A 2008 study of shoppers revealed a number of insights that can help you sell more.  For example, nearly a third of all shoppers make impulse purchases once they’re in a store.  And almost 40% don’t make their brand decisions until they’re in the store, with those choices swayed most often by product demonstrations.  So…

In Hamlet’s last soliloquy, Shakespeare uses the phrase, “Damn with faint praise.”  It’s a good reminder that you can undermine your own marketing efforts by using tired or tepid words.  At a recent event where people were given two minutes to pitch their businesses, at least two used the word “decent” to describe their company’s…

Search Engine Optimization – making sure your website appears as high as possible in searches by Google, Yahoo, et al – is both art and science.  But here’s a simple tactic that can yield big results.  Make sure the title tag for every page includes your company name and the search terms people are most…

A lot of businesses face the same challenge – how to get customers to change behaviors.  Think of a gym, a weight loss program, a credit counselor, a tutoring service or even a doctor.  If your company relies on customers making tough lifestyle changes, remember the importance of short- term wins.  For example, credit counseling…

Here’s one to watch.  Starbucks just launched its first real branding campaign, but will a mixed message and a disconnect from reality sabotage it?  The popular coffee retailer has seen sales drop as Americans spend less on luxuries and defect to cheaper alternatives.  Its value message: we’re worth it, because we buy only fair trade…

The Defense Department regularly employs civilians to help it identify potential risks to the nation’s security.  You could (and should) do the same for your company.  Here’s how.  Grab your team and go offsite.  Imagine you’re starting a new company to compete directly with your present business.  Get in teams and identify all of the…

The convenience of e-mail makes it the messaging medium of choice for many of us.  But research shows that e-mails are often seen as more negative than intended, with positive messages being viewed as neutral and neutral ones being perceived as negative.  And that has to have an effect on the recipient’s view of you…

Just as fast food outlets provided a quicker, cheaper alternative to traditional restaurants, so retail medical clinics are beginning to spread as an alternative to traditional health care providers.  Staffed by a nurse practitioner with at least a masters degree, who’s guided through the diagnosis process by a computerized system, the clinics typically diagnose everyday…

A recent survey found that, regardless of age, nearly three quarters of adults said they enjoy magazines, even when they can have access to the same content online.  Another interesting finding – respondents overall were more receptive to print advertising than to internet ads.  This suggests that targeting your audience through carefully chosen print media…

It’s hard to imagine a business that’s more of a “commodity” provider than ticket resellers.  Other than price and the availability of the best seats and packages, there’s little to differentiate giants like Ticketmaster from newbies like StubHub.  So online reseller RazorGator branched out, using its own software to manage the distribution of tickets for…