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Tuesday, 13 August 2013
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Thursday, 24 January 2013
MBA Propheteer #2: The online MBA is not distance education
A successful and innovative online MBA program requires a counter-intuitive philosophy about the product.
Got a comment? Bring ‘em on….
First, the term “distance education” is a misnomer. It implies correspondence learning, lack of peer collaboration, and limited access to the faculty member – elements that describe the worst possible MBA experience. In reality, technology closes distance and brings us closer together. Students learn through multi-modal, multi-media interaction that, when compared with a traditional classroom experience, better customizes the presentation of material to individual learning style.
I recently coached an online MBA team comprised of an investment banker in New York, a physician in the Midwest, a nonprofit manager in DC, and a medical device marketer in California. The team drafted a plan to help Esperanza en Acción, a nonprofit in rural Nicaragua, gain better access to the U.S. market for the products sold by its women artisans. All work and interaction was virtual. The project’s impressive success underscored for me that Kelley Direct is not distance education.
Second, personal relationships are more important in the online learning environment. Although technology makes students expect a more transactional experience, the hunger for connection with peers and faculty is just as strong. In a traditional classroom environment, students can take personal connections for granted. In contrast, technology must engineer the ability for students to connect with one another. Even in virtual organizations, relationships win the day. Enabling students to build virtual networking skills hones their ability to build relationships with people they may never meet in person.
Third, the online MBA is nota fundamental innovation - it merely represents a catch-up by business schools to the way global corporate already works. (Kelley Direct being an exception, of course, having been founded in 1999 when the idea of an online MBA seemed as farfetched and wild as Edison’s light bulb once was.) Managers already manage projects, teams, direct reports, and their relationship with the boss virtually. For those who work online, the concept of learning online logically follows. While we in graduate management education scratched our heads, belly gazed, and wondered: “Can students really learn online?” – our clients, the companies, acted and mastered the art of doing business and managing organizations online. Kelley Direct saw a market need – and met it.
Next up: New rules of engagement between students and faculty.
Got a comment? Bring ‘em on….
By Phil Powell, Faculty Chair of Kelley Direct
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
MBA Propheteer #1: Global disruptive innovation in graduate management education
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| Philip Powell, Faculty Chair of Kelley Direct |
I sit at a privileged seat in the history of higher education. I lead Kelley Direct – the first and largest online MBA program founded by a top-ranked business school. This affords my colleagues and me a unique opportunity to anticipate and answer unresolved questions in online MBA education.
A recent lazy moment watching television inspired action.
Episodes of the reality TV show Airline on the Lifetime Network detail Southwest Airlines’ daily successes and challenges in providing service to travelers. Lessons in management, operations, product design, and customer service naturally reveal themselves through compelling experiences and perspectives.
Southwest revolutionized the delivery of air travel. If stories from Southwest are so interesting, then why not excerpts from my experiences leading Kelley Direct? A large crowd follows business education, and Kelley Direct sparked a product revolution that rivals what Southwest accomplished. This means there’s much to discuss on any given day in this world of virtual business and “virtual business education.” From concept to reality, you now read my first entry in a blog that I hope becomes a hub of thought, debate and ideas in the b-school world – a place where discussions sparked portend the newest challenges and opportunities for MBA programs. Forward projection of a future vision for the MBA thus inspires the blog’s name: MBA Propheteer.
But first, who are we and why do we think we’re qualified to moderate such a dialogue?
Started in 1999 with just 14 students, the online Kelley Direct portfolio at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business now serves over 1000 graduate business students. These students are served by 51 tenure track faculty members who formally reside within – and hold full teaching rosters at – the Kelley School. And we are most proud of our 1900 Kelley Direct alumni worldwide.
Our students lay waste to the myth that online MBA students are not on par with their residential MBA peers. Most students work in Fortune 500 companies (Intel, Proctor & Gamble, Lockheed-Martin, General Motors, etc.) and a sizable percentage are active duty service members. The average student comes into Kelley Direct earning $77,000 annually and graduates earning $106,000, a raise of 36%. Two-thirds enjoy a promotion during their studies. The market values the Kelley School’s online MBA as well as it does its nationally ranked residential MBA.
Fourteen years ago, Kelley Direct drove global disruptive innovation in graduate management education – and continues to push the envelope. By definition, disruptive innovation implies a product with better access and lower cost. Mimicry of a traditional in-residence experience does not achieve this. Rather, an online MBA program must organically adapt its design to the reality of work, management, and leadership within virtual organizations. The bounded reality of the traditional classroom must be abandoned.
Online learning presents new opportunities and threats. Faculty must improve how they teach and schools must reconfigure their academic programs. Technology empowers students. If we educators do not deliver value, someone in the market will make us obsolete. We face a new and unprecedented level of accountability. This is the ultimate disruption that foreshadows change in MBA education.
I want to tell the story that is this disruption … and hope you’ll join in the conversation.
Got a comment? I love ‘em…. Comment below or tweet me at @philiptpowell or @KelleyDirect
By Phil Powell, Faculty Chair of Kelley Direct
Next up: The online MBA is not distance education.
Friday, 28 December 2012
Business Marketing - Direct Mail Publishing Tips to Developing Your Own Publishing Enterprise
You suddenly become aware, of the possibility that come over you when you think of direct mail publishing, business marketing. With the phenomenon of world wide money getting, the possibilities are endless..
It excites you thinking of waking up and going about your daily routine, and suddenly the door bell rings it's your mail man he has a huge bag crammed full of mail with your name on it.
You quickly invite him in and have him drop the mail on the floor, sign the acceptance form and quickly shut the door behind him. You rush back to the thousands of letters that are on your living room floor and start opening them one by one to realize that they are all full of checks, money orders, cashier checks, and even cash, all sighed to YOU.
This is what it is like running a profitable marketing business, AKA direct mail order enterprise (self publishing) from the comfort of your own home.
I recall dreaming night after night about the possibilities of staying home and self publishing, I thought of it as a money getting phenomenon marketing my business using direct mail to make thousands of dollars.
Here's are some tips & tactics on how you can excel at developing your business - marketing direct enterprise:
1- Develop your own sales letter copy, the ideal set of sales literature contains a sales letter, a sales circular that further describes the item. There must be an order coupon on the sales page or circular. There are various companies to make use of print services, flyers, sales letters, post cards, self-mailers, business cards ext,
2- Pricing the product, self publishing can be started with very little money. $375 can get you started in self publishing almost instantly, (That is only about $1 per day over a year!) Compare this small amount to that of opening your own retail store with requirements of $25,000 to $100,000!
3- Marketing, is the most important aspect of any business. If you do not market a product correctly, you will never make any money. If the type of marketing you are going to be using is direct mail publishing. In this case you will need a list of opportunity seekers, or an e-mail list to mail your offer to if you have one.
4- Renting a mailing list, is the first step in direct mail. Renting a mailing list consists of sending a letter & payment to a -list broker. The broker will need to know the quantity of names you wish to rent, you will need to ask for a list of (opportunity seekers).
5- List building is the epitome of marketing, If you dont have a mailing list no one will see your offer. And no sales will take place, Ezine marketing is a great way to build an email list this can be just as effective as direct mail publishing.
The dream of self publishing is not just a dream but a reality. The truth is we live in the information age, self publishing can be very lucrative and pays more then the mind can imagine. What one can think and imagine can be put into action. Would you like to know how I build my direct mail publishing enterprise using ezine article marketing? Discover your inner talent.
It excites you thinking of waking up and going about your daily routine, and suddenly the door bell rings it's your mail man he has a huge bag crammed full of mail with your name on it.
You quickly invite him in and have him drop the mail on the floor, sign the acceptance form and quickly shut the door behind him. You rush back to the thousands of letters that are on your living room floor and start opening them one by one to realize that they are all full of checks, money orders, cashier checks, and even cash, all sighed to YOU.
This is what it is like running a profitable marketing business, AKA direct mail order enterprise (self publishing) from the comfort of your own home.
I recall dreaming night after night about the possibilities of staying home and self publishing, I thought of it as a money getting phenomenon marketing my business using direct mail to make thousands of dollars.
Here's are some tips & tactics on how you can excel at developing your business - marketing direct enterprise:
1- Develop your own sales letter copy, the ideal set of sales literature contains a sales letter, a sales circular that further describes the item. There must be an order coupon on the sales page or circular. There are various companies to make use of print services, flyers, sales letters, post cards, self-mailers, business cards ext,
2- Pricing the product, self publishing can be started with very little money. $375 can get you started in self publishing almost instantly, (That is only about $1 per day over a year!) Compare this small amount to that of opening your own retail store with requirements of $25,000 to $100,000!
3- Marketing, is the most important aspect of any business. If you do not market a product correctly, you will never make any money. If the type of marketing you are going to be using is direct mail publishing. In this case you will need a list of opportunity seekers, or an e-mail list to mail your offer to if you have one.
4- Renting a mailing list, is the first step in direct mail. Renting a mailing list consists of sending a letter & payment to a -list broker. The broker will need to know the quantity of names you wish to rent, you will need to ask for a list of (opportunity seekers).
5- List building is the epitome of marketing, If you dont have a mailing list no one will see your offer. And no sales will take place, Ezine marketing is a great way to build an email list this can be just as effective as direct mail publishing.
The dream of self publishing is not just a dream but a reality. The truth is we live in the information age, self publishing can be very lucrative and pays more then the mind can imagine. What one can think and imagine can be put into action. Would you like to know how I build my direct mail publishing enterprise using ezine article marketing? Discover your inner talent.
How to Use Direct Marketing For Business
For any business, marketing is an essential means of getting the word out about a product. This could be done in an assortment of ways. Big businesses will necessarily have a different means of marketing compared to smaller firms. Not only will the big guys have more funds in order to maintain public awareness of its products, but their established reputations require less elaboration as to what these goods and services are. If you're a small business, you might be intimidated by this knowledge, of large companies having much greater media artillery and clout. You can nonetheless level the playing field to a certain degree, through the proper use of direct marketing.
Direct marketing is the soliciting of one's goods or services through 'direct' means. This includes telemarketing and e-mail marketing. You are probably thinking, "Oh I hate telemarketers! And I loathe spam!" but don't shut your mind too quickly on the matter. After all, the use of the telephone or the use of e-mail per se are not wrong. Right? You may have bad experiences with certain styles of sellers, but this does not mean that you could not apply this kind of marketing in a more dignified manner.
Firing off spam and dialing random numbers is really not a way to do business, not just because of the bad will that it fosters, but because it is an inefficient use of your resources. It is not really what direct marketing is about. What you have to do is gain access to a database of telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of people who are likely to be interested in your product. There are legal and non-intrusive means of doing this, all with your intended client's prior consent.
By targeting a particular crowd or group for your niche market, you have a better 'batting average' when it comes to favorable responses. When a potential client bites, you then have to handle things in an even more direct manner. If you are hiring several people to man the phones or computers, make sure they are well trained not just to rattle off details about your products, but rather to listen to what this customer-to-be wants or needs. A customer who is explaining to you that he mainly uses a printer to produce company handouts for immediate disposal will be turned off if you go on ranting about what wonderful color and precision your laser printer model is capable of. You must not lose sight of what direct marketing is all about - 'tailor-made' solutions.
We have looked at both telemarketing and spamming primarily because these are what give direct marketing a bad name. As you can see, it's not as bad you think it is. But there are other means of marketing not yet considered. There is the use of coupons or leaflets, either dropped off in mailboxes or handed to you near the vicinity of an establishment. And infomercials are also considered under this category due to their 'Call Now!' nature.
Direct marketing is about being as direct to the customer as can be. Not only can you provide exacting standards according to your customer's specifications, but you can learn more about your market as a whole, which translates to buyer satisfaction and increased productivity and profits.
Direct marketing is the soliciting of one's goods or services through 'direct' means. This includes telemarketing and e-mail marketing. You are probably thinking, "Oh I hate telemarketers! And I loathe spam!" but don't shut your mind too quickly on the matter. After all, the use of the telephone or the use of e-mail per se are not wrong. Right? You may have bad experiences with certain styles of sellers, but this does not mean that you could not apply this kind of marketing in a more dignified manner.
Firing off spam and dialing random numbers is really not a way to do business, not just because of the bad will that it fosters, but because it is an inefficient use of your resources. It is not really what direct marketing is about. What you have to do is gain access to a database of telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of people who are likely to be interested in your product. There are legal and non-intrusive means of doing this, all with your intended client's prior consent.
By targeting a particular crowd or group for your niche market, you have a better 'batting average' when it comes to favorable responses. When a potential client bites, you then have to handle things in an even more direct manner. If you are hiring several people to man the phones or computers, make sure they are well trained not just to rattle off details about your products, but rather to listen to what this customer-to-be wants or needs. A customer who is explaining to you that he mainly uses a printer to produce company handouts for immediate disposal will be turned off if you go on ranting about what wonderful color and precision your laser printer model is capable of. You must not lose sight of what direct marketing is all about - 'tailor-made' solutions.
We have looked at both telemarketing and spamming primarily because these are what give direct marketing a bad name. As you can see, it's not as bad you think it is. But there are other means of marketing not yet considered. There is the use of coupons or leaflets, either dropped off in mailboxes or handed to you near the vicinity of an establishment. And infomercials are also considered under this category due to their 'Call Now!' nature.
Direct marketing is about being as direct to the customer as can be. Not only can you provide exacting standards according to your customer's specifications, but you can learn more about your market as a whole, which translates to buyer satisfaction and increased productivity and profits.
The Importance of a Game Plan in an Internet Marketing Home Business
In order to be able to attain real success in an internet marketing home business it is imperative to have a game plan in place. A game plan will essentially act as a guide in that will keep you on track focusing on the key result areas of your business. By neglecting to put a game plan in place to direct your actions and activities, you are setting yourself up for failure.
One of the most important reasons you must take the time to put together a game plan if you wish to have success in your internet marketing home business is because it will allow you to take focused and directed action. In many ways, a game plan acts like a set of directions. What do directions do? They take you from where you are to where you want to go. Well this is exactly what having a game plan in place allows you to do. By being focused on and knowing exactly what it is you need to get done each month, each week, and each day, you can go to work on those things and get them done.
A second benefit to having a game plan in place for your internet marketing home business is that it will drastically increase your efficiency. It is very easy to get distracted online and the effects of this are much lower efficiency and productivity. People spend time doing things that do nothing to build their business or to help it grow. By comprising your game plan of activities that directly impact your business in a positive manner (helping it grow and become more profitable) you can focus your efforts on these tasks. The result of spending more time and focusing more energy and effort on income producing activities and key result areas, you will substantially increase your efficiency and productivity.
An additional benefit of implementing a game plan in your internet marketing home business is that it will also enable you to prioritize the importance of the activities you engage in. The biggest waste of time is doing something that doesn't need to be done at all. With a game plan in place, you can ensure that you are spending your time completing the tasks that are essential to the life of your business. Each day you can block out time to complete these important tasks and ensure they get completed. With the absence of a game plan, many unsuccessful marketers spend time doing things that do not have any real impact on their business. If these individuals had a game plan in place, they could much more easily prioritize their activities and get the key tasks done each and every day. This would directly result in more favorable results.
The fact is having a game plan in place is going to set your internet marketing home business up for success. A game plan will enable you to focus in on the key result areas of your business, prioritize those tasks, and subsequently complete them habitually, drastically improving your efficiency and productivity. A game plan will keep you on the right track and not allow you to be thrown off. Your actions will stay directed and your internet marketing home business will be set up for success.
One of the most important reasons you must take the time to put together a game plan if you wish to have success in your internet marketing home business is because it will allow you to take focused and directed action. In many ways, a game plan acts like a set of directions. What do directions do? They take you from where you are to where you want to go. Well this is exactly what having a game plan in place allows you to do. By being focused on and knowing exactly what it is you need to get done each month, each week, and each day, you can go to work on those things and get them done.
A second benefit to having a game plan in place for your internet marketing home business is that it will drastically increase your efficiency. It is very easy to get distracted online and the effects of this are much lower efficiency and productivity. People spend time doing things that do nothing to build their business or to help it grow. By comprising your game plan of activities that directly impact your business in a positive manner (helping it grow and become more profitable) you can focus your efforts on these tasks. The result of spending more time and focusing more energy and effort on income producing activities and key result areas, you will substantially increase your efficiency and productivity.
An additional benefit of implementing a game plan in your internet marketing home business is that it will also enable you to prioritize the importance of the activities you engage in. The biggest waste of time is doing something that doesn't need to be done at all. With a game plan in place, you can ensure that you are spending your time completing the tasks that are essential to the life of your business. Each day you can block out time to complete these important tasks and ensure they get completed. With the absence of a game plan, many unsuccessful marketers spend time doing things that do not have any real impact on their business. If these individuals had a game plan in place, they could much more easily prioritize their activities and get the key tasks done each and every day. This would directly result in more favorable results.
The fact is having a game plan in place is going to set your internet marketing home business up for success. A game plan will enable you to focus in on the key result areas of your business, prioritize those tasks, and subsequently complete them habitually, drastically improving your efficiency and productivity. A game plan will keep you on the right track and not allow you to be thrown off. Your actions will stay directed and your internet marketing home business will be set up for success.
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