Tag Archives: business

June 13, 2013 · 10:12 am

Appearances Matter

I made myself a note to write about a common business situation that can cause a lot of grief if not handled in a smart manner.  Unfortunately, what prompted the note was a situation which was not handled the right way.  I’m talking about conflict of interest and how appearances really do matter.Dunce_cap_from_LOC_3c04163u

When I was in my corporate jobs from time to time I was offered “insider” pricing on some pending IPO‘s.  I was also invited to serve on advisory boards.  These offers came from start-up companies that were looking to do business with my employer and I was under no delusion that the offers were being extended because of my wit and charm or youthful good looks.  I hesitate to use the word “bribe” but I understood that it was possible someone looking at this might think that my loyalty might be by divided – business interest vs. self-interest.

What raises this is a report on a major ad agency CEO being granted stock options in a company that is a vendor to her agency.  These options might be worth as much at $3,000,000 if a planned IPO goes through.  Digiday makes the exact point:

In its S-1 filing, Tremor says any conflicts of interest related to Desmond are and will continue to be avoided because she’s “recused herself from all negotiations” with the company. While it’s unlikely Desmond regularly writes media plans for SMG’s clients, the fact remains she oversees a business that spends millions of dollars with a company she has a financial interest in.

I know from personal experience that even when your boss tells you to ignore his relationships with a vendor it’s hard when you know there’s a friendship or familial relationship.  When those relationships are more than personal friendships and extend into financial dealings, it’s impossible.

Appearances matter.  In this age, one can assume any relationship will come out and be widely known.  Any competitive vendor losing some of the agency’s business will have grounds to cry foul.  Tremor (the vendor involved) will have grounds to scream if the CEO (and now board member) doesn’t live up to her fiduciary responsibilities  It’s a bad, easily avoidable situation for everyone.  Hopefully you’re smarter than this.  Right?

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June 12, 2013 · 8:54 am

Hitting The Line

If you’ve ever played  or watched tennis, one thing you know is that the players seem to approach each point with a plan.

tennis

(Photo credit: Marc Di Luzio)

To a certain extent they play the points backward – what shot do I want to set up, which positioning and speed of the serve will let me do that, and where do I want to hit it?  Part of the equation involves moving the opponent around, far away from your intended target.  Ideally, you can hit it just next to a sideline or the baseline depending on your plan.  The nearer to the line the shot lands, the more likely it is to be a winner.  There’s also an increased chance you lose the point by hitting it out.

Often when one watches high-speed Motorsports, the “high line” is the one that many drivers choose on an oval course.  Generally, the racing groove nearest the wall allows the cars to go faster even if they’re travelling a slightly longer distance (think of concentric circles – low vs. high).  It’s better to go faster and generally the high line is way to do that.  It’s also the line closest to the wall.  Hit the wall – go over the line – and you’re done.

There are similar analogies in golf (aiming for a target along a preferred line with a hazard line along the same flight path) and baseball (bunting very near a base line almost always works better for a hit than closer to the pitcher but it’s just as likely to be a strike for a foul ball).  What each of the athletes involved needs to do is to develop a plan that revolves around their tolerance for risk and the availability of a reward.  You might get spectacular results and you just might cross the line, crash, and burn.

Think of those athletes as you approach your business.  What’s your tolerance for risk?  Is the value of the reward worth going over the line?  I think most great athletes hit those lines – the places where very few can put themselves consistently and win.  To me, that sounds like a pretty good business plan if you can tolerate the risk.  You?

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June 3, 2013 · 8:40 am

Social And Small Business

I’ve mentioned before that I keep a “blog this” file which contains articles that piqued a thought.  I went through the file over the weekend and came across a press release from the folks at Constant Contact.  They do a study about the state of small businesses and the ways they connect with and grow their audiences.  Results include responses from respondents across a range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries.  wkL_ccWhat piqued my interest was this:

While small business interest in, and appreciation for, social media is on the rise, small business owners continue to lack confidence in their social media skills.  More than half (54 percent) chose social media marketing as the marketing activity they need the most help with, which might explain why their frequency of use with social media is not where it needs to be.  Only 13 percent of survey respondents post to Twitter daily and ten percent post weekly to LinkedIn.

Aside from the obvious point that clearly I need to make my phone number and email address more prominent (I can help – call me, you guys!) that research shows me that these folks are being smarter than others.  They recognize that value of the various platforms and aren’t shooting the messengers due to their inability to capitalize on what those platforms offer.

Social is a conversation.  If you’re only engaging on an irregular basis (once a week) and only a fraction are even engaging that often, it’s not going to work.

The study is unclear with respect to how they’re defining social media marketing.  The owners were asked “which social media platform is the most effective for their organization” and that’s kind of nebulous.  Is it paid advertising and the “effectiveness” is measured by responses?  Or is it some other engagement metric?  One hopes the respondents can answer how they’re defining “effective” but I suspect they can’t.

Social media is not like any other form.  It requires commitment and resources far beyond what many folks have experienced buying print, TV, radio, or even display ads.  Doing it badly can do more than be ineffective – it can hurt your business (no one likes to be ignored!).  Can we agree on that?

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