which one is the best out of the lot.

Another problem for home buyers is when you buy a House that has already been completely built. A local inspector must ask to check the roof for any abnormalities, if the Foundation is cracked and/or level, the ports for any sounds and plaster for cracks. In one day of its finish, the home is thoroughly checked by the Inspector for any dangers to life and he guarantees that it is safe for you to move in.

The building inspector is not solely responsible in making sure that the home is safe and sound. Nobody is responsible, but the home buyer. When you need a help, building inspectors are always there to lend a hand.

Source: http://halohund.de/an-inspector-of-construction-enterprise.html

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Tips for Cycling for Beginners | The Kingdom of Squidoo

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Source: http://squidom.com/SportsRecreation/Tips_for_Cycling_for_Beginners

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From Zero to Hero: The Evolution of Computers

Most people use a computer on a day-to-day basis but rarely think about the origins of a machine that has become so?indispensable. But the question ?Who invented the computer?? is not an easy one to answer as many inventors throughout the years have contributed to the technology we use now. Let?s take a look at the brief journey from desktop computers to tablet computers in order to get a grip on the astounding speed at which technology has moved.

Desktop computers

The first personal computers targeted at the general public were developed in the 1970s and 1980s and included models like the IBM Personal Computer and the Apple II series. This marked a step away from specialised scientific and business-based computers and a step into the broad consumer market. These personal computers could fit in people?s homes and offices and would soon incorporate friendly operating systems like Macintosh and Windows.

Laptop computers

Laptops were groundbreaking when first released in the early 1980s as they included the same elements as a desktop ? screen, keyboard, mouse or touchpad and speaks ? but combined them with real portability. By the 1990s, colour screens were introduced and CD-ROM, DVD and Blu-ray capability were introduced in the 2000s.

Phones

The introduction of Blackberries, iPhones and pocket PCs is perhaps the most pivotal development in computer technology in the last decade. It allows people to be permanently contactable through emails, contacts, appointments, social media and instant messaging services like BBM and WhatsApp. Phones became mini computers.

Tablet computers

Tablets are larger than mobile phones but smaller than laptops and without a flip screen. They are usually operated through a touch screen or a digital pen and have become increasingly popular in recent years. Apple spearheaded the tablet revolution with the launch of the iPad in 2010. It used similar technology to that of its iPhone and hence made it easy for users, who commonly had experience using the interface. Tablets usually have wireless internet functions, apps, email and social media devices, cameras and e-book reading.

Where to now?

Technology is always finding incredible new ways to impress and astound us. You can already see how far we?ve come in the last 50 years; imagine what the next 50 could hold! From driverless cars to Google glasses, which feature phone functions, GPS, a camera and voice control ? one thing is for sure, it won?t be boring! Most of us couldn?t imagine a life without computers and they are only set to become more and more important to us ? if that?s even possible?

Sarah Oatley is a freelance writer with a technology addiction. She always wants to get her hands on the latest products and gadgets but can?t afford to buy everything she would like. She uses RentSmart?to access the latest technology for a fraction of the price.

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Tagged as: Computers, Desktop computers, Evolution, Evolution of Computers, Laptop computers, phones, tabets, Tablets Computers, Who invented the computer

Thank You For Reading...

Minesh Rai is the Founder and CEO of Mirolta.com. He writes articles regarding Mobiles, Tech, Gadgets, Games, Web Applications, Social Media and much more. Contact him at mineshrai@mirolta.com.

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Source: http://mirolta.com/2012/08/26/from-zero-to-hero-the-evolution-of-computers/

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