Weekly Matchbook – 5 Resources to Ignite Your Business
Posted: May 15, 2012 Filed under: Business Smarts, Competitive Strategy, Increasing Sales, Marketing, Strategy, Weekly Matchbook | Tags: Breaking habits, Competitive strategy, Freemium, Innovation and creativity Leave a comment »Week of May 6 – May 12
(This is a weekly post highlighting a few hand-picked resources that I believe will help boost your business’ performance. Topics are focused around business strategy, marketing and professional development.)
Everyone needs some good advice every once in a while, or a nudge to get them going again. Perhaps some proverbial fire under a stagnant situation. Here’s my periodical nudge, called the “Weekly Matchbook“.
INSTRUCTIONS: Use the Matchbook to spark ideas; a small set of kindling that can provide the necessary heat to ignite your business endeavors. (All underlined material is actionable. Click to your heart’s content.)
Here’s this week’s Matchbook:
1. Pattern Break - by Chris Brogan
Have you ever developed a bad habit? (As I sheepishly nod my head to myself…)
Chris Brogan takes on this topic with the elegance and grace of a ballroom dancer. What do we do with our bad habits? How do we become “a better me?” How do we get more out of our day? Chris answers these questions in 600-words-or-less.
(Quasi-P.s. Reading “Pattern Break” sparked my writing of a similar article on the consequences of preconceptions. Click here to read it.)
2. Four Strategies for Staying Relevant - by David Aaker on HBR.org
Industry, consumer and economic environments change. Will your brand survive?
David Aaker discussing four strategies that brands can use to remain relevant to when their external situations change.
3. How Starbucks Trains Employees to Behave [VIDEO] - on HBR.org
A powerful, revenue-changing practice — train your customers to act the way you want them to act. Watch the video and let me know what you think.
How does this practice apply to your business?
4. Why “Freemium” Fails for Startups: 3 Business Lessons from the Band New Order - by Brian Clark on Forbes.com
Freemium — it’s like the “hip-new-thing.” Brian Clark relays when it doesn’t work, why, and how to make it work for you.
5. Want a Team to be Creative? Make it Diverse - on HBR.org
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always had.” I heard that statement once a week while working for my previous mentor. The same applies to innovation and creativity. If you surround yourself with like-minded ideas and people, you’ll get the same ideas spit back at you. Insert diverse inputs. Extract creative outputs.
You can read more on innovation and creativity by clicking here.
What valuable content on marketing and strategy have you found this past week?
Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you!
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