marketplace Archives - Page 3 of 4

7 Lesson package on efficiency and other survival skills.

New source for inspiration and wisdom will surprise you. Survival mode is a familiar place for way too many business managers. It’s not a place you want to visit often or want to be in very long. Once in it though, you want nothing more than to be out of the woods in a hurry. But what if reaction speed just isn’t your strong suit. In this post, I introduce a short new book that focuses squarely on...
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A four-step prescription to help you drive markets

Create impact where it matters most. In my previous post I suggested that in order to gain the greatest insight we must “look broadly outside the industry.” Well here’s an example by way of a comparison of the metals industry to, of all things, the airline industry. I discovered some striking similarities as well as some interesting common ground. The exercise illustrates how, by simply having mor...
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Clues to building your future roadmap lie outside the industry

21 “sight bites” to help you find your way Like you, I am way more interested in 2011 than I am looking back. I want to know what we can expect this year—both the good and the bad. So please, “just give me the facts.” And like you, I need to know if we’re on the right track. Will our customers continue to be focused on the same things like reducing costs; and minimizing the environmental impact of...
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Drill deep to see the new face of market demand

Embrace the differences that will drive innovation If you want to know what’s driving business, you have to drill down deep. Of course, demand drives customer orders and, as it follows, your customer’s customer orders and so on. But when you finally get to the bottom of it, you’ll see a new face of change—a nonconforming consumer that’s younger, and more powerful than any previous generation. He ...
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How a word like “metalwork” could spell online success

2 big ways to enhance Google-search “pretreatment” How well is your website working for you? If you’re not getting consistently good search engine rankings, your audience is not finding you when they need you most. It would be well worth your time to take a hard look at your entire online strategy. Start with a view from 10,000 feet. What if the addition of a few key words at the top level increas...
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Engage your peers with words of wisdom

Industry jargon barely scratches the surface No one is more comfortable creating jargon and buzzwords than industry. (So many examples … I’ll spare you the list.) So then why hasn’t industry developed its own terminology for Internet media marketing strategies, social networks and the like? The lack of industry specific terms could be an indication for the level of our acceptance and adoption in t...
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Measuring social media may test your mettle

Stand by for the real results Industrial business owners ask me, what can I expect in return for my investment of time and company resources in social media? Are the results measurable? Will it add to my bottom line? I realize that for some of you, having an answer to those basic questions has to be the place to start. You gotta know if this stuff makes sense for a small industrial business. Besi...
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Etch your social media strategy policy in steel

Devise objectives that fit culture to ensure success Social media is good news for the industry; we just don’t know it yet. Consider this trifecta of change 1) traditional marketing costs are out the window—social marketing media is virtually free 2) social media allows complete control of our messages—publishing our own content, when and where we want, and 3) social media helps us to cultivate re...
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Wanted: small niche players. Space available

Consider your options well As a small business, are you alone, doing your thing, providing a great product in the metalworking or surface treatment industries? Do you think anyone else in the whole world shares some of the same challenges? Are they also trying to keep “clean” (let alone “green”) while using advanced chemical lubricants, cleaners and strippers? Small industrial niche businesses ...
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Use these 6 tools to tap in and listen to the social media marketplace.

Plot your objectives and strategy. You didn’t become successful in the metal business by jumping into it with some vague notion of how the business works. I’d advise you to handle the topic of Social Media (SM) the same way. It could be hazardous to jump in without some knowledge of the medium; it’s tools and the marketplace. After all we don’t want to embarrass ourselves. But I also urge you t...
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