Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced her plans to turn the iconic tech giant around on Tuesday. Some critics insist the new plan is big picture and short on specifics. Small businesses, too, must sometimes reinvent themselves. Here is a closer look at the new Yahoo! battle plan and some thoughts for how you can turn your small business around when necessary.
Project Personalization
A new direction. In an “act of radical transparency” Tuesday, new Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer introduced her plans for a new direction. Mayer sees the company’s strength as its “personalization” in arenas ranging from e-mail to advertizing to content. Mayer’s other thoughts were less specific, but seemed to rally the troops at the company-run URL’s Café. The trick to turning your business around is to have a plan. All Things Digital
A new team. As part of her efforts to rejuvenate Yahoo!, Mayer has been recruiting a new team. The latest addition, also announced Tuesday, is Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman. Assembling new talent or restructuring an existing team must be part of any business turnaround. What other steps are necessary to re-imagine your brand, product, or service? Read on! Yahoo! Inc.
Reinventing Your Brand
Keep it simple. Keep it safe. Another important step toward breathing new life into your business may be easier than you think. Instead of adding features to your products or services, making them more like your competitors, try focusing on one small feature that differentiates your product or service from all the rest, and simplify the buying decision for consumers by setting yourself apart. M4B Marketing
Perfect pitch. It’s not just your product or service features, but how you pitch them to your customers that really matters. Here are two case studies shared by blogger Diana Pohly that may give you a better idea of how to effectively put your offers into words. Telling your customers what sets you apart is an important step toward distinguishing your brand in the marketplace. Step By Step Marketing
Unleash your marketing Ninja. In the second post of this series, guest blogger Nicolas Dalleva talks about the analytics that will help you know your customers as well as they know themselves. Segmenting your customers lets you learn more about their behavior and buying trends individually and as a group, while helping you to remember that the customers you serve are people, not just numbers. Keep Up With The Web
Watch your mouth. The way you talk about selling to your customers betrays how you think. While selling is all about you, blogger David Brock suggests we change things up a bit. Let’s focus on the customer and fulfilling their needs instead of our desire to make a sale. Focusing on serving customers first by helping them make a decision about your product may seem obvious, but it may also be the key to transforming a business. Partners in Excellence
Make some measurements. Once you’ve got your team in place, measure their performance. Guest blogger Jessica Sanders makes this simple suggestion and then outlines some tools that will help you do it. Here are three creative ways to manage your team’s performance and improve your company at the same time. Make sure the team you’ve got is accomplishing what is needed to set your brand apart. bizCompare
I stopped using my yahoo email account two years ago and I wrote an email to the company explaining why: The site is too busy and “bloated”; when I log on, Yahoo loads an endless amount of “e-crap” that I have to wait for and wade through before I can simply read my email. I understand that Yahoo has had to sell their souls for advertising revenue. However, at some point, I don’t need to subject myself to this stuff. Yahoo tries to be an “everything” site. Why not focus on a few things and do them with integrity instead of a lot of mediocre things? I don’t want “MY Yahoo”; I just wanted my email!
You have to wonder whether too many businesses take this step out of panic. Re-inventing your business, whilst it can have many benefits of course as your article suggests, is not always necessary when perhaps other more simple issues might be solved to rectify the business’s performance.
I think Mrs. Meyer will certainly help keep things current at Yahoo.
I have to wait for and wade through before I can simply read my email. I understand that Yahoo has had to sell their souls for advertising revenue. However, at some point, I don’t need to subject myself to this stuff. Yahoo tries to be an “everything” site. Why not focus on a few things and do them with integrity instead of a lot of mediocre things? I don’t want “MY Yahoo”; I just wanted my email!