ProductMarketing.com

Intel's leaked mobile roadmap, Q4 2010 - Engadget Galleries

via engadget.com

Another confidential roadmap leaked. The integrity of a secret is inversely proportional to the number of people who know it. How many people know about your roadmap?

Is your roadmap safe?

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Geek And Poke: Living With A Geek Made Easy

via geekandpoke.typepad.com

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: Gmail Paper

I've always felt uneasy about the whole internet thing. With the help of Gmail Paper, now I'm taking matters back into my own hands, literally.

via mail.google.com

Even when they make a joke, they do it up right. Classy. Google's funny pages (this from 2007) are better executed than many firm's home pages.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

iPad plus Velcro !!!

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Finding the Right Product Manager

The effective marketer uses the language of the persona in all customer communication, not industry gobbledygook. The same should be true in hiring, right? Speak in the language of the "buyer" (candidate). But how often do you read job descriptions that do this?

via pragmaticmarketing.com

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Market messages

I was looking through my inbox earlier, and found several emails from people, who have been hounding me for business.  Not only have they been emailing me too frequently, but the tone of their emails is all about them, them, them.  Here’s what I keep seeing, various people marketing AT me.

via jimsmarketingblog.com

Jim makes a great point. Are your messages about YOUR features or the buyer's PROBLEMS? Are you so busy selling that pushing people away?

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

The marketing power of giving!

When I started out in sales, a former boss of mine told that it was important to help as many people within our marketplace as possible.  He said these should be small, easy things – acts of kindness or help, which didn’t take too long to deliver – but were hard to forget.  It worked.  In fact, it worked extremely well and has continued to do so for the past 24 years!

via jimsmarketingblog.com

Jim makes a strong point about the value of giving--as part of selling and marketing. I've always believed in the power of Karma. Give now. It'll come back to you tenfold.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

ack/nak: acting: being

most product managers I've known have spent their careers acting.

via acknak.blogspot.com

Most product managers are acting managers--those who act like they have authority do, and those who act like they don't, don't. Read what Bob has to say about being an "acting director."

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Managing your product management career

you need to create your own digital assets online that market your personal brand. You also need to take advantage of social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook. I, as a hiring manager, for instance first does a Google search on a candidate’s name before paying attention to the resume in hand. I want to find out what comes up about the candidate online. This can be used to your great advantage if you create a great portfolio online.

via productmanagementtips.com

Gopal has some good ideas for marketing yourself. If you're thinking about moving on, get these assets up and running. As they say "Dig the well before you're thirsty."

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

ProductCamp DC Tentative Schedule

The first ProductCamp DC is targeted to be held on a Saturday in September 2010. Below is a preview of the day's schedule and agenda. While this agenda features two concurrent session tracks, as we get closer to the event, depending upon participant confirmation, and session ideas and votes, we will determine if additional tracks are warranted.

via productcampdc.org

Looking forward to this event. Will I see you there?

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: even geeks have generation gaps

http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/2010/05/geek-generations.html

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

What is iPad? (Answer: I still don't know)

It's like a Kindle but for books AND video.

It's like an iPhone but it doesn't make calls.

Words words words. But what is the positioning?

What is iPad? (Answer: I still don't know)

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Buyer Persona Blog: How Kristine developed a great buyer persona

I recently reviewed twenty-four buyer personas produced by four product marketing teams. While most  needed a lot more work, Kristine’s was exceptional.

via buyerpersona.com

My pal Adele reviews the process for creating great personas. (Hint: market data is the key).

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

on my reading list

Got a nice email from a client today who wrote:

I met you during a session this past February. Our company has an extremely Pragmatic-focused product management department [YAY!] and I wondered if you might have further book/course recommendations in the following areas:

• Presentations -- Presentation Zen (Garr Reynolds) and The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs (Gallo)
• Facilitation -- Innovation Games (Hohmann) 
• Market research -- The Market Research Toolkit (McQuarrie)
• Finance/accounting -- I haven't read it but I've heard good things about Finance for Non-Financial Managers (Gene Siciliano) [which I have now ordered to read on my next international flight]
• Competitive strategy -- The Marketing Playbook (Zagula & Tong) 

Also, Death by Meeting (Lencioni) which isn't quite what you expect it to be about.

What I'm reading right now: 

• Start with Why (Sinek)
• The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)
• In A Sunburned Country (Bryson) [I'm headed to Australia before too long!)

More books suggestions at http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/resources/books/product-management-books

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: Your general appointment taking needs

A friend got this nice reminder for some scheduled car service.

Things got dicey when he read which services were scheduled...

What in the world is a 51MAZ07? 

And in a final homage to internal jargon, 

(What in the world are "appointment taking needs"?)

One of the rules found in Lessons from the Mouse by Dennis Snow is:

the audience should never see back-stage. 

You wouldn't want your kids to see one of the dwarves without his head on, would you? What do you think when you see clothes piled up on the floor in the stock room at your favorite clothing store? or over-flowing trash cans at a restaurant. Or a clerk who is "here to serve you" talking on a cell phone? What have you communicated?

And what do you think when you see "Repair Services: 51MAZ07"?

When you reveal your pick list, SKUs, or other internal jargon to the client, you're letting the audience see backstage. 

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Is plural of anecdote data?

That’s a good way to shut down someone who is trying to use sparse “I know someone who…” stories to second-guess a decision.  But in general, it’s not true.  The plural of anecdotes IS data – as long as you’ve collected them properly and challenged them rigorously.

via cindyalvarez.com

Nice article from Cindy about being the messenger of the market.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

Friday fun: a wonderful optical illusion

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

SAP to buy rival Sybase for $5.8 billion | Reuters

UPDATE 3-SAP to buy rival Sybase for $5.8 billion

via reuters.com

Yowee! The world just got a little smaller.

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management

on the importance of design

Marty Cagan makes a strong case for the design role in An Open Letter To The Design Community. 

Also check out The Inmates Are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper. 

Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management

Rich Mironov on team assessment

PM leaders, such as VPs or Director of Product Management, worry about the health of their teams and processes, not just the health of their products.  (See my recent post on metrics.)  There’s a shortage of tools to help us evaluate how well we’re doing as PM organizations.

via mironov.com

Need help evaluating your product management team? Rich Mironov has created this simple but effective assessment tool with a nice RADAR display to show the results. Try it out!

Posted via web from Steve Johnson on product management