Archive for the 'Blog' Category



Real Estate Industry Shake up

It’s time for the Real Estate industry to get a shake up.

Consumers do not trust agents.

Consumers want more transparency in the process.

How about blogging for the real estate industry?

Each agent has a blog, talking about projects, how to help customers, and their area.

Consumers can jump on, read about them, get a real feel for who they truly are.

Agents also maximise exposure of their listings to a motivated audience.

I could go on all day…

June 29th, 2008

Time Marketing

Wake up! I am busy. You are busy. We are even busy when we sleep. Face it everyone is busy.

Surely you realise by now that you are marketing for [peoples] time, time to try your product, time to enjoy it.

Time is becoming more and more valuable. Your product should be too.

Make your product fun, enjoyable, make us really long for the day to pass till we can enjoy it.

That’s a magic position to be in right there.

June 24th, 2008

Dance with me, let's do the zig zag

Diversification vs Consolidation

Every framework goes through these stages.  Stages of expansion and fragmentation of markets.

Then they go through mass consolidation.

Think of these two tacking back and forth like a yacht.  Zig Zag.

Think Social Networks fragmented into many markets.  Open Social comes along trying to consolidate all of those.

Think Adwords vs Verticals.

Think aggregators vs blogs.

What is your market doing now? Is it fragmenting or consolidating? Viewing your market through the opposite of what it is doing will provide huge insight into growth opportunities.

June 22nd, 2008

Internal Marketing

I read this short piece on the NzHerald a few weeks back about Airport Security.

“He went through security and then boarded his plane. After being seated he could smell petrol. He knew you shouldn’t be able to smell petrol on a plane, because planes don’t use petrol. The smell got worse and eventually he got the attention of one of the flight attendants. They started to look around to see where it was coming from. They found in the overhead compartment a chainsaw in a bag that was leaking petrol into the compartment. His plane was delayed as the owner was identified and the chainsaw removed and put with the main luggage. The owner of the chainsaw said security had stopped him but had let him through because it wasn’t one of the things on their list to confiscate.”

It says a lot to employees when top management rob them of the discretion to think for themselves.

They tend to do just go through the motions.

Marketing is in every interaction, even internally.

June 17th, 2008

Platforms

Platforms used to be something you stood on whilst you waited for the train.

Platforms now are shaking up industries.

A platform for users to buy any book they want. Amazon.

A platform for businesses to sell anything they want. Ebay.

A platform for any business to advertise to anyone. Google.

Question is, how can YOU deliver a platform in your specialty.

How about:

  • Product design | Imagine the efficiencies you would gain providing a platform for product designers to meet with clients.
  • Electricity supply? | Provide a platform for anyone/everyone to generate and sell their own electricity?
  • Doctors visits | Hard one.  But now impossible.  What are your thoughts?
Remember, a platform is: a framework that provides a catalyst for interaction.
(trackbacks with ideas welcome)
June 15th, 2008

Benchmarking: Driving as an analogy

Benchmarking, is about setting a goal and trying to beat that.

Think about when you drive somewhere.

Let’s say driving to work.

As per experience it takes 25 mins.

You are running late and only have 20 mins.

You still make it on time?

What just happened? Well you got creative, maybe you took a different route, drove a little faster, or didn’t stop for coffee.

Now apply this to other things.

Where do you want your business to be by when? What can you do to be creative?

Benchmarking. It’s an interesting thing.

Note: Like driving. If the benchmark is too impossible. You will fail and be late. Or take unnecessary risks (think speeding vs employee burn out).

Update: Interchanged Analogy for Metaphor in title.  Not quite a metaphor really. (thanks Karen!)

June 10th, 2008

An Advertising Solution That Works

Im not a big fan of advertising on my sites.

With StillSpoiled it is the easiest monetisation strategy for this point in time.

However Google now let you monetise Google Custom Search.

Great now i can have no ads

and earn healthy cpms when people do a search on my site.

Help me help you. Great job Google.

Now, can you deliver your product to help your customers help you.

Idea:

  1. Identify your best performing product / service.
  2. Look at it through the lens of ‘how can i solve a problem for my customer’ (aka how can i help them).
  3. Provide this service.
June 8th, 2008

Struggling to innovate? Overcome it.

Formula for innovation in your field.

Immerse yourself in your field / live it / breath it / Dream it.

Then take yourself to an exact polar opposite and immerse yourself in it.

Return. You will see whole new angles and connections you’ve never seen before.

June 3rd, 2008

Petrol Stations & Convenience

Over the last few years we have seen the merging of convenience stores and petrol stations.  A way of value adding given shrinking margins on fuel for vendors.  Sweet.

However this combination slows down your service.  Pull into a gas station between 7.30am and 9.30am.  Chances are it won’t be a fast service.

How about this:

  • You pull in and an attendant is waiting on you to fill your car.
  • Once your car is filled you pay for your gas. Via credit card at the pump (handled by attendant).
  • Charge $2 extra for this service.

Done under 2 minutes flat. (could even guarantee service time like McDonalds)

Easily cover cost of extra attendant per pump.  Help your customers out.

One step further.

  • Charge $5 and give them a coffee / muffin at the same time.  You have probably saved your customer 20 minutes. 10 minutes filling up & another 10 minutes getting a coffee once they get to work.

Looking to differentiate? look at how you can ‘help’ your customers.  They will love it.

June 2nd, 2008

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