Let your customers do the work for you

While I am not the biggest fan of Ticketmaster due to their monopoly over ticket sales and thus some ridiculous "service fees" that are attached to most tickets, they do do a lot of things right.

One of their best marketing ideas is allowing customers to create a bank of bands/acts that are "Favourites". When one of your Favourites is having a show in your hometown Ticketmaster will kick out an email telling you as much. How genius is that? The customer feels special because they know right when a concert in their hometown is announced and Ticketmaster has to do less marketing of the show. These people will want to be the one to announce to their friends that they know a show is coming so you've got instant word of mouth, and all Ticketmaster had to do was put the tool in place so their best customers could do the selling for them.

Sometimes it pays to let your customers do a little of the work for you. All you have to do is provide them with the tools, just like how you outfit your sales team with collateral.

Blocking talent

As a recent entrant into the job market I have noticed an alarming trend - companies blocking talent from working for them. And I am writing this entry from the perspective of a slightly bitter job hunter, but also from a practical approach to running a company.

The main way companies shield themselves from talented individuals is with the "Industry Experience" requirement.

Now, in all fairness, there is some value in this argument. Often specific industries have intricacies and best practices that are handy to know. So having someone with this knowledge is of great advantage.

However, you are also limiting your potential hire to a very niche market. Imagine the possible intelligent, talented candidates that you are blocking by having this as one of your top criteria in your job search. Best practices and industry knowledge are something that can be picked up by an intelligent person. Intelligence and skills are tougher to teach. I'm just saying.