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Multi-faceted Marketing
How many sides are there in your market? Are you a B2C? A B2B? A B2B2C (OEM)? Whoever and whatever you are, you need to keep in mind that there are at least two sides to your market, if not more. When most people think “two-sided market” they think of a marketplace. eBay is a great example – it’s a company that caters to both buyers and sellers, different types of customers with different points of pain. eBay has a selling proposition for each side of the market and thus far has done a fantastic job. Unfortunately, most of us…
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A Spirit of Service
I had the chance to spend this past week out of town. Rather than be at work or even at home in front of my computer, I went up to the hills around Mt. Jefferson to camp with the Boy Scouts at Camp Pioneer. With the exception of a little misty/drizzly weather on Sunday, it was a fantastic week! We had sun, clear skies, warm weather, and more than enough fun and excitement to go around. The program at this particular camp is geared incredibly well for the scouts. There is a “Scoutmaster Merit Badge” for adult leaders to pursue…
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10 Ways to Save Money Using a Brand Coach
Last week I gave you some quick guidance about what to look for in a brand coach. Now I want to give you 10 quick tips for how you can save money in your search and make the most of every dollar you spend on branding: Shop around for estimates – Consulting is competitive, make sure you know how your prospective coach is positioned against his competition – both in terms of skill and cost. Offer to do strategy in-house – I am never happier than when a client wants to work hands-on with a project. The time it saves…
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How to Choose a Good Brand Coach
A “brand coach” is not necessarily an all-knowing marketing guru (though we all like to think we are). Really, a brand coach is just someone who’s been around the bend, knows what questions to ask about your business, and brings a clean eye and customer-centric point of view to the discussion. He is the guy you bounce your latest marketing campaign off, or the woman you ask to critique your web design standards. Your brand coach is your conscience when it comes to issues of “brand” (which means we have the right to ignore him or her from time to…
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Abandoned Artwork
Art is never finished, only abandoned. — Leonardo Da Vinci Working in a startup company and developing a new product, I can vouch for the accuracy of this statement. We’ve spent countless months of hours laboring on our little project only to determine we need more time to finish it. This button isn’t polished … that color is off by a shade … this might not be the right word to describe it … the reasons to not move forward are endless. All the same, we must still move forward. Without taking the next step, we will never verify our…
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The Name of the Game
What businesses are you in? Really? This is a question that 90% of small business owners forget to ever answer – and it’s the most important question regarding your business! Many managers in big business will tell you, “businesses exist to make money.” This is one of the few truths in the world, and it accurately describes the majority of the large money-makers. Then again, many of these money-driven businesses are running into problems nowadays, giving rise to small businesses with different motivators. So ask yourself this important question, why am I in business? An advisor of mine asked me…
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What is your Google score?
I am amazed by how many people have never Googled themselves. In today’s world, it’s increasingly important just what the Internet says about you – whether true or fiction. Most of you understand this, and have taken the proper steps to protect yourself from online brand-hijacking. Just think of how awkward that next job interview will be if the hiring manager comes in with an image of you painted by negative search results from the night before. How might you be put at a disadvantage? Think also of the budding new client who passes your widget by merely because you…
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Pay Time
At a sales training seminar a couple weeks ago, the presenter spoke on the topic of separating pay time from no pay time. I was very familiar with this concept, but not in quite the way he put it. All of us recognize the importance of tracking billable versus non-billable hours, but “pay time” doesn’t necessarily mean billable hours. Think of it this way. A billable hour is an hour of your time for which you can directly bill a client. At the same time, some of your client work might translate to non-billable hours. Think of proposal creation and…
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Know Your Customer
In general, I do branding and marketing work for three kinds of clients: Individuals Local small businesses Start-up companies I enjoy working with these kinds of clients for several reasons. Primarily, though, they tend to have a deep understanding of their mission, some kind of core driver that makes them unique, and a complete misunderstand of what I do for a living. (Most people think “branding” is a field reserved for multi-billionaires like Microsoft). Above all, I like to work with these smaller clients because I can see something of myself in them: they have a goal and will stop…
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Marketing on a Shoe-string
We’ve all been there. Budget time comes and we start cutting line items to match the numbers that are really coming in. The first thing in many companies on the chopping block is the marketing budget. This is because most managers associate “marketing” with “ritzy, expensive advertising campaign.” Just because you can’t afford the flash and dazzle of your name in lights in Times Square doesn’t mean you can’t still focus on marketing. Here are five ways you can market on a shoe-string budget: 1. Use your network – Sometimes expensive advertising sends the wrong message. If you’re truly focused…