So Here’s Your Challenge
136 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago -Provocative questions, innovative models & new thinking on growing your business in a 5-minute action-oriented podcast. Insights on Business Growth, Thought Leadership, Digital Strategy, and Trust. Each episode focuses on solving one issue, gives perspective, practical tactics and a motivating call to action. Randall Craig is a serial entrepreneur, former public company executive, and author of 8 books and over 600 articles on business growth. He has advised over 100 major organizations, including global financial institutions, professional service firms, publishers, entrepreneurs, and not-for-profits.
Recognized as #10 in Feedspot’s 30 Best Business Strategy Podcasts list: https://blog.feedspot.com/business_strategy_podcasts/
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Episodes
People Don’t Fail, They Give Up
April 09, 2024 10:51 - 2 minutes - 196 MB VideoLook around, and you see others enjoying great vacations, fancy cars, and the fruits of their professional success. Especially when you don’t have these things, it is easy to lose your confidence, which makes these (and other goals) even less attainable.
Looking for Growth?
April 02, 2024 10:50 - 2 minutes - 201 MB VideoLooking to grow your organization? If so, a key question is this: Where are all of the “new” zip codes? The ones that live in different sectors and geographies? The ones who come from different cultural backgrounds and different generations? The first-time bums in seats? One thing is for sure: these completely new prospects are not in one place: your social network.
Information Thief
March 26, 2024 10:45 - 3 minutes - 314 MB VideoAre you an information thief? Have you ever plagiarized, pilfered, or “borrowed” someone else’s knowledge or reputation? And has someone ever done this to you? Thanks to Google, we have the entire internet in front of us; it is too easy to use others’ information without their knowledge or permission — even if it is free. Depending on how (and what) you share, you’re either seen as in-the-know… or a thief.
Thinking Inside the Box
March 19, 2024 10:43 - 1 minute - 158 MB VideoAfter a seminar I recently delivered, I was approached by two undergraduate business students and asked if I could give them some advice.
Meeting Magic
March 12, 2024 10:39 - 3 minutes - 323 MB VideoHow many useless meetings have you attended? And how many have you been in charge of? Whether the meeting is a team status review, sales pitch, in-person or via Zoom, following a structured approach can make an appreciable difference.
Marketing Congruency
March 05, 2024 11:37 - 3 minutes - 361 MB VideoAt one time, a marketer needed only consider a few communications channels: Print, TV, Packaging, and the speaking points within a salesperson’s sales pitch. Today, all bets are off: Traditional channels still exist, but have been eclipsed by the website, marketing automation emails, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and 100s of other Social Media sites. These newer channels have one other key difference: target audiences are influenced by third-party blogs, likes, sh...
Just In Time & Continuous Improvement: Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement
February 27, 2024 11:34 - 2 minutes - 268 MB VideoWhat can the world of manufacturing teach us about Social Media, Marketing, and Stakeholder Engagement? On the face of it, not much, but look more closely, and there are two concepts that are surprisingly relevant: Continuous Improvement, and Just-in-Time.
Giving Credit
February 20, 2024 07:33 - 1 minute - 156 MB VideoDoesn’t it feel good when someone recognizes the great work that you do each day? And conversely, doesn’t it feel awful when your faults are publicly exposed? Too often, we jump on the “fault” bandwagon, and don’t give credit to others for the great things that they do.
Yes Means No
February 13, 2024 11:11 - 1 minute - 149 MB VideoIt is tough saying “No” when someone asks for your help or your commitment. We don’t want to let down our colleagues, friends, or family. We don’t want them to think we lack the capability. And we want to develop the reputation as someone who always steps up to the plate.
Is Social Media Supposed to Sell?
February 06, 2024 11:07 - 2 minutes - 416 MB VideoConsider these Podcasts: there hundreds of them, and they certainly don’t “sell” anything. Each provides a small nugget of information, and tie it to an immediate action. These non-salesy Podcasts, like the vast majority of blogs, are designed to credentialize expertise and build trust, slowly over time.
Increasing Newsletter Subscriptions
January 30, 2024 11:05 - 4 minutes - 482 MB VideoAre you really satisfied with the response rate of your newsletter registration form on your website? Do you think that, just maybe, your list could be bigger? Instead of thinking of the sign-up form as a sign-up form, think of it as a transaction...
Momentum Marketing
January 23, 2024 11:03 - 3 minutes - 318 MB VideoWhat is the difference between a successful marketing campaign and an unsuccessful one? Yes, ROI is certainly the standard answer, but it is also completely insufficient...
Rangers and Scouts: Organizational Communication and Alignment
January 16, 2024 11:00 - 1 minute - 175 MB VideoIn an army, every person has a role. The foot soldier is on the front line. The general sets the strategy. But how does the general know what’s happening, beyond the front lines? And similarly, how do senior managers understand the impact — and the opportunity — of the newest digital almost-trend or platform? Hint: Rangers and Scouts...
Customer Service: Automated, Templated, or Customized?
January 09, 2024 11:51 - 3 minutes - 327 MB VideoMany organizations struggle with setting up a digital response strategy. How do you trust front line staff to answer properly, if they don’t know the policies? How do you have a consistent response, no matter who responds, or when? How do you provide these responses, whether the channel is the website chat, email, social media, mobile, or phone? And how do you minimize service costs, while maintaining service quality?
Consumerization
January 02, 2024 11:50 - 2 minutes - 290 MB VideoWikipedia defines consumerization as the reorientation of product and service designs to focus on (and market to) the end user as an individual consumer, verses an earlier era of organization-oriented offerings. It speaks to growing markets by looking for a completely different category of buyer, who may also be an influencer for the organizational purchase...
The Long Game: The Road to Success in Business
December 26, 2023 11:46 - 3 minutes - 324 MB VideoWhile it may have been quite some time since your student days, there is a concept — the Long Game — that is more relevant as your career progresses. While instant gratification is satisfying, longer-term fundamental advancement often takes much longer. Said another way, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will be your success...
Stealing Ideas and Social Media
December 19, 2023 11:45 - 4 minutes - 469 MB VideoIn grade one, we were told no cheating. In grade six or seven, we learned about plagiarism. By high school, we learned about citations, attribution, and the importance of quoting the source. But in today’s digital world, have these rules changed? Sadly, maybe, the answer is yes.
Innovation: What’s Your Next Game Changing Idea?
December 12, 2023 11:43 - 1 minute - 161 MB VideoIf you are old enough to remember Black and White televisions, then you’re old enough to remember how revolutionary color television was. If not, perhaps you remember how the microwave oven changed how the world cooked? Or what it was like without the internet, let alone Facebook, YouTube, or Google...
Branding and Web Security
December 05, 2023 11:41 - 6 minutes - 614 MB VideoWhat determines the confidence in your brand? Yes, the visual identity and what people see. And yes, the experience and interaction people have, both online and in the real world. And yes, the social media (and traditional media) buzz — both positive and negative. But is there another factor, hidden from most marketers, that can have a critical impact?
Digital Addiction
November 28, 2023 11:38 - 1 minute - 185 MB VideoOne of the major downsides of technology is the addictive nature of it: even when we are on vacation, we feel the need to post photos, check others’ Facebook walls, watch TikTok videos, see who has viewed our LinkedIn profiles, and Tweet about what is important to us. Here’s the question: do we do better when we are not always on?
Being Real (Replacing the Impersonal Corporate Voice)
November 21, 2023 11:37 - 3 minutes - 313 MB VideoWhat’s your reaction when you read a company newsletter, instruction manual, or other corporate communication? Do you think it is plastic, anti-septic, and homogenized? If so, you’re like most people — they see corporate-speak as fake, and they can sniff it a mile away.
Alternative Options
November 14, 2023 11:36 - 2 minutes - 258 MB VideoAt any point in your life, have you ever found yourself backed into a corner, uncertain how you were going to proceed?
The Trust Curve: Moving Beyond Commitment
November 07, 2023 11:34 - 4 minutes - 472 MB VideoThe Trust Curve is one of the most important Marketing 2.0 concepts around. It states that as trust builds over time, the relationship strengthens and the target person (prospective client, prospective member, prospective employee, etc.) moves through the stages of awareness, preference, trial, and commitment. Key marketing question: What happens after Commitment?
Intranet Maturity Model: Strong on the Inside
October 31, 2023 10:31 - 4 minutes - 395 MB VideoVery often marketers look to the logo, web, advertising campaigns, and earned media to execute a brand strategy. But how might they look internally to do the same? Or rather, where might they look internally to do the same?
Networking: Give and You Shall Receive
October 24, 2023 10:28 - 3 minutes - 447 MB VideoMany people are not really comfortable developing new business relationships — or personal ones, for that matter. Yet this skill — networking — is critical to business success whether you do it within your organization, or amongst your peers in a trade association or professional group. It increases your value, and can open the door to any number of new opportunities. Unfortunately, many see networking as the collection of business cards at trade shows, or “small talk” at cocktail reception...
Does it (Google) Translate?
October 17, 2023 10:24 - 4 minutes - 410 MB VideoIf you are listening to this Podcast, the chances are very high that you understand English. But what if you didn’t? What if your target audience didn’t? Or what if your target audience did understand, but felt more comfortable in their own mother tongue? The obvious solution: translate your content.
Rebranding Recipe
October 10, 2023 10:23 - 6 minutes - 650 MB VideoHave you wondered why an organization’s rebrand doesn’t seem particularly right? That maybe they missed something along the way? A bad rebrand can mean that at best, that the expected benefits aren’t delivered, and at worst, the brand is ridiculed in the market.
ME: The New Four Letter Word (Is it about you... or the audience?)
October 03, 2023 10:12 - 1 minute - 183 MB VideoHave you ever been in a conversation when the other person spends more time talking about themselves than the subject at hand? They pepper the conversation with me, myself, and I, assuming that you (and others) are held spellbound by their perspective and accomplishments.
Trust and Website Security
September 26, 2023 10:10 - 2 minutes - 227 MB VideoWhether real world or on the web, trust is a powerful factor. Yet there are still websites that advertise themselves as "Not Trusted" — and this is totally avoidable.
The Social Benchmark
September 19, 2023 11:00 - 2 minutes - 217 MB VideoIn your professional field, who is the best at what they do? Chances are, you didn’t name yourself. This is not surprising – between personal modesty, and our competitive instinct to look over our shoulders, we will usually make the comparison to others.
Clickbait Headlines Lose Trust
September 12, 2023 10:08 - 2 minutes - 282 MB VideoHave you ever been gulled into reading an article, blog post, or viewing a video because of the headline? Not the descriptive type of headline (such as Clickbait Headlines Lose Trust), but the kind that reels you in, like a helpless fish on a line.
Brain Operating System (Let’s Get Creative)
September 05, 2023 10:04 - 2 minutes - 245 MB VideoDOS, Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS are all names of computer operating systems. They control the computer chips, memory, and give the device its unique personality. While we are certainly not computers, we too are controlled by a system: a Brain Operating System.
Rebranding Rationale
August 29, 2023 10:49 - 4 minutes - 452 MB VideoHave you ever wondered why companies choose to rebrand? A few years ago,Microsoft, after more than a decade, has changed it’s logo to one that evokes the new “Metro” look-and-feel of its latest Windows operating system. But why? And what should the criteria — and costs — of this type of decision?
Reputation Rescue
August 22, 2023 10:46 - 5 minutes - 499 MB VideoHave you ever been in a situation where your personal reputation has been called into question online? Or your organization’s brand is under attack from a special interest group, and it is emerging somewhat battered? Not good. Of course, the best way to build a great reputation is to do everything “right” in the first place. But no organization (or person) is perfect, and sometimes reputational attacks occur for no other reason than someone sees you as an easy target. So how might you rescu...
Building a Thinking Organization
August 15, 2023 10:40 - 7 minutes - 729 MB VideoIn just about every organization, the focus is on action. The connotations of words such as goals, objectives, action plans, and status updates are all positive, and are viewed as necessary for organizational, professional, and personal success. Yet is the path to achievement exclusively achieved through action? Or is action necessary, but not necessarily sufficient? And if so, what precisely is necessary?
When You Want Something Done...
August 08, 2023 10:37 - 2 minutes - 367 MB VideoA recently promoted executive confided in me that the pressure of time was increasingly difficult to manage: especially the conflicts between work and home responsibilities. This is a very common issue — not just to the recently promoted, but to most people who are serious about their professional success — and their family. One approach to solving the conundrum is to master your schedule — and not let it master you.
Success: Working On or In the Business?
August 01, 2023 10:32 - 2 minutes - 281 MB VideoMost people spend years getting good at what they do. They become superb analysts, salespeople, engineers, or managers. They are rewarded for their efforts. But is the reward worth the effort? What separates the most successful from those that merely just become “good”?
Brand Building and Brand Transfer
July 25, 2023 10:29 - 2 minutes - 276 MB VideoBeyond ads, media mentions, and the web, is there another mechanism to build your organization’s brand? One that might cost significantly less, yet yield powerful positioning advantages? Brand Transfer is the “borrowing” of another organization’s brand to better convey — or even amplify — your own.
Improving Creative Potential
July 18, 2023 10:31 - 5 minutes - 560 MB VideoWhat is the one rubbish statement that single-handedly limits our creative potential? “Some people are incredibly creative, and others are not. I am more analytical than creative.” Rubbish!
Fraying Edges: Trust, Credibility, and Legitimacy
July 11, 2023 10:26 - 6 minutes - 671 MB VideoThere has always been a fringe element in society; and now, Social Media has provided an unwitting channel to help advance their agendas. Can anything be done about it?
Message and Messenger
July 04, 2023 10:24 - 3 minutes - 304 MB VideoYou probably recognize that successful communication is partly based on the words you use, but also your tone of voice. And most people recognize that body language trumps both. But how does it do so?
How Not to Sell
June 27, 2023 06:23 - 6 minutes - 616 MB VideoMarketing and sales are at the core of almost every organization. Whether it is writing a proposal for a prospect, encouraging a person to join your organization, or selling an internal team on a concept, the act of gaining alignment and commitment is critical. Why then, do so many organizations completely miss the mark?
White Space: Design that Creates Emphasis
June 20, 2023 10:20 - 1 minute - 256 MB VideoGraphic designers know that if you have one element on the page, and lots of white space around it, the eye is drawn to that one element. Professional speakers know how to use a pause — silence — to emphasize a point. And musicians know that a break in the music creates anticipation. This is white space. So how can we use the concept of white space?
Airplane-mode Networking
June 13, 2023 10:00 - 3 minutes - 478 MB VideoAfter arriving at an event and noticing a few people you know — and hundreds that you don’t — what is your first inclination?
Improving Digital ROI Through Empowerment
June 06, 2023 10:10 - 2 minutes - 275 MB VideoToo often, organizations see an arithmetic connection between the resources allocated to a task, and the return on investment from it. Chasing the digital holy grail of engagement seems to be no different. But is it?
Big Data and Competitive Advantage
May 30, 2023 10:05 - 3 minutes - 346 MB VideoAsk your CEO, and they will say that your greatest asset is your people. Ask your marketing chief, and the answer will be your brand. And ask your CFO, your value is determined by your revenue or EBITDA. But is it possible that they may all be wrong… or may soon be? (Hint: how would your CIO answer?)
Building Downstream Capacity with your Partners
May 23, 2023 10:04 - 4 minutes - 395 MB VideoHave you ever heard the expression “you’re only as strong as your friends”? Nowhere is this more true than with digital marketing.
The Opportunity of Unscheduled Time
May 16, 2023 10:01 - 2 minutes - 260 MB VideoWhen you are faced with an unexpected delay or a long line-up, how do you deal with it?
Competing With Free
May 09, 2023 10:59 - 4 minutes - 448 MB VideoAre you involved in your professional association? Or do you run one — either as a director, staff, or volunteer? If so, you’re probably concerned with one aspect of today’s digital world, and particularly social media: How do you compete with free?
Becoming an Efficient Thought Leader
May 02, 2023 10:57 - 4 minutes - 399 MB VideoOne of the more popular thought leadership “strategies” is to create relevant, provoking, leading-edge content. Not only does this provide evidence of the thought leader’s special knowledge, but it also helps attract new followers, through sharing (social and real-world), and through discovery (Google, conference speeches, and publicity.) So far so good, but who has the time to do all of this work?