Your company is only as good its people. An awful cliché, but it is usually true. Hiring the wrong people is the most critical mistake a small company can make, so it makes sense to learn from others. Here are some important hiring ...READ»
“We don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too soon.” “We know what our customers want, for god’s sake, we are average users ourselves” “We need to focus on our product; customer feedback will delay the ...READ»
This is the first installment in a series of “mini-articles” that examine the top major mistakes startups and small companies make. This post looks at how blindly following a company vision cause a young/small ...READ»
Young companies have small margins for error. Mistakes made early on can sink a company before its gets off the ground. Here is a list of 10 common mistakes made by young, small companies.READ»
As the fall marketing “season” gets underway, now is a good time to propose some simple and free ideas for tracking web leads. In many businesses today, the way to create sales leads is to run a variety of marketing ...READ»
I have spent the last few weeks reviewing a number of startup websites and I can’t help but notice the same design flaws in most of the sites. Young companies, often started by technologists, are sure that their technology or ...READ»
A follow up to a previous post about customer service - below are a few more experiences that definitely go in the “don’t do” column of how to successfully market your company, product, or service….. Have you ever tried ...READ»
Pick up any book in the Marketing section of your local bookstore, or a current magazine on the newsstand and you are sure to see at least one article about one of the following"how to" topics – such as:
...READ»
'The Dawn of the Color Photograph' is a wonderful book I recently had the pleasure of discovering. It's a treasure trove of color images from the early 1900's.READ»
I recently took my wife’s mobile phone in for servicing. At the service center, the waiting room was packed with people, but like a well-designed ant farm, there seemed to be a method to the madness. A well-groomed clerk handed ...READ»
I recently had an opportunity to be part of a tour that visited some of the big software companies in Silicon Valley. The group met with business development groups and also met with venture capitalists. After observing the ...READ»
In my last blog post, I highlighted the different family configurations
between men and women working in high-technology – namely, 82% of technical women
report that their partner works full time, compared to 37% of technical ...READ»
In today’s business environment, people are just not traveling. So how do you get the message out? One way is the webinar. I have found webinars to be very effective, if you know how to do them properly. This post will cover some ...READ»
Well, here’s another post about what to do in a downturn, particularly if you are selling an innovative product or service to business. Truth is, in a downturn, when people worry about their job and their company’s viability – ...READ»
When selling to organizations or professionals, I find it useful to consider the following three constituents when building your set of marketing messages:
The buyer – this is the person or groups of people who ultimately ...READ»
As 2008 turns to 2009, many of us in the marketing world are planning our programs for the next 6-12 months. For young companies operating in an elevated state of uncertainty, it is even harder this year to know where to spend the ...READ»
“Times are tough.” “Budgets have been cut.” “You have to preserve valuable cash until the storm blows over.” “The competition won’t be spending money on marketing now, so there is less pressure to spend money ...READ»
When approached to be part of the team that writes for FastCompany about Work/Life balance I thought, "what a great opportunity!" and added the project to my schedule. I was directed to post once a week, on Friday.
I did not post ...READ»
I am underwhelmed by the amount of tips provided by “new media” consultants about how to sustain an ongoing marketing program. The emphasis of such programs often centers around the latest “hot” tool or service, like Facebook, ...READ»
30 November 2008
OK, so you have completed your first product/service and you are ready to launch. Now what? Planning the actual launch event/vehicle is crucial to your company’s success. Here are several items you will need to ...READ»
In the retailing business, today is Black Friday, the first official day of the Holiday Shopping Season. Did you shop today?I did not shop today. The only dollars we spent were on the standard 4-month checkup for our baby. All ...READ»
As a leader of people, you're in the spotlight, on the proverbial (modeling) "runway" more than you know...maybe more than you like. But it is part of the job.
When you speak to your team about work/life balance, what does that ...READ»
