Productivity
I spoke the other day with a business owner who said, “I’m too busy serving my clients to spend time marketing my business.” I hear that occasionally. Maybe you’ve thought that yourself. I responded by citing the great Dan Kennedy who taught me long ago: All who run a business are in the marketing business. …
Read More
Back in the 1980s, Micropolis Corporation was the computer disc king. They sold more 8-inch “portable” discs than anyone. But trouble loomed. Competitors introduced a better product – the 5-inch floppy disc. Less expensive. Easier to use. Simpler. CEO Stuart Mabon understood the threat and directed his manufacturing team to switch focus from 8-inch to…
Read More
“It’s not the plane…It’s the pilot.” So says Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in the new movie Top Gun: Maverick. I saw it over the weekend, and I liked it. That quote about planes and pilots keeps knocking around in my noggin. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many business people get it backwards. They…
Read More
A curious subscriber named Cynthia asked me last week: “If I want to create a business based on my expertise, how do I begin to identify my prospects?” Great question… …because most business people think they’ve identified their prospects well, but most get it (somewhat or totally) wrong. So most waste time and money on marketing…
Read More
A few days ago, I watched the old I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel take a job at the chocolate factory… …and can’t keep pace with the assembly line. It might be the funniest scene in television history. Classic slapstick comedy… …that also has me thinking about business systems. Assembly lines and other automations are…
Read More
I got a GREAT email last week from world-class marketer Dave Dee. Dave told about a conversation he had with a lawyer who thought creative, personalized marketing was below him. “I didn’t go to law school to be seen as a celebrity,” the lawyer told Dave. I hear the same from some coaches, consultants, and…
Read More
Every so often, my buddy Adam sends me a link with a challenge to “email this.” Sometimes it’s a link to a crazy discussion thread on Reddit. Often, it’s a random, funny news story. My favorite “email this” challenge was a news story about status-hungry Chinese big-shots and strippers (more on that in a moment). …
Read More
Happy Get to Know Your Customers Day. Let the confetti fly! Do you have any big celebrations planned? A confession: I didn’t know there was such a holiday until a few days back when I consulted my calendar of strange holidays. Strange holidays make great hooks for emails so I check the calendar often. Some are…
Read More
Breaking news: If you want to convert leads to clients… Email doesn’t work. Neither does text. Same goes for video So says a frustrated consultant who posted a cry for help on Facebook “​​20 years in business, I don’t remember ever it being this hard to connect with prospects. Text and email, videos, and articles…
Read More
Remember that time you were in the shower… …and a great idea popped into your head… …and by the time you stepped out of the shower… …the idea was GONE! That used to happen to me all the time. But no longer. Earlier this week, I got me some AquaNotes! (Thanks, Todd Cherches, for telling…
Read More