Archive for June, 2006.

The Power of Personal Branding

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

With as much as 80% of a corporation’s net value being comprised of its brand equity it’s no wonder that almost 1.5 trillion dollars was spent in 2006 on corporate branding initiatives. While most CEOs readily understand the need to build brand equity at the corporate level or for products, services, intellectual property, etc., very few understand the substantial benefits that are created from increasing their personal brand equity. The simple fact is that many entrepreneurs and senior executives completely miss out on one of the most powerful branding strategies available in today’s market – the creation of their own personal brand. In today’s post I’ll discuss the power of personal branding.

 


The Name Game: Part 3

Posted on June 28th, 2006 by admin in Branding & Identity, Miscellaneous

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

This is the 3rd and final post in this series on naming. The fist post dealt with how to select a naming firm, the second post addressed the components that go into creating a great corporate name and this post will deal with other venues within the naming field.

A lot of focus and attention is brought to bear on the topic of corporate naming as this is the most visible high impact area of naming. However naming applies to products, services, projects, reports, books and publications, newsletters, microsites, blogs, intellectual property, business practices and a long list of other areas that often receive less attention.

 


The Name Game: Part 2

Posted on June 27th, 2006 by admin in Branding & Identity, Miscellaneous

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Today’s post is part two in a three part series on naming. Yesterday’s post contained advice on how to select a naming firm and today’s post will cover the elements that go into creating a great name.

Contrary to popular belief all of the great names have not already been taken. So, what are the components of a great name? While the answer varies a bit from industry to industry the following rules of thumb should be kept in mind:

 


The Name Game: Part 1

Posted on June 26th, 2006 by admin in Branding & Identity, Miscellaneous

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

The disciplines of branding and corporate identity have long been personal passions of mine, and nothing within this genre holds greater fascination for me than the practice of corporate naming. This post is the first in a three post series and will discuss whether corporate naming should be handled as an internal initiative, or whether it should be outsourced to a professional naming firm.

Done well, corporate naming can be one of the most powerful assets in a company’s branding arsenal. A great company name can support, energize and leverage your brand. The right name will also create strong competitive separation while at the same time establishing a bond of trust and loyalty with your target market(s).

 


What Really Matters?

Posted on June 23rd, 2006 by admin in Miscellaneous, Talent Management

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

I must confess that I’m not a movie critic and I’ve never written a film review, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I just returned from the movie theatre with my family where we watched Pixar Studio’s “Cars”. On the way to the movie I was giving some tongue in cheek grief to my wife about being dragged to an animated film (I’m normally more of an action film kind of guy) On the ride home I was thanking her for taking me along.

 


The Power of Focus

Posted on June 14th, 2006 by admin in Operations & Strategy, Productivity, Success, Talent Management

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Being out of focus will give you more than a headacheI am frequently asked what it takes to become more productive. My answer is simple Become very, very focused. Focus has always been a characteristic that has served me well. Focus results in aligned priorities, order, discipline, and productivity. That sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Then why is it so hard for executives and entrepreneurs to stay focused? There are two primary reasons that professionals cannot maintain their focus:

1. Successful people tend to be energetic, creative, intelligent, and have bias toward action. That combination of personality traits, combined with the pace at which business operates today, can cause even the best and brightest to lose focus and in turn lose productivity, and;

 


Which Search Engine Reigns Supreme? The Answer Might Surprise You.

Posted on June 13th, 2006 by admin in Miscellaneous, Technology

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Just think about how many times a week you search for something on the Internet 10, 20, 50, 100+ times? Reflect back upon any major business decision you’ve made over the last few years and my guess is that you utilized the Internet at some point in time to verify, analyze, research, confirm, compare, or evaluate something in regard to every one of those major decisions. The bottom line is that the key to your Internet experience begins with the search engine you choose to use. It is therefore important to understand which search engine will provide you with the best results and in turn the largest boost in productivity.

 


How to Capitalize on a Strong Brand

Posted on June 9th, 2006 by admin in Branding & Identity, Miscellaneous, Operations & Strategy

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

OK, so you’ve made all the right moves and built a strong, recognized brand Now what? Don’t make the mistake of many companies who rely on existing brand recognition to carry them forward. Rather take your recognized brand equity and leverage it into new strategic partners, broader and deeper customer relationships and new products and services. The fastest path from brand recognition to brand dominance is to continue to advance your brand by venturing or partnering with other companies who can help you increase revenue and customer satisfaction with short time to market considerations.

 


How to Win the War for Talent

Posted on June 8th, 2006 by admin in Miscellaneous, Operations & Strategy, Talent Management

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth 

Due to numerous requests I have agreed to post a reprint of an article that I previously authored in which I describe the undeniable value of talent in the workplace. Here you go…

I am often asked to write or speak on the issues surrounding recruiting and retaining talent. However most of what I end-up writing about are all the phases of the talent management lifecycle that come after the recruiting phase, and that lead to an organization’s ability to successfully develop and retain their talent. While the struggle to acquire top talent is certainly not a new problem in business, the ever increasing competitive landscape, as well as increasing customer demands is making the “talent factor” a defining point in a company’s ability to generate sustainable growth in revenues, profit and brand equity.

 


The Power of Instant Messaging

Posted on June 7th, 2006 by admin in Mediums & Markets, Miscellaneous, Technology

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

If you think Instant Messaging (IM) is just for teenagers you may want to reconsider that thought I have been using IM as a business tool since it was first released in 1996. As the technology has improved and more people have gone online IM has just become a bigger part of my communications platform. With what is estimated at more than 150 million people using IM today it has come a long way in the last 10 years. For those that don’t have any exposure to instant messaging I’ll start with a brief description of the technology, its applications and corresponding benefits: