What’s New
Podcast: Linda Popky appears as a guest expert on Technically Speaking to outline your steps to launching and promoting your book! - Listen
Podcast: Linda Popky and Dan Weedin (Shrimp Tank Podcast) talk with Brett Clark from BC Fitness about the importance of staying active and doing resistance training to slow down muscle loss as we age. - Listen
SAC® Press Release: "Companies Eye Innovation and Disruption in Volatile Economy" – Read Release.
Video: Just a Moment for Marketing: One-minute marketing tip videos. – View over 100 videos.
eBOOK: Top of Mind: 101 Insights to Transform Your Business
Purchase PDF or ePub book.
Subscribe to the Top of Mind Thursday Newsletter
Free articles download with sign up
Marketing Above the Noise
Introducing Dynamic Market Leverage™, an approach to help cut through the clutter, stand out, and effectively build business.
Available in Hardcover and eBook formats
Top of Mind Thursday – June 22, 2023: Lost and Found
This afternoon, it was reported that the missing submersible vessel with five people aboard had met a catastrophic end on the ocean floor, near the wreck of the Titanic that was the target of their trip.
While it’s terribly sad that five people lost their lives, there was no lack of effort expended to try to find and rescue them. Both Canada and the US sent rescue crews, and many private ships outfitted with the latest technology were deployed as well.
Contrast that to another incident this week in the Mediterranean. A $175 million superyacht rescued over 100 migrants from the wreck of a fishing trawler that sank while the Greek Coast Guard sat back and watched. In addition to those rescued, over 650 people are estimated to have drowned in that accident.
We can’t weigh the value of one life against another. Still, the disregard for human life experienced in the Greek incident is appalling. And the difference between the two seafaring mishaps is stark.
The occupants of the Titan submersible were wealthy people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the adventure of a lifetime. They ignored the calls from those who warned the vessel wasn’t well-tested, and pointed out that safety was not given serious consideration.
The people lost off the coast of Greece were Pakistani, Syrian, Palestinian, and Egyptian refugees–escaping bad conditions to try and build a better life somewhere else. Would the Greek Navy have stepped in if the billionaire’s yacht was in trouble? Most likely. Did they step in here? Absolutely not.
When rich people do dangerous things, the world attempts to rescue them from their mistakes. When poor people attempt a dangerous sea crossing because they feel they have no other choice, it was the government that needed to be rescued from their poor judgment by a billionaire.
In this week’s tragic losses, perhaps we can learn to find our sense of humanity and do better in the future. If not, we are truly lost as well.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 15, 2023: Do Your Damn Job
It happened again this week.
At least once a day, someone else told me about a simple customer service issue they tried to resolve that became unnecessarily complex and drawn-out–and I experienced this myself, too.
None of these were unique situations. It’s likely a similar situation happens to this company dozens of times a day–if not more. Yet, in each case, the company representative was unable or unwilling to do what was needed to help, which should be exactly what they were hired to do!
Meanwhile, we’re living in an uncertain economic environment. There are layoff and cutbacks. Wouldn’t it make sense for companies to take some kind of proactive action to keep the customers they have satisfied?
Why does this happen? In some cases, customer service has been relegated to a series of prompts on a computer. If your situation fits their script, you’re in luck. Otherwise, the rep can’t or won’t think outside of the box. In others, it seems apparent that the company really can’t be bothered to help you. If you leave, someone new will take your place.
In my case, I was trying to dispute a credit card charge. The supervisor at the credit card company told me I needed to have proof I received a credit to dispute the charge. But if I had the credit, I wouldn’t be having the dispute now, would I? She repeated the same thing several times, louder and slower, until I told her I heard and understood everything she had already said, I just didn’t believe the argument made any sense. Then she hung up on me.
There’s much consternation today about how generative AI might disrupt our lives, eliminate jobs, and drastically change the way we do business. Yet, given the current state of affairs, it’s hard to see how an AI bot could make things much worse. At least generative AI tools learn–which doesn’t seem to be the case with today’s tone-deaf human reps.
How is your business doing in this area? Here’s a novel idea. Try calling your own customer support line with a problem and see what happens. Then you can see where you have to step in and get people to do their damn jobs.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 8, 2023: The Right Spark
My gas grill picked an inopportune time to stop working.
With summer fast approaching, this is the time of year when BBQs are the preferred way to cook dinner. Over the last couple of months, it’s been getting harder and harder to get the grill to light. Then, a few weeks ago, it just stopped lighting at all–even though it has plenty of propane gas and everything else seems to be working fine.
The big question was whether or not I should try to get this repaired–or would I spend more money on parts and labor than it was worth. Maybe I should just get a new one at one of the many seasonal sales.
Before doing that, I wanted someone knowledgeable to look at it. Perhaps this was something that wouldn’t be too hard to fix. So I asked the contractor who’s doing some repairs to my house to take a quick look.
That he did–and it was definitely quick. After no more than 30 seconds, he asked me if I had any spare AA batteries. Sure. But what did that have to do with the gas grill?
Turns out the igniter is powered by a AA battery. He swapped that out and voila! The grill lights perfectly. A battery! Who would have guessed? Not me!
How often do we look at something that’s not working and make assumptions that the whole system is faulty? Too often, we jump to the conclusion that we’d be better off starting from scratch instead of letting the people who understand what’s going on tell us what’s really wrong.
Sometimes, all you need is a little something to create a spark.
S’mores, anyone?
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 1, 2023: A Matter of Perspective
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
We’ve all seen statistics that seemed too good, too bad, or just too strange to be true. The problem is with the right set of data–analyzed at exactly the correct angle–you get a perspective that generates a particular statistic. But looking at things from a broader perspective, shows something very different.
Today, the local media reported that the 2023 Bay Area tech layoff had reached a “grim milestone.” The latest cuts at Meta will bring the number of people let go this year to 25,000. Gee, that sounds bad, doesn’t it?
Until you consider that there are over 378,000 tech jobs in the Bay Area, and more than 25,000 people were added to the job rolls from mid 2021-2022 alone, plus 16,000 added since mid-2022. In fact, unemployment in the area is now about 2.9%–where 4% is considered full employment (there are always some people in between jobs–that’s the way the world works).
Furthermore, there are more than 200,000 fewer people on the unemployment list now than in mid 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
So what does this all mean? Probably that those companies who hired like crazy for the last couple of years overdid it. Those who thought upward trends would last forever are realizing it’s called a business cycle for a reason.
Silicon Valley is not imploding. Tech is not under siege. And maybe some of this culling will help make organizations stronger for the future.
The next time you see a stat like this, stop and ask what’s really being measured. Then look at things from a more reasonable perspective before becoming too grim.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com