Linda's Marketing Leverage Blog

Top of Mind Thursday July 31, 2014: What Gets Measured, Gets Managed

I recently got a new Fitbit Flex fitness monitor, to replace the one I'd had last year but lost.   

I'd used a Fitbit for several months last year, so I thought I'd try to go without it for awhile and see what happened.

You can guess the result. The awareness I'd had of how much movement and exercise I did each day disappeared when I stopped monitoring my movements. This didn't become obvious to me until I got the new monitor and could see exactly what was going on each day.

When we measure something, we raise our awareness level. Whether it's in our personal lives or related to our businesses, we need to be sure we're conscious of what's going on around us, and that we're actively measuring the right things.

I'm pleased to be joining a team of experts participating in the Break Through Fear and Self-Doubt Telesummit. James Nsien is interviewing 21 experts who will be sharing insights, tips, and tools to help listeners take control of their lives. The summit runs from August 19 to September 8, and there's no charge to attend. More information.

 

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Linda advises: Have regular communication with your customers.

Top of Mind Thursday July 24, 2014: Unintended Consequences

The remains of many of the victims of last week's Malaysian Airlines crash over the Ukraine are being returned to the Netherlands this week. 

 

It appears more and more likely that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile launcher obtained by Ukrainian separatists from Russia.

I'm willing to offer the benefit of the doubt and say that I don't believe anyone intended for this technology to be used to shoot down civilian airliners. However, when you put this sort of weapon in the hands of an untrained militia, it's not surprising that a tragedy like this occurs.

With great power comes great responsibility. We need to consider not just how technology can change the world for good, but also what can happen if it's put in the wrong hands.

That doesn't mean we stop innovating. It does mean that we are vigilant about understanding how and where things can go wrong and doing our best to avoid disasters waiting to happen.

 

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Take the High Road

Linda observes: It will get you to your destination more quickly.

Top of Mind Thursday July 17, 2014: Missing What Counts in the Middle East

Sadly, the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel has escalated dramatically. 

 

Many Western media are reporting this in terms of body counts. In this conflict, there have been more Palestinian deaths than Israeli ones.

All of these deaths are terrible. But there are two key points missed by just looking at body counts.

First, the Israeli Iron Dome is working to deflect and destroy most of the artillery shot into Israel so that it is not hitting civilians.

Second, many of the missile launcher sites in Gaza are purposely put inside schools, mosques, hospitals, and homes. This means destroying those launchers by definition kills civilians.

It's easy to be misled by media portrayals that focus on the sensational without looking for the real story underneath. We need to use our judgment to understand what's really happening. Only then can we create the kind of dialog that will get us to what really counts: de-escalating the tension to move towards peace.

 

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Sometimes You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover

Linda advises: Make sure your first impressions are good ones.

Top of Mind Thursday July 10, 2014: A Difference in Reality

Reality changes with your point of view. 

 

The four World Cup finalists have very different views of this week's games, depending on which end of the score they wound up owning.

For Argentina and Germany, it's time for a short celebration before preparing for Sunday's final match.

The Netherlands team goes home frustrated, knowing that but for one more penalty kick made or prevented, they could be headed to that championship game.

And Brazil, the host country, leaves in shock. They were on the losing side of one of the most lopsided scores in World Cup history.

We don't win every contest we enter. The key question for the losers is how well did we compete? Did we give it our all? Was it a tough fight? Or were we simply outgunned?

The big question is what do we do with that reality after the match is over.

 

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Does It Pay to Be Dead Right?

Linda asks: When is it dead wrong to be dead right?

Top of Mind Thursday July 3, 2014: Facebook's Filtered Reality

This past week Facebook revealed it had conducted a psychology experiment of sorts on roughly 600,000 users--altering their news feeds to prevent certain words or phrases from appearing. 

 

The goal was to determine whether reading about friends' positive or negative comments impacted how users felt about their own lives.

There's been shock and outrage at this announcement: How could Facebook do those types of things without letting us know?

The answer is Facebook does this kind of thing ALL THE TIME. The company is continuously tweaking its algorithms for what content is displayed on a newsfeed--much the same way Google tweaks the content for what is displayed on a specific search.

That doesn't mean we should avoid these tools. But it does mean we need to be aware that what we see on the screen may not be the full story.

 

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Let us help your business rise to the top.

[email protected]
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www.leverage2market.com

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