How are you keeping your company relevant in the midst of economic and social change? That’s not a theoretical question; in fact, it should be a component of your strategic plan.
Staying relevant takes observation, insight, and action. It requires you to look beyond the issues that impact this month’s billings. Ironically, it demands that you stay in the present, otherwise you may overlook the threats your customers face today.
Relevancy hangs out at the intersection of today’s problems and tomorrow’s opportunities. Elite communicators know how to place your company right in the middle.
Here are 13 websites that I rely on for fresh perspectives, ideas, and emerging news. Feel free to share your opinions of establishing relevancy and suggest other places that readers can look for inspiration.
I love a spicy debate over new technology or social trends, and these days it’s impossible to mention Twitter or Facebook without triggering a verbal throw-down.
Once as separate as church and state, technology and social engagement are now inextricably bound together.
The whole notion scares the bejeebees out of people. Thanks to the near-mainstreaming of Twitter, Facebook and other community platforms, it’s a cinch to elicit a stream of grunts and eye-rolling from your spouse, colleagues and friends.
That Twitter Thing
As you read these words, someone down the corridor or across the room at Starbucks is clucking over this “Twitter thing.” It goes something like this: [click to continue…]
Remember the nursery rhyme Little Piggy? ”This little piggy went to market, This little piggy stayed home…” This ditty could soon bring tears to the eyes of hardworking hog farmers if bacon-loving Americans turn a cheek on the ‘Other White Meat’.
The WWBD Spinner (mcphee.com)
Meat-eater or not, you can’t ignore the financial blow our economy will take if the Swine Flu hysteria hurts the pork industry. Well over 500,000 Americans have a pork-related job (whether directly or indirectly). And the industry added $34.5 billion to the country’s gross national product at last published count. (source: NNPC)
Despite our government’s move to change ‘Swine Flu’ to the more clinical name ‘H1N1 Flu’, the damage to poor little piggy’s reputation could already been done. Until mid-week, the World Health Organization didn’t help the matter by picturing pigs alongside its pandemic alerts, and the national news was just as slow in emphasizing the safety of eating pork.
Let’s Put the Passion Back in Pork
Seriously, gang, let’s not let the pork industry suffer needlessly. Order a BLT at lunch. Grin and bear it when your kids want hotdogs at dinner. And remember, nothing says comfort like savory pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes.
You say you don’t eat pork but wish you could spread the word (versus germs)? I’ve got just the answer, and I’m sharing it because it’s too good to keep to myself. Accessorize yourself with some of the lighthearted pro-pork goodies from Seattle-based Archie McPhee. [click to continue…]
