We are all trying to develop a social media strategy that will: 1) Make us look ‘social media savvy’ 2) Augment our other marketing efforts 3) Expand our visibility 4) And more! In our efforts, we are constantly learning and adjusting. No one has this perfected. But one thing to definitely keep in mind along the way is your customers’ experience and perception of you. Don’t get so wrapped up in what YOU can get out of social … [Read more...]
About Jen Berkley Jackson
Jen Berkley Jackson, founder and owner of The Insight Advantage, has extensive experience in using various methods (surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews) to integrate the voice of the customer into all functions, helping organizations increase market share, revamp product lines/services, and ultimately increase customer loyalty and retention.
Keeping up With Social Noise
October 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We had a great panel discussion about social media tips for consultants at a recent general meeting. Overall, we learned that the key is to avoid being overwhelmed. Easier said than done! There are many aspects of social media that are difficult to manage. There is the ‘content generation’ challenge: what/when/how to Tweet, managing one’s own blog, etc. But there is also the challenge of how to keep up with the web content that you want to read that is generated by others, … [Read more...]
Client Compatibility: Check it Out Early to Avoid Big Problems
August 30, 2011 By 2 Comments
Recently I upgraded my Office software to Office 2010 when I got a new laptop. Little did I know that Office 2010 isn’t totally backward compatible with previous versions of Office. It caused major headaches when creating a PowerPoint presentation that my client and I were both going to be editing: formats were lost, charts needed to be reworked, etc. It was a MAJOR headache and caused the client a lot of extra work…not my favorite thing! Going forward I will definitely be integrating … [Read more...]
Thank You, Netflix!
July 13, 2011 By 2 Comments
Netflix, with its latest rate change, is helping customers like me explore not only other video sources, but also explore my technology to avoid being impacted by its changes. In one fell swoop, Netflix has gone from being perceived by movie watchers across the U.S. as the darling ‘little guy’ that displaced Blockbuster to now being perceived as just another greedy corporation. In less than 24 hours after the announcement, over 30,000 people posted comments to Netflix’s Facebook page … [Read more...]
The Global Economy: Are You Ready?
July 5, 2011 By 2 Comments
Are you keeping abreast of the megatrends that could impact you and your clients? In preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement, I did some research on current business trends and became aware of one trend that has increased its impact on my business over the past few years. We live in a global economy…. We are all impacted by the increasingly global nature of the economy. Our clients need our help in figuring out global markets and how to respond to them as well as how to take … [Read more...]
Email: Friend or Foe?
February 14, 2011 By 3 Comments
We all know that email is a business essential these days…how else could we, as consultants, work 24/7? ;o) Email, however, is also a huge challenge to our productivity. How many times have you gone to check email just to see if you had received one important email, only to ‘wake up’ an hour later wondering where the time had gone? Some of you, like me, may remember the days before email was ubiquitous…when people sent mail, called one another, or walked around the cubicle to … [Read more...]
Acknowledging Your Own ‘Stock Value’
July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Recently, I had a big ‘personal event’ in my life (I got married!) and for the week before and the week after the wedding, it was difficult to stay as focused on my work and my clients as I normally am. I had every intention of working on client projects right up until the day before the wedding and to return to work the following Tuesday since we weren’t taking our honeymoon right away—I wanted to minimize the impact of my marriage on my clients. However the clients I had active … [Read more...]
CA Independent Contractor Withholding – Where Do YOU Stand?
February 17, 2010 By 11 Comments
I just heard last night about a California state proposal to begin to require companies to withhold three percent of all monies paid to 1099 independent contractors. MANY organizations are opposing this for the following reasons: Extra costs for local governments to enforce the withholding Extra costs for businesses to administer the withholding This is not incremental revenue for the state...just accelerated revenue These are some good reasons...but I have a few more … [Read more...]
Prepare for Abundance…Do a Resources Inventory!
February 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
Recently, in a spurt of ‘abundance thinking’, where I was convinced that 2010 is going to be a MUCH better year than 2009 (I can’t afford to think otherwise, can you?!), I decided to do an inventory of people/resources I can turn to when my workload is too heavy to do it all myself. Like many fellow consultants, I can perform every function needed to support most client projects myself, but have found it very wise to outsource certain portions of my research projects when I have a heavy … [Read more...]
