60 Second Articles

December 2006
60 Seconds of Information Impacting You and Our Fast-Forward Economy

Estimated Reading Time: 60 Seconds

60 Second Articles:

1. 50 Ways To Succeed In 2007
2. The Rise Of The "Intelligent Consumer"
3. Will Wal-Mart Revolutionize The Way We Purchase And Watch Movies?
4. The 60 Second Close: Is Your Plan For Success In HD Or Analog?

*********************
1. 50 Ways To Succeed In 2007
• Business 2.0 Magazine asked 50 of the brightest minds in business how they do what they do and how you can cash in on their advice in the year ahead. Following is a sampling. These are just the "headlines," but it's the descriptive explanations that are most fascinating.

o Sergey Brin, Co-founder/Google: Succeed With Simplicity
o Rachael Ray, Chef, TV Personality: Turn Your Passion Into An Empire
o Michael Dell, Founder/Dell Computers: Think Big
o Carly Fiorina, Ex-chairman/HP: Turn A Setback Into A Comeback
o Bruce Chizen, CEO/Adobe Systems: Thrive In The Shadow Of A Giant
o Ron Sargent, CEO/Staples: Practice Extreme Differentiation

• Read all 50 and get energized for the upcoming new year. Click on: http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/biz2/howtosucceed/index.html
*********************
2. The Rise Of The "Intelligent Consumer"

• Only a few years ago, consumers would read the newspaper for the best sales events and then make a purchasing decision right from an ad. As a result of the Internet and the vast information that is available from it, a new "Intelligent Consumer" is making purchasing decisions based on objective information from other consumers with similar interests.

• The rise of the "Intelligent Consumer" is based on a new extension of the Internet, called "Social Media" — blogs, podcasts, videos, and online communities — where other customers are encouraged to contribute information and opinions about their positive or negative shopping and product experiences.

• In Atlanta, we now have Trader Joe's. But you haven't seen much advertising, have you. When you visit, you'll find yourself talking to your friends about the experience.

• Customers can make more intelligent purchasing decisions by doing a search on Technorati ( www.Technorati.com) and reading blogs posted by other consumers, or by doing a search on You Tube (www.youtube.com ) and watching video reviews.

*********************
3. Will Wal-Mart Revolutionize The Way We Purchase And Watch Movies?

• Wal-Mart plans on introducing a new video service on their web site that will allow users the option of either buying a movie on DVD, or downloading that movie onto their computer.

• The retail giant currently accounts for about 40 percent of all DVD sales in the USA. With Amazon, Apple, and others quickly getting into the movie downloading service, Wal-Mart feels that jumping into the fray is the best strategy to protect their dominance in the DVD sales category.

• >From a merchandising and "up-selling" perspective, the new downloading service will enable Wal-Mart to develop special one-of-a-kind packages, like a "Physical DVD plus Download DVD" bundle at a special price, or buy a Physical DVD and download a different movie at a discounted price.

• How will this affect the consumer? There may come a time when downloading movies will be the normal mode of distribution rather than running over to BlockBuster to rent them, but for now some challenges do exist. Are people willing to view movies on their portable devices such as phones and computers and sacrifice the sound and quality that one gets when viewing the movie on a DVD player? And, if you were looking to download a movie onto your computer and then play the movie through your brand new High Definition TV set, you'll be disappointed because the connections between the two are non-compatible.

• Although some small progress has been made, there has yet to be a solid marriage between the computer and the TV set, even though one would think this would be a match made in heaven.

*********************
4. The 60 Second Close: Is Your Plan For Success In HD Or Analog?

• When we think of High Definition TV, we think of high quality, well-focused, and clear. And so we ask you, "Is your sales-building and marketing plan for 2007 written in HD -- clear, well focused, to the point, and easily defined? Is the plan easy for everyone on your team to understand, visualize, and implement?" If not, you're still stuck in Analog.

• If your marketing and sales-building picture is still unclear and muddy, then it's time to put your plan into the HD format. For information on accomplishing this, call us. We can help you get there --- now faster than ever --- and in HD! Call me at 770-457-3700 today.


Best Wishes,
Chris Lambrecht