More articles about Marketing, Sales, and Business

Featured image for “Has The Term “Outsourcing” Become Obsolete?”

Has The Term “Outsourcing” Become Obsolete?

Business process outsourcing hasn’t just changed the way companies of all sizes operate and deliver their business value. Its presence can be felt in pretty much every level and department.
Featured image for “Small Business Marketing: The Future’s Mobile”

Small Business Marketing: The Future’s Mobile

The mobile internet is coming fast. How does your company plan to take advantage of the opportunity that online mobile devices will provide?
Featured image for “Apples To Apples: Comparing Your Business To The Competition”

Apples To Apples: Comparing Your Business To The Competition

Don’t be afraid, or in denial, about your business competitors. You know they exist, so do your customers. So stop pretending.
Featured image for “The Thrill Of The (Sales) Chase: But Don’t Forget Existing Customers”

The Thrill Of The (Sales) Chase: But Don’t Forget Existing Customers

Selling to new customers is great. But selling to existing customers is easier and cheaper.
Featured image for “Hanging On The Telephone”

Hanging On The Telephone

Unscrupulous sales behavior always gets found out.
Featured image for “Russian Roulette”

Russian Roulette

Marketing without targeting is like a broken pencil: pointless.

Who’s Damaging Your Brand?

Customers are looking at every touchpoint they see of your business – and judging you accordingly.
Featured image for “Now What Do You Do?”

Now What Do You Do?

Know your market. Existing customers need different collateral to new ones.
Featured image for “Is Your Brand Helping Sales, Or Hurting Them?”

Is Your Brand Helping Sales, Or Hurting Them?

Customers like to categorize brands in order to make sense of them. That can restrict your offering.
Featured image for “Your Customers Don’t Care”

Your Customers Don’t Care

If you’ve got nothing worth saying, why should they bother listening?
Featured image for “External Influences”

External Influences

Every industry has their unique set of external influences that govern the validity of your business value. Make you that you know the factors that influence your business – and keep an eye on where they’re heading.
Featured image for “A Taste Of Your Own Medicine”

A Taste Of Your Own Medicine

Stand in your own queue.
Featured image for “Email Becomes “Me-Mail””

Email Becomes “Me-Mail”

Integrating video into your sales and marketing messaging, collateral and customer engagement activities is taking on ever-greater importance. Video captivates audience attention far better than text and/or images alone, and also helps differentiate your company.
Featured image for “Trash The Template”

Trash The Template

Are you re-using the same old sales proposal that you’ve used for the past three years? Copying and pasting the content and simply changing some details to fit? It’s important to break your business out of its routine now and again.
Featured image for “Want To Change The Business Game? Then Change the Rules”

Want To Change The Business Game? Then Change the Rules

There are hundreds of ways of changing the game. Most established companies can’t – or won’t – do it, because they see it as upsetting the status quo and destabilizing their own business model.
Featured image for ““I don’t want to hear about problems! Only Solutions!””

“I don’t want to hear about problems! Only Solutions!”

Ignoring the facts that are staring you in the face is tantamount to a wilful dereliction of duty.
Featured image for “Seeing Your Product Through Your Customer’s Eyes”

Seeing Your Product Through Your Customer’s Eyes

Customers buy a solution to a particular problem that they have, in order to achieve a desired outcome. Their reason for buying is simply to make that problem go away.
Featured image for “Don’t Listen To Your Customers”

Don’t Listen To Your Customers

Customers don’t always know what they want. That’s your job.
Featured image for “Flash? In The Pan”

Flash? In The Pan

Flash? Arrggghhh…
Featured image for “The Danger Of The Gilded Cage”

The Danger Of The Gilded Cage

Promotion often means rising to the level of incompetence.
Featured image for “What’s Your Company’s Video Strategy?”

What’s Your Company’s Video Strategy?

Businesses should be present in the market spaces customers frequent to avoid missing out on potential opportunities.
Featured image for “The Price Of Free”

The Price Of Free

It’s tough to charge money for something your customers used to get for free.
Featured image for “What Value Do You Put On Creativity?”

What Value Do You Put On Creativity?

Underestimating the value of creativity in your business sets you on the road to becoming seen as a commodity.
Featured image for “The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese”

The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese

If your business isn’t innovating, it’s going backwards.
Featured image for “Hidden Message”

Hidden Message

Some thoughts on Microsoft’s latest ad campaign.
Featured image for “A Simple Tip For Better Business Presentations”

A Simple Tip For Better Business Presentations

Try this one tip to improve your presentations, using something you probably already have lying around.
Featured image for “Why Should Customers Choose You?”

Why Should Customers Choose You?

Customers choose to buy from you for many reasons. Your product is just one of them.
Featured image for “Judging A (Note)Book By Its Cover”

Judging A (Note)Book By Its Cover

The birth of a new product segment – and its soon-to-be rapid, untimely death.
Featured image for “How Do Your Customers Find You?”

How Do Your Customers Find You?

Customers find your business in a variety of ways, via numerous channels. It’s important to be where they expect to find you – as well as not in places where you’re not welcome.
Featured image for “Time To Outsource Your Marketing?”

Time To Outsource Your Marketing?

Outsourcing your marketing to an agency gives you access to top-drawer experience, experience, and advice. You’re still driving the initiatives, it’s just that someone else is behind the wheel.
Featured image for “Keeping Your Business Relevant In Your Customer’s Mind”

Keeping Your Business Relevant In Your Customer’s Mind

If your company occupies a space that could conceivably be embraced by your current customer base, then why should they continue to buy from you?
Featured image for “Non-Optional Extras: Hiding The True Cost From Your Customers”

Non-Optional Extras: Hiding The True Cost From Your Customers

When you have the gall to charge an extra $500 delivery on a $30,000 automobile purchase, the only thing the customer remembers is the insult of having to pay the hidden extra.
Featured image for “Are Your Marketing Materials Too “Wordy”?”

Are Your Marketing Materials Too “Wordy”?

Are you being too extravagant in your textual messaging? Just the facts, ma’am.
Featured image for “Making Lemonade From Lemons”

Making Lemonade From Lemons

Even once the economy bounces back, we’re not going back to ‘the good old days’. The climate will be different. Customers will be different, so business will need to be different.
Featured image for “Moving Pictures”

Moving Pictures

The future of the internet is video.
Featured image for “Taking it Personally With Printed Cards”

Taking it Personally With Printed Cards

If you’re sending holiday cards out by email, you’re totally missing the point.
Featured image for “Making a Mint on YouTube”

Making a Mint on YouTube

Video sites such as YouTube don’t just give your business a platform to market. They can pay you too.
Featured image for “Standing Out From The Crowd”

Standing Out From The Crowd

Your business needs to stand out. It needs to shout about how great it is. If it doesn’t, don’t expect anyone else to.
Featured image for “Tradeshow Trauma: Are Trade Exhibitions Still Relevant To Your Small Business?”

Tradeshow Trauma: Are Trade Exhibitions Still Relevant To Your Small Business?

Exhibiting at a tradeshow can be a very effective sales tool. But today, so can many other things.
Featured image for “The Writing’s On The Wall For Blogs”

The Writing’s On The Wall For Blogs

Blogging isn’t dying. But the quality and depth of blog articles must increase, in the light of increased competition for reader attention.
Featured image for “Missing The Point in Sales Copywriting?”

Missing The Point in Sales Copywriting?

Sales and marketing copywriting should be written from the customer’s viewpoint and language – not yours.
Featured image for “Are Your Presentations Letting You Down?”

Are Your Presentations Letting You Down?

Business Presentations are as much about showbiz, theatre, and acting as they are about message delivery. Which is probably why so many of them suck.
Featured image for “The Impending Digital Disruption For Enterprise Software Pricing”

The Impending Digital Disruption For Enterprise Software Pricing

“Enterprise” software manufacturers need to provide more relevant pricing models. Their customers demand it.
Featured image for “Business Process Alignment: Singing From The Same Hymn Sheet”

Business Process Alignment: Singing From The Same Hymn Sheet

Business process alignment means everyone working with a common business goal in mind for the benefit of customers AND employees.
Featured image for “Flying Blind: The Importance Of Website Analytics”

Flying Blind: The Importance Of Website Analytics

The only way you can improve the performance of your website is through measurement. That means using and understanding website analytics software.
Featured image for “How Sociable Are You?”

How Sociable Are You?

Social networks offer content-driven marketers an opportunity to best position their businesses as thought-leaders.
Featured image for “Increase Sales Leads From Your Website”

Increase Sales Leads From Your Website

Want more website leads? Get a better company website. Your site needs to be more than an online brochure.
Featured image for “Embrace Video – Before Your Competitors Do”

Embrace Video – Before Your Competitors Do

Video-based content offers huge opportunities within any startup or small business marketing repertoire.
Featured image for “Flashterbation”

Flashterbation

Flash-driven websites, unless constructed well, are rarely the best medium for communication.
Featured image for “Taking the ‘P’ Out Of PDF”

Taking the ‘P’ Out Of PDF

With its most recent developments in the PDF file format, is Adobe abandoning the printing industry?
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