Brightfire Blog
The shotgun marriage of sales and marketing
by Rob McLeod on Feb.01, 2010, under Branding, Consulting
An interesting commentary from Paul Greenberg in CRM:
Marketing is the art and science of getting the attention of a prospective customer and keeping it until she buys something; sales is the art and science of getting that customer to make the purchase. While the disciplines remain distinct, the two need to work as a coherent team to accomplish the objectives of a 21st-century organization. That means they need a unified vision, and their efforts need to be coordinated as if driven by the same (continue reading…)
Letteronomics: What will the economic recovery look like? L? V? or W?
by Rob McLeod on Jan.26, 2010, under Consulting
What are likely to be the big business issues of the newyear?
So-called Letternomics, or what sort of shape economic recovery will the world experience; V, W or L, and in particular will Asia remain a big engine of growth?
Will economic recovery come with jobs, and is there much risk of a surge in inflation?
Also, bankers – is there any chance that financial sector employees will restore their reputations?
As the decade turns, we also discuss the big business developments of the last ten years, and try a bit of longer-term crystal ball-gazing, as we explore what might be the big business stories over the decade to come.
Jonathan Frewin talks to Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, and Daniel Franklin, editor of The Economist’s World in 2010 magazine.
[First broadcast on BBC World Business News]
80 ways to use twitter in your business
by Rob McLeod on Jan.21, 2010, under Branding, Consulting, Interactive, Technology
It’s pretty common. A small business owner comes to us looking for help promoting his or her business. We suggest using Twitter as a way to find new leads, build relationships and as an overall way to cost effectively market their business. The small business owner then turns around, tilts their head and responds, “Twitter? What can Twitter do for me?”
Well, We’ll tell you. Below are 80 ways a small business owner can use Twitter to build and market their business.
Build Credibility
- Answer common customer questions
- Share insight and opinion
- Pass on interesting links/posts
- Tweet links showing your company featured on other Web sites or mainstream media
- Tweet often to keep your brand in customer’s top of mind
- Share high quality content that is relevant to your customers needs
- Share information about your organization that customers, colleagues and others may be interested to know
- Promote competitors when they deserve it
- Tweet links to Slideshare presentations or videos of speaking engagements.
- Promote upcoming speaking engagements
- Mention awards you’ve won or accreditations you’ve earned
- Be the one to break the news in your industry
- Livetweet events
SE axes Graduates for Growth
by Rob McLeod on Jan.21, 2010, under Consulting
From the Glasgow Herald today:
A scheme with a proven track record of getting thousands of graduates into work has been scrapped by Scottish Enterprise just as the idea has been adopted across the UK.
The business community is furious about the decision and careers officers at universities are outraged by the scrapping of Graduates for Business (GFB), which had a high success rate over the last decade helping graduates find a career, for a saving of just £1 million over three years. Some fear it could lead to a brain-drain of Scottish talent to England or abroad.
Scottish Enterprise (SE) mounted a strong defence of its decision on the basis that the internship scheme was not delivering the expected benefits in terms of turnover and job creation, and the Scottish Government said it was a decision for it.
However, an internal document cited budget cuts as the reason for the decision, and after the initial approach from The Herald the agency later came back with a statement indicating it was planning to re-introduce a similar scheme in the future.
One source close to GFB who asked not to be named said: “The response from graduates is heartbreaking. They are just devastated that this lifeline has been pulled and many say they are seeking employment outside of Scotland. The risk of a brain drain is truly staggering.”
To read the full article, click here.
Mobiles will be THE premier internet interface by 2013
by Rob McLeod on Jan.17, 2010, under Consulting, Interactive, Technology
I first highlighted this back in 2006 when undertaking some research for SPT, but it’s now been confirmed by the latest predictions of Gartner: By 2013, more people will be accessing the web from mobile phones than from PCs.
Gartner predicts that there will be 1.78 billion PCs in use that year, outstripped by the 1.82 billion install base of smartphones and browser-equipped feature phones.
“Websites not optimized for the smaller-screen formats will become a market barrier for their owners,” claims Gartner. “Much content and many sites will need to be reformatted/rebuilt.”
This new report also predicts that context – including location, presence and social interactions – will become as important to mobile services as search engines are to the web.
“The most powerful position in the context business model will be a context provider,” says Gartner. “Web, device, social platforms, telecom service providers, enterprise software vendors and communication infrastructure vendors will compete to become significant context providers during the next three years.”
To view the report in full, click here.
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- Britons are the biggest spenders online
- 6 in 10 Marketers Spending More on Content Marketing in 2010
- The shotgun marriage of sales and marketing
- Letteronomics: What will the economic recovery look like? L? V? or W?
- 80 ways to use twitter in your business
- SE axes Graduates for Growth
- Mobiles will be THE premier internet interface by 2013
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