MJD Management Group

Archive for March, 2010

Mill Square Group, an innovative marketing services firm that offers both large and small businesses a suite of marketing services designed to quickly identify and capitalize on new revenue opportunities created by change, announced today the Michael Davis joined the firms management team in the role of Master Dot Connector/Sherpa.  Press Release

As a long time technology guy who has invested a lot of time with the “new” or “better” mouse trap and bringing it to the masses who have up until that particular movement where I was going to tell them about it, had lived relatively fulfilled lives.

Internally, you work your self up into a lather with all of the bells and whistles and how it (I am smiling as I write this) will help mankind and how we as a company will make history.  There is one small point that is over looked, humans are creatures of habit and want to categorize everything and put everything into a box.  As as much as you know that up until this moment, there has not been anything ever like this new product.  Further, you wouldn’t want this product’s reputation with an idle comparison to a product category.   Check out the NY Times piece “ It’s Brand New, but Make it Sound Familiar”

Thanks to Burson-Marstellar for a nice white paper on Global Social Media Checkup.  The report provides good insight into what companies are doing with Social Media.  Here is a single graphic summary from Flowtown that tells a summary story of companies and social media

With all of challenges that exist in our world today, it is tough not to complain.  But, complaining in a group is contagious like yawning and can easily multiply changing the mood and environment in the workplace.  If you are curious about reversing the highly negative tide and infusing the environment in a very positive way, check out the recent post on b net.   Stop the Whining: How to End Corrosive Complaining

There is a lot of discussion about the real impact of social media on maketing on consumer buying decisions and consumer spend.   Some question that while certainly social media has influence, grabs attention, and engages,  that it does not consistently and successfully influence the consumer and drive the consumer to action (buying).    I say simply, social media is a new construct and if you understand that construct and operate within it, you will be successful with the buying actions and loyalty.

The challenge is that traditional marketing and advertising organizations are using the old construct which will not work with social media marketing.    We have seen this in other industries where the recognition of a different construct is at play was not recognized and not only an opportunity was missed, but these organizations holding onto the old way are positioning themselves to miss the party entirely.

I want to sharing a slide set from one of our business partners, Growth Strategies, that is a great primer for Social Media Marketing and is targeted for Executives and Entrepreneurs.  Enjoy!

Social Media Defined For Entrepreneurs and Executives

If you are looking for  firm to lead you through the social media world so that you can leverage it for your growth, contact Growth Strategies.  www.GrowthStrategies.us or Info@GrowthStrategies.us.

If you mention Michael Davis with MJD Management Group when you contact Growth Strategies, you will receive $100.00 off ANY social media marketing program.

DriveSafe.ly is a new mobile application that is in beta and provides a really useful function for drivers…..It reads text (SMS) messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically responds without drivers touching the mobile phone.  As the “no texting” while driving laws begin to be passed, applications like this will become key for the mobile phone users that have to be in touch while driving. Click this link to download the application.  Let me know what you think of the application.

The iPhone and Windows Mobile beta versions are pending.  The best way to stay current on the new release is to become a fan of DriveSafe.ly on Facebook -> http://www.facebook.com/DriveSafe.ly

In these times when execution is more critical than ever, peak performance has become a hot topic that is discussed for all of us trying to get to or beyond 100% an extra edge.  I think it is human nature to focus on working harder and not smarter or spending more time rather than trying to have balance to keep up rested, sharp, and innovative.   While I rarely believe that there are silver bullets, I do believe in philosophy and best practices that one can adopt and implement to have quick and reasonable change.  With that spirit in mind, I always want to pass along good information when I find it, especially when it is from business partner sites so that it can be helpful for others.  Let me know what you think about the article and the action exercise at the end.

My business partner, Stephen Jones of Growth Strategies, has a an article on his sight from Brian Tracy entitled, “How the Most Successful People Maintain Peak Performance” that I recommend you take a few minutes to check out.  For those who would normally want the cliff notes version, the secret to maintaining peak performance is relxation.  Yes, I said it.  Take a look at the article.  Happy reading and here is to your peak performance.

If you mention Michael Davis with MJD Management Group when you contact Growth Strategies, you will receive $100.00 off ANY social media marketing program.

Everytime you turn on the news, read the internet, or read the newspaper practically every municipality of every size has the immense challenges due to the combination off falling tax revenues and slowed economic growth which equals both budget deficits and extremely difficult, painful, and unpopular budget decisions for municipality leadership.

There is not a silver bullet nor is there a simple set of solutions coming in the short term to save the day with quick wins. While this takes political courage and fiscal discipline, the operative question is how do municipalities manage the financial crisis, pass a budget, and maintain an acceptable level of public safety and customer services and response time levels for citizens.

The approach and solutions have to be both holistic and innovative and have leveraged significant expertise and experience working globally resolving complex problems and developing and implementing successful solutions. We have experience engaging at the county, state, national, and international government jurisdictional levels.  We have worked with DeKalb County, Georgia, USA; Fulton County, Georgia, USA; City of Atlanta, State of Georgia Department of Transportation; United States Military Wright Patterson Air Force Base; People’s Republic of China; and Mexico Internal Revenue Service.

My professional highlight for 2009 was having the opportunity to meet Warren Buffett, participate in a business meeting at Berkshire Hathaway, have lunch, and speak with him in Omaha.   The three significant takeaways for me were 1) his unique ability to translate and communicate the most complex and technical business and financial situations into layman’s terms for understanding and 2) his degree of normalcy.  By degree of normalcy, I mean for a man that is worth $60 billion, his approach and living is unaffected by his wealth and he is a regular guy with a great sense of humor.  For example, we talked college basketball over a root beer float.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly, the “oracle” like sage advice for any topic.  So, whenever Warren has rules to live by, I will always post the article. Warren Buffett’s Rules to Live By

It should be no surprise to anyone that the CIO role is shifting away from the IT function and more towards business technology. I agree with the article’s point about the new emphases on customers, revenue, external information, and a passion for rapid change.  I recommend reading the full article from Information Week Global CIO by Bob Evans on the top 10 CIO issues for 2010.