by Belinda Lui | Dec 30, 2013 | Business Success, Latest
I was once told by a friend that success is to “work smarter, not harder” — what she meant by this, was that it isn’t impressive to be the last person to leave the office if it’s because it takes you 12 hours to complete a task that might only take 5 hours for someone else to do. We get caught up in the details, paralyzed by fear of making mistakes if we work faster. We might feel a little unmotivated at times because our position isn’t a challenging one. And if it is an overly-challenging position, we might even feel burnt out and too overwhelmed to do better. So what to do?
Here are some ways to work smarter, AND harder for success:
1. Show up, Sit Down, Get it Done
This point seems like common sense, but it’s surprisingly not. A lot of people shy away from the opportunity to own a project or job task. The way I see it, don’t make excuses or create hurdles for yourself — just show up, sit down, and get it done.
2. Reputation, no matter the industry, follows you
We think that the things that we do may not come back to haunt us, but what we might be forgetting is how small this world actually is (especially with social media). Impressions (first, second, and one hundredth) are extremely important. All it takes sometimes is one bad review to cancel out all of your great achievements when trying to land your next gig.
3. Flexibility and fun breeds innovation
It’s important to have structure in your workflow but not necessarily in your workplace. If you find that you’re much more productive in a coffee shop or with headphones in, then do what works for you. Oh, and have some fun while doing it.
4. Breathe. Don’t let the nerves get to you.
We all have moments at work when things seem to be a bit overwhelming – a deadline, a boss, a co-worker, all of the above, etc. The key to success here, is to breathe. Things aren’t as bad as they seem. If you can keep calm and divide and conquer, I promise things will be easier.
5. Be the hardest worker.
Contrary to what my friend told me, I think it’s important to be the hardest worker as well as a smart worker. Being smart isn’t enough if you’re lazy or doing your work without intention. The trouble with choosing one over the other is that you think that they aren’t two separate entities that need to work together in order to achieve success. Work smarter, AND harder.
What advice do you have to be a smarter and harder worker to achieve success?
by Belinda Lui | Dec 5, 2013 | Latest, Management
Ever wonder what makes Google the holy grail of productivity and creativity? There’s no magic in the drinking water at the Mountain View, CA company. The tech giant draws from what Google’s chief social evangelist, Gopi Kallayil, calls the nine core principles of innovation.
Kallayil shared his insights at this week’s San Francisco Dreamforce summit.
Here are the nine rules that any enterprise, large or small, can adopt to steal Google’s culture on innovation.
1. INNOVATION COMES FROM ANYWHERE
A medical doctor on Google’s staff argued persuasively that Google had a moral obligation to extend help to those typing searches under the phrase “how to commit suicide.” He ignited the charge to adjust the search engine’s response so that the top of the screen reveals the toll free phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The call volume went up by nine percent soon thereafter. The same change has been adopted in many other countries.
2. FOCUS ON THE USER.
Worry about the money later, when you focus on the user, all else will follow. Google improved the speed of its search capabilities with predictive analysis so search suggestions come up after the user types a few keystrokes. This Instant Search feature saves the user a few microseconds with each entry. Google sales reps were concerned that this shortened the time customers would view ads, but the company went ahead and believed that it was worth the risk.
End result? Thanks to Instant Search, Google estimates the time saved is equivalent to giving back mankind 5,000 years after a year of collective use. “Create a great user experience and the revenue will take care of itself,” says Kallayil. In addition, more customers will be attracted to your product’s increased benefits.
3. AIM TO BE TEN TIMES BETTER
If you come into work thinking that you will improve things by ten percent, you will only see incremental change. If you want radical and revolutionary innovation, think 10 times improvement, and that will force you to think outside the box.
4. BET ON TECHNICAL INSIGHTS
Every organization has unique insights, and if you bet on it, it leads to major innovation. Google engineers, not the auto industry, came up with the idea of driverless cars after seeing that millions of traffic deaths come from human error. Working with an artificial intelligence team at Stanford University, Google engineers have produced experimental cars that now have travelled to Lake Tahoe and back to the Bay Area and have given the blind more independence by driving them to shop and carry out errands.
5. SHIP AND ITERATE
Ship your products often and early, and do not wait for perfection. Let users help you to “iterate” it. When Chrome was launched in 2008, every six weeks Google pushed out an improved version. “Today, using that approach, Chrome is the Number One browser in many countries,” says Kallayil, “You may not have perfection in your product, but trust that your users will get back to you.”
6. GIVE EMPLOYEES 20 PERCENT TIME
Give employees 20 percent of their work time to pursue projects they are passionate about, even if it is outside the core job or core mission of the company. “They will delight you with their creative thinking,” Kallayil promises.
7. DEFAULT TO OPEN PROCESSES
Make your processes open to all users. When Google created the Android platform, it knew it could not hire all the best developers on the planet. For that reason, it “defaulted to open,” and encouraged developers outside of Google to create apps for the one billion people using Android devices daily. “That is how an ecosystem is formed,” says Kallayil. In marketing, Google asked users how they would market its voice search app, and children sent clever videos that rivaled the campaigns of the big ad agencies.
8. FAIL WELL
There should be no stigma attached to failure. If you do not fail often, you are not trying hard enough. At Google, once a product fails to reach its potential, it is axed, but the company pulls from the best of the features. “Failure is actually a badge of honor,” he says. “Failure is the way to be innovative and successful. You can fail with pride.”
9. HAVE A MISSION THAT MATTERS
“This is the most important principle,” Kallayil says. “Everyone at Google has a strong sense of mission and purpose. We believe the work we do has impact on millions of people in a positive way.” Each person should have his or her own story.
(Information taken from: Fast Company)
by Lisa Wedmann | Dec 2, 2013 | Latest, Marketing
As 2013 is ending, budgeting for 2014 is well under way. In fact, for many companies budgets and the business plans for 2014 are already in place. But the piece that is often missing is the marketing plan.
The marketing plan will include a list of actionable items to be implemented throughout the year. This plan will be the “bible” for the year. It should clearly identify:
- Define goals and targets, monthly, quarter and yearly, and how you will measure success;
- Define strategic activities you will undertake that will help to reach goals and targets;
- Define audience for each activity;
- Define who is involved and responsible for each activity
This plan needs to be based on defined objectives and the strategies that will, in effect, achieve the objectives. Without a sound strategic base, the marketing plan will be of little use. So how do you go about creating this?
The best place to start is looking back at the previous year, and also carefully analyzing the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and the competitive landscape. How do you do this?
A solid and must have start is to do a S.W.O.T. analysis. What is a S.W.O.T? It is an examination of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing your business. This analysis will help you to identify key insights on where your brand or business is within the market landscape, competitive arena and also assist in establishing brand tone, persona and voice. It will assist in developing strategic plans to move forward. You will be able to pinpoint what makes you different from your competitors (USP), what the strengths and weaknesses are, and where opportunities lie moving forward.
Next, take a look at what we call, “Lessons Learned”. Review the year, and every program, from beginning to end. This goes beyond just looking at the end results. Yes, meeting goals and targets is important, but there are other key learnings to be taken from the program: 1) were all departments on board? 2) Was there an internal communication breakdown? 3)Was the timing off, to name only a few. Write it all down. Out of this review will come 4 lists:
- What worked – and why!
- What didn’t work – and why!
- Lessons Learned – what did I learn about this?
- Recommendation on moving forward.
Just starting with these 4 lists, S.W.O.T and “Lessons Learned”, you will have a good place to start as you lay out your plans for 2014. These three analyses will help you clearly define a direction, target audience, competitive landscape and media channels that will help you to build a successful and memorable 2014!
Do you have a marketing plan for 2014? How do you begin your plan?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 29, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
The first thing you see when you visit Instagram’s webpage is their tagline: “Capture and Share the World’s Moments” – which is the purpose for the multi-billion dollar company (now owned by Facebook). What users actually use it for, however, can vary in a multitude of ways. This is great news for businesses because they can optimize their reach in ways that other social media outlets may not allow for. Not to mention, this untapped demographic may include people that are on Instagram but don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account.
Personally, I’m an avid Instagram user and will swear by its significance in both personal and professional avenues.
Instagram can connect you with people that you would otherwise never have been connected with.
For businesses, this can mean reinforcing their brand identity while increasing revenue.
1. Michael Kors:
At the beginning of November 2013, Michael Kors was the first business to run an advertisement on Instagram – only to be met with criticism from their followers. The statistics, however, show that despite the disapproval from many followers, the results were exactly what Michael Kors had hoped for: in the first 18 hours of its launch, Michael Kors gained 34,000 new followers putting them at 1.3 million followers.
2. Sponsored Posts:
A sponsored post can increase viewership by pushing them to users that are not already following the account. Like Facebook, it promises impressions but not necessarily “follows” or “likes”, and unlike Facebook, you can’t target a specific demographic. In any case, a riveting ad or a great offer isn’t normally rejected by most – so it’s still worth considering.
3. Optimization:
There has been viral videos wreaking havoc on the usage of hashtags – for those who don’t know, a hashtag is the number sign (#) followed by a word or phrase. Some people have abused the purpose of this tool, but it’s actually very useful if used properly. Hashtagging organizes your photos by topic so that interested users can easily access relevant photos.
What are some of your favourite Instagram accounts to follow?
by Belinda Lui | Nov 28, 2013 | Branding, Latest
I briefly wrote about the Hudson’s Bay in my article, “Retail Marketing: Be Seen and Heard”, but I wanted to elaborate on the genius that is behind the mass retailer. Bonnie Brooks didn’t only make The Hudson’s Bay a trendier shopping destination but her business strategy re-positioned the entire brand perception. Reinventing brands is something Bonnie Brooks is familiar with: she formerly worked as an executive officer at Lane Crawford as well as Holt Renfrew.
Reinventing your brand when it has reached a plateau can give it the fresh, sales-driven push that it needs:
1. Advertising:
Hudson’s Bay launched several radio spots to reinforce their brand using Bonnie Brooks’ voice as the spokesperson. This created a more personalized feel, given that it came directly from the President herself.
2. In-store Re-design:
Hudson’s Bay spent millions of dollars renovating the department stores’ interior layout for several locations. A lot of businesses may not immediately see the importance of dishing out obscene amounts of money for a refresh in storefront appearance, but Brooks did – and it’s paying off.
3. Demographic:
Carrying brands that would appeal to the younger demographic, like Top Shop, was a very strategic move on Brooks’ part. Expanding the target demographic would mean more traffic and consequently, more sales.
4. Partnerships:
Hudson’s Bay now carries what they call the “Canadian Olympic Team Heritage Collection” – being one of the oldest Canadian retail brands, making partnership with the Canadian Olympics Team is a great way to sell product nationally. The 2010 Olympic mittens made it on “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list.
5. Heritage:
Brooks didn’t only make Hudson’s Bay a must-go shopping destination for some of the best designer brands but she also brought back the appeal of Hudson’s Bay’s brand too. From couch throws to the classic teddy bear, it’s the Hudson’s Bay as a brand that she’s selling.
6. Logo:
There’s a new strategy in place so why not a new logo to identify with the refresh? Logos can be tricky – you want it to be eye-catching but you also want it to “speak to the heritage of the brand” – and that’s exactly what Hudson’s Bay has done.
Can you name another company that has gone through major reinventing that is worth mentioning?
