50 Ways to Foster Innovation

The manta for 2010 seems to be "Innovate or Die". We all know that that world is constantly changing and businesses that cannot innovate will eventually be in trouble, but how does a company foster a spirit of innovation? Writing for Fostering Innovation, Mitch Ditkoff suggests 50 ways for foster an environment of innovation in your company.

Some of my favorite ideas from the list include:

• Drive fear out of the workplace and make new mistakes
• Ensure a high level of personal freedom and trust. Provide time for people to pursue innovations
• Think long term
• Make sure people are working on the right issues

As your business is about to enter the new year, a year filled with opportunity and pitfalls, what will you do to foster a spirit of success and innovation?

You can read all of the ideas here.

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12 Ways Businesses Can Use Social Media

Almost all business owners and marketers acknowledge the power of social media; some just haven't yet figured out how to use it to build their businesses and brands.

Michael Kahn, writing in Chief Marketer, suggests 12 ways that companies can leverage social media to build relationships and drive sales. Here are a few along with my thoughts on each.

• Listen to Your Customers: Most companies and brands claim that they already to this, but you'd be surprised by how little listening they actually do. Are you using the advanced social listening tools that the web provides?

• Monitor and Respond to Customer Service Issues: Many companies just don't measure up. They talk about customer service, but don't deliver. If you are going to create a forum for feedback (and you should) do you solve problems or just listen.

• Harvest Data With Custom Apps and Sweepstakes: Do you capture names and contact info whenever possible? Is this a priority for your company? It should be. Use simple sweepstakes and coupons to drive sales and capture data.

Social media offers businesses and brands a wide variety of ways to interact with consumers. Is your brand maximizing its online presence and efficiency?

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5 Ways to ID a Corporate Entrepreneur

Robert Wolcott and Michael Lippitz write on Fast Company about entrepreneurs who thrive in a structured corporate environment. They claim that in order to foster entrepreneurship -- qualified by them as a "crucial economic driver"-- large companies must attract and retain "people with the determination and skill to build bridges to future growth." The authors use Apple and Google, as well as companies such as Cargill, DuPont, Baxter, and Wawa as examples of corporations that have successfully leveraged entrepreneurial talent to create "game-changing new enterprises."

Wolcott and Lippitz go on to list five ways to recognize an Entrepreneurus Corporatus.

I agree that the entrepreneurial spirit can thrive in a corporate environment, although my hunch is that it happens more rarely than the authors would care to admit. It takes a rare breed of human to be able to "build bridges for future growth" while navigating complex politics and unwieldy policies and procedures. Just look at Microsoft: it is known to hire very smart and entrepreneurial employees. However, the company is struggling to keep up with smaller and nimbler competitors in a number of categories.

A friend of mine, who ran a large multinational corporation's venture arm once told me: "My company is a ship that is too large to maneuver and too risk averse to truly innovate; when we want true innovation in a category, we buy it."

Large companies will have to learn to internally nurture Entrepreneurus Corporatus if they want to survive in an environment where smaller, nimbler companies have access, more than ever, to tools and resources that were formerly only available to the giants. Judging by the number of acquisitions that have resulted in failure, buying innovation might not be the best way to achieve future growth.

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6 Steps to Better Email Marketing

Well-targeted email can be an effective marketing tool. How do you create email that will resonate with customers and consumers? Sarah Brown, writing for SmartBlog on Social Media suggests that you:

• Keep the message brief
• Have only one ask
• Offer several means to the same end
• Add in a graphical call to action
• Show readers the goods
• Go out with a bang

Following these simple steps can make your email more effective and drive sales.

You can read Sarah's post here.

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10 Ways to Market on Twitter

It seems as if Twitter is on the lips of every columnist and commentator. But does it make sense for your business to embrace Twitter as a marketing tool? Many companies see value in Twitter, while others view it as a great time suck.

A well-written article in Twitip offers 10 suggestions to make your Twitter marketing campaigns more effective. Some, like the difference between posting and spamming should be obvious. Others take some time and practice.

Companies need to take time to experiment with Twitter to determine what does and does not work. The beauty of Twitter is that you can easily do this without incurring a lot of expense.

You can read the article here.

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Is Your Brand Protected?

Most companies register their trademarks through an IP attorney or by using online services such as LegalZoom. Until recently, registration by the USPTO was deemed sufficient to afford a company's brand some degree of protection.

Enter social media sites, where anyone can use almost any word, trademarked or not, as a handle or user name. At any given moment, thousands of people can be interacting with a brand name - negatively or positively - without the knowledge of its true owner.

A newly launched site, knowem.com, helps companies and individuals register their brands as handles or usernames in over 340 social media sites in one fell swoop. Read Lisa Barone's review of the site here.

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10 Questions Every Company Must Ask About Change

Every businessperson is faced with daily changes in markets, only some of which can be controlled.

Bill Taylor, writing in the Harvard Business Review, identifies 10 questions that leaders must ask of themselves and their organizations "when change is the name of the game".

How your company answers these questions will not only plot its future, it will determine your success. Ponder these questions:

"If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why?"

"Can your customers live without you?

"Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?"

You can read the entire article here.

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