RASPBERRYFOX marketing and branding strategy

Have you ever considered taking your MBA? I have too. What makes me hesitate is the financial cost and trying to evaluate if the value is there for me. I already have a business undergrad degree and, while the experience to meet new people would be cool, I don’t think it’s worth the investment.

Friends who have business undergrads, a decent amount of work experience and have taken an MBA say the value of an MBA comes mostly from the connections and relationships formed during the program. So, if you already network strategically, can learn from reading books, are attentively learning through experience and have a business undergrad degree - an MBA is not going to bring to much value.

Do you need to take an MBA? Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA doesn’t think so. His philosophy is that you can learn everything you need to know to succeed simply by reading books. They have a list of 77 Best Business Books In Print. (Available for bulk purchase from Amazon - great feature and great business idea, Josh!)

I haven’t read most of the books he recommends, so I can’t make a personal comment on the chosen book list, but Josh mentions he has pulled in a variety of business experts to help develop the list and he reviews and updates the list to ensure it’s still relevant. (Disclaimer: some of the experts’ books are on the recommended book list.)

Some of my favourite and most useful business books I have read are (links to amazon.com):

- Good to Great, Jim Collins

- The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

- Managing the Professional Services Firm, David Maister

- Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends, Tim Sanders

- Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, Kevin Roberts

Which business books are your favorites?
Do you agree that people can do their MBA on their own?

- Jenifer Schaefer

Posted under Business Resources, Education

Here it is. The first of many posts. I like to think of these entries like little seeds to germinate, grow and flourish - should I be so lucky.

The task of writing one’s first post is exciting and a bit daunting. There are so many areas to explore and ideas to share.  Here’s the first thought to ponder.

Should online promotions for internet based products and services have geographic/ political boundaries?

Background: I am an avid user of Plurk and one of the people I follow is nethead. He plurked that there were “FREE MP3s from Amazon.com.” I was delighted to read about the promotion and eager to take a look at their song selection. There were a few there that interested me, but when I moved onto the ‘download’ step I was blocked. It was only for people located in the United States - or those who faked their ID (not my style).  Yes. (dot)CA was blocked and I was disappointed. After hurting Amazon’s brand for me because of the negative experience, I started to think if if the promotion should have been approached differently. Amazon is a completely online retailer and it’s MP3’s are even delivered online. Shouldn’t that lend its promotions to being open globally, and not limited to geographic/ political boundaries?

Business Application: When developing your promotional objectives, strategies and tactics start to think beyond your usual geographic markets and think ‘net’. Ask  yourself the following five questions?

1. What are our goals and measurable objectives with this promotion?
2. Why do our customers buy and use our product?
3. Does it matter where our customers are geographically located? Isn’t it enough that we’re reaching our target market?
4. How can we overcome real, or mentally created, barriers to delivering this promotion without geographic boundaries and focus on reaching our target market?
5. If we commit to thinking and acting in a global perspective, are we going to be able to handle the success?

Online promotions are only one aspect of marketing and branding. Thinking from a more strategic level it’s important for organizations to understand that Brands are global. Brand experiences occur around the world, a great thank-you to the internet and social networking sites. Brands do not stop at the boarder crossing. If you haven’t already… it’s time to break down those geographic silos and be a global brand. Think. Act. Be Global.

I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas.

Posted under Branding, Global Focus, Promotions, Strategy