BoostStrapping

BoostStrapping’s Moved! :)

Some exciting news we’ve been incubating in the past couple of months – we went live with our brand new website a while ago and we got a brand new blog to go along with it!  Well, not really new as we’re still the cross-functional, entrepreneurial, bottom-line oriented, and strategic minded folk you know and love.  But we’re at a new address and we have our two newest Associates, Marko “CroCop” Nikolic and Kurt “Dirty Jerze” Kaufer as the writers.  As our company celebrates our four year anniversary, we thought it’d be great to have the perspective of these new additions.

So if you landed here via usual means, please let that in the future, you'll find us blogging at http://www.eboostconsulting.com/blog/ 

I recommend getting over there tout de suite! 

To culminate this chapter, I've compiled the top 5 blog posts ever here on this typepad blog:

1. eBoost Consulting's Guide to becoming a Complete Marketing Strategist | Part 1: Fundamentals - they don't call us the Tim Duncan of marketing strategy for nothing.
2. 5 Minutes a Day: Strategic Thinking - one in a series of 5 minute exercises.
3. 25 Random Things about Preparing for the Upturn - wrote this in March 2009 the night before one of our Executive Education courses and we still believe in it today. 
4. Observations on Mentorship - eBoost Consulting prides itself on being a leadership factory.  Here's my take on the mentorship philosophy. 
5. Welcome to BoostStrapping! - what started it all in 2006.

And here's my favorite 5 posts from our new bloggers:

1. 5 Tools to Monitor Conversation and Brand Reputation - Kurt breaks down reputation management. 
2. The Road to a Strategic Marketing Plan - Marko illustrates eBoost Consulting's strategic methodology, strategic concept, and one of our strategic tools. 
3. Know Your Customer - Kurt conducts persona development on his favorite subject.  Himself!
4. 5 Unique SEO Tips to Get to the Top of Bing! - Marko showcases some of his favorite moves for Bing-o Bang-o results!  Hey-o! 
5. Google Ad Preview Tool - Kurt takes us to school on Google Ad Preview.  

If you've so generously added BoostStrapping to your blog roll, please take a tiny second from your date and update it.  Also, we have our new RSS feed up on the new BoostStrapping location so sign up!

Thanks for coming and following us along this journey.  See you at the new addy!

-johnny

Executive Education - What an Experience!

12 out of 12 executives agree: you gotta prepare hard if you want to perform easy! 

Whew!  What a weekend here at 7125 El Cajon Blvd.  12 came, 12 graduated, 1 cried.  What an amazing experience ripe with complex problem-solving and meaty discussions about strategic maneuvering.  Did you miss it?  Then you missed out! 

A full recap will be up tomorrow.  In the interim, we finally got to uploading a video primer on Exec Ed.  Photos are from our first Executive Education Day, Demystifying Digital Marketing.  We went with different content this time around since the business context varied a bit.  Next time?  I don't know!  Whatever the business environment dictates, we'll share the tools it takes to succeed. 

See you tomorrow!  I got TimeTracker to do... 

-johnny

25 Random Things about Preparing for the Upturn

T minus 4 until eBoost Consulting's next Executive Education day.

It's almost 8pm, getting dark outside but I'm wired like cable, people!  Nick and I are kicking it here in The Pod, vibing to a J.Dilla tribute mix and working on putting the finishing touches to the data we're highlighting for this Saturday's Executive Education day.  Topic: Preparing for the Upturn. 

Inspired by the 25 Random Things Facebook note, I decided to jot down 25 random things that may not make the cut in the day's session.  Hey, it's only 9 hours...can't expect us to place everything in there, can ya?  

1. Companies that maintain or increase marketing during recessions reap a 3.2:1 sales advantage.
2. A 1% share of voice over your competitors equals a 1% increase in share of market. 
3. On average, only 10% of customers in any category buy exclusively on price.
4. A regression analysis on Twitter's rise in unique visitors and the decrease in the Dow Jones Industrial Average suggest a causal relationship between Twitter and the current recession. 
5. During recessions, tech spending falls more than the GDP. 
6. Customers buy more of less discretionary items in the downturn.
7. Customers increase spending in education, reading, personal insurance, health care, and food at home during recessionary periods.
8.  Know your customers.  
9. Don't  market with a tone of fear.  Market your core values. 
10. Drop your weaker distributors.
11. Focus on reliability and performance in  your marketing message.
12. There's a key distinction between price cuts and discounts that shouldn't be ignored.
13. Acquire brands if you're in a good cash position.
14. Maintain frequency of marketing, decrease duration. 
15. NPS.  Learn to love it. 
16. Euro Sexy Micha Mikailian.  Learn to love him.
17. Shift your resources to your key profit pools.  Use the SNAP to zero in on a concise offering.
18. Those who use the traditional marketing survival kit in downturns often times make the wrong bets in the wrong segments.
19. Anticipate competitor moves. 
20. Plan for long-term customer loyalty programs.
21. Be decisive when given the opportunity to build, buy, sell, or partner.
22. Social media marketing is like guerrilla marketing.  Takes more time than hard costs.
23. Securing a method to budgeting comes before cost cutting. 
24. Increase direct marketing channels. 
25. Email marketing to be used as an acquisition tool in downturn economies, not just a retention tool.  

Ok, that's enough for you.  Another slice of Zia's eggplant pizza for me and Nick (the official caloric sponsor of Executive Education class preparation). 

yours in carbohydrate stupor,
-johnny

Introducing the new BoostStrapping!

BoostStrapping gets a makeover, courtesy of eBoost Consulting's resident Team Player. 

It's a bittersweet week for us here at eBoost HQ.  We're in transition to our next intern class (that's Alpha Episilon Omega for those of you keeping score at home) but that also means saying "see ya later" to Alpha Delta Omega.  I'll write a few reflections from that class in another post but hey, did you see the new digs here at BoostStrapping? 

Two weeks ago, we tasked super intern TP (government name Marc Peterson) to give BoostStrapping an extreme makeover.  Ok, is it just me or does anyone else find it ironic that TP's initials match Ty Pennington of Extreme Home Makeover?  Anyhow, it's always nice to get someone else's look at things and hey, anytime you can put a key business asset in the hands of an intern who is leaving your program, you have to do it. 

The result is all around you, folks.  New slogan to match our mantra, the cityscape to match the mural that greets people as they walk into our offices, the link to the famed eBoost Intern Blog, our eBoost Facebook page and MySpace pages, our corporate website, and to our latest Executive Education program.  He also fixed the RSS bug-a-boo that Kristy B. and Matt Byers pointed out. 

Preeee-tay nice, TP.  Pre-tay nice. 

Anyhow, what do you think?  There's a poll here.  You know what to do. 

-johnny

On the 9th Day of Christmas, eBoost gave to me...

Nine blogs worth reading,

Eight tips for Speaking,
Sloven PR firms pitching,
Nix budget straining,
Five branding things,
Forget averages,
Free advice sells,
Two cyber doves,
And adaptations not lost on me!

Today, my gift to you is the gift of learning.  Here are my personal top nine 'must read' blogs for increasing your understanding of the how, what and why of our 'Web 2.0' world.

• Seth Godin - Seth Godin's Blog.  My personal 'Yoda' speaks on business, marketing and life with brevity and humor.
• Scott Adams - Dilbert Blog. My daily 'laugh out loud' morning ritual. Hilarious (and often genius) rants on the world, politics, business and basically anything Scott finds funny.
• Guy Kawasaki - How to Change the World.  Just what the title says.  And then some.
• Rohit Bhargava - Influencial Interactive Marketing. Social Media, PR, SEO, Marketing and More.
• OneUpWeb - StraightUpSearch Blog.  Search news, tools and observations from a straight-forward (or 'StraightUp') perspective.
• Hugh MacLeod - Gaping Void. Snarky comics with excellent insights.
• Scott Ginsberg - Hello My Name is Blog.  Surprising range of networking, marketing and just 'making it work' topics nametagged for your enjoyment.
• Richard MacManus - Read/WriteWeb. All Web 2.0, all the time.
• Glen Stansberry - LifeDev.net. Casual take on Getting Things Done (GTD) and successful project management tips for calmer brains and cleaner desks.

Its amazing to me how much our world has changed from a narrow newsprint focus to now nearly drowning in timely and relevant digital treasures.  I, for one, relish my now sponge-like brain and want to wish the blogosphere a happy new year.  I can't wait to see what new treats are in store for 2007!

- Lambchop (Dee)

More outstanding blogs (and a few random bookmarks), on my personal Delicious site.