It was with interested that I read that Google stopped censoring search results in China today. Not that I was happy about it; at the end of the day, regardless of what your ideological beliefs may be, a country has the right to its own sovereignty and the right to make its own laws. However, the nature of the Web is pervasive and this is something that the world must come to terms with. Deep down, I agree with Google’s stance; if I decide to search for “best acne treatment“, I should get the same sort of results, regardless of where in the world I am; likewise if I search for “China militant leaders”. Ranking results based on factors like geographical proximity is one thing, but mapping results onto the ideologies of the current leaders of a country just wouldn’t cut it for me.

Now the question is, what will China do next ?

It’s a tough reminder that your market share can be here one day and gone the next. Innovation is the name of the game here, and unless these companies have something new and exciting that consumers will find compelling, I’m afraid it’s curtains for them. They’ll be as useful as an rv towing company in Antarctica; if there are no clients around, that’s going to spell disaster for the company.

It will be an interesting one to watch, not for sat nav companies though!

Strategic planning is a valuable exercise for most businesses, however it is also laced with risk due to the scope of the activity. I came across a great article that talks about the four most common fatal flaws in this process and wanted to share it just to spread the word. Here are the most common fatal flaws in strategic planning:

• Skipping Rigorous Analysis: Performing incomplete analysis (or skipping the analysis step) is a sure recipe for disaster. Make sure you examine your problem, your landscape and your organisation from all sides otherwise you can miss what later on will seem exceedingly obvious.
• Believing Strategy can be built in a day: Strategies evolve, there’s no two ways about it. A strategy is not an idea that everyone can get behind, but is the product of thought, deliberation and experience. Give the process the time it deserves.
• Failing to Link Strategic Planning with Strategic Execution: A common problem is to come up with a great strategy, but mess up the execution. A strategic plan needs to be carried out by the whole organisation, so make sure you communication strategies are in place, as well as control mechanisms to make sure everyone “get’s it”.
• Dodging Strategy Review Meetings: It is terribly easy to focus entirely on the forumation of a strategy and try to avoid reviews and checkpoints that are set up after. Remember, a strategy is only as successful as it’s execution and review meetings are there to provide a feedback loop as to it’s success (or failure).

I thought the article was a great read and a reminder for anyone working in a strategic capacity. Once you get into the swing of things it’s easy to stay on the treadmill, but strategy in itself involves taking time out to take an external look at what you’re doing. Make sure your benchmark rings true and you’re in for a treat. Omit that important follow-through and in time, everything will come crashing down.

Read the article here: Four Fatal Flaws of Strategic Planning

So, for example, an online jeweler can target customers who are interested in titanium or tungsten rings, omitting the standard gold or diamond segments. Or you may seek treatment information on Plantar Fasciitis from a website that deals exclusively with footwear and foot conditions, rather than visiting a pharmacy who will not have detailed information about your condition.

It’s all pretty interesting when you think about the scope it gives potential retailers in the area. It allows organisations and individuals to become experts in a particular subject-matter rather than trying to generalise to increase their sales.

Interesting post by Kevin Kelly who believe the drivers in today’s emerging economy can be distilled into the statement: Where ever attention flows, money will follow. It’s an interesting idea which is hard to negate, as can be evidenced by new giants like Googe, Amazon and eBay. Here’s an interesting section:

New things that don’t work or serve no purpose are quickly weeded out of the system. But the fact that something does work or is helpful is no longer sufficient for success. Good, useful stuff is now the minimum standard. I might even make the argument that great stuff is the minimum. Now anything that lasts has to also maintain our attention.

And when it wins our attention, money will follow. Money is one way we acknowledge our attention. We “want” something — an intense form of attention — and we use money to fulfill this attention. Using the product or service is a continuation of that attention. Recommending it others is a further extension of that attention.

bbgm likens this to Peter Druckers take on innovation, but I think a closer line can be drawn to Seth Godin‘s “Be Remarkable” mantra. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling ball bearings or you’re a satellite internet provider or just looking to become the world’s most influential geek, attracting and maintaining attention can be the key to your success.

In hard times people get a little bit more creative about making money. As there is less money to go around one wants to insure that what one has can go a long way. One might be tempted to visit markets and a sell some products or maybe open an online shop. Online businesses or websites tend to be seen as a cheap option. no rent, no expensive layout costs, staff recruitment cost. Is that so?

It is common misconception that online stores are cheap and easy. It can be best be summoned up by you get what you pay/put in. For example Ebay provides excellent e-commerce facilities. The only down side with it is the cost. All our clients that use that service are trying unsuccessfully to get away from it. They are tired of Ebay taking their percentage. Unfortunately building up customer trust on there own website is proving difficult. But that need not be the case with  the right planning and investment.

This is where the shop comparison comes in. If you would spend ten thousand pounds setting up out high street retail shop, you will need to spend at least that on an internet retail business to make it successful. There are few shortcuts that really work. If you want to create a successful business you will need to either spend the money to employ somebody to set it up for you in the way that create positive sales, or you will have to spend the time yourself. If you thing that just buying a domain name and putting some e-commerce software purchased for a couple of hundred bucks is going to create an online business, I have news for you. It ain’t going to happen. Pity you may say, but the good news is that with the right tick sheet you can solve many of the problems.

Before you’ll begin you may want to think about the following:

• Customer registration and account management
• News letter signup
• Automatic email confirmation
• Search feature
• Secure user login
• User behaviour statistics
• Varied Payment options
• Email to a friend

Or maybe not, How about this:

1. Target Audience – Who is your website directed at? Other businesses, older people, all age groups? It is important to understand who you are talking to and what goals you have for the site.
2. Number of Pages – Do you know the number and types of pages and how they relate to each other? You don’t need to know the exact details but try and think about what types of pages you should have.
3. Content – This means the text inside the pages and it is the most important part of the website. The rest of the site builds what we call in the industry rapport, but the contents are what sell your product or services. In fact if your site looked horrible but had great content it could still be successful, but not the other way around.
4. Design – Do you know what colors you would like or the type of graphic contents? Do you have logos ready to be used? Your site can be graphic heavy as we say or it can be clean and sparse. It is your choice and is very much a personal decision. If you don’t know what you want, you can surf the internet and find some sites you like.
5. Images – Do you have all the pictures for the site and are they in a digital format?
6. Forms – These pages are the ones that collect information from your visitors and then send you this information as an email. You can contact us to discuss your options. We will guide you through the process, one step at a time.

There some interesting information there, however I would tend to take it a step further. The key to making a business work, regardless of whether it’s online or offline, is a successful business case. Without the correct strategy in place you’re doomed to failure, regardless of how complete your online offering will be. Focusing on the technology is the wrong place to start; first analyse what demand exist for your services, then decide what effort and resources you want to invest in it.