by Davia Temin
May I add my voice to the chorus in praise of Steve Jobs?
Beyond brilliant, beyond insightful, beyond courageous, the man is a mass of contradictions, the combination of which, I believe, begins to explain his genius.
And, this genius provides a lesson of incredible power to every entrepreneur, or aspiring entrepreneur, on the planet.
Artist and engineer; Buddhist and hard-nosed businessman; visionary entrepreneur who has built large and resilient companies; optimist and pessimist; rugged individualist who appeals to the masses; prickly, difficult leader who inspires enormous loyalty among his troops; the ultimate opaque manager who has guarded his privacy and secrecy, even while providing the world with the tools of transparency.
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by Ralph Palgia
We all know Facebook is right now for dealerships around the nation the #1 choice when trying to engage with customers off-site, next to the biweekly or monthly ownership email marketing “blast” (my God do I hate this term “blast”) and/or dealer newsletter provided by IMN, Outsell, 3Birds Marketing or OnStation.
But I could discover throughout my held trainings and seminars that we as dealers very rarely know about the motives of consumers, why they are following us or a brand – why do they like us? What make fans and followers click?
A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget came closer to provide an answer. The following motives and answers will possibly help dealerships to adjust their engagement level on Social Media Networks. It will help us further in creating new approaches to “catch” potential customers’ attention. read more…
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By AllBusiness.com
Early branding of a small or emerging company is key to business success. It is the quickest way for your company to express what it is and what it can offer. Inaccurate branding of a new business can make it difficult for people to grasp why the business exists in the first place.
For startups and small businesses, branding can often take a backseat to other considerations, such as funding and product development. This is a mistake, as a company’s brand can be key to its success. Dollar for dollar, it is as important and vital as any other early steps.
One software management company, temporarily named TallyUp, decided to invest in a branding overhaul. Its flagship product, a software suite that tracks and runs bonus incentive plans, needed a clear identity and platform to appeal to its target audience — primarily financial executives. The name TallyUp, while somewhat descriptive, didn’t capture the level of sophistication needed to attract the appropriate clientele. TallyUp hired a branding consultant, who recommended the name Callidus (Latin for “expert and skillful”) to effectively communicate its positioning in an instant. The new name communicated a similar concept but on a completely different level. Callidus positions the software product correctly. read more…
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by Dan Berne
Do you have a clear view of your brand strategy? Do others in your company as well? What about your channel partners? Because execution of Brand Strategy involves such visible elements as logos, product design, advertising, packaging and other materials, it can, and should, have a wide-reaching impact. Too often brand elements are developed within a narrow viewpoint. For example, packaging may communicate functional advantages over the competition, but fail to effectively reflect the brand persona. Your brand architecture may be clear to the internal divisions who are developing your products, but confusing to customers at point-of-sale.
The execution of your brand strategy is seen and evaluated from four major viewpoints:
• Internal
• Your Customers
• Your Channel
• The Market
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By Crunch42
Here’s a list of ten common website problems. If your site does some of these no-no’s, you might want to consider getting it a touch-up, if not a facelift.
1. The site looks amateurish and/or parts are broken.
Recent studies have shows that people form an opinion of a website within the first three seconds of looking at it. If you’re trying to sell a product or service, you should put your best foot forward.
Your website doesn’t have to be a work of cutting-edge art, but it does need to look good. Remember, it’s the first impression your business is making on the potential customer. read more…
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by Peter Gorenstein and Farnoosh Torabi
Warren Buffett is worth $45 billion. That wealth isn’t only a factor of savvy investing and good business — the “Oracle of Omaha” is also known as a penny pincher. Buffett still lives in the same Omaha, Neb., home he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
Follow his frugal formula, and you too may wind up with a lot more money than you ever dreamed.
This week Financially Fit covers five tips to build wealth and success.
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by Ivan Raszl
In this post you can read the second chapter free from the book The Next Evolution of Marketing: Connect with Your Customers by Marketing with Meaning, written by Bob Gilbreath, Chief Marketing Strategist at Bridge Worldwide.
The book introduces a new marketing model (Marketing with Meaning) that people choose to engage with and ultimately improves their lives. In a nut-shell, the book shows that the most effective way to earn the trust and attention of today’s cynical customer is to add meaning to their lives instead of bombarding them with meaningless messages. Please let me know if you’re interested and would consider writing a review on your blog.
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by Luisa Kroll and Kerry A. Dolan
 Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
No. 1 Carlos Slim Helú & family
Net Worth: $74 billion ↑
Source: Telecom
Citizenship: Mexico
The world’s richest person for a second year in a row, the Mexican telecom mogul is also the year’s biggest gainer, having added $20.5 billion to his fortune and widened the gap between him and No. 2, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, to $18 billion. A 19% rise in the Mexican stock market, a stronger peso, and successful mining and real estate spinoffs from conglomerate Grupo Carso all contributed to the astonishing increase. He also merged his fixed-line telecom company into America Movil, Latin America’s largest wireless carrier; the Slim family stake in that holding accounts for 62% of his net worth. He has other holdings in retailer Saks and the New York Times. Recently unveiled a new building for his Soumaya Museum, which houses his vast art collection. It is open to the public for free. read more…
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by Darrell Zahorsky
Trend watching has emerged in big business as a discipline of business management and a popular topic among top media publications and futurists. Small business can benefit from trend watching, too. This week’s feature is on the hottest trends for business of all sizes.
Trends are far easier to observe than time. Timing of entering into a growing trend market can be costly if the trend has yet to enter public consciousness. My personal experience in timing a trend came in 1993, while trying to explain the Internet to advertising executives who had no idea of its existence. The best time to enter the market is when the trend is entering mass awareness so educating a market is less expensive. The following 4 trends were selected for longevity, market awareness & potential profitability. read more…
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Excerpted from “The Book of Business Wisdom”
Edited by Peter Krass
Sam Walton 1918 – 1992
Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up poor in a farm community in rural Missouri during the Great Depression. The poverty he experienced while growing up taught him the value of money and to persevere.
After attending the University of Missouri, he immediately worked for J.C. Penny where he got his first taste of retailing. He served in World War II, after which he became a successful franchiser of Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores. In 1962, he had the idea of opening bigger stores, sticking to rural areas, keeping costs low and discounting heavily. The management disagreed with his vision. Undaunted, Walton pursued his vision, founded Wal-Mart and started a retailing success story. When Walton died in 1992, the family’s net worth approached $25 billion.
Today, Wal-Mart is the world’s #1 retailer, with more than 4,150 stores, including discount stores, combination discount and grocery stores, and membership-only warehouse stores (Sam’s Club). Learn Walton’s winning formula for business. read more…
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