Customer value propositions. Today, no business can get away with not having and using a value proposition. If you have a website - or business profile on the internet - you will be forced to state what your value proposition is.

The good news is that they’re fun to do. And, when you get them right, they’re incredibly powerful. Read the rest of this entry »

Found this great Dan Pink video about what motivates people: related to performance and how to motivate your employees. The interesting discovery is that the larger the reward - the lower the performance. Fascinating! Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t think your marketing strategy is working? Not getting the sales you want? Not as profitable as you’d like to be? Not reaching the right customers? Read the rest of this entry »

Newspapers and content providers are getting tired of giving their content away for free it seems.  Rupert Murdoch’s response to free content clearly indicates the changing fortunes of the mass media - so ably predicted by the late great Michael Crichton over 16 years ago.

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Survive or thrive? No matter, whether your business is experiencing good times or bad - you need to be smarter about your marketing. The rules are very simple - but will pay you dividends in the long run. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you price your goods or services? I’ve often had this discussion with clients … who say: “Ah, we can’t charge so-and-so, because X-company have set the ceiling price!” or “We couldn’t possibly charge more because it only costs so much to make!” Read the rest of this entry »

There is so much noise out there - unless you make it easy for customers - they won’t take action. As simple as that. But what is the thing that will motivate people to take action. From experience - there isn’t a magic bullet that will work every time. 

But there are six things that will help you cut through the clutter…

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Case studies have long been seen as an effective way for companies to tell their story. To let people know what work they do, who they do that work for, and importantly, what their customers think about the end-result! There are three crucial things which all communications should do. Communications material should be relevant to an audience, provide evidence of work and provide credibility for your organisation. Case studies tick all the boxes. Read the rest of this entry »

So you think you are the fastest, the smartest, the smallest, the brightest, the best … so what! What does that mean to your customer? He or she probably isn’t interested. They’re only really interested in WIIFM … “What’s In It For Me?” Read the rest of this entry »

For decades, innovators have researched what questions to ask to get the right answers. US-based innovator, Gerald Haman has spend 16 years researching and perfecting a number of these questions. Applying these questions can have profound results. Particularly for marketers and communicators. No matter, whether you are creating a new product, a brochure, website, product launch event, business partner programme or customer communication - these questions will help. Read the rest of this entry »