In sales, the phrase is “Always Be Closing.” In marketing it should be, “Always Build Your List!” Building your email marketing list is the one, always on, aways be doing this no matter what activity every marketer should ensure is happening. Whether you are a multi-billion dollar corporation or a dumb guy with a blog, […]
ABYL – Always Build Your List Read More »
What social media metrics really matter to your business? That’s the question you need to ask yourself before you spend one second of time planning, building or engaging with social media audiences for your company. Measuring social media has an almost infinite number of permutations. You can measure all the tidbits of information the social
What Social Media Metrics Matter? Read More »
Last week I joked with a friend that the story of my life is summed up by saying I come up with great ideas and clients kill them. While certainly an exaggeration – if I never had one come to life I wouldn’t have lasted long in the marketing business – it can certainly feel
Idea Killers: How to Handle Client Rejection Read More »
A salesman, I am not. But then again, I have to sell every day. We all do. We sell the fact we are competent at our jobs. We sell the fact we’re enthusiastic about the boss’s new idea. We sell the fact that we like what we were served for dinner. Sure, sometimes its easy
The Simple Trick to Selling More Read More »
Microsoft is a content client. This is a sponsored post, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. Is your organization millennial-friendly? Does it need to be? If you have any hope of having employees for the foreseeable future, that answer is a profound, “Yes!” (There’s a great quiz here from Microsoft to find out
How to Create a Millennial-Friendly Organization Read More »
There are two critical components to a strong business recommendation. In fact, I’m convinced now more than ever that any recommendation — be it from an agency, a consultant or internal resources — must have these two components. The reason I’m sharing them with you today is a client for my consulting business called them
What Every Business Recommendation Must Have Read More »
When software companies pitch me with some new feature, I normally discard the email. When Hootsuite added the opportunity to talk to social selling expert Koka Sexton to go along with its recent feature add-on called Amplify for Selling, I didn’t want to pass it up. Sexton has established himself as one of the leading
What is Social Selling and Should You Do It? Read More »
Managers are always looking for an edge or a hedge – an edge to get ahead or a hedge to hide behind. When your team has trouble collaborating, you have a tendency to inch closer to the hedge. It’s easy to forget with a few modest changes in approach, you can turn that direction around
How to Get Better Collaboration From Your Team Read More »
I like Carlos Gill. A lot. He’s smart. He’s got a helpful spirit. He’s doing good work to energize people around digital and social media. He’s quite knowledgeable about Snapchat and other emerging platforms. He’s also bi-lingual which means he’s smarter than me in two different languages. But he posted something on Facebook last week that
If a Personal Brand is All You Have, You’re Sunk Read More »
Never anchor a boat by the stern alone. If you do, it could swamp (fill with water) or even capsize. It’s a simple but important rule to live by if you’re a sailor or even weekend boating enthusiast. The same rule applies to your small business. Whatever it is you anchor your business to — service,
Never Anchor Your Business By the Stern Read More »
My philosophy for creating good content on my blog and e-mail newsletter is simple: If I don’t have anything to say, don’t force it. It’s okay to miss a day or a few days or a week. While consistency helps get your audience into a habit of hearing from you and coming back for more,
Creating Good Content Requires Creating Bad Content Read More »
The most important question any small business can ask when it is shaping its marketing strategy is, “Why?” Why are you doing this? It’s the question I ask of clients most often, too. They say, “We want a social media strategy.” I ask, “Why?” Then I keep asking why until I get to the real
To Find the Real Reason, Ask Why Five Times Read More »