Tony’s Best Business Tips, On the Occasion of His Passing
Right from Tony’s first entrepreneurial venture, he understood that long-term thinking was a strategic advantage.
About That Price
“The only thing people care about is the lowest price.” This is the rejoinder I most often hear when a business doesn’t see any value in advertising (much less marketing). This confounded me for many years until I realized advertising wasn’t the problem.
Reverse Camouflage Advertising
Sharply define the edges between you and the alternatives. Not only with content, but with style as well. If everyone else is doing a “yell and sell,” talk intimately with the audience.
Why Your Business Should Have a Podcast | Wizard’s Roundtable
The untapped advantages your business could leverage by having a podcast. It’s surprisingly easy to do, and if you can have a 10-minute phone call, you can have a podcast.
Offering Something Great? What’s In It For You?
People believe in social proof and social signaling, making price an almost-fail-safe guide to quality. So if your price is out of line with your claims, people distrust the claims.
The Viewmaster Guide to 3-D Testimonials
3 common mistakes from testimonials and examples of what a 3-D Testimonial sounds like as a finished product. Here’s how most people screw it up, and how you can make sure you get it right.
“Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You” Applied to Marketing
Too many business owners want to spread their ad budgets among various media. That’s a recipe for failure. To be fair, though, it’s a common-sense mistake.
Why Culture Matters
My curiosity first peaked when I heard the phrase, “in any organization, culture eats strategy for lunch”. After 3 years of research on the subject following the scientific method, I’ve constructed and tested a hypothesis that I believe to be true.
The Social Engineering Brilliance of “L’eggo My Eggo”
To understand the brilliance of what Leo Burnett did, you have to consider what they didn’t do — what a lesser advertising title might have done.
Six Ways Sales Pros Can Create Great Word-Of-Mouth
While there’s no denying that we love to complain through Twitter and Facebook, people do talk about the great customer experiences they have.
Why Character-Driven Ads are the Key to Higher Margins
Facts presented as facts — as standard “reason why” advertising — cause people to buy from a Consumer Reports mindset. They want bang for the buck.
Lambo vs Lear. Plot the growth curve for your business.
You can create campaigns that are fast like a Lambo. Fast to get moving. Quick to reach maximum speed. Then tons of resources to just keep steady...
Is Lifetime Customer Value Still Important?
We discuss considerations in calculating lifetime customer value, how you can maximize it, and how to be sure you don’t go broke waiting for that customer to come back.
The 2 Most Common And USELESS Pieces of Marketing Advice Given to Home Service Companies
Unique Selling Propositions are counter-productive.
Never Let a Committee Make Strategic Marketing Decisions
"If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock." - Arthur Goldberg. A committee in small business can be a group of employees or a loose bunch of well-meaning family and friends.