Mastermind Alliance Publishing Group Mount Pleasant Michigan

Mastermind Alliance Publishing Group Mount Pleasant Michigan

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Photos from Mastermind Alliance Publishing Group Mount Pleasant Michigan's post 18/04/2019

Day Of Evan Wrekn

Less Friction: Honest #MMAPGX 21/06/2018

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16/10/2017

News in the media’s mind is more topical or noteworthy information, often related to recent or important events. A news story includes specific facts and data to back up what you’re saying. It’s not about making claims of greatness; it’s about sharing stories of interest. Think about it: News can be anything from a new movie theater opening in town to a nonprofit focused on helping teen girls produce video games. Maybe you do have the best milkshakes in town. A good reporter would want to see your revenue numbers, talk to your customers, and maybe even check out your competitors to ensure your claim is actually true and worthy of a story.

Great Things Have Small Beginings 11/10/2017

Distrust the Financial System

10/10/2017

Pogue’s comments apply to all press materials and press communications. This publicist’s pitch letter didn’t work, and well-written ones often don’t either. The conversion rate of PR effort to actual story placement in media relations is low. Don’t dismay. And don’t hound the reporter. The subject line and opening sentences are enough for the reporter to decide whether they’re interested or going to pass. If you don’t hear back after a week, a telephone or e-mail follow-up is OK. Beyond that, let it go. Put your energy into a different reporter or media outlet.

All of your communications with the press need to hang together as a professional, informative, and respectful body of work. When the spokespeople, messages and story angles, written materials, and pitch are in harmony, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Then your project’s story is more likely to be covered by the press.

10/10/2017

A Note from Pogue—A Free PR Critique

If you’re a tech writer, you hear from a lot of public relations people pitching their clients’ wares. Usually, if I’m not interested in what they’re pitching, I just delete them. (The pitches, not the people.)

Today, though, my Inbox encountered a particularly persistent PR woman. She hadn’t gotten the hint. She followed up twice to ask why I hadn’t replied.

“Not to bug you,” she wrote, “but just wanted to get your thoughts on the last email. If you’re in—cool. If not, please give me some feedback.”

Feedback? She wants feedback? I’ve got some feedback for her. In fact, I’m prepared to offer her a complete critique, complete with some insight into the life of a tech writer. No charge.

Here’s her pitch — with my notes interspersed.

Hi David. Wanted to chat with you about a shift in eBooks—digital publishing mobile apps such as [her client’s name], which is at the forefront of what we like to call the content convergence trend.

Wow. “Digital publishing mobile apps?” “Content convergence trend?” So far, we have one sentence and seven buzzwords. And no mention of her product.

Rule #1 for PR folks: Know your target. If she knew anything about me, she’d know that buzzwords are my pet peeve. (Actually, if she knew anything about any tech writers, she’d know that buzzwords are a universal pet peeve.)

All right, going on:

Convergence tech and the “single screen” lifestyle have brought a rise of digital content platforms displaying a wide array of media, usually a massive library of digital content (Netflix, Xbox, Kindle, eBook)—but what’s next? As our media grows closer, the lines begin to blur and the once passive audience is now becoming participants in their media through interactive content.

Observation #1: Your prose is so filled with buzzwords (boldface added), I have no idea what you’re saying.

Observation #2: Two paragraphs in, and I still don’t know what the heck you’re pitching.

There are a ton of companies who are digitizing e-books, but not the way that [my client] is. For example, [rival company] may have what they call “interactivity,” tapping a screen to switch pages, but [my client] takes interactivity to a deeper level—choose your own ending stories, point and shoot games, sound and visual effects when touched—that’s the next level of interactivity [my client] is pushing. In this way, [my client] is laying the groundwork for opportunity—we are on the forefront of the trend.

Oh, good! She’s switched from buzzwords to clichés.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long. We’re back to empty buzzwords:

In addition, the platform itself serves as a discoverability hub that tackles a different and underserviced set of media—mobile games, interactive comics, graphic novels and lifestyle content. The crossroads for all four of these companies is “original content”—[my client] was founded on a platform of original content, while the others started as a distribution platform for existing content that are now beginning to see the merits of originally created content. As an original entity from day one, [my client] is taking on the digital publishing space with a multiple tiered approach that combines the innovation of new content, licensed content from premiere partners, as well as inviting independent content creators to create and share their work.

As thought leaders in the original content space, we have some big plans and aspirations and would love to keep you updated along the way!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this and possibly work together on a feature.

Six paragraphs in, and I still don’t know what she’s pitching. What’s the product? How much does it cost? What machine does it run on? Is it out yet?

I’d be surprised if she got a single feature article out of her pitch, even from no-name bloggers.

But maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe she’s fresh out of college and this is her first summer in PR. Maybe she doesn’t know how busy newspaper writers are.

Maybe, to be fair, the client directed her to incorporate such opaque, nebulous prose, perhaps over her strenuous objections. (I happen to know that that happens.)

So maybe it would be kinder simply to rewrite her pitch in a way that would be much more effective.

Here’s my rewrite:

Hi David:

E-books are great and all, but they’re still just words on a screen. We make something more ambitious: multimedia comic books. As you read, you can tap the screen to trigger animations, play little games and even change the story line.

Our first title, “Superhamster,” is a $1 app for iPad. It’s been in the App Store’s top 20 e-book downloads for six weeks, with an average user review of 4.8 stars. If you’re interested in a review copy, say the word; we think your readers would love it.

Now, if she had sent me that pitch—well, I’d probably still have deleted it.

But that product, and that PR rep, would have caught my attention. She would have had more success getting other reviewers interested. And in my heart, I’d have thanked her for her clarity, brevity and intelligence.

So there’s your free advice, PR folks. Write your message in English—or risk being flushed right down the discoverability hub.

Permission provided by David Pogue

22/09/2017

Following the principles of strategic positioning, the company is careful to focus on the right metrics related to financial performance, customer satisfaction, and employee morale and productivity. To grow the business at a controlled pace, Serv-Pro seeks to pe*****te more retailers within their existing territory and increase the average order size with current customers. They do not seek growth for growth’s sake. We will look more at Serv-Pro’s “balanced scorecard” in the next chapter when we discuss success measures.

22/09/2017

Offering an inventory selection that features significant product depth and breadth across all specialty food categories tailored to the local market

Designing innovative, customized logistics solutions for major customers

Providing exceptional ex*****on of merchandising services at the retail level

14/09/2017

RECAP OF KEY POINTS

• Look at your organization as having at least three levels— individual, group, and organization. You will need to cascade your planning and change management down to all levels.

• Strategic and business planning should be at the top of your priority list as you integrate new organizational-change concepts like TQM, business process reengineering, empowerment, and customer service.

• Which of the 15 Strategic Management mistakes have you made?

1. Failing to integrate planning at all levels.

2. Keeping planning separate from day-to-day management.

3. Conducting long-range forecasting only.

4. Taking a random approach to planning.

5. Developing vision, mission, and value statements that are little more than fluff.

6. Having yearly weekend retreats as your only planning activity.

7. Failing to complete an effective implementation process.

8. Violating the “people support what they help create” principle.

9. Conducting business-as-usual after strategic planning.

10. Failing to make the tough choices.

11. Failing to keep a scoreboard; measuring what’s easy, rather than what’s important.

12. Failing to define Strategic Business Units in a meaningful way.

13. Neglecting to compare yourself with the competition.

14. Seeing the planning document as an end in itself.

15. Having confusing terminology and language.

11/09/2017

Quality

Finally, there is the potential to compete externally based upon quality. Toyota makes both the Corolla and the Lexus, thereby targeting both ordinary automobile drivers and those in the luxury-car consumer bracket. Quality competitive strategies, while related to branding, provide a particular level of quality to capture a specific income or interest demographic. The opportunity cost of efficiency is associated with quality, which generally sees higher price points. Quality is therefore a strong antithesis to the low-cost strategy.

11/09/2017

Differentiation

Most products and services are not homogeneous, however, allowing incumbents in an industry to compete with one another by means of various competitive strategies. Differentiation is a competitive tactic wherein companies approach certain niche needs within an industry to capture a segment of the market share.

An example of differentiation might be cereal. There are hundreds of different kinds of cereals. The need being filled is sustenance: people need to eat. The producers of these cereals use differentiation to capture a share of the cereal market: some brands focus on their organic nature, others their sugary appeal, and still others on being “cool.” Branding plays an important role here as well, though assessing niche consumer needs and filling them is the principal focus.

11/09/2017

1.


They are close to the customer—especially senior executives, who meet and dialogue with them face-to-face on a regular basis out in the marketplace.

______


2.


Executives include the customers in their decisions, focus groups, meetings, planning, and deliberations.

______


3.


They know and anticipate the customers’ needs, wants, and desires as they change.

______


4.


Surpassing customer needs is the driving force of the entire organization.

______


5.


They survey customer satisfaction with their products and services on a regular basis.

______


6.


They hold a clear position in the marketplace vs. the competition (in the eyes of the customer).

______


7.


They focus on Creating Customer Value—i.e., “value-added” benefits to the customer through Quality products and services, Customer Choice, Responsiveness, delivery, speed, Service vs. Total Cost of doing business.

______


8.


They set quality customer-service standards—expectations that are specific and measurable to each department.

______


9.


The Customer Service Standards are based on customer input and focus groups.

______


10.


They require everyone in the organization to experience moments of truth by meeting and serving the customer directly … at least one day every year.

______


11.


They focus and reengineer the business processes based on customer needs and perceptions … and do it across functions.

______


12.


They focus the organization structure on the marketplace— i.e., structure the organization by customer markets (1 customer = 1 representative).

______


13.


They reward customer-focused behaviors (especially cross-functional teams that work together to serve the customer).

______


14.


They have a clear policy … and the heavy use of recovery strategies to surpass customer expectations.

______


15.


They hire and promote “customer friendly” people.

11/09/2017

Competitive Strategies

Low-Cost and Branding

The simplest perspective on competition is in industries where products are homogeneous (or very alike). In such a situation, companies compete directly. For example, bottled-water producers are directly involved in such a framework and thus adopt two basic competitive strategies: low-cost and branding.

Low-cost suppliers find ways to optimize their production and distribution to offer consumers the lowest possible price on one bottle of water. Low-cost suppliers often benefit largely from economies of scale. Branding, on the other hand, aims to convince the consumer that a higher price point is worth paying based upon the company’s name, reputation, or other distinguishing characteristic. For example, Dasani brand water costs more than generic store brand water, despite being essentially the same product. Commercials, aesthetic presentation, goodwill, and factors other than price may then influence a consumer’s purchasing decision.

11/09/2017

Competitive Strategies

From a managerial perspective, competition generally falls into the external environment, though it can also take shape in the internal environment through rivalry between strategic business units (SBUs). For managers, understanding the external competitive landscape is a critical factor in assessing company strategies and benchmarking appropriately to ensure the competitiveness of the firm. Businesses that fail to keep pace with their rivals will eventually be overpowered and often forced to develop an exit strategy.

Avoiding the risks of competitive factors demands a strong understanding of operational efficiency (low cost), quality production, differentiation, and competitive advantage —or who you target and whether or not you have a cost or quality advantage (see figure below).

11/09/2017

Managers must know their business’s strengths and integrate them into the appropriate strategy to remain competitive.
Low-cost strategies are when companies sell a product or service at the lowest possible price point to stay competitive.
Differentiation is an alternative strategy to low cost in which companies fill a specific need that is not being filled or generate a brand image that increases their value-added proposition.
High quality is the antithesis of low cost; instead of efficiency, the strategy focuses on effectiveness, creating the best possible product to capture market share.
Companies also compete internally, either developing naturally competitive products or battling for funding based upon unit success.
Managers must understand all of these competitive strategies and align them with their perceived strategic advantage to stay competitive.

Key Terms

competitive advantage: Something that places a company or a person ahead of competing businesses.
differentiation: A strategy focused on creating a distinct product for a specific population.
Branding: A business’s ability to communicate a specific image, generally one that will entice consumers or add value.

11/09/2017

The Challenge of Competition

Managers must understand a company’s competitive advantage and build a strategy that takes into account the competitive landscape.

11/09/2017

Keeping up with Technological Progress

While managers are focused upon these four aspects of BTM, they must also keep future growth and technology scaling in mind. As innovation continues to demand a central role in businesses, research and development will continue to be critical to a healthy organization. Appropriately funding research initiatives that not only keep track of new innovation but actively seek out strategic solutions creatively offers companies the best chance of survival in the global marketplace.

Managers must also realize the importance of acquiring technology talent that can keep pace with the environment. This is important for two reasons:

The potential to uncover new competitive advantages through internal development
The capacity to forecast up-and-coming technologies to construct an investment road map that always keeps the competition a technological step behind

Developing new technologies in-house is particularly relevant to industries on the cutting edge (e.g., semiconductors, green energy initiatives, TVs, etc.), while forecasting is more critical for the users/consumers of these industries on the business level.

Combining BTM with research and development will ensure managers are properly equipped to tackle the challenges of modern-day innovations, leveraging these capabilities to differentiate from the competition and derive stronger margins. Managers across the board must be aware of the importance of these technological developments, as well as the operational challenges in researching and implementing them.

11/09/2017

Use Systems Thinking—Focus on Outcomes: The Customer

The key to the Systems Thinking Approach, as you will see in more detail later, is to focus on your outcomes. Begin with the end in mind and think backwards to achieve your future. For organizations, focusing on the most important outcome means focusing on the customer. This is STRATEGIC ANSWER #3: the need for every organization to 1) become an outcome-oriented system and 2) focus on the customer.

This common sense focus on the customer, however, is frequently not the way organizations view their missions. Organizations are often started because either someone invented a better mousetrap (i.e., a product to sell), invested capital (i.e., a profit motive), or secured a government-granted monopoly (i.e., a regulation orientation).

Image For Example

Compare how your firm is driven vs. these six options by spreading 10 points across all six choices:

_____


(1) Regulatory; the “why”

_____


(2) Operations; the “how”

_____


(3) Profits; the “why”

_____


(4) Products; the “what”

_____


(5) Employees; the “how”

_____


(6) Customers; the “who”

If you selected Option (6) with the highest number of points as to how you are driven, then see the next list to verify if you really are driven by the characteristics of a Customer-Focused Organization.

26/04/2017

26/04/2017

MAKE SURE YOUR AWARNESS IS EXPANDING.

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