Friday, December 18, 2009

Why should you be a ‘thought leader’ in your industry?

As Augment Marketing explores thought leadership strategies, we wanted to deliver ideas that could be used within departments and organizations immediately. We found the following points at Go-To-Marketing Strategies Web site:

According to Go-to-Marketing Strategies author Steven Van Yoder -

  • Thought leadership centers on sharing your knowledge and giving your expertise generously and frequently in a  variety of formats.
  • Thought leaders position themselves as centers of influence who are always "present" within their target markets. Seek opportunities to be seen, read, and heard on a regular basis by the people who matter most to your  company.

Thought leadership is creating a great deal of buzz. In fact, we're seeing a movement among leaders in respective fields that explore what makes a thought leader in an organization? We discovered some important points:

  1. Be accessible and freely share best practices to those in your department or field - in today's competitive economy where every job is on the line, individuals may be afraid to collaborate or offer insight that could help another person in their organization for fear of losing value if they do. The total opposite is true. You can ensure your 'thought leadership status' by authoring documents and getting your ideas in front of people. By holding back, you cannot be successful - no one even knows you exist.
  2. Establish yourself as an expert - Anyone who feels shy, timid or afraid to share ideas need not apply. To establish yourself as a thought leader you must be front and center. If you aren't easy with putting yourself out front, start by establishing social media and small speaking engagements within your organization. Once you find your groove, you'll feel more comfortable presenting your ideas to larger audiences. There's no easy way to becoming a thought leader, either way you slice it... it takes time.
  3. Deliver value to your organization - Always being aware that the information you bring to an organization should offer some kind of value i.e. increased productivity, better customer relations, reduced inventory, enhanced ROI. The goal is to define the value when presenting your ideas to upper management to be seen as a thought leader. Most high-level executives want the bottom-line right up front.
  4. Promote innovation and align with your company's vision - Thought leaders are always aware of innovative new technologies and ideas that can align with the company's vision. This may be in the form of analyzing or introducing new software, new business models or new products. Again, the idea is to lead your peers and fuel innovation and growth that contributes to a sustainable future for the company.

Thought leadership is an increasingly vital driver of business success.The term was first coined in 1994, by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the magazine, Strategy & Business. The term was used to designate interview subjects for that magazine who had contributed new thoughts to business. There isn't a better time than now to become a thought leader and deliver valuable insight in helping your company evolve.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has nearly 20 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing please contact for more information: trisha@augmentgroup.com.




7 Steps to Promote Innovation within Your Company

In today’s competitive environment, companies must cater to the changing needs and wants of the consumer. New, innovative ideas are vital to the growth and success of your business. Maintaining an inspired creative team requires dedication, education, and communication. Here are seven simple steps to foster the growth of innovation in your business:

  1. Encourage Ideas
  2. Designate Creative Time
  3. Have a Submission System
  4. Keep Track of Current Trends
  5. Combine Need and Technology
  6. Implement and Incentive Program
  7. Communicate

Encourage ideas
Ideas are the foundation of creative innovation! Encourage creativity and be receptive to all ideas- even if they aren't that great. Employees should never feel embarrassed or afraid to submit their thoughts or creative suggestions. It only takes one idea, good or bad, to be the starting point of something big.

Designate creative time
While it's certainly not cost effective to let employees sit around all day staring into space while they dream up the next great invention, it IS a good idea to set aside some time to let the creative juices flow. Whether it's once a week or once a month, designating a certain amount of time for employees to brainstorm and share ideas is a great way to promote creative thinking.

Have a submission system
Good ideas will never grow into something tangible if there isn't a process to keep track of them, so adopt a system for employees to use in order to submit their ideas. This system will keep submissions from getting lost in the shuffle, and will make sure that they reach the appropriate department that can make the necessary steps to bring the idea to fruition. 

Keep track of current trends
Sometimes good ideas are not altogether new- they are simply inspired by a product or practice that already exists. Keep track of what other businesses in your industry are doing; know what works; know what has already been tried, whether or not it was successful, and why.

Combine need and technology
New and improved technology is being produced at an increasingly rapid rate. However, if it were to no one's benefit, what would be the point? Make sure your team knows where innovation is needed most within your industry, and keep them up to date on current technological trends. This information can then be used to your company's benefit, as your team can effectively combine all this new, advanced technology with the existing needs of your target audience. Be sure to look for technology that can drastically improve efficiency. In times of economic turbulence, improving productivity is the key. 

Implement an incentive program
Use an incentive program (which does not necessarily have to include monetary compensation) to motivate your creative team. Recognizing staff members for innovative thinking can go a long way, and rewards based upon various levels of achievement are always a great way to encourage hard work and promote employee loyalty.

Communicate
Communication is extremely important. Listen to your consumer and be aware of their current needs and wants. Make sure that the lines of communication are open between staff members, C-level leaders, and vendors. When employees are appreciated and acknowledged for bringing valuable innovation and profit to your company, they will be motivated to continue on the path of creative thinking.

If you’re on LinkedIn, you can watch this SlideShare show on “Making the Competition Irrelevant” - http://tinyurl.com/yfxd4xh.

Written by Ruth Netanel of Adgination.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has nearly 20 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing please contact for more information: trisha@augmentgroup.com.




Sunday, September 20, 2009

Building Credibility as a NEW Business

As a new business your main focus is to appear larger than you are until you are able to grow your business. Think of it as an illusion. You’re not trying to get one over on anyone but quite frankly, you have to fight your way up the ladder when your small and this is the only way to do it.  Building credibility can be a daunting task but it’s very doable if you put the right strategies in place.  Building credibility starts with these few concepts:

  • Becoming an expert is merely taking charge of what you know and demonstrating it to the world. If your field is marketing, management, finance or decorating, begin building credibility by writing about it and educating consumers.
  • Building your credentials is a must as you begin growing your business. Every seed you plant right now will probably not come to fruition for a year or maybe more down the road.

At last week’s “Building Credibility Seminar” at Jesse H. Jones School of Business at TSU – Entrepreneurship Center, local companies learned these three things to start building their reputation as a leader:

  1. Begin blogging – blog about what you know. Do not be afraid of writing if you are not a writer. You have to practice in order to hone your skills. There is no time like the present. Have a friend or colleague read your blogs until you are comfortable with writing. Blogs are more educational and conversational than anything else. They are short and to the point information that is easily digestible; making them easier to write than articles. Once you are comfortable, you can venture into writing articles, guest writing, editorials and perhaps even whitepapers.
  2. Have a strong image – make sure you go above and beyond the call of duty on building your image. Invest in nice business cards, letterhead and envelopes. Invest in a domain name so that your email is your company email and not xxx@yahoo.com or xxx@gmail.com. If you can invest in a simple Web site with at least 4-5  pages of informative, brochure like material, then you can have Web presence to demonstrate your professionalism. If all else fails, start a company blog – at least you will appear to have information on the Web when potential clients are searching for you.
  3. Make news – write a press release on your business each week. Even if you never publish them, you are forced to think about newsworthy content to promote your business. Making news plays an important role in building credibility for a new business. Another reason you should be writing news releases is to get better at writing and taking charge of the future of your business. You can post them to your blog or Web site. Your company will be searchable in search engines and potential clients can find relevant information about your business.

You’ll be relieved when you begin to see all of your hard work pay off. Again, building credibility isn’t an overnight strategy but a long-term positioning strategy that will ultimately grow your business beyond belief. Be proactive and follow these tips and you’ll see improvements over time. If you need more advice like the information in this article, FREE events take place at the Entrepreneurship Center each week. It’s open to the community and general public at no cost.   To get updated on upcoming events, please email your request to be added to our mailing list at trisha@augmentgroup.com




Saturday, September 12, 2009

Eight Ways to Augment Your Sales Process and Win Business Today

These eight basic elements will help you to start augmenting your sales efforts. If you are new to business, you’ll learn a great deal by implementing these measures. If you are a novice, not to worry, you may need to brush up on your closing or networking skills. Either way, these eight steps will move you one step closer to closing the deal.

1. Dream big and never give up – This is the first step because without believing you can win and working to achieve the highest goal you set, you will surely never get there. Shoot for the stars and if you get to the moon you are halfway there.

2. Commit to building your capabilities and portfolio without being concerned about money – Of course we all want to make money but sometimes taking steps is a learning process and worth the price you get for a project just to get your name out there. Don’t be afraid to ‘volunteer’ your services on the front-end. Only follow this advice if you intend on producing results. It doesn’t work with poor quality. Try organizations, non-profits or even business-to-business (B2B); for example, you can offer your services on e-lance.com at a competitive rate.

3. Don’t forget sales 101 the natural buying process – Buyers do not purchase products or services they do not know or trust; therefore, when developing your sales process, you must think of sales as a funnel. The wide mouth indicates the level that consumers just want to get to know you down to the bottom of the funnel where trust is strong enough to buy. You may have learned this concept in marketing 101… It’s called Awareness. Interest. Trial. or (A.I.T.). Augment Marketing has coined this as B.I.G.™ - Build awareness, Increase interest and Generate results. All this means you need several levels of buying options to gain trust from your clients.

4. Know your target market – two fundamental questions you must answer – who are your customers and what do they want? Again this is marketing 101 – But, it’s the hardest to identify. The reason is because you may have several targets and segments. Without research and analysis, you may not have a good grasp of your competitors or your customers. Do yourself a favor and focus on one or two targets and expand from there.

5. You have to know it before you can grow it – before you can go out and sell your product, you should have already thought about your vision and core values. It’s important to understand what you stand for because while you are out networking or meeting potential clients, they will want to hear your elevator speech.

6. Develop an elevator speech – Be able to say who, what, when, where and how in 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds. No doubt, you will have to be prepared to deliver a compelling message to get your audience to listen.

7. Image is everything – Never leave home without it. Meaning, a polished business card and brochure. If you can invest on the front-end, you definitely need to make that happen. If not, it’s better not to take a chance on cheap materials. Get their card and tell them you will be in contact.

8. Close the deal – Make sure to plan out your calls, contact messages and emails. Once you have their attention, don’t be afraid to close the deal. Create a sense of urgency. If all else fails, tell them you have another project and need to make a decision. You would appreciate their diligence and timely response. If they say, not at this time but maybe in two months, great – you have a solid commitment and can move on to bigger fish in the sea.

Good luck to all businesses and entrepreneurs. You truly are the real American heroes.

Trisha Ahlman is the CEO of Augment Marketing Group and has nearly 20 years experience in marketing for corporations and small businesses. She sits on several creative and strategic development boards nationwide. "Inspired by growth" from its inception, Augment's mission is to inspire growth in all businesses large or small when developing strong brands. We believe in inspiring, learning and growing please contact for more information: trisha@augmentgroup.com.




Saturday, September 5, 2009

How Logic Models Set You Apart from the Competition

When presenting a contract or report to potential clients or board of directors, Logic Models can demonstrate your preparation and understanding of how you came up with a process and how it will impact results.  If you are responsible for writing contracts, Logic Models can set you apart from your competitors.  How you ask? While some are focused on what they provide and how they provide it, you can go the extra mile by demonstrating the impact to the organization. This is important for stakeholders because it means that you have considered not only specific actions to take but measureable results.  It’s just one more step to implementing projects more effectively which clearly sets you apart from competitors.  If you want to learn more about Logic Models, please email trisha@augmentgroup.com in order to receive a free report on how to develop logic models.




Thursday, September 3, 2009

New Event Coming Up

Trisha Ahlman will be presenting this Friday at Jesse H. Jones School of Business at TSU in the Entrepreneurship Center – room 109 – 3100 Cleburne St.. The topic is on Logic Models. Many contracts require logic models in order to demonstrate goals, actions and tactical plans. The meeting time is 5:30 – 7:00. To learn more, visit www.augmentgroup.com for more details.

Attendees will learn how to structure a logic model, how to apply a logic model and how logic models are used to develop strategic plans more effectively.

The event is FREE and anyone can attend.




Friday, July 3, 2009

The Elements of Value Innovation

Have you ever wondered how some companies achieve sustainable growth while other struggle to keep up? W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne stated in an article from the Harvard Business Review, Value Innovation, “In a five-year study of high-growth companies and their less successful competitors, we found that the answer lay in the way each group approached strategy”. The authors go on to explain that the conventional way of thinking, beating the competition, wasn’t the type of strategy that high-growth organizations adopted but rather the strategic process of making the competition irrelevant. The article explained in detail that it didn’t matter what size the organization was but how they logically approached strategy that impacted growth. What can we learn from this as small business owners? The lesson is that we truly have a great opportunity. We, the small business owners, are more flexible, more agile, and more creative and we have less bureaucracy. That’s why entrepreneurs still have a chance to create successful businesses even in the most uncertain economic times.

Let’s talk more about the elements of value innovation. To innovate value you have to skillfully integrate an idea, competitiveness and emotional value for consumers. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What do you stand for (value proposition)?
  • What makes you stand out (marketability)?
  • What makes you compelling (brand story)?


Consider this value innovation model when developing value innovation for your company:


To consider each of the strategies surrounding your value proposition look at:

  1. Core Capabilities – Look at what value you have to offer your clients. Are you capitalizing on your strengths? Each of the following strategies will strengthen your core capabilities making you more marketable to your clients.
  2. Partner Network – Develop partnerships and alliances so that you can win more accounts. Think outside-of-the box. Remember, the goal is to make the competition irrelevant if you want to master value innovation. Bring in more partners and alliances and you will build your core capabilities for a unique client experience.
  3. Customer Relationship Management – How will you manage your clients? What unique value do you offer over the competition? Start by knowing the competition and defining how your CRM strategy will differ.
  4. Distribution Channel – Distributing your product or service is the one of the most important strategies to consider. Think about the many products and services you can offer to build your core but more importantly determine how accessible will it be for your client.
  5. Target Customer – The idea is to have a niche market. Define a small or narrow target and it’s much easier to offer them precisely what they need. Again, you may have several target customers if you have a variety of core capabilities but the idea is to identify each segment skillfully.
  6. Cost Structure – Determining your cost structure will contribute to your competitive advantage. If you are a small business you have less overhead than larger companies and can add more value at the same time. Never price yourself out of the market or below. Investigate pricing strategies that will work for your clients.
  7. Revenue Streams – Consider multiple revenue streams and structures. Think about funneling buyers through the buying process. First you have to build awareness, then interest and ultimately trial (A.I.T.). So, if you think about your revenue strategies you might want to think about different packages you can offer your client to augment your business. Start with a small package to build trust and win them over for repeat business in the future.

An Example of Value Innovation:

Amazon’s business model or value model combines an idea, competitive pricing and an emotional experience for the customer:

  • Shopping convenience
  • Ease of purchase
  • Speed
  • Decision-enabling information
  • A wide selection
  • Discounted pricing
  • Reliability of order fulfillment

It’s the integration of all these processes and emotional benefits that makes Amazon a great value to consumers. Your business can do this too! You just have to plan to strategically position your company and products. Understanding that high-growth companies approach strategy differently really helps new companies create a sustainable model from the beginning. If you want to attend a free seminar on Value Innovation see our FaceBook Events page for more details.

Trisha Ahlman is a marketing strategist and small business owner. She has worked in just about every marketing function possible for nearly 20 years. Augment Marketing Group's specialty is helping small businesses build strong brands, increase visibility in the market, and generate sales - this is called our B.I.G. (tm) system. To contact, email trisha@augmentgroup.com.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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Repositioning a Brand - It's Going to Be a Long Road

A long road? It doesn't have to be. Today, branding is such a broad term used loosely to explain a concept that for some isn’t so easy to define. In our entrepreneurial training classes, we explain that the only way to describe branding is to say that ‘branding is everything’! From the way your employee answers the phone to how you dress and even how the company is structured internally. In fact, described by many professionals like LaCosta Lolly of LLS International Consulting, a international strategic firm, “developing a strong brand starts from the inside out”. I couldn’t agree more. I have taught in many courses that in order to brand or reposition an existing brand you must start from the inside out.

First, we analyze the brand through the process of what we call the branding wheel model which first starts with the company’s core philosophy. At that point we determine the organizations unique selling proposition moving into the entire brand architecture; ultimately, determining what that looks like and sounds like to the world through creative imagery and messages. To reposition a brand we have to take it a step further and redefine what the organization looks like to its stakeholders. This can be done through the perceptual mapping process. As you probably realize at this point, it isn’t going to be an easy task. It takes a highly skilled professional or consultant to help entrepreneurs step away from the business long enough to develop the foundation of a strong brand.The question is what can you do? The best thing you can do for your company is envision its future. Without your leadership and understanding of where you want to take the company – most likely you will not gain support from those who drive your vision. It doesn’t have to be a long road if you play the visionary role in your business. When repositioning your brand it’s best to understand how to shorten the path to successfully build positive brand equity in the minds of stakeholders.

Here are the top ten things you need to do in order to start:

  1. Follow the branding wheel process
  2. Develop scenario’s or what if situations
  3. Take action (seems simple but many small businesses fail because they do not ‘TAKE ACTION’)
  4. Hire someone to help you (a coordinator, an intern, a friend or relative or a consultant)
  5. Review the trends 5-10 years out for your industry
  6. Develop a spreadsheet that captures the benefits, features, advantages and disadvantages of your competition
  7. KNOW the competition better than they know themselves
  8. Network, network, network (both online and at events)
  9. Remember the 5 P’s of marketing (Product, Placement, Price, People, Promotion)
  10. Analyze your internal structure, your vision for the company and how you manage your people
If you want to learn more about branding or repositioning your brand, you can attend one of our free workshops (see events on our Face Book page) or you can visit our Web site. We offer a wealth of information to help small to mid-sized businesses augment their marketing and their brands. Learn from some of the brightest consultants in their fields of expertise like LaCosta Lolly, Harry Futch and others. These consultants have joined our team to deliver sound advice to our readers. Each of them have a passion for helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Connect with Us - Get the latest updates

Augment Marketing continues to provide the most relevant data to our clients and readers. You can follow us on Twitter to get #365 tips on augmenting your business or you can stay in touch by visiting our Face Book page where we post upcoming events that you can attend for free in most cases. If you want to connect with us on LinkedIn just click the link below. You can follow us now on all the social networking locations (click links below):

The Tell-Tale Signs of Poor Brand Strength


by Trisha Ahlman

One of the most important steps of branding is the measurement of internal perception and organizational structure. Change is, no doubt, a very important concept when beginning to rebrand or reposition a company, product or service. The question becomes is your organization ready for change, are you poised for new ideas to flourish, are you aware of the tell-tale signs of poor brand strength? All of these questions could create a war – a tug of war – between what you are trying to accomplish and what might actually happen because of poor internal perception.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “don’t put the cart in front of the horse?” Unfortunately, I see this more times than not in some organizations. Before you can position or market a product or service effectively in the marketplace, you need to look within the organization first. Review the list of tell-tale signs and let’s discuss how to combat internal resistance to change.

1) Inadequate communication or education within the organization

2) Have direct opponents of change because of self-interest not necessarily in the best interest of the company

3) Low tolerance to change because of the fear of an unstable environment

4) Lack of morale and teamwork

5) Strict and rigid policies that prohibit creativity

6) Lack of vision

7) Lack of leadership that fosters poor professional judgment

8) Poor customer service reviews

9) Internal perception reveals poor assessment of leadership and management

10) Unnecessary bottlenecks that cause frustration throughout the corporation

The list goes on. But, these are some of the most common distractions that go against the grain of change. The most important thing for survival in the current state of the economy is to get a handle on internal processes. If you think that you can identify with anyone of these factors, it’s time to take an internal audit of your business. You cannot position your business or brand without understanding that marketing starts from the inside out.

Based on some of the most profound findings by business pioneers like Kotter and Covey, here’s what you can do:

· Set specific objectives from the start

· Have a sense of urgency (be proactive)

· Buy-in and direction from leadership and top management

· Develop and communicate a clear vision (begin with the end in mind)

· Build a coalition for change (internal buy-in is critical)

· Empower people to have an ownership environment (think win-win)

· Learn from mistakes and develop an environment of responsibility

· Encourage education and training within the organization

· Create personal development plans that allows individuals to be a part of the decision making process

· Don’t let problems foster for a long period of time

This all sounds great but how do you start, how do you manage this, and what result should you expect? First, start by taking an assessment. What is internal perception? There should be a person assigned to manage the assessment within the organization that is a supporter of change – perhaps the brand manager – who understands the long-term vision of the company and what the leadership is trying to achieve. Second, you need to develop a team (a coalition) that is scientifically formed. Scientifically means that teams are formed based on personality, results, and synergy among the group and not formed by mishap. The coalition will be responsible for managing change and implementing new standards to support the end goal. Lastly, you should expect a renewed sense of ownership, loyalty, teamwork, personal discipline, improved morale, and continuous quality throughout the company.

Right now, this methodology is even more important than ever. Everyone is fighting for job security so what we’ve been witnessing is internal chaos as our brands will ultimately deteriorate over time as a result. The leaders of businesses, large or small, must take corrective – proactive action.

If you want to reposition, rebrand, brand or simply be more efficient and effective throughout your company – you have to start here. Augment has worked with many organizations to help them align internal practices to match external goals when positioning the brand for long-term success.

*References: concepts derived from John Kotter concluded in his book "A force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management" (1990), the Kaizen method of continuous incremental improvements is an originally Japanese management concept for incremental (gradual, continuous) change (improvement), and the Seven Habits model of management and leadership by author Stephen Covey.

Trisha Ahlman is a marketing strategist and small business owner. She has worked in just about every marketing function possible for nearly 20 years. Augment Marketing Group's specialty is helping small businesses build strong brands, increase visibility in the market, and generate sales - this is called the B.I.G. system. To contact, email trisha@augmentgroup.com.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Action Plans - Why do we procrastinate?

Everyone tells us that business plans are the best way to navigate and build our business - so why is it so difficult to accomplish? And, what about the plans we do find the time to write down but never come to fruition. Unfortunately, these obstacles are the realities of being an entrepreneur or new business owner. We wear many hats and we tend to let our businesses consume us. Action plans (or business plans) tend to be plans that are reactive rather than proactive for small businesses. Sound familiar?

Let's start with the types of plans first, how we can start the process, and how to eliminate waste and get the plans working for you rather than sitting on the shelf.

The following plans are considered to be relevant to small and growing businesses. Depending on the size of your company, these plans may only consist of a one page document or even just a statement. They are:

Business Plan
Marketing Plan
Strategic Plan
Productivity Plan
Tactical Plans
Budgets
Sales Forecasting

As explained by business strategist, LaCosta Lolly of LLS International Consulting, "a comprehensive plan should be developed even if you have to implement in stages". Whether you have the resources to implement the plan or not, planning is still essential. Ms. Lolly goes on to explain, "For the small or mid-sized business seeking to grow or expand, planning is essential. It is important not to focus solely on acquiring new customers without being prepared for those customers and the reverse is true in that preparation without new customers creates unnecessary expenses. Strategic planning will help your business plan for growth from the inside out and determine what is necessary to take your business to the next level." To read more about strategic planning visit LLS International Consulting's NEW informative Web site.