13 posts tagged “business”
Just announced! The "Why Ruby on Rails" workshop will be held in Moncton, NB on October 10th @ 10:30. We have invited (and he's graciously accepted) Bruce Tate to speak to the local information technology community regarding this amazing framework, and the direction of the industry.
Sign Up Now: http://www.whyrubyonrails.com/workshop
I honestly believe that the only way to become successful in life is to invest in your education. Some might think that I mean University or College, but I'm really talking about Training & Books. You don't need to spend a lot of money on school, you just need to decide to become self educated.
This past weekend, I attend the Real Estate & Wealth Expo in Toronto, with my brother (Pierre), and It totally opened my mind to what's possible. My dreams and goals have expanded, along with my mind.
Listening to speakers like Donald Trump, Anthony (Tony) Robbins & Richard Branson (Virgin), was truly amazing. We also had the opportunity to hear some of North America's top Authors & Speakers discuss strategies to win in Real Estate and the Stock Market.
Yesterday I picked up a new pack of gum, Stride. It had a neat logo & packaging (yep, I'm a sucker for anything different).
What's even more interesting is the marketing behind it. I did a google search online to figure out who was behind it (Cadburry it seems...), and what I found was a very interesting campaign to promote and launch the gum.
From an internet point of view, It's got a myspace page, a wikipedia entry, and a viral video generated by Matt dancing all over the world.
Where the Hell is Matt.com
You Tube Video
The line between user-generated, and users-being-paid-to-generate is being blurred. None-the-less, for about $30K (to send Matt around the world on his dancing spree), they got almost a million user views! Can you spell VIRAL.
You maybe expecting to read my thoughts on the book, but you know what? Your better off reading the book description or a review. What I personally find value in is a list of the Chapters. What I will say is this:
- Its a quick read.
- Each chapter has a real world example and explain a marketing concept.
- The book makes it easy to apply the concepts to your business.
Chapters:
- How to Sell a Lobster
- The First Member Trap
- The Lineup
- The Three Boxes
- The Captain of the Titanic
- The Box of Chocolate
- The Basketball Mind-Trap
- The Birdcage Brochure
- The Big Idea
- The $5 Cup of Coffee
- The Gourmet Mea
- Opening Their Wallets
- The Quick-Fix Pill
- The Third Degree
- The Mountain Guide
- The Dating Game
- The Forest
Related
[Big Inc.]
Take two seconds to check out this site: http://www.biginc.com/ - try answering "no" to the questions. Gets your attention doesn't it.
Wow, what a major burn! Then I read Rosie's post on her personal blog site (rosie.com)... That was enlightening.
I'm starting to lose some respect for Trump.
[Related]
Donald Trump Continues to Blast Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell Compares Donald Trump to a 'Pimp'
Trump Takes Credit for The View's High RatingsI read this sentence and I stood up!
"A commodity is only a commodity if you treat it as one."
It's simple, to the point - but it's got some deep meaning. Are you running a company that treats its employees like a commodity? Do you price or create your product/services like a commodity? Is your company's experience being commoditized?
Think about... get creative! Push the limits, if you don't, you'll find yourself in a commodities business: low margin, un exciting, slowly dying.. how fun?!
Have you been thinking of starting your own company? There's a good chance that you'll need to do this without spending much money. Check out this blog post by 37signals on apps they used to build world class applications.
[The tools we use to run and build 37signals]
As a consultant I work with many large companies across North America and the one thing most of them (except for a few Defense Contractors) have in common is the security badge that lets you in the door, usually via some swipe/scan mechanism.
A few months ago I read Jeff Veen's blog post on Social Security, and it really got me thinking about the effectiveness of these "security" systems. Do they work?
My verdict is no.
For example, just now I carefully planned my approach to the building to coincide with a smoker's last puff on a cigarette, so I could easily follow her into the building (I know, I'm sneaky - but I've been doing this for years).
Surprisingly, she noticed I was following and turn briefly to ask "Do you work here?", to which I quickly responded "Yes, on the second floor." That seemed to ease her concerns. No problem.
But seriously - what should she have done? I have a few ideas for companies:
- Every company should have a phone number or process to help notify security that this is happening.
- Promote the actions for employees to take using posters.
- No employee should feel responsible for enforcing this - it doesn't make sense.
Without the presence of a building door man, I don't think it makes any sense whatsoever to rely on your employees; it just won't happen.
But was it really about the money?
I would argue that the real value was not in the $200K in capital, and was mostly on the team you were getting:
- Robert Herjavec (Tech Millionaire)
- Laurence Lewin (La Senza)
- Kevin O'Leary (Tech/Biz Millionaire)
- Jim Treliving (Boston Pizza)
- Jennifer Wood (Cattle?)
Only one question comes to mind:
