My local newspapers are full of great articles written by journalists about finance, how-to repair, and general sound advice on a slew of topics. However, would I pay for all this actionable insight? Let’s just say, I haven’t purchased a newspaper in a very long time – and I’m willing to wager neither have you (at least not as often as you used to). The newspaper model is collapsing. The audience at large sees information as a commodity (for the most part). Why pay for one writer’s point of view, when I can find another three writer’s points of view for free – even if it isn’t quite as good. Read more…

Critical eye, New Media, User-Experience Premium content

Part 7 of 13 of my series on the profession of management consulting

Reviewing the history of  the management consulting industry is a lot like playing with mercury (for those of you who remember when mercury could be found in thermometers). As you push and swirl mercury, it often splits into smaller globules over and over again – only to reform into larger globules later on just to split again later.  Management consulting companies behave similarly. It is not uncommon for an office to break free from its parent company,  a former VP to start his own practice or for a small firm to get assimilated into a larger one. This should not come as a surprise as the management consulting industry is one based on client services and as such must cater to market tastes and demands.

While we don’t have the luxury of having the buying power or force of, say, a consulting firm like Bain, even a single-person operation can consider growth as an option to better meet customer needs. Ways one can grow one’s  business  will be the focus of the remainder of this post. Read more…

Management Consulting 7 of 13, Growth, Mana 695E

Wouldn't it be nice if you could skip pre-rolls?

Pre-roll ads, those ads you see just before you view an online video, seem to be effective if you believe a recent article in Advertising Age. So it will be a very long time before we see them go away. It’s not surprising that this tactic works. Unlike banner-ads, pre-rolls are impossible to ignore – or skip. Because of this, the chances of the ad in making an impression on the user are greater. That’s not rocket science – you don’t need to be a marketer to figure that one out. However, they do enrage many users. While I don’t have any scientific data to back this up – but I would imagine that the anger probably doesn’t help motivate users to absorb advertising messages. I would dare to say that they might even instil a negative sentiment in users just prior to the ad. And if you ask me, that’s not ideal. Read more…

Marketing, Web Analytics Idea, Pre-roll, Quiz-Skip