From the Wonkana blog...I was reminded today of some sage advice from Robert Craven, who Richard Branson refers to as "the entrepreneur's entrepreneur" and how businesses ought to react ( can you detect the yearning tone? Good.) when all around them belts are being tightened, budgets are being squeezed and the consumer wants "owt for nowt". The words still resound as strongly as that day in Spike Island amongst the melee of the Bristol Enterprise Network."When your competitors are slashing their marketing budgets, don't be tempted to do the same."
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Thank you.
RELEVANT LINKS
Marketing Blues - Wonkana blog
The Devil's In The Detail and Capital Pitching also make reference to me.
PS
FREE NEW BOOK?
My new book "Beating The Credit Crunch - How to Survive and Thrive in the Current Recession" is at the printers as we speak.
We will have a limited number of review copies available for blog readers and have decided to allocate them to every 25th person emailing me with the following info
- Name
- Job Title/Position
- Company Name
- No of Employees
Email now with the four pieces of info, and put "free book" in the subject. Good Luck! Feel free to spread the word - the more, the merrier (but no cheating!) and the 'offer' applies only to UK addresses and finishes on 1st March 09 - one entry per company etc etc.
4 comments:
That's right Mr. Craven, give yourself a pat on the back. I thought that this blog was supposed to be choc full of useful examples about how we should run our businesses, not on how many times others have cited you.....
As to the free book, ok, very nice, very kind, but of course for every single book you give away, you get 25 leads.
If you were publishing through a publishing house, each lead would cost around 60 pence per. If you condsider the special pricing you get by self publishing, those leads cost you about 10 pence per, a lot cheaper than other methods.
Wait, you've taught us something new after all! Thank you!
Can we please, please leave the narcissistic diaplays at the editing deks though and stick to useful stuff?...
I think Robert has the perfect right to congratulate himself, as we congratulate and think him. He does lead by example as to how one ought to publish a book, AND create some good leads at the same time.
As to the "narcissistic displays" I disagree. All he is surely doing is proving that the business community at large sees what many, perhaps including you, do not? To see that it is the easiest thing, to get caught up in what the dangers are, what could be lurking around every corner, and how we all ought to go to bed and not get up until the enlightened have sorted out the world for us.
This all makes for a fair-weather business person. Just as the fair-weather bikers only go out when it's sunny, some "business" people only have the balls to start-up and get on with it when the economy makes it all too easy for them. What skill does it take to sell to, or provide "good service" to those who are blindly looking for instant gratification type purchases? Not much, I argue.
Which is just one Darwinian reason why so many businesses "fail," they were not real businesses, with real structures and metrics to begin with. Just chancers basking in the proverbial sun.
What Robert Craven does is to provide those who have the business in their DNA, and who didn't have the luxury of business school, (or even those who did,) with the necessary, learn-today/use-today tools to be able to go on, and ultimately to survive these lean times. He literally teaches them how to fish, rather than giving them fish to eat. All "useful stuff" then, yes or no?
So, to those who's businesses die, I have empathy, but you probably either didn't want to learn or left it far too late to do something about it.
Based upon Robert's previous books and lectures, I have no doubt in this latest book's ability to give those with the passion to survive, a road-map of how to get there.
So, not narcissistic displays then, but rather a full confidence in his own unique methods, mixed in with the leadership quality to be able to convince people of their own abilities. "A noble gesture, Mr. Craven, thank-you!" ought to have been your only comment "Not Cat Stevens!"
I think Robert has the perfect right to congratulate himself, as we congratulate and think him. He does lead by example as to how one ought to publish a book, AND create some good leads at the same time.
As to the "narcissistic displays" I disagree. All he is surely doing is proving that the business community at large sees what many, perhaps including you, do not? To see that it is the easiest thing, to get caught up in what the dangers are, what could be lurking around every corner, and how we all ought to go to bed and not get up until the enlightened have sorted out the world for us.
This all makes for a fair-weather business person. Just as the fair-weather bikers only go out when it's sunny, some "business" people only have the balls to start-up and get on with it when the economy makes it all too easy for them. What skill does it take to sell to, or provide "good service" to those who are blindly looking for instant gratification type purchases? Not much, I argue.
Which is just one Darwinian reason why so many businesses "fail," they were not real businesses, with real structures and metrics to begin with. Just chancers basking in the proverbial sun.
What Robert Craven does is to provide those who have the business in their DNA, and who didn't have the luxury of business school, (or even those who did,) with the necessary, learn-today/use-today tools to be able to go on, and ultimately to survive these lean times. He literally teaches them how to fish, rather than giving them fish to eat. All "useful stuff" then, yes or no?
So, to those who's businesses die, I have empathy, but you probably either didn't want to learn or left it far too late to do something about it.
Based upon Robert's previous books and lectures, I have no doubt in this latest book's ability to give those with the passion to survive, a road-map of how to get there.
So, not narcissistic displays then, but rather a full confidence in his own unique methods, mixed in with the leadership quality to be able to convince people of their own abilities. "A noble gesture, Mr. Craven, thank-you!" ought to have been your only comment "Not Cat Stevens!"
That's right Mr. Craven, give yourself a pat on the back. I thought that this blog was supposed to be choc full of useful examples about how we should run our businesses, not on how many times others have cited you.....
As to the free book, ok, very nice, very kind, but of course for every single book you give away, you get 25 leads.
If you were publishing through a publishing house, each lead would cost around 60 pence per. If you condsider the special pricing you get by self publishing, those leads cost you about 10 pence per, a lot cheaper than other methods.
Wait, you've taught us something new after all! Thank you!
Can we please, please leave the narcissistic diaplays at the editing deks though and stick to useful stuff?...
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