Book Review: Velocity: Combining Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance

This is the first "business novel" I've encountered. I think overall that strategy helped make the LSS principles understandable, but I think there was too much romance added into the story line. Even though implementing LSS principles into this fictional company's processes, a large part of their issues seem to be communications-based. Obviously there is a reason for the challenges that this fictional company has, but in real life, each of the company's business units should have been communicating to one another and may have been able to implement LSS principles without a huge LSS investment. If you're looking for an introduction into LSS principles, learning about the Theory of Constraints and the benefits of an unbalanced system, then pick this book up or listen to the audio book.

Trade Shows: Fair Pricing

In the June 2011 issue of Inc. magazine, Seth Burstein of Trade Show Internet writes to Norm about the exclusivity of some in-house services at trade shows. Unfortunately, many exhibitors believe that they are forced to utilize the "preferred" or in-house services, but there are ways around that. There is no reason that you cannot search for what meets your company's needs and budget. The trade show and conference managers know this too, that's why they provide an Exhibitor Approved Contractor sheet in many exhibitor manuals that exhibitors fill out. This sheet tells the organizer of the trade show or conference that you've decided to use a vendor not listed in the exhibitor manual.

In the Inc. column, Norm does suggest some ways for Seth to keep momentum with his company stating, "Seth and his partner need to stay focused on their real goal, which is to build a viable business, not to change the way trade shows are managed."

There will always be road blocks and naysayers trying to prevent you from achieving your goals, but just make sure that you've vetted all possibilities and resources to continue on your path around them.

Check my Spelling!

With my background in strategic communications, and having worked for news publications before, accurate spelling has been ingrained in my brain. I have a hard time using products or services where packaging or marketing items are misspelled. For me, it takes away part of their credibility and screams, "I don't care enough about what I'm selling to make things right."

Yes, misspelled words will happen every once in awhile, nobody is perfect. However, when you receive an email blast from a local business and there's at least one misspelled word three months in a row, their credibility is dwindling.

Spell check is available on nearly every software program that allows text. It's fairly simple to use, simply click the button to go through your text and make the corrections. You'll be thankful that you used spell check when sending something out to your viewers/customers/clients!

Book Review: Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

Although this book was written in 1999, the ideas are still relevant to today's businesses, however, there is one huge hurdle. Seth gives many examples in the book on asking for permission through the internet, but now people are being more careful with their personal information and may be less likely to "raise their hands" to receive information based on their personal interests and preferences. There are some good examples in the book on how businesses have utilized permission marketing and how some marketing campaigns have driven their permission-based contacts away.

Tips for Public Speaking

Let's face it, public speaking can make a lot of people squirm, but people don't always realize that they speak in public more than they think. It turns out not to be so scary after all. Did you know that you're speaking in public when you're updating your team on a current project?

To be a good public speaker, you have to envision yourself as a good public speaker first. You may be thinking in the back of your mind that because the audience isn't smiling at you that they want you to fail, but that's simply just not true. Your audience is there to listen to what you have to say; to learn from you.

Second, assess how you currently present. The next time you're preparing for a presentation, give your presentation in the mirror to view yourself speaking. Do you like what you see?

Third, get some feedback. Have a co-worker or family member listen to your presentation. Ask them to count how many "ums" or other words that you frequently use. Have them ask clarifying questions about your presentation.

Fourth, eliminate distracting elements. When you actually give your presentation, put down the pens (if you click them), spit out the gum, wear clothes that you won't pull at, and remove the change from your pocket. Also, ladies, take off jewelry on your wrists that can clang together as you move.

Fifth, take a deep breath. Remember that people want to hear what you have to say, so take a deep breath before you start and present with confidence because you have prepared, practiced and envisioned yourself executing a fantastic presentation.

Those are some tips for the actual presentation. When thinking about your actual PowerPoint Presentation make sure that your slides are not too content heavy, make the text font easy to read and keep the text size large, and use appropriate transitions and animations.

Your presentations can be improved by just assessing what you're already doing and by making some adjustments. Now go out there and present with confidence!

E-tiquette - Emoticons in Your Email

In the latest issue of Shape Magazine (April 2011) there are some tips on what's called "E-tiquette." E-tiquette refers to etiquette online in the workplace. One of the suggestions from Peggy Duncan, author of Conquer E-mail overload with Better Habits, Etiquette, and Outlook, was that emoticons, smiley faces, winking faces, etc. shouldn't be used in business emails. Her guideline is that if you wouldn't write it on the company letterhead - then don't write it in an email.

However, we need to look at how we currently communicate in the workplace. People are communicating with various people they've never met or spoken with on the phone, so they communicate through email. We all know that people can get in the habit of reading something into emails that the sender didn't infer at all. Emoticons can help clear up that message.

Now I'm not saying that emoticons should be used in every email or is appropriate to use when crafting an email to your CEO, but it could be useful to help clarify the tone of your email.

Sending a message by email is the most frequent way we communicate nowadays. Most people send more emails in a day than they talk to people in real life. Why? Because it's efficient. Some people are hard to reach by phone, but the majority of business folks have some sort of email capable device. And most people are glued to those devices.

Back to the advice of Ms. Peggy Duncan - emoticons can be useful, just make sure that you're using them appropriately. Happy emailing :)

Book Review: Viral Marketing by Russell Goldsmith

Although this book is nine years old, it still gives a good introduction to what viral marketing is and examples of how it's been used. Goldsmith is a UK native and therefore the statistics and survey results that he analyzes in his book are specific to the UK. That said, it's still interesting to read how many people (out of the 800 surveyed) said they would pass along an email to a colleague and what type of information they would be most likely to pass along.

I would bet that most people today would think that they've never been part of a viral marketing campaign or even viral marketing itself, but most likely they have. What do you do when your friend forwards you an email with a joke about the workplace? You send it to colleagues that you think would find it funny. That's viral marketing!

One good point that Goldsmith pointed out during this quick read, is that marketers need to keep in mind the saturation point of a viral marketing campaign. How many times will someone receive the same message from multiple friends before they start to perceive the brand, product or service negatively?

Read this book if you're new to marketing, viral marketing or just want to hear about some clever viral marketing ideas.