Articles
The Management / Employee / Customer Gap
“Before selling an idea or product (any widget, or strategy for example), you must engag…
Tom Capizzi Jr.: Handcuffed to the Front Door
Tom Capizzi Jr., of Capizzi Home Improvement wrote one of three forewards for Contractors: Doing it Right Not Just Getting it Done. Here is his . . . Enjoy!
In the early to mid-1990’s I began to make a deliberate effort to lead our company culture in a direction that would allow me to not be “handcuffed to the front door” of our business inhibiting me from pursuing other interests. I had spent several years “handcuffed to the front door” of my business in which most of the day to day business a…Many Paths to Success-Jay-Z & Warren Buffett
In a recent meeting hosted by Forbes, Warren Buffett and Jay-Z shared stories of their mutual success despite drastic differences in achieving it. The full article is here and worth the read, but I wanted to share a few particular bits of advice that Warren Buffett gave.Steve Forbes: Warren, what advice would you have for Jay-Z in the music business? You've seen business models change a bit in the newspaper business with the Washington Post and Buffalo News.
Warren Buffett: It happens. Street rai…
Most Innovative Ways to Recognize Your Employees
I posted the below text about a year ago to get some feedback, when I was switching my site, I rediscovered it and wanted to share again. Hope you enjoy it and it gives you some great ideas for saying "Thank you" this year. Recognizing your employees (when done properly) is an incredible element of your culture. It can be a driving force that leads to the most amazing results. Your employees end up feeling like what they do matters. Happy employees lead to happier customers and better results fo…
Do You Want a Chief Marketing or Metric Officer?
How important do you think it is for a CMO to be creative?
Traditionally, a CMO is defined as Chief Marketing Officer. I saw an interview with a company that was seriously considering changing its definition to Chief Metric Officer. They felt measuring the metrics of campaigns was far more important than the creativity in today’s market.
When you look at recent economic events, let’s say over the last three years, and factor in that an average CMO remains in one job for only 18 months, to me…
Where has Responsibility Gone? Blame & Fault by Apple
I don’t normally jump on the latest bandwagon, but this one seemed too fun to miss out on. Earlier this summer, Steve Jobs set a new business example for others to follow—blaming the customer by saying “Stop holding the phones in that way.”
Apple’s launch of a much desired iPhone 4 was less than positively accepted. Customers soon started complaining about losing signal. When Apple’s loyal customer base turned to them for help, all they heard, was “it is your fault.”
Really, it’s the customers’ fa…
Truth Bomb: You Will Fail in Marketing and It's OK.
It’s true, 90% of all B2B companies market in pretty much the same way. It goes something like this:
Make a product/service
Talk a lot about their product/service
Produce a load of boring content and collateral to sell their product/service
Use various techniques to attempt to stand out and cut through the noise
Use a variety of channels and platforms like advertising, email, or direct marketing, as well as social media to make people aware of their product/service
Build a sales funnel and manage and …
Do You Need A Website?
So where do websites fit it? I think it is a justified question that will spark many different opinions.
Gone are the days where what the company says goes. For some it was replaced with customers speaking their mind—both good and ba…
Should Your Company be Emulating Apple?
Instead of writing a testim…
Emerging Trends in the Construction Industry
The economy turning around is not going to save all of the companies that still remain. The economy that emerges will have vastly different rules, expectations, and reasons why people will buy. The companies that do sur…