In undergoing a month long review of my business, I decided to shift some focus and create some new ways to generate value for my readers, my followers, and my market.
In the past, I have almost exclusively laid down my sword at the foot of maximizing ROI.
That’s been helpful, but also limiting.
Helpful in that when you are talking about generating profitable revenue, people listen.
Unhelpful in that everyone started spewing ROI at every turn and gave the concept a tinge of the foolish or meaningless.
With that out of the way, I’m shifting my gaze a little onto the horizon of strategy.
As a prospect said to me over the summer, “I think you are a brilliant strategist, but I don’t know if you can sell a ticket…”
Odd, since at one point in time, I sold approximately $10 million in tickets in one year.
I digress.
Enough about me.
How does this impact you?
By refocusing on strategy, I can turn my energies onto something that I think is often bothering people that I talk with:
- How do I make sure I am in the right market?
- How do I make sure that I am maximizing my impact in the market?
- How do I make sure that I am doing work that is profitable and enjoyable?
Over the years, some of my greatest client successes have been in entering new markets and reinventing in old markets.
So that’s one area you are going to see a lot more about.
Another area that I have taken my eyes off of but constitute an area where new ideas and knowledge can create tremendous value for you is in the area of small and medium size business strategy.
In most areas, we think about strategy as the big picture stuff for big organizations. But in today’s economy where quarterly capitalism is rampant, true innovation is declining, and big businesses feel more uncertain, the true innovation and growth in our economy come from the ability of our small and medium businesses to be successful.
For many of you that means: strategy.
But it is also means looking at selling, marketing, management, and operations.
Sports, entertainment, the arts, and culture is where I got my start.
And, I still love working with these people because ensuring people have a good time is demanding work that is often under appreciated.
In these areas, the organizations might be dealing with challenges due to increased competition for entertainment dollars.
They are likely dealing with the existential crisis of their brands. This is true for brands in any number of areas, but especially sports and entertainment.
Most are dealing with the challenge of reaching their audiences in meaningful ways, supporting their long-term mission, and growing.
As a small business and professional services firm, I know and understand how tough selling consulting or professional services can be.
There is a huge problem of differentiation. There is a huge problem of having your margins shrunk due to competition and not understanding your unique selling proposition.
And, to be fair, most professional service firms have incredibly weak brands.
Finally, my old standby, the Revenue Architect.
As I feel like making the right decision on where you invest your time and energy is important, I feel like the Revenue Architect brand supports strategy very well.
As Peter Drucker used to say, “Without profit, your business can’t go on.”
I’ve often felt that in too many cases, profit is the end-all focus of a business when the real focus needs to be on creating and keeping customers.
This doesn’t mean you create customers that you can’t sustain, but it does mean working very hard to build something of value that will attract customers.
Over the next few weeks and months, I am going to have a slew of new offerings and ways that we can connect.
But this is where my head’s at.
And, I wanted to share it with you.
Also, this is likely the last self-indulgent post I will write for a long time.