Networking: Building Intentional Relationships

Networking is an integral part of growing a profitable business for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners alike, particularly in the early stages. However, most small business owners put far too little forethought and planning into determining what is required to build ‘intentional’ relationships that can deliver positive returns to their businesses.

Now what is meant by building intentional relationships?

As its definition depicts, intentional is something that is done by conscious design or purpose, something planned. Likewise in networking, building intentional relationships should by design have an intended purpose that produces positive results. How should you develop intentional relationships that can help you achieve your business goals? Continue reading…

Globalization: The Leadership Difference

How rapidly is the global economy changing? A telecommunications CEO from Brazil predicted “The services that account for 80 percent of our revenue today will only be our second-largest source of revenue in five years.”

The world’s private and public sector leaders believe that rapidly escalating complexity is the biggest challenge confronting them. They are equally clear that their organizations are not equipped to cope effectively with this complexity in the global business environment.

Yet one set of CEO’s and organizations have consistently performed well. How do these “Stand Outs” mitigate complexity and even convert it into opportunity? Continue reading…

The Global Business Challenges

In the previous segment of the Globalization: The Leadership Challenge Ahead article series we addressed the ongoing debate of whether globalization is good or bad for the economy. Now, let’s turn our attention to the global business challenges.

Some 20+ years ago, I first addressed the topic of global business challenges as a part of my speech at a graduate school symposium at the University of Oklahoma. One of the charts in my presentation listed the major challenges of competing in a global marketplace; similar to what is shown below. Continue reading…

Are You Paying Attention to the Signs?

This article is an introduction to a new blog series around “Globalization: The Leadership Challenge Ahead” the topic of my presentation at the Colleyville Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on January 6, 2011 to kick-off the new year.

To put things into the proper context, globalization is fast becoming a business imperative for survival and growth, whether you recognize it or not. This is true for both solo entrepreneurs and small local businesses, as well as large multi-national corporations.

Are you paying attention to the signs? Continue reading…

New 4Ps of Marketing: Part 4 of 4

Part 4 and the last of the new 4Ps of Marketing is Performance. Ultimately, performance is the most important of the New 4Ps of Marketing. Why? Because all marketing related activities are investments and as such, they need to be measured, tracked and compared to other investments to ensure that they yield the highest rate of return to the business.

 

So, how do you measure and track marketing performance to ensure that you are receiving the anticipated return on your marketing investments? Continue reading…

New 4Ps of Marketing: Part 3 of 4

Part 3 of the new 4Ps of Marketing focuses on Perception. Perception is the process by which people select, organize, and interpret information.  And therein lies the major obstacle for most companies when attempting to market to a broad, diverse audience.

What does your branding, advertising and marketing communicate about your company and your industry? The market perception of your brand or industry is extremely important, which is why industry leaders take extra steps to ensure that the general perception of them and their industry is positive.

To become a recognized leader in any industry you must develop a strong brand image, while building credibility and trust with consumers, particularly when faced with adversity. Example: Toyota and how they admirably responded to resolve the recent gas pedal recall problem and quickly restored consumer confidence.

Continue reading…

New 4Ps of Marketing: Part 2 of 4

Part 2 of the new 4Ps of Marketing focuses on Promotion, the only carry-over from the original 4Ps of Marketing, but with a twist. Promotion in today’s marketing emphasizes education and information much more to distinguish your brand and differentiate your product or service from competitive offers.

 

As you have experienced first hand, there numerous ways to advertise and promote your product or service depending on the media you select. Marketing companies, for example, rely heavily on Internet advertisement, special events, endorsements, and newspapers to advertise and promote their products and services.

The key question for any small business is where and how to cost effectively get across your marketing messages to your target market? For your small business, will you reach your target audience by TV, or radio, or on billboards? What about direct marketing, flyers, door hangers, or on the Internet? Those are a few of the more common advertising and media choices to consider to help you get the word out. Continue reading…

New 4Ps of Marketing: Part 1 of 4

In the past, the 4Ps of Marketing were most commonly defined in terms of Product, Price, Place (or Placement) and Promotion. However, a lot has changed since the original 4Ps were adopted, as a direct result of continued shifts in consumer buying habits, online shopping, social media, etc.

Randy Vaughn’s (Marketing Twins) definition for today’s marketing, “Getting people with a specific need or problem to know, like and trust you”, clearly reflects how much marketing and consumerism have changed over the years. Marketing in this new era has a lot less to do with product, price and place, and much more to do with people and other elements that influence buyer behavior to be covered in this 4-part article. Continue reading…

Are My Lips Moving … ?

Are my lips moving and no sounds coming out? That’s a question I am sure most of us have asked ourselves from time to time in attempting to communicate both verbally and in written form with our intended audience.

At times it can be hard to determine if your message is getting through all the noise, particularly when you consider that your prospects are flooded with more than 4,000 messages a day from various media sources.

So, how do you get your voice heard above the noise of the crowd? Continue reading…

Is FREE Still a Great Marketing Tool?

Is FREE still a great marketing and promotional tool or has it lost its luster? I have to admit, I’m on the fence on this one, and could really use some feedback from you.

Back in the “old days” it was a foregone conclusion that price = value. However, we all know market conditions have shifted drastically as a result of e-commerce and more aggressive global competition, to the extent that it is hard to recognize a good value when you see one today, particularly when shopping online. Continue reading…