There are a lot of very clever people trying to sell you marketing services. After all, they are marketers and marketers market. First and foremost, they market themselves. Why do people so often purchase great-sounding marketing services only to be severely disappointed? A good portion of this is hocus-pocus. They don’t really know what they… Read More »
Let’s reduce marketing to a very simple formula: Find out what people want. Let them know you’ve got it. There really isn’t much more to it than that. Of course, you have to know who “they” are, and you have to work out how to communicate so they get the message. But from this grand… Read More »
All website developers are not the same. “Sure”, you say. “Tell me something I don’t know.” How about this: You probably don’t know just how different they are – and why this matters to you. This article could also be called “How to waste money and not get what you wanted in a website.” Read… Read More »
I love metaphors. A great way to explain the unfamiliar is by referring to the familiar. So, just imagine the following scenario: Suppose you wanted to buy a car (website). Now suppose that there was no such thing as makes or models. Every car was unique. There was no such thing as Blue Book pricing.… Read More »
The economy is recovering. There I go again, sticking my neck out. Of course, every single statistic imaginable shows this to be true, but who am I? Now I’ve written a few times over the last several months on a note of optimism. I’ve been encouraging you, my fellow business owners. First of all, DO… Read More »
Is standing out from the crowd, being different or unique, a thing? I mean is this something you should strive for in your marketing? I’ve written before that one should be different, but not too different. But really, WHY be different? People often want to present a unique perspective in their marketing. And you know,… Read More »
Every Pessimist calls themselves a Realist. Personally, I’m one of the world’s greatest Optimists. I would like to explain why being an Optimist is both more rational and more realistic than being a Pessimist. What does this have to do with marketing, you say? Your attitude sets the stage for what you do. And it… Read More »
Should marketing be logical and persuasive by appealing to reason? Or should it seek to stir people’s emotions? Many people despise appeals to emotion, like car commercials selling how powerful the car is and how fast it can go. Who after all needs a car that can do 150mph, or slam you back in your… Read More »
You want great search engine rankings. Have you been trying for a while? Years? Maybe you don’t know where to start, confused by conflicting claims right and left. Most people have serious misunderstandings of how Google works, what it takes to rank well. What does it even MEAN to rank well? If you were hiking… Read More »
Apparently, we aren’t all going to die, and the economy is not, it seems, going into the worst depression since the extinction of the dinosaurs. So, maybe it is time to speak again of how you really ought to be marketing? HOW BAD IS IT, RICH? We have, you know, had multiple shocks to the… Read More »
The current mantra for marketing websites is “Content is King.” Nope. Not even close. That is a very narrow, technical focus for your online marketing. Here’s the truth, and there’s no two ways about it: THE CUSTOMER IS KING. BUT IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, RIGHT? Wrong again. Let me explain it like this. When… Read More »
There are certain Big Picture things necessary to develop successful marketing. When I say Big Picture, I mean strategy. A strategy is the overall plan for accomplishing something, that realistically takes into account not just your dreams, but the reality of the existing scene, including your available resources such as time and money and people.… Read More »
The biggest leap a company often has to make in its growth, is to actually get effective marketing working. Many companies start out small with no marketing. Just word of mouth and satisfied customers. I shouldn’t say “just” as that is the core of all business growth. And it is quite an accomplishment getting a… Read More »
I would like to point out a common confusion many people have. If you are mixed up about this, you are probably going to end up with a bad website. Website development is not a computer or an I.T. (Information Technology) job. Yes, we use computers. So does the local fish market. Yes, we do… Read More »
The other half of the equation. Why do we market? We market in order to sell things. Right now, the economy is not doing so great. Why is that? People aren’t buying things as much as they usually would. Duh, right? There are exactly two possible reasons for this: They don’t have money. They are… Read More »
