The September 60-Second Impact is Out!

September 2012

Estimated Reading Time: 60 Seconds

60-Second Articles:
1. The Cluetrain Manifesto: Not Too Late To Get Onboard
2. The Best Research: The Gold Is In Discovering What You Don’t Know
3. The 60-Second Close: Preparing For The Year-End Home Stretch

1. The Cluetrain Manifesto: Not Too Late To Get Onboard

• In 1999, The Cluetrain Manifesto documented what businesses would have to do to become successful in the new digital era.
• With the Cluetrain’s 95 Theses, it’s easy to identify – 12 years later – which companies are onboard and which have derailed.
• Here are 10 of those 95 key points. Determine if your company is onboard:1. Markets are conversations. Are you selling or conversing to your market?
  2. Markets are people, not demographic or psychographic classifications.
  3. Communication reaches far beyond mass and traditional media.
  4. Markets are getting smarter and growing faster than some companies.
  5. People get better information from one another than from companies.
  6. We’re in an age of transparency with no secrets.
  7. What happens to markets also happens to your employees.
  8. Companies consist of people and need to communicate like people.
  9. Markets don’t listen to companies that “pitch.”
  10. Companies have an opportunity to directly relate to their markets.
• Click on: http://cluetrain.com/book/index.html to download the complete Cluetrain Manifesto or just the 95 Theses.

2. The Best Research: The Gold Is In Discovering What You Don’t Know

• It’s easy for businesses to conduct research asking their own customers to rate their experiences. If you’re a successful business, you’ll likely get information you already know. While it’s good to have this information confirmed by your customers and clients, it won’t necessarily help you increase your business; you still have to find out why some of your target audience prefers your competition.
• To get this valuable insight, work with a professional research company to inquire about those who frequent only your competition. Why do they visit them? Have they ever thought of visiting your business? Why not? What do they like about your competitors that you don’t offer? What have they heard about you? How do they rate your competitors’ convenience, service and pricing against yours?
• While doing research with your customers and clients confirms that you’re on the right path, it’s the information that you don’t know – the information that comes from non-customers – that’s most importance. That’s where the gold is.

3. The 60-Second Close: Preparing For The Year-End Home Stretch

• This month starts the symbolic 2012 home stretch. Will the business climate become more energetic between now and the holidays? We’re going with an optimistic and resounding “yes!”
• Our agency’s clients will experience a rebound because we’ve kept them in top shape throughout the summer.
• Is your business in shape for the home stretch? If not, then call us. We can help get you there … now much faster than ever.