Archive for the ‘strategy’ Category
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Here’s an interesting way to get your expertise “out there”: a new service (yep, it’s free) to post your business-related content for others to admire. Tech firm Copper Services is calling their project “YouTube of business information”. Here’s the deal: you can post white papers, videos, anything you want. You can put it out there for free or even charge for it. Posting is free; the company will take a percentage if you sell anything. (Want more details: check out conveycontent.com.)
Here’s the Catch 22: Copper Services is marketing to meeting planners as a way to monetize their conference content. Translation: a bigger audience to sell your stuff and get all the money. Question: should speakers ask for a share of this revenue? Or just give it away if they are speaking for free anyway? If the group owns the rights to your presentation to them, can they do whatever they want with it? Do services like this cannibalize your product offerings?
It’s one thing to sell the content to attendees and members. It’s another to sell it to the entire free world. Hmmm…what would you do?
Tags: branding, experts, Marketing, speakers, Speaking, trends, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
This is what happens when I try to be social. Someone I don’t know well asked for a LinkedIn connection. He’s in our community so I said yes. Within 24 hours, I’m getting spam e-mail about an event I couldn’t care less about. Asked him twice to take me off his list. He finally did and apologized. I’m happy with the conclusion.
This situation did leave me with some big questions. Now that I know LinkedIn is handing out my email with every connection, should I limit who I connect with? Do you limit your community to only those you know and, if so, how do you “meet” new people? Where is the balance between meeting new people and being too vulnerable to those who harvest e-mail addresses for affiliate purposes? I bet I’m not the only one grappling with this issue. What do you think?
Tags: conversations, social media, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Let’s end this month with one more study, this time from the IMEX survey at their trade show last October. Yes, they had all the usual trends — do more with less, shorter meetings, going green. But this finding about associations and educational content got my attention.
According to attendee responses, associations are more firmly planted in the education business. Using content from the conferences before and after the event is pretty standard now. What’s new: the format is diversifying into interactive experiences and, yes, even — gasp — gaming!
I’ve preached for years that we experts need to “gamify” our content for corporate segments. Now it looks like we have a new group of customers coming up. My predictions: look for these formats to be underwritten by industry sponsors. This is a great way to be a guru to a community — you can go from being the expert in (fill in the blank) to being the creator of blah-blah game that is taking the industry by storm. See the difference?
Let’s put that on our resolution list. As for the IMEX study, click here to see the rest of the findings.
Tags: associations, events, experts, meetings, positioning, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Want to use public speaking to get more clients? Good news: you will have more opportunities this year, according to the latest study out by American Express Meetings and Events Global Meetings forecast.
Interesting news: companies are more focused on “value” (translation: cost cutting). Another bummer: attendance is expected to decline. Meetings will also be shorter.
Prediction: there will be a rush for low-cost speakers, using smaller groups as an excuse not to pay more. My advice: choose your opportunities wisely.
Other cool findings are in the report. Click here for the highlights from Meetings and Conventions magazine.
Tags: experts, meetings, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
If Martin Lindstrom says something, I remember it. Why? Because I trust him. In this Fast Company article last month, he explains how that happens.
His theory: our brains store information by how much we trust the source. We link information to the emotional relationship we have with the community, the person, the media outlet where we found the information. Think about it: this happens all the time in politics. How many ideas were dismissed because of the news outlet they showed up in? Or because of the person who had the idea?
Perhaps this is a new standard we should apply to our content marketing efforts. Key question: do our ideas show up in high-trust places? Are there other places our best clients trust even more? Sounds like the old “throw content on the wall and see what sticks” doesn’t work anymore. Lindstrom has other ideas in this article as well. Click here to learn more.
Tags: branding, experts, Marketing, positioning, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Like everything else, the structure of meetings and conferences is being overhauled. And that’s a good thing. In the good old days, structure stayed the same, then content was plugged in. What’s happening now and in the future: the structure will be designed around learning and experience. The buzzword you’ll hear more of: meeting architecture.
Yes, the economy is driving these shifts. But so is a belief we all need to be aware of: buyers believe that everything they need to know is online. Yep, our content isn’t ours anymore. It’s out there and anyone can take it. So the emphasis is now on interaction and learning. And we’re not talking about using Twitter and text to ask questions. Think: 30-minute presentations followed by 30-minute breaks.
This provocative article in Meetings and Conventions explores a variety of opinions. For those who speak at conferences and conventions, we need to be ready for any format.
Tags: experts, meetings, positioning, Speaking, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
According to this article by strategy giant Booz and Company, it appears that competition and other market forces are driving down profit margins in the big pharmaceutical market. Sound familiar? Sounds like everyone got tossed around in this economy.
My favorite line in the article: ”The next decade for the pharmaceutical industry is shaping up to be not only a period in which the leading companies don’t know what’s going to happen, but one in which they can’t know what’s going to happen, because so many of the conditions under which they operate are in such an unusual state of flux.”
I agree. All of us are in a state of flux. So here’s an idea: let’s stop trying to predict what’s coming up next. Let’s stop sticking our finger in the air to see which way the wind blows. Because that dang wind can change directions in a heartbeat.
Instead, let’s focus on pockets of profitability. What do we do best and who needs that? Can we take our gifts to a new sandbox? And the more important question: how can we deliver on that need in a different way than before? Let’s venture out some and find new folks who need what we have. It’s time to hedge our bets with a little diversification.
This article tells me that: (1) the days of steady, predictable growth are gone; and, (2) now is the time to make strategic bets. A lot of good examples here. Check it out for yourself.
Tags: consultants, experts, positioning, strategy, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Interesting look at consumer behavior from JWT Intelligence, a marketing communications company. Two things caught my eye:
- The legions of out-of-work Millenials. No, they are not staying on the couch with the video games. Many of them will start their own businesses. Why do we care? Two reasons: first, we need to adjust our approach to the small business market for buyers much younger than us (well, younger than me anyway). And, second…these could be our energetic, tech savvy competitors.
- Corporate America’s new “shared value” concept that blends the hard head of business with the soft heart of non-profits. This will be a GREAT opportunity for all kinds of experts, including marketing, social media and value chain folks.
Those are my favorites Click here and choose your own.
Tags: 2012, strategy, trends, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, January 5th, 2012
You’ll hear a lot about the uptick in training, especially from the recent study from Training Magazine. What I like about this survey: pretty fresh data (gathered in early Summer) and no stats on government spending. Before we do a happy dance, let’s drill down.
Good news: spending to outsiders jumped $2B (yes, that’s billion) last year for a total of $9.1B USD. The key question: what are they paying outsiders for? One word: technology. Online learning tools get 38% of the outside budget pie. Consulting: 25%, certification programs are 24%, and content development is 30%. The biggest loser in our wheel house: only 16% in business skills.
And the sweet spot in the market? It’s not the industry giants anymore. Mid-sized companies have the biggest increase compared to 2010. Yes, they have less money to spend, but the big boys are cutting back. Their most important priority: reducing costs.
Want more? Check the study out for yourself at http://www.trainingmag.com/sites/default/files/trg_2011IR.pdf
Tags: budgets, strategy, training, Vickie Sullivan
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