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 Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – December 23, 2021 : The Weather Outside is Frightful
Airline pilots talk about encountering weather whenever they come across something that’s potentially disruptive to their flight path.
This could be storms, turbulent air–even a dramatic change in air temperature. They warn us to stay seated with our seat belts securely fastened till the weather has passed.
Today, the weather we’re facing is not just related to precipitation. We have the rise of the Omicron variant, causing huge surges in COVID cases. There are sharp divisions across society that result in tempers flaring and escalating violence. Supply chain disruptions are impacting everything from the availability of cars to holiday gifts and meal prices.
Here’s the thing about weather: We can’t control it. We can’t pretend that Omicron isn’t raging anymore than we can ignore a major snowstorm. We can’t ignore the violence going on in our cities any more than we can expect to go out in a drenching rainstorm and not expect to get wet. And demanding that your holiday items arrive on time when they’re not in stock will only cause frustration.
What we can control is how we react to weather. We can carry an umbrella, winterize the car for snow, and dress appropriately for the cold. We can get vaccinations and boosters to protect against Omicron, and wear masks to protect those around us who are vulnerable. We can take actions to prevent further gun violence and prosecute those who go on crime sprees.
Then we can accept this is the way things are now and focus instead on enjoying life in this new world.
As the song says, “…the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go, Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Catch the latest episodes of the hottest podcast on business and entrepreneurship…ShrimpTank Seattle Wednesdays at noon PT.
Check out our marketing thought 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 – December 16, 2021: Changing the Game
On Tuesday, just a few minutes into the game between the Warriors and the Knicks, Stephen Curry became the NBA’s all time leader in three-point shooting.
Curry did this in 40% fewer games than the previous leader, Ray Allen, which means as long as he’s healthy, he’s likely to add considerably to his total.
Steph’s father, Dell Curry, in his day was one of the most accurate three-point shooters in the game. He taught young Steph (and Steph’s little brother, Seth) to shoot from distance from the time they were children.
What was a novelty back then is now a key part of the game. Not just the NBA, but college players and even young kids in pick-up games know they have to develop a solid three-point shot. And that’s changed the way the game of basketball is now played.
Steph Curry didn’t set out to break records or change the game–he wasn’t even considered a top draft pick. But he kept working hard, with consistent, long, grueling, practice sessions daily till he perfected his shot. When he could reliably make a long-distance basket, Steph pushed out further and further. Some of his shots now are far enough out, it seems they should be worth four points instead of three.
How are you changing the way the game is played in your industry? What are you working at consistently? How are you pushing the envelope to go a little further than anyone else?
No matter what business you’re in, if you don’t keep extending your capabilities, one thing’s for certain–someone else will come along and change the game. Would you rather be the game changer–or the team that has to defend against the Steph Curry of your industry?
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Catch the latest episodes of the hottest podcast on business and entrepreneurship…ShrimpTank Seattle Wednesdays at noon PT.
Check out our marketing thought 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 – December 9, 2021 – We Can Do Better Than This
Last weekend, the CEO of Better.com laid off 900 people, nearly 10% of his workforce.
This is certainly not the first big layoff we’ve seen during the pandemic. However, it was highly unusual to do this kind of layoff in a 3-minute Zoom meeting that told people if you’re on this call, you’re the unlucky person being laid off–so long.
This is not a company in financial trouble–they have nearly $1 billion in funding. It’s also not a company known to be kind to its people–former employees talk about previous rude emails from the CEO berating them for being slow and as stupid as dolphins (which is strange–since dolphins are one of the smarter mammals in the sea).
He did apologize for the manner in which he handled this–telling people he was sorry if he embarrassed them. Talk about tone deaf! It was not the people on the receiving end of this who should have been embarrassed!
Sometimes it’s necessary to deliver bad news to your staff. Most of us have been laid off at least once. Stuff happens. But we all remember how we were treated–with respect and dignity, or like excess inventory that has to be jettisoned as quickly as possible.
Perhaps the company name should be changed to wecandobetter.com. Certainly, the rest of us can do better than this in the future.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Catch the latest episodes of the hottest podcast on business and entrepreneurship…ShrimpTank Seattle Wednesdays at noon PT.
Check out our marketing thought 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 – December 2, 2021 – Shooting the Messenger
This week we learned of another COVID-19 variant: Omicron.
This new strain appears to be much more transmissible than previous versions, but may not cause as severe disease–it’s too early to tell. It was first identified in South Africa, but has now been found in a dozen or more countries–including the US and Canada.
So what did many countries do? Shut down travel to/from Southern Africa immediately. The problem is that by the time scientists realized this was a new strain, it had already spread to just about every continent. Shutting down borders now is like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped.
This is not only not useful, but it’s punitive for the medical personnel in South Africa who very astutely recognized a new variant and promptly shared their findings with the world.
If we punish those who expose new variants, how likely is it they’ll continue to serve up new information as received–only to be slapped in the face for doing so?
Many businesses talk about being learning organizations where failure is encouraged and not punished. But, in reality, too often the natural instinct is to take out bad news on those who are brave enough to call it to our attention.
The only thing worse than hearing bad news from a messenger is not hearing anything at all–because the messenger was shot down previously.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
Catch the latest episodes of the hottest podcast on business and entrepreneurship…ShrimpTank Seattle Wednesdays at noon PT.
Check out our marketing thought 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