Get Innovative, Get Fast, and Give Back
Want to survive and thrive in these tough times? If you believe the press, 2009 will be tougher than last year. So you will need to distinguish yourself and your business to stand out and succeed.
What to do?
Get innovative. Get fast. And give back. (The first two are obvious, the third less so…)
In this tight economy, you’d better get innovative - both with your marketing and with your service delivery. Innovation is simply a new way of doing things, and it generally applies to a change in your thinking, product offerings, or your systems and processes. Getting innovative may go a long way towards helping you do things better than the competition.
And you better move fast, both in delivering on your products and services, and in being first in the market place with your marketing effort. As my friend Stone Payton likes to say, “speed kills the competition.” You cannot assume that your competition will wait around - you must assume they will be out there trying to beat you to that prospect. Get moving.
And you better distinguish yourself by giving back. As I said, these are tough times, and there are a lot of people in need. There isn’t a better time to make this a cornerstone of your marketing effort.
Not a bad idea to differentiate yourself by giving back. Don’t we always say the more you give, the more you get? And with the social media boom, you now have no excuse to contribute to bettering your community. That feels good in and of itself. But it also reflects well on your personally - and your business.
How can you serve by giving back?
1. Join and serve on a charitable Board (this is what I am doing).
2. Donate services, such as PR or Social Media advice to a local charity.
3. Commit to raise money.
4. Volunteer your time.
There aren’t many guarantees in life, but there is one I can promise: The gift of giving back will make you feel good. And feeling good makes you a better person and a better businessman. And we need that in these times.
I joined a board of directors in 2008, and can’t wait to make my contribution in 2009. On these pages over the coming months, I will share with you my experiences and my learning. I hope you will comment back and tell us how you are giving back.
Todd Schnick. Be Intrepid. http://intrepid-llc.com
Want to help us out? Visit http://www.furniturebankatlanta.org/
If you liked that post, then try these...
AT&T's Lack of Customer Service - Part Deux by editorga on November 19th, 2008
BY STEVEN WINOKUR - .
10 Questions You Better Ask Your Customer by editorga on January 6th, 2009
Have you noticed that some businesses need reminding that marketing is the art and science of getting and KEEPING profitable customers?
They always seem to forget the “keeping” part…
We are always reminded that getting new business from existing clients is less expensive than finding new customers.
Three Things You Can Do NOW To Be Intrepid Marketers by editorga on January 2nd, 2009
I wonder why some people are so afraid to market their business.
GrowthANSWERS' Steven Winokur on actual good press about Ford... by editorga on November 24th, 2008
BY STEVEN WINOKUR - .
GrowthANSWERS on Customer Service: Empower Your Employees by editorga on November 22nd, 2008
BY TODD SCHNICK - .


Save to Browser Favorites
Ask
backflip
blinklist
BlogBookmark
Bloglines
BlogMarks
Blogsvine
BUMPzee!
CiteULike
co.mments
Connotea
del.icio.us
DotNetKicks
Digg
diigo
dropjack.com
dzone
Facebook
Fark
Faves
Feed Me Links
Friendsite
folkd.com
Furl
Google
Hugg
Jeqq
Kaboodle
linkaGoGo
LinksMarker
Ma.gnolia
Mister Wong
Mixx
MySpace
MyWeb
Netvouz
Newsvine
PlugIM
popcurrent
Propeller
Reddit
Rojo
Segnalo
Shoutwire
Simpy
sk*rt
Slashdot
Sphere
Sphinn
Spurl.net
Squidoo
StumbleUpon
Technorati
ThisNext
Webride
Windows Live
Yahoo!
Email This to a Friend
If you like this then please subscribe to the