Standing out in a competitive industry is one of the most challenging tasks facing today’s business owner. With the rise in social media, online presences, and reviews from customers, it can be more challenging than ever to create and maintain a strong brand presence that appeals to customers while standing apart from the sea of […]
Differentiation
Can You Defend Your Pricing Niche Against Your Competition?
This week, we continue our series on marketing and positioning. There can be nothing more important in your business planning that selecting the proper pricing niche, making your story clear using that niche, and the defending your position against the competition. So, here comes the lesson and your challenge… The five major niches There are […]
Why Buy IT? Why Buy MINE? Why Buy NOW?
What a powerful set of three questions. These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. Turning these into statements instead of questions provides a framework for the sales presentation from the highest levels […]
Faster is Sometimes More Valuable Than Better
This is one of those arguable insights, where both sides win. Dell is a great example of emphasis upon fast, creating a customized computer in 48 hours or less, bringing in assemblies and components just-in-time to make the assembly line. However, if Dell quality were poor and returns high, the company surely would not have […]
On Differentiation
Differentiation is critical in helping customers select our solution over the alternatives. As important as it is, most sales people do a terrible job at differentiation. Ultimately, too many are unable to differentiate in meaningful ways, as a result they end up differentiating on price. Every time we win by taking pricing actions, we are […]
Why You May Want to Re-Think Content Marketing
So you think digital content marketing is an excellent way to reach your audience? Guess what? It may disappoint you. A new study, Content Trends Report 2018 from Buzzsumo, tells us that content marketing is now 50% less effective than it was three years ago. If you’re shaking your head because you’ve invested a lot of time, money, and/or energy […]
A Former Skeptic Explains Why Conscious Capitalism Could Save the World
I am a convert. But it took a while. Even though my friend Rajendra (Raj) Sisdodia is the co-author (with John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods) of the best-seller Conscious Capitalism, I was skeptical of their thinking for the longest time. However, the recent horrific headlines we have been hit with have made me change my […]
How I Break the Twitter “Rules” and Get 108 Million Impressions
It was tough being different. I was not doing things as they expected. Breaking the rules. They really didn’t like it. Their comments and insults were daunting and confronting. How dare you do that that. You are doing it wrong. You are a robot. But I pressed on. Standing out and breaking conventions takes courage. […]
The Lesson of the 1-Legged Seagull
It’s easier to reach people today than ever before in history. However, that is both a blessing and a curse. Why? Because if it’s easier for you to reach people, it’s also easier for everyone on the planet to reach people. This leads to email overload, sensory overload, Internet addiction, tech burnout, and all kinds […]
Reinvent Your Category: Be Different
This past year my daughter and I were in New York City and saw the play that took Broadway by storm – Hamilton. It was spectacular in every way imaginable, but it was also the antithesis of a Broadway musical in every way imaginable. It was different. According to Broadway League research, the average theatergoer […]
