by Daria Steigman on July 22, 2008
To do business, you need to know who you want to do business with. Chances are you have some idea about the organizations you think are a good fit. This is likely to change as you hone your value proposition–but having that first list of prospects offers comfort that you have some places to pitch your services sooner rather than later.
Also read Step 1 (Your Value Proposition) and Step 2 (Your Contacts).
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Tagged as:
Business,
Entrepreneurship
by Daria Steigman on July 18, 2008
There’s an interesting piece by Mike Madden on Salon.com about the Obama team’s sophisticated data mining operation.
In the age of cookies and dashboards, it’s a smart bet that lots of people can recite a lot of data about you. But it’s the smart organizations and savvy strategists who know how to translate the information into useable results. This article offers a case study in progress.
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data mining,
Mike Madden,
Salon.com
by Daria Steigman on July 17, 2008
My Independent Thinking column on business development Web 2.0 is out:
It’s a Web 2.0 world. Just this week there have been articles in my local newspaper about start-up news aggregator Mixx honing in on Digg’s space, and Google’s efforts to enter the social networking fray. And it’s only Tuesday. Even Business Week has social media fever, with its 2 June Beyond Blogs cover story declaring that “the power of social media to transform our businesses and society will only grow.”
As a small business owner or independent consultant, it;s important to understand social media not only so that you can advise your clients on their web strategies, but also so that you can harness the power of the medium to market and grow your own business.
Read my Independent Thinking column in IABC’s CW Bulletin.
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Tagged as:
Business Development,
Social Media,
Web 2.0
by Daria Steigman on July 16, 2008
Thought-provoking piece by Diane Coutu in the Harvard Business Review editors’ blog on how Google may help make us smarter. She also links to some of the earlier discussion on the topic of Google, multitasking, and how we think and learn.
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Diane Coutu,
Google,
multitasking,
Workflow
by Daria Steigman on July 15, 2008
Once you have defined your value proposition (Starting a Business: Step 1), the second step is to make a list of all your contacts. Most of us have a large stack of business cards and many more contacts in our Microsoft Outlook files. These should include people you’ve worked with and people you’ve met through professional associations, at networking events, through volunteering, and so forth.
These are people who know you, so they’re the first contacts you want to make once you have your business materials complete. They may have work for you; they’re certainly among those most likely to provide you with new leads and recommend you to others.
Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!
Tagged as:
Business,
Entrepreneurship
