relevance
546 posts
Earning A Competitive Advantage
Very few new businesses have an unassailable advantage that makes them the only choice for a prospective customer. Most don’t make measurably superior products or own proprietary software. They haven’t patented a secret formula, and they don’t necessarily have more resources or talent than the next
The Unfair Exchange
‘That will be eight dollars,’ the woman, who is carefully weighing and wrapping two serves of freshly made fettuccine for us to take home, says. As my husband is about to hand her the cash, she takes another handful of the pasta from behind the glass and adds it to our package. She doesn’t announce…
Better Customers
When we know who we’re building for and what they care about, we get better.
Message Before Medium
Since our objective must always be resonance over reach, it isn’t the medium that should dictate our communication strategy—it’s the message.
Competence AND Character
As individuals and brands, we’re judged by our character, not just our competence. How does your character differentiate you?
Earned Loyalty
We have the privilege of working to be indispensable to customers and making them feel like they belong—instead of stuck. True loyalty is earned, not rewarded.
Better Than Maybe
As marketers, if the best use of our resources is to only speak to the people who want to hear from us, then targeting every maybe is not a great marketing strategy.
Stories Make Us Stronger
We build more resilient families, companies and communities when we know who we are. We get stronger together when we prioritise finding, owning and sharing our stories.
The Inner Scorecard
We are acutely aware of what makes us remarkable in the eyes of others. We have learned to live and work by, as Warren Buffet calls it, an outer scorecard—often at the expense and neglect of doing what’s right and what’s right for us.
Why Next?
We make more right moves when we stop to think how the next thing we’re about to take on aligns with our values, and if it’s helping us to get to where we ultimately want to go.
The Value Shift
Sally studied Film and TV at college. She wants to be a director one day. But that’s a distant goal. In the meantime, she’s decided to put the skills she learned in college to work. Sally built a website and started working for friends of friends on their promotional business videos. Sally is buildi
Reaching Resonance
The impact you make will depend on your ideas resonating with the right people—not just reaching the most people.
The Role Of Rules
Doing what’s accepted or expected isn’t necessarily the right thing to do. It’s worth checking if the rules we hold dear, and fast to are helping the people we serve.
How Obstacles Create Value
The better we understand the obstacle, the better we get at solving the problem. And the better we can describe the obstacle, the better we become at selling the solution.
The Bounds Of Possibility
Now that we are no longer bound by the constraints of probability, we must face the fact that we have a responsibility to own what’s possible. Opportunity abounds.
10 Benefits Of Strategic Storytelling
Stories do more than help us to tell and sell. Shared narratives are powerful catalysts for change and the building blocks of our culture.
The Empathy Advantage
On the face of it, the bus driver is paid by the hour to get passengers safely from point A to point B. But most of the value he creates for the bus company, not to mention the city, has nothing to do with his driving ability. It’s in the empathetic work of reassuring passengers…
Begin With Wants and Needs
All successful businesses do two things. They fulfil the unmet needs and unspoken desires of their ideal customer.
What’s Your Promise To Your Customers?
There are a thousand ways to stand out with a better story. And you get to pick one.
When Subjectivity Wins
Successful brands craft and tell stories for their ideal customers—the people who are ready to hear and believe them.The more subjective we can be in our sales and marketing, the better.
