The Importance of a Timely Response

When some negative press occurs about you or your organization it is your job to address that complaint right away, and if it is a large story gaining momentum you need to stop it immediately.  The negative news is like a small leak in your boat if you choose to ignore it or take to long to fix it, the leak gets worse.  The leak will get larger and more water (negative press/publicity) will get into your boat (company) and stall your engines and maybe even sink the boat.  Even after stopping the leak you will still have to take the time to clean up the water damage caused by that leak.

Jay Culter was recently injured during the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.  While injuries do happen the Chicago Bears took what many consider to be too long to release a statement regarding his injury. Much of his negative back lash could have been stopped if they told the media that he suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee.

While Taco Bell took an immediate and proactive approach to a lawsuit claiming that Taco Bell doesn't use enough meat in their tacos and instead it is mostly oats and other fillers.  Taco Bell used social media and the tradition press release to address the lawsuit immediately.  The action they took helped to slow the damage and more importantly let the public know the(ir) facts about their meat.

A timely response is the best action to take against any negative publicity or press.  In the current age of instant information from the use of social media a delay of a response will only make the problem worse.

How quick do you expect a response from a company?  Does a later response have the same impact to you as an instant response?  Any other examples you know of and would like to share?

Happy Holidays, The Benefits of Giving Back

With the holiday season upon us as well as the shopping season it is important for us and corporations to give back.  While for us that might mean one less present for the person who would receive it might mean getting a present.  Its a small sacrifice for many of us who are fortunate this season and such a huge impact on those who aren't.  You can always give back, not just during the holidays and the rewards are still plentiful.




What one person can do
A single individual can make a large impact this holiday season by giving a little bit, whether it is time, money, new/ used items you have no use for.  You can go ring a bell for the Salvation Army or volunteer for one of many different charities.  Right now there are numerous Toys for Tots toy drives and other charitable drives going on that are easy and convenient to donate to.  During this season one person can make a difference and a group can make an impact.

What a small business can do
A business also has the ability to give back.  Your place of business can be a drop off location for a toy or food.  You can have your own toy or food drive and allow your customers to give back as well.  The business can donate a percent of sales on a day to charity.  Or like Milwaukee's AJ Bombers which has a local "celebrity" bar tender every Friday night where that individual receives tips that go toward a charity of their choice.  This is a great way to give back to the community.  Another great example of always giving back is Teecycle.  One dollar of every shirt sold goes towards restoring urban rivers and trails.  I encourage all my readers to look into Teecycle and buy a shirt or 10.

What large corporations can do
Continue to give to charities and back to the community.  Most if not all corporations have a few charities they donate to and ways they contribute to community development. Some companies choose to publicize there donations while others keep silent.  I am fine with either approach, if you donate to charities your consumers could and should be aware of that.

The Benefits of Giving Back

• You are helping out someone in need and your community
• Public goodwill and improved image
• A way to separate yourself from the rest
• Companies that give to charity are more profitable
• Feelings of accomplishment and self worth
• When your in need others are willing to help you, ie #saveteecycle

Do you intend to give back this holiday season?  How do you give back?  Any other benefits of giving back you would add? 


Photo Credit to Atran.Photography

The Need To Prioritize

Different people have different priorities, for me my current priority is working as much as I can whenever I can while I still can.  If you noticed I have not written a blog post in a while.  The reason is that writing a blog post is low on my list of things to do.  I am not a professional blogger nor do I have a large following, this blog is just that a blog.  Because of that if I don't feel I have the time to blog I don't force and make the time to write.  So despite my plans in My Promise to Myself I have not blogged every Sunday.  I was even debating posting this immediately but decided to wait until Sunday.  With much less free time and increase of workload I have to prioritize how I use my remaining time.

I ask myself what do I have to do?  Or what can wait?  Pretty much the only of live television I watch is sports on the weekend.  For me television can wait so can many of my other activities.  Much like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs I do what needs to be done first now and depending on time I will do as much as I can.  I still take the time to read marketing articles and blogs daily to continually improve myself.  What I have cut back on is my Twitter activity and reading updates from a select few instead of all.   I also cut back on my running, but more of that is due to the cold instead of the lack of time.

It is all about what is important to me.  If I had the time I would do much much more.  With the limited time I prioritize my daily activities.  I do not have nor do I follow a schedule aside from when I work.  I find that usually working off a schedule constricts me and doesn't allow me to dive into what activity I might be doing.  I choose to do something that needs to be done and work on it until it is finished despite how long it will take.  Sometimes I am unable to do this because of a lack of time, when that happens I stop and move onto what else needs to be done and multi-task.  That new activity takes priority over the task I was doing.

So that is why I have not been blogging or on Twitter as much.

What activities have priority with your time?  Do you have or use a schedule?  

A Company's Most Valuable Asset

The most valuable asset for any company are its employees
Without the employees a company could not be where it is today.  The employees no mater the job all have a roll in the company and its success or failure.  With the current economic downturn many companies are neglecting the most valuable asset to ensure a profit.  As a business student I understand the occasional need for cutbacks.  As mentioned in When is it Time to Change the Status Quo blog post "There is no perfect business, formula, or strategy each and everyone can be improved and refined" There is not a perfect business with 100% efficiency and they all can be improved, so instead of resorting to layoffs and cutbacks first look for ways to improve efficiency.  Or invest in your employees, happy, motivated employees are more productive and efficient.  To make the employees content and motivated might not cost anything, employees care about more than just money.  I highly recommend that you watch this video by RSA Animate Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us and the other RSA Animate videos.

Treat your employees right and enjoy the rewards
The best employees are the motivated employees, so as a company you need to find a way to motivate them.  Google recently gave its employees a bonus and a raise to keep them happy and motivated.   If you watch Undercover Boss on CBS they show examples of the best employees who are motivated and who might also have a touching story.  Those are the individuals companies want to employ.  A motivated employee takes pride in what they are doing and understand their importance in the company AND the company understands the employees importance.  The difference between a motivated employee and an unmotivated or disgruntled employee is clear.  The difference is even clearer in the areas of customer service and quality control.  A motivated employee takes the time and effort for the customers behalf not their own.


Not all employees are right for your company
A company is like a machine it is made up of a lot of parts (people) and they all have their place.  If a individual does not fit in where they currently are or is not motivated the machine will not run efficiently.  The part is either in the wrong place or doesn't belong in the machine.  Don't force the part into the machine if it doesn't fit, it will damage the part and maybe the machine.  If the person doesn't fit or isn't motivated to do a proper job then their boss and the company needs to find a way to motivate them so they do or find someone who will.  The departments of Customer Service and to some extent areas that need quality control have high turnover rates.  Those employees no longer fit in the machine.  Once one part goes bad it starts to effect the rest of the parts in the machine.  Either repair or replace that part those are the only two options the company has.

What do you think are the most valuable asset?  How do you make sure to keep employees motivated?  Do you notice a difference between motivated employees and non-motivated employees when you deal with customer service or other areas?  

The Importance of Taking Notes

Even after "school" you will need to continue to take notes and write stuff down.  The minute it will take to write something down and get it out of your head can save you much heartache later on.  I often get many ideas when I am about to go to sleep and use to ignore them, but now I take 5 minutes to write them on a piece of paper to review when I wake up.  I had a few blog posts fell apart because I did not write them down and figured I would remember them when I wake up or even in 30 minutes.  I didn't remember, and many good ideas have been lost because of this.

Thoughts and ideas are constantly racing through our heads, and dismissed so we can focus on the current task.  Many great ideas are lost during this time, these ideas are worthless.  This can be avoided by taking a minute to write the idea down.  I take a few minutes everyday, usually when I am running, where I can focus on my thoughts.  When I get an idea I stop and get out my mini notebook and write it down.  This is when I often get ideas for what I am working on, or blog posts.  The times when I can let my thoughts develop are rare and I now make sure I take advantage of them.  Everyone should take a few minutes every day to let their thoughts develop and devote their attention into that.  

You should take notes more than just when you have an idea or a spark of genius.  I take notes now to aid in my continual education after I read a marketing blog post or watch a Webinar.  I do this because with how much I read and how many different topics it becomes hard for me to keep them separate.  I also do this because it is a handy notebook with the main points and ideas of many posts all in one place.  When I finish I ask myself what have I learned by reading this, what were some main points.  If I can't think of anything I wait a minute and try again if still nothing I reread it.  I know that their is valuable information in what I just read, and sometimes after reading for a while it stops sinking in or I stopped reading and started skimming.

Without looking or scrolling up, what do you remember about the photo at the beginning?

I would be willing to say nothing other than it was a notebook, your mind went to focusing on the text of this post and you dismissed the image as just a thumbnail photo.  By the time you finish your task (reading the blog) the idea (image) is already vague and mostly gone.  That is just another example of how important note taking can be.

Some other great posts on this subject of note taking include:

Jim Raffel's post: Idea Factory

Mitch Joel's post: Take Notes

What main points did you take away from this post?  Do you take notes, how often?  How many ideas have you forgotten because you were too busy to write it down. 


Photo Credit to Brenderous who has a great idea about organizing notes which I will try to use from now on.