Business

Need some help stepping off the merry-go-round of chaos so you can be more productive? Here's a list of apps and programs I find helpful when trying to juggle the pieces of my busy days. Do you have experience with any of these? What would you add to the list as a must-have to stop the dizzying madness? Toggl A useful time-tracking application, Toggle has both a browser version and a mobile app. An account can be used to track time accrued for internal projects, for example if personnel time...

I've been fortunate to receive a few books to review, and I'd like to share some quick thoughts about two of them.  My gratitude goes to the authors and publishers who so kindly shared the books and asked nothing in return (only to be rewarded with a slow-as-molasses review). Being an avid reader, I was excited for the opportunity to learn from the authors. Being an avid reader, I have a truck-sized load of books on hand every day. Or so the nice librarian reminds me during her frequent voice mails. Today...

Have you ever considered whether No should be the new Yes?  Constructive heresy. It's what's working for innovative businesses. How many times (as an employee) did you: go along when a difficult boss shut down your well-researched idea to drive new traffic to the company web site? bite your tongue when a coworker lobbied hard for "the blue version" of fluffy creative served up by your agency, when you really wanted to challenge them to re-examine the brief so they might actually get to the crux...

Reflect a little on 2010, and read what industry experts and subject matter pros have to say about the year ahead. Another year has gone by, just as we knew it would.  During this time, we've each had personal trials along with triumphs.  And we've seen the same  forces exert on the world at large. There are experiences and lessons we want to remember, and events we wish had never happened.  There are even things we'd change if only we could.   I can't understand the epic floods in Pakistan...

Data and reports offer validation for our work and provide safety nets for our trials.  Measurement and analysis provide insight and allow analysis to inform further decision-making.  We get to see where we've been to help drive where we're going. Or all this is all just a traffic jam in progress, despite the Google Maps, GPS, and live traffic reports? Imagine a world where there was no rear view.  A world where Google Analytics, Post Rank Analysis, YouTube Insights, and two dozen other...

On the beverage battle ground, small businesses face off against the entrenched Big Guys.  The makers of MADE organic drinks smartly tap into developing consumer trends (organic+flavorful+craftsmanship) to bring all their forces to bear.  Grass roots tactics and a passion for the product are driving the small company's success. This is a guest post written by Allison Cash, Vice President of Marketing for Tenaya, LLC., makers of MADE organic drinks.  With names like Cranberry Limeade and Pomegranate...

Too often, the marketing department thinks about ways to get the attention of customers while the sales department thinks about how to get a little more spend out of them (or how to find the next one).  They don't think (develop) as a cohesive unit.  They don't think in terms of a natural, trust-deepening progression from awareness to affinity. While executive-level management books blather on about collaboration and informed decisions, recursive loops and such, the reality remains siloed.  Multiple...

The answer is a great creative brief.  No matter what the question. Whether the assignment is a new logo, a piece of collateral, a web site, or branded Facebook assets, clients and agency partners have to be operating under the same assumptions with the same appreciation for resources, timing, and results. Upon presenting concepts for a new web site, client says: "That's really nice.  Looks good.  I've been thinking, you know, that maybe this site should also have a way to showcase some...

Change can be tough for a lot of reasons.  Changing can mean we have to endure some tedious tasks or dedicate time and resources already stressed thin.  Change can also force us to acknowledge unchartered waters and force us to take those first wobbly steps before we can become more sure-footed and thus, more comfortable.  Change presents the risk of error, embarrassment, or worse, failure. Fear of the unknown - the unproven, unmeasured, and unmastered - can inhibit the flow of good ideas....

Crickets.  Crickets.  Crickets.  Hear that?  That's the awkward silence that follows talking a topic to death. It can be emotionally wrenching and off-putting.  Sweaty palms, nervous patter.  And we've all been there.  Done that. It can happen when two minimally acquainted people are pushed into close proximity in a social setting.  The plasti-smile gets yanked on.  It can happen at work when someone stubbornly advances their antiquated, myopic point of view while others look on uncomfortably....