BeTuitive: Business newsletter

Blockbuster Teams

Posted on December 06, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

According to the book Blockbusters, it’s a company’s innovative product—not it’s price point, customer service or depreciation schedule—that creates value for customers. To discover the key practices required for developing “blockbuster” products, authors Gary S. Lynn, Ph.D. and Richard R. Reilly, Ph.D., conducted a two year study of “blockbuster” product development teams. Here’s what we thought of their findings:

Kathy:

Out of the five “best practices” for new product development, I thought the most interesting one was that successful teams always have senior management that is “intimately involved” with the project. This seems to run contrary to most management situations. It also raises the question as to how these managers have time to be both teammates and management. Nevertheless, the authors insist that “coming up with the ‘big idea’ is only the beginning,” and that when management merely pops in once in a while to check in on things it’s not only unhelpful, it often results in “hit and run” accidents. The authors observed that in successful teams, senior management played one of three roles: project leader, technical guru or coach.

Jeff:

The authors’ observation that successful teams were “not especially concerned about building friendships or even insisting that everyone like each other,” adds a harsh robotic-like element to what is otherwise a set of reasonable best practices. However, upon closer examination it seems like what the authors really observed from the successful teams was that friendships aren’t all that’s needed for a strong team, and that strong teams can exist even if not everyone gets along. That’s a lot different than saying that in order to be successful you have to be unconcerned about building friendships. Because that just sounds creepy, to be honest.

Kevin:

Keep it open. Keep it clear. Keep it consistent. That seems to be the lesson from the book summary, “Blockbusters,” which identifies the five necessary steps to lead a product development team. When I say keep it open, I mean lines of communication, ideas and focus must be open to all possibilities. It never serves people well to be forced down one unwavering path. It is important to be clear about what your product is, what the competition provides, who your audience is and who your competitors are. A clear idea of this allows the unique and alluring elements of your product strategy to flourish. Lastly, maintaining consistent communication and problem-solving techniques between developers, managers and decision makers discourages the occurrence of mistakes, unfavorable relationships and unwanted surprises.

Joanna:

By reading specific accounts of real-life company sagas, it becomes clear that Lynn and Reilly's "5 keys to developing great new products" are vital steps to becoming successful. The summary highlights Iomega's trip to success and teaches the reader that all 5 rules (Commitment of Senior Management, Clear and Stable Vision, Improvisation, Information Exchange, and Collaboration Under Pressure) are not simply step-by-step suggestions. Rather, all 5 must be used tgether from start to finish in a balanced collaberation between all departments of the company.

December 6, 2007 in award winning design, award winning magazine, award winning newsletter, Blogs, build credibility, business credibility, Business editorial, business magazine, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, company magazine, company newsletter, Company newsletters, Company publication, corporate magazine, Corporate newsletter, Corporate publications | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The BI Marriage: Accuracy with Strategy

Posted on October 17, 2007 by Kevin G.

I was reading a great article today about setting up a solid BI system for mid-to-large sized companies.

Garry Garis, author of the article notes, “You do not get a second chance to be wrong and these companies know that their credibility is vital to sustaining customer relationships and ultimately, profitability.”The foundations of a BI system must be solid if anything is able to be built upon it. The accuracy of information is key.

Being able to effectively leverage information to make better business decisions is a powerful strategy if done correctly. Knowing where you get your information, how it is processed and to who it should go to is only half of the battle. Garis offers some key points on how to ensure you have a solid strategy with your accurate information.

October 17, 2007 in Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, business credibility, Business editorial, business magazine, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, Business relationships, company newsletter, company newsletter sample, Company newsletters, Company publication, Corporate Blogging, corporate magazine, Corporate newsletter, Corporate publications | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

The Five Elements for Solid Decision Making

Posted on September 27, 2007 by Kevin G.

I came across a great blog article that reviewed a study of 154 C-Level executives and their perceptions of how they make decisions. The outlook is mixed at best. Many managers and executives feel weary about their decisions from lack-of or inaccurate data. Others tend to decide on personal intuition, while some panic from the pressure of deadlines.

Though the results are sobering - "72% of execs believe management decision making is only moderately efficient or worse" - the post provides five key elements to make better decisions.

High-Quality Data

Access to Advanced Training and Systems

Sound Judgment

Trust

Flexibility

Read on to get the reasoning behind what makes a good decision.

September 27, 2007 in Blog Outsourcing, blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, Business relationships, Creative emails, Custom email, custom magazine, custom newsletter, Custom publication, Custom publications, magazine design, magazine marketing, magazine outsourcing, magazine publishing, Marketing Communication, marketing magazine, Newsletter ROI, newsletter sample | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Submit Submit Submit

Posted on August 20, 2007 by Kevin G.

A news source that I often link to, DMNews, is in the final stages of accepting submissions for an Email Marketing Guide. If you have the chance, I would recommend taking a look at their site and see if there is anything you could submit.

August 20, 2007 in award winning blog, award winning design, award winning magazine, award winning newsletter, Award winning publications, Brand enhancement, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, Business editorial, business magazine, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, Business relationships, company blog, company magazine, company newsletter, company newsletter sample, Company newsletters, Company publication, Corporate Blogging | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

6 blogging blunders

Posted on August 08, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

If you're a regular blogger you should check out this article on common blogging mistakes. Among the top mistakes are not providing enough links, writing huge blocks of text and disabling comments.

6 Blogging Blunders

August 8, 2007 in award winning blog, award winning design, award winning magazine, award winning newsletter, Award winning publications, blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, bulk email marketing, business credibility, Business editorial, business magazine, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, Business relationships, company blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

8 Ways to Boost Your Click Through Rates

Posted on June 05, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

From product reviews to information sharing, the Medquoda Daily shares tips from the "Creating Great Free Email Newsletters" session of SIPA's 31st annual conference in Washington D.C. Read the article to learn valuable information about copy writing for promotional-based emails.

These eight techniques will boost your click through rates

June 5, 2007 in Blogs, build credibility, business credibility, Business editorial, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, company blog, company newsletter, Company publication, Corporate newsletter, create a newsletter, create email newsletter, create newsletter, creating company newsletter, creating newsletter, custom newsletter, Custom publication, Custom publications, E-Marketing, Email Marketing, how to publish online, how to write a newsletter, how to write and publish a paper, magazine marketing, Marketing Communication, Newsletter content, newsletter creation, Newsletter Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

People VS Profits

Posted on April 18, 2007 by Kevin G.

I found an article about the considerations non-profit organizations should take when developing a strategy for an e-marketing campaign. Take a look.

April 18, 2007 in award winning design, award winning newsletter, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, bulk email marketing, business credibility, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, Business relationships, create a newsletter, create newsletter, creating company newsletter, Creative emails, direct email marketing, E-Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Simple and Balanced for Perfection

Posted on March 21, 2007 by Kevin G.

I find that being organized and well-balanced is one of the best strategies to take to ensure a productive and satisfying work week.

Often times the week starts out as planned as we manage tasks and then mid-way through we find ourselves pulled in every direction to please the whole world. Well, so it seems.

With custom publishing, it’s important to keep a balanced and fresh feel with each issue. If you feel the content is too sales oriented, try adding a cartoon or survey to engage your audience. If the publication engages the reader but fails to draw measurable results, try adding a sales incentive or response mechanism to monitor reception beyond open and click performance.

There are many different ways to balance the perfect publication. By keeping it simple and direct its hard to leave not satisfied with your results.

March 21, 2007 in audio publication, blog publish, Blogs, business magazine, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Corporate publications, create email newsletter, how to publish online, inc magazine, online marketing, opt-in email, Opt-in Email Marketing, outsource magazine, publish online | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mapping Your Search Results

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Kevin G.

I found a great new search engine that displays your search results in a whole new way.

Imagine viewing and modifying your search results in a visual format - like cities displayed on a map. The name of the search engine is Quintura. When you type in a keyword, the search engine will display related terms in varying placement and font size. I haven’t figured out the reasoning behind it, but it might have something to do with relevancy or amount of information.

It’s like sorting through search terms on a map. Try it out for yourself.

February 21, 2007 in audio publication, award winning design, award winning newsletter, Blog Outsourcing, Blogging Tools, Brand enhancement, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Intuition, business credibility, business magazine, Business newsletter, Business relationships, company blog, company newsletter, Company newsletters | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Reviving Stewardship

Posted on February 19, 2007 by Vinnie Lacey.

In the business of custom publishing, we here at BeTuitive always have to be mindful of copyright and plagiarism. After all, word-smithing is part of what we do, day in and day out. Not to mention that a crucial aspect of our credibility is ensuring the originality and authenticity of the work we produce, both for ourselves and our clients.

But are we, as the model of capitalist societies, too obsessed with the claims of private ownership in our created works? Has the rush to stake claim to their seemingly inalienable rights destroyed the public domain that these works also naturally reside in?

The author Jonathan Lethem gives an excellent treatment of these questions in this month's Harper's Magazine. Lethem's mini position paper, "The Ecstasy of Influence," got me thinking about what we are quick to deem worthy of protection these days. The article does get rather heavy at times, as a good position paper should, but I found some of his ruminations very interesting and worth the time. One of my favorites is Lethem's distinction between a market economy and a gift economy.

Check it out.

February 19, 2007 in audio publication, award winning design, award winning magazine, Blog Outsourcing, blog publish, Blogs, Brand enhancement, Building B2B Relationships, Business newsletter, CMO, Company publication, Corporate Blogging, corporate magazine, Corporate newsletter, create a newsletter | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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