The Power of Twitter Just Got Scary…Real Scary
July 22nd, 2010
What if you could determine the mood of the country, or for that matter individual states? Could you predict buy habits in the stock market that day? Could you use this information to make customer purchasing decisions? Yes you could and that leads to the questions how much is technology going to be able to control our lives?
Researchers from Harvard and Northeastern gathered mood data from Twitter, check this out and let us know what you feel this type of information will be used for…
View the Video of the USA’s Mood on Twitter in 24 Hours
Day One- Piscataquis Region YMCA
June 22nd, 2010
The Octopus Solution is on-site at the Piscataquis Region YMCA. According to the YMCA of the USA there are 2,686 YMCAs in the United States. The YMCAs serve thousands of U.S. communities of all ages, races, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. We are experiencing one of the YMCA’s hidden gems on this trip.
The Piscataquis Region YMCA is located in beautiful Dover-Foxcroft, ME. Originally it was two towns, Dover and Foxcroft, which were separated by the Piscataquis River. In 1922 the two merged into a single town. Today Dover-Foxcroft is the county seat of Piscataquis County, Maine. Dover-Foxcroft claims to be the county’s largest town. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 4,211.
This trip is designed to assist the YMCA with Strategic Marketing and Performance Management. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, assist with execution, and train key staff on the foundations of strategic marketing and performance management.
One of the main issues we see with YMCA ‘marketing’ is an unbalanced approach to member development. Our strategic approach focuses on the three types of members (customers) essential to long-term stability for any YMCA. Too many Y’s make the mistake of mainly looking for new customers and the balance of taking care of their current members is over shadowed by the hunt for new ones. We will help Piscataquis YMCA to implement a marketing system that has a balanced approach to accurately target potential, established, and repeat members!
Got Purpose?
April 22nd, 2010
PURPOSE
Purpose gives subordinates the reason to act in order to achieve a desired outcome. Leaders should
provide clear purpose for their followers and do that in a variety of ways. Leaders can use direct means of
conveying purpose through requests or orders for what to do. -Army Leadership
Purpose and vision are the two most important parts of your company to consider when leading your employees. Provide a greater picture for your staff of what the “ideal scene” looks like down the road. Creating this will enroll your staff to become enrolled in achieving the results.
To be successful at exerting influence leaders should have an end or goal in mind. Sometimes the goal could be very specific, like increasing the retention rate of customers by 15% over a period of nine months. A leader may decide the size of the purpose which could be team driven or company-wide driven which may dictate the level of influence of the purpose.
Purpose provides what the leader wants done, while motivation and inspiration provide the
energizing force to see that the purpose is addressed and has the strength to sustain staff’s effort to
get the job done. Motivation and inspiration address the needs of the individual and team. Besides purpose and motivation, leader influence also consists of direction. Direction deals with how a goal, task, or mission is to be achieved. The skilled leader will know when to provide detailed guidance and when to focus only on purpose, motivation, or inspiration.
Several details taken from the army leadership manual
Social Media is the Talk of the Town! Commitment or Addiction?
March 22nd, 2010
With the number of users on facebook growing faster than any other media form in history does that beg the question as to whether it is used as a commitment for business or personal correspondence? Or is it an addiction?
”In the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site when ranked by total minutes for the month.” -Nielson Wire
So with facebook becoming bigger and bigger everyday and people spending more and more time on the site and the age of users continuing to grow in the 25+ years old category; what does that say about how people are spending their time daily? Facebook is approaching 500 Million users world wide and it could be the most powerful website in the world. When you are on facebook you are part of the world community and can meet or be friends with anyone in the world. That is very appealing! You can be popular on facebook regardless if you are popular in the real world.
So it begs another question: Does facebook and social media turn “us” all into avid marketers because of the creativity and promotion we put behind our own profiles? It is also a great source to take the pulse on things with such a large audience, like conducting surveys.
Your comments are important, go to our facebook site and let us know what you think the future of facebook will be: http://www.facebook.com/TheOctopusSolution
It's All About Relationships…Got it?
February 22nd, 2010
We talk a lot about relationship selling, well what about relationship marketing? Because isn’t that what marketing is all about; developing a relationship with the potential customer and courting them enough to want to call you? Marketing is bridging the values of your customers to your company and/or product. Isn’t this building relationships?
So how do you build effective relationship messaging through your marketing? You first look at the group you are trying to building the relationship with and ask them what the best way would be. Never assume you know how to court a client. Only your clients know how they want to be treated. If you have some loyal clients that would be willing to sit down and answer some survey questions about what marketing channels are best to target “like-minded” customers, what messaging gets through best, what graphics and images stand out, what are the big issues they are facing (industry, competition, regulation, etc), and why they want to see those things.
If you look at marketing in the manner of building relationships you may find more success with connecting to your customers.
The Mayonnaise Jar & 2 Cups of Coffee
January 22nd, 2010
Food for thought for the weekend….
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee…
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else—the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life, If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’ The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee!