We Need To Stop Telling Customers What We Do

I’m driving along behind the white Ezy Tiles van, when we stop at a red light and I get close enough to read their sales pitch, which is an image and a single line. The picture is of three guys wearing dust masks that look like something you’d see in a documentary about chemical warfare.…

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The Truth About Starbucks And The $4 Coffee

Before Starbucks you could buy your morning coffee for a dollar or two. So how was it possible for Starbucks to more than double the price of coffee overnight? The truth is that Starbucks didn’t actually invent the $4 coffee—they created the $2 experience. $2 felt like a bargain for the feeling of belonging in…

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There’s More Than One Way To Buy A Lemon

The middle-aged couple at the garden centre stood with furrowed brows as the sales assistant explained the difference between the varieties of lemon tree. They took a step back and almost looked alarmed when he explained how one particular variety would bear a lot of fruit, but could become tall, straggly and unmanageable. Huge smiles…

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Blog Comments: Strategy Or Tactic?

The opportunity to reach out and literally touch people all over the world with words still feels like a miracle to me, even after three years of blogging. A millennial who regards Internet connectivity like oxygen would wonder what on earth I’m talking about. If you’ve lived life without an Internet connection you’ll probably understand…

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The Limitations Of Knowing ‘How To’

For years we’ve been rewarded for knowing the right answer. All of those gummed gold stars licked and stuck in copybooks next to neatly spaced handwriting, served their purpose. We can’t help wanting to know the answer. Knowing ‘how to’ is barely an advantage to the twenty first century business owner or entrepreneur, because there…

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The Most Dangerous Thing About Your Competition

….is your obsession with them. Yes, we live in a giant digital goldfish bowl. This makes it possible to get stuck watching and worrying about what our competitors are doing. Almost every move they make, every accolade, acquisition and award is there for the world to see. It’s far more productive and more profitable to…

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10 Ways To Stand In Your Customer’s Shoes

When LEGO was developing a castle play set they brought fans of all ages together to get feedback. The adults loved it. “But where’s the dragon?” the children asked. The adults explained that there were no dragons in Medieval times. “Where’s the fun in that?” the kids replied. So, the dragon was born. What we…

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How To Get The World To Beat A Path To Your Door

Traditional marketing in essence has been about doing something today in the hope that your business will reap the rewards in sales tomorrow. The marketer then has her eye firmly fixed on the future. Asking the question, ‘what do I need to do to get us from here to there?’ And yet the best marketing…

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5 Things Your Brand Name Must Do

Brand naming is tough. There are so many variables to consider and the finality of saying ‘that’s it’, feels like a huge decision. Your name is probably the first encounter a potential customer will have with your business. A brand name has to stand the test of time and wear a lot of hats. 5…

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Was Everything Okay?

The table was clean. The waitress arrived to take coffee orders within a couple of minutes. We tried to ignore the peeling corners of the laminated menu. The food and the coffee were fine. The waitress polite in a ‘going through the motions’ kind of way. Her parting question as we paid the bill….. “Was…

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