Thanks to Han Lee for permission to use this Photo.
I have found in my many years in the advertising business that a way to keep perspective is to know and respect the customer. For example, if you are developing advertising for a restaurant, go to the restaurant and experience it as a regular customer. Observe the service, the menu, the décor, and the atmosphere. Observe the customers around you. Are they families or single persons? Do they appear to be locals who live in the area, or are they visiting from far away? How are they dressed? What items are they ordering? Observe the staff. Do they seem happy or harried? How much time do they spend conversing at each table? These kinds of first-hand observations can add knowledge that research figures cannot provide. This is especially true in Internet marketing.
Your web development team has just finished creating a whole new web design for the company. However, many times the company finds out that regular users can find a web site confusing. Because it is so easy for someone to abandon a site in the middle of a shopping experience, it is essential to ensure an easy navigation system for the most basic of users. Many companies will bring in focus groups consisting of people in their target market to click through the proposed site design and make any suggestions before the site goes on line.
If you are working for a company that manufactures parts sold to other businesses, visit those businesses, if possible. Talk with the people who actually use the parts to assemble the final product. Find out what they think of your product versus that of the competition. What do they think of the advertising for the parts? Is it truthful? Is it meaningful to them?
As I discuss throughout Ashworth’s Internet Marketing Program, the best business owners and managers stay in touch with their customers. There is no substitute for meeting the customers and the people responsible for selling your product.
Formal leaders do not hold a monopoly on power. In fact, it is often individuals with unimpressive titles who wield great power in organizations. In many of the organizations in which I have worked, administrative assistants have had tremendous power. Because of their role in the organization, the administrative assistants often knew about organizational changes before most employees. In addition, administrative assistants served as gatekeepers, allowing only certain people access to key decision makers. While the title administrative assistant may not conjure images of power, it is often a very powerful position.
An administrative assistant is only one example demonstrating how employees who do not possess lofty titles may wield significant power. Line-level employees are often the face of the organization to the customer. Think about the number of organizations you interact with each day in which you speak only to customer service representatives, either in person or over the phone (at airlines, banks, and insurance companies, for instance). These front-line employees hold tremendous power, and their actions shape your impression of the entire organization. In addition, front-line employees often see problems and opportunities those in formal leadership positions miss. In his book, Leading Up, Michael Useem discusses the significant power held by line-level employees and believes that those who are not in formal leadership positions must “lead up,” or lead the leaders, for organizations to be as successful as possible.
“Leading up” means providing accurate data and not withholding information or being afraid to speak to a superior. Useem states that leaders today are not just bosses; they are the bright and ambitious line-level employees who take charge despite their lack of stature in the organization.
This raises a point I feel bears repeating. As you study leadership and investigate the leadership potential within yourself, you may have decided that you are destined to be a leader and therefore must attain some lofty title such as president or chief executive. However, leadership is not determined by the position or title you hold in an organization. Remember that you are able to demonstrate true leadership and possess significant power regardless of the position you might hold. You should never underestimate the power of understanding your job, your customers, and even your boss, and the subsequent value an organization places upon individuals who do understand those things.
In fact, there is a danger in attaining a formal leadership title too early in one’s career. One who chooses to lead without a formal title must develop skills those with formal leadership titles do not necessarily need to gain compliance. For example, someone with the title of president or vice president can simply issue orders if he or she feels something needs to change, and based upon the power of the position, people will generally comply. However, the leader without a lofty title must influence others to change. Leading change without a formal mandate to do so requires influence skills, the ability to understand others’ perspectives, and the ability to build coalitions.
All leaders should possess these skills in order to be truly successful. However, these skills may not be developed as fully if one is placed in a formal leadership position too soon. While leading from a formal leadership position poses challenges, overcoming challenges while leading without a formal leader’s title or job description is often the best preparation for the “big” job.
Thanks to Gene Hunt for permission to use this Photo.
I finally took the time to read a book that I’ve been interested in checking out for awhile. It’s called The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris and its’ innovative perspectives on how almost anyone can create an entrepreneurial lifestyle for themselves is definitely worth reading. Instead of summarizing the contents of the book here, I’ve included this podcast interview with Ferris conducted by Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey.
I think all of our students will be motivated by Mr. Ferris’s very pragmatic ideas on how you can break free from “the system” and pursue your own business endeavors with confidence. Please share your thoughts with your student community on the Ashworth Student Forum. I’ll talk to you again soon. Thanks…
The insights of cultural/media theorist Douglas Rushkoff are always contemporary and often prescient. He was deciphering the social codes of the virtual psyche, lifestyle, and marketplace before such concepts were formally identified by the so-called “machine.”
In this video snippet from Rushkoff’s presentation on “word of mouth” marketing at the CMA’s Word of Mouth Conference, he summarizes why the death of traditional advertising may not be such a bad thing for businesses willing to listen to the voices.
I guess that being paid $10 million for the advertising campaign and appearing with the chairman Bill Gates might be the sole reason why Seinfeld is joining forces with Microsoft, but maybe not. It might not be the money, and certainly not the fame (even though Seinfeld might be less famous now than 10 years ago). I believe that his reason might be all related to creativity and the opportunity a huge advertising campaign brings. Seinfeld is a comedian, and he is a creative person. He is one of the best people in the business, and now he has the chance to work with some of the best people in marketing. The advertising campaign will most likely be really cool, and people will be talking about it for months.
But what is he going to promote?
My first thought was that he can’t be hired to promote something like “start using Microsoft Windows”, because way too many people are already using it. But according to Washington Post, that’s exactly what he’ll be doing, and it’s all because of Apple.
The next question is how?
The first thing that comes to my mind, is the “Get a Mac” ads. But hopefully they will do something completely different, because trying to do the same thing, that would be just plain stupid. The funny thing is, if you look at most of the Seinfeld episodes, you’ll see a Mac on his desk in the corner. Maybe that’s what they’ll be focusing on in the advertising campaign, that Seinfeld finally switched from his old Mac to a PC, and started using Microsoft Vista?
My tips to a creative and cool campaign would go with Truth or dare, Jerry Seinfeld vs Bill Gates. (more…)
Thanks to Kit Kowan for permission to use this Photo.
Seth Godin’s ability to reinvent conventional perspectives in an original framework has earned him celebrity status in the marketing world. Praised for his seemingly prophetic insights into developing digital trends, Seth is the kind of entrepreneur who doesn’t find it necessary to break the rules in order to generate consumer attention; he simply interprets the rules in ways that the “experts” had said were too undefined, open, and ironically enough: consumer-centric. The communications channels that Seth proposes to reach customers (get their attention) should be understood by any entrepreneur trying to make it in online marketplace, which is already yesterday’s— a reality that has informed Godin’s strategic principles throughout his career. The following video is a nice introduction to the sometimes bizarre, but always inspiring perspectives of a truly creative business mind. Click on the image above to watch this video. We encourage you to share your thoughts with the community afterwards. Take care.
The insights of cultural/media theorist Douglas Rushkoff are always contemporary and often prescient. He was deciphering the social codes of the virtual psyche, lifestyle, and marketplace before such concepts were formally identified by the so-called “machine.”
TheMerchants Of Cool is a brilliant analysis of the incorporation of youth pop-culture that Ruskhoff created while working as a correspondent for PBS Frontline. This is a very entertaining documentary. You’ll learn a lot too. Let me know what you think in the comments section.
Thanks to Chris Metcalf for permission to use this Photo.
In the hyper-competitive business environment of today, there are millions of dollars invested and mistakenly often wasted by companies looking for the “next big thing,” the elusive innovation that will electrify the marketplace. When most people think of innovation, they automatically consider it in the technological sense, but innovation means much more than producing a faster computer or a telephone that doubles as a home entertainment system; innovation is ultimately about ideas. In the following video, innovation expert Charles Leadbeater discusses how innovation isn’t just reserved for the corporate giants with infinite capital, but rather how independent thinking entities, people like you and me with a vision, are now empowered like never before to compete in the marketplace on our own terms. I found this presentation both informative and inspiring. I hope you feel the same way after viewing it and approach your next lesson with a sense of enthusiasm. Click on the image above to watch this video.
Any organization in which you find employment will have a variety of managers who have a variety of responsibilities. A typical business will have sales, operations, financial, and other types of managers, each with a different viewpoint on what it takes for the company to succeed. In smaller enterprises a manager may wear several of these hats. In a large corporation managers tend to be more specialized, either as to their duties or their geographic area or product line.
These managers speak different “languages” and sometimes the result can be a virtual Tower of Babel. For an example of this, you might try sometime asking an accountant, a plant supervisor, and an engineer what it costs the company to make a particular product. Having completed this course you should now be able to communicate effectively with a financial manager, and you should also know how to read and interpret financial statements, determining what they’re telling you and what they aren’t. Armed with these skills you now have the ability to ask the right questions to make better decisions both as a manager and as an investor. And you can appreciate why the accountant, the plant supervisor, and the engineer would look at “cost” differently. You needn’t expect them to all agree, so long as you recognize how you need to view the cost of a product.
Whatever profession you choose, if you’re not already tied to one, you’ll need to master its language and those of professions tied to individual departments, as well. These could include production, purchasing, materials management, human resources, sales and marketing, and even corporate legal disciplines. This is the purpose of a general business education such as the one you are pursuing at Ashworth University. (more…)
When I read the book Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin, it reminded me of one of his previous books I read, Purple Cow. But was it just the content of the book, or the fact that the book arrived to me several years ago in a milk carton?
The premise of the book Purple Cow, published in 2002, is about being remarkable. Godin’s point is that in an age where we are deluged with images and messages, these have reduced their overall effectiveness, and to get your message out there, your product or service needs to be different or unique in its own way. The first example in the book is driving through farm lands and seeing cow after cow and they all look alike, but a cow that is purple will stand out and be remembered, thus remarkable.
So is remarkable something you put on top of a product or service? Not necessarily. The book gives examples of how L.L. Bean and Sears Craftsman line of tools are remarkable in their unconditional return policy. Ikea is remarkable in how they sell low-cost, assemble-yourself furniture that is extremely stylish. Dr. Bronner’s soap is remarkable in its unique labeling.
My greatest takeaway is that remarkable is not a gimmick. From the above examples, what makes them remarkable are attributes that have lasted for years. Gimmicks may drive sales, but not over the long term. Gimmicks are also not considered sincere.
Another takeaway is that you may already be remarkable. When many entrepreneurs venture out on their own, their catalyst is often they can do what they do better or in a more unique way from where they previously worked. They may not have been able to do it, whatever it is, when they worked for someone else and have the conviction to do it themselves. This was part of my own motivation for starting Dunkirk Systems, LLC.
The book Purple Cow does not over-do it with examples and is an energetic, quick read. If you are venturing out on your own, or taking a strategic look at your business I recommend reading the book as it will definitely inspire you, and you may get some ideas from it as well.
Mike Maddaloni
Founder and President of Dunkirk Systems
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger
*We consider it a great privilege to share the business-tech perspectives of entrepreneur Mike Maddaloni with the Ashworth University Business Community. Mike’s Internet consulting firm, Dunkirk Systems, is based out of Chicago and has steadily built a reputation for providing superior service to their growing list of satisfied clients. Visit The Hot Iron blog to gain additional insights into Mike’s business life. Thanks Mike!
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