Way to Grow

Work on a Two Word Strategy

If you can describe your value proposition clearly in two simple words, you're onto something!  One of the problems with a lot of marketing materials and sales pitches is that they are too long and lack clarity. Anita Campbell suggests in The Importance of a Two Word Strategy that you keep honing your value proposition down until you can get it to two simple words. She refers to a talk given by Gary Harpbst, author of Six Disciplines for Excellence, whose point was that this refines organizational focus and alignment.

Well, I suggest that it's also important for marketing -- and I'd settle for three words.  But her point is valid.  She gives Dell's "being direct" and Intel's "Intel inside" as examples. These were each definers of the value proposition and messaging for two technology companies, but don't limit it to tech. I'm thinking of BMW's "ultimate driving machine" and Nike's "Just do it".  I like to use "Helping sales succeed" for my own marketing consulting business.

What is your two-word strategy?  Think about it!

Price vs. Product

Researchers have found that consumers evaluate product and price separately, according to Ks blog. Here's the explanation, and it makes a lot of sense to me:

• The consumer evaluates a product and places a pleasure value on it.
• Then the consumer evaluates the price and places a pain value on it.
• If the pleasure value is greater than the pain value, the consumer buys.

The natural conclusion, then, is that you should introduce the product first and let the buyer develop a pleasure value before you introduce price. It's a useful sales strategy to keep in mind.

A Week That's All About You

Get ready for EntrepreneurshipWeek USA!  Between February 24 and March 3, 2007, in each of the United States plus Puerto Rico there will be multiple opportunities to learn more about entrepreneurship. The week will be "a collection of thousands of activities, ranging from high school competitions to academic gatherings and local town halls to a national policy summit." Clearly it is academically oriented, and many of the events are held at colleges and universities, but many are also open to the public. And there will be podcasts, too.

It's fair to describe many of the speakers as illustrious. In my area (Northern California), for instance, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times will speak on Green Is the New Red, White and Blue, and Guy Kawasaki of Garage.com and his How to Change the World blog will be interviewed by Ann Grimes, formerly of the Wall Street Journal on Silicon Valley's Favorite F-Word: Failure.

In digging to find who was behind this broad-ranging program, I found that, "The Kauffman Foundation is launching EntrepreneurshipWeek USA -- along with a group of sponsors including the New York Times and Inc. magazine – to ignite the nation’s consciousness around the importance of being entrepreneurial. The initiative will be designed to stimulate on-going interest from individuals and organizations serving as an educational kick-start for the uninitiated, and an inspiration for young people to begin a journey to fulfill their potential as self-starters and entrepreneurs."

Go to the EntrepreneurshipWeek USA website and choose your State on the left to find what is happening in your area.