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 August 6, 2020: A Crater Waiting to Happen
Yesterday, an enormous explosion shook Beirut, Lebanon–killing hundreds, injuring thousands, and leaving a large part of the city in ruins. The blast was so strong it mimicked a 3.5 earthquake and was felt hundreds of miles away.
It appears that this explosion was an accident–the result of a large amount of highly explosive materials being improperly stored in a warehouse near the center of the city.
Lebanon has been a country in turmoil for years. Piling this tragedy on top of an ineffective government in the midst of a global pandemic seems insurmountable. Already, countries across the globe have stepped up to offer assistance–including some, like Israel, who have been at odds with Lebanon for years.
The worst part of this is that it didn’t need to happen. Local authorities have been warning of this extremely unsafe situation for nearly six years. Yet, their warnings went unheeded and the result is massive devastation.
We can look at this situation and shake our heads. But how often do we have accidents like this waiting to happen that don’t receive proper attention? Not building up the national supply of emergency supplies for a possible pandemic situation is just one example, but there are many such situations in both the government and private sectors.
Where are the ticking time bombs in your organization? What warnings have you been ignoring–because there are higher priorities, or because you just think “it will never happen here?”
As Beirut learned yesterday, we ignore legitimate warnings of potential crises at our peril.
Here’s a list of support organizations that are helping respond to the situation in Beirut.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
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 July 30, 2020: Play Ball
The boys of summer are back! Well, at least for now.
Major League Baseball started a truncated 60-game season this past week. There are new rules–like the designated hitter applies in both leagues and extra inning games start with a runner on second base.
More importantly, there are COVID restrictions. No fans are allowed in the park. Players have to wear masks when not on the field and maintain social distance. Broadcasters call the game from afar.
Yet, in spite of this, the game is being played. Cardboard cutouts of fans line the seats behind home plate. Crowd noise from baseball video games is piped in to simulate fan reactions. Players restrain themselves with socially distanced post-game celebrations.
Most of the time. A major COVID outbreak amongst the Miami Marlins has led to cancellation of not only their games, but those of the Philadelphia Phillies, who were the last team the Marlins played, and the two teams the Marlins and Phillies were supposed to play next.
While the NBA has sequestered players in a “bubble” in Orlando, FL, baseball games are being played at stadiums across the country. This provides much more opportunity for league personnel to expose themselves and others to the virus–possibly shutting down the whole operation.
The world has been anxiously awaiting the return of live sporting events. We’re all cheering on those teams who are able to play, but it’s important not to forget this summer the ball is in COVID’s court, not ours.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
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 July 23, 2020: School Daze
The end of summer usually signals it’s time to think about sending kids back to school.
Normally, most kids protest a bit at giving up the freedom they’ve had over summer break–they’d like to stay home and avoid the classroom a little longer.
But this year, home has been the classroom since March or April. Online classes have changed the lives of teachers, students, and parents–many of whom likely never thought they’d ever “home school” their kids.
Yes, kids needs to go back to school. But the call to return to a physical classroom comes as COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing.
Yes, kids are much less likely to get severely ill or die from this disease. But they have been proven to spread the disease to others are much as adults do. And classroom education puts adults–like teachers, administrators, aides, and others–at risk, too.
Yes, working parents need to be able to get back to work. But they need to do so without fear of coming home and contracting the disease from their school age kids.
It does no one any good to send kids back to a physical classroom until these issues are resolved. But rather than look at this like an all or nothing situation, why not search for creative compromises?
Can a Zoom science class be supplemented by an outdoor experience with physical distancing and masks? Can teachers and tutors be made available to provide additional learning opportunities and take some of the strain off of parents? Can box lunches be distributed to kids who used to rely on school lunches for a good nutritious meal?
None of the solutions are perfect. But in today’s world, we need to stop thinking about how things used to be and start focusing on what we can do now.
When it comes to school, it’s time to get out of our daze and do the right thing for all involved.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
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 July 16, 2020: An Open and Shut Case
In an attempt to move back towards some degree of normalcy, many parts of the United States have moved to open more businesses.
In recent days, everything from parks and beaches to hair salons and DisneyWorld has been allowed to open–albeit with restrictions on hygiene and number of people served. As a result, many people rushed in to do the things they’d been missing.
The problem was something else rushed in as well: coronavirus.
Even in areas that seemed to have the pandemic under control, opening up new areas of business has resulted in spikes in infections. Florida, Texas, California and 30 other states are seeing such rises in cases and hospitalizations that ICU and medical supply availability are again threatened.
We’ve now done the experiment. We shut off potential areas of transmission, the number of cases drops. We open those areas again, the number of cases rises dramatically.
I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t wish this would go away and “normal” life could resume. But all the wishing in the world, doesn’t change the reality of how contagious and dangerous this virus is.
Now that we know this, we need to stop trying to find ways to “get around” restrictions and focus on how we can live our best lives while keeping ourselves and those around us safe.
We know it’s possible. Countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand have done it. Even Spain and Italy have moved past their crises.
What we have to do now is simple. It’s an open and shut case.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise–even in a crisis situation.
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