
Taiyo Johnson - Full Steam Ahead
I have been quite busy lately with various projects for myself and clients.
I have a large online project that I currently maintain and I am launching an online marketing campaign for a new client.
I have three personal online marketing projects that I am working on. And I have two local marketing campaigns I am maintaining for clients with local service businesses. Whew!
For the benefit of you, the reader, and for my own clarity of thought I mused that I might put down in writting some of what I am doing to maximise my “production capacity” for handling all of that work.
On my personal blog I have discussed production vs consumption before and intend to post at length about “intake” vs “production capacity” vs “production.” I will try not to delve too deep into a definition and explanation of my theories here. I just want to mention them as they relate to what I am currently doing.
My current projects require that I produce; that I produce results.
In order to produce however I have to have intake and I have to build, or rely upon already built, production capacity.
I deal in the realm of knowledge work. The intricate details of how I produce my results are my greatest assets.
So my intake is mostly in the form of ideas (books, courses, etc.) and money.
My production capacity is in the form of the systems I have put inplace that run my business.

It is a bit (or a lot) like an engine. The engine is my production capacity. The intake is like fuel, air, etc. that the engine needs in order to run. And production is the results the engine turns out when I operate it.
Fortunately I have at present a fairly good engine.
Through the ideas and money I have acquired and inputted into my business over the years I have built up the and am building up the production capacity necessary to run it well.
The ideas have helped me to fine-tune the business engine.
An engine can alway be worked on to improve it and to keep it at its peek perfomance. And so today I am tweaking my business’ production capacity by reviewing and building systems/methods based on the following books:
(these are some of my favourite marketing books and particularly relevant for my current projects. They are all remarkable inter-related. In fact, the more I read the more inter-related everything becomes.)
1) The Starfish and the Spider
- The power of decentralised organisations (/marketing power)
- The mechanics of the decentralised organisation (ideology, catalyst, champion) and how to launch one
2) The Tipping Point
- Viral marketing
- Mavens, connectors, salespeople
- Starting epidemics
- 150, the law of the few
- Stickiness
3) Made to Stick
- A guide to creating the stickiness that The Tipping Point mentions
4) Web Copy That Sells
- Turns “stickiness” into action
5) Unleashing the Ideavirus
- Gives the mechanics of starting a marketing epidemic (making your idea/product go viral).
6) Tribes
- How to form the people you “infect” with your ideavirus into loyal followers and subscribers to your decentralised ideological “tribe.” (In other words, create repeat and referral business)
For the local marketing campaigns…
7) The 10-minute Marketer’s Secret Formula
- The best advice on local marketing (”neighborhood marketing”) available
- Defines the concept of “4 wall marketing”
- Gives brilliant tips for marketing whether it is local or global
(Book kernal: If you are doing any marketing outside of a 10-minute drive from your business, STOP! That is some radical advice. Mind you that it is coming from the guru of McDonalds, Tom Feltenstein. So you just might want to listen
)
401 Killer Marketing Tactics
- Also by Tom Feltenstein. This book is packed with absolutely must-read tips for marketing a business and getting publicity.
- Get publicity; create loyal customers, employees, suppliers, community members who love your business and make sure it succeeds.
And for my own business and projects AND JUST FOR FUN….
9) iCon (the biography of Steve Jobs’ return to Apple)
(I am reading this one for the first time)
Steve Jobs is one of my favourite business leaders. His dogged focus on vision is inspiring. And the startup history of Apple is amazing.