entrepreneurship
349 posts
Most Marketing
Most marketing is designed to…. Get attention in the moment. Make people choose. Create awareness among many. Persuade people to decide. Most marketing is not designed to…. Build loyalty over time. Make people care. Create affinity with a few. Help people to feel good about their decisions. What mak
Why We Have A Hard Time Communicating Value
No self-respecting (or smart) cafe owner would describe his drip-filter coffee as 85% boiling water. Instead he tells the origin story of the coffee beans and the slow pour-over brewing process that augments the flavour. The barista creates retail theatre while you wait in line. We all know that the
The Most Powerful Thing You Didn’t Do Today
Have you ever been footsteps away from a window and yet found yourself opening an app or doing a Google search to check the weather, instead of simply going over to the window and opening the curtains? Me too! Why is that? We are now in the habit of outsourcing our thinking and second guessing…
The 5 Building Blocks Of A Brand
A brand used to be an identifier, over the past seventy years it’s become so much more. Seth’s 2009 definition says it best. “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
The Generous Marketer
Implements long-term strategies, rather than relying on short-term tactics. Puts the desires of the customer before the urgency of his business goals. Knows that mattering to his customers is the key to success. Cares about affinity, more than awareness. Notices, before asking to be noticed. Listens
Two Kinds Of Feedback
A common way to get feedback is to describe what you’re creating in detail and then to ask a prospective customer if they would use it. This is equivalent to asking someone for an honest answer to the question, “Does my bum look big in this?” Sometimes the answers we seek out are not the…
The Question To Ask Before Doing What You’re Planning To Do Next
Before you schedule that meeting. Before you contact that supplier. Before you attend that conference. Before you pay for that marketing. Before you hire that guy. Ask yourself this simple question: What’s the number one outcome I want to achieve by doing this? When you get clear (and honest with yo
Different Kinds Of Doing
You have probably sent a few important emails today. Maybe you blasted through a list of to-dos before morning coffee, or followed up on tasks you have outsourced? There’s no denying that ‘doing’ feels good. But there are different kinds of ‘doing’. There’s the ‘doing’ that makes us feel like we are
The Business You Want
If I asked you to describe the business you really want you’d probably find it hard. Here’s why. We have conditioned ourselves to pay attention to popular metrics of success and we often don’t want to make the sacrifices or the compromises it takes to achieve them. It’s akin to wanting Jennifer Anis
You Are Not Apple, And That’s No Excuse
“That’s all very well, but we are not Apple,” says every CEO and entrepreneur, when a well-meaning colleague gives another Apple best practice example as a possible way forward. No, you are not Apple and you don’t have to be. There are a million ways to do meaningful work. Owning the fact that it’s
Problem/Product Fit
Before you write the code, buy the domain name, design the logo, rent the office space or print the business cards ask yourself these questions. 5 questions for every entrepreneur to answer 1. Who is your customer? 2. What does she want to do, but can’t? 3. How exactly does your product or service h
How Winners Win
Do you remember playing musical chairs as a child? As with many games the same people who seemed to ‘have a knack’ or ‘get the hang of it’ always won. I was terrible at musical chairs. I was the kid who hedged her bets, tried to hold on, or scoot around the chairs half sitting,…
What Are Your Competitors Failing To Do?
Like many new mothers Jessica Alba wanted to buy non-toxic baby products, they were incredibly difficult to find information about and source, this inspired her to found The Honest Company. Dave Gilboa lost a $700 pair of glasses and couldn’t afford to replace them, his experience was the seed of an
What Marketing Is Not: 5 Common Misconceptions
When we think and talk about, teach and practice marketing we are often working on the assumption that marketing is one or all of the following: 1. How we make people want things. 2. Tactics, communications or activities designed to get people do what we want them to do. 3. The way we sell something
The Marketing Disconnect
Potential customers have unlimited choices and are in no rush to make a decision. You on the other hand, need customers to choose your product or service, and to do it in the quickest time frame possible. It would be easy to believe that because you need more people to choose your product today, you
Social Media: Just Because You Can, Does It Mean You Should?
To anyone who has ever paid for advertising social media seems like a marketers dream. As entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to attract more customers, it’s tempting to buy into the hype that social media is the answer to our lead generation problems. Now that we can access an audience in d
The First Rule For Making A Better Product
Do you remember a time when you went to dinner at that restaurant everyone was talking about? You probably booked the table days, if not weeks in advance and told friends how excited you were about going. When you arrived the staff were polite, you got a good table and the meal was well cooked.…
No Big Pitch Required
It was nudging 6pm and Kelly was the last customer at the salon on a cold and dark winter evening. As she pulled out her credit card at the point of sale she noticed a discreet, but pretty display of ‘non toxic’ lipsticks and commented on the gorgeous colours. The therapist showed her the colour…
Is Brand Storytelling Dead?
When Shaun sent through a link to an article declaring ‘storytelling dead’ and asked me to comment, I wasn’t at all surprised to read what followed. The piece suggested that because attention spans are shrinking your customers don’t have time to pay attention to your story. Here’s a snippet of the r
The Ideal Customer
The ideal customer Doesn’t worry about what the product costs. Tells her friends about your service. Gives you her undivided attention. Would never consider switching. Always listens when you talk. Doesn’t question the facts. Has an abundance of time. Believes your story. Shares your values. Never c
