The Competitive Advantage

February 17, 2015

Business Leaders: Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

As I write this, I’m at about 30,000 feet – somewhere in the air between Oakland and Denver – on my way back to Nashville. I’ve just spent the last 3 days at MRA’s CEO Summit in Napa Valley. What a great event… kudos to the MRA staff (David, Amy, Jenn & Jess) and hosts like Merrill Dubrow and Steve Schlesinger.

I think what made it a great event for me – besides taking place in Napa! – was the overriding theme that business leaders need to learn to “ask for help… and be willing to accept it.”

February 3, 2015

7 Reasons Why Conferences Should be Part of your 2015 Plan

It looks like February is becoming the new October in our industry… a month full of conferences. In fact, we’ll be at two of them this year – MRA’s CEO Summit in Napa Valley and the CASRO Digital Conference in Nashville. February also includes Qual 360 and IIeX (both in Europe), the premier of the new Quirk’s Event and more.

Too many? Maybe… but by and large, I am a big fan of these kinds of events. In fact, I’ve got seven reasons why you might want to put more of them on your calendar for 2015.

January 30, 2015

Content marketing isn’t a one-time thing… it’s an all-the-time thing.

I got an email the other day from a client who wanted to share some ideas for topics for his content marketing… but was concerned he wouldn’t have enough for an on-going program. And he was right. A dozen article ideas does not a content marketing program make.

Which, sadly, is why so few firms actually have a consistent, structured content initiative. (Well… that, and many people thinking they’re lousy writers – which is often true!).

So, how do you create a content program that will resonate in the marketplace and, more importantly, that you’ll be able to deliver on for a long time to come? The answer is in how you think about content.

January 28, 2015

Are you a partner… or just a vendor?

Not all clients are created equal.

To some, you’re a good vendor providing a valuable service. And that’s great.

But to others, you are a valued partner whose relationship goes beyond providing the service… you are an integral part of their organization. They rely on you not just for the work you do, but also for your counsel, advice and opinions.

January 20, 2015

Top articles and blog posts of 2014

We spend a lot of time writing articles, blog posts and other content for our industry – at least one article every month and one blog post every week – and we have since the day we opened our doors. So, out of curiosity, we looked back to see the top articles and blog posts of 2014.

We looked at the articles on our website, posts on our blog and posts to the publisher section of my LinkedIn profile… and listed the Top 3 most popular pieces from each one:

January 13, 2015

Stop it already with the bad marketing, part 5: Selling!

Over the past several weeks, we’ve explored several common marketing tactics (websites, email marketing, advertising and LinkedIn) and discussed many ways in which they are each being executed poorly in our industry… and several ways to improve them.

In this last post in the series, we take on SELLING. Whether you’re a dedicated sales rep, a researcher/consultant who does some part-time selling or the principle of a firm charged with revenue responsibility… this blog post is for you. And because we have all been on the receiving end of someone’s [bad] selling effort, I’ve written this post from the buyer’s perspective. I hope you find it helpful.

January 6, 2015

Stop it already with the bad marketing! Part 4: LinkedIn

In the first three parts of this series, we’ve delved into…

• Bad websites
• Bad advertising
• Bad email marketing

This week, our focus is on the bad use of LINKEDIN. Note: while this post focuses on LinkedIn, most of the comments below also apply to other social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, etc.

For professionals in B2B firms, LinkedIn should be your #1 choice for social media marketing. I’ve seen some recent stats stating that LinkedIn has more than 330 million users worldwide, with over 107 million of them in the U.S.

January 3, 2015

THINKING! A framework for creating better business plans in 2015.

As the past year ends and the new year is getting started, many firms are in the midst of planning for 2015… business plans, marketing & sales plans, operational & staffing plans, etc.

All good things, to be sure!

But too often, the planning process is focused on making sure the forms and spreadsheets are filled in… after all, you gotta have timelines, budgets and metrics to monitor, right? What’s often missing is the one thing that’s necessary for the planning to be truly successful – THINKING.

Without thinking, you’re just “doin’ stuff.” Without thinking, you’re just “wingin’ it.” Without thinking, all of that planning that you’re doing is just “guessing.”