Marketing & Sales
How to Get Great Testimonials: The Proven Formula for Success
You know the power of third party credibility. It’s the word-of-mouth marketing that keeps talking about your incredible value and brings you new customers on a regular basis. The engine that runs that marketing machine is testimonials. You can call it referrals or even goodwill, the reality is it is clients talking about how great…
3 Mistakes to Avoid Being a Marketing Meathead (with a Marketing Message Mismatch)
When you’ve got a marketing message mismatch, you are a marketing meathead. I know sometimes my alliterative tendencies go to far, but I couldn’t resist this title. I couldn’t resist because I actually dated a guy a couple of years ago who repeatedly referred to himself as a meathead. Really? This was mismarketing to me.…
5 Fast & Fun Ways to Stay Top Of Mind with Your Customers
In this day and age of multimedia channels, social networks, email inundation and smart phones, it can be darned near impossible to stay in front of your customer. They are as overwhelmed as you are. So how can you ensure that you stay top of mind and claim the “mindshare” that will make a difference?…
The Surefire Formula for Failure . . . Is This You?
Do you remember the classic crooner Frank Sinatra? I ask only because in today’s high tech, warp speed world, classics come and go almost as quickly as a new trend or fad. Sinatra had, among his many hits, a song title “I Did It My Way.” And I realized the other day that has been…
3 Must Haves for a Happy Customer Experience in Every Business
With my recent extensive and intensive experience with Apple, I am more qualified than usual to share with you three BASICS you must have to create and sustain a happy customer experience. Face facts, it isn’t enough to sell your product or services, you have to ensure that your sale is satisfying and leaves your…
The Irrelevance of Social Media: Chasing Nothing
A couple of week’s ago I got a long awaited invitation to pinterest. (Oh and if you’ve no clue what that is, it is a social media network devoted solely to sharing images, sans text.) I say long awaited because when I first discovered the site through creative colleagues, it informed me I needed an…
Touch My Senses, Get Your Sale: Retail Strategies for Success
Recently I was scouting for furniture and checked out two big box retailers. Both have great looking furniture, both are well crafted. One was clearly higher priced than the other, though not necessarily a better value, they did give a better experience. Here’s why . . . they touched all of my senses. You read…
Marketing Strategies: Where Everybody Knows Your Name
What is the sweetest sound you can hear? Your name. That’s right, it’s personal and real and in today’s age of communication overload, used far too little. Think about it, you don’t often use someone’s name in a text message, almost never in a Tweet, only if you are tagging them in a Facebook update,…
5 Rules of Marketing You Must Know Now
Recently I visited a series of Designer Showhouses. The point of these showhouses is threefold: To sell the house. To sell the designer. To sell the furnishings, accents, accessories, lamps and more. In this case, the marketing company that put this together did their level best NOT to sell anything! It was truly one of…