So I always like to take the time and read stuff I wrote earlier in the year to see if I have gotten any better and to see if there are opportunities for improvement. As part of this annual continuous improvement exercise I find pieces I like more than others and numerous areas for improvement. I really should do it more often, but this is time of year when I have the time and the inclination.
On critical thing I did notice was I may have went back on the Less Fluff promise. To rationalize a little, I no longer define links and videos as fluff, so there. I know I’m changing the rules a little, but it is always about context and at the time my links WERE FLUFF. Now that I have finally found a more crisp focus on Marketing, Brand and Product, it’s easier to transition these into value, than random stuff I found.
I guess there is the off chance I’ll publish something in the next couple of which should be on the list, but probably not. That that end, below are 10 posts I really liked, some y’all liked too, some you probably haven’t read. No particular order
- 10 Tips for Dealing with the fact you will never leave your job – A piece on how to continue to look for ways to improve your job satisfaction, even if you have been there a while. A little off topic, but one I really liked writing it.
- $1 coffee a sustainable model – This might be when I really started to think the economy was goofed. When an ROI model for buying a fancy coffee pot is interesting to other folks.
- Complexity: The context of Identity – A piece I didn’t on the overwhelming burden of identity management and the rewards for engaging in as meaningful a way a possible.
- Enabling Persona Based Sales – This is about when I started moving towards a theme here.
- Stories in the Village: Everyone Must Understand the Brand – I’ve spent a good deal of time this year working on positioning and the ability to scale positioning and this piece is probably when I realized that the whole org has to be able to tell the story, not just the smart folk.
- Principles: Shading Strategy and Execution – Situational definitions and personal world views can change what you do when it comes to principles, but it shouldn’t.
- What’s Your CRM strategy? Social media is really interesting, it develops and help enhances relationships, so this piece posits that maybe you need a little social media in your customer relationship management strategy.
- Who are these people and why are they Following me – I was goofing with Em and talking about Widespread Panic not being around for New Years and I regurgitated a thing we always say at shows: “Who is this band and why are they following me?”, next thing I know I’m cataloging profiles on Twitter.
- Steve Johnson Interview – The whole Marketing IS in the Middle series was great, as I got to connect with friends, thought leaders and former colleagues, which was a great time all around.
- Chris Brogan Interview – This is also from Middle series and was an interesting take from an accidental marketer with some great insights.
Hope you find these of interest and there are some new one’s you haven’t read. Cheers!
~jon