Phil is a very frustrated business owner. For many years, he relied on word-of-mouth to grow his consultancy business. He had lots of happy clients, who sent their acquaintances his way. Others found him on Google, and picked up the phone. His business grew steadily – but too slowly. A couple of years ago, he…
Remember this scene from Glengarry Glen Ross? When Alec Baldwin tells his real estate agents that they are losers and terrible salesmen, and they should all be fired? “A-B-C. A – Always, B – Be, C- Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING….. “A guy don’t walk on the lot lest he wants to buy….
It felt like being pounced upon. I’d just come back from an Internet marketing show in London. After hearing from industry leaders, I’d noticed that there were several stands exhibiting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, and asked for demos. I wasn’t really a serious buyer – yet. Over the previous few months, we’d started wondering…
Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while know that I’m not too keen on social media. Not as a marketing tool, anyway…. (I’m sure my family thinks I spend way too much time on Facebook….!) In fact, I consider it an absolute waste of time for most companies. Unless you already…
“Quite possibly the only person on LinkedIn who isn’t a results-oriented team player with excellent interpersonal skills”. It was a brilliant line. Several years ago, a guy called Gordon Rae posted it as his LinkedIn professional headline – the words that come under your name right at the top of your profile, and that appear…
Imagine you had an appointment with a great new lead. This is a hot prospect, and you’re hoping to come away with a big fat contract. You turn up for the presentation, open PowerPoint, and….. Start to walk them through every job you’ve ever held. You throw in a few key-skill clichés along the way…
A few weeks ago, a client shared a very powerful story with me. Before launching their current healthcare business, this client ran a successful clinic helping people shed significant amounts of weight through gastric bands. In order to attract relevant traffic to his site, he ran an online forum for people to air their concerns…
“Know your competition.” It’s one of the golden rules of marketing. And it’s sound advice. You wouldn’t launch a business without carefully surveying the marketplace first, to figure out the opportunities and threats (I hope). The same goes for your marketing. But there’s a danger in looking too closely at your competition, too. You can…
I may have mentioned once or twice that I love books and I love a good story. Even better, I love a book that has a story behind the story. Which is why I have a treasured copy in my library of ‘Cold Comfort Farm’, a comic novel about rural life from 1932. The copy…
“What books do you recommend in order to improve our company’s online marketing?” I was asked that recently…. And I think that the person asking the question was rather taken back with my answer. They thought they were going to get a list of some of the summer’s “hot” online marketing books, written by…
