Reading Time: < 1 min Businesses hate to see complaints, and we all know that. You work hard to put something out into the world, and then someone reaches out to explain why they don’t like it. As bad as a complaint may feel, though, ignoring it could be far worse. As Nico De Bruyn said in We’re All Marketers: […]
Business
Email “thanks” versus a Slack emoji
Reading Time: < 1 min I recently heard an argument that email should continue to fade away in lieu of apps like Slack, which make for much more seamless communication. It’s a good consideration. However, part of his argument related to acknowledging receipt of a message or small task. If you send someone an email with info, they’ll often reply […]
Your “why” doesn’t need to be about you
Reading Time: < 1 min In Simon Sinek’s excellent book “Start With Why“, he offers a simple premise: People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it That’s entirely true. However, people also may buy from you based on how you make them feel. In a TED Talk that Simon gave back in 2009, he offered the […]
It’s based on an idea of mine
Reading Time: < 1 min I was recently listening to an episode of “Smart Talks”, where Malcolm Gladwell was interviewing IBM’s Rob Thomas. Rob shared a very short but noteworthy story: There’s a rabbit and a beaver and they’re staring at the Hoover Dam. And the beaver says “I didn’t build it, but it’s based on an idea of mine”. […]
Hoarding money, marketing myopia, and failure
Reading Time: 2 min The term “marking myopia” is fairly new to me, though the concept is something I’ve seen many times before. Explained by Theodore Levitt, it’s essentially when a company focuses more on short-term sales than on really solving their consumers’ needs. It can work for a while, but it’s likely to blow up eventually. The two […]
You don’t have to follow all of the rules
Reading Time: < 1 min I tend to be a rule-follower, for better or worse. It’s a common trait often attributed to first-born children, and it fits me pretty well. However, in the past few years I’ve found that avoiding some rules can be very helpful. EOS At GreenMellen, we largely follow the EOS (“Entrepreneurial Operating System”) method of running […]
Ask more questions to avoid survivorship bias
Reading Time: 2 min I find the idea of “survivorship bias” fascinating. If you’ve not heard of it before, this short video from Eddie Woo is an excellent overview of it. I see two places where this comes up in some of the areas where I work. Our non-clients We frequently talk to our clients about why they chose […]
Explain it to me like I’m five
Reading Time: < 1 min There’s a funny scene in “The Office”, where the company has a budget surplus but Michael doesn’t really understand what that means. During the conversation, Michael asks Oscar to simplify things and “explain it to me like I’m five”. Here’s a clip of that: It’s a funny clip, but there’s a lot of truth there. […]
Thoughts on taking the altMBA
Reading Time: 3 min I recently finished taking the altMBA, described as “an intensive, 4-week online workshop designed by Seth Godin for high-performing individuals who want to level up and lead.“ Intensive is a great word to use. Throughout the four weeks, you work through 13 separate writing prompts. They ask us not to reveal the nature of the […]
“Good job” isn’t all that good
Reading Time: < 1 min I’m trying to work on how I give thanks to those around me. I feel like I’m pretty good about giving frequent thanks when it’s appropriate, but I’ve realized (in part from books like Thanks for the Feedback, and in part from other conversations) that my “thanks” isn’t all that good. It’s not that giving […]