Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone the very best no matter what it is you are celebrating. Happy Holidays to everyone. Here’s to hoping for a better 2009.

Shouting is not marketing

We’ve all seen it…splashy adds in the paper, neon starburst signs in store windows touting huge discounts, flashy spam email offering bargain prices on printer cartridges, some guy on tv yelling at the screen that you just have to try Shamwow! And some people actually call this marketing or maybe advertising. Most of us simply [...]

Keeping vs. getting

Everyone knows that keeping customers is cheaper than getting customers. I would also argue that keeping customers is more important for a healthy company than getting new customers. Of course both are important, but if you don’t keep the one’s you have then you are spinning your wheels and spending more time and money operating [...]

Marketing Key #11 of 13

Marketing Key #11 – A service cannot be returned like a product can.
This is something that is often forgotten and the reason that trust is so important. People who are buying a service are agreeing to pay for it before they even gain the benefits of the service. And if they don’t like the service [...]

Marketing Key #3 of 13

Marketing Key #3 – Being viewed as an expert is key
It is important to be viewed as the expert when you are selling a product…but it is imperative when selling a service. Customers are buying a promise from you. And an expert is perceived as someone who is most likely to deliver. Everything you do [...]

Oprah the expert

For those of you that haven’t seen Oprah’s Favorite Things, it is the ultimate example of an “expert” providing a service. She reveals her favorite items of the year so that her audience members can feel safe that these particular items have been endorsed by Oprah. She has built so much trust with her audience [...]

Warren Buffet

Was watching an interview with Warren Buffet the other night and he was asked why he doesn’t invest in technology stocks.
“When I look at the Internet, for example, I try to figure out how an industry or company can be hurt or changed by it, and then I avoid it,” Buffett said in the Fortune [...]

Evoked Set

A term that has always stuck with me since Marketing 101 is “Evoked Set.” Its probably what started my fascination with marketing. Simply put, it’s defined as the group of products or companies that come to mind when considering a purchase.
So here’s an example. You need new sneakers. What brands immediately pop into your head? [...]

Is that really what they are looking for?

It may seem like a no-brainer to create a website for your company. A Home Page, an About Us section, a Services section, and maybe a Contact Us page. And while this may be a good foundation, it’s probably not enough.
Always try to view your web presence from your target audiences point of view. [...]

Write me a letter

My wife was asked to write a letter of recommendation for a colleague that is trying to get into the Stanford MBA program. To help my wife, and those like her, Stanford has created a podcast that educates anyone writing such a letter on what Stanford is looking for.
The podcast goes into great detail about [...]