Leadership & Team Building

How do you interact with others? What is your leadership style? How does that affect the team around you?

These are very interesting questions for me to answer, because up until recently, I’ve never really thought of myself as a leader.  I always had a very specific image in my head of what a leader should act like and my personality has never really fit that image.  I’ve recently been discovering, however, that being a leader can be a much broader term than I had originally pictured.  Let’s start with why I never thought of myself as a leader.  First off, I’m not an outspoken person.  When I’m in a group setting, I’m the guy that sits back and listens, and may make a few comments to the person sitting beside me.  I rarely contribute too much to the group conversation without carefully considering exactly what I have to say.  Another example, when I was captain of the WPI swim team, I wasn’t what you typically think of in a sports team captain.  I didn’t give inspirational speeches or “rally the troops” to victory.  I “led by example” by working as hard as I could in every practice and every competition.  At the time, I never really gave this style of leadership as much credit as it should have deserved.

Now let’s talk about the skills I do have that I’m starting to realize actually do make me more of a leader than I originally thought.  First off, I am the most organized person I know.  This is what allows me to be involved in so many things at once, and not become too overwhelmed.  More importantly, this really allows me to focus on accomplishing critical tasks, rather than trivial things like where I left my notebook.  Secondly, I have a natural ability to spot true talent in an individual.  This is especially important because it helps me to form very strong teams.  I recently heard the phrase “the most effective leader is the one who surrounds himself with the right people.”  I had never thought of this before, but it makes sense, because I have accomplished many things just from enlisting the right help.  Finally, I understand how to take calculated risks.  Many people who know me would describe me as a risk taker.  What they often don’t know is the depth of analysis and calculation that I’ve put into the risks that they see me taking.  I actually consider myself to be very risk averse, because I rarely take any risks without having a full analysis to support that the risk has a high likelihood of paying off.

The reason I’ve talked so much about these three qualities, is that I think combining them actually can make me into an effective leader, even if it’s not in the typical stereotype that I would place on a leader.  These qualities allowed me to be an effective swim team captain without ever getting in front of the team and giving the speech.  I recognized talent and organized the swimmers into effective teams that had the potential to accomplish big things.  I also know where and when to take my teams into potentially “risky” situations.  It wasn’t until recently that I recognized that these qualities could also qualify as “leadership” qualities.

A CookIns Story

There’s no other way to put this, my life is HECTIC.  Yea I work a standard 9-5 job but it’s not exactly one that most people would think of as typical.  This is the type of job where my boss regularly comes up to me and asks a question like “Hey Steve, we need somebody in Florida, can you leave tomorrow? I’ll need you to stay for a month” or “So I know we have a paid holiday coming up tomorrow, but we need somebody to cover two shifts a day for the next three days, can you handle that for me?”.  On top of that craziness, I’m working on a private pilot’s license, working toward an MBA, trying to start a business, and attempting to maintain some semblance of a social life.  Needless to say it’s impossible.  What’s more important, is with so many things going on at once, the small things end up becoming nightmarish tasks.  I don’t have time to shave, go shopping, do laundry (okay I make time for that), or cook anything!

It’s the small things like this that I really need help with, and that’s why CookIns are such a huge help to me and my lifestyle.  I’m always looking for ways to multitask.  When I work on my MBA, I use the material I learn to help me build my business.  When I hang out in the living room with my roommates, I use that time to do my laundry and iron my clothes.  Now that I have CookIns, when I do anything at all, I can make a tasty, good quality dessert.  All I need to do is preheat the oven, then do something else.  Then I put the CookIns in the oven, and then do something else.  Then I take them out of the oven to cool, and then do something else (you see where I’m going with this).  The point is, anything I can do that can help me multitask between the big things and the little things is a big help to me.  CookIns give me the chance to create a great dessert while simultaneously work on any of the other things that fill my busy life.

Can a company today survive on inbound marketing? Why or why not? What is the role of outbound marketing?

PLEASE NOTE, THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT ON THE MARKETING FUNNEL IS POSTED BELOW THIS POST.

This is a very hard set of questions to answer, because there is absolutely no fixed right or wrong answer.  My initial gut reaction is to say NO it is not possible to survive solely on inbound marketing.  It is what I was harping on all week when we discussed the Hub Spot case.  I argued that Hub Spot needed to utilize outbound marketing if they wanted to survive, so my gut says “If they can’t survive on inbound marketing alone, than who can???”

When I really sit back and think about it, however, I really think that the correct answer is “It depends.”  There are so many different types of industries out there that it would be impossible to answer this question with one answer for every possible case.  Let’s take a huge well-known brand for example like Budweiser.  We see outbound marketing for Budweiser on TV literally every single day.  They are absolutely everywhere.  A huge part of the reason they are so successful is because of their extremely expensive outbound marketing campaigns.  Especially for a product of that price, if you walk into a store looking to buy beer and are unfamiliar with other types of beers, you are going to see the one you recognize from TV and not think twice because it’s cheap.  Budweiser could never survive on inbound marketing alone, because other than beer connoisseurs, there isn't a huge pool of people researching beer on the internet.  Even those who are are looking for a much higher quality of beer than Budweiser.

Now with that said, there are some types of businesses who theoretically could survive on inbound marketing alone.  Take the affiliate marketer for instance.  This is a person who makes a living by writing in-depth insightful articles about various products, and makes a living from the commissions they get from referring customers to buy those products.  This type of business survives almost entirely on inbound marketing.  Websites like www.TopCashBack.com which collect referral commissions and pass them on to their customers survive almost entirely on inbound marketing, and they don’t even develop any content. 

When it all boils down, the role of outbound marketing is to draw in all of those customers who don’t know what they need to make their lives better, and there are a LOT of customers like that.  On the other hand, inbound marketing is usually best for those niche customers who know basically what they are looking for, but aren't sure if it’s available, and need more detailed information before making a purchase.

CookIns Market Funnel

Cookie Demand:

The U.S. cookie industry makes up 27% of the 2012 U.S. cookie, cracker, and pasta market.  Its total revenue is $6.075 billion, $1.0 billion of which was profit.  The overall cookie market is largely driven by the number of American households with children under 12 years of age, as 97% of cookie consumers are children under 12.  While the overall U.S. cookie, cracker, and pasta industry is expected to grow at 2.0% annually over the next five years, the cookie share of that is expected to decline slightly due to a decrease in the number of American households having children.  There is, however, a growing trend in healthier, more natural products, and there is an opportunity to capitalize on this growing trend.

Addressable Market:

Demand for crackers & cookies is directly proportional to income growth, meaning households with a higher level of disposable income are more likely to purchase cookies.  There is also a growing trend in changing dietary and lifestyle patterns, where consumers are increasingly conscious of their health and strapped for time.  Consumers are increasingly looking for low calorie snacks that can be easily consumed on the go.  While CookIns are not considered to be a healthy option by any means, they are small and made of all real, natural ingredients, and can be easily be eaten as a snack on the go.

Realistic Opportunities vs. Competition:

Much of the cookie market is dominated by a few key players such as Oreo, Nabisco, and Ritz.  These examples have stayed strong despite a recent slip in the market due to their high level of brand loyalty.  It will be nearly impossible to try and compete directly in this specific market due to the strength of these brand names.  There are, however, opportunities that exist where there are little to no brand names in direct competition.  Places like Whole Foods Market & Trader Joes spend their efforts looking for all natural options and in many cases will try to promote the small local producer.  These stores also happen to cater to houses with higher disposable income, as well as those looking for healthier, more natural options.

Targeted Selection of “Winnable” Market Opportunities:

Combining the opportunities listed above, the most promising “winnable” market for CookIns is the middle to upper-middle class family with kids.  These families are typically short on time, as both parents are working, and the kids are involved in extra-curricular activities.  These families are also likely to be part of the growing trend of people looking for healthier, more natural options.  CookIns help with both of those issues, as they are quick and easy to prepare, while also providing a high quality dessert.  They involve no clean-up, and can be eaten as a snack on the go.  Combining these factors gives CookIns its best shot at its “winnable” market.

Works Cited

IBISWorld Industry Report C1114-GL. (2012). Global Bakery Goods Manufacturing. IBISWorld.

Tang, O. (2012). Cookie, Cracker & Pasta Production in the US. IBISWorld.