success
1,070 posts
A New Book To Help You Create Ideas That Fly
I’ve spent the last two years writing, speaking and consulting about how to succeed by making your ideas resonate with the people you want to serve. My new book Meaningful: The Story Of Ideas That Fly is the culmination of that work. Our new digital landscape has spawned an entrepreneurial culture a
Before You Pitch
At the end of the event a small group gathered around the presenter. He had flown in from Europe the day before and was bound to be jet lagged. Despite that he had delivered an informative and inspiring keynote about how his company—one of the most powerful brands in the world, used customer insight
The Ideal Business
Something unexpected happened while I was on the phone to my health insurer making a quick change to personal details. The operator threw me by asking if I wanted to reduce my cover (and thus, the annual premium). “No sense paying a fortune for something you don’t need.” she said. True—but when I be
Most Marketing
Most marketing is designed to…. Get attention in the moment. Make people choose. Create awareness among many. Persuade people to decide. Most marketing is not designed to…. Build loyalty over time. Make people care. Create affinity with a few. Help people to feel good about their decisions. What mak
The Most Powerful Thing You Didn’t Do Today
Have you ever been footsteps away from a window and yet found yourself opening an app or doing a Google search to check the weather, instead of simply going over to the window and opening the curtains? Me too! Why is that? We are now in the habit of outsourcing our thinking and second guessing…
The 5 Building Blocks Of A Brand
A brand used to be an identifier, over the past seventy years it’s become so much more. Seth’s 2009 definition says it best. “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
How To Make People Care About Your Product
The maître d’ had worked at the same restaurant for thirteen years and was ready for a change. He wanted to do work he was passionate about and decided to start a dog walking business—knowing that in order to succeed he needed to send a signal to prospective customers about how much their pets matte
The Generous Marketer
Implements long-term strategies, rather than relying on short-term tactics. Puts the desires of the customer before the urgency of his business goals. Knows that mattering to his customers is the key to success. Cares about affinity, more than awareness. Notices, before asking to be noticed. Listens
Two Kinds Of Feedback
A common way to get feedback is to describe what you’re creating in detail and then to ask a prospective customer if they would use it. This is equivalent to asking someone for an honest answer to the question, “Does my bum look big in this?” Sometimes the answers we seek out are not the…
The Question To Ask Before Doing What You’re Planning To Do Next
Before you schedule that meeting. Before you contact that supplier. Before you attend that conference. Before you pay for that marketing. Before you hire that guy. Ask yourself this simple question: What’s the number one outcome I want to achieve by doing this? When you get clear (and honest with yo
Different Kinds Of Doing
You have probably sent a few important emails today. Maybe you blasted through a list of to-dos before morning coffee, or followed up on tasks you have outsourced? There’s no denying that ‘doing’ feels good. But there are different kinds of ‘doing’. There’s the ‘doing’ that makes us feel like we are
A Brand Of Magic
The chairs were out of stock. A delivery was expected some time in December, it might clear customs by January. The sales assistant described the import logistics and company policy. She detailed the 55% deposit terms on all orders placed and made sure to add her name to the written quotation the cu
The Business You Want
If I asked you to describe the business you really want you’d probably find it hard. Here’s why. We have conditioned ourselves to pay attention to popular metrics of success and we often don’t want to make the sacrifices or the compromises it takes to achieve them. It’s akin to wanting Jennifer Anis
Your Secret Weapon
The following email landed in my inbox a few weeks back. You won’t have any trouble picking holes in this approach and avoiding them in your business. ——— Hi Bernadette, I was thinking if you need assistance with your cold calling efforts. We have a team focused on setting up appointments and genera
In Praise Of Intangible Value
What did they do to create value? Design a new portable music player or give you 1,000 songs in your pocket? Serve coffee at $4 a cup or become ‘the third place’? Create a platform where people can rent a room or make them feel like they belong anywhere? Start a photo printing service or…
You Are Not Apple, And That’s No Excuse
“That’s all very well, but we are not Apple,” says every CEO and entrepreneur, when a well-meaning colleague gives another Apple best practice example as a possible way forward. No, you are not Apple and you don’t have to be. There are a million ways to do meaningful work. Owning the fact that it’s
Problem/Product Fit
Before you write the code, buy the domain name, design the logo, rent the office space or print the business cards ask yourself these questions. 5 questions for every entrepreneur to answer 1. Who is your customer? 2. What does she want to do, but can’t? 3. How exactly does your product or service h
How To Avoid Getting Lost In The Crowd
It’s natural to want to create something for the most people we think we can reach. The runaway successes we aspire to emulate seem like they succeeded by appealing to everyone. But if you look a little closer you’ll find that even the big hits started at the edges. Soul Cycle, Starbucks and Secret
3 Things Your About Page Should Do
Writing an about page for your website is hard. The reason we get stuck is because we worry about what we need to write, instead of focusing on why we need to write it in the first place. Remember it’s less about blowing your trumpet or filling whitespace with information and more about helping your
The Marketing Paradox
The goal of most marketing is to get people through the door, bums on seats and products sold. Because much of our marketing effort is front-loaded it’s easy to believe that once we’ve closed the sale, we’re done. And so we latch on to stories of six-figure product launches and multi-million dollar
