Monday Mornings with Madison
December 28, 2015

Boosting Creativity in 2016

Issue #407

Many people focus on make resolutions of things we want to do more, do less, do better or stop doing altogether.  Obviously, the goal of resolutions is to use the commitment as an impetus to become a better person or live a better life.  But, in truth, most people can just recycle resolutions year after year with little or no changes at all.  Typically, those resolutions are broken or forgotten within the first hours, days or weeks of inception.   Ideas for how to keep those resolutions fail.  Perhaps what is actually needed are new ways to tackle old problems?  What is really needed is creativity. Continue reading →

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December 21, 2015

Retargeting: Digital Ads that Hit the Bulls-Eye

Issue #406

Have you ever done a search for a product or service and then seen ads for companies that deliver that product or service later on websites that have nothing to do with that product or service?  For example, you might have done a search for lenders that handle commercial property loans and mezzanine financing.  You clicked on the websites of a few of those lenders.  Then later — hours, days or even weeks later — you did a totally unrelated search for hotels in Dallas for an upcoming conference and you saw an ad for a lender you perused earlier offering mezzanine financing on the hotel aggregator’s website.  At first, you thought “coincidence.”  Then you saw a similar ad for another lender when you searched for an upscale restaurant to dine at with your spouse and clicked on the Opentable.com site to make a reservation.  You thought, “Strange.”  Then you saw yet another ad for a commercial real estate lender when you checked accuweather.com for the weather forecast for your golf outing on Sunday.  At that point, you felt like “Big Brother was watching.”  How could such diverse and unrelated websites know you were looking for a commercial real estate lender? How could those lenders know to advertise on sites that you frequent? The answer is retargeting. Continue reading →

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December 14, 2015

The Art, Skill and Gift of Speaking

Issue #405

The ability to communicate verbally is an essential skill for most any occupation.  And yet there are a lot of idioms and expressions about wasting time talking, saying the wrong things and talking too much.  Talking up a storm.  Talking out of both sides of one’s mouth.  Shooting the breeze.  Speaking the same language.  Running off at the mouth.  Spilling the beans.  Big talk.  Talking a blue streak.  Talking one’s ear off.   There are even nicknames for people who talk too much or speak when they shouldn’t.  Chatty Cathy.  Chatterbox.  Windbag.  Blabbermouth.  Perhaps it makes sense that society has so many ways to criticize talk because of the increased amount of babbling that bombards us from all directions including radio, cell phones, television, robocalls, videos, etc.?  Perhaps. Continue reading →

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December 7, 2015

How Business Sense and Scents Add Up to Dollars and Cents

Issue #404

Most would agree that vision and hearing play a big role in one’s career and professional success.  Any person without the ability to either see or hear surely has a harder time dealing with phone calls, reading and responding to emails, interacting with clients, driving to meetings, visiting job sites, reviewing product quality, etc.  Vision and hearing are fundamental sense for most jobs. Continue reading →

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November 30, 2015

Vision in Business

Issue #403

Every business owner, leader and manager wants to have ‘vision’ or be considered a visionary.  But what does mean exactly?  According to an April 2013 article by Dave Lavinsky in Forbes, “Vision in business requires that you clearly see where you choose to be in the future and formulate the necessary steps to get your organization there. Creating and sustaining a vision for an organization calls for discipline and creativity.  A business leader must have the passion, strength of will, and necessary knowledge to achieve long-term goals. A focused individual who can inspire his team to reach organizational goals is a visionary business leader.” Lavinsky cites passion, discipline, creativity, strength of will, knowledge and focus as the skills needed to be a visionary in business.  Others believe the qualities of visionary leaders include openness, imagination, persistence, and conviction.  Harvard Business Review says a visionary leader is opportunistic, diplomatic, an expert, an achiever, individualistic, strategic, and an alchemist.  Arguably, these are all necessary traits.  But Lavinsky stated first that a business visionary must clearly see where he/she wants to be in the future.  So the starting point of being a visionary is to see with clarity. Continue reading →

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November 23, 2015

The Blessing of Hearing and Power of Sound

Issue #402

In listening to the news, one might get the impression that the world is a terrible place.  Global warming.  Rampant pollution.  Persistent wars.  Growing income inequality.  Epidemic diseases.  Gun violence.  Discrimination.  Religious intolerance.  We hear constantly about so many problems in the world.  The thought of all these problems might make some wonder – especially at this is the time of year when most people stop to reflect and give thanks – just what is there to be thankful for? Continue reading →

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November 16, 2015

When Companies Dare to Radically Change Employee Compensation or Benefits

Issue #401

There has been a lot of discussion lately about employee compensation and benefits in the U.S.  Candidates running for President are spending a lot of time (in debates, interviews and during campaign stops) discussing topics such as income inequality, paid family leave and other bread-and-butter issues that are part and parcel of the business world.  To a small extent, these issues are regulated by legislation, such as federal and state minimum wage laws which dictate the least an employee can be paid hourly.  However, the vast majority of these HR issues are really under the purview of business leaders and owners.  For the most part, individual companies the U.S. decide how they want to compensate their employees.  Because of that, the usual array of wage and benefit packages – albeit a fairly wide range – has developed for employees at every level, from entry level to C-Suite positions. Continue reading →

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November 9, 2015

The Changing Face of Search

Issue #400

Most people use search engines with little or no understanding of how they actually work – such as why one listing ranks higher than another or what cookies do or even how search engines are monetized.  This is partly the fault of the search engines, who keep a lot of what they do a secret.  But it is also partly because most people don’t really care how it works.  As long as it provides a wealth of information easily, accurately and quickly, the functionality hasn’t really mattered much.  However, business owners, managers and professionals should care, if they want their products or services to be ‘findable’ on the World Wide Web.  Without understanding how search engines work, it is impossible to ensure that a company’s desired messaging will be found by potential clients or customers. Continue reading →

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November 2, 2015

Converged Media: A Mix of Owned, Earned and Paid

Issue #399

It used to be so much simpler to market a company 25 years ago.  That was before a computer programmer in Switzerland named Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web in 1991. In the days before the Internet, search engines and smart phones, marketing consisted primarily of campaigns to targeted audiences using a controlled number of channels and a controlled message.  Practically all marketing efforts were paid for and directed by the company.  That’s not to say that getting the message across or selling a customer on a product or service was easier.  It wasn’t.  But for companies trying to communicate a message to a customer, the approach was simpler and more direct.  There was less messaging ‘noise’ to distract and confuse audiences. Continue reading →

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October 26, 2015

Top Sales and Marketing Terms of 2015 – Part 2

Issue #398

Last week, we explored some of the latest terms trending in sales and marketing in 2015.  Some may have felt lost in lingo limbo, but most probably learned a thing or two about the emerging myriad of strategies and products available for businesses today to reach customers.  Knowledge is power.  But that doesn’t mean that a company should adopt every strategy, product and approach.  Quite the contrary. When it comes to sales and marketing, it is different strokes for different folks.  What works for one company may not have any value for another business.  The goal is to be discerning.  While early adopters embrace every trend, haphazardly trying each new thing, and late bloomers wait until a marketing strategy is thoroughly vetted and ubiquitous before even dipping a toe in the water, both extremes can be dangerous.   The key is to be knowledgeable of all the approaches exist and determine what might work best for a particular business in a particular industry. Continue reading →

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