Gennaro Cuofano's Blog, page 250

As Google And Facebook Lock-In, Publishers Get Kicked Out!

Google just passed twenty, yet when we think in web age, it makes of it a dinosaur of the web. Search, which has represented Google main focus for decades and that has represented the most innovative field for years might be now more of a thing of the past. Also, search appears to be more of a burden than a real strength, as we move toward voice search. Indeed, when in May 2018, Sundar Pichai announced Google Duplex, the giant from Mountain View finally showed to the world its capabilities. Its AI capable of conducting conversations with humans, with extreme comfort and fluidity made clear that Google is way more ahead in terms of Natural Language Processing and Understanding capabilities that anyone would have imagined.

The semantic Google is here to stay

For decades users have been used to search as a way to find a list of pages related to a topic or need they had. Even if you tried to ask Google complex questions, it didn’t answer. Thus, a user reverted to insert a simple keyword to find what they were looking for. Yet starting 2012 Google started to build a massive index of meanings of the web, which is called a Knowledge Graph. Today that knowledge graph serves a good chunk of searches on the internet.

The main difference from a traditional search engine and a semantic search engine depends on its ability to answer complex questions by moving along two lines. First, by understanding what the user is looking for. For instance, if I’m looking for “Apple” am I looking for the fruit or the company? The semantic engine looks at meaning by reading the context of a search. Therefore, it will substitute the “unperfect query” with a synthetic, yet more suited query. Second, the semantic engine extracts meaning from the pages around the web. In the past, Google attempted to understand a web page, based on the number of references (so-called backlinks) that page received (besides many other factors).

While this mechanism is still essential, today Google is finally able to extract meaning directly from web pages through a vocabulary called Schema.org. The meaning extracted from web pages become part of Google’s knowledge graph. That knowledge graph powers up Google search results and it also offers new visualizations that make users experience richer. Those experiences are also way more complete and compelling. Thus, Google for the first time can offer a whole journey on its search results pages. Even though Google is still calibrating this feature (like many others) that opens up a lot of questions for the publishing industry but also for the future of the web.

Example of a search powered by Google knowledge graph. When you search for “Larry Page” you see a feature called Knowledge Panel which extracts critical information from Google Knowledge Vault and serves it to users to provide contextual information.

Google above the fold is all that matters now

New features like Knowledge Panels and Featured Snippets are taking over Google search results. And the experience and user journey can finally happen on Google above the fold. Indeed, if experts in the field of positioning web pages through Google (SEO practitioners) have been focusing for years on how to rank content on Google’s first page, which got 95% of Google traffic.

Now it has become critical to understand how to get featured within Google above the fold if you want to keep using it as a viable source of qualified traffic for your business. This shift on the search results pages (SERP) makes it clear that a war is going on. That is the war to get the attention of billions of people across the globe. Yet while search has been the answer for over two decades, it might be now part of the past.

The main asset of the past decades becomes the primary weakness of Google

The SERP has been and still is Google most valuable asset. That is the place where more than five billion users queries go through and where advertising (don’t forget Google is the largest digital advertiser on Earth) gets sold. However, what has been a strength and cash cow for over two decades might represent Google greatest burden.

As of 2017 Google’s revenues still came primarily from advertising, which makes Google ability to experiment quite limited. Even though last year alone Google ran more than 200,000 experiments that resulted in 2,400+ changes to search. Those changes are incremental, and they can’t be a breakthrough. That’s because Google search results pages are also the most critical assets in terms of monetization. That gives Google limited flexibility to change the way it works drastically. Imagine the scenario in which Google would unleash its AI, that would break the delicate balance between Google and publishers, which - for two decades -  have provided quality organic content beside Google paid ads.

Therefore, while players like Amazon can start from first principles when it comes to thinking about voice and how the next wave of search will look like, for Google that might be harder.

Is search coming to an end?

Search is going through a radical shift. As Google is becoming more like a portal it also raises questions on the future of search itself. In fact, on September 24th Google announced it would be rolling out Google Discovery. Think of it as Google feed. Where the feed was typical of the experience offered on social media, now the feed is becoming a critical part of Google experience too. In fact, with Google discovery, a user won’t need anymore to insert a keyword in the search box to get started. The user will see a set of stories based on her interest, independently from search. 

Thus, publishers that for years have structured their content to accommodate Google guidelines might end up empty-handed!

Who’s the greatest loser of this epic war among tech giants? As Google and Facebook lock-in, publishers get kicked out!

In this epic battle for the control of “the next web” which might turn out to be completely different from the web as we know it today the sacrifice bunt seems to be the publishing industry. As those publishers have learned to use search engines and social networks as main distributors for their content, those have suddenly stopped sending back organic traffic. 

Both from desktop and mobile the no-click searches, for which the navigation of the user happens within Google’s search page result - have increased substantially. The effect is even stronger on Mobile. This means that Google is sending less traffic to those sites and we can expect this trend to consolidate in the next future.

 

As Slate pointed out in the “The Great Facebook Crash” traffic from Facebook plummeted at a staggering 87 percent. In January 2017 Slate got more than 28 million clicks from Facebook, which became less than 4 million in May 2018. In an attempt to strengthen “meaningful relationships” (which is a way for Facebook to stay alive after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal) publishers are losing most of their organic traffic via Facebook as well. How are publishers responding?

In this era of walls, publishers too respond with paid walls. Will those publishers that represented the backbone of the information industry for over a century survive to the next wave of the internet? Is search coming to an end? And what will it become? Those all remain open questions!

Three tips for publishers to survive the tech giants lock-ins

I'd like to end up this article with a few tips for publishers:

Cut the intermediary between you and your audience via your brand: if you're on top of mind for your audience, there is no need for Facebook or Google to get to you. They'll get to you directly.
Experiment with new business models: as a publisher the traditional advertising + subscription model might have worked for over a century now. However, as new technologies approach and disrupt industries logic which got traction in modern times lose appeal. In this scenario, it becomes critical to experiment with new monetization strategies and rehaul your business model. For instance, new publishing platforms like Steemit leverage on the blockchain to create a value chain, thus a new business model. As a publisher, you need to keep a wide-open perspective to those innovations if you want to survive the next phase.
You need to be ready now for voice search: tech giants like Amazon, Apple and Google are fighting the war which will probably determine who will be the next world dominator. If for a while the voice search market will probably be quite fragmented. Eventually, it might consolidate in the hands of a few, if not one player. In that perspective, you need to start structuring your content and rethinking part of your editorial strategy around voice.

 

The post As Google And Facebook Lock-In, Publishers Get Kicked Out! appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

What Is Business Development? The Complete Guide To Business Development

Business development comprises a set of strategies, tactics, and actions to grow a business via a mixture of sales and marketing. Indeed, while marketing usually relies on automation to reach a wider audience, and sales usually leverages on the one-to-one approach to close complex deals. Business development is about creating distribution strategies to scale up a business.

A good business development process should have as the primary aim to drive business growth with strategies, partnerships and unconventional marketing to 10x the output of the organization. The success of companies like Google also depended on their business development capabilities.

Although you might be looking for a straightforward definition of what business development is, you need to understand that this is a discipline in continuous evolution, which has as a main driver business growth. In this context, a good place to start is to define what business development is not.

Business Development vs. sales

Thinking about the business developer as the sales guy, it’s limiting. Not that a business developer doesn’t sell, but it does so by creating a distribution. In other words, rather than looking at the single sale the business developers try to find sales channels to tap into to speed up the process of scaling up a company. If that means selling a product or a service directly, then the business development person will temporarily become a sales guy.

Imagine the scenario of a company that has no clients. In that context, a business developer will need to find the first clients as quickly as possible. Those clients will serve to launch the company’s growth, while the business developer will look strategically at ways to have those clients to become partners. Therefore, all of a sudden a few clients become your distribution channel. Even though the business developer acted as a sales guy from the outside, he never lost sight of the long-term strategy.

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The successful business developer thinks like a marketer but acts like a salesman

Business development is a mixture of sales and marketing. In fact, in many cases, a business developer will use marketing and PR activities to establish critical relationships for the business. Those relationships will become partnerships to generate new distribution channels.

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Business development is about nurturing the right relationships with partners that can become distribution channels

Where the sales process ends up with a closed deal. The business development relationship starts with a closed deal. The business developer knows that a deal closed is just the starting point of a long-term relationship that can impact the business in the long run. Therefore, the business developer will translate that paying customer in a trusted partner, and an advocate for your business.

Business development guides marketing automation

Marketing automation is a powerful tool for any business. However, marketing automation is also risky. Indeed, automating processes requires a deep understanding of your customers. Thus, before you can automate the marketing processes, you’ll need the business developers to help the marketing team structure those processes. Indeed with unique insight about the company’s customers, the industry and competitors, the business developer will advise the marketing department on how to structure and set up automation processes that fit the long-term organizational growth.

Business development scales up businesses

When Google closed its deal with AOL, it was a turning point for the tech company that would become a unicorn first and a tech giant then. It all started with a business development activity that allowed Google to build a partnership with AOL and kill its competitors!

A successful business development person is a quick learner and a renaissance man. He will be able to learn about as many disciplines needed to have a deep understanding of the industry that will drive the company’s growth. For instance, if you think of a business developer in the digital marketing world, he’ll probably be someone that understands SEM, SEO, funnel optimization, content marketing, sales and all the other channels available to grow a business.

Business development is about a growth mindset

The business development process could vary quite a lot based on industry, business model and stage of maturity of a company. If you are called as a business developer for a startup, most of the activities will be connected to grow the startup and bring it to the next stage of growth.

Therefore, the successful business developer will need to have a mindset fine-tuned for growth.

Business development requires a high level of understanding of a potential partner

To be able to build a relationship quickly, a business developer has to understand the business dynamics of a potential partner. Indeed, just by tapping into the economics of a partner, the business developer can craft the perfect deal/solution. For instance, when Google proposed the deal to AOL, the deal was so good for AOL, and it had no risk for them, that they couldn’t say no to it. Yet AOL was an established network, which was what allowed Google to get into the next stage of growth and scale.

What activities does business development imply?

Anything that helps build up a solid distribution strategy falls into the business development processes.

The sales pipeline is a basic tool for a business developer

A sales pipeline is as a visual representation of your sales process where all your potential customers are displayed and neatly arranged according to their phase in your sales cycle.

Source: salespop.pipelinersales.com/sales-pro...

A business developer has to be able to build up predictable sales processes to generate continuous streams of leads for the organization. The sales pipeline is a useful tool to set up those processes.

Also, being able to track your sales pipeline is a critical activity. A sales pipeline is just a way to have clear in which stage of the sales process you are with a potential client. As shown by Sales POP from the initial contact to closing a deal it takes a few steps:

Initial contact
Qualification
Meeting
Proposal
Close

At each of those actions, we can assign a probability of closing a deal. For instance, at the initial contact, you don’t have an idea yet whether the person you’re reaching out would later become a customer. Therefore, the more you move forward down the pipeline, the more the chances of closing the deal improve. Sales POP research shows that each of those stages has a chance of success as it follows:

Initial contact – 0 %
Qualification – 10 %
Meeting – 30 %
Proposal – 60 %
Close – 100 %

Therefore, after you have qualified a lead, you have 1 in 10 chances of closing it. Once you have met, defined the project and sent a proposal, then your chances will improve up to 60%. The chances of closing a deal also depend on other factors. For instance, have you previously worked with this person?

In short, if you have already built trust, it will be easier to close the deal. If you are expanding a project you were working on, then it might be easier as well. Therefore, it will depend upon several factors crucial to any deal.

Yet the business developer can have clarity about the stage of a business deal. In that way, the business developer can plan the actions and activities that will get the sales process going.

What actions can the business developer perform to improve the sales pipeline?

There are several ways to improve sales processes. Some examples comprise:

Experimentation with new tools, or channels
Finding out new tactics from your peers
Creating new partnerships
Managing existing partnerships to expand the scope of work
Direct sales (outreach, live demonstrations, free training)
Off-line activities (live seminars, or industry events)
Content marketing or PR activities
Talk to clients to improve product/service
Learn how to build relationships with influencers
Use LinkedIn for social selling
Experiment with new distribution channels
Develop relationships with media partners
Create new packaging for your service
Draft commercial offers
Up-sell, cross-sell, leverage on the core product to offer complementary services
Create sales processes
Build up a predictable sales funnel
Help marketing to build sales funnels for continued lead generation

Why undertake a career in business development?

Being a business development person means having an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s almost like you are a business within your business. Therefore, working as a business development person helps you:

Develop an entrepreneurial mindset
Get more freedom compared to a traditional job
Dynamic work that pushes you to learn new things quickly
Make more money (the variable is an important part of the remuneration)
Higher pressure but also more fun than a traditional job
Be your own boss (if it is in a large organization, of course, you will respond to someone. However, the only boss you have are the commercial objectives you agreed upon)
Build a professional network quickly

What are some downsides?

Of what I can think of here are some I identified:

The bottom line is your mixed blessing. In fact, although you might be doing things right for specific periods, you just don’t seem to be able to close enough deals, partnership or create a proper distribution strategy. From the outside that might look like you’re not doing your job properly. What I like to call the outcome bias. In those periods you have to be good to think about your track record
Your pay is proportional to the objective you’re able to achieve. Therefore quite volatile
Some days it just seems you’ll never get to achieve the financial results agreed. It is normal to feel like that. The good side of it is that you’ll feel what any entrepreneur experiences

Overall the balance is positive. Now the most critical question. How do you make a business get traction?

The channels you can use to get traction

Gabriel Weinberg, CEO, and founder of DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn’t track your data, put together in his book, Traction a list of channels that are critical to allow a business to grow. He identified quite a few channels:

Targeting Blogs
Publicity
Unconventional PR
Search Engine Marketing
Social and Display Ads
Offline Ads
Search Engine Optimization
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Viral Marketing
Engineering as Marketing
Business Development
Sales
Affiliate Programs
Existing Platforms
Trade Shows
Offline Events
Speaking Engagements
Community Building

As a business developer, you need to understand some of those channels to grow a business.

What’s a secret weapon for the business developer? LinkedIn

65% of salespeople who use social selling fill their pipeline, compared to 47% of reps who do not. source: blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-statistics

LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to generate conversations that can help you speed up the prospecting phase. What can you do with LinkedIn?

Find new B2B clients
Build new partnerships
Get media coverage
Personal branding for business

Those things are possible if you are consistent. Three ways to build relationships with business are:

Outreach to people that might get value from what you offer
Use LinkedIn publishing to create awareness or become a thought leader in your niche
Share and like posts about people you admire to strengthen your relationship and create value for your network

Check out the complete guide on how to use LinkedIn. 

At the end of it, it’s about listening

Based on the research by Hubspot those are the top four ways to create a positive sales experience, according to buyers:

Listen to their needs (69%)
Don’t be pushy (61%)
Provide relevant information (61%)
Respond promptly (51%)

Therefore, it is critical to learning to listen, which does not mean thinking about what you have to say next when the other person is listening. But instead to focus solely on what the other person says emphatically. One mantra I have (or at least I try) to follow is “how do I create value for this person?”

Once that becomes hardwired, it will be much easier to get things going!

 

The post What Is Business Development? The Complete Guide To Business Development appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How To Build A Business Model Based On The Market Leader Weakness

In this blog I've already discussed the last mover advantage and why in many cases arriving late might be a good thing. In this short essay, I want to highlight how this counterintuitive principle applies more and more to the tech world.

In the tech industry, the winner of the past might become the biggest loser. Indeed, as an innovative company, in many cases, you take over a sector by disrupting its old logic. For instance, Microsoft had dominated the tech industry, until Google took it over.

What happened there? While Microsoft had been able to ride the wave of innovation (or at least of financial consolidation) throughout the 1990s, it also tried to take over the next phase of technological innovation by applying an old logic to whole new technology: the internet.

When Microsoft spent millions to build an internet TV only to see Google take over the web

Microsoft and its founder, Bill Gates, understood the importance of the internet back in the 1990s. Back then, Bill Gates wrote one of the most quoted pieces, still nowadays "Content is King:"

One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatevercontent they can create. In a sense, the Internet is the multimedia equivalent of the photocopier. It allows material to be duplicated at low cost, no matter the size of the audience.

Bill Gates created a dedicated team with the sole purpose of bringing TV on the internet. However, that didn't work, and soon enough a new company took it all. It was a startup created by two PhDs at Stanford, it was called Google, and it would quickly become a hit.

However, Google didn't try to bring TV on the internet, quite the opposite. Google got founded on a most straightforward yet more powerful (at the time) concept: search. By inserting a simple word or combination of words within a box, you could get millions of results, quite fast. And the first of those results had good chances of being relevant for what you were looking for, that's it!

That was Google innovation; as Microsoft was already looking at bringing the logic of TV to the web. Google instead focused on indexing all the web pages it could and rank them based on a relevance system, which followed the PageRank algorithm.

At that time it was innovative enough, yet also practical enough to allow Google to scale up, quite fast. Trying to bring video content on the web, might have been too ambitious and probably impossible, considering the existing physical infrastructures. Yet the internet was ready to evolve as a text-based web!

Today something new is finally happening. As AI and machine learning capabilities expand, and the current web infrastructure has become able to handle video content, the web has finally become video-based compared to the past. That's why companies like YouTube have become so popular!

Toady other companies are taking advantage of Google's weaknesses to build a business model. Take DuckDuckGo business model.

How Google's weakness is becoming DuckDuckGo value proposition

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As soon as you jump on DuckDuckGo, the value proposition is clear "we don't track you, we don't collect, neither share your data."

While this value proposition might sound trivial at first, this is the core of DuckDuckGo business model. If you don't trust what I'm saying, let's look at the growth in the numbers of direct searches on DuckDuckGo over the years:

[image error] As privacy concerns over Google grow, DuckDuckGo gains traction. Its growth is continuing year over year!

Why might a value proposition based on a market leader weakness be so compelling and useful to build a business model? For a few simple reasons.

The market leader has lost flexibility in its business model

Google today is a company that still generates most of its revenues from advertising. Therefore, the mechanism behind Google financial success is based on its ability to keep producing as much money from its advertising network, while reinvesting that money in other growth areas.

In short, a market leader is usually a large conglomerate, and also if it maintained an agile decision-making organizational structure, it's still quite slow compared to a startup. That connects to the second point.

The market leader can't afford to experiment with its business model as much as the last mover

When you've managed to put together all the pieces of the puzzles, and all the moving parts of the value chain that is when a business model is born. While any organization keeps experimenting and evolving its business model, large companies like Google cannot afford to experiment too aggressively with their business models as the risk of breaking the company value chain apart is too high.

In this context, as a new player, you're in the opposite situation. Not only you can afford to experiment with your business model. Experimentation is the key to survival and to thrive in an industry dominated by someone else.

The market leader might not see it coming!

In other cases yet the market leader might not see it coming! For instance, Google knows how privacy is critical for users. That is also why it shut down its operations of Google+. However, in most cases, the dominant player might not see it coming!

Why then - if Google realized the importance of privacy - it's not changing the way it works?

For the market leader, it might be too expensive to take your route

If Google were to change its workings to guarantee privacy (just like DuckDuckGo does) that would kill its business model, built on data itself. Indeed, data is what makes Google the tech giant it is today!

In this context, you can create a value chain by starting from the market leader biggest weakness!

Are you starting from scratch in designing your business model? Below the resources to build a business model from scratch! 

What is a business model?
What are the primary components of a business model?
How many types of business models exist?
Vision vs. Mission: why understanding the difference between them is important
Business model canvas in a nutshell

Key partners
Key activities
Value proposition
What is a value proposition?
The customer profile

Understand what's important and what's insignificant about customer jobs
Understand what extreme and what's moderate about customer pains
Understand what's essential and what's nice to have by generating customer gains


The value map
Customer relationship
Customer segment
Key resource
Distribution channel
Cost structure
Revenue stream


What is the lean startup methodology?

Business plans rarely survive first contact with customers
Five-year plans are worthless and a waste of time
Start-ups are not smaller versions of large companies
The lean start-up movement is about agile development


The lean startup canvas vs. business model canvas
What is an unfair advantage?
Is lean startup canvas for anyone?
Is it better to use the business model canvas or the lean startup canvas?

 

The post How To Build A Business Model Based On The Market Leader Weakness appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How To Self-Publish A Book [With Tom Corson Knowles]

In this article, you'll have the opportunity to learn how to get started with self-publishing from a digital entrepreneur, and successful self-published author. The objective will be to give you a few insights to get you started and a few tips to avoid critical pitfalls to build a business based on self-publishing.

Background story

I’ve known Tom Corson-Knowles since 2015 when I was looking for ways to supplement my income and build an info-product digital business based on ebooks and online courses. It was back in 2015, and Tom’s course on Udemy was a precious resource to get me started.

Today, Tom is the founder of TCK Publishing, a mass market book publishing company that helps authors succeed. They also teach courses and provide tons of free information on their site to help other authors and publishers increase their sales and make better business decisions. Their business model is attractive because TCK doesn’t charge you any fee to help you publish your book. They earn all their profits when they help you sell more books.

TCK pays its authors 50% of net royalties. This means that if you sell $5,000 worth of your book, you will make $2,500. It is important to remember that this is after Amazon takes its fees from the book sales.

The book business isn’t an easy one to start with for a few simple reasons. First, as an author, you might have the skills to write a great book, but don’t have a clue on how to commercialize it.

Second, usually, the pricing of a book makes it a difficult item to sell because you have to strike a balance between marketing channels that work. Imagine the scenario of you selling an ebook at $9.99. And your primary channel for selling it is Facebook ads. If you need $10 in ads to sell a single copy, you’re losing money.

Third, and most important, the self-publishing market has also grown due to the low barriers to entry. Therefore, even though the number of people that self-publish has grown exponentially, a very few make enough money to live with that.

As Tom gave me the opportunity to interview him. I’m taking that opportunity to ask him questions related to things for which I struggled the most and that I bet you’re struggling with as well if you’re trying to build a self-publishing business!

Interview with Tom Corson-Knowles on how to get started with self-publishing

G: If you’re publishing a book to earn extra income. It is critical to find ideas that can have the potential to make you money.

How do you research and brainstorm the right ideas to self-publish a book?

Tom: There are two parts of your brain, roughly speaking, the right and left hemisphere. This is an oversimplification, but basically, the right side of your mind has to do with the big picture, creative thinking, and the left side has to do with verbal and analytical thinking. So when you’re brainstorming ideas, you’re using your right brain to “brainstorm” a wide variety of ideas. Some will be bad, and some may be excellent. But you’ll never know until you go through that creative process and write it all down.

After you brainstorm a big list of ideas, that’s when you should analyze those ideas with your left brain and sift through all the ideas to select the best ones.

The way you brainstorm better ideas is to simply brainstorm as many relevant ideas as you can, and then pick the best ones. That requires two different parts of your brain, and so it requires two different processes.

Schedule a time for brainstorming, and schedule a separate time for analyzing your list of ideas. By focusing on those two processes, you’ll end up with much better ideas over time.

How do you write a great book, quickly? Is there a process that you can suggest to make the process of writing, sustainable, and repeatable?

Tom: The same process I just mentioned for brainstorming and selecting ideas is the same process you’ll need to use throughout the creative process of writing a book. So, first you’ll start brainstorming ideas for the book, and then you’ll pick the best one or ones.

Then you’ll brain dump a bunch of ideas on the page as you write your first draft, and after that, you’ll revise, edit, and analyze those ideas to make them even better.

If you want to make the process faster, get better at both parts of the process, and never try to edit while you’re writing your first draft.

Our team mapped out the process for writing a nonfiction book and writing a novel, so that will help anyone who wants to see the big picture and get a step-by-step plan in place for writing their book.

Gennaro's Notes: to get started it's critical to have a process in place if you want to avoid to get lost. Writing a book isn't simple, especially if you're not yet a professional writer. For that Tom has cut through the noise for us. Of course, the process will vary depending you're writing a nonfiction book vs. a novel. 

For instance, in its "how to write a nonfiction book" Tom has identified a single process articulated in steps:

Brainstorm Book Ideas
Market Research
Identify Your Book’s Target Audience
Identify the Problem You Want to Solve
Pick a Bestselling Book Title
Write a Book Outline
Write the First Draft
Add Targeted Personal Examples
Re-Read and Self-Edit Your Book
Ask for Feedback from Beta Readers
Work with an Editor to Revise Your Book
Get Your Book Published

When it comes to writing a novel, the logic changes. I do suggest you go through Tom's guides. They've helped me a lot when I got started. 

G: Most amateurs writers believe that once you have the content and it gets published, most of the work is done. In reality, content - although quite important - is only a fraction of the work. The remaining and critical part is about creating the distribution for your work.

What is a process that you suggest in terms of marketing a book? Is there a particular distribution channel you think is more suited than others?

Tom: The key to marketing is to understand your customer, your reader. Who are they? What do they want? And how are you serving them better than anyone else in the world? If you can’t answer those questions, you won’t be able to put together a great product, or a great marketing plan to get that product out in a big way.

Marketing is an enormous topic, so here’s the best resource to get you started on the right track: How to Become a Bestselling Author (it’s a free blog post walking you through the marketing process to create a bestseller).

Gennaro's Notes: I'd like to stress this point. When I got started with self-publishing, I believed that it was all about writing. Yet if you aim to create an income with our works, you need to become pretty good at marketing and distributing it. Tom has done that consistently. 

When it comes to marketing and distribution of your book, it is critical to have in mind the several channels you can leverage on. If you decide to self-publish primarily on Amazon, you need to understand its ranking system. People will find you mainly via Amazon search engines. For instance, having the proper keywords in your book description. Also, it is also crucial to understand how Amazon ontologies work. For example, for each category, Amazon has a subcategory that you can select for your book. When you choose your book to be featured in a subcategory (for instance "business & money" is a category, while "accounting" is a subcategory):

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Choosing a less competitive subcategory means improving your chances to be on the best sellers list. If you get there, Amazon might be pushing your book, which means you'll get more sales in.  Tom's guide goes through each step you need to take to improve your chances to be featured as a best seller! This is one example of the distribution strategies to become a successful author. If you're not willing to invest time and money to understand those mechanisms, it's very hard you'll be able to succeed! 

G: Becoming a full-time author is probably one of the most challenging endeavors. A book is a product which is scalable. Thus, it can make you money while you sleep. However, just as any scalable venture, it is also hard to build up organically. That’s because in many cases a book either becomes a hit or nothing at all.

Is there a way/process to organically grow the book sales?

Tom: Yes, it’s called building an author platform. Create something precious and unique that makes people want to share it, and get your message or story out to more people.

I recommend you choose one platform-building marketing strategy and master it. Whether it be public speaking, blogging, publishing free videos on YouTube and Facebook, mastering Facebook ads or social media, or any other marketing strategy—whatever you do, practice it every day, constantly learn new things, and become the best you can possibly be at it.

Gennaro's notes: when you first get started with the marketing activities for your book you might be sucked in by the noise on the web about the things to do to sell more books. The problem is most of that is worthless advice. You don't need to be anywhere to make your book successful, all it takes is to focus on a single platform that best suits your personality, style and that you'd be able to nurture. For instance, if you like to write consistently, then blogging might be the best option. In other cases, it might make more sense for you to leverage on public speaking or social media. Whatever platform or medium you choose, make sure to focus your effort on one platform at the time. Once you've mastered it, you can move to the next.

G: Last but not least. On a platform like Amazon, in many cases, the success of a book depends on its momentum. Therefore, the more the book gains traction in the short run; the more the Amazon algorithm will suggest it to more and more readers. Thus, the short-term success of a publication represents also critical for its long-term success.

How do you gain momentum for your book sales? Are there some actionable tips an author can implement for that?

Tom: Word-of-mouth is still the #1 reason people buy books. So do your market research thoroughly and write the best damn book you can.

After that, test out every marketing strategy that makes sense to you and would help you reach your audience, and then double down on what works for you.

You can use book promotion sites, AMS Ads, and other book promotion services to help get that initial boost when you release a new book.

Gennaro's notes:  as Tom pointed out, once you have great content (that is the baseline) the remaining part is about experimentation. You will not know what marketing effort will work for you and what not. Once you figure out what is working you double down on it. This is a sort of Bullseye framework to get closer and closer to your sales targets! 

G: Thank you for giving us the chance to learn valuable lessons based on your precious experience!

What is the best way to get in touch with you?



Tom: You can check out my blog at www.tckpublishing.com/blog or just search for Tom Corson-Knowles on social media if that’s your thing.

Do you need other ideas to make money? Below a list of ideas with low cost and high profit we found for you:

Become a blogger
Become an online instructor
Become a professional photographer
Become a ghostwriter
Become a Chatbots maker
Become an affiliate marketer
Become a career coach, resume writer or LinkedIn profile writer 
Become a business development contractor
Become an infopreneur 
Become an SEO consultant
Become a contractor headhunter

 

The post How To Self-Publish A Book [With Tom Corson Knowles] appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

The Kering Group Multi-Brand Business Model In A Nutshell

Kering Group follows a multi-brand business model strategy, where the central holding helps the brands and Houses part of its portfolio to leverage on economies of scale while creating synergies among them. At the same time, those brands are run independently. Kering is today a global luxury brand which made over €15 billion in 2017 based on this multi-brand strategy. Within Kering group there are brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, and Puma. The two primary operating segments based on luxury and sport & lifestyle.

Kering multi-brand business model strategy

When you look under the hood of the Kering group, one of the most striking things is the variety of luxury brands it holds. In fact, throughout the years Kering has developed a business model strategy of aggregating several brands under the same corporate umbrella. However, each of those brands is managed independently. That allows the company to be diversified, while at the same time guaranteeing the operations to be agile (via the separately managed brands) and to take advantage of synergies between those brands.

Another critical aspect is that the business model of the group is it family-owned structure, which guarantees a fast decision-making process. Therefore, the change of direction can be steered quickly. Indeed, Kering didn't start as a luxury company at all. Its beginnings were related to lumber trading. Only in 1994 Kering started to reposition its brand.

This repositioning culminated with the war to acquire Gucci. After that Kering consolidated its position in the Luxury brand industry, by buying several other fashion luxury brands. This process is still ongoing; even though Kering is among the largest luxury holdings in the world.

Brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, McQ, Stella McCartney, Tomas Maier, Boucheron, Dodo, Girard-Perregaux, Pomellato, Qeelin and Ulysse Nardin are part of the Kering galaxy. Kering also develops Sport & Lifestyle brands PUMA, COBRA, and Volcom.

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This multi-brand approach similar to that of LVMH allows them to be independent also at the creative level. This decentralized model attempts at fostering rapid growth for those brands. The logic is to enable agility, balance, and responsibility across those Houses.

Indeed, while each of them keeps its identity expressed in their unique characters, the Group provides the infrastructure to support the operations of those brands, while allowing them to scale up via distribution networks that leverage on the Group economies of scale.  Also, the Group acts as the mediator that encourages the brands to form synergies with each other and share best practices to drive innovation.

The key three pillars of Kering multi-brand business strategy

The model moves around three pillars:

Agility: Kering provides its Houses with an organisational structure that unlocks their potential for excellence

Balance: Now a fully integrated Group, Kering’s multibrand model is reaching optimal efficiency

Responsibility: All our operations are founded on a responsible economic model. Our comprehensive, sustainable approach is a structural competitive advantage

The primary aim is to drive organic growth via:

Above-market performance in a growth industry
Product innovation
Sales efficiency
Customer experience
Omni-channel approach

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Kering Group vertical integration

Another critical aspect is Kering vertical integration. Just like Luxottica vertical integration strategy since 2013, the Group strengthened its upstream positioning in the Luxury Goods value chain.

For instance, the group purchased leather tanneries to secure raw materials sourcing. Also, logistics activities for Couture & Leather Goods brands have been centralized.

Why do companies choose vertical integration even when it implies a significant capital investment? Vertical integration allows to achieve more control over the whole process; it also helps the company to keep high-quality standards. At the same time, it will enable an organization to maintain control over those processes. So in one word, one of the main reason for vertical integration is control!

Kering organizational chart

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Source: Kering Annual Report 2017

The vertical integration and multi-brand strategy are reflected in Kering organizational chart. On the one hand, the holding controls the major geographical areas. Kering Corporate controls two main segments: Luxury activities and Sport and lifestyle activities.

Kering key financials figures

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In 2017 the companies made over fifteen billion euros in revenues for the overall group, a twenty-five percent growth compared to 2016. It also improved its operating income by nineteen percent, while decreased its net debt by over thirty percent.

Who's going to be the next brand to add to the multi-brand strategy of Kering?  

Handpicked related business models in the fashion industry:

The Family Owned Prada Integrated Business Model In A Nutshell
Luxottica Vertically Integrated Business Model In A Nutshell
Nike Business Model: Demand Generation As Weapon For Business Growth
Brunello Cucinelli: The Humanistic Enterprise Business Model
Bernard Arnault Empire: LVMH Group Business Model In A Nutshell
How Does TOMS Shoes Make Money? The One-For-One Business Model Explained

Other handpicked business models:

How Does PayPal Make Money? The PayPal Mafia Business Model Explained
How Does WhatsApp Make Money? WhatsApp Business Model Explained
How Does Google Make Money? It’s Not Just Advertising! 
How Does Facebook Make Money? Facebook Hidden Revenue Business Model Explained
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business
The Google of China: Baidu Business Model In A Nutshell
Accenture Business Model In A Nutshell 
Salesforce: The Multi-Billion Dollar Subscription-Based CRM
How Does Twitter Make Money? Twitter Business Model In A Nutshell
How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money? DuckDuckGo Business Model Explained
How Amazon Makes Money: Amazon Business Model in a Nutshell
How Does Netflix Make Money? Netflix Business Model Explained

 

The post The Kering Group Multi-Brand Business Model In A Nutshell appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

Best Business To Start With Little Money

The dream of many is to be their own bosses, work a few hours per week, and have the chance to spend the rest of the day doing the things they are passionate about. But as the say goes “work hard and you will become rich.”

It is true that working hard is a good start, but do you want to work hard all your life just to reap the benefits when you’re too old? Although working hard is the prerequisite, working smart is the enhancer that can bring you to the desired success.

Ideas are overrated, yet they still matter to get started!

The past has been built over ideas. Ideas have changed the world; ideas are the foundation of business. Is this really true? In part, it is, although we like to believe that great ideas change the world and that those who can conceive them will thrive, this is half of the story.

We, humans, are hard-wired to have ideas, as Thomas Edison used to say, “I pull ideas out of the air.” Therefore creativity is far from being something special but rather something common to all human beings. This means that you too can have smart ideas and test them!

Ideas need to be tested in the real world, quickly!

Many of us have the feelings at all times that people have stolen ideas from us. Some of us to have the feeling at times to have thought about creating Tesla or SpaceX even before Elon Musk did.

What makes the difference between an idea, which succeeds, and one, which does not, is the willingness to test that idea in the real world, therefore to transition from theory to reality. Elon Musk had the desire to test ideas that seemed to make sense in theory but that are very hard to prove in the real world. This is where execution becomes the key.

Many ideas will fail a few will become successful, those who do will become your cash cows

As the story goes Thomas Edison before discovering one of his greatest inventions had to try and fail 10,000. Whether or not the story is real, the point is that ideas are worth not much if there aren’t people willing to test them out while being ready to fail many times before that idea may work.

History has shown us that many times great inventions come out of serendipity rather than a preconceived plan. In most cases though you need an idea and a very actionable plan!

Welcome to the entrepreneurial age

We all assume that history goes from ebb and flow and in part this is true. In ancient history, Greeks were the fathers of our western civilization. Yet Hellenism (the diffusion of the Greek civilization) happened thanks to Macedonians, a small, barbarian population, located North of Greece.

Indeed, while Greeks lived in Theory-land for many centuries, Macedonians and in particular Alexander the Great in just a few decades spread the Hellenism culture throughout the ancient world. Alexander the Great was one of the primary examples in history of people with the entrepreneurial mindset.

Anyone can become an entrepreneur

If I asked you, “what is the best way to go from A to B?” You would mock me by thinking how trivial this question is. After pausing for few instants, you would answer without hesitation “of course through a straight-line.” Although many of us get the concept in Theory-land few of us to apply this concept in reality.

This is due to our domain dependency. In short, we seem to be able to grasp a concept theoretically, but then we seem not to be able to bring this concept to the real world. With no surprise, many academics may have an incredible expertise of their subject, but no clue of how that subject applies in the real world.

Therefore, the point here is that you can start at this moment to be an entrepreneur if you have the willingness to do so. I know what is the first objection you are going to move is, “Hey man, all you are saying here is very cool, but how am I supposed to start a business if I have no money?”

You need a few heuristics to be a successful businessman

Robert Allen in his book “Nothing Down” tells us how to start a real estate business with no money down. On the other hand, Robert Kiyosaki also tells us what the principles to follow to become real estate investors are.

Few principles are important when starting as a real estate beginner investor. Three of those principles are:

You have to buy your real estate at a 30% discount (at least)
You are not buying it for yourself
A property is an investment just if it has positive cash flows

As for the first point, anyone would agree with that. But how can you find a property, which is selling at a 30% discount? One of the most basic principles, which amateur investors seem not to grasp is that you have to make a deal when you buy rather than when you sell.

In other words, most amateurs make the mistake of buying properties and hoping them to increase in value over time. Indeed, you do not have to accept the price set by the seller as given, but rather to challenge that price.

Good real estate deals are available at any time. Therefore, do not get emotional if you are losing what it seems at first to be a good deal. Sure enough, you will find an even better deal moving forward.

How to find good deals? You have to find a motivated seller, someone who is trying to cash out, and that would accept 30% to 50% less on the property. Although occasional, those cases are fewer extra-ordinaries that you might think.

Here we go to our second point, which is “you are not buying the house for yourself.” Too often when buying a prospective property buyer get also attached to it, and they end up living in the property rather than treating it as an investment. Thus, once you buy the property, rent it. The property is a tool to become financially free. Let the property work for you rather than you sacrificing your life for the property.

The third and crucial point that few seem to understand is that “the property is not an investment unless it generates future cash flows for you.” In other words, assuming you buy an apartment for $150,000 and get a mortgage for the full amount; assuming a monthly rate of $1,000 you want to rent the place out for at least $1,200. In short, the rent has to cover for the monthly mortgage rate plus all the other expenses, so that eventually will have a positive cash flow.

Those are very simple heuristics. If you follow them religiously you can make it too!

26 business ideas to get started with no (or little) money down

In this article, we’ll see 26 ideas to build a profitable small business online. The objective is to give you a list of easy to implement ideas that with a low financial investment can work out.

It’s important to remark that to build an online business, initially, it is critical to put the so-called sweat equity.

1. Affiliate Marketing

For instance, Patt Flynn made $51,877.40 of affiliate earnings in September 2017. It is worth exploring the list of affiliations that smartpassiveincome.com shows on its reports to see what kind of affiliate links might work for you too:

Amazon.com (Book/Equipment Referrals)



AWeber (email marketing)



Bluehost (web hosting)



ConvertKit (email marketing)



Create Awesome Online Courses (online teaching)



Fizzle (online learning)



LeadPages 



LegalZoom



Libsyn



Long Tail Pro Keyword Research Tool



Market Samurai



Marketing Impact Academy with Chalene Johnson



Music Radio Creative



Samcart



SumoMe



Teachable



The FB Advantage



WP-Wishlist

2. Infoproducts

Info products are also a great way to monetize as they allow you to get a 100% cut of the revenues you make. Imagine you’ve produced an ebook or online course that sells anywhere from $20 up to $399.

A few dozens of customers are enough to make you the passive income you need to do what you like and live a good life. Of course, easier said than done.

3. Email marketing 

When I speak to some of my clients they often ask, is email marketing still a valid way to make money?

The question comes from the fact that we all hear stories of AI and machine learning and tend to think that email marketing is too old school as a monetization strategy.

In reality, this is wrong! There are companies like AppSumo and digital marketers, like Tim Ferris and many others that still make a consistent amount of money through an extensive email list.

4. Google AdSense

I’ve never suggested AdSense as a valid monetization strategy unless you have such a large website that this strategy becomes profitable. If you have a small blog, Google AdSense won’t pay the bills.

Also, I honestly don’t like my users see banners all over the pages of my site when instead I can keep my content clean and more focused on user experience rather than make a few dollars with – at times – spammy banners.

5. Consulting

This is a viable alternative for anyone, from small to large WordPress websites. This is a strategy I’m testing as of the time of this writing. Of course, if you offer consultancy, this needs to be in line with the editorial strategy of your blog.

If you’re a food blogger, you can’t sell yourself as a business consultant, but rather as a food consultant. The only limitation of this strategy is that if your blog grows fast, then you won’t be able to get all the projects that come in.

However, if you wish to build a consultancy boutique and hire other people to help you out this might scale. If instead, you wish to keep a solo business this strategy will work only as long as you’re able to work on the projects that come in through the blog.

6. Branded stories

Many see sponsored content, not as a viable way to monetize a blog. I don’t think this is the case. If you offer value to your users, you can still offer content that is relevant, and that makes you money.

Let’s say a company pays you to talk about their startup. If what the startup does is truly interesting; if you have an honest interest and you know your audience would like that story, then this might be a great way to monetize.

Branded stories if your blog has qualified traffic can make you good money for minimum work.

7. Paid reviews

Like branded stories, the people from your audience are looking for tools and services that can help them grow their online business.

You can get paid by companies that offer those tools or services to post a paid review. Once again, this model works – I believe – only if you’re honest with yourself and your audience.

In short, I’d ask the following questions: do I use this service to grow my business? Do I find it valuable? Would my audience find it helpful too? If you answer yes to those questions then why not do it.

But don’t accept just the first person that knocks on your door. I’ve been receiving several offers in the past year to do paid reviews, but I didn’t do it because I either wasn’t using their tool, service or I didn’t think that would have been valuable to my audience.

8. Banner Ads

It’s tough to make money in an era where people developed a high degree banner blindness. However, if you have a large website, with consistent traffic this also might be a viable option.

9. Sponsored Blog Posts

Just like branded stories or paid reviews, sponsored blog posts might work well as a monetization strategy.

Of course, you have to make clear what represents a sponsored content, and I believe you must do it only if you find relevant the sponsored content.

Otherwise, you risk undermining the trust your audience has for you. Plus, if you don’t believe in something this will be clear from your writing.

In short, a lack of belief in the product/service = bad writing = no conversion.

10. Members Only Content

If you have a small audience that follows you with determination why not make some part of your content only accessible to members?

11. Paid Business Directory

If you have a directory website that has gained substantial traffic, you can have areas of the site which are paid. Take for instance the listing of the 100 most popular business blogs.

You could ask those business blogs if they wish to pay a monthly fee to have an honest review of their blog.

Once again, this model works if you take the time to do proper research and you add value to your audience. Creating a listing only won’t add any value neither for the business listed nor for your audience.

12. Become a Coach

If you often write about self-growth and leadership, then you might be the right person to candidate yourself as a coach. Many people need a person that keeps them accountable.

Be it the creation of a blog, a diet or just professional growth, if you’re good at setting up objectives and keep people accountable, then becoming a coach might be a good monetization strategy.

Of course, do it because you’re passionate about helping others. Otherwise, this will reflect in your service, and you will not last long.

13. Accept Donations

Yes, that’s right. You only need a PayPal donation button to become a millionaire! As you might imagine, I’ve been cynic here.

However, adding the donation button won’t cost you any work, and it still gives people the option to thank you for what you do with a small donation. Why not try this out?

14. Charge For ‘Premium’ Content

Let’s say you’ve written a five thousand words tutorial on how to build an SEO strategy from scratch. Rather than make it accessible entirely, you could offer a sneak preview and ask your audience to pay to have the whole tutorial.

If you’ve spent time doing your research, people might pay for it.

15. Sell Your Blog

Well, if you got bored to write about the same topic, yet your blog is successful. Why not sell it? Some people make a living just by flipping websites.

16. Build your SaaS

If you’re building an online business, chances are you don’t want to set up a complicated business, that requires much work and responsibility.

That applies to a SaaS (Software as a Service). While this can be very profitable. It also requires a lot of work regarding the development and support of your customer base.

If you’re trying to have more freedom, this might not be for you.

17. Speaking Gigs

Many like to influence other people’s lives through speaking. If you’re one of them then why not start asking to get paid for a speaking gig?

The first time you might get only the reimbursement of the expenses, the second time a bit more than that.

The third, you’ll have a business.

18. Create & Sell Your Product

This is by far one of the most profitable monetization strategies. However, this is might also be the hardest to achieve.

Building your product means investing thousands of dollars in developing it.

Thus, it only makes sense if you have enough people willing to pay for it. One way to understand whether that is viable is to check whether people would be willing to finance your project? How?

With crowdfunding, for instance.

19. Write Tutorials & Guides

You don’t have to be a world-class expert to write a tutorial or a guide to a topic. Let’s say you’ve matured a competence that makes you in the top percentile of people in that industry you can sell your capability through tutorials and guides!

20. Live Workshops

People like live workshops. So if you’re recognized locally why not bring your audience off-line for a live seminar? This is a good monetization strategy to connect for real with your audience while making money

21. Find Sponsors For An Event

If you’ve been blogging for a while and you have a loyal, local audience. Why not host your event? Finding sponsors that can help you organize it might be easier than you think!

22. Generate ‘leads’ for other companies

For companies that sell certain services (think real estate, insurance or car dealerships) a lead might be worth also thousand of the dollar.

If you write about topics that are in the right context for those services why not help them find new leads, while you get a fixed rate for each lead you find for them?

23. Create a job board

Do you write about professional growth or how to freelance? Why not have your job board? Headhunters and companies offer great rewards for finding valid candidates to fill their vacancies.

24. Advertise pages

If you have a few, very popular pages. You can make those available to third parties to sell their services. The agreement will be on that specific page. In this way, you can experiment and offer a good ROI to the business that will use that page to have more leads.

25. Host paid webinars

Let’s say you’ve attended a webinar from another blogger that helped you get better at writing. You paid for that webinar.

Why not ask that person to host his webinar on your blog? He’ll get new customers, and you’ll get a cut of the revenues. In the end, your audience will also learn something new

26. Writing Gigs

Your blog is your professional portfolio. If people like what you write, why not have a CTA to offer a writing gig? If you don’t have a full-time job, this might be a great freelancing opportunity!

If you need business ideas for your next online venture you might want to check this out: 

Top 12 Business Ideas with Low Investment and High Profit:

Become a blogger
Become an online instructor
Become a professional photographer
Become a ghostwriter
Become a Chatbots maker
Become an affiliate marketer
Become a career coach, resume writer or LinkedIn profile writer 
Become a business development contractor
Become an infopreneur 
Become a websites flipper 
Become an SEO consultant
Become a contractor headhunter

How to get started with your business:

What Is a Business Model? 26 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
What Is The Best Business Model For A Small Business?
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Business Model Tools for Small Businesses and Startups
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is the Minimum Viable Product? Why Use the Exceptional Viable Product Instead
How To Build A Business Model Based On The Market Leader Weakness
The Marketing Lessons Learned from Rand Fishkin

 

The post Best Business To Start With Little Money appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

The Family Owned Prada Integrated Business Model In A Nutshell

The family-owned Italian luxury brand - Prada - generated over three billion euros in revenues for 2017. Europe represented almost forty percent of the total revenues. Among Prada brands, Prada made more than eighty percent of the company's revenues, followed by Miu Miu, with more than fifteen percent, Church's which generated two and a half percent of its total revenues. Instead, Marchesi 1824 (a luxury bakery) and Car Shoe (a shoe company) made about half a percent of the total revenues.

Among its products lines, leather good represented more than fifty-six percent of the total Prada revenues. Followed by Footwear and Clothing. More than eighty percent of Prada revenues got generated via its directly operated stores. Miuccia Prada owns sixty-five percent of Prada Holding, while Patrizio Bertelli owns thirty-five percent. Prada holding owns eighty-percent of Prada.

Prada Origin Story

In 1913 Mario Prada opened a store in the exclusive location of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, in Milan. He sold mostly handbags, travel trunks, beauty cases, jewelry, and a few other, other luxury items. Prada boutique rapidly became the favorite of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie in Europe.

In 1919 Prada also became an official supplier to the Italian royal family. That made the Prada brand as one of the most exclusive at the time.

The encounter with Patrizio Bertelli

Bertelli started his entrepreneurial journey as a teenager, primarily making and selling bags and belts. When he was 20, he had already three people working for him. After years of gaining experience in the shoes and leather goods, he sold them under the names Sir Robert and Granello. Already in 1967, when Patrizio Bertelli was just twenty-one he had acquired in 1967 Sir Robert e in 1973 the Italian company Granello until he consolidated them under the name of Ipi. The real turning point for both Prada and Bertelli came when he met Miuccia. 

As reported on Fortune, back in 1999, Bertelli met his future wife, Miuccia Prada at a trade show in 1978. The first encounter might not have been very friendly. In fact, according to the Fortune account, when Miuccia Prada saw the goods sold at Bertelli's stall she yelled! "you copied my stuff."

Bertelli was selling fashion goods that resembled Prada design. But as the story goes, the design was so good that eventually, Miuccia Prada licensed the production of her bags him.

Eight years after that weird first encounter at the Bertelli stall, Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli got married. The two groups merged within Prada Holding, and that is how Prada expansion started. 

While Patrizio Bertelli focused on the innovation of Prada business model; Miuccia Prada focused on the innovation of its products. Bertelli relentlessly concentrated on gaining entire control over all processes, from creation to retail. Miuccia Prada's talent focused on creating innovative products that got the attention of a global audience. 

The years of expansion

The year that represented Prada expansion was 1983 when Prada opened up a second store in the Milan main street for shopping. While around the and of the 80s Prada started an internationalization process by opening stores in New York, and Madrid followed by London, Paris, and Tokyo. 

In 1993 Miuccia Prada created a new brand, Miu Miu, as sophisticated, stylish women brand. Miu Miu today is a critical contributor to Prada both in terms of financials and branding. 

The Gucci war and the consolidation of the Luxury industry

In 1998-9, the luxury industry lived a strange moment. Back then Patrizio Bertelli seemed to have foreseen the future. After he had acquired a good chunk of Gucci shares, that resembled an unusual move. Gucci was a rival of Prada.

Thus, the central assumption is that Bertelli was looking for synergies or ways to make Prada and Gucci come together. The paradox is that at the time Prada was smaller than Gucci and it costed $260 million, which was way more than Prada could afford.

In that period Gucci was not just under the radar of Prada, but it was under the radar of other two giants that were looking to consolidate their empires and become the greatest global holdings in the luxury industry: LVMH and Kering.

Prada who had acquired the shares of Gucci eventually sold them to LVMH. LVMH came in to take over Gucci. However, the fight had just started. The second luxury magnate in France - after Bernard Arnault - Mr. Pinault organized a consortium to take over Gucci. This consortium came to "rescue" Gucci, which called them up as an attempt to save the brand from the hostile take over of LVMH.

The war ended in September 2001, when LVMH agreed to sell its shares in Gucci to PPR. Subsequently, LVMH acquired Fendi. This is how the consolidation in the fashion luxury industry ended up, and it all started from Patrizio Bertelli acquisition of Gucci shares! 
The Prada expansion continued

In 1999, the Prada Group acquired Church’s, founded in 1873 in Northampton, England. Specialized in high-end, handcrafted footwear. Church's was a recognized symbol of British tradition and elegance.

Prada also started to build its “Epicenter” store, first opened up in New York City. The purpose was to redefine the shopping concept. Tokyo and Rodeo Drive followed in 2004. Prada also continued its acquisitions with Car Shoe, a classic Italian brand famous for its exclusive driving moccasins.

In 2003, Prada licensed its eyewear manufacturing to Luxottica, the Italian vertically-integrated global leader in the eyewear industry. 

In 2011, Prada listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2014, Prada acquired control of Angelo Marchesi S.r.l., a historical Milanese patisserie founded in 1824.

In 2017 the Prada e-commerce platform was launched in China. This step was critical as it represented the consolidation of the company's digitalization process.

Prada Vision

As Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli noted:

Thorough observation and curiosity for the world around us have always been at the heart of the creativity and modernity of the Prada Group. In society, and thus in fashion, which is somehow a reflection of it, the only constant is change.

The transformation and innovation of references, at the core of any evolution, led us to interact with different cultural disciplines, at times apparently far from our own, allowing us to capture and anticipate the spirit of the times.

Today this is no longer enough: we must be the actors of change, with the flexibility required to translate the demands of the market and the society into tangible actions that inform our way to do business.

While Miuccia Prada is by definition the innovator of the two. Bertelli is famous for being an observer of contemporary lifestyle trends, which he uses to understand how to capture the spirit of the times in Prada collections.

The family of brands part of Prada

Prada comprises five primary brands:

Prada

According to the company's identity, Prada is to be perceived as the "best of Italy's design and manufacturing tradition, sophisticated style, and outstanding quality."

Miu Miu

Created in 1993 from Miuccia Prada's, Miu Miu is a way for Miuccia to keep giving the best of her creative and unconventional spirit to the overall brand. 

Church's

Church's is a handcrafted shoemaker which tradition dates back to 1675. The first factory opened in 1873. Over time, Church’s fits well into Prada overall strategy as a popular luxury footwear company.

Car Shoe

Founded in 1963 by Gianni Mostile, this iconic driving moccasin is an Italian classic, known for three main aspects:

high-performance design
high-quality leathers
and handcraftsmanship

Marchesi 1824

Pasticceria Marchesi founded in 1824 embodied and embodies the Milanese style when it comes to artisanal taste.

Prada business model in a nutshell

Since the start, Bertelli was obsessed with control. Prada had to be able to control each stage of the process. From creativity to manufacturing, distribution and the retail experience. 

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Source: Prada Annual Report 2017

Prada business model goes from the creative process to the selection of raw materials, the sourcing, and production, up to the distribution. This implies an integrated business model that follows each step, from creation to retail to keep the quality of the products as high as possible, while being able to control the customer journey via its directly operated stores, which represent most of Prada revenues.

This business model proved effective and critical for Prada growth across the globe. That also requires vast resources. In fact, in 2017 Prada spent almost a billion and a half euros in selling costs. When you decide to control the whole chain, you either give up a part of the revenues, or you create an infrastructure that distributes the product. None of those choices is inexpensive, yet the latter also implies more control of the brand, pricing, customer experience among others.

Prada distribution strategy moves across few channels:

department stores,
multi-brand stores,
franchisees
and e-tailers

The retail channel generated 81% of the Prada Group’s consolidated sales while the wholesale channel accounted for the remaining 19%.

Prada business in numbers

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Source: Prada 2017 Annual Report

Prada generated over three billion euros in revenues for 2017. Europe represented almost forty percent of the total revenues, followed by the Asia Pacific and the Americas. Among Prada brands, Prada generated more than eighty percent of the company's revenues, followed by Miu Miu, with more than fifteen percent, while Church's made almost two and a half percent of its total revenues. Instead, Marchesi 1824 and Car Shoe generated about half a percent of the total revenues.

Among its products line, leather good represented more than fifty-six percent of the total Prada revenues. Followed by Footwear and Clothing. More than eighty percent of Prada revenues got generated via its directly operated stores.

Who owns Prada?

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Source: Prada Annual Report 2017

Via a series of corporations Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada combined own eighty percent of Prada Holding S.p.A. the company that controls PRADA S.p.A. It is interesting to notice that Miuccia Prada holds a majority of the stake, with a sixty-five percent of Prada Holding, compared to Patrizio Bertelli thirty-five percent of the holding company. This makes of Prada a family business.

Prada business model infographic

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Brunello Cucinelli: The Humanistic Enterprise Business Model

Brunello Cucinelli is an Italian luxury and casual-chic brand, which built its success around cashmere clothing. Brunello Cucinelli built its business around the Humanistic Enterprise model which revolves on Italian Craftsmanship, Sustainable Growth, and Exclusive Positioning and Distribution. The company made over €503 million in 2017, mainly driven by its retail channel, which represented 53.7% of its revenues. Italy, Europe, and North America represent the largest markets for Brunello Cucinelli.

Brunello Cucinelli: the Philosopher turned Entrepreneur

Brunello Cucinelli is more of a philosopher than an entrepreneur. When I met him I was surprised by his sharpness of thought, which I suspected came from a sort of life/philosophical framework he had developed throughout his life. I then found out that framework was built around philosophers and men of actions, like Socrates, Alexander the Great Marcus Aurelius and Saint Benedict,

If at all, Cucinelli started his entrepreneurial journey with a mission: to preserve and improve human life via craftmanship. Therefore, his attempt to build a company based on those principles is more of a way to show to the world that philosophy is a critical thinking tool.

Just like the ancient philosopher, Thales (about 2,600 years ago) showed to the world he could make a lot of money with his philosophy. Brunello Cucinelli will probably be remembered as the modern version of a philosopher turned entrepreneur.

This is not to say that philosophy should be looked at with a utilitarian view. Quite the opposite, whatever road you decide to take philosophy might be a powerful thinking tool that will be worth developing independently from the financial returns it might give you in the real world.

Let’s look at the Brunello Cucinelli Empire.

Brunello Cucinelli Humanistic Enterprise

In 1978 Brunello Cucinelli started as a cashmere producer. Today Cucinelli is among the most established brands in the luxury and casual-chic brands. The main focus of Cucinelli is on the hand-crafted attention to detail and creativity.

The center of the Humanistic Enterprise is the small town of Solomeo, the 14th-century hamlet outside Perugia, home to 400 inhabitants. The company headquartered in a castle is surrounded by a few medieval houses used as workshops. Just like Google has built its innovations labs around the Googleplex,  Cucinelli has developed its success around the small medieval town of Solomeo.

Brunello Cucinelli mission and its code of ethics

As highlighted on Brunello Cucinelli website: 

I believe in a humanistic enterprise: business should comply in the noblest manner with all the rules of ethics that man has devised over the centuries. I dream about a form of humanistic modern capitalism with strong ancient roots, where profit is made without harm or offence to anyone, and part of it is set aside for any initiative that can really improve the condition of human life: services, schools, places of worship and cultural heritage.

This mission revolves around a few simple principles in its code of ethics:

Legality

In conducting its business, the Company acts in a manner compliant with all laws and regulations in force in the territories in which it operates, as well as with the Code of Ethics and Company procedures, which it applies with integrity and equity.

Confidentiality

The Company guarantees the confidentiality of the personal information and data it processes and the protection of information obtained in regards to professional services rendered.

Transparency

The Company undertakes to provide all stakeholders with a clear and transparent account of its situation and performance, without favouring any group of interests or individual.

Fair competition

The Company operates on the Italian and international market in the sale of cashmere knitwear, articles of apparel in leather and other materials, and accessories, and engages in fair competition in the marketplace, complying with Italian and European principles and laws protecting competition.

Personal dignity

The Company undertakes to promote respect for the physical and cultural integrity of individuals and respect for interpersonal relations. It guarantees working conditions that are respectful of individual dignity and safe working environments and safeguards and promotes the value of human resources, all with the aim of improving and increasing the wealth of skills possessed by each employee.

Integrity and propriety

Dealings with the Company’s stakeholders are guided by the principles of propriety, cooperation, loyalty and mutual respect. External relations and employee relations are shaped by the utmost sense of loyalty, which consists in acting with a sense of responsibility.

Quality

The Company undertakes to be attentive to the market’s changing needs and to constantly improve the quality of its products.

Environmental protection

The Company contributes constructively to environmental sustainability in all of its activities. The commitment to safeguard the environment is put into practice by planning activities that seek a balance between economic initiatives and essential environmental needs in accordance with applicable Italian and international directives.

Responsibility to society

In its operations, the Company takes account of the needs of the community in which it conducts its business and contributes to promoting quality of life as well as economic, social, cultural and civil development.

Brunello Cucinelli corporate structure

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Source: Brunello Cucinelli annual report for 2017 

Brunello Cucinelli S.p.A. is the holding that controls all the other companies spread across the world. Other subsidiaries, like Brunello Cucinelli S.r.l., and Brunello Cucinelli USA Inc. control the companies operating in each country and geographical area.

Brunello Cucinelli distribution strategy

Cucinelli has a diversified distribution strategy based on three main channels:

Retail distribution channel: or direct distribution channel, via the directly operated stores (DOS). In certain countries, local operators also have an interest in the Group company running the DOS, to align interests and share their market experience. 
Wholesale monobrand channel: it consists primarily of monobrand stores operated under commercial distribution agreements.
Wholesale multibrand channel: consisting of independent multibrand stores and dedicated spaces within department stores (shop in shop). 

What are Brunello Cucinelli distinctive traits? Cucinelli brand positioning

If there are a few words that define Brunello Cucinelli brand, those can be summarized in five main words, adjectives and one action:

craftsmanship,
creativity,
exclusivity,
beauty,
and a remarkable desire to “listen to” the market and its new trends

Those traits together contribute to the long-term vision of Cucinelli growth.

What financial metrics does Cucinelli use to assess its business success?

Once you have down the mission, vision and the main traits of your brand. It is critical to have a few financial metrics to be able to assess at quantitative level how the business growth is progressing.

For that matter, as indicated within the Cucinelli annual report, those metrics are summarized below:

EBITDA: operating profit before depreciation, amortization and impairment.

Net Working Capital: the sum of inventories and trade receivables less trade payables and the net balance (asset or liability) of all the other balance sheet items classified as current assets or current liabilities.

Commercial Working Capital: the sum of inventories and trade receivables less trade payables.

Net Invested Capital: the sum of non-current assets and current assets, excluding financial assets (other current financial assets and cash and cash equivalents), less non-current liabilities and current liabilities, excluding financial liabilities (current and non-current bank debt, current and non-current financial payables).

Net Debt: the sum of current and non-current bank debt and current and non-current financial payables including the fair value (positive or negative) of hedging derivatives on loans, excluding cash and cash equivalents and other current financial assets, including the fair value (positive or negative) of hedging derivatives on loans.

Capex: capital expenditures refer to gross investments in intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and net investments in financial assets.

Brunello Cucinelli business model

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Source: investor.brunellocucinelli.com/en/bus...

Brunello Cucinelli business model revolves around three distinctive elements that make up for the company’s DNA. It all starts from the Italian Craftmanship, intended as “Manufacture through highly specialized artisanal laboratories, all of which are based in Italy, and most are located very close to the company in Umbria.“

In a global economy that has stressed so much outsourcing and lowering the cost of manufacturing to countries like China and India, to reduce the cost of production, Cucinelli has built an alternative model.

This model is built on sustainable growth (profits and people come together) and an exclusive positioning (top end of the luxury segment) and distribution strategy (based on monobrand boutiques in the main luxury streets and to prestigious multibrand boutiques and Luxury Department Stores).

Brunello Cucinelli in numbers

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Source: Cucinelli Financials 2017

With over €500 million in sales in 2017, Cucinelli makes money via three main distribution segments (Retail, Wholesale Monobrand, Wholesale Multibrand). Retail represented 53.7% of total revenues in 2017, compared to Wholesale Monobrand with 5% of the revenues, and Wholesale Multibrand at 41.3%. At geographical level, the most significant countries were: Italy which represented 16.8% of its revenues in 2017, North America which represented 35.5% of its revenues and China, which represented 8.5% of its revenues.

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Bernard Arnault Empire: LVMH Group Business Model In A Nutshell

LVMH is a global luxury brand which netted over €42 billion euros with a diversified brand, which spans in five main areas and several industries: wines and spirits, fashion and leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics, watched and jewelry, and selective retailing. It comprises brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior Couture, Fendi, Loro Piana, and many others. 

It all started when the young Bernard joined the father's company, which primarily focused on construction. Yet when Bernard Arnault joined the company in 1971, the company began to focus on real estate. Ever since Bernard Arnault grew to become CEO and then drove the father's company through a series of deals that brought to the creation of LVMH. Today LVM is the largest luxury empire on the globe. Comprising brands like Fendi, Luis Vuitton, and many others.

LVMH mission around three pillars

As clarified on its code of conduct the mission of the company can be summarized in three fundamental values:

Be creative and innovative: creativity and innovation are part of our DNA. Over the years, they have ensured our Maisons’ success and established their legitimacy. This combination of creativity and innovation is the foundation of our Maisons and figures at the heart of the delicate balance required to continually renew our offering while resolutely looking to the future, always respecting our unique heritage;

Deliver excellence: because LVMH embodies the world of craftsmanship in its most noble and most accomplished form, we pay meticulous attention to detail and to perfection. We never compromise on quality. From products to service, we cultivate our difference through this constant quest for excellence;

Cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit: LVMH has an agile and decentralized organization that encourages efficiency and responsiveness. It stimulates individual initiative by entrusting each person with meaningful responsibilities. Our entrepreneurial spirit encourages both risk-taking and perseverance. It requires pragmatic thinking and an ability to motivate teams, leading them to achieve ambitious objectives.

LVHM Ethical Principles

For a large group that has been able to scale up by keeping its brands highly profitable, setting up ethical principles might be as important as setting up financial metrics. In fact, when it comes to the luxury industry, the strength of the brand plays a key role. However, it is critical to making the brand grow together with a strong foundation. In the case of LVMH, this foundation is represented in its code of conduct as a set of principles

Acting responsibly and with social awareness
Providing a fulfilling work environment and valuing talent
Commitment to protecting the environment
Winning the trust of customers
Winning the confidence of shareholders
Acting with and commitment to integrity in the conduct of business

Around those seven principles, a set of actions are developed and assessed to keep those principles as the guidelines for the company's ethical growth.

Who owns LVMH?

The Arnault Family has managed to

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Source: LVMH Letters to Shareholders

LVMH business model: an ecosystem of Maisons independently managed

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Source: LVMH Annual report for 2017

When you think of LVMH the brands that comprise the name (Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy). However, LVMH group is a galaxy of luxury brands and Maisons, acquired throughout the years by the development and growth campaign of Bernard Arnault. 

Although those Maisons are part of an ecosystem, they are also autonomously run. Thus, each of those Maisons is based on a business model which is unique to the brand.

This kind of organization based on decentralized operations makes the brands part of the LVMH galaxy agile. So that each brand can be connected to its customers, can make decisions fast and still allow its employees to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

In terms of operations the company comprises five main segments:

Wines and spirits
Fashion and leather goods
Perfumes and cosmetics
Watches and jewelry
And selective retailing

Wines and Spirits

In terms of profits breakdown the wines and spirits segment is among the most profitable. As shown on LVMG annual report:

Wines and Spirits profit was 1,558 million euros
Champagne and wines contributed 674 million euros
While cognacs and spirits accounted for 884 million euros

What brands are part of the wines and spirits?

Moët & Chandon: with products like Moët Impérial, Ice Impérial, Nectar Impérial Rosé Grand Vintage 2009
Dom Pérignon: with products like Dom Pérignon Rosé 2005 and Dom Pérignon Blanc 2009, Dom Pérignon P2 2000 (Second Plénitude)
Mercier as accessible prestige champagnes
Ruinart value proposition is built on premium cuvées
Veuve Clicquot with products like Brut Carte Jaune and Brut Rosé
Krug with products like the iconic Grande Cuvée
Estates & Wines with products like the creation of the Termanthia Barrel in partnership with Loewe.
Chandon with products like Chandon Me and Chandon S Orange Bitters
Hennessy which is an important part of the wines and spirits segment
Glenmorangie and Ardbeg a malt whisky, with products like Glenmorangie Bacalta and Ardbeg An Oa
Belvedere highlights the importance of vodka’s place of origin
Volcán de Mi Tierra tequila launched in the United States and Mexico

Fashion and Leather Goods

This segment includes fashion luxury brands such as Christian Dior Couture, Rimowa, Louis Vuitton, Kenzo, Givenchy, Loro Piana, and Fendi. The business group’s operating margin as a percentage of revenue represented the 31.7%. Together with the wines and spirits that is the most profitable segment.

It comprises luxury brands like:

Louis Vuitton
Christian Dior Couture
Fendi
Loro Piana
Céline
Kenzo
Loewe
Givenchy
Berluti
Marc Jacobs

Perfumes and Cosmetics

Perfumes and Cosmetics contributed to 600 million euros, to the overall company's net profits. This growth came from Parfums Christian Dior, Kendo, and Parfums Givenchy. It comprises brands like:

Parfums Christian Dior
Guerlain
Parfums Givenchy
Kenzo Parfums
Benefit Cosmetics
Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Watches and Jewelry

The Watches and Jewelry contributed 512 million euros in profits. With brands like Bvlgari and Hublot, this is a critical part of the overall group. It also has a profit margin of 13.5%. Within this segment there are several brands:

Bvlgari
Hublot
Zenith
Chaumet
Fred
De Beers
Selective Retailing

Selective Retailing

Profit from Selective Retailing was 1,075 million euros. Within this segments there are brands like:

Sephora
Le Bon Marché
DFS
Starboard Cruise Services

What is the most profitable segment?

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Source: LVMH Annual Report 2017

With a 31.7% in operating margin for 2017, Fashion and Leather Goods is the most profitable part of the business. Followed by wines and spirits with the 30.6% operating margin and Watches and Jewelry with 13.5% in operating margin. The remaining are Perfumes and Cosmetics with a 10.8% and Selective Retailing with an 8.1% in operating margins.

Where does LVMH make more money?

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Source: LVMH Annual Report 2017

France remains the most significant country and the market for LVMH. As the country where LVMH has its home, France also represents an important market for the company, which keeps generating 10% of its revenues. Other markets like the United States and Japan are pretty important too.

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Source: LVMH Annual Report 2017

France is also the country where most of LVMH stores are located. Even though way smaller than the US market, France counts about 508 stores.

The luxury empire with agile distribution and decentralized management

One of the critical ingredients of LVMH success is based on its ability to let the Maisons be rung separately while the operations of each are kept agile. This allows the company to be quick at understanding the customers. Also, each mature brand will be used as a cash cow to finance the development of new and less mature brands.

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How to Write Incredible Content With The Inverted Pyramid Style

Has your inspiration abandoned you?

Do you have a writer’s block? We have a solution!

If you are in search of a way how to create compelling content that will help you hit the top ranks in no time,you’re in the right place.

Ready? Let’s do this!

The inverted pyramid method is a well-known method of writing in journalism that was initially developed with one aim – to grab the reader’s attention right from the start.

Being one of the most effective methods of writing, this technique can help you write incredible SEO articles, drive more engagement, boost brand awareness and social shares.

What is the inverted pyramid writing style?

When you are reading a novel, you are always in suspense what will help next and when the plot will begin to unravel.

The writer leads you through every chapter slowly preparing you for the climax.

And, this makes perfect sense when writing a novel.

However, when writing a newspaper article or an article for a web, you need to get people’s attention quickly.

You have to have the compelling headline.
You need to make them want to read more.

This is exactly what the inverted Pyramid writing technique lets you do…

In its core, the Inverted Pyramid Style puts the most intriguing and critical piece of the story at the beginning with the aim both to inform and engage the reader.

Big ideas come first, and details follow.

In that way, your readers don’t have to scroll down to get the main point, or even worse, jump from page to page on websites.

By giving them meat and potatoes of the story – the traditional W’s (who, what, where, when, why and how) you get them hooked, and they will instantly want to get deeper into the subject. Journalists devised this technique as a solution to the problem where their readers have a very low “committal rate.”

What’s in it there for your readers?

Your readers need less time to get to the point
It motivates readers to scroll down for more information and read the entire article
It gives value to all readers even those who skim
It improves comprehension; the essentials are at the beginning of the first paragraph

What’s in it for you?

It gives you a full control of the structure and journey of the reader
It allows you to edit articles more efficiently and quickly (as you have control of the structure for your articles) 
You need less time to get to the gist (as it becomes a process)

How does it work?

I broke down the process in a few simple phrases:

Start with the lead in mind
Get into details
Tell the background story

Start with the lead in mind

First, think of a headline, an attention-grabbing statement or an anecdote. This is known as a lead. Your lead must answer the following questions:

Who
What
Where
When
Why
How

For instance, if your story starts like this,

“On an early Sunday morning, I walked into a grocery store to buy some oranges, bread, milk and other things I needed to make a cake for my son’s birthday. As I was walking around the shop looking for oranges, I suddenly heard some strange noise. I turned around and saw a few guys in black pointing a gun at a girl at the cash register.”

It sounds a bit boring. However, if you put the breaking news at the beginning like:

“On an early Sunday, two men pointed a gun at a girl at the cash register.”

You will definitely draw in the reader, and what’s more, make him continue reading to find out the background of the story.

In that way, you have answered the six questions:

Who: Two men
What: pointed a gun at the girl
Where: at the cash registry
When: on an early Sunday
Why: to take the money from the registry
How: by using a gun

Get into details

Once you tickled your readers’ curiosity, you are ready to go into details. Your readers would want to know the background of the story: “How did they get into the store?”, “What was the girl’s reaction?”, “Did they take the money?”, “What happened next?”. Give them what they are yearning for. By providing details, you’ll keep their attention and make them want to read the whole article.

To make things even more interesting, keep paragraphs in the same format: put the main points in the initial sentence and then build on that point. This stand-out first sentence is also known as the core sentence. It gives the reader what he or she needs, and he or she can choose whether to read the rest of the article or not. Keep in mind that you should express only one point in each paragraph because it is easier for readers to follow the plot.

Tell the background story

After pointing out the details, you can move to the context. This includes the root of the problem and the reason why robberies happen so often. You can also touch on the statistics related to crime and criminal behavior in the country and, in that way, trigger speculation and even discussion on that particular issue. This adds value both to the entire article and you as the author of the article. On top of that, it raises interests and engages readers potentially in the discussion.

[image error]What makes an inverted pyramid such a powerful technique?

Three main reasons why the inverted pyramid is a powerful technique:

The inverted pyramid style helps create “block-based content”

Does a term “block-based content” ring a bell?

It should because, recently, this movement has been making an impact on search engines. Google uses the whole chunks of texts – paragraphs to answer questions in search results.

By giving the blocks the structured data needed to let search engines know what specific content is in that block, we can increase traffic on our site. Hence, one more reason to write better, compelling and stand-out paragraphs.

The inverted pyramid also adds value in terms of SEO

By structuring your questions and answers by using an inverted Pyramid technique, both your readers and search engines will digest it more easily.

In other words, when someone asks a certain question, go straight to the gist of the question and put it at the beginning of your answer.

Tell your readers what you know, move on to the details and only then get to the context. Finally, include the sub-questions, especially if the initial question is too broad and should be broken into chunks.

This will inevitably trigger the readers’ reaction. Finish the answer with some call to action and, voila, you have written the page which will potentially attract qualified leads and convert.

The inverted pyramid enhances awareness and engagement on social media

Attention span is a new currency. We are well aware of the fact that readers’ attention span is shrinking each year making a huge impact on the marketing in general. In terms of social media, we are given a very limited ability to grab the reader’s attention.

What makes people share the content?

Is it happiness, is it a controversy or sad stories?

According to the Jonah Berger, author of the book “Contagious: Why things catch on,” the things that go viral must have an emotional hook. It’s the emotions that will make people want to talk about that particular subject for days or even months.

And, what’s the easiest way to provoke the emotion?

By writing a compelling headline (a lead), good excerpt (details) and thematic and supporting captions (context) – all the essentials of the Inverted Pyramid technique.

Let’s wrap things up

If you’re stuck and you feel you’re experiencing some writer’s blocks, it’s because you lack a writing process. There is one process which is used in journalism called, inverted pyramid style.

What’s interesting about it is that it inverts the logic of the way a story is told. In short, rather than start from the story details, you start from a hook, which is critical to get the reader involved.

This system is quite effective because it aligns both the reader and the search engine crawling the page, thus by making the page also SEO-friendly.

After the hook, you keep going with details and context, which makes the readers wanting more!

So, the next time you start writing a new piece of content, don’t bury you key information somewhere in the middle of the third paragraph.

Put it up front, give your readers what they want, and make them ask for more. It’s a sure way to a great article.

Guest Contribution by Marko Velickovic

Marko Velickovic is a certified and results-oriented SEO specialist with 10 years experience in the SEO domain. He is the founder of Serpline and SeoProLab. You can connect with Marko on LinkedIn. 

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