One of the simplest and least expensive branding tools — one that’s equally valuable to all companies regardless of size — is almost never used.  It’s the idea that, in any media, your brand should have a distinct “voice” that is uniquely yours.   A few companies get it.  The Ford Trucks TV spots narrated…

Despite what hundreds of books may tell you, selling isn’t about persuading somebody to do something you want them to do.  It’s all about fit.  Does the product or service you sell offer a good fit for what they need?  Are you solving a problem, or making life easier or more enjoyable?  Is that what…

If you believe that young people don’t read, you’re wrong.  In fact, many of them read constantly.  Maybe not books or newspapers or magazines.  But certainly text messages, blogs and social media posts.  So if you want to reach them, you have a couple choices.  You can complain and wax nostalgic about the good old…

It’s happened to you, and probably more than once.  You start to walk into or out of a business.  They have double doors.  You grab the handle of one…and it’s locked.  So you have to use the other one.  No big deal, right?  Except it’s annoying.  Why, if there are two doors, would one be…

Somewhere along the line, as SEO blew up, a curious thing happened.  All websites began to look alike.  Focusing on code and on what the search engines wanted, too many sites are being built that look like…well…pretty much every other site.  The notion that your site is an extension of your brand, that brand standards…

The major search engines all use algorithms — formulas designed to help find the most relevant response to a user’s search.  And those algorithms are constantly adjusted to keep companies from gaming the system.  Take keywords, for example.  Your website copy should absolutely contain the key search terms your prospects are likely to use when…

There’s so much talk about innovation in business that one important fact is often overlooked.  Innovation is almost always about simplifying things.  It’s about solving a problem in a simple, elegant, intuitive way.  We often think innovation means coming up with wild ideas, but it almost always begins with an existing problem, and when it…

Few nonprofit organizations of any size give marketing the same weight as other disciplines.  While there may be numerous board committees, there is often no permanent marketing committee.  Indeed, marketing is woefully underrepresented on nonprofit boards.  The irony is that nonprofits are faced with intense competition for funding, for referrals, for talented staff, for media…

In most industries, a 9:00 appointment is a 9:00 appointment.  But a 9:00 doctor’s appointment usually isn’t.  The message sent by most medical practices is that, contrary to the usual rules of business, the company’s time is more valuable than the customer’s.  But what if a doctor somewhere decided to turn the tide?  What if…

What do you do when a competitor stumbles?  Do you seize the opportunity?  Are you quick enough and confident enough to take advantage of the situation and put yourself in front of their customers as a potential solution to their problems?  Can you do it fast enough to be there when those prospects are most…