Articles

Brand storytelling has changed. It used to be that your brand was the hero of your story, and your features and benefits are how it “won”. Not anymore. Now, brand stories need to make your target audience the hero of the story.

The storytelling method even has science to back it up. In a study at Princeton University, scientists found that, when you listen to a well-told story, the parts of your brain that respond are those that would if you were inside the story. Even more impressive: this eff…

Which is more important, quantity or quality? It seems like everyone has their own opinion about which one is “more” important. I think it’s asking the wrong question and seeks to justify an excuse. Yes, you need quantity because not every prospect is a good fit for your organization and yes, you need quality to ensure that your leads are qualified and likely to convert. It’s not one or the other, it’s both.

Most of your client journey is outside of your control. With all the modern technology …

Our client was a highly successful serial entrepreneur with a solid track record of starting new businesses, building them up, and selling them off after 4-5 years. The secret to her success was her ability to develop a product to fit a targeted niche, make initial sales, and then create a scalable, repeatable sales model. 

While growing a company handling expenses for business convention providers, she spotted a new opportunity. So she did what she always did: Launch a new product, and sell, s…

The definition of art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

I like that last part, "more than ordinary significance". To me, art is the ability to see or do something beyond what is considered normal and, it often elicits an emotional response of some type.

In our culture, art is often associated with a fine art like painting, drawing, music, or acting. In business, it's often…

Our client, a 50-year-old membership organization had a small group of members with intense brand loyalty. These members would describe their relationship to the organization as “I owe my whole professional life to them”. There was a bigger group that expressed the sentiment “we know we can depend on you for only this”. These members would come and go based on when they needed one specific service that this organization was really good at.  

While they had some members who were very loyal, they…

In early 2021, I changed my tagline to Be Ready to Scale®. Shortly after that, I was meeting with a prospect and he asked me, “Why did you choose the word 'scale' instead of growth?”

At first, I was taken aback. It wasn’t a question I was expecting as we were talking about his company and how I could help him. I was happy to answer him though. It’s what makes me different from my competitors.

I explained that growth is something that is usually thought about in linear terms—a company acquires …

Sometimes a brand starts with a project with no intention to scale up beyond that project. While this seems to be a nice-to-have problem, it often means that all the elements that defined the marketing of the project, the story of its creation, the name, the description, and talking points become irrelevant.

Our client started this way. Their project name was directly related to the tactical kits that they were assembling for their local community. Within a short four years, their project had b…

MVP. Sounds exciting. You want that title. Right?

Well, unfortunately, I am not going to talk about being the most valuable player. Instead, my thoughts are about a minimal viable product (MVP). I know that is nowhere near as sexy. And as you know, you don't want me talking sports. LOL!

Anyway, I want to draw attention to the words--minimal...viable...product—MINIMAL in particular.  

The concept is great, you spend as little as possible and generate the most revenue (and hopefully profit too)…

Sometimes even the experts need experts. Over the last 20 plus years, I’ve noticed that there are two types of leaders—the ones who are willing to ask for help and actively practice personal and professional development, and those that believe that they must always appear to know everything.

A few years ago, I heard someone say, “if you can’t do for yourself what you do for clients, you’re an imposter.” This briefly caught me off guard, but after some consideration, I realized that this person …

Holiday marketing is often assumed to be only for B2C or D2C brands. After all, it can be up to 30% of their annual sales, according to the National Retail Federation. But for B2B companies, the holiday season tends to be more of a snooze than a sleigh ride. Even if potential clients are at the end of their yearly budget, they are simply too busy dealing with the holiday rush to worry about finding or committing to new deals.

But just because holiday marketing can be a challenge, it doesn’t mea…