Latest posts

How to Market Yourself Through Podcasts

 March 24th, 2009 | Posted in Latest posts, Strategy | No Comments

Last week, I presented at OSI’s monthly seminar series on Podcasting Strategy.  I had a great time at the session.  Lots of smart people, and many people doing a lot of great things above and beyond what you’d expect.

In this presentation, we

  • Reviewed what social media is
  • Discussed the Cognio case study and how small amounts of social media can have a huge impact
  • Discussed the steps to implementing a social media campaign.

I promised I’d send out a copy of my slides.  They’re attached to this post.  Feel free to download them and please shoot me over any questions.

Thanks again guys!

William

Click to download TEMPUS Group Podcasting Marketing Strategy

Is Your Success Execution or Market?

 March 24th, 2009 | Posted in Latest posts, Thoughts | No Comments

Yesterday, I had coffee with an old colleague of mine.  We’ve followed different paths since we worked together–he ended up at a Fortune 50 company, and I went into”startups.”  Even so, he’s a brilliantly smart guy, and it was very interesting to get his thoughts on the downturn, especially coming from his BigCo view.

His big thought (other than an AWESOME startup idea), I think, is a VERY important concept that I’d not really considered before.  And, the logic is basically this.

Companies hire during upticks in the market.   People hired in upticks in the market are in growing markets, and thus tend to perform well.  These “middle performers” tend to become middle management–the “process implementers” in the company.

And, this is all well and good, as long as the market is upswinging.  Why?

Because in an upturning, high growth market, it’s virtually impossible to tell who is “execution successful” from who is “market successful.”

But, when the market turns down, you very quickly come to realize that the emporer has no clothes.  The processes you thought were best practices are simply “job security” for middle management, and are often a waste of time.

The market has turned down.  There is no disputing this.  And, in this downturn, the market isn’t pulling in your favor.

So, what are you left with?  That’s right.  Execution.

The downturn shows you clearly who is “execution successful” and who is “market successful.”

This is where the “startup” mentality plays well.  While in startups we pick industries that are, by very definition high growth, we are usually in massively competitive markets.  To be successful, you have to execute with limited funds, limited staff, and limited time.  It tests the systems and the people.  It tends to produce results.

Now is the time to think about your business growth. Which have you been, execution successful or market successful?  And, what do you want to be?  And, if you’ve been dependent on your market for success, isn’t it time you figured out and brought a little execution excellence to the table?

Recessions: Time to Build It Up or Tear It Down?

 February 17th, 2009 | Posted in Clients, Latest posts, TEMPUS, Thoughts | No Comments

As I mentioned in my earlier post, if your business is growing in a growing market, it’s often hard to tell whether it’s “you” or the “market” that accounts for most of your success.  It’s only during the recessions that we can really, truly tell the “execution excellence” from the “market excellence.” (see my earlier blog post for details).

And, given that, it leads to what I think is an important point.  Recessions are the time when you can tell whether you and your team are effective.

And, because you can tell, this is the right time to do something about it. To plan.  To build.  To optimize.  Of course, you want to do this with an eye to the bottom line.  The lights need to stay on; the doors need to continue to open.

One big area of “instant improvement” is to work through how you manage projects and communications in your business.  Crisp deliverables.  Short meetings.  Instant chats.  All these things create a massive increase in productivity for most businesses.

This is where Web 2.0 comes to the rescue.

Today’s technology offers several ways to do manage projects and keep yourself organized.  And, on the whole, these are free for businesses to use.  These office collaboration applications give you easy ways to share files, milestones and to-do-lists. And, what’s also cool about these types of tools is that they can be used anywhere—in the office, and at home or on the road.  And, they can be used to manage projects that aren’t just in your company, your business partners and clients/customers can be included in the mix.

There are a number of these tools out there, one of my clients actually makes one.  So obviously, I’m biased.  But, I really think their tool is the right mix of technologies to move businesses forward. We use it to manage many of our projects, both internal and others.

Here’s a private link.  Check it out, and I’d love to know what you think!

http://www.remindo.com/?invitation=WEF

And, when you do start using these types of tools, I think you’ll find out that they expose your business to a completely different culture.  One that will, over time become more aggressive, fun, and fruitful.  And, isn’t that what we need to get out of the current doldrums?

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