Bembridge commented on the following stories on BizSugar
May The Fourth Be With You! – Entrepreneurial Lessons Behind Star Wars (That You’d Probably Want To Rip Off!)
"Great post, and very entertaining! I agree that one should not always confuse innovation with being 100% new - reinventing and looking for new angles is also as valid. And often be more successful, as the examples you gave of seeing a gap for license rights as an income stream. iPods were not the 1st MP3 players.. but we know how the reinvention of that linked to iTunes changed everything!"Ten Proven Blog Post Ideas And Examples To Smash Blogger's Block
"Fantastic! This is a really helpful summary of some key approaches, and very simple and easy to action. I think I fall into the danger of actually having ideas and have lists of topics and ideas, but find ti harder to get going and write them into postings. What this posting did was make me realise that as I been using the same approach and format on my blogs I suffer more from a block of getting going! I find ti dull even for myself as keep doing posts in the same way. I am going to use this checklist to add some variety and spice to my topics. Thanks for sharing these tips!"One Simple Difference, One Huge Advantage | M4B Marketing
"It is, as you say, such a basic issue - thinking about what your consumer/ customer really needs and delivering it. One thing I challenge my teams with is ask them not to leave their consumer eyes and mindset at the door when they enter the office. For some reason we think and expect companies to do what we want as a user/ consumer, but when we are in the office we think from a manufacturer and provider point of view......"Are We Speaking The Customer's Language?
"Thanks for the article. I think jargon being used as shorthand is a big part of the problem as you say, and also in many departments or professions has taken over and become a lazy way of communicating (like in marketing we talk about impactful display etc). If we all focused on ensuring our mother understands what we are saying when interacting - and the person's mother maybe that would help as a guideline! By that I mean make it specific, clear, simple and unambiguous - taking no previous knowledge as a given."How to Build More Value Into Your Product Line
"As you say, the tendency is to always try and think of "new" things to innovate. But the greatest ideas an opportunities can be by improving and re-thinking. Even the iPod was a rethink of MP3 players that had been available for years. New design and a new look. They then did as you suggest and made different sizes and forms (nano, etc) iTunes is a good example of your second idea, about selling and thinking of something completing your product. In this case, Apple this is what they did by linking iTunes to their new MP3 player! Iphone is a good example of the 3rd point you made. repurposing. Turning an MP3 player into a phone too. So even the big guys can use these ideas! Thanks"7 Straight-Up Truths About Blogging and They Hurt!
"I think one big key is that you need to have a blog and content that offers something unique, differentiated and distinctive in the space you operate in. Too many blogs are covering the same ground in the same way. Those that wil do well and survive will be those that offer something unique. This is also why blogs covering a specific niche will - and do - perform well. They stand out and meet a real specific need."31 Days to Build a Better Blog
"Agree. It is very helpful and thought provoking - with some good and action based ways to work on any type of blog. I was sceptical as so many of these kinds of ebooks about, but found his principles helpful. Like early on defining in one sentence what your blog is about and its uniqueness. That done helped me a huge amount!"LinkedIn Recommendations: The Pros And Cons Of Referring Business Contacts
"Interesting thoughts and analysis. I have have always come more from the sceptical side of the argument as I ahem found that in almost all cases the recommendation on any profile is matched by them writing an equally glowing recommendation on the person that recommended them. So it always feels to me to be doubtful. Saying that, I do like the glowing recommendations on my profile - but they come at the cost of writing one for them usually. So have generally ignored requests from people I did not rate - as think also you reduce your credibility. "Saying "No" to customers can help a small business grow - Small Biz Diamonds
"Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I agree that knowing when you should say "no" and why you should say "no" are key to being a success. If you have a clear strategy, know what your business and offer is about - and is not about, and what you can and cannot do is key to success over time. It is really hard though - especially when starting out as you keep fretting that any business is better than none. One of my biggest learnings when I set up my small agency years ago was exactly the point of this article - it was something that someone who had set up business told me when I was setting up. Be confident and clear enough when you should say "no". In my case it was the risk of taking on projects at too low a cost when the time could have been better spent looking for better value projects. "Subscribe
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How to NOT Lose Money with AdWords
"Thanks for these tips and advice. I experimented a while ago while Adwords and found was easy to burn through a lot of money without a lot of results - and so one key learning was really also thinking about what page and offer you drive the traffic to so that you get the best conversion possible and so return"