The average professional spends about 13 hours a week reading and responding to email. So if you want to cut through that thicket, watch these seven factors. Inform and SellAlternate emails between those that give the reader valuable information and those that sell what you do. Think about answering the “how to” question in either case —…

There are lots of ways to miss the potential of social media for your company. Here are four of the biggest to avoid. Hiring the Wrong Person.Just because someone is active on their own personal social media — even if they’re wildly engaging — doesn’t mean they can do the same for your company. If they don’t…

In marketing, we usually think that the more people we can reach, the better. But when it comes to the lists you’re using, going big may not be the best strategy. It may seem counterintuitive, but with email or direct mail, you should almost always try to trim your lists. Here’s why. Especially with direct mail, each…

Your logo is visual shorthand for your brand and a reflection on your company. If it’s outdated or doesn’t create the right impression, it’s working against you. So whether you’re having a new logo designed or refreshing an existing one, here are three tests it needs to pass. Just Your TypeIf a typeface is trendy at the…

Dieter Rams is the pioneering industrial designer who led the design team at consumer products company, Braun, where he worked from the 1960s through the 1990s. In the wonderful documentary Rams, he shares a fascinating insight into his approach to product design. “We were trying to eliminate the need for user manuals. We wanted to make it…

You want to sell more.  You need to sell more.  So here are three specific things that make marketing — anybody’s marketing — work harder. Switch Pronouns Everywhere you want to talk to customers, stop saying “us” and “we” and start saying “you.”  On social media. On your website. In phone calls and sales calls. …

Recessions happen.  And while no one knows when, or how severe, one thing is certain — there’s one on the horizon in the next few years.  So how are you marketing now to minimize its impact when it lands? First of all, understand how a recession will impact your customers — and by extension, your…

Do you have a mission statement. If you do, why? Seriously. Let’s be honest. Mission statements are pretty useless. They’re labored over and argued about. They’re revisited and revised. They almost always grow longer over time. They’re put on walls and websites. And then mostly forgotten. Don’t believe it? Take a walk. Ask the first five team members you see to tell you the…

In his terrific book, Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins, writer Mark Schaefer points out something that might surprise you. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos believes that focusing on change can be less important than thinking about what isn’t changing. Bezos points out that people will always want a low price. They’ll always prefer a wide selection. And they’ll…

Marketing works. Except when it doesn’t. So when you miss your marketing goals, it pays to dig into the real reasons behind the shortfall. (Hint: it’s almost never that the goals were too aggressive.) Here are five ways marketing can go sideways on you. UntargetedUnless you have unlimited resources, you have to focus on your best and most likely…