Executives walk a fine line. They must be careful not to become bogged down in the details of the business, at the same time that they don’t miss so many details that they become disconnected from what’s really going on. Micromanagers and Out-of-Touchers both hurt companies.

Posted in Pitfalls ~ No Comments

I recently read an article about three federally insured banks going belly up since the beginning of 2008. Remember the days when people thought investment safety meant heading down to the bank to buy a CD? This was the safest way to protect your money, right? Well… maybe.

The mortgage crisis is poised to hurt small banks (and maybe some large ones- see Bear Stearns). We’re all sure the FDIC will always step in and pay these debts, right? Again, maybe.

The ideas and beliefs that we commonly held yesterday may be completely obsolete by tomorrow. Change has always been here, but change seems to be happening faster than ever before.

Posted in Changes ~ No Comments

Have you noticed all these niched flat bread restaraunts popping up everywhere?

As we see the healthy eating craze grow we see the pizza by the slice eateries begin to fade away. I guess the flatbread joints are stealing the ‘pizza by the slice crowds’ away. If you’re angry, dont blame me- I personally love pizza by the slice. And besides, you can still have pizza- just without the sauce. And now you have to call it flatbread.

I fully understand that true innovation is developing a new and extraordinary product. But isn’t there a place for the subtle changes that help things continue to work?

The moral of the story is: never be afraid to tweak your product. The consumer is changing- shouldn’t you?

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This list should be studied by everyone who considers themselves a marketer. I’ve always found Seth to be very insightful, and this list will no doubt go down as one of his most famous writings. Published by permission.

• Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.
• Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.
• Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.
• Share of wallet is easier, more profitable and ultimately more effective a measure than share of market.
• Marketing begins before the product is created.
• Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.
• Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.
• Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
• Products that are remarkable get talked about.
• Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
• You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
• If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. • • Good marketers realize that it is an investment.
• People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
• You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.
• What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love.
• Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.
• Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness. At the same time, new ways of spreading ideas (blogs, permission-based RSS information, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work.
• People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.
• Good marketers tell a story.
• People are selfish, lazy, uninformed and impatient. Start with that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
• Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.
• Effective stories match the worldview of the people you are telling the story to.
• Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.
• A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.
• Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world.
• Marketers are responsible for the side effects their products cause.
• Reminding the consumer of a story they know and trust is a powerful shortcut.
• Good marketers measure.
• Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.
• One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.
• In the googleworld, the best in the world wins more often, and wins more.
• Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.
• There are more rich people than ever before, and they demand to be treated differently.
• Organizations that manage to deal directly with their end users have an asset for the future.
• You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.
• You market when you hire and when you fire. You market when you call tech support and you market every time you send a memo.
• Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.

Posted in Marketing ~ No Comments

Sympathy: “an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion”

We are living in a time when there are lots of readily available messages. When we hear a stranger talk, our first inclination is to be skeptical. We wonder what their slant is, what their motive is, or where they are mistaken or even lying. Until that person proves to be someone we can trust, we are deaf to their message. This relates to Seth Godin’s idea of gaining friends before gaining customers, but I mean more in a granular, conversational context.

When you meet someone new, whether at a business gathering, a new blog, new twitter follower, or new next-door neighbor, understand that they are not listening to what you are saying until they get to know your message and understand its contexts.

Also, even if you’ve known someone a long time, if you have lost their sympathy, you will have to work to regain it before any real communication can be reinstated.

Let me be clear: Everything said before sympathy is only useful in gaining sympathy. Until you get your listener’s sympathy, there is no reason to try and convince them of anything. All you can do is build reasons for them to hear your message, then give them your message.

Posted in Communication, Uncategorized ~ No Comments