I recently heard rumblings of news about Twitter potentially charging a fee. Some people have stated that if they did so, they would cancel the service. Silly.... in my opinion. Here's why:Thus far, the public at large have exchanged (paid for) nothing from Twitter or most social media platforms yet are willing to pay monthly fees for silly expenses like TV to watch a constant inflow of advertisements that attempt to sell products which takes money from them. Twitter, is quite possibly one of the best promotional and sales vehicles that exists today. That statement may not be real for a lot of people but I assure you, it's correct. Let me qualify that statement further.Twitter gives people the ability to reach out to any target public audience to establish communication with them and develop relationships that can and do result in sales and revenue. By survey, the number one and two sources of new business for any company is word of mouth and referrals. This is precisely what Twitter facilitates. You may not be familiar with Twitter or how it could be the very best promotional and business development tool for your company to employ but nevertheless, there are ways to use it strictly for business development that produces new relationships and sales. Our agency uses it for this very purpose for ourselves and our clients. To us, Twitter is no different than a cell phone. It's a tool to be able to communicate with who we want, when we want so we can develop new business.Would I be willing to pay for it? Yes! of course. $50 per month? Sure! It helps me produce new business which is a vital aspect to any company. I pay for my office phones, my staff mobile phones, internet connections etc so why wouldn't I pay for Twitter? I can't wrap my wits around why anyone wouldn't pay for it. It's a tiny price to pay for something that could help me produce thousands of dollars per year for our agency.Now, I actually don't think Twitter will end up charging for their service but will rather take the advertisement supported model but regardless I support it and will absolutely pay for it if they charge a fee, it's worth it.Consider the intrinsic benefits of these tools before making a rash decision like John Mayer to close his account on Twitter recently. He just locked out 3 million fans from being involved in the conversation. The value of staying in front of your audience is priceless. John made a silly move to close his account and if I was his agent I'd be having a fit right now. The fans are his customers and his obligation to keep happy. No fans means no money. No celebrity is above bottom line numbers being affected by silly moves like that.If you're thinking Twitter is simply a site to say "your getting a coffee right now...." then let me clarify that you have completely missed the strategy and opportunity with it. It's more than discussing random thoughts and the people who only use it for those purposes think they get and really don't. It's blows the doors off of most promotional outreach strategies if used correctly and will continue to do so. If there was a monthly fee, it would be insignificant compared to the value of it.- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group - Follow us @richter102media
Friday, September 24, 2010
Why I Would Pay for Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
Thursday, September 23, 2010
We Really "Digg" The New Look!
Recently, we saw Digg reinvent itself and become more streamlined and user-friendly with a major facelift. The changes are really great and it is excellent news for the social community to have this feature back in our bag of tricks.
So, if you're not Diggin' yet, we recommend that you get out there are add yourself into this growing online community!
Spencer Barnes
Creative Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
So, if you're not Diggin' yet, we recommend that you get out there are add yourself into this growing online community!
Spencer Barnes
Creative Director
Richter10.2 Media Group
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Speed
Have you ever truly looked over the value of speed as it relates to your companies growth, strategies, sales, delivery and expansion? I personally rate this as one of the highest valued items in our agency and in any company.
Speed. How fast you can take an idea into execution to make that idea a reality. Speed is your friend and time is your enemy. Speed of delivery. How fast can you deliver your product or service with the highest level of quality. Speed of sales. How fast can you find your audience, prospect, sell and close them to create hoards of new business.
Speed is something you should measure, if you don't already. People talk frequently about competition, what the other companies are doing etc. If you master speed, the truth is, there isn't any real competition out there. Most companies are slow. Most people are slow. Competition is a highly overrated concept. Focus on speed and the "competition" becomes something that you view from a distance scratching your head wondering how and why they don't get it.
Even looking at today's economy, if people and companies operated faster, new companies started fasted, decisions were made faster, speed became a central and crucial element of the marketplace, we wouldn't have a problem. The economy would recover swiftly and new fresh funds would be produced and circulated quickly.
Sometimes simple answers are the hardest to figure out but are ultimately the best solution.
Make a point this week and next to execute tasks faster. Speed up your cycles. Look at how you can take the time out of the equation on situations and your production will increase. Look at all the applications of speed and figure out how to put them into action.
- Speed of sales
- Speed of promotional ideas to get them into action
- Speed of quality delivery
- Speed of internal communications
- Speed of external communications
- Speed of news to the market
- Speed of promotional updates or changes such as websites etc
- Speed of hiring, training and executing actions
- Speed of meetings and phone calls
While this may sound a little overboard - it's not, I assure you. There are slownesses all throughout your personal actions day to day as well as throughout your company and I promise, it's costing you the game. Take speed seriously. Get disciplined about it and your "competition" will become a silly concept. Companies are slow, people are slow ..... take advantage of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Speed. How fast you can take an idea into execution to make that idea a reality. Speed is your friend and time is your enemy. Speed of delivery. How fast can you deliver your product or service with the highest level of quality. Speed of sales. How fast can you find your audience, prospect, sell and close them to create hoards of new business.
Speed is something you should measure, if you don't already. People talk frequently about competition, what the other companies are doing etc. If you master speed, the truth is, there isn't any real competition out there. Most companies are slow. Most people are slow. Competition is a highly overrated concept. Focus on speed and the "competition" becomes something that you view from a distance scratching your head wondering how and why they don't get it.
Even looking at today's economy, if people and companies operated faster, new companies started fasted, decisions were made faster, speed became a central and crucial element of the marketplace, we wouldn't have a problem. The economy would recover swiftly and new fresh funds would be produced and circulated quickly.
Sometimes simple answers are the hardest to figure out but are ultimately the best solution.
Make a point this week and next to execute tasks faster. Speed up your cycles. Look at how you can take the time out of the equation on situations and your production will increase. Look at all the applications of speed and figure out how to put them into action.
- Speed of sales
- Speed of promotional ideas to get them into action
- Speed of quality delivery
- Speed of internal communications
- Speed of external communications
- Speed of news to the market
- Speed of promotional updates or changes such as websites etc
- Speed of hiring, training and executing actions
- Speed of meetings and phone calls
While this may sound a little overboard - it's not, I assure you. There are slownesses all throughout your personal actions day to day as well as throughout your company and I promise, it's costing you the game. Take speed seriously. Get disciplined about it and your "competition" will become a silly concept. Companies are slow, people are slow ..... take advantage of it.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Get Organized
Just a brief comment on the importance of being organized and having clear systems and administration for your company.
I personally feel that a huge amount of profit is lost in this area. A lot of companies are strong in sales or delivery or customer service but not many are truly strong in administration. In other words, your process, operations, systems etc. Really think it through and make a checklist of the areas that need to be addressed.
Here is a starting point:
- Flow charts for all key areas and functions like sales, delivery, finance posted on the wall so they are viewable for training and drilling
- Progress boards to monitor and track key actions so you can manage and push progress week to week
- Clearly defined positions and actions for each person in written format so your people can study them and become competent for their position
- A form of measurement for all key company indicators that can be tracked weekly to compare from week to week and to set targets for improvement
- Checklists or procedures for handling specific actions like collecting income, closing sales, delivering to new clients in order to have exact sequences that are followed every time without fail
These are just a few basic fundamental points to look into. The basic message here is that time and time again I see companies losing opportunities and income simply by lack of planning, lack of systems and lack of organization which results in chaos and confusion in the company making people look busy when in actual fact it's unproductive business.
Make all systems and functions clearly defined and ensure you have procedures that are organized and orderly in all areas and your production level will go through the roof. It's not time you lack, it's a lack of administration that organizes processes to create more time for you. Inefficiencies are expensive.
Our agency tends to get about a months work done in a week simply because we are organized and can execute and have systems for everything. Don't run around and say your busy and have no time... get organized, be ruthless about your systems and create time in order to focus on doing more to expand your company. Dissect your processes and jam in orderly operations and you'll see what I mean.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
I personally feel that a huge amount of profit is lost in this area. A lot of companies are strong in sales or delivery or customer service but not many are truly strong in administration. In other words, your process, operations, systems etc. Really think it through and make a checklist of the areas that need to be addressed.
Here is a starting point:
- Flow charts for all key areas and functions like sales, delivery, finance posted on the wall so they are viewable for training and drilling
- Progress boards to monitor and track key actions so you can manage and push progress week to week
- Clearly defined positions and actions for each person in written format so your people can study them and become competent for their position
- A form of measurement for all key company indicators that can be tracked weekly to compare from week to week and to set targets for improvement
- Checklists or procedures for handling specific actions like collecting income, closing sales, delivering to new clients in order to have exact sequences that are followed every time without fail
These are just a few basic fundamental points to look into. The basic message here is that time and time again I see companies losing opportunities and income simply by lack of planning, lack of systems and lack of organization which results in chaos and confusion in the company making people look busy when in actual fact it's unproductive business.
Make all systems and functions clearly defined and ensure you have procedures that are organized and orderly in all areas and your production level will go through the roof. It's not time you lack, it's a lack of administration that organizes processes to create more time for you. Inefficiencies are expensive.
Our agency tends to get about a months work done in a week simply because we are organized and can execute and have systems for everything. Don't run around and say your busy and have no time... get organized, be ruthless about your systems and create time in order to focus on doing more to expand your company. Dissect your processes and jam in orderly operations and you'll see what I mean.
- Robert Cornish
CEO, Richter10.2 Media Group
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Title Vs. Task
What is a title to you? The title of where you work whether it is CEO, VP Sales, Creative Director, CFO etc, what does it mean to you? If your thinking it has anything to do with power or importance then you have completely missed the mark and have lost the true purpose of your job and position within your company.
A title is not for power or importance or making anyone feel under you.... it's a description of where you are in your company and what your responsibilities are. It's a function. Now I realize this sounds a little self explanatory but many people seem to mis-use and mis-apply their titles which I find to be a shame to the company in general.
When you are a CEO or any position for that matter, that title simply is a label for your function. It means that the day to day tasks related to that title are your responsibility and your team relies on you to get it done. That's it. If you thought it was anything more than that, you've lost the focus and true spirit of business.
Think about the tasks and functions that go under your position or title. This is the only importance associated with your title. It dictates your job and reveals your tasks so everyone knows who is who in the company and who will handle what functions. Think of your company and position like a sport.... the goalie is supposed to stop attempts on goal, period. The goalie is not so he can be respected or act important (even though he is) or to be used for power.... it's simply a duty.
Take a look at your post, position or title and ask yourself whether you are exclusively handling the functions for your team to get the job done and whether you are making a valuable contribution to your team for the responsibilities that fall under your position. If you do this, your company will do better and if you can get others to do the same, the company will boom.
Focus on the task at hand, the functions that need to be done for the title and execute, execute, execute and forget the importance of it all.
A title is not for power or importance or making anyone feel under you.... it's a description of where you are in your company and what your responsibilities are. It's a function. Now I realize this sounds a little self explanatory but many people seem to mis-use and mis-apply their titles which I find to be a shame to the company in general.
When you are a CEO or any position for that matter, that title simply is a label for your function. It means that the day to day tasks related to that title are your responsibility and your team relies on you to get it done. That's it. If you thought it was anything more than that, you've lost the focus and true spirit of business.
Think about the tasks and functions that go under your position or title. This is the only importance associated with your title. It dictates your job and reveals your tasks so everyone knows who is who in the company and who will handle what functions. Think of your company and position like a sport.... the goalie is supposed to stop attempts on goal, period. The goalie is not so he can be respected or act important (even though he is) or to be used for power.... it's simply a duty.
Take a look at your post, position or title and ask yourself whether you are exclusively handling the functions for your team to get the job done and whether you are making a valuable contribution to your team for the responsibilities that fall under your position. If you do this, your company will do better and if you can get others to do the same, the company will boom.
Focus on the task at hand, the functions that need to be done for the title and execute, execute, execute and forget the importance of it all.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Red Bull Way
When it comes to promo and getting the word out.... there is a standard and a bar which you can measure yourself by.... it's called Red Bull. Now there is a company that thinks BIG. They have plastered their brand, PR, Marketing and advertising absolutely everywhere.
I guarantee you that if it were not for their unbelievably HUGE promo efforts, the company would not be what they are today (which happens to be a billion dollar annual revenue producing machine) The drink is not exactly tasty. That factor has no role in their success though.
I admire this company for their sheer volume of promo and in their creative ways to get the word out.
So, what can we learn? Well, when looking at your promo efforts I would recommend that you address the volume and angles. In other words, what are you doing right now? How much promo, outflow, avenues are you using daily, weekly and monthly to make your companies products and/or services known. I tend to think that most companies grossly underestimate what they need to do. Companies get so focused on other things that are important but not nearly as important as driving in new business so heavily that your only major problem will be... how do you manage the inflow and deliver and service it?
Revenue should never be your concern. New clients should never be your concern. These things will come in floods if your promotion and sales efforts are actually sufficient and not sufficient per your normal standard.... I mean Red Bull type thinking.
Make a list and focus on how you can create a Red Bull size strategy to get the word out. Get absolutely crazy about promotion and driving in new business. Then focus on executing the strategy in an obsessive fashion to drive new customers/clients in the door. From there, you can then figure out how to deliver, how to service, quality etc but all of those items come after you have promoted, made your company known, gotten new sales, clients, customers etc. Your first priority should be on your front lines.... promotion!
When your scratching your head wondering why sales are down, why revenue is down etc. - look no further than your efforts to get the word out about your company to actively get in front of your audience and therefore cultivate new opportunities. That is the WHY.
So this week, think like Red Bull. They are a company that has gone completely berserk when it comes to promo.... and it's working like crazy. Make a list of new angles to drive in new business and execute, execute, execute....
- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group
http://richter10point2.com
I guarantee you that if it were not for their unbelievably HUGE promo efforts, the company would not be what they are today (which happens to be a billion dollar annual revenue producing machine) The drink is not exactly tasty. That factor has no role in their success though.
I admire this company for their sheer volume of promo and in their creative ways to get the word out.
So, what can we learn? Well, when looking at your promo efforts I would recommend that you address the volume and angles. In other words, what are you doing right now? How much promo, outflow, avenues are you using daily, weekly and monthly to make your companies products and/or services known. I tend to think that most companies grossly underestimate what they need to do. Companies get so focused on other things that are important but not nearly as important as driving in new business so heavily that your only major problem will be... how do you manage the inflow and deliver and service it?
Revenue should never be your concern. New clients should never be your concern. These things will come in floods if your promotion and sales efforts are actually sufficient and not sufficient per your normal standard.... I mean Red Bull type thinking.
Make a list and focus on how you can create a Red Bull size strategy to get the word out. Get absolutely crazy about promotion and driving in new business. Then focus on executing the strategy in an obsessive fashion to drive new customers/clients in the door. From there, you can then figure out how to deliver, how to service, quality etc but all of those items come after you have promoted, made your company known, gotten new sales, clients, customers etc. Your first priority should be on your front lines.... promotion!
When your scratching your head wondering why sales are down, why revenue is down etc. - look no further than your efforts to get the word out about your company to actively get in front of your audience and therefore cultivate new opportunities. That is the WHY.
So this week, think like Red Bull. They are a company that has gone completely berserk when it comes to promo.... and it's working like crazy. Make a list of new angles to drive in new business and execute, execute, execute....
- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group
http://richter10point2.com
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Be a ball hog - for your clients sake...
Have you ever heard someone say "the ball is in their court" when explaining where a certain situation stands?
If your a true professional and want to bend over backwards to serve your client then you will adopt the philosophy that the ball is never in your clients court. You want to control the ball to control the outcome.
To fully service your client, it requires total control of each situation and task which allows you to get the desired results you are focused in order to create happy clients.
If you have ever been to an incredible hotel or a company that truly has their delivery, service and overall operations completely under their control - the outcome is that as a client, you are very happy and feel well served.
Do your clients a favor and never let the ball be in their court, they don't want it.
- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group
Find me at http://whywebpr.com/robertcornish
If your a true professional and want to bend over backwards to serve your client then you will adopt the philosophy that the ball is never in your clients court. You want to control the ball to control the outcome.
To fully service your client, it requires total control of each situation and task which allows you to get the desired results you are focused in order to create happy clients.
If you have ever been to an incredible hotel or a company that truly has their delivery, service and overall operations completely under their control - the outcome is that as a client, you are very happy and feel well served.
Do your clients a favor and never let the ball be in their court, they don't want it.
- Robert Cornish
Richter10.2 Media Group
Find me at http://whywebpr.com/robertcornish
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