What makes a great mantra? 

            There are various elements that make a mantra great.  First, a mantra must motivate and inspire the workforce of the organization; it is simply more than just words put together in a catchy phrase.  Having a solid mantra makes all the employees feel like they are on a unified team. If all of the employees can recite the mantra, then they will most likely know the vision and goals of the company. Implementing a mantra that everyone relates to is very important and can easily help structure a team by allowing them always to refer back to it as a source of encouragement and personal accountability. The unifying theme keeps everyone in line and makes them feel good when they come into work everyday to know they have a meaning.  

Second, a mantra serves as an integral part of the employee’s jobs.  Not only should they be able to recite the mantra by heart, but they should also firmly believe in its inner most meaning.  According to Guy Kawasaki, the litmus test for a good mantra is to call a company and see if who ever is answering the phone knows it. The logic behind this is that a great mantra shouldn’t be restricted to the CEO or other top level executives. For a mantra to be great every employee should, if not know the mantra, have the ability recognize and understand it. This shows a level of implementation and infiltration of the mantra that pushes a mantra from good to great.

Lastly, the mantra also provides a sense of pride for the employees, enabling them to perform in the highest level.  The company must be passionate about their inner philosophy in order for it to be well executed.  The mantra may not be an organization’s complete driving force, but it enables the whole team to accomplish a common goal.  If each and every employee at an organization doesn’t live, breathe, and sweat the mantra, it’s essentially useless.  A well-constructed mantra must be instilled into the employees and exercised every single day throughout the organization.

Criteria of the Best Business Magazine

Note: Criteria are listed in no particular order Depth of Coverage Depth of coverage is important because:·         When reading news regarding business and global issues, it’s important the stories are thorough and cover all the important facts·         Depth can provide the reader with a greater understanding of the information provided

·         Depth allows the magazine company to show that its writers are knowledgeable in the related field

·         Depth gives the reader the opportunity to find the underlining meaning of the article 

Readability / Understandability  

• If the reader can’t understand the content of the articles the message or information will be uselessà therefore the magazine would be missing a large part of what would be required of the “Best Business Magazine”  
• Readability and understandability are important to the best business magazine because the information must be able to be practically applied by the readerà for this to be possible the reader must be able to read and understand information in the magazine

Width 

• The width addresses the variety of content that a magazine covers. 
• It is important the best business magazine gives an insight into a number of areas that would directly impact the reader.  A great business magazine would include articles in technology, finance, entertainment, business, and world news
• A variety of coverage can help readers in their personal and business lives

Publisher’s Credibility

·         Similar to judging an author’s credentials, knowing more about a publishing company can help you understand their potential biases

·         Keep in mind that publishing standards vary for each publishing house. XYZ Publishing may print anything that will bring a profit, whereas X University Press may screen all information they publish to ensure the validity of the content, protecting their reputation

·         Also who reads the magazine is important—if CEO’s and entrepreneurs are reading the magazine it adds creditability to the publication 

Online Presence

·         Recent hour by hour updates (stocks, breaking news, etc.)

·         Blogsà discussion of articles (commentaries of controversial articles)

·         Shortened version of articles (lets you know if you want to read the full version in the magazine)

·         Wider content, but not as deep (a large variety of news that the magazine does not provide)