Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Okay, so
yesterday I introduced you to an expert (consultant) who makes his living going from live presentation to live presentation, lecturing business groups on his theory that live presentations don't work. I know... it didn't make sense to me either. His entire teaching hangs on the thread that your customers, regardless of your industry, no longer want to have any…
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Tags: change, commitment, commoditization, commodity, competition, competitors, consultants, customer expectations, customer experience, customer service, customers, improvements, price, referral business, referrals, repeat business, salespeople, satisfaction, small business, small business marketing, small business owner, team, whole team marketing
Posted in marketing
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
For the third time in as many days, I was privy to a discussion between small business owners and marketers which revolved around the topic of 'positioning'. These conversations were typical of those at networking functions, beginning literally with "well, we like to position ourselves as such and such." That's nice. Next, they degenerated into the all-too-common litany of features and attributes which are typically important only to…
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Tags: advertising, before electricity, behavior, brand, branding, competitors, credit crunch, customer expectations, customer experience, customer needs, customers, emotion, features and benefits, focus, global competition, information, market, marketers, marketing professionals, marketing strategy, mass market, message, networking, new economy, new media, new rules, online research, position, positioning, research, small business, small business marketing, small business owner, thinking new, traditional media, what we say vs. what we do
Posted in marketing
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Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
I was asked the other day about our marketing plans as we launch our practice. Actually, the question revolved around the topic of new and emerging media, web-based marketing, and social networking. While these are powerful and developing tools to be sure, it appears that there are people who are only interested in having one tool, the latest tool, in their toolbox at any given time. I understand why some marketers are always looking for the latest... next...…
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Tags: ambition, branding, buyer's needs, communications, consultants, customer engagement, customer expectations, customer experience, customer needs, customers as marketers, emerging technologies, internet marketing, killer app, marketers, marketing plan, marketing strategy, media old-new-no, multi-channel, new media, old media, old ways - new ways, online media, referral business, referrals, relationships, reputation, rocket science, small business marketing, social media, social networking, status quo, tactics, traditional media, value, web-based marketing
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Friday, December 26th, 2008
The lead story at every news break today was that Black Friday was back... this time for real as retailers braced for a flood of returns the day after Christmas. Talk about dedicated and loyal customers... and the stores' response? The airwaves were full of marketing messages... well, it was really just the same old message, repeated by everyone: WE'VE SLASHED PRICES EVEN FURTHER!!! TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 50% OFF! Wait... MAKE THAT…
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Tags: amazon, bail outs, best customers, black friday, christmas, competition, crowd avoidance, customer expectations, customer experience, customer needs, customers, differentiation, e-commerce, entrepreneurs, ideal customers, internet marketing, loyalty, marketing strategy, message, mob as customer, niche, online media, online shopping, pricing, problem solving, processes, relationships, small business, small business marketing, small business owner
Posted in marketing
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Saturday, December 20th, 2008
In
yesterday's post, we discussed the great ability that we have as small business owners and marketers to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. This is true for both product and service businesses. If we are involved in the manufacture or distribution of a physical product, then according to conventional wisdom, the product's quality…
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Tags: abc's, average, benefits, commitment, competition, competitive advantage, competitors, customer expectations, customer experience, customer needs, customer service, customers, differentiation, employees as assets, employees as marketers, excellence, hiring success, initiative, marketing machine, marketing professionals, marketing strategy, reputation, responsibility, small business, small business leadership, small business marketing, small business owner, staff, strategic planning, strategy, team, training, trust
Posted in leadership, marketing
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Friday, November 21st, 2008
"But Mom... everyone else gets to go! Bobby gets to go!!!"
"And if Bobby jumped in the lake... would you jump in too?"
my mother calmly asked.
I hated that question... but looking back, it was probably good advice. Just replace the "jumped in the lake" part with any number of activities that were sure to lead to trouble.
In fact, as I think about it today... Mom's old adage is probably good advice for marketers as well.
You…
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Tags: best customers, big boxes, bold moves, conventional wisdom, customer expectations, customer needs, customers, employees as marketers, game plan, industry standards, jump in the lake, leader, leadership lost, main street, marketers, marketing, marketing discipline, marketing errors, marketing plan, mom, small business, small business owner, wal-mart
Posted in leadership, marketing
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