Another version of Content & Cash, Melissa Rach's talk on establishing the value of content first delivered in 2012. This version was done for the CIDM Best Practices conference in Washington in Stevenson, Washington.
Updated version of Content & Cash delivered at the What's Up? Content Strategy Conference sponsored by Lectric Groep/Someone in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (November 2013)
Content & Cash: The Value of Content (Cape Town Edition)Melissa Rach
In this session, we discuss the complicated relationship between content and cash-- focusing specifically on the conversations you need to have to scope, price, and prove the value of content work.
Strategy: Content Strategy's Other Half Melissa Rach
Presentation to Confab 2011 by Melissa Rach, Dialog Studios (formerly Brain Traffic) Let’s go beyond content deliverables and tactics and focus on the overall strategic process. In this session, we’ll discuss what strategy is, and what makes content strategy different from other strategic disciplines.
Content & Cash: The Economics of Content Melissa Rach
Presentation by Melissa Rach at Confab and CS Forum.
Dinero. Dosh. Dough. Dollabills. Like it or not, money plays a role in every content strategy project. As content strategists or practitioners, we need to be prepared to answer questions like:
- How much does a content strategy “cost”?
- Why should I fund this content strategy project?
- How do you define the value of content for an organisation or client?
- Can you prove ROI for content or content strategy?
In this session, we’ll discuss the complicated relationship between content and cash. Then we’ll focus specifically on the conversations you need to have to scope, price, and prove the value of content strategy work. Cha-ching.
Updated version of Content & Cash delivered at the What's Up? Content Strategy Conference sponsored by Lectric Groep/Someone in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (November 2013)
Content & Cash: The Value of Content (Cape Town Edition)Melissa Rach
In this session, we discuss the complicated relationship between content and cash-- focusing specifically on the conversations you need to have to scope, price, and prove the value of content work.
Strategy: Content Strategy's Other Half Melissa Rach
Presentation to Confab 2011 by Melissa Rach, Dialog Studios (formerly Brain Traffic) Let’s go beyond content deliverables and tactics and focus on the overall strategic process. In this session, we’ll discuss what strategy is, and what makes content strategy different from other strategic disciplines.
Content & Cash: The Economics of Content Melissa Rach
Presentation by Melissa Rach at Confab and CS Forum.
Dinero. Dosh. Dough. Dollabills. Like it or not, money plays a role in every content strategy project. As content strategists or practitioners, we need to be prepared to answer questions like:
- How much does a content strategy “cost”?
- Why should I fund this content strategy project?
- How do you define the value of content for an organisation or client?
- Can you prove ROI for content or content strategy?
In this session, we’ll discuss the complicated relationship between content and cash. Then we’ll focus specifically on the conversations you need to have to scope, price, and prove the value of content strategy work. Cha-ching.
This week we attended the CharityComms Communications on a Shoestring conference, giving some practical advice on how charities can best tackle their communications challenges on a tight budget.
Our workshop centred on the branding process – guiding people from the development of a strong brand proposition to the creation of a ‘big idea’ that brings it all to life. And we also explored brand personality, taking a look at some key brand role models to uncover the importance of a distinct identity that engages with the world in an interesting way.
The CharityComms event resonated really well with our core values at Neo – to help some of the world’s smallest, but best voices become some of its most powerful ones. As Nick, our Managing Director explains, “Neo is all about amplifying the voices of those organisations who are doing something good and interesting in the world. That’s why we believe workshops like these are so important – helping charities who might not have the budget to clearly articulate their offer, and breathe some life into their brand.”
We really enjoyed the running the workshop, and would like to thank all those who joined us.
In this workshop, we will start with a discussion on the importance of diversity in a well balanced founding team. We will then explore how to work effectively in a team setting. We will cover how to define clear roles and responsibilities for each team member, coming up with effective decision making processes, dealing with task and interpersonal conflict and more. We will explore ways for extraverted and introverted team members to have equal contribution so everyone’s voice can be heard.
Insights From the Lean Startup Conference 2016Jeffrey Tobias
A summary of quotes and insights from key speakers at the 2016 Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco. By Jeffrey Tobias, Managing Director of The Strategy Group.
Slash | 500 startups Lean Canvas workshop for Social Enterprises (17 Oct2020)...Slash
Workshop delivered by Andries (Slash) for 500Startups program for the Singapore National Youth Action Challenge focused on business models for Social Enterprises. Delivered virtually for around 65 teams and 200+ participants.
Slide 64 onwards was the part delivered by Andries.
Content includes:
- user personas
- testing and validation of your user needs
- lean canvas
- business models for Social Enterprises.
In this talk, we discuss the importance of storytelling and emotional variation in delivering a great pitch, in addition to the content that should go into a pitch.
Learn how to structure your presentation so that your story is clear, visually appealing and persuasive. We’ll look at what elements are basic when pitching to an investor, potential sponsor and business partners.
What we’ll talk about:
• Goal, begin at the end to know where to start.
• Enthusiasm, love it like your life depended on it.
• Outlining, before PowerPoint, Word.
• Narrative, laying out your story.
• Visuals, avoiding death-by-powerpoint.
• Investment, staying away from vanity.
• CTA, ending with a bang and countdown.
• Execution, trust the pitch-not yourself.
• Iteration, pitching to iron out the kinks.
Getting a meeting is a win, but your pitch is the deal closer or breaker. With the volume of pitches investors and business partners listen to, it’s more important than ever to respect their time and present like a pro.
The Art of Pricing Your Work as a Solo ProfessionalJackie B Peterson
Setting a price for your work is the hardest task for the solo professional. Here is step-by-step guidance on how to know your numbers and set your fee for your services as a solo professional.
This week we attended the CharityComms Communications on a Shoestring conference, giving some practical advice on how charities can best tackle their communications challenges on a tight budget.
Our workshop centred on the branding process – guiding people from the development of a strong brand proposition to the creation of a ‘big idea’ that brings it all to life. And we also explored brand personality, taking a look at some key brand role models to uncover the importance of a distinct identity that engages with the world in an interesting way.
The CharityComms event resonated really well with our core values at Neo – to help some of the world’s smallest, but best voices become some of its most powerful ones. As Nick, our Managing Director explains, “Neo is all about amplifying the voices of those organisations who are doing something good and interesting in the world. That’s why we believe workshops like these are so important – helping charities who might not have the budget to clearly articulate their offer, and breathe some life into their brand.”
We really enjoyed the running the workshop, and would like to thank all those who joined us.
In this workshop, we will start with a discussion on the importance of diversity in a well balanced founding team. We will then explore how to work effectively in a team setting. We will cover how to define clear roles and responsibilities for each team member, coming up with effective decision making processes, dealing with task and interpersonal conflict and more. We will explore ways for extraverted and introverted team members to have equal contribution so everyone’s voice can be heard.
Insights From the Lean Startup Conference 2016Jeffrey Tobias
A summary of quotes and insights from key speakers at the 2016 Lean Startup Conference in San Francisco. By Jeffrey Tobias, Managing Director of The Strategy Group.
Slash | 500 startups Lean Canvas workshop for Social Enterprises (17 Oct2020)...Slash
Workshop delivered by Andries (Slash) for 500Startups program for the Singapore National Youth Action Challenge focused on business models for Social Enterprises. Delivered virtually for around 65 teams and 200+ participants.
Slide 64 onwards was the part delivered by Andries.
Content includes:
- user personas
- testing and validation of your user needs
- lean canvas
- business models for Social Enterprises.
In this talk, we discuss the importance of storytelling and emotional variation in delivering a great pitch, in addition to the content that should go into a pitch.
Learn how to structure your presentation so that your story is clear, visually appealing and persuasive. We’ll look at what elements are basic when pitching to an investor, potential sponsor and business partners.
What we’ll talk about:
• Goal, begin at the end to know where to start.
• Enthusiasm, love it like your life depended on it.
• Outlining, before PowerPoint, Word.
• Narrative, laying out your story.
• Visuals, avoiding death-by-powerpoint.
• Investment, staying away from vanity.
• CTA, ending with a bang and countdown.
• Execution, trust the pitch-not yourself.
• Iteration, pitching to iron out the kinks.
Getting a meeting is a win, but your pitch is the deal closer or breaker. With the volume of pitches investors and business partners listen to, it’s more important than ever to respect their time and present like a pro.
The Art of Pricing Your Work as a Solo ProfessionalJackie B Peterson
Setting a price for your work is the hardest task for the solo professional. Here is step-by-step guidance on how to know your numbers and set your fee for your services as a solo professional.
Convincing Your Boss(es) to Confidently Spend (more) on AdvertisingKevin Dieny
My Presentation from my Session at HeroConf 2019, in Philadelphia.
This presentation is for anyone who wants to invoke data-decision making and business transformation learning:
1) How to convince your boss to spend more budget on advertising so it benefits your entire organization.
2) How to conquer the proper success metrics, "The Golden Metrics" linked to Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
3) How to confidently use your data to transform your business to be more customer-centric.
Convincing Your Boss(es) to Confidently Spend (more) on AdvertisingHanapin Marketing
Could your business profit from the scaling of advertisement spend? Wrangling your boss with swagger and tact is not always enough to win larger budgets. The Answer? Arming yourself with a customer-centric strategy, backed by CLV, that can drive a responsible and ‘winning’ conversation with your organization. In this session you will walk away with knowledge and actionable resources so you can:
- Convince your boss how spending more on advertising will benefit your organization.
- Conquer your omnichannel success metrics and their impact on your customer lifetime value.
- Confidently use your data to transform your organization to be more customer-centered.
ICEBERG Innovation - Summary of Slides for the 2014 Small Company - Big Busin...ICEBERG-Innovation
Innovation is good for your bank account, but you have to get certain things right. Our mission is to assist companies and investors to "make innovation easier and more profitable".
These are the (Summary of) Slides for the 2014 Small Company - Big Business Workshop Series. Please note that many slides are not self-explanatory, so if you've missed the workshop and are interested in the content or our assistance or services then please contact us.
Phone in Australia: 1300 037679
www.ICEBERG-Innovation.com
An introductory overview of three individual presentations:
* Marketing Systemization - Creating Your Marketing Machine
* Applied Business Innovation to propel sales in a competitive market
* Most Powerful Cutting-Edge Marketing Strategies
* Maximizing Your Marketing ROI
There is a misconception that to be a startup you need to have a team that can build a full product. And only when the product is built can you attract customers and convince them to pay! But this approach takes a lot of time, and an abundance of resources that are unavailable to most entrepreneurs.
In this workshop, Poornima will share strategies for brainstorming, validating your idea, launching it, and even attracting early adopters who are willing to pay, as a scrappy startup.
Connect2Innovation: Sales- are you selling comfortable?Glenn Thorogood
What makes a good sales proposition?
•Are there different selling styles
•What does a professional buyer expect from you?
•Larger organisations
•Lead Generation –is your process robust enough?
Delighting your advocates can become a sustainable competitive advantage—if you’ve got the skills to make it happen. Bring your swim trunks, because we’ll be diving into how to motivate your advocates to help you: Increase your brand’s reach and market presence, fill your pipeline with warm leads and close deals faster, and boost customer engagement, retention and account growth.
Financial curveballs sent many American families reeling in 2023. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment, however, appears to be waning. The question is, to what extent?
To take the pulse of consumers’ feelings about their financial well-being ahead of a highly anticipated election, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey. The survey highlights consumers’ hopes and anxieties as we move into 2024. Let's unpack the key findings to gain insights about where we stand.
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
-Learn our approach for building an actionable, effective marketing strategy
-Receive templates and guides for developing a marketing strategy
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.\
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
The What, Why & How of 3D and AR in Digital CommercePushON Ltd
Vladimir Mulhem has over 20 years of experience in commercialising cutting edge creative technology across construction, marketing and retail.
Previously the founder and Tech and Innovation Director of Creative Content Works working with the likes of Next, John Lewis and JD Sport, he now helps retailers, brands and agencies solve challenges of applying the emerging technologies 3D, AR, VR and Gen AI to real-world problems.
In this webinar, Vladimir will be covering the following topics:
Applications of 3D and AR in Digital Commerce,
Benefits of 3D and AR,
Tools to create, manage and publish 3D and AR in Digital Commerce.
Top 3 Ways to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Rapid GrowthDemandbase
In this session, Demandbase’s Stephanie Quinn, Sr. Director of Integrated and Digital Marketing, Devin Rosenberg, Director of Sales, and Kevin Rooney, Senior Director of Sales Development will share how sales and marketing shapes their day-to-day and what key areas are needed for true alignment.
5 big bets to drive growth in 2024 without one additional marketing dollar AND how to adapt to the biggest shifting eCommerce trend- AI.
1) Romance Your Customers - Retention
2) ‘Alternative’ Lead Gen - Advocacy
3) The Beautiful Basics - Conversion Rate Optimization
4) Land that Bottom Line - Profitability
5) Roll the Dice - New Business Models
Monthly Social Media News Update May 2024Andy Lambert
TL;DR. These are the three themes that stood out to us over the course of last month.
1️⃣ Social media is becoming increasingly significant for brand discovery. Marketers are now understanding the impact of social and budgets are shifting accordingly.
2️⃣ Instagram’s new algorithm and latest guidance will help us maintain organic growth. Instagram continues to evolve, but Reels remains the most crucial tool for growth.
3️⃣ Collaboration will help us unlock growth. Who we work with will define how fast we grow. Meta continues to evolve their Creator Marketplace and now TikTok are beginning to push ‘collabs’ more too.
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
A.I. (artificial intelligence) platforms are popping up all the time, and many of them can and should be used to help grow your brand, increase your sales and decrease your marketing costs.In this presentation:We will review some of the best AI platforms that are available for you to use.We will interact with some of the platforms in real-time, so attendees can see how they work.We will also look at some current brands that are using AI to help them create marketing messages, saving them time and money in the process. Lastly, we will discuss the pros and cons of using AI in marketing & branding and have a lively conversation that includes comments from the audience.
Key Takeaways:
Attendees will learn about LLM platforms, like ChatGPT, and how they work, with preset examples and real time interactions with the platform. Attendees will learn about other AI platforms that are creating graphic design elements at the push of a button...pre-set examples and real-time interactions.Attendees will discuss the pros & cons of AI in marketing + branding and share their perspectives with one another. Attendees will learn about the cost savings and the time savings associated with using AI, should they choose to.
SEO as the Backbone of Digital MarketingFelipe Bazon
In this talk Felipe Bazon will share how him and his team at Hedgehog Digital share our journey of making C-Levels alike, specially CMOS realize that SEO is the backbone of digital marketing by showing how SEO can contribute to brand awareness, reputation and authority and above all how to use SEO to create more robust global marketing strategies.
Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
And with videos evolving from landscape to portrait and experts promoting shorter clips, one thing remains constant – our brains LOVE videos.
So is there science behind what makes people absolutely irresistible on camera?
The answer: definitely yes.
In this jam-packed session with Stephanie Garcia, you’ll get your hands on a steal-worthy guide that uncovers the art and science to being irresistible on camera. From body language to words that convert, she’ll show you how to captivate on command so that viewers are excited and ready to take action.
Mastering Multi-Touchpoint Content Strategy: Navigate Fragmented User JourneysSearch Engine Journal
Digital platforms are constantly multiplying, and with that, user engagement is becoming more intricate and fragmented.
So how do you effectively navigate distributing and tailoring your content across these various touchpoints?
Watch this webinar as we dive into the evolving landscape of content strategy tailored for today's fragmented user journeys. Understanding how to deliver your content to your users is more crucial than ever, and we’ll provide actionable tips for navigating these intricate challenges.
You’ll learn:
- How today’s users engage with content across various channels and devices.
- The latest methodologies for identifying and addressing content gaps to keep your content strategy proactive and relevant.
- What digital shelf space is and how your content strategy needs to pivot.
With Wayne Cichanski, we’ll explore innovative strategies to map out and meet the diverse needs of your audience, ensuring every piece of content resonates and connects, regardless of where or how it is consumed.
2. I am two people.
Johnny is the nice one.
Cash causes all the trouble.
—Johnny Cash
2
3. Business expectations
To make an investment, funders expect:
• To know exactly what content will do for the
organization
• Proof of competency/quality
• Exactly how much it will cost
• Provable value and ROI
Hard numbers. Right now.
3
5. We can do it
• We know content work is valuable
• We know content is a benefit (necessity) for
businesses
• And the organizations are catching on, too
5
10. Decision making is scary
Investing in content:
• Means NOT investing in other things
• Might result in loss of:
• Money
• Time
• Other opportunities
• Professional reputation
• Emotional anguish
10
11. And hard…
People:
• Are limited by what they know
• Latch on to things that are familiar
• Choose the safest option
• And then immediately start worrying that they’ve
made the wrong decision
11
13. Content breaks all the
economic rules
• Things of value are usually
• Exclusive
• Transparent
• Hard to replicate
• Endless supply AND endless demand
13
14. Content work is a service
• “New” industry
• Very diverse
• No obvious accreditation
• Doesn’t fit nicely into a traditional business
14
16. As far as the laws of
mathematics refer to reality,
they are not certain; and as
far as they are certain, they
do not refer to reality.
—Albert Einstein
16
17. Measurement is…
A set of observations that reduce uncertainty where
the results are expressed as a quantity.
17
18. Numbers are a
communication tool
Numbers reduce uncertainty:
• Approximate values
• Shortcuts for the brain
• Common vocabulary
18
20. The goal:
Make a confident decision that’s
beneficial to everyone.
20
21. 1. Define the need
What is the need? What are you offering?
• New or updated content
• Cleaned up content/fixed mistakes
• More efficient, happier workplace
• Unifying strategy
• Ongoing service
How does this work benefit the business? How do
(will you) you know?
21
22. 2. Understand the process
Get all the information you can, find out:
• What is the decision?
• What impacts that decision?
• Who impacts the decision?
• What experience do stakeholders have with
content work?
• Is there a budget?
22
24. 4. Understand all benefits
and costs
Type Benefits Costs
Monetary Profit or savings Cost of creation
Sensory Get satisfaction/
24
alleviate pain
Endure extra pain or
reduce satisfaction
Temporal Save time Lose time
Opportunity-based Gain advantages Eliminate possibilities
Psychological Reduce anxiety Add anxiety
Social Increase stature Blamed for problems
Convenience-based Makes things easier Makes things more
difficult
25. 5. Tell a hopeful story
Create a story that highlights key benefits, such as:
• We can serve users better
• We can be more efficient
• We can beat the competitors
• We can be more accurate
25
26. 6. Eliminate fear
• Discuss the details
• Answer questions
• Address concerns
• Start small or do some proof of concept work
• Provide references (services) or samples (goods)
• Be patient
26
33. Strategy
or Service
Content as
product
Content as
influence
Efficiency
tool
Value of what?
33
34. Content as influence
What is the piece of content worth?
• Benefit: Increased profit as the result of an end-user
behavior change
• Cost: Cost to create the content
34
35. Estimates, not exacts
Figure out what you know; fill in the blanks with assumptions
• The average Johnny Cash t-shirt costs $20
• Analytics show that 50 people start the process of purchasing a t-shirt online
every day, but only 10 finish the process
• User research shows that the instructions on the purchase pages are very
confusing
• We assume 5-10 people leave the purchasing process because of something
unrelated to the site, and 5-10 leave the process when they see the shipping
costs
• We assume the remaining 20-30 people would complete the purchasing
process if the instructions were more helpful
• Therefore, the value of the instructional content is likely around $144,000-
216,000 per year ($20 x 20-30 people x 30 days X12)
• The cost of fixing the content is approximately $5,000
35
37. Strategy
or Service
Content as
product
Content as
influence
Efficiency
tool
Value of what?
37
38. Efficiency tool
What is the tool worth?
• Benefit: Cost savings as the result of employee
behavior change (or happiness)
• Cost: Cost to create/maintain the tool and train
people to use it
38
39. Strategy
or Service
Content as
product
Content as
influence
Efficiency
tool
Value of what?
39
40. Strategy (or service)
What is the strategy worth?
• Benefit: Combination of:
• Savings/profit from:
• Content as product
• Content as influence
• Tools
• Sub-services
• Value of non-monetary benefits
• Cost: Cost to create/implement the strategy
40
42. Max Gain x % Success = Risk if denied
Max Loss x % Failure = Risk if approved
43. Estimating probable results
Basic project information:
• Maximum gain: $216,000
• Maximum loss: $5,000
• Chance for success: 70%
Expected opportunity loss:
• Risk of approved: $5,000 X 30% = $1,500
• Risk if rejected: $216,000 X 70% = $151,200
43
44. Pricing basics
• Look for comparables
• Give ballpark estimates early
• Estimate on time, price on value
• Aim for a consumer surplus
• Always provide numbers in person
44
45. Price is like setting a screw. A
little resistance is a good sign.
—Harry Beckwith
45
46. There are a lot of good
economists, but there is only
one Roger Clemens.
— Robert Solow
(1987 Nobel laureate)
46
48. Our friend, Johnny…
Stats
50+ million albums sold
Created:
96 studio albums
63 compilation albums
153 singles
Honors
17 Grammy Awards
9 CMA Awards
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
Gospel Music Hall of Fame
Country Music Hall of Fame
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Kennedy Center Honors
National Medal of Arts
Hollywood Walk of Fame
48
49. Variety of measurements
• Analytics
• Qualitative assessments
• User research and usability
• External expert review
• Internal expert review
• Efficiency measurements
50. Measure often, expect
long-term results
• Establish a baseline
• Measure consistently over time
• Use different timelines for different types of
content
50
61. Want to know more?
Content Strategy for the Web (second edition)
Check out chapter 10
By Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
How to Measure Anything
by Douglas W. Hubbard
Marketing Professional Services
by Philip Kotler, Thomas Hayes, Paul N. Bloom
Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science
by Charles Wheelan
61
Editor's Notes
Name
Title
Author
Columnist
Talking about money is awkward and uncomfortable in most situations
It’s even harder when you’re trying to pin dollars to something as amorphous as content
Money is an important part of any industry—we need to eat
People aren’t asking us for this stuff to be jerkfaces
They’re asking because they think that is the way business is “supposed to be done”
Let’s face it. This stuff was never the content person’s forte.
Two things I didn’t think I’d ever use computers and economics. Gross.
Everybody wants to fix this problem, solve this puzzle – we’re all problem solvers.
You are in just as good of a position as anyone else to do it.
Most people are economically illiterate-even execs.
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy.
Or quick. It’s not.
But content is important. And it’s our jobs to figure out the question.
It’s easy to get angry.
We know content is what people come to websites for. It’s what they want out of a brochure.
Customers need it to make decisions or perform activities we want them to do.
So, why is it hard for people put money towards it? Why is it easier to put money toward design, technology, or anything else!?
We can learn from Johnny’s attitude
He knew he didn’t fit the mold, and he knew he couldn’t play by the rules
Yet, he went on to become one of the most successful performers of his generation
He did it by being equal parts genuine, wiley, and rebel
He figured out how the system worked, and he then he used it to his advantage
We can be rebels
Getting educated about economics
We can rebel against the conventional concepts economics
We can find work-arounds
When deciding to spend money on content, decision makers many have to let go things they already have and like, or things they wished for – like when the frig breaks down and your plans for a new tv are gone…
Money
Other opportunities: If I spend time on this, what else am I missing?
Time: Waste time on this project and could be farther behind
Professional rep: You hired these people, you’re responsible
Emotional anguish: Don’t want the whole thing to be painful
People guess based on:
Rules of thumb/short cuts
Experience
Common sense
We do this all the time
Looking at the sky for the weather
Flying vs. motorcycles
Play it safe -- Where do you go when you’re kid is screaming in the back of the car? McDonalds or that charming-looking café you’ve been meaning to try
Dorky kid, we musicians were starting to need polish
Grew up in the cotton field
Mom made his clothes
Had an ok voice, but not great
Got a $5 guitar in the army
Perfect storm of economics crappiness
People have no idea what we do
Have nothing to compare us to
No past experience to draw on
Numbers: Business runs on numbers
Shortcut for the brain – hot outside vs. it’s 80 degrees
All sort of arbitrary 14C/60F
It doesn’t need to be exact, in fact, it hardly ever is
New Coke
Most people prefer new Coke to old Coke
5 out of 6 people prefer new Coke to old Coke
83.3% of respondents prefer new Coke to old Coke
Whoops
It’s not about us against them, as long as procurement isn’t involved
It takes:
Listening
Sharing
Time
Don’t start with money.
Do you need a plumber or a pipe
Why do you care?
Because they are valued differently
Let’s say you have a pipe burst in your house
The pipe itself is worth $2
The work of the plumber who fixes the leak is worth a lot more even though you can’t quantify piece of mind
And buyers expect different amounts of information during the service
Goods are just the price of the manufacturing, and the profit margin
Pricing services are hard
I am often ready to spend extra money for convenience
The value of a content work – depends on the combination of these qualities.
You want it fast, alleviate all the pain? That’s different from a long timeline and focusing on one pain point.
This is about storytelling
So the real questions are:
Value of what?
What’s a benefit?
What’s a cost?
Are you estimating or measuring progress?
First, the easiest one.
Challenges
Projecting the market value of the product (price people willing to pay or do without)
Remembering all of the steps in the content creation process
Calculated by hourly rates , percentage of time spent on this task, and time saved during the year
Don’t forget approvers
You can base price on:
Cost
Competition
Demand/value