Theresa Q's Viewspage on Marketkeeping

Cultivating resilience in the face of uncertainty #li

Don Peppers has always been one of my role models, and I love this recent post in Fast Company magazine. I'm going to paraphrase his strategies because that's how I embed things in my brain... 

1. Use tools that quickly show a range of possible outcomes.
2. Accept the fact that you've got to be prepared for the range, not your favorite.
3. Leverage the most predictable aspect of a situation.
4. Use a decision-making process that you respect and that informs you, and then you won't have to agonize over a bad outcome. (It was a learning experience, right?)
5. Be like a tennis player, according to my friend Peter Bishop, bouncing on your toes and ready to return the ball. (Sorry, Peter, if I slaughtered your metaphor). 
6. Establish yourself as trustworthy, not perfect. 

Fast Company: 6 Strategies for dealing with uncertainty in business, 2012-Mar-13, by Don Peppers

I replied yes, but did he know how many other new businesses I had actually started or tried to get funding for, at one time or another? No? Six. “What happened to them?” he asked, trying to take this in. I failed every time, that’s what. A group legal services firm, an all-first-class airline, a fax-based media company, a real estate investment operation, a marketing consulting business...down in flames, each of them. But Martha’s and my business had succeeded... 

Feed your audience great story-telling pictures #li

More and more people are taking pictures. Myself, I'm taking thousands of pictures a year now. (Most of which are just clutter.) Every business should be harnessing the pictures that will help them better communicate their story. 

Chasnote: Publisher strategy and the Image Explosion, 2012-Mar-15, by Chas Edwards

How can images increase engagement among my existing audience?

Homework for the day: Make up a story to go with this picture.

You'll have to keep running just to stay in place. #li

Below is one of the most insightful things I've heard anyone say about web development. Truthfully, the same is true about business design these days. If you aren't constantly evolving in response to changes by your competitor, your customers will be drawn away. 

Coconut Headsets: Dynamic Web Strategy and The Failure Of Best Practices, 2012-Mar-19, by Rob May

One of the difficult things about redesigning a company website is that everyone has an opinion. What’s worse is that everyone has data to back it up.

Interrogation beats affirmation #li

If we want to accomplish extraordinary things, we figure out first what we have to work with.

The Telegraph Business Club: Can we fix it is the right question to ask, 2010-Jun-19, by Daniel Pink

In a nifty set of experiments, three social scientists explored the differences between what they call "declarative" self-talk (I will fix it!) and "interrogative" self-talk (Can I fix it?). They began by presenting a group of participants with some anagrams to solve (for example, rearranging the letters in "sauce" to spell "cause".) But before the participants tackled the problem, the researchers asked one half of them to take a minute to ask themselves whether they would complete the task – and the other half to tell themselves that they would complete the task.

Networking is the job after the job. #li

Since I have cut back the amount of networking that I do, my attitude is starting to change. I'm starting to see that associations are always trying to capture your energy. Very few of them actually give you a return for your time and money. 

MENGonline.com: 7 Rules for Effective Networking, 2011-Nov-22, by Peter Helmer

"It’s not net-sit or net-eat. It’s net-WORK."

-- Ivan Misner, Founder of BNI

Yes, networking is work.  It requires systematically connecting with the right people in the right places with the right message and the right touch.

Why the evolution of marketing is accelerating. #li

Rob May outlines a fascinating hypothesis that product innovation has become relatively easy and now the competitive edge lies in marketing innovation. 

Coconut Headsets: Innovation is dead--it was killed by innovation, 2011-Oct-30, by Rob May

Innovation happens when it gets rewarded, and the rewards for product innovation are smaller than they used to be. It’s easy to get stuff built and it’s easy to copy new product innovations and be a fast follower, so your returns to product innovation are dropping.

But marketing… returns to marketing innovation are climbing. In a crowded world, getting your message out matters more, and is more difficult, than before. If you can figure it out, the gains can be huge. Look at Dropbox. I don’t buy this BS that the key was a great product. Why? Because there are LOTS of great products out there that don’t gain users as fast as Dropbox. A great product is necessary but not sufficient for good marketing in this day and age. Dropbox’s real innovation was in their marketing.

How business-to-business companies are facing the lead generation challenge. #li

I recently ran into a friend who is a business owner at a networking function and he asked, "Have you figured out how to generate leads?" "Yes," I answered, "it's really hard work and you have to find something to say other than are you ready to buy?" He sadly shook his head and walked away. 

eMarketer: Content Marketing Key to B2B Sales Funnel, 2011

“Online content is the fuel for the new B2B marketing lead generation engine,” said Fisher. “In creating informational, educational and actionable content in the form of white papers and webinars, marketers can effectively lure early-stage buyers into their sales pipeline.

“By mixing this content with comparative, company-specific and interactive content—and regularly sharing it via email or e-newsletters—marketers can build relationships designed to nurture prospects throughout the sales funnel,” she continued.