How to Outwit Your Competition Decades of experience have taught me that making thoughtful improvements to existing products is a consistently profitable way to innovate. An effective way to come up with ideas is to start by surveying the market in a familiar industry and asking: What's missing? Maybe a potential demographic has been completely overlooked by industry leaders. Maybe there's been a lack of innovation for years. You don't have to reinvent the wheel to create a winning innovation. The question to ask is: How can the products already out on the market be made better? 1. Choose a specific market that intrigues you. Related: A Startup Aims to Fill a Hole in the Housekeeping Market 2. Take my guitar pick business. Related: Fresh Idea: The Unlikely Inspiration Behind Food-Saver FreshPaper 3. My interactions with consumers confirmed that there was an untapped market for unique, fun picks. Innovations can come from anywhere. Related: Forget What Your Customers Need; Branding Is About What They Want
Pinterest lance des pages spéciales pour les marques Le réseau social de partage de photos amorce sa stratégie de monétisation en permettant aux marques d'ouvrir des comptes et de disposer d'outils dédiés. Six mois après avoir levé 100 millions de dollars notamment auprès de Rakuten (lire l'article "Rakutent mène la levée de 100 millions de dollars de Pinterest", du 21/05/12), Pinterest amorce sa stratégie de monétisation en ouvrant une nouvelle catégorie de pages dédiées aux marques. Ces dernières n'étaient jusque là pas les bienvenues sur Pinterest. Le réseau social vient finalement de modifier ses conditions d'utilisation offrant la possibilité aux marques de créer des pages pour promouvoir leurs produits. Elles disposent également de la possibilité de convertir leur ancien compte en compte "business". Ces pages n'ont toutefois pas les mêmes caractéristiques que celles des internautes : les entreprises peuvent disposer d'un badge certifiant l'aspect officiel de leur page de manière à être mieux référencées et identifiées.
Forget What Your Customers Need; Branding Is About What They Want The following is the second in the series "Marketing Like the Big Brands," running every other week in which marketing expert Jim Joseph shows entrepreneurs on a small-business budget how to apply marketing strategies used by big brands. Being a brand is what separates you from your competitors and creates a much stronger connection with your customers. There's a major distinction between advancing your marketing efforts and actually transforming yourself into a brand. If you want to be a brand -- which should be your ultimate goal -- you need to understand the difference between what your customers "need" and what they "want." Need. Our customers need certain things from our business. Want. Related: Why Startups Should Take a Big-Brand Approach to Marketing "Want" is an emotion, and therefore represents the more connective benefits your business and brand offers. Let me illustrate. But let's say you personally choose a shirt brand that targets a younger more stylish consumer.
Le Guide Pour Bien Débuter Sur Pinterest Vous êtes sur Pinterest ? Pensez alors à suivre mon profil Pinterest ! Merci. Pinterest est un tableau d’affichage virtuel qui vous permet d’organiser et de partager des informations que vous avez trouvées principalement sur Internet. Votre contenu y est organisé selon des catégories (« boards ») où figurent des photos ou des vidéos que vous avez insérées (les « pins »). Les utilisateurs Pinterest peuvent : « Aimer » vos « pins », comme sur Facebook.Épingler à leur tour un ou plusieurs de vos pins dans leurs « boards ».Commenter vos « pins ».Partager vos « pins » sur Facebook et Twitter ou bien par e-mail.Ajouter vos « pins » sur leur site internet. Vous avez la possibilité de suivre d’autres utilisateurs et vice versa. soit via le bouton « Follow all ». 1. Pinterest fonctionne pour l’instant seulement sur invitation. Une fois votre invitation obtenue, indiquez votre e-mail et choisissez un nom d’utilisateur (« username ») ainsi qu’un mot de passe (« password ») pour créer votre compte. 2.
The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus. Entrepreneurs are hustlers. We wear many hats. We're like the chameleons of the business world, adapting to whatever we need to be at any given moment in time. It is no wonder so many of us struggle when our ventures gain critical mass and it comes time to focus our brand. In the mind of the customer, you get to be one thing. One. You don't get to be five things. Your one thing is the unique value that your brand delivers. Related: Why Startups Should Take a Big-Brand Approach to Marketing Your customer doesn't care what you want to be. It's very tempting to try to be everything to everyone. Positioning is the art of sacrifice -- of sacrificing the things you could be to uncover the one thing you should be. I know what you're going to say next: "But we do more than one thing! You think IBM doesn't? That's OK. Related: Grow Your Business By Getting Back to Basics What makes a powerful one thing? First, your core message needs to have an emotional and rational side.
Whats In Your Bag: Colleen 1. Sunglasses 2. Keys. 3. Rume Pouch 4. Metro Card 5. What’s your biggest accomplishment? What’s the biggest lesson you have learned since starting your career? What’s the worst pitch you have ever heard? How does someone get on the radar of Entrepreneur Magazine for a feature on the site or in the magazine? Colleen’s Louis Vuitton Neverfull Where do you receive your inspiration? If you weren’t Special Projects Director, what would you do? Do you feel your life is balanced between work life + personal life? Soundbytes: What is your most indispensable gadget:My iPhone 5 – I can take beautiful photos of the curries I make with its camera. What’s your favorite app?
Apple's New iPhone 5C and 5S: the Results of Creativity or Innovation? - Alan Iny and Luc de Brabandere by Alan Iny and Luc de Brabandere | 8:00 AM September 10, 2013 Every idea, no matter how ingenious or successful, will eventually need to be replaced with a new one. But business leaders, as human beings above all, tend to cling to their existing ideas, beliefs, and other mental models — or what we call boxes — longer than they should. For instance, Henry Ford famously insisted on continuing to manufacture the Model T long after his competitors were creating dazzling new automobiles that significantly cannibalized sales of his once bestselling car. When Apple first created its highly disruptive, history-making iPhone, the company unleashed years of innovation not just in its phone offerings, but in a seemingly infinite stream of related accessories and applications. Creativity can be defined as people’s ability to change their perception of reality; by doing so, they can then create new ideas, hypotheses, approaches, and other “boxes.” Innovation can be defined as a change in reality.
The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking What is Growth Hacking? Growth hacking is so misunderstood that there is a desperate need for this chapter. Few concepts have been as polarizing and revolutionary, simultaneously. Two chasms have already been crossed. How to get the attention of your favorite expert (new detailed post) I know this woman who runs an online business. I like her a lot — she has a great product, she’s been covered in some great press, and when I’ve met her, she’s really fun to hang out with. But her business is struggling. Here’s the interesting part: Looking at her business, I know how she could easily quadruple it in 2 months. It would be presumptuous for me to call her and tell her what to do. Why don’t we ask for help? For a lot of us, we’re worried about “annoying” the busy person. Sometimes, we hate feeling obligated. But no matter what, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. There is a better way. To show you how, today I’ve invited my friend Selena Soo to share her strategies for connecting with busy VIPs. Selena has done a masterful job connecting with journalists, entrepreneurs, and authors. Today, she’ll show you how to connect with busy people and tap into their networks and expertise. Take it away, Selena. Now what does this mean for you? These big experts often seem impenetrable.
How to Craft the Perfect Social Post [Infographic] Looking to maximize the effectiveness of your social media posts? Look no further. Bookmark or print the handy infographic below from social-campaign company My Clever Agency and reference it anytime you get befuddled. Some things to keep in mind for each of the major social networks: Pinterest: Posts without human faces get repinned 23 percent more.YouTube: Make sure your file name reflects your clever title.Facebook: It’s okay to post after your business closes. Of course, what works for one company might not always work for another. Take a look. Related: How 122-Year-Old General Electric Is Killing It on Social Media