Successful businesses usually get that way by doing something well. Really successful businesses get that way by doing something well and documenting, duplicating, and training associates on how to do it using a system.
A killer innovation strategy in these cases is to look at what you do well and determine how to turn it into a product of service and sell it.
There are countless examples in every industry of an individual business that creates a successful way of doing something and sells that success system to others in the industry. In some cases, this work becomes far more rewarding that what the business actually did in the first place.
What part of making it, fixing it, packaging it, and shipping it could you do for another market segment? Who else could you teach how to do what you do?
How could you turn what is now a necessary expense or cost of production into a product or service that turns a profit? Is there an element of research, acquisition, project management, or process that you do to make a better product, but could actually become something you sell. Is there anything that your current clients do that they would gladly offload to you? Is there a software or application that you rock at using that others would pay you to teach?
Innovation of this sort is embedded in the walls - it's the soul of your business really - and selling it just might re-energize the way you think about business entirely.
For someone that is so passionate about bands using new channels to distribute music and empowering fans to market for them, I should have my ass handed to me for not blogging about this sooner. On one day, March 22nd (that's Thursday), bloggers, podcasters, and music lovers that don't like the idea of the music industry suing its own customers, are going to strike fear into the heart of the Evil Empire, the RIAA. On March 22nd, we are going to send independent band Black Lab's new song 'Mine Again' to the top of the iTunes charts.
Now before any of you cynics say this is a ploy by the band to get some exposure, guess again, this is being done by US to get the attention of traditional media, and the RIAA. Here's what the band had to say on their site when they found out what the deal was:
Holy Crap!!
hey everyone, welcome to blacklabworld, home of the american rock band black lab.
apparently, some insane stuff is going on. as we speak, a group of podcasters, representing millions of listeners to cutting edge media, have decided to make black lab's song "mine again" NUMBER 1 on the iTunes charts on March 22nd.
one day, one song. the vision is to make a statement about the power of those who make, broadcast and listen to music outside of the traditional media models, and it's an incredible opportunity for black lab fans to get familiar with podcasting and for the larger world to get familiar with black lab.
I hope you'll support us and the podcasting community on March 22nd by clicking this link and purchasing the song via the affiliate link (proceeds go to a scholarship fund, as does half of everything we will make on the 22nd). thanks!
Yep, I saved the best part for last. BumRushTheCharts, the defacto fansite for this movement, has set itself up as an iTunes affiliate. What that means to you is, if you buy Black Lab's Mine Again via THIS LINK, the site gets 5% affiliate fees, and all the commissions earned via purchases from that link will be donated to fund college scholarships! Black Lab has also agreed to donate 50% of its earnings from all iTunes sales of Mine Again tomorrow to the scholarship fund as well!
So beginning at midnight tonight, you can buy Black Lab's 'Mine Again' via THIS LINK, which will fund college scholarships, help support an indie band that supports podcasters, and bitchslap the RIAA. All worthy goals! Do your part to get the message out by blogging about this worthy cause!
Hat-tip to Jaffe, who has been all over this. He's threatening to add it as a case study in his upcoming book Join The Conversation.
Was your blog up this week? Then pat yourself on the back, because there were only 2 of you. Yep, this was a real stinker of a week for the Top 25. 9 of the Top 11 blogs were down, and ALL of the blogs from #13-25 were down. And this marks the third straight weeks that at least 6 of the Top 7 blogs were down. Hiccup, or have marketing blogs fallen on hard times?
Marketing Hipster was the bright spot for the week, making a splashy debut at #19.
The mainstream media doesn't understand what a Mashup is. You should. It's not a 'lift' or a 'copy' or even a parody. A mashup is a distinct way of spreading ideas.
When a DJ takes two records and melds and mixes them into something new, that's a mashup. When an Obama supporter takes a twenty year old commercial and splices it with some campaign footage, that's a mashup too. Online services can be mashups as well, like the Google search box on the bottom of this page.
Expect to see tens of thousands more, on every conceivable topic.
Wanna be an internet sensation? Ok here's one way; jump on the MySpace bandwagon before it becomes one. Put a buncha half nekkid pics on your page. Befriend anyone and everyone. Start getting press for being MySpace's 'first star'. Ride the whole MySpace/YouTube/CGM media wave. Get up to 1.7 million MySpace friends. Then use those friends to jumpstart your music career by adding a widget to your MySpace page that lets your millions of friends listen to and buy your music...
Whups, not so fast says MySpace. It seems that Tom and the gang are putting Tila Tequila in timeout for adding the Hoooka widget to her page that would have allowed MySpace users to sample and buy her music. The MySpace gang yanked the player, created by Los Angeles starup Indie911, on Sunday.
So of course, Tila turned to her MySpace blog to vent her frustrations:
The reason why I am so bummed out about MySpace now is because recently they have been cutting down our freedom and taking away our rights slowly. MySpace will now only allow you to use ‘MySpace’ things.
At least she did according to the New York Times, which quoted Tequila in its article as having posted the above to her MySpace blog over the weekend, but I couldn't find any such postings on her blog. Maybe MySpace deleted it (oooohhhhh more controversy!), maybe TT deleted it, or maybe I am an idiot that can't read. Any of the above is equally possible.
But I think the bigger issue here is, MySpace's insistence on blocking user-added widgets. No doubt MySpace's partnership with SnoCap is playing into the blockage of Hoooka, but recall that MySpace has already gone after YouTube embedded videos in the past as well.
As widgets become more popular, MySpace is going to have to decide what's more important; letting users continue to create and enjoy their own experience, or attempting to dictate what that experience can be, and then monetizing the result.
Fred Wilson, a VC that invests in social media companies, had a great quote in the NYTimes article:
Every attempt everyone has ever made to try to dictate what a person’s Internet experience will be has ended up coming up empty. You have to accept the fact that you are never going to be the be-all and end-all of everyone’s experience. They are one click away from everyone else on the Web.
Will MySpace figure this out before midnight strikes? Rupert, you are now on the clock.
CNN has redesigned its video and image library to make it easier to license content. The company is making strides to be more open in working with partners to share its more than 400,000 and 80,000 videos. The company is in the process of digitizing its video archive back to 1980.
CNN wants the cash up front to license its videos, although terms were not in the press release or on its website.
CNN videos are searchable on its website and through blinkx, but they company doesn't allow users to embed videos like YouTube. While CNN may be protecting its brand, CNN and other TV news stations could generate significant revenue by allowing video to be easily shared and put on other websites with embedded ads.
Video is becoming a commodity, and the publishers will slowly realize that sharing is the best way to increase their exposure as well as generate revenue.
Google is doing another limited test of pay per action advertising on its AdSense partner websites. The limited test is by the choice of the publisher, who would make a higher commission for each transaction but few transactions.
Greg Sterling says advertisers and publishers should be interested in giving PPA a spin. That's an understatement for any advertisers who feels that they have been victim of click fraud.
Google's interest is likely in response to pressure from disgruntled advertisers who would like more flexibility in their purchase options. Many companies have an extensive understanding of the monetary value of a lead through a sign up form, while knowing the value of dubious clicks is much harder to judge.
If the trial is a big hit (and Google is open about its performance), then the company would have little choice but to offer a PPC alternative.
Wired had an interesting feature on what's being called the snack culture. The snacks they are referring to, however, are bite size information snacks.
The idea is that people seemed obsessed with consuming information in quick hits rather than investing attention in a deeper read. There are lots of reasons for this, but as a marketer you may need to cater to this growing trend too.
I still believe that white papers and thought provoking, education based marketing materials are essential for the prospect that is ready to be nurtured in this way, but I think it's equally important that you find ways to deliver the snacks of information that can help people begin to develop the relationship that makes them want to deeper.
If you publish a newsletter, consider a tip of the day format. If you publish a "7 Steps" how to report, think about breaking each step into a mini-report and adding a two minute audio with each step. If you use seminars and workshops to promote, produce very condensed video shorts that give the flavor. A key to feeding the snack culture seems to be interaction and rich media.
Kim points us to this account of over the top recruiting: An offer you can't refuse. It's not particularly difficult or even expensive, yet it's rare.
The reasons are simple: most recruiters don't really care about hiring the very best people, and/or recruiters haven't yet realized that they are marketers too.
Most marketing (and most business) is usually like this:
Do this and get that.
Figure out what you want, figure out what you need to do to get it, and go do it.
I was thinking about the way my Dad does business the other day. He's been a successful executive (and then entrepreneur) for more than 50 years. I realized that I can't remember one time when he did this to get that.
When he volunteered to run the United Way or the local theatre, or when he helped a local church raise money for a new building, he didn't have an ulterior motive. When he negotiated with the UAW to create a different sort of workforce structure for his plant, it wasn't so he could get more. It was so they could get more. Same thing when he helped dozens of people emigrate from the Soviet Union a few decades ago.
It's been a consistent approach, and it sure seems to work. Consistent as in all the time, not just when it's convenient. It works for a factory in Buffalo but it also seems to work for others... for successful marketers all over the world. Now, more than ever, it's easier to give even when it seems like you're not going to get. The happy irony is that this turns out to be a very effective marketing approach, even though that's not the point.
Contestants upload their presentation files to Slideshare.net, and people from anywhere can rate the entries. Their votes will determine the “People’s Choice” winner. The four judges will select the winners of the contest. Prizes include an Alienware laptop with Windows Vista, XBox 360s, and iPods.
I hope you’ll enter. You should check out my perspective as well as those of my fellow judges, Bert, Garr, and Jerry, to improve your chances!
MarketingProfs Book Club hosted by our CK is back and she's brought the First Family of Branding with her; Al and Laura Ries! We'll be discussing their bestseller, The Origin of Brands. And the discussions are already flowing, with plenty of posts on both sides of the convergence/divergence fence.
And there's even been a Laura sighting! What are you waiting for, click this link to join the fun!
What could CK have up her sleeve for Round Three?!? Hmmmm, I wonder....
UPDATE: Al and Laura both are all over the Book Club now. If you guys ever wanted to talk to a pair of literal marketing and branding legends, especially about a topic you're likely going to be hearing more of in the future (divergence), this is your chance!
There's a big confab on currently about the future of local search , and the consensus is that verticals will rule the roost. (See Donna Bogatin's attendee survey on trends).
Today the amount of money and attention being put into local versus "national" search is pathetic when considering the opportunity. Think about it -- the vast majority of purchases you make are within 10 miles of your home, yet local is no way competitive with generic search. Billions are being left on the table, and it amazes me that print business directories are still making the overwhelming share of the ad dollars.
I've posted on several of the startups in this arena lately, and if someone doesn't own the community and vertical-driven local space, you know who will eventually get around to it.
Google, which could do unto CitySearch et al what it has done to Microsoft and Yahoo, is treating local search as if it is still 2002. Here are the first few things that Google needs to do to dominate local:
Break up Maps from Local search, and put Local on the Google home page. The maps interface does not resemble anything that makes me think shopping.
Remember me: I have entered my zip code and even have a business listing on Google Local, yet I have to enter my damn area every time.
Add national chains: There are only 2 supermarkets within a few miles of my home, and Google should know that and rank those companies high when returning results of the products they carry. Google's sales reps should be banging down the door of Safeway, Gap, and WalMart etc. to get their stores into my local search. If I search "supermarket," I get results from far out of town, yet the stores that I can walk to aren't listed.
Add Personalization: I should be able to add and save my favorite stores, and just as previous results are stored in Google, they should be in Local.
Add Local to all results: Every Google search for a product which can be purchased locally should be a separate set of results.
My blood boils when I think about the money that will be made when someone eventually gets this right. What the heck is taking so long?
SalesForce.com just announced AppSpace, a MySpace for companies to create a secure CRM (customer resource management) environment for sharing files and ideas.
The collaboration software enables companies to create custom applications and mash-up SalesForce applications to enhance communications with its customers. Customers log on and theoretically they will see an open and customized interface that shares everything then need to know about what is happening with your business.
The MySpace paradigm is the next generation in online collaboration and it is surprising that it took this long for corporate to recognize the opportunity. This type of interaction could have been developed before the Web 2.0 phenomenon, but it took what a consumer service to shake things up.
While some customers will appreciate the additional information, the risk is always in limiting personal contact. A phone call or lunch meeting can take you in new directions that you can't anticipate or facilitate online, so do not over-automate the business relationship. And do you really need to know what kind of music that buyer from Des Moines listens to? (Just kidding.)
A Google search of “no asshole rule” yielded less than 100 hits prior to Bob publishing an essay on the topic in the Harvard Business Review. Up until advanced book reviews started appearing on on blogs, the same search still yielded under 500 hits. A few days ago (after all the blog mentions, shipping of the book, and ARSE) there were 498,000 hits.
When I blogged about the book, its Amazon ranking went from over #100,000 to under #500. It has held steady between #8 and #15 for the past three weeks. (I digress, but my new goal is to be the Oprah of online book sales!)
Emails from people who are trying to enforce the no asshole rule or
are victims of it are flooding Bob’s inbox. Here is one example from a legal assistant:
I have devoured your new book The No Asshole Rule. I am not in HR, or a manager of any kind. I am a legal assistant at a large law firm. After complaining to HR about my new assignment within the firm (working for
a real jerk of an attorney), I saw your book on her desk. I said to her,
Mr. G is VERY moody (my polite term for asshole). She smiled and said,
Isn’t he though. It was then I felt any hopes of validation for my tales of
woe sinking. A few days later, I was doing a search on my PC regarding
upcoming firm-sponsored seminars and low and behold, the law firm I am
working for is putting on a seminar based on your book called the “No Jerk
Rule.” I immediately bought your book and have read it non-stop. And I am
going to read it again and again, so that I can sustain myself for the time
being from being a victim of Attorney Asshole. I am in one of those situations where I cannot
leave my present employment due to economics; i.e., feeding, clothing, and
housing myself in a basically comfortable state.
Other than a few folks like Jessica Guynn (“Crusade Against the Jerk at Work”) major media sources like Time, BusinessWeek,
Newsweek, AP, and Reuters started writing stories after the book took off in Amazon. When one writer for a major publication received the book, he asked the publisher,
“What’s next: the no dick rule?” But he did review the book (like most journalists) once the book took off at Amazon.
Here are some lessons from this experience:
A good book that addresses a hot topic is the key.
A good title sure helps too. Recall that Harvard Business School Press decided not to publish the book because of the title.
It helps to cover the earth with early copies to get the bloggers on board. Certainly “premature buzz” is an oxymoron.
An interactive feature like the ARSE not only increases reader interest but is a very good “hook” for reviewers and bloggers.
By the way, Bob is certainly not a dumb arse, so he created ArseMail to continue the online branding of his book. This web service enables people to send that special email to someone who is an asshole or to apologize for being one. How fun is that? Check it out!
Bonus: drag the bookmarklet on this page into your toolbar.
[Notes! The phone number is not incorrect, but we appear to have broken it. The image ripper defaults to not SFW, so you're on your own. The RSS reader still works, though.]
David Allen's mega best selling book, Getting Things Done, has spawned an entire industry of productivity products, but in a recent interview I conducted on the Duct Tape Marketing podcast he shares his vision and beliefs about goal setting and productivity.
His straightforward philosophy for managing the work and mental stress of juggling all the information we must juggle makes you realize that it's not about some tool or planner, it's about what you choose to focus on - the Getting Things Done mindset.
Small business owners have a serious drag on their mental RAM all day long. Getting Things Done is as much about reducing stress as it is about checking things off your list.
Merlin Mann's 43 Folders, one of my favorites, has visited the Getting Things Done topic over the years too.
Optimism is a key to success, but it doesn't necessarily work so well when it comes to VC. Because this is a cottage industry with thousands of players, all with different objectives, it's very easy to keep knocking on doors, just waiting to find the right match. It's also easy to spend a year or more adjusting your business to what each VC asks for ("bring me the broomstick of the wicked witch!" while you could have been out there building a real organization.)
Here are a bunch of conditions that you ought to take seriously before you invest the time and the energy to track down outside money for your great idea:
Investors like to invest in categories they've already invested in. If your business is so new that it's never been tested before, or is in a category VCs hate, think twice.
Investors want you to sell out. As soon as possible. For as much as possible. They have no desire to own part of your company forever.
Investors want to invest in a project that's tested. If you can't make it work in the 'small', why do you think it'll work when it's big?
Being a little better than the market leader is worthless.
Investors don't want you to use their money to cover your losses. They want you to build an asset (a patent, an audience, channel relationships) that's actually worth something.
Investors want someone to run your company who has successfully run a company before.
Investors want to be able to come to one of your board meetings and still make it home in time for dinner.
There are actually very very few business problems that can be solved with money.
You will probably have to replace many of your employees if you raise money from someone.
VCs understand that being the best in the world (#1) is the place with the biggest rewards, so it's unlikely they will settle for any performance (even a profitable one) that puts you in second or third place.
VCs are very smart and very connected, but they're smart enough to know that their connections and their insights can't fix a broken business.
Investors are very focused on the company, not you. They're not interested in having you take out your original investment or paying you a large salary as profits go up.
Business plans are bogus. The act of writing one is critical, but no one is going to read more than three pages of what you write before they make a decision.
The companies that VCs most want to invest in are the companies that don't need their investment to survive.
[For those keeping track (and I wasn't one of them) this is the #2,000th post since I started this blog a long time ago. Which goes to show you--you can build a really big wall if you start early enough and have enough little bricks].
, continues to, well, kick butt. It’s gaining notoriety across the globe and, more importantly, it’s usually in the top twenty sellers of Amazon. Here are some interesting factoids about the introduction of the book. 