Imitation is the sincerest form of… stealing?

 
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Facebook taking a page out of Twitter’s book? Read the article and make your own judgment.

What do we say? Sure Facebook is… Twitter is making a splash in society like Apple did with the iPod, and once you set people in motion others will conform or be cast out of fame and fortune.

Twitter was innovative

Twitter was innovative, and still is. Twitter search, although buggy, is interesting and makes better use of all the mess the millions of Twits are creating. All that content. Flying by at the speed of light and then gone. Well, search it.

So what is Facebook doing? Looking to have their members update more frequently, and with small amounts of content… like Twitter. Microblogging is fun, easy and can be challenging. Facebook was the fun and easy part and hopes to eliminate challenging with the context. After all, social is supposed to be fun, effortless.

What does Facebook have to lose? Money.

Facebook has always had a more difficult time monetizing on the system while the major competitor has done, well, just dandy. Facebook can build more subscribers but the company is only buying time.

It is a shame that the firm still hasn’t implemented a strong monetization strategy. Buying time and maintaining or growing the user base is great… but the longer the company waits to “make money” the larger the opportunity cost. After all, Facebook isn’t cheap to operate.

So, enjoy Facebook while it is still here. If another startup can be just as popular and harvest that user base… look out. That reminds me, couldn’t Twitter easily improve the user homepage with Facebook like functionality? Hmmmmm……

Green Sourcing and Benefits

You hear it everywhere: green is the way to go. Its sustainable. Its less expensive in the long-term. Its responsible. Two out of three ain’t bad, right? Wrong — we should be shooting for perfection here, and not second place.

Ensure Supply, Save Costs

Sourcing and procurement, as part of supply chain management, involve risk analysis. It doesn’t matter whether we are looking at your neighbourhood coffee shop or the discount grocer in the mutiplex, everyone must acknowledge and assess risk. Ideally, all companies will do something about it.

Green is better in this respect; by ensuring a sustainable supply of goods or services you are addressing risk. This is somewhat of an ideal perspective, but as long as risk is re-evaluated the premise can hold true.

Some other items that need to be considered with supply chain management for saving costs:

• Internal Supply Chain
• Sourcing Strategy
• Domestic & International Balance
• Creativity always helps

From marketing to manufacturing (and a bunch of other words starting with letters other than ‘M’…) there are opportunities. Even bring the Sales group in - strategies for selling can encorporate green opportunities. So, get on it.

Go Green Get Responsible

Not just fiscally responsible, but socially responsible. By switching to goods and other inputs that are not in high demand domestically or globally you can leverage better accessibility to supply and insulate the company from shortage, or scarcity. Initial costs for inputs may be higher; however, over the full spectrum of spend analysis the reduction in risk and supply flow may make positive gains in your favour.

“Green options not only promote innovation and cost savings but cooperation and interaction across departments and divisions of a company — use the green push to bring your company together.”

Environmentally friendly solutions take a lot of innovation to materialize… we are not talking about switching to CF lamps here. Innovation takes conflict and varying perspectives, something that every successful company should have. So, why are you using it?

Green Means Go…

When the tide of change does role through be at the front of the wave and have all of your stakeholders on board. Make sure your employees are informed. Get them charged up. Then do more together than you would have done otherwise.

What if the scale tips and green is rewarded from a taxation perspective? Enjoy the gains you set yourself up for. One way or another green initiatives pay for themselves — and hopefully in more than one way.

Selling During an Economic Downturn

Times are tough: the middle class isn’t spending like it used to, prospects look bleak for the bulk of the market and we all have to make decisions about when and where to spend what funds we have. All of these decisions to make in order to do the simple, but necessary, task of creating sales to prop up revenues. So, what is the easiest way? Well, we shouldn’t always do what is easy…

Work — Well Done — Results in More Work

First off, doing a good job always pays off - no matter what you think the true outcome of the project or sale was. So, keep up with the simple things that aren’t always easy to pull off:

• Work harder than most
• Creativity always helps
• Take advantage of diversity
• Be positive, see positive
• Enjoy what you are doing… be enthusiastic

Don’t just meet the minimum requirements, go past expectations. The “wow” factor is an over-used and under-employed tool. So, use it.

Make Your Own Headline, Don’t Buy What the Media Sells

Things look bleak. 129,000 jobs eliminated in Canada (and 4.5 times that in the United States) in the month of January 2009 alone. Credit exists but borrowing costs are up, if you can access that credit. The middle class isn’t spending like it used to. So what?

“Networking, planning and education are key opportunities to be taken on during a change in economic and market conditions — step back to see where your business can make the most impact, become more integrated in your environment and community. Take education and give it.”

Business and economic cycles exist for a reason: change and growth. Do both, and take advantage of the opportunities that now exist. Segments of the market are now available that previously weren’t, and specific types of employees with specific skills, knowledge and abilities may now be looking for work (the same folks that are impossible to find when times are good). Hire, develop, grow — be happy.

The scale will tip in the other direction… will your business be ready?

When the tide of change does role through will your business — and you — be ready? Making adjustments and being profitable during tough economic times is admirable, and being ready to make quick growth in a changing environment is stellar.

Be one of the businesses that is ready and will be agile in leveraging change. Look successful because you are… and continue to act the part.

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