Dreamin' Big

How would you save the music industry?

2011-02-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Business Insider just posted a blog post showing the past 37 years of the music industry in a chart. From this chart it's an easy conclusion to make that the music industry has found itself at a time where it needs to pivot. The question becomes what is the next step for the music industry?

What would you do if you were in charge?

The Quest to Grow Revenue

2011-02-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

“It’s a mystery to me why companies cut back onlearning and training in down time. Now is whenmore focus should be put on training and capturing opportunity.”

- Crosetto, CEO of Ammex

The moral here? Simple, always keep on learning!

With that in mind here's today's educational bit. All businesses are concerned with growing top line revenue and increasing their profit line. There are no right answers on how best to approach this, but there are lots of strategies that can help guide you on your quest.

I ran into this whitepaper called "5 Crucial Strategies for Doubling Revenue" that outlines some strategies from industry experts that have tested each each of them. Thanks to Verne Harnish, CEO of Gazelles, for the note on this whitepaper.

I am not a huge fan of whitepapers, but every once in awhile I stumble upon one that would be useful. I'd highly recommend checking this out.

Here's the a quick view of the Top 5 list:

Dramatically Reduce Sales Cycle Time
Pricing with Confidence
Multiple Channels
Half the Customers; Twice the Attention
Web 2.0

Law of the Ladder - Day 7

2011-02-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

I've lost my whiteboard here at work, so I'm trying something new... Snapshots from the book!

The Law of the Ladder:

The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder

Thought to Ponder:
You tend to have twice the market share of the brand below you and half the market share of the brand above you

Law of Exclusivity - Day 6

2011-02-11T07:34:00.000-08:00

Law of Exclusivity:
Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospects mind.

Thought to Ponder:
Volvo = Safety
FedEx = Overnight
McDonalds = Fast

Law of Focus - Day Five of Laws of Marketing

2011-02-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

Law of Focus:
The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind.

Thought to Ponder:
What one word does your brand own?

Best Marketing Ad

2011-01-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

Recently I asked a question on Quora. "What is the best marketing campaign/advertisment/idea you have seen executed by a technology company?"

If you haven't checked out Quora yet I'd highly suggest taking some time to see what it's all about. Robert Scoble does a good job explaining the power behind this new social media platform.

I've gotten lots of good answers, but this video really stood out as a top notch advertisement from Sony for Playstation. What do you think? Is this the best marketing ad you have ever seen?

Perceptions are Reality - Day Four of Laws of Marketing

2011-01-19T05:10:00.001-08:00

Law of Perceptions:

Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions.

Quote to Ponder:

All truth is relative. Relative to your mind or the mind of another human being.

First to Mind - Day Three of Laws of Marketing

2011-01-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

Law of The Mind:

It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace

Quote to Ponder:

Once a mind is made up, it rarely, if ever, changes.

The Power of Entrepreneurs

2010-12-30T07:14:00.001-08:00

Found this video thanks to Kurani Interactive. Great video describing how Entrepreneurs can change the world.

Think Categories - Day Two of Laws of Marketing

2010-12-28T13:27:00.001-08:00

Law of Category:

If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

Quote to Ponder:

How do I get people to prefer my brand? Forget the brand, think categories.

Laws of Marketing - Day One

2010-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

I've picked up the book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Jack Trout & Al Ries. I am a big fan of Jack Trout and his thought process when it comes to thinking about marketing in business. He challenges the "traditional" approaches that get taught in so many business schools today and instead tries to get the readers to think differently by just using common sense.

I thought it might be fun to recap each of the 22 Laws here on the blog as I read through them. So each time I complete a chapter I'll post a picture to recap one of the laws.

Today we start with the 1st Law - Law of Leadership

In case you can't read my crazy hand-writing:

Marketing Laws 101

Law of Leadership

It's better to be first than it is to be better.

Quote to Ponder

Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products

Change Your Thinking with Some Positivity

2010-12-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

Too often we focus in on all the negative things that are happening around us. Things like:

"I ate too much over the holidays and have gained all this weight"
"I am way behind on work"
"I don't have enough money"
"I hate my job"
... etc

What if today you challenged yourself to think about the positive things that are happening in your life? How might that impact your day and how you feel?

Try this... Take out a sheet of paper and write down 5 things you are happy about in your life. Actually write it down. Then stand in front of your mirror in the morning and look at yourself in the eyes. Repeat the following for each of the items on your list, with conviction of course, "I am proud of... X"

If you really want to challenge yourself do it again before you go to bed.

Zig Ziglar provided the inspiration (and really the step-by-step advice) for this post.

Netbook + Tablet

2009-11-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

Why are there not more Netbooks built with Tablet functionality? I've spent the past day looking at purchasing a new Netbook, but I have decided to hold off on purchasing one until a Netbook comes out that supports true Tablet functionality.

To be fair I should let you know that I did find one Netbook that was built with a Tablet design, but the reviews on it have pushed it out of the running for me. It was the Asus Eee PC Touch T91 that came out just a few months ago.

This seems like such a no-brainer that I am really surprised that this hasn't caught on yet with other manufacturer's. Now that Windows 7 is out I am hoping more manufacturer's find a way to start considering building their next Netbook design with Tablet functionality built-in. I'll be here waiting in the meantime.

Live from SXSW

2009-03-15T07:16:00.001-07:00

The crew from Mailtrust (@cnouri @bboebel @mattz62) have arrived at SXSW. Austin, TX has really come alive over the past 48 hours and we are enjoying every minute of it. Last night we ended up at a couple different after parties at Fogo De Chao (Entrepreneurs Lounge 2.0), Stubbs (Digg), Red Eye Fly (Black Joe Lewis). We all had a great time and enjoyed starting to meet others around the area. Here's a quick recap with some pics..

SaaS is really taking off

2008-12-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

I work for a technology company called Mailtrust. We actually focus on the developing software-as-a-service, otherwise known as SaaS. We just read this report that highlights just how large the potential is for this industry. Here is a copy of the blog post we put up on the company blog:

"Recently Gartner released results from major enterprises around the world that showed planned increases for adoption of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) for businesses. SaaS is an application delivery method giving access to software and applications on a one to many basis, usually based on subscription fees. This method allows businesses to skip the expense of investing in additional hardware, installations, daily upkeep and maintenance of software. We have been seeing this and planning around this trend for sometime, but it is always great to get confirmation backed by real data.

The analysis found that 90 percent of respondents are planning to maintain or increase their investments in SaaS. Some of the major reasons cited were cost-effectiveness, and ease and speed of deployment.

One of the more interesting points in the published results is that over 40% of the organizations are changing their IT environments completely from on-premise to cloud-based solutions. It is hard to deny that businesses are starting to see the benefits of hosted software and that will only continue.

With these results we are definitely excited to see what 2009 has in store for us, as a software-as-a-service organization. We are curious though, what are your SaaS plans for 2009?"

Reprinted from: http://www.mailtrust.com/blog/a/2008/12/get_ready_for_saas

The Real Life

2007-05-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

In less then a week from now I will be graduating from Virginia Tech. It is really hard to believe that I have completed what I call the first part of my life. Over the past 21 years my life has revolved around my academic career, learning all I can and dreaming about what will come next. That part is now over and it is time to start making my dreams a reality!

This next chapter of my life begins with my new job, well sort of new job. I have been working close to the Virginia Tech campus for over a year now and have decided to come on board full-time with the company that I have been working with. Webmail.us has become much more then your typical 9-5 work career. It's one of the fastest growing companies in the area and has an amazing work culture that I get to be a part of. Words cant really describe what it is like to work here on a daily basis, but I love it! And they are hiring all the time, so if your looking for a job check them out.

Heck it is because of my new job that I have decided to begin writing this blog. It's actually one of my quarterly goals, more on that at a later point in time.

So I am going to use this space to talk about what I find interesting at the time, whatever that might be. Since I am new to this it might take on a lot of different roles at first, but overtime I will find what works best. So come along for the ride and add this feed to your reader or bookmark this page.