For me, 2010 marked a year of radical changes in the way I do business. It was in many ways a year of rebirth, learning and growing. While the learning and growing will continue in 2011, it will also be a year of solidifying positions established in 2010. In 2010, I developed an over-arching strategy for future success that focuses on customers, content and strategy.
By customers, I mean understanding who they are and what they really need. They don’t need a blog to read. They need answers to their questions and problems. There are plenty of blogs already. They don’t need color verification; they need the right color every time. You get the picture. It’s not about selling drills, but the holes that can be drilled.
By content, I mean media that provides solutions to my customers’ problems. Media creation can take the form of a blog post, a public speaking presentation, a technology offering or any other appropriate form either as existing or new media. The content of the media will focus on holes drilled, not the drills used to drill them. Stories will focus on the how and why of problems solved, not the technology used to solve the problems.
By strategy, I mean focusing on supply chain-wide solutions. Content and technology that focus on solving the problem for one player in the supply chain are not enough anymore. Strategies for business and personal life have to be viewed and validated at 30,000 feet before diving down to act on the battlefield. We must search for solutions that work for all of us. No longer is a solution that works for one of us good enough for the rest of us.
Lessons learned in the past year have taught me how to better find my customers. I deliver content to them that is meaningful and useful. In 2011, I’ll utilize the skills I’ve gained in the social media and community universe to focus media creation on the printing and color topic areas. This will all be driven by an over-arching strategy that focuses my time and efforts where they should be: on customers, content and strategy.
What’s your over-arching strategy for 2011?
Great post to start the new year Jim. You know that I personally enjoy when you are able to draw out your thoughts this way. But to answer your question about strategy, I too am taking what I learned in 2010 and making it my main focus of 2011. That is, in my three words: customers as owner. Allowing my customers to tell me what they want from our businesses and delivering just that is our main goal. Interestingly, we’ve discovered that we must change our own business structure to serve that goal as well as we’d like. And you’ll see us form some new partnerships in order to answer the call to that sort of continued focus on customers under growth conditions.
Thanks for sharing this today, I think it helped me to crystallize some thoughts I had been working through.
Happy New Year!
Joe,
I like your three words and I like the idea of partnerships. Partnerships, are in fact the majority of the grown plan for ColorMetrix in 2011. Trying to do it alone in 2011 is, in my humble opinion, just plain crazy.
Sounds like you have the plans in place to hit the ground running in 2011, may the year far exceed your wildest expectations. 🙂
-Jim
Nice post Jinm… it’s clear your focus is on point and very exciting to see things moving for you. It will be great to hear of your successes in the new year. 🙂
Cindi,
Thank you. Now that the plan is in place I have to start backing it up with passion and action.
-Jim
I love the “people google their problems” line. I’ve never thought about it that way, but it’s so true. Great post, Jim.
Dan, seems you’ve been looking at pictures in addition to reading the post. I like that!
-Jim
You’re a very methodical thinker Jim – this looks like an excellent plan to me… I look forward to sharing and growing in 2011. Happy New Year : )
Mark,
ehm, I think of myself as scatter brained and no I’m not just saying that.
-Jim
I need to echo Dan’s comments — Jim, you absolutely nailed it with the “People google their problems. Your posts better provide answers”.
Glad you’re back!
Jason,
Another one looking at the pictures. 🙂 You guys have no idea how happy I am I drew that. A few nights ago I was trying to figure out an image to put with the post. I couldn’t find anything so I drew the sketchnote. That sketchnote is stuck in my brain and will be for the balance of the year. The image with arrows and words will guide me more than the post. The five or six paragraphs above will be forgotten in days but not the image.
-Jim
On the content side…
I love the fact that you called them “stories” for the how and the why of the problem. Without compelling stories, that people can pull at their own convenience, you won’t be found. On the flip side, when people find your stories and have a similar need, they will be more likely to pay for your technical solution. A win-win.
Thanks for sharing Jim!
Who doesn’t love a good story – right?