Great guidelines from Seth Godin's blog on the potential power of power point:
"Communication is the transfer of emotion.
Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.)"
He goes on to give pointers on how to sell your emotion.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Does Success Breed Failure?
This quote from an article about the challenges facing Microsoft sounds paradoxical. How can success breed failure?
Yet it points to a fundamental insight. The ways of thinking and acting that prove effective right here and now may not work in a new time or place where conditions are different, and the very fact of present success may blind us to the need for new strategies and methods.
Are you able to adapt? It takes a basic humility to be able to say that I knew what worked before, but that may be wrong for the current situation. We need continued humility and flexibility for ongoing success - to be lifelong learners.
Can Microsoft Thrive in a New Digital Era? - New York Times:
"“The dilemma for Microsoft is that it is a prisoner of its business model, and the fact that it is a gilt-lined prison makes it brutally hard to change.”
One of the evolutionary laws of business is that success breeds failure; the tactics and habits of earlier triumphs so often leave companies — even the biggest, most profitable and most admired companies — unable to adapt."
Yet it points to a fundamental insight. The ways of thinking and acting that prove effective right here and now may not work in a new time or place where conditions are different, and the very fact of present success may blind us to the need for new strategies and methods.
Are you able to adapt? It takes a basic humility to be able to say that I knew what worked before, but that may be wrong for the current situation. We need continued humility and flexibility for ongoing success - to be lifelong learners.
Can Microsoft Thrive in a New Digital Era? - New York Times:
"“The dilemma for Microsoft is that it is a prisoner of its business model, and the fact that it is a gilt-lined prison makes it brutally hard to change.”
One of the evolutionary laws of business is that success breeds failure; the tactics and habits of earlier triumphs so often leave companies — even the biggest, most profitable and most admired companies — unable to adapt."
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Marketable vs. Electable
Would you rather make an impact or be well liked? From Seth Godin's Jan 2 blog:
"To be marketable, you must be remarkable. Marketing isn't about getting more than 50% market share, it's about spreading your idea to enough people to be glad you did it... 3% of a market may be more than enough, especially if you have a local business or an expensive service.
The temptation of the marketer is to try to get elected. To be beloved by everyone. As a marketer, you hear from someone who doesn't love your product and you work to change it. Eventually, that strategy leads to boredom, to sameness and to stagnation.
I know it's tempting to create electable products, but it never works. All the tried and true warhorse successes (Nike, Starbucks, Apple... the NSA of marketing examples) didn't accomplish market share until long after they accomplished becoming remarkable. If the founders had set out to get elected, they would have failed in creating much of anything.
Who have you offended today? You're not running for anything except perhaps Mayor of the Edges."
"To be marketable, you must be remarkable. Marketing isn't about getting more than 50% market share, it's about spreading your idea to enough people to be glad you did it... 3% of a market may be more than enough, especially if you have a local business or an expensive service.
The temptation of the marketer is to try to get elected. To be beloved by everyone. As a marketer, you hear from someone who doesn't love your product and you work to change it. Eventually, that strategy leads to boredom, to sameness and to stagnation.
I know it's tempting to create electable products, but it never works. All the tried and true warhorse successes (Nike, Starbucks, Apple... the NSA of marketing examples) didn't accomplish market share until long after they accomplished becoming remarkable. If the founders had set out to get elected, they would have failed in creating much of anything.
Who have you offended today? You're not running for anything except perhaps Mayor of the Edges."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)