There’s lots more too.  How is  your email marketing going?

Getting away for just 24 hours—out of your five-mile radius—as my mother said to me recently, does your brain a world of good.

I drove down the Natchez Trace this weekend with my best friend from 8th grade.  We had a nice dinner in a local downtown Italian restaurant with exposed brick walls and a bustling atmosphere.  We slept in a B&B in a comfortable bed, and had carrot cake pancakes for breakfast while the snow fell outside.

I’m back.  I’m refreshed.  I’m ready to go to work again.  Try it.

She gets it about Facebook. You just publish what’s happening in your organization, company or firm. Trends, finds, actions you take, client news, stats, photos, links…etc.

Tips:

1. Publish at least three times a week.
2. Keep the tone personal and casual.
3. Take pictures of what you’re doing and add those.
4. Add stats and trends—show you know your stuff.

Keep it simple, and keep it going.

Determine:  What problem are you solving?  What need are you filling?  How does your product or service make people feel?  Where do you fit in? What’s lacking if your product or service isn’t there?  What makes you different?

Demonstrate:  Wrap your product or service in this “packaging”.  Don’t assume people will just “get” what you do and automatically know how you’re different.  You have to spell it out.

When you make time to perform these necessary steps, you’re elevating what you do to a solution, instead of just a business.

The findings are fascinating.  Among them are the incredible changes facing business in the wake of the recent world recession.  It’s never going to be the same again.  So much more is going to be required of all of us.

The #1 valued skill by CEOs worldwide:  Creativity.

The #1 recognition of CEOs worldwide:  Increasing complexity.

The #1 mission:  focus on/interact with the customer

The #1 challenge:  The need for action on opportunities and challenges

The business marketplace has irreparably changed.  What are you doing about it?

Click here to read the entire study:  ibm ceo survey

This is an interesting development.  Social media is growing exponentially, both for personal use and business use.  Determining responsible usage and appropriate boundaries is important with any tool.  I’m going to suggest that adults who want to have extramarital affairs are going to have them somehow and someway, and banning Facebook is not the answer.  It’s like blaming the car because the driver drove drunk.

The responsibility is on the back of the message sender:  be clear, specific, personal, attractive, frequent and repetitive.  Maybe today your audience is absent or overloaded and just can’t receive one more message.  But, tomorrow is another day.

Do your homework.  Make sure the receiver is part of your audience mix before you start messaging.  Put the time in to make your message clear, attractive and compelling.  Then repeat it until you get a response.  Be persistent.

Special interests:
health care, public transportation, construction/economic development

• Planning/Strategy
• Key audience identification
• Packaging your product or service
• Brainstorming
• Naming/Identity Statements
• Creative/Concept
• Content/Creative/Messaging
• Traditional and Social Media Tools
• Marketing Research, including online surveys, focus groups and customer interviews
• Web sites, including design and content