The Competitive Advantage

January 30, 2016

Content Marketing not working? Eh, don’t worry about it!

Do these sound familiar?

• “Only about 40% of the people who registered for our webinar actually showed up.” or
• “I’ve talked to a number of those who downloaded our latest eBook and less than half have even read it.”

Here’s my advice… don’t be too upset about it. It’s not that big a deal!

The reality is… much of what you do from a content marketing perspective will fall on deaf ears – or more appropriately – might never make it to the ears they were intended for. Don’t sweat it…

January 27, 2016

A Brilliant Example of Communicating in Plain, Simple English

I’ve been looking for some new software lately to help with processing credit cards online for our upcoming workshop series. One of the vendors I was investigating is WaveApps.com.

While I was browsing their website, I did something I almost never do… I took a look at the Terms of Use. You know… that long, legal document that we usually completely ignore, or when necessary, just click ‘Agree’ and move on.

But WaveApps has done something remarkable… something I’ve never seen before with this kind of document.

January 13, 2016

Are You an Expert?

The 3 things you must have to truly be called an ‘expert.’

Read through many (if not most) websites in our industry and you’ll find that many firms – and the top employee(s) at those firms – claim themselves to be experts in their particular field… methodology experts… industry experts… application experts… or some combination of those. Further, an intellectual industry like Market Research is a great place in which to be an expert. Expertise is why we get hired. Expertise can differentiate us from our competitors. Expertise is how we position ourselves in the marketplace.

But what does it take to be an expert? Or more importantly, to be perceived by others (your clients and prospects) as an expert? I think there are three critical factors…

January 4, 2016

Marketing Measurement: 3 New Methods You Have to Try in 2016

Measuring your marketing & sales is critical. Why? Because it tells you if what you’re doing is working… or not. If it’s working – do more of it! And if it’s not working – stop doing it! Or figure out how to change it to achieve better results. Good stuff, right?

But the reality is this – and it doesn’t matter who you talk to – when it comes to marketing & sales, everyone universally agrees that the one aspect of it that we all hate is the tedious task of measurement.

Yeah, we do it (sort of!)… but we hate it.

December 30, 2015

Top 10 Blog Posts & Articles of 2015

As 2015 draws to a close – and we put a wrap on another year of content – I thought it would be interesting to look back at the year and highlight our top 10 blog posts & articles… those that generated the most likes, views and comments.

December 22, 2015

9 Proven Marketing Tips to Try in 2016

Last week, our blog post contained 9 really great sales ideas to try in 2016. This week, I want to tackle some marketing ideas you might want to try next year. Like the tips last week… they’re all low-cost/no cost, easy to do and – most importantly – have been proven to work…

December 15, 2015

9 Proven Sales Tips to Try in 2016

One of my favorite sayings of all time is this: “If you keep doin’ what you’re doin’… you’ll keep gettin’ what you’re gettin’!” It applies to your business just as much as it applies to everyday life.

So, unless you’re 100% satisfied with the growth of your business in 2015, now is the time to think about trying something new in 2016. “Like what?,” you ask! Well, here are 9 sales tips to get your creative juices flowing and help you to increase revenue next year…

December 8, 2015

To Be Really Successful… Try a Little ‘Negative Thinking’

Part 4 of the ‘Retreat Series’

It’s that time of the year when most firms are working (some might say ‘scrambling!’) to finish their 2016 Marketing & Sales plan. Setting lofty goals… thinking about opportunities for growth… considering the possibilities for success. All good stuff!

But I submit that you’ll create a more focused plan and achieve even greater success if you think ‘negative.’ That is, in addition to the opportunities in the marketplace, also look at your business through the lens of the problems and the challenges you face.