Doing ‘Different’ Right: Ten Big-Time Difference Makers and How They Made Some Serious Dough Thinking Outside the Box, part 1 of 2

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If you’re looking for ways to set your business apart in this economy, look no further. There has never been a better time to be different. Here are ten companies that have done ‘different’ better than the rest.

In today’s business world, ‘business as usual’ is likely to put you out of business. If you’re using the same old marketing strategies today because they brought in business in years past, you’re in danger of being pummeled by your competition. In order to keep your customers happy (and happily spending!), you have to get their attention, and that means your typical tried-and-true marketing tactics aren’t going to cut it anymore. To beat your competition, you have to stand out and find ways to be you – uniquely!

With all the noise in your clients’ and potential clients’ daily lives, it certainly hasn’t become any easier to attract attention and appeal to your target market. But for your business to survive, you have to find ways to cut through that noise. Attracting attention often means that you have to step outside of the current norms and stand out.

If you aren’t sure where to get started, take a cue from other companies that have taken innovation to heart and used it to successfully win and keep customers.

Read on for some innovation inspiration from companies that found ways to make their customers take notice – while sticking with their values:

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About the Author

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA, is the author of five books, including …And the Clients Went Wild!: How Savvy Professionals Win All the Business They Want (Wiley, 2010) and The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, 2009). She is the founder of Red Zone Marketing, LLC, which consults with businesses from entrepreneurial firms to Fortune 500 corporations on strategic marketing planning and business growth. Maribeth has personally consulted with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals. An internationally recognized speaker, she shares the tactics that businesspeople use today to create more sustainable business relationships, sales, and marketing successes.

Top Ten Pitfalls to Avoid When Going Social in the Business World

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Businesses can gain a lot from building a “Social Nation,” but only if you’re networking smart.

If you were to make a list of up-and-coming business trends, social media strategies would probably be near the top. Actually, scratch that “up-and-coming” part – social media is already here. However, thousands of companies are rushing headlong into the profile-creating, news-tweeting, blog-posting frenzy…only to find that their valiant efforts are not getting the results they had hoped. If you’re looking for fans, followers, and friends to build a Social Nation around your business, don’t panic. There is simple advice that will help businesses avoid the pitfalls and make a strong online impact.

It’s true: there are countless benefits to joining what I call the Social Nation revolution – but just like any strategy for growth, social media isn’t foolproof. If you don’t want your company’s social strategy to fall flat, there are some guidelines you’ll need to follow.

As the Chairman and CEO of Mzinga, a company that provides social software to businesses. Quite literally, it’s my job to be social media savvy. And before you start building your own Social Nation, you need to have a well-researched game plan.

When it comes to building a successful social network for your company, you need to understand that there’s a lot of prep work to be done. You can’t just set up a Facebook profile for your company, tweet once or twice a day, and expect public interest in your company to shoot through the roof. Far from it, actually.

Think about it this way: if you were in charge of your company’s booth at a trade show or conference, you wouldn’t just slap your company’s logo onto a piece of poster board, place your business cards on the table, and hope for the best, would you? Of course not. Yet that’s exactly how some companies approach social media – and that’s why so many of these initiatives fail.

If you want to become a meaningful part of social conversations and interactions, you’ve got to know who your target “fan base” is, where they spend their time online, and what sorts of content and programming is valuable and relevant to them, and will foster their continued interest and participation. You also need to make sure you have the wherewithal to commit to growing and sustaining your Social Nation, and you’ve got to make sure that you have buy-in from within your company. And that’s just for starters.

Sure, it may sound intimidating, but don’t give up yet. Half the battle is knowing which mistakes not to make:

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About the Author

Barry Libert is the author of Social Nation: How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Attract Customers, Motivate Employees, and Grow Your Business. He is Chairman and CEO of Mzinga®, the leading provider of social software, services, and analytics that improve business performance. Barry has published five books on the value of social and information networks. He is a regularly featured keynote speaker at industry associations and for leading companies on the power of social media. He has been published in Newsweek, Smart Money, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, and he has appeared on CNN, CNBC, and NPR. Barry currently serves on the Board of Directors at Innocentive and The SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. To learn more about Barry, click here.

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 50 – An Interview with Marshall Fisher, co-author of The New Science of Retailing

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 50 – An Interview with Marshall Fisher, co-author of The New Science of Retailing examines the use of analytics to improve an organization’s supply chain performance in a way that ultimately enhances the bottom line. During our discussion, Marshall Fisher, co-author of The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance, shares with us his insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • actions business leaders can take to improve their forecasts
  • what a ‘Flexible Supply Chain’ is and the benefits it provides
  • capabilities an organization needs to possess and steps leaders must take to develop a ‘Flexible Supply Chain’
  • methods to determine the amount of supply chain flexibility needed
  • how leaders can align their supply chain operations with the organization’s goals
  • key factors executives should consider when making decisions regarding which technologies to pursue in order to enhance their supply chain operations

Additional Information

Marshall’s book, The New Science of Retailing, that he co-authored with Ananth Raman, the UPS Foundation Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, can be purchased by clicking here.

Final Request…

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About the Author

Marshall Fisher, co-author of The New Science of Retailing, is the UPS Professor of Operations and Information Management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and co-director of the Fishman-Davidson Center for Service and Operations Management. To read Marshall’s complete biography, click here.

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Lessons from the Best Global Brands 2010: Building trust and stability in the age of transparency

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This year, Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands 2010 ranking of the top 100 brands was notable for showing a remarkable shift in consumers’ spending habits. Public scandals like the BP oil spill and Goldman Sachs’ mortgage securities fraud compromised consumers’ trust in brands, and as a result, consumer loyalty was at an all-time low. At the same time, the stops and starts of the recession have created savvier, more budget-conscious consumers who are just as likely to cut spending by choosing private label toothpaste, as they are to match a Zara skirt with a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. And not only are brands more vulnerable to shoppers’ unpredictable whims, but tools like social media mean that consumers also have more control. Today’s consumers now have the ability to watch and respond to every brand’s move – positive or negative.

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About the Author

Jez Frampton is Interbrand’s Global CEO responsible for managing the firm’s worldwide interests and enhancing its strategic and creative offerings. Jez is a member of the Marketing Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Market Research Society, the Design Business Association, and the Institute of Directors. He is a frequent lecturer on the subject of branding.

Tap into Your Think Tank: Twenty Ways to Generate Ideas That Will Boost Your Business

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In today’s business world, your ideas are what set you apart from your competition. Here’s how to get your creative juices flowing so that you can out-think and out-earn your competition.

The lightbulb. Bubble wrap. The Post-It. The iPod. The Snuggie. Facebook. Twitter. These inventions, products, and businesses all started with an idea. An idea that to anyone other than its creator(s) may have seemed like an insane thing to invest much time, money, or effort in bringing to fruition. But for the masterminds behind these great ideas, the risk paid off and so too can your next great idea.

Now, you might be thinking, I am not going to come up with today’s equivalent of the lightbulb. That’s fine. You don’t have to. Great ideas come in many shapes and sizes – whether it’s something as small as a new logo for your business or something as big as rolling out a brand new product. What’s important is that you give your best ideas a shot at life.

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About the Author

Jim Kukral is the author of Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue. For over 15 years, Jim has helped small businesses and large companies like FedEx, Sherwin-Williams, Ernst & Young, and Progressive Auto Insurance understand how to find success on the Web. Jim is also a professional speaker, blogger, and Web business consultant. Jim teaches thousands of students around the globe as an adjunct professor for The University of San Francisco’s Internet Marketing Program. He has been quoted or featured in some way in online and offline print publications such as Forbes, Brandweek, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc., Small Business Trends, FeedFront, Revenue Today, Marketing Sherpa, and Duct Tape Marketing Network. Find out more by visiting www.JimKukral.com and www.AttentionTheBook.com.