Is The Print Ad Dead?

Recently on a LinkedIn group, someone started a conversation on whether or not print advertizing is dead.

Sales Operations

Recently, I took the responsibility for developing a sales-operations department. Naturally, I started with the question, “what, exactly, is ‘sales operations’”?

Your People

Recently, I was speaking with a manager in my organization. He said something which I hand’t heard in a while, but was once a common refrain in my own early managerial career. “Sometimes it gets to the point where it’s just easier to do it myself.”

Back to The Basics

As we head into summer here, I thought it might be useful to put together a quick summer reading list. If you haven’t already read these three books, go get them now: The Art of War (kindle) (Apple Books) The Book of Five Rings (kindle) (Apple Books) The Prince (kindle) (Apple Books) If you have … Continue reading “Back to The Basics”

Outbound Marketing

Everything from web-site design, to search-engine marketing (SEM/SEO), to trade shows, to television commercials, classic outbound marketing, also known as marketing communications (MarCom) is the nuts and bolts of any marketing campaign. It can also include branding, publicity, and public relations, which I already discussed under brand.

Don’t Reinvent The Wheel

There are only two reasons to start a business: either you’ve spotted a technical discontinuity, or you’ve spotted a market discontinuity, and you’re looking to leverage that observation. But the reality is, this line of thinking and and should be extended to cover your entire organisation and operations — and failing to do so is … Continue reading “Don’t Reinvent The Wheel”

Inbound Marketing

The epitome of marketing, according to Peter Drucker, inbound marketing is perhaps the least understood subdivision of marketing. In fact, it’s so poorly understood that many modern marketers have started to misuse the term — using it specifically as a synonym for Internet marketing or generally as an antonym for outbound marketing. This couldn’t be … Continue reading “Inbound Marketing”

Brand

Building the value of your brand, and building raport with your customers, employees, investors, and the public at large is a critical part of your marketing campaign.

Marketing as A Science

One of my credos is that marketing must first and foremost be a science. That’s not to say we marketers are discovering big, universal truths over here, the way mathematicians or physicists might be. But it is to say that we’re using the scientific method to find little, local truths about how you can best … Continue reading “Marketing as A Science”

Facebook for Websites

With over half the people on the Internet using Facebook at least once per month, Facebook has become an extremely important part of Internet life. And they’re using that power to change the web as we know it: they’re driving the “social web”. Being on the cutting edge of that transition can put you in prime position to improve your business through referrals — the best source of customers.

Successfully Offshoring

For the last several years, off-shoring has become all the rage. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where if you’re pitching a VC you had better include off-shoring in your pitch if you want to have any chance of success. But success in your pitch doesn’t necessarily mean success in your business. I want … Continue reading “Successfully Offshoring”

Marketing 101

Just What Is Marketing? If you look marketing up in a dictionary, you’ll get something along the lines of, “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.” That does give someone who’s never encountered the word before a decent understanding of the notion. But how, exactly, does … Continue reading “Marketing 101”