16 Tips to Grow Your Business
"I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." — Jimmy Dean
Same Same Sameity Same Same
City dwellers stop hearing the traffic and sirens out their windows. Psychologists call this “habituation.” Marketers call this the enemy.
How To Calculate Your Marketing Budget
When budgeting long-term for marketing, you can save yourself a lot of money by buying in bulk or buying in advance.
Basically the Basics
Like shelter, water, and food…let’s break marketing down to 3 basic items: Brand Promise, Brand Consistency, and Brand Execution.
10 Quotes of Wisdom From The World’s Greatest Investor
Don’t spread thin. Dominate one message delivery vehicle. When you have more money dominate another.
Showmanship & Transparency
Like most buzzwords “transparency” is most misunderstood by the very people mouthing it most often. The proper way requires transparency AND showmanship.
Bonding Not Branding
Let me tell you a cool story I think you’ll like — one that taught me the most powerful advertising lesson I’ve ever learned. See, when the radio-thon rolled around, my client put his personal money where his mouth had always been.
Four Advertising Message Options for Local Businesses
Bonding Ads don't sound like ads, which means your well-meaning family and friends will tell you not to run them.
Wizard’s Roundtable Episode 4
Why right now is probably the worst time to try old sales tricks like adding urgency and false deadlines in your advertising. And the role that social proof will play in the speed and timing of the economy reopening.
Creating Powerful Persuasive Video on the Cheap
So many local TV ads end up being “talking head radio,” showing the business owner usually doing a “yell and sell” approach.
Wizard’s Roundtable Episode 3
We discuss pivots you can make right now to get you through this very unusual episode, and how we can apply lessons from past downturns in the economy.
Wizard’s Roundtable: Episode 1
“Gosh, we don’t know what’s going to happen this afternoon. We don’t know what’s going to happen this month. We don’t know anything.” How does a business plan for the unknown?
The Greatest Business Secret in the World
Your company may sell the finest products and services in the marketplace, but it’s how customers feel about your products and services that ultimately determine how successful your business will be.
Laphroaig Lamp-Shades the Heck Out of Their Ad
If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a fiction writer’s technique of basically OWNING uncanny happenings, plot holes, etc.
Growing Your Following (Business) In a Crisis
James Dean isn’t a dead 60’s movie star or a country singin’ sausage maker. He’s a hippy children’s author whose following is growing like crazy right now.