Oh, woe is the plight of the marketer. With so many things to do, so many channels to explore, we often forget the one abiding truth in nearly everything we do: No one cares like we do. We find ourselves today living in the proverbial forest, trying to answer the timeless question: If a tree [...]
Posted in email marketing, marketing, permission marketing, strategy | No Comments »
An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is a short summary intended to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The name reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride. Most people suggest that your elevator pitch lasts [...]
Tags: Business, marketing, sales
Posted in marketing, strategy | No Comments »
As someone who makes a living helping people sell things, I get asked a lot of questions about strategy and implementation. As someone who has been dealing with emerging Internet trends for 18 years (18?!? I’m stunned, too…), I get asked a lot of questions about the latest shiny object. Sometimes these questions collide. An [...]
Posted in business consulting, email marketing, strategy | No Comments »
Happy New Year! Now that 2012 has arrived, business owners and key managers should be looking ahead with an eye toward weathering what looks to be another tough one. Along with the general consensus that the economy will continue to be sluggish, you have the added responsibility to protect the enterprise in the face of [...]
Tags: Business, Business continuity planning
Posted in business consulting, business forecasts, coaching, strategy | 1 Comment »
When I open my email inbox on an average day, I see a wide variety of messages. Like many of you, I sort through a lot of emails from companies offering me the latest and greatest deals on the Internet. As email designers and marketers, many of us at Rare Bird can’t fight the urge to critique messages making their way into our inboxes. In fact, we keep an eye out for emails that make for interesting conversation around the office.
Tags: design, email, marketing
Posted in advertising, design, email marketing, email review, strategy | No Comments »
Underdogs win a lot more often than you think. Malcolm Gladwell explains how. We’re all familiar with the story of David and Goliath, where David stood before the giant of the Philistines and survived to tell about it. For forty days, Goliath had been dispensing soldiers with relative ease, until David came along. David rose [...]
Posted in basketball, business consulting, coaching, daughters, David and Goliath, email marketing, strategy, underdogs, Vivek Ranadivé | No Comments »
“Cutting your marketing budget to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” Charlie Williams As my old boss used to say, “cutting your marketing budget to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” It seems to be common knowledge among both business owners and marketers that a recession is [...]
Posted in marketing, strategy, writing | No Comments »
“I now get as much satisfaction from the challenges of keeping my restaurant fresh and exciting as I did from cooking. It is now more than twice as busy as it was and growing at 20% a year–teeming daily with regulars and newcomers.” Jonathan Rapp There are enough gems in this short two-page article to [...]
Posted in business consulting, marketing, strategy | No Comments »
Speaking in Washington last week, I encouraged the attendees to use the power of transactional emails as a viable means to improve their customer relationships. I noted that these messages tend to break through the clutter and are generally perceived as helpful tools for customers to remain current with the latest information regarding their orders. [...]
Posted in email marketing, permission marketing, strategy | No Comments »
Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest. Target Corp. Spokesperson Disclaimer: I’m generally a fan of Target®. I appreciate the turn around they’ve implemented and I applaud their belief that general consumers (read: the rest of us [...]
Posted in blogging, internet, marketing, strategy, stupidity | 1 Comment »
