Inbound Marketing: Blue Ocean Strategy

Inbound Marketing: Blue Ocean Strategy

by W. Chan Kim
and Renée Mauborgne

If ever there was a use for a business book, Blue Ocean Strategy is it. Based on research, years of business case studies and all the smarts people could need, this take on marketing is exactly what Inbound Marketing has in mind.

Blue Ocean is a term used to explain the creation of your own market - no competitors, no 'crushing-conforming or else' industry standards, no manipulation of your customers. You're on your own so real value is the game. If you're not on, there's nowhere to hide.

Metrics for Business and LIfe

If you can't trust the numbers

Tina Crouse, Strategist

Saw an interesting ad the other day about 'If you can't trust the numbers, how can you trust the analysis?' Interesting point. Self-evident? No. Lots of people trust numbers while very few can analyze them. Why is that ?

I'm of the opinion that we have been over-sold in the area of numbers. Refusing to believe that 'stacking' and 'fudging' are very common, we blindly read something and then report it as truth, even gospel, as some would say. And yet, how many counter-arguments or reports have we heard regarding statistics ? Cancer rates - climbing or lowering? Crime stats - up or down? Birth rates- shrinking or expanding? Interest rates- increasing or decreasing? Housing rates- sold, lost or built? If we put all the data to the basic test "Can you count it?" without manipulations, formulas or translations, would more people be able to make solid decisions ? Isn't that the point ?

Because I'm a strategist, I use data all the time; I have to, my clients need to make good decisions. And I feel those decisions need to be based on something. I think people should be able to decide, based on true numbers, how to improve their business, where to spend their time and those much bigger questions, when to get a second opinion, how much time do I have ? what will my children live off of ?

Numbers are suppose to help us make decisions and move on with our lives. When they are being manipulated for profit or to obscure the truth, they should be exposed. In small businesses, non-profits and everyday life, I think adding and supplying the truth will garner you more trust, more ease and probably more customers and hence, profit.

When you add that up, I think it's called Truth and Value.

Debit Card Fraud Hurts Businesses AND Individuals

Debit Card Fraud Hurts Businesses AND Individuals

Tina Crouse, Strategist

Having been victimized, yet again, by debit card fraud, I took it upon myself to find out if anyone else in my neighbourhood had as well. Sure enough, within 24 hours of a listserv query, 26 people responded and we all live and shop in the same places. Attempts to get the banks and the police to coordinate and stop the theft proved futile. You can read the newspaper article here.

My research indicated that many businesses are also victimized because it isn't them who are doing the scamming; it's their debit machine supplier (or their dishonest staff) using skimmers. Discussions online and at the bank told me that although the business may not know of the criminal activity, once it is established that it occurred at their site, the business is severely impacted, many perish. All for criminals using technology to steal. No protection for the business; No protection for the individual.

Although there are no failsafe methods to deal with debit card fraud, many people are trying various things to limit their exposure. I'd like to hear of them. There are several hundred people in my community who have been following this and now, several thousand who have read about it.

Business Webinars - You still need good teachers

Business Webinars - You still need good teachers

Tina Crouse, Strategist

I 'attend' about 2-3 webinars a week. Usually, they are free and I'm always scouting for things to help clients and myself understand business better. When I come across a good one, I try to post or tweet about it because they are few and far between.

It's a sad reality that people with specialized knowledge assume that they just have to 'speak' it and everyone will get it. They throw up some good but incomprehensible slides (without explanation) and then go into babble-speak because they don't prepare limited talking points for each slide and just begin tangent explanations of how they got to where they are in the presentation. If you guessed that's where I get off the webinar, you're right. I don't have time for babble but I do need the information that they are giving. I'd really like to give some feedback about it but people have forgotten the old standby - 'questionnaire to rate the presentation'. With SurveyMonkey, it's easy, cheap or free and you get real data if you ask the honest questions: Did you like this webinar ? Was it useful ? What didn't you like ? Did the presenter do a good job of getting the information across ?

As I mentioned, I like to promote good ones so if anyone can recommend a good business webinar, whether on InBound Marketing, Social Media, Business Development or the like, please share. Everyone should be able to benefit from this cheap and easy medium.

Business - measurement and certainty

Measuring what ?!? Really understanding your business

Tina Crouse, Strategist

While looking at two different projects this week, it was impressed upon me once again, the usefulness and the need to measure hidden apsects of our businesses and projects to ascertain some hard 'truths' and to make decisions based on those.

In speaking with my associate, Veronica Feihl, who is an expert in helping organizations to understand and enhance their web presence, it was clear that her measurement of a potential project was dead-on and if the client was willing to do this same assessment of their 'business', they would realize that they didn't understand what they were asking for, didn't need what they were asking for and could develop cheaper, simpler solutions. Knowing a fantastic 'business' development opportunity and gaining valuable insight is important for every business, big and small and every non-profit, big and small. See examples of Veronica's work here.

I also spoke to Anshula Chowdhury of SAM. Her blog this week focused on social metrics. The last slide was of particular interest because it indicated the cost and benefit of many hidden aspects of a non-profit's or social enterprise's 'business' : their social network.

Social Purpose Real Estate

Social Purpose Real Estate = Social Business + Assets

It was really exciting to have been at the first ever Social Purpose Real Estate conference in Vancouver BC. The many, many innovative and successful social enterprises, foundations, funders and newby's was unbelievable and immeasurably informative. If anyone doubts that business can be done differently to make a profit and have a heart, you need to view these people now.

So here are the fantastic, the un(der)-known and the successful people leading the way towards making business what it should be: good profit = good life (for all people). And I think we'll get a 'good' happy, healthy planet along the way too.

Central City Foundation: a century of investing capital and building community in Vancouver BC
Fraserside Community Services; making a difference in people's lives BC
Nonprofit Centers Network: premiere learning community on nonprofit shared space and services - Canada and the U.S.Potluck Catering and Cafe: improving the quality of life and economic vitality in the Downtown Eastside
Real Estate Foundation: supporting innovative projects which will stand as examples of responsible and sustainable land use BC
Renewal2: provides opportunities for investors to participate in the development of business at the forefront of social and environmental innovation.
Social Innovation.ca: creating the spaces that social innovation needs to thrive (Toronto, ON)
Tides Canada: uncommon solutions for the common good
Vancity Community Foundation: in the business of connecting values-driven donors with values-driven work in community.
Urbanspace Property Group: inspiring the integration of commerce, culture and community.

New Radio Show and the enp social enterprise meet-up

Tina Crouse, Strategist

Wow ! Action packed couple of days at the enterprising non-profits social enterprise meet-up.  Had some great, great presentations and I was particularly taken with Octopus Strategies whose outstanding marketing work and excellent crowd management techniques made them a pleasure to listen to and learn from. By accident, I stumbled into a promotional opportunity for the new Social Finance radio show and didn't realize I was there until it was over. While seeming to do everything wrong, the marketing opportunity still came out right; people remember that there will be a social finance radio show starting soon. Objective met.

Fundraising and Social Innovation

Fundraising and Social Innovation

Tina Crouse, Strategist

 In just finishing a guest lecture for the University of Northern British Columbia, I realize again, how ingrained the idea of grant writing and fundraising is to non-profits. But I know that world is changing and I feel somewhat awkward in teaching people how to do that better, while firmly believing that Canada's granting system is in decline and will not be the mainstay of funding in the fairly near future.

So what else can I offer students and non-profit clients so that they can take heart that their world will not crumble without grants ? Social Innovation.

Social Enterprise Bonds

Social Enterprise Bonds

Tina Crouse, Strategist

For awhile now, I've been working on developing a concept for a Canadian Social Enterprise Bond. There are some already in existence in Canada (for example the Social Innovation Series C Bond ) usually guaranteed through real estate and in combination with a host of partners and a non-profit. Others are working on a Social Impact Bond similar to those in the U.K. (see Social Impact Bonds). What I'm interested in doing is generating a completely new pool of dollars for non-profits to draw upon to create a social enterprise (business) to support and sustain their mission but not necessarily tied to social outcomes (U.K. bond) or guaranteed by real estate. I'm interested in providing Canadians with socially responsible investment dollars, the chance to do good right here in Canada, similar to how we enthusiastically invest off-continent in Micro Finance ventures.

Using Polls to Improve Blogs

Using Polls to Improve Blogs

Photo by Gregory Szarkiewicz

The other night I was helping a friend who operates a non-profit. He has one main funder who changed the rules and now requires the one revenue stream be accounted for in all projects. Problem is, he now has 17 projects (I kid you not !) and no bookkeeper - absolute insanity.

My advice - you need a bookkeeper. He knew that but he also needed to hear that the functionality of his organization and his role would improve with the contracting out of bookkeeping. He needed to know how to make his case and my advice was helpful.

Blogs should operate the same way.

Female Social Entrepreneur Wins Honour

Female Social Entrepreneur Wins Honour

Daphne Nederhorst is a wonder. She's also this year's Runner-Up for BC Business Magazine's Social Entrepreneur of the Year. And the wonder ? Her business is eliminating poverty.

Fundraising: Lay your Cards on the Table

Tina Crouse, Strategist

It's an interesting thing, the English language; two people can say the same word or words and very different things are understood. When you're playing a card game for instance, someone can say, 'Put your card on the table' and if you know all the rules of the game, you'll lay it down correctly. If you don't, then not only do you not know where to put the card but you also don't know whether to put it face up or face down. You can guess the results when you don't know that last rule.

Not Your Father's Marketing

Tina Crouse, Strategist                 

Agreed: Not Your Father's Marketing

In a new article by Prof. D. Steven White of the University of Massachusetts, Its-not-your-fathers-marketing- he talks about the huge gap between what is being taught as marketing in the universities and the experience of businesses on the ground. Anyone trying to capture people's attention today knows this gap is wide. Additionally, the young marketers graduating from university are wondering what they paid for because Inbound Marketing is completely absent from the curriculum and yet, that's exactly the way most youth purchase today - through recommendations and referrals and whatever they could find on the web; not what we pushed at them.

Successful pathways: not always visible or direct

Tina Crouse, Strategist

Successful pathways: not always visible or direct

My friend, Carol Shaben, is a fantastic writer, national award winner  and one of Canada's 'instant' success stories. Here's a video from her publisher, Knopf Random  House Knopf-acquires-title-two-hours-after-receiving-manuscript . If you ask Carol, she has no explanation for the sudden success; it was a random, twisted road with an unanticipated outcome. So why would anyone use strategies to help their organizations if success is so random ?

Efficient Strategies

Tina Crouse, Strategist

 Efficient Strategies

There are a myriad of ways to be efficient, or so we think, but when you get right down to it, without a strategy - "what do you want to do, when do you want to do it, how do you want to do it and how the heck do you prove that you're doing it ? " Well then, it probably isn't efficient; it's just plain work.

Do you have the time to work all the time ? (repetitive but on-point)

When you use strategies to improve your work, you'll know when you're being efficient. You'll strive to be because a good day's work really does feel good. If we all could work to our optimum abilities, life just might become fun. This goes double for small businesses and non-profits. These kind of organizations are known for eating up time, for flaying their owners and employees from the moment the clock starts in the morning until late at night when it's still ticking in people's heads. They aren't known to be more efficient than other work places, they just work harder.