Food for Thought Social Media

As a busy business owner, your day is one of constant interruptions, and it is extremely easy to become irritated and irrational in respect to others who you see as wasting your valuable time.

 

It is important to reassess your attitude towards interruptions, especially if the interruptions are coming from your customers or staff, as seeing these as a waste of your time can have a negative impact upon your business.

 

This excellent article, discusses the issue of managing interruptions, and suggests reframing the value of such interruption as being important to business outcomes rather than time wasters.

 

Via Daniel Watson

To be a successful business owner, you definitely need to have a strong mind, yet many business owners do not display the characteristics of someone who possesses one.

 

There is hope for any business owner not in possession of a strong mind, and that hope comes in the form of knowledge that can easily be applied, in order to strengthen one's mind to better face the daily challenges of running a successful business.

 

This  excellent article, identifies Confidence, Courage, Commitment, Control and Purpose as the key elements that go towards creating a strong mind, and it discusses each of these elements in detail whilst recommending ways that anyone can improve themselves in each of these areas.

Via Anna V. A. Resurreccion, Daniel Watson

Robin Good: If you still think that there's no better way to promote your product and services other than via banner ads and traditional "broadcast"-type marketing approaches, think again. Data and research studies now confirm what many have been saying for a long time.

 

Traditionally advertising, PR and marketing as you know them, are working less and less.

 

From the original article on HBR: "Traditional marketing — including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications — is dead.

 

Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they're operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear.

 

First, buyers are no longer paying much attention. Several studies have confirmed that in the "buyer's decision journey," traditional marketing communications just aren't relevant."

 

But if it is true that traditional marketing is dead, what will replace it?

 

"There's a lot of speculation about what will replace this broken model — a sense that we're only getting a few glimpses of the future of marketing on the margins.

 

Actually, we already know in great detail what the new model of marketing will look like. It's already in place in a number of organizations."

 

The solution pivots around four key points:

 

1. Restore community marketing.

2. Find your customer influencers.

3. Help them build social capital.

4. Get your customer advocates involved in the solution you provide.

 

And you can read more what are the key characterizing trait of this new model by reading the full article.

 

 

Good article. Recommended. 8/10

 

Full article: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/marketing_is_dead.html

 

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Via Robin Good, Ken Dickens

The best social shopping sites on the market broach a number of our online activities, and eliminate our needs for other sites in the process. The goal is to satisfy the most needs with the least amount of effort by the user.

A look at apps that allow you to be green, socially responsible and civic-minded.

Via Fuse Mobile, gillkelley