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Marketing Above the Noise
Introducing Dynamic Market Leverage™, an approach to help cut through the clutter, stand out, and effectively build business.
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Top of Mind Thursday December 13, 2018: A Good Time to Jump In
We’re reaching the time of the year when things start to wind down. The holiday season is here, complete with shopping, eating, and celebration. Conventional wisdom says it’s not a good time to focus on your business.
Or is it?
Here’s the thing: If you dial down your business now, you’ll feel the effects in early 2019. That’s why this is a great time to put MORE focus on your business.
True, this may not be the best time to make new sales calls or conduct extensive offsite meetings. But there are a host of other things you can do now to ensure a smooth start to the coming year:
- Reach out to clients and prospects to thank them for their business and remind them you are here to help them in the future.
- Think about what you’d like to change in the coming year. Do you want to introduce a new product or service? Target a new market? Add new customers for your existing services?
- Consider what you’ll need to do differently to make your business more successful in 2019. What needs to change to achieve different results?
- Review your current marketing efforts. What’s working? What hasn’t performed as well as you expected? What needs to be tweaked?
- Lay out your proposed marketing activities for the next year. Where are there gaps? Overlaps? Outdated messaging?
- Just as importantly, what should you consider not doing in the future? Where can you eliminate activities that don’t provide value but take up time and money?
- Identify what you can do yourself and where you will need support. Then reach out now to engage the resources you’ll need in the future.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday December 6, 2018: End of an Era
Yesterday, the country stopped to honor George H W Bush, the 41st president of the United States, who died last weekend at age 94.
George H W Bush represents the end of an era. Not only was he one of the last presidents to serve in WWII, he also served his country as a congressman, ambassador, head of the CIA, vice president and then president.
Flags were put at half-staff, government offices were closed, postal deliveries were halted. And all living presidents came together to honor him at the service at Washington Cathedral–including Carter, Clinton, Obama, Trump, and George W Bush, who eulogized his father.
While many people disagreed with Bush 41 on his policies and politics, most say he was not disagreeable. In fact, he went out of his way to be diplomatic, as evidenced by the warm letter he sent to Bill Clinton welcoming him to the presidency after Clinton defeated Bush in 1992.
We appear to have lost the civility and decorum that was exhibited by the Bushs throughout their lives in public service, and by the 5 living ex-Presidents who attended his service. This incivility doesn’t stop in Washington–we see it throughout the country in how people treat those who hold opposing points of view.
Ending the era of incivility and polarization would be a fitting tribute to Busch 41 and the other public servants who have held the office.
Contact me to find out how to get heard above the noise.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday November 29, 2018: And They’re Off!
It seems like each year the race to the holiday shopping season gets a little faster, and starts a little earlier.
This year, a number of stores opened early on Thanksgiving to give shoppers an early chance to get those holiday buys. Black Friday sales started way before Black Friday. Online, CyberMonday mixed in with Black Friday. And that’s not to mention Small Business Saturday, among others.
Funny thing, though. The stores didn’t seem as crowded on Thanksgiving weekend as they’ve been in the past. Maybe online sales really are replacing brick and mortar retailers.
Or maybe spreading the traditional launch of holiday shopping across days and weeks is hurting stores more than helping them. There is only so much money allocated for holiday shopping in most families. When every day is a big sale, followed by an even bigger one tomorrow, the excitement and exclusivity of a special day is lost. When you start to see Xmas gifts and decorations at Costco around Labor Day, why does anyone care about a specific shopping day in late November?
Maybe it’s time to retire Black Friday from the lexicon. Or maybe it’s time to rethink whether there might not be a better way to get your customers’ attention.
The long-term winners of this competition will be the merchants who understand how to build relationships, create innovative experiences, and deliver the kind of support and service that keeps customers coming back–on a regular, ongoing basis, even after the heavily discounted specials go away.
Meanwhile, the cost-cutting, special deal, low-margin, get-it-while-it’s-hot merchants are racing their way into oblivion.
Contact me to find out how to get heard above the noise.
Limited time to devote to marketing? Check out our weekly Just a Moment for Marketing videos. They only take a minute.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts.
Check out the new video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Keep Swinging: Secrets to Launching Successful Entrepreneurial Ventures
Rick Steele
Founder and CMO
SelectBlinds, LLC
www.selectblinds.com
Rick Steele is the founder and CMO of SelectBlinds, LLC, an online e-tailer of independently branded window fashions. He manages almost 100 people and serves millions of customers. The author of the book 30 Days to Launch, Rick is committed to helping as many people as possible become successful entrepreneurs an business owners with his expertise in online marketing, brand archetypes, tailored business launching formulas, social media, and living life to the fullest. Rick donates time and financial resources to numerous organizations, including his daughter Kylie’s non-profit animal rescue, Rubicon Rescue.
In this podcast, Rick shares insights he’s gained from a starting a series of businesses – from Beanie Baby collecting to online mortgages to window fashions. He tells us why it’s more important to hit singles, or even strike out, than to wait for the grand slam, and discusses why worrying about what other people think is the biggest factor limiting success for entrepreneurs.
Listen to this podcast.