Posts Tagged ‘strategy’

Posted on October 22, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Is Green Advertising Overload Blocking Successful Value Propositions?

People are busy, consumers are fatigued with too much advertising and really don’t get how their vacuum is now, “Green!” No doubt, high caliber advertising can deliver valuable information creatively, but the past economic prosperity has created advertising overload.  
Overload becomes lack of action and lack of action creates more advertising attempting to justify a premium price for [...]

Posted on October 13, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Are Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Increasing Shareholder Value?

More and more, executives in mega-enterprise-wide companies are doing the right thing: diligently implementing processes to measure and manage carbon emissions, not an easy feat in a worldwide supply chain. Energy efficiency, reuse and water conservation are hitting top-of-mind-awareness for many CEOs and their efforts are packaged, positioned and presented in corporate sustainability reports (CSR).

Posted on September 25, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Demystifying Green Power: Benefits of Clean Energy are Available to All

Green Power, like telephones has evolved. The EPA had to think out of the box, and came up with this cool way to have the benefits of clean energy available to everyone everywhere just like a cell phone. Green Power is available to those who live in a site physically ‘connected’ to a renewable energy source like wind, solar, biomass or hydro, or not.

Posted on September 25, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Advertisers Are Customers, How Newspapers can Win Our Business

Dear Newspapers:
We know you need us and ironically we would like to work with you.  No, I’m not a big box store like Macy’s or even Toyota or BofA.  I’m not representing restaurants, hotels, convention centers or classified advertisers.  I’m the voice of millions of small businesses in Every City, USA that needs you to [...]

Posted on September 24, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Advertising Fatigue: When E=mc squared Generates Negative Energy

 
Do ads fail because of the wrong medium, product, price or timing?
One of the above…all of the above or …. none of the above…?
Our greatest gift is our attention and our greatest commodity is our time; we are just plain busy; we have a lot to do.  What if the mass of advertisers vying for [...]

Posted on September 24, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Business Strategies for Renewable Energy

I attended the Renewable Energy Markets (REM) show in Atlanta in September where influential key players in renewable energy including power marketers, developers and manufacturers, large purchasers, retail and wholesale green power suppliers, electric utilities, and government agencies have gathered annually for 15 years to discuss the major issues facing the industry. I also took [...]

Posted on September 21, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Does Quality Differentiate your Business?

 
Small businesses live everyday what Harvard and Stanford recently reported: advertising and signage extends brand awareness but does not address perceived quality.
As a consumer, I don’t want my time wasted with low quality or worse, high priced low quality.  So what quality metrics can businesses strive for?
How good is 99.9%? is asked by authors [...]

Posted on August 30, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Earn my Trust and I will Give you my Loyalty

 The following addresses today’s attributes of consumers making buying decisions online:

Buzz can be bought –> trust issues are rampant
A person’s attention is their gift –> time is our most precious commodity
The internet is a 24×7 price check –> online searches are online finds
Vet, parse, get to the point! –> deliver quality quickly
Build relationships with helpful [...]

Posted on August 20, 2009 - by Janet Smith

The problem is not being in trouble, the problem is not knowing it

There is only one way to know what your customers think of your customer service and the overall experience you offer and that is to ask.  Most people are flattered that you care enough about their opinion to ask.  But be careful of the medium, many customer surveys generate negative reactions.  If one a scale [...]

Posted on August 17, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Make the Jump

The 4 blog categories appear very different but have similar threads.  People are busy, consumers are fatigued with too much advertising and really don’t get how their vacuum is now ”green!”.  
Owners and GM’s want to differentiate their businesses and consumers just want to find reliable reputable businesses to get the job done.  
Advertisers are weary as repeated advertising generates few [...]

Posted on August 14, 2009 - by Janet Smith

Measuring Customer Satisfaction, the Inverse View

Congratulations, regardless of what business you are in, you are in the service business.   Keep the concept of, “What does my customer value in my overall service?” in mind while building your marketing plan.  Delivering what your customer wants and needs generates referrals and customer loyalty, key contributors to your long term success.
The following is [...]

Posted on July 31, 2009 - by Janet Smith

CarFax for Contractors? Why Homeowners Need more than Referrals

 
 Most people have no time to vet contractors and just want to get the job done right the first time.  Gone are the days when everyone knew the best plumber and builder by name. For many people, finding a good local business quickly is part of everyday life.  Consider that your best friends cousin’s ex-wife [...]