Strategy

I have always been a huge Michael Porter fan. He's a brilliant economist and one of the godfathers of business strategy.

The job I had before entering the online marketing space was helping to run a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for Zupreem.

The marketing mix is a simple concept and is one of the first things you learn in a marketing class.

One of our biggest fears is the bite of the brown recluse spider. People are terrified of spdiers in general, but I think the brown recluse tops the charts.

It is very tempting to just jump into areas such as MySpace, Digg and other social media platforms without much planning. It is true that being early in the game helps, but it’s not just about being first. It’s also about being the first one in your vertical to really use new media and technology wisely. The problem with most of these new gadgets is that anyone can “jump in.” This quickly turns a great opportunity into a commodity because of the low barriers to entry.

The way out of this trap is using new media and technology to reinforce your existing competitive advantage. Just ask yourself, “why do people buy my stuff?” If the answer is speed than you should be looking at how to use new technology to reinforce your speed advantage. If the answer is I am close and convenient than maybe local search or mobile tech is your game. Whatever your competitive advantage is, make sure you consider this first when putting new technology into place.

CFA is an acronym for cheap, fast and accurate, and these seems to be what everybody wants. We are constantly tugging at the bit and demanding more efficiency, lower costs, and bigger profits. This is especially true when it comes to hiring consultants. Demanding that a consultant be cheap fast and accurate is a recipe for insanity. Basic economics keep this kind of stuff from happening. I think the CFA philosophy can put a lot of things in perspective for business owners and help make decisions about employees or consultants a lot easier.