June 30th, 2022
You’ve no doubt heard the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.”
It’s a common malady in the business world, and particularly evident these days during tough times. Companies know that the results they’re getting aren’t what they’d like to see and are not likely sustainable, yet they don’t quite know what to do about it. So they keep doing what they’ve always done in tough times – they Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: content marketing, making marketing decisions, marketing budget, marketing channels, marketing missteps, marketing mistakes
Posted in Business Development, Innovation, Marketing and Branding, Small Business Strategy | No Comments »
June 28th, 2022
Identifying the key benefits that answer the question of WIIFM (“What’s in it for me?”) for your customers and prospects, the first step in writing compelling copy. The second is positioning what you have to offer relative to what your competition has to offer.
In considering your competition you need to Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: analyzing the competition, beating the competition, competition, direct competition, indirect competition
Posted in Competition, Content Marketing, Customer Communication, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
June 23rd, 2022
I’m often surprised that the most overlooked audience when it comes to communicating with key constituents is the internal or employee audience. Companies are generally pretty good about recognizing that they need to communicate with customers and prospects, but employees tend to be an afterthought. This may be because of the assumption that Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: communicating with employees, employee brand ambassadors, employee communications
Posted in Employee Communication, Influencer Marketing, Internal Communication, Marketing and Branding, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
June 21st, 2022
Whenever I’m called upon to offer a critique on or advice about a company or consultant’s copy – whether it’s on a web site, in a brochure, an ad, a blog, or whatever – the first thing I do is read through the copy to see whether the focus is on “we/me” or “you/your.” Most of the copy I look at is the former. A quick, easy and relatively painless way to improve it Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Advertising, content marketing, copy that converts, copywriting, Marketing, writing copy
Posted in Advertising, Content Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication | No Comments »
June 7th, 2022

I’ve had a LinkedIn profile since 2009. It has become the top source of referrals for my content marketing and marketing consulting services. Not because of the “brilliant” posts I share. Not because I get tons of likes and shares. Not because I write clever copy.
So how have I successfully leveraged LinkedIn to generate leads—and new clients—consistently? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: content marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing, marketing strategy, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Business Development, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Measurement, SEO, Social Media, Strategy | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2022
Over the years I’ve noticed a dangerous tendency—among myself and others—to assume that we “know” our customers, or target customers. Because we think or believe something, we assume that—of course!—others think or believe as we do. They don’t.
This was driven home to me a while ago as my husband was watching the MLB All-Star Game.
“Great!” I said—”this must mean the baseball season is over!” No, he assured me — only halfway over; still about 80 games to go. “Good grief! Who in the world wants to watch that much baseball?!! How can the networks possibly afford to keep broadcasting these things?!?!?!”
And then it hit me. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: customer analysis, market analysis, marketing and promotion, marketing research, strategic communications
Posted in Content Marketing, Customer Communication, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Strategic Communications | No Comments »
May 31st, 2022
Years ago I was fortunate to be able to work with one of the true gurus in the field of direct marketing copywriting—Herschell Gordon Lewis. A marketing genius, a horror-film writer! (he’s actually known for creating the “splatter film” sub-genre of horror, according to Wikipedia)— Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: content marketing, copywriting, copywriting tips, Herschell Gordon Lewis, verisimilitude, writing copy
Posted in Advertising, Business Development, Content Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »
May 26th, 2022
A recent LinkedIn question resonated with me—”Why don’t people like to talk about pricing UPFRONT?” Why indeed?
Have you ever been frustrated when trying to make a purchase decision because you can’t get pricing information from coy salespeople or cryptic web sites? In my opinion, Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: how much does it cost, marketing strategy, Pricing, pricing strategy, sharing prices, strategic marketing
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding, Strategy | No Comments »
May 23rd, 2022
I’m often surprised when I work with clients and companies to find that they aren’t taking advantage of the valuable information they have at their fingertips about their customers and their sales patterns.
Fact-gathering and research are two important steps in implementing any kind of communication campaign – internal and external. Yet, it’s a step that is all too often overlooked in the zeal to “do something—DO SOMETHING NOW!” But taking the time—just a little time!—to step back and look at some data can help direct the “do” into areas that have the most potential for success. Bigger impact—less investment (of time and money). What’s not to like about that? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 18th, 2022
Does market share matter? It’s an old argument I had a number of years ago with an organization I worked for. They were very focused on market share. I didn’t think they needed to be. That focus, I felt, kept us from pursuing other marketing objectives that IMO would have been more meaningful.
Despite the fact that many large companies and brands do focus on market share, it doesn’t always matter.
A simple example will illustrate: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Marketing and Branding, Small Business Strategy, Strategy | No Comments »