Aloysius Chan's Blog

Review: It is important to measure the effect of marketing so you know how to improve on it, this book have some key measurement indicators but would be better with more. Rated: 8.5/10 If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold. Reach vs. intention (conversion) Give any reason to get what you want easier, the word ‘because’ triggers a reflex to treat the request as valid Customer 2.0: community answering question and felt happy as a power user Social media class: Earned Paid Owned Recommendation system: User ratings Context Popularity Interest Freshness Friend’s recommendations via Facebook Campaign difficulty measurement: Public relations (32%) Print (26%) Online advertisement (15%) Trade shows (9%) Email marketing (6%) SEO/PPC (5%) Direct mail (5%) 6 principles of influence Reciprocity Social proof Authority Commitment and consistency Liking Scarcity Influence measurement Causation Error Cost Network size Network centrality Network prox...

Review: summarised how was Paychex being built up with all the essential pointers. Rated: 8.5/10. Business plan essentials Executive summary Profit and loss statement Human resources Product or service Financials Industry and market sector Customers Market research Competition Price Marketing Sales Production Distribution Administration Buying a business The benefits Due diligence Advancing technology The financials The inventory minefield Source of financing Self-financing (put your money where your mouth is) Sweat equity Banks Venture capital Would you buy what you sell? It’s not a cash flow problem, it’s a sales problem Elephant client: sizeable percentage of your overall sales Hire for attitude, train for skill, fire when necessary Lead, follow or get out of the way Never negotiate from an ultimatum Basic sales Prospect Handling objections Recognising buying signal Trial closes Close early and close often

Review:  It includes both technical explanation and examples to let your brain work in many different ways even when you are interacting with people. Rated: 8/10 Stanford Marshmallow experience didact children with delayed gratification achieve more in later part of their lives. Office distraction: 11 minutes on project, 25 minutes on break, switch task every 3 minutes and waste 2.1 hours long a day Ambient neural activity: your brain is constantly processing Distraction deplete your limited prefrontal cortex resources Distraction management tips Clear your mind first: write things down to empty it Remove external distractions: anchoring Prioritise only when you are switched on Keep a tidy or integrity-filled life Practise mental braking Sawyer effect: practices that can either turn play into work or work into play Somatosensory cortex: where the pain is coming from Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC): how much of a problem the pain is Insula: tells the brain overall state of t...

The space between your eyebrows is called a glabella. The way it smells after it rains is called petrichor.  The plastic or metallic coating at the end of your shoelaces is called an aglet. When your stomach rumbles, that's a wamble.  The cry of a new born baby is called a vagitus.  The prongs of a fork are called tines.  The sheen of light that you see when you close your eyes and press your hands on them is called phosphenes.  The tiny plastic thing placed in the middle of a pizza box is called a box tent.  The day after tomorrow is called overmorrow.  Your little toe or finger is called the minimus.  The wired cage that holds the cork on a bottle of champagne is called an agraffe.  The ',la na na. and la la la', which don't really have any meaning in the lyrics of any song, are called vocables.  When you combine a question mark with an exclamation mark (?!), it is referred to as an interrobang.  The space between your nostrils is...

Review: Interesting point of view on the multitude of marketing. Covers hacking essentials to make a difference. Rated: 9/10  Power map (like mindmap): Who is going to directly benefit from my product or service? Who is going to use it? Who is my customer going to be? Who influences those users and customers? Who is currently making money from my complex market? Who are the layers within my complex market? How can I segment my complex market? What are each player’s relationships to other players? What are each player’s interest and motivation? What are their capabilities to block or unblock? What laws, regulations, or norms are they subject to? Keep your aperture wide All players are either attackers or defenders Skepticism and empathy Business models Direct: B2B, B2C Indirect: B2B2C Multi Sided business models: marketplaces, ad-supported Telling Story: Start with why Tell a story and keep it simple Know your audience Be authentic Marketing measurement: Total addressable market (TA...

Review: This book has clearly identified the factors that are required to push for performance, focused mainly on human factors and not the methods. Rated: 8.5/10 Source of motivations on the motive spectrum Play (passion) Purpose Potential Emotional pressure Economic pressure Inertia Maladaptive performance: when the motivation is low enough, a person would find the shortest possible path to alleviate the pressure they are feeling, even if that path is contrary to the intent of the plan Cobra effect: attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse, as a type of unintended consequence. Primed to perform theory Total motivation (ToMo) requires people to feel the direct motives and not the indirect motives The highest levels of organisational or team performance require a balance between the opposing forces of tactical and adaptive performance The many keys to culture must be used together to unlock performance Blame bias: the more removed we are from someone, the more likely we ...