60 Second Impact
January 2006
| Contents 60 Second Articles |
| |
| 60 Second Articles January 2006 � Estimated Reading Time: 60 Seconds per article 60 Second Articles: 1. Google Update: The Voracious Holiday Appetite 2. NBA Basketball: Giving Your Customer A Sore Throat! 3. No More Three Rings: Circus to Finally Change With The Times! 4. Predicting 2006 5. The 60 Second Close: Telling It Like It Is ********************* 1. Google Update: The Voracious Holiday Appetite � The holidays didn't stop Google's move to "conquer the world" with its innovations. While you were celebrating the holidays, here's a little update on what you might have missed. � Google's move toward offering free video is threatening the foundations of the TV networks and cable systems, along with the advertising industry. � Google's foray into free wireless in San Francisco is threatening the national telecom companies. Imagine Google offering free wireless throughout the USA. (Wired Magazine-- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/google.html) � Google's free satellite mapping service, Google Earth, has received heavy criticism from international governments for detailing important government buildings, military installations, and other important security sites. � According to the Los Angeles Times, Google has been in negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., among other retailers, to sell a Google PC. The machine would run an operating system created by Google, not Microsoft's Windows, and could cost as little as a couple of hundred dollars. This one move alone could change the computer retail sales landscape forever. � Finally, as the year ended, Google spread its wings even further, reaching an agreement with Time-Warner whereby the search giant would pay $1 billion for a five percent stake in AOL, thus initializing the "Googalization of AOL." ********************* 2. NBA Basketball: Giving Your Customer A Sore Throat! � Mark Cuban, the "real" Maverick of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has only one mission that he wants to accomplish when you go to a basketball game. � "Customers come to have fun," he wrote in a recent email to the San Diego Union Tribune. "We don't sell basketball. We sell sore throats and big smiles on the faces of parents when their kids have a great time at the games." � Agree with his mantra or not, Cuban knows exactly what he's selling and can communicate it in ten words or less. As a result, his marketing efforts are on target. � One would doubt very much that Cuban spent $25,000 on a two-day, off-site retreat to do team building and crafting a verbose mission statement that exudes the company's role in the community, with partnerships, philosophies, cultures, and those other big buzz words. Yet, he's got his mission statement down to a science. Attend a game; you'll have a great time! ********************* 3. No More Three Rings: Circus to Finally Change With the Times! � Heavy competition in the entertainment field has forced The Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus to make the biggest format change they've ever made in its 50 years of existence. � Rather than parading act after act to perform simultaneously within the three rings, the format will feature a story line, along with giant video screens to enhance the performance and give close-up views of the performers. � What stopped the circus owners from making these changes five years ago, when all the other sports and entertainment businesses were repackaging their own products to meet with the times? � Successful corporations have a tendency to get caught up in their own success and traditions. Don't let this happen to you. ********************* 4. Predicting 2006 � Our sources are predicting a somewhat unusual year ahead of us. � Overall, housing has been slowing down for several months. Atlanta will continue to see moderate growth in new housing sales, but look for more investment in new and revitalized commercial. We predict a decline in sales of high-end (over $900K) houses. � If the Fed continues to hold off interest rate increases, the stock market will continue to be healthy through the first half, slowing to moderate growth in Q3 and Q4. � With prices becoming lower for HDTV and other high-tech toys, consumer spending levels will remain good. We don't see people saving at higher levels. � In spite of some consolidation in the Atlanta economy, we see job growth in Atlanta . � If you're thinking about selling a business, now may be the time to start getting ready for a sale in early 2007. We have resources that can help you prepare. 5. The 60 Second Close: Telling It Like It Is � Mark Cuban, the Maverick, is a person you either love or despise, all for the same reason - he tells it the way it is and challenges tradition. � This is a great goal for 2006. Challenge the old ways of doing things to see if there's a better way. Ask "what if" questions. Seek outside opinions, especially from your customers. Ask your staff what they think. � There's no better time than today to question where you're going and if there's a better, more economical and profitable way to get there. Call us; we can help you get there�faster than ever! Best Wishes Chris Lambrecht Come visit our website! |