Sep

30

Can Changing Your Brand Make You Successful in the SMB Market?

September 30, 2007 | 3 Comments

Can changing your brand be all it takes to make your company successful in the SMB or small business market?
Nestor Arellano writes an interesting article at IT Business about the topic of changing your brand to appeal to a different market.  He notes, “Some key reasons for brand change include: a change in ownership, repositioning […]

Sep

25

Going Downmarket is Tough For Enterprise Vendors

September 25, 2007 | 3 Comments

You have two companies on the Fortune 1000 list.  Company A delights in serving small businesses  — and counts 7 million of them in its customer base.  Company B won’t touch the small business market with the proverbial 10-foot pole.  Why not? In the words of Company B’s Chairman, “We just haven’t figured out a way to make a substantial […]

Sep

10

Scott Cook of Intuit, on Net Promoters

September 10, 2007 | 3 Comments

At the recent 2007 Inc 500 event,  Scott Cook, founder of Intuit, gave one of the keynote presentations.  In it he made a key point about net promoter scores.  He said (paraphrasing):
“Don’t just focus on the detractors, trying to fix what’s wrong. Pay attention to the enthusiastic promoters of your business.”
If you’re familiar with the concept of net promoters and can’t stand to read […]

Sep

9

American Express OPEN Plum Card Introduction - Another Memorable Event

September 9, 2007 | 5 Comments

Have you ever noticed that companies tend to have certain things they are really good at, just like people?
Call it core competency or shared organizational memory — whatever the term, it makes all the difference.
A case in point is American Express OPEN. American Express OPEN is a company that does big events well.  I’ve been to four events involving […]

Sep

6

A Glut in Small Business Sites?

September 6, 2007 | 3 Comments

A friend and colleague writes me wanting suggestions for a topic niche that is not already saturated, for a small business site. His company plans to start a blog for business owners and managers. They are trying to stake out territory on a topic that is not already covered thoroughly.
In fact, he raises a point I’ve been […]

Sep

2

Six Pointers for Choosing Blogs to Advertise On

September 2, 2007 | 3 Comments

Due to my packed schedule in August, it has taken me until now to find Anne Holland’s excellent post for corporate advertisers about calculating a blog’s reach and influence.
She outlines six criteria for advertisers to look at when determining if an independent blog is a good fit and good prospect for advertising or a sponsorship. 
Perhaps one of […]