An Entrepreneur Is…
There are many definitions as to what an entrepreneur is, what they do, why they do what they do. Over the last few years, the trend online is to “make money from home,” or “become your own boss.” These phrases are attractive to some people, and they could be associated with being an entrepreneur. However, many of the systems being pitched online are designed for the end user to be more of a free-lancer. Someone who would not necessarily create a corporation or true business entity.
Martin Jacques: Understanding the Rise of China
This Ted talk was recommended to me the other day. I wanted to share this talk with you, as it is very interesting to see a different viewpoint on China and how the Chinese views things such as civilizations, states, and government. Jacques states that after the financial crisis in 2008 in the US, China [...]
The Price of Being An “On Call Service Provider”
And How to Break Away From It!
In the offline world, there are two main types of service contracts. They are known as Firm Fixed Price (FFP), and Time & Materials (T&M). Each have their pro’s and con’s, and each is based on selling hours. You can read my post on how selling hours can actually hurt your brand and your bottom line to see what I am talking about. There is another price to pay, and that is the toll it can take on yourself and your employees to be “on call.” The mindset of providing “good customer service” by bending over backwards and sacrificing a healthy work life balance to please a client is very troublesome.
Crowd-sourcing- A New Social Media Online Trend
We all know what crowd-sourcing is- it is getting a group of people actively involved to shape a movement, a product, a service. It is providing the community something to rally around, and then letting the community rally around it in a more organic way. It is becoming a new trend online, utilizing social media and creating communities online that can provide a service or expertise in an area, and allowing companies and individuals the opportunity to receive a broad range of results on a design, a research project, a new product, etc. versus choosing one company to provide one solution.
Best of 2010; Best to Come in 2011
2010 was a good year personally and professionally for me. 2011 looks to be promising as more opportunities present themselves and a couple personal projects start to gain traction and come to life. More on that later though.
Service Industry Equals Information Products
As a professional in the service industry, what is it that you are truly providing? You may sell a service to a client, but what you are producing for that client is a product. What type of product is it? It is an information product. It may be in the form of a website, a report, a slideshow presentation, etc.
Is Seeing Believing
his last weekend I came across an interesting documentary which brought illusion, psychology, behavior, and business together. All of these subjects are interesting in themselves, but when combined, it creates an even more interesting dialogue. Illusion was used as an example to show that our eyes see one thing while our brain sees another. In fact, we only see 10% with our eyes.
Freakonomics: The Book, The Podcast
The idea that economics can be understood in simple terms and can be discussed with concepts and examples that everyone can understand is quite powerful.
Discovering Your Brand’s World
How do you define your brand’s world? Does your brand have a world of its own? This article will cover some basic concepts which can help to define your brand’s world, which in turn, will help create the community that is aligned with the mission of the company.
Determining Product Lifecycle Valuation and Devaluation
In any line of business, a product brought to market has a defined lifecycle. The lifecycle of a product has a valuation point at the beginning and a valuation point at the end of the cycle. But what determines the value given to a particular product? How does the value, over time, adjust with the lifecycle?
Valuation of a product is based on many factors, many of which can be considered subjective. A few of these factors may include brand perception and awareness, and the exclusivity of the product. These factors are emphasized through marketing campaigns which allow the target market to accept those subjective perceptions as truth. Once the target market has accepted the marketing put forth by the company, the product may take off and expand in popularity.
