Monday Mornings with Madison

Category Archives:
Planning & Strategy

August 6, 2012

Sometimes All That Is Needed Is A Fresh Start

Issue #244

Recently, the IRS rolled out a new “Fresh Start’ program offering to wave failure-to-pay tax penalties for those who have been unemployed. The idea was to give people who have fallen behind on their taxes the chance to get their financial house in order and start fresh. To qualify, the person must have:
• been an employee who was unemployed for at least 30 consecutive days between January 1, 2011 and April 17, 2012,
• been self-employed with a 25% or higher reduction in business income in 2011
• had income that did not exceed $200,000 if filing jointly, or $100,000 for single or head of household, or
• had 2011 taxes due not exceeding $50,000.

With this program, the IRS understood that a ‘fresh start’ can be an empowering, uplifting and engaging force in life. The opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again can give those who are tired and forlorn a renewed sense of hope and energy. Moving to a new town. Going to a new school. Beginning a new job. These events all inspire a feeling of ‘starting anew’ that can be invigorating. Underlying it all is the chance to do more… the possibility to be better… the prospect of improving in areas where one fell short in the past. But the concept of a ‘fresh start’ is not limited to people, programs and time. Companies also understand the power of a ‘fresh start.’ Embracing the concept, businesses have used the notion of a ‘fresh start’ to jumpstart areas of business that have lost focus, pep, or luster. Continue reading →

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July 23, 2012

Never Borrow Sorrow from Tomorrow

Issue #242

Last week, we discussed the many mental, physical and emotional benefits to anticipating positive life events. From big events such as vacations to minor pleasures such as a nap, the anticipation of something positive is even more beneficial to a person than the actual vacation or nap. As a business strategy, anticipation can give entrepreneurs and professionals ‘a leg up’ against competitors, psychologically stressing the competition. It is a strategy used often in sports. That is the up side of anticipation.
However, anticipating negative events, while equally impactful, is believed to be detrimental. We give this kind of anticipation a name… it’s called worry. Dating back thousands of years, philosophers have been pondering the concept of ‘anticipating problems’. Seneca, the Roman essayist, philosopher and playwright, was quoted as saying “He who suffers before it is necessary suffers more than is necessary.” Indeed, the general wisdom from philosophers and religious scholars is that worrying causes a person to experience a sense of dread needlessly while waiting for the bad thing to happen.
Yet there are some who have argued that there is a benefit to anticipating a negative event in that it can serve to decrease the negative emotions when the bad thing finally happens. We can dub that the ‘soften the blow’ effect. Anticipating problems and issues ahead of time can also help make them a little less frightening, and allows for planning to avoid or work around problems when they happen. Moreover, worriers argue that even if the bad event doesn’t happen, there is additional joy that results from anticipating that something bad was going to happen and then finding that it did not happen. So what is true? Is anticipating trouble a positive or negative? It depends. Let’s look at the science to find the answer. Continue reading →

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July 16, 2012

The Benefits of Anticipation

Issue #241

Summer is here and many are in the throes of planning their summer vacation. Plan away. It’s actually good for you. How so? Researchers from the Netherlands set out to measure the effect that vacations have on overall happiness and how long it lasts. They studied happiness levels among 1,530 Dutch adults, 974 of whom took a vacation during the 32-week study period. The research controlled for differences among the vacationers and those who hadn’t taken a trip, including income level, stress and education. Published in the Journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life, the study showed that the largest boost in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. Vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks!

The only vacationers who experienced increased happiness after the trip were those who said they were “very relaxed” on their vacation. For them, post-vacation happiness lasted for only two weeks after the trip. Those who experienced stress or had a neutral vacation (meaning that it wasn’t stressful but it wasn’t all that relaxing either) did not have any happiness after their vacation. So the biggest boost in happiness was derived in anticipation of a vacation, not during or after the vacation.

Clearly, anticipation – the expectation or yearning for something in the future – can be a powerful agent for happiness. Does this speak to something fundamental in human nature? Is looking forward to something better than actually living it? And does anticipation of other major life events have the same effect on people as ‘vacation anticipation’? Do we derive as much joy anticipating other big life events such as getting married, buying a property, closing a deal, or completing a project? Is working toward a goal more fulfilling than actually achieving the goal? And could there be any benefits to anticipating the small pleasures of life? If so, can businesses capitalize on the benefits of anticipation in its approach to sales and marketing? Continue reading →

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July 9, 2012

What A Company’s Website Says About That Company

Issue #240

Ever visited a company’s website and thought ‘ugh?’ A website says a lot about a company, and it is often the first point of contact between the company and the customer. Business people know that image matters. Some would even go so far as to say that image is everything and that the public’s perception of that image is reality. The image that a company portrays becomes its reality. If a company’s image speaks of success, then that success becomes real. In fact, so many business people think this is true, that they take it a step further and advocate a “fake it ‘til you make it” image philosophy.

Even hardliners who insist that a company’s business model, products/services, management and operations are what primarily drive success will usually concede that a company’s image plays a pivotal role in a company’s ability to grow and thrive in today’s marketplace. And, today, a company’s website is a major part of its public image. A company’s website can either undermine or oversell a company’s success by telling the wrong story. And that can be damaging. What does your company’s website say about your company? Is your website telling the right story? Continue reading →

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July 2, 2012

What Do Search Engines Value In Websites?

Issue #239

What do search engines value in websites or web pages in order to rank them higher? This is the million-dollar question. No doubt that anyone who could definitively and conclusively give a complete and correct answer to this question could become an instant millionaire. But it basically is a trick question because anyone who can answer it, would only be able to answer with regard to how one particular search engine’s algorithms work, not all, and even that is an ever-moving target. The answer valid today would be obsolete tomorrow… or soon thereafter. It is a question over which SEO professionals obsess and marketers distress. And the question to which few will confess that what is believed is as much supposition and speculation as insight and intelligence.

The truth is that except for the computer engineers who work at the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., most people don’t entirely know all the variables or and weighting given to the myriad of signals used to determine a website’s rank by any search engine. It’s like the secret recipe for a great stew. There is a clear sense of what the main ingredients are, but not necessarily all of minor ingredients or the exact measurements for each or how they come together. So what are the most important ingredients and why keep them such a secret?

Anyone who is not deeply entrenched in the world of search may wonder why search engines are so secretive about how they do what they do. Why not just tell everyone how pages are ranked? The reason is simple. Search Engines keep their ‘algorythyms’ under wraps to prevent (or at least limit) people cheating, manipulating or skewing search results for their own benefit. Nevertheless, most SEO gurus agree that there are certain basics every website should have in order to rank well. Does your company’s website have them all? Continue reading →

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June 25, 2012

Why SEO Should Matter To Every Business

Issue #238

Are you one of the many who don’t know what SEO stands for… and truth-be-told you don’t really care? Do you think that SEO is the marketing department’s concern? If you are the owner, Chairman, President, VP, CEO, COO, CFO, Controller, or the Director or Manager of a department in any company anywhere today, you should care about SEO. And if you are a salesperson, you should definitely care about SEO.

Let’s start with the basics. S-E-O stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in “natural” or un-paid (also called “organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. In a nutshell, SEO is the strategy of optimizing a myriad of components that search engines (such as Google, Yahoo or Bing) look at to determine a website’s (or page’s) ranking for a particular search term in order to improve the ranking. If you’re one of the many who think only the Marketing Department should be concerned with SEO, think again. SEO is something that should matter to every business leader, manager and salesperson. Continue reading →

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June 18, 2012

Protecting Accounts and Private Information

Issue #237

In the news lately, there have been reports about the hacking of contact information, user names, passwords and account numbers for a myriad of companies. From LinkedIn to Sony to VeriSign, companies are falling prey to cyber thieves who slyly steal millions of pieces of data from vulnerable companies. Unlike bank heists or muggings, these thefts occur gracefully in cyberspace, without guns or masks. Yet, the consequences can be just as damaging and costly to the companies and their customers as an old-fashioned burglary. And there may be even greater consequences to society at large. Security experts believe hackers are frequently targeting valuable digital information.

The first step is to understand that no company is either too ‘big’ or too ‘smart’ to be attacked by hackers. Cyber-security is becoming increasingly important to every company – and perhaps even to national security. The second step for companies and individuals to protect from such predators is to be vigilant and implement ever more sophisticated security systems. Let’s start by reviewing the most recent cyber attacks to determine what can be learned. Continue reading →

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June 4, 2012

Excellence versus ‘Good Enough’

Issue #235

In the world of software development, there is a concept called the Principle of Good Enough. It favors quick-and-simple software designs over elaborate systems designed by committees. Once a quick-and-simple design is deployed, it then evolves as needed, driven by user requirements. Some good examples of this kind of design include the development of the Ethernet and the World Wide Web. That is why most software have newer iterations such as Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft Office Word 2007.

But this philosophy of ‘good enough’ is not new… it goes back hundreds of years. Voltaire once said that “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” This idea of creating something from the start that is not ‘the best’ but simply ‘good enough’ has increasingly bled into other areas of development and manufacturing. In fact, ‘good enough’ has been adopted as a business model where the focus was to create a new product based on an existing product but with far fewer features… literally something that is ‘less good’ but just ‘good enough.’ And, this approach to business has been successful in some cases. There is, however, one problem with the Principle of Good Enough. This approach is not always effective. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is simply not good enough. When it comes to companies and their work product, how do managers know when to strive for excellence and when it’s okay to deliver goods or services that are just ‘good enough’? Continue reading →

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May 7, 2012

The Downside of Unfettered Internet Use At Work

Issue #231

According to recent survey, the number of Internet users in the U.S. is expected to expand by 3.1% in 2012 to 239 million, representing 75.6% of the total population. Only three other nations in the world have populations with a higher percentage of Internet users. And, in terms of sheer number of users, only China has more people using the Internet than the U.S. (although only 38.4% of China’s total population has Internet access). Some see this as progress and believe that — in today’s modern world — increased Internet access for all is a good thing. After all, the Internet has revolutionized communication as we know it. As its name implies, the “world wide web” delivers a world of information, goods people and ideas to any computer, tablet or phone with the click of a button. The problem is that the Web does indeed deliver a world of goods, information, people and ideas to any computer, tablet or phone with the click of a button… and all those goods, information, people and ideas are not necessarily needed, useful or good. As with every innovation, the Internet has advantages and also disadvantages.

Setting aside the moral challenges raised by some of the questionable content found on the Internet (which is not the focus of discussion here), from a purely business standpoint, unfettered Internet access at work does have its drawbacks. While most may be quick to embrace the advantages of the Internet, it may be wise to also consider and weigh its disadvantages carefully. After all, business owners, leaders and managers are forever focused on making the most of their organization’s resources, minimizing the risks and maximizing the return. It stands to reason that a similar cost-benefit analysis should be done on the impact of Internet use at work. Here are five significant costs generated by providing unlimited Internet access in the workplace which hurt the bottom line. Continue reading →

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April 30, 2012

Spring Cleaning Your Marketing – part 2

Issue #230

In every company, there comes a time when you need to ‘clean house.’ Sometimes that house-cleaning is done in personnel to dispose of unproductive or disruptive employees. Sometimes that house-cleaning is done to the physical office to reorganize, make better use of space and eliminate clutter. And sometimes that house-cleaning is done to a particular department’s work to maximize efficiency, increase creativity and catch mistakes. For marketing, that type of ‘cleaning’ is essential to ensure that the company’s strategy, messaging and branding are tightly aligned and working in tandem.

Last week, we reviewed three areas of marketing — collateral, promotional items and trade show materials — that often can benefit from a little Spring cleaning. This week, we will look at three more areas of marketing that often could use a little sprucing up and dusting off: websites, PR and advertising. While these areas of marketing primarily don’t exist in the physical world – as there is no marketing closet that houses your websites and most PR and advertising efforts today begin and end in the digital world – they can still benefit from a little virtual cleaning…. Some proofing, editing, updating and organization. Continue reading →

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