People make a mistake on two sides of this. On one side, they jealously guard their ideas saying, “These should only go to people who pay! No free content!” On the other side, there is the naive assumption that, if we give it all away, then people will want to work with us. Neither side […]
There are, in my mind, three roles of marketing. The first is to get their attention. The second is to filter and establish if it’s a fit at all (by going through the three filters of relevance, credibility and value). The third is to lower the risk of taking the first step (or the next
Three Core Strategies to Reducing The Perception of Risk Read More
I’m often asked, “How do you get good testimonials?” Of course, the truest answer is, “Do good work.” Without that, nothing I am about to say holds much water. But, if we don’t acknowledge that it’s possible to do wonderful work and not be furnished with written testimonials from the very people you served, well…
How To Get Great Testimonials (Without Pressuring or Badgering) Read More
I just spoke at the annual Natural Health Practitioners of Canada Conference in Edmonton as one of their opening day keynotes about marketing. After my talk, I moved to the back of the room to organize a few things while the next speaker went up to speak about the ethical issue of ‘consent’ in the world of
As I get ready for my next Point of View Lab, I’ve been reflecting on some recent examples I’ve been uncovering with clients. Over the past few months, I’ve been working with a lot of people around their point of view and I keep being amazed at the power that this has in our marketing. Whereas
I hosted a men’s circle earlier this year and a young man said something brilliant: be a flower, not a butterfly net. It reminds me of something I heard colleagues say for years: be a lighthouse, not a searchlight. Butterflies run away from nets. People run away from searchlights. Of course, it’s dangerous to
The purpose of marketing is to make promises. The purpose of your business is to keep them. Most traditional cultures in the world are overflowing with proverbs around the importance of keeping your word and doing what you say you will do. It’s certainly true for my own Scottish and Celtic ancestry. “If I break
The other day, I was wondering about why there was such an appeal to marketing courses that taught secrets of unconscious persuasion, stealth tactics, invisible influence, secret closes, ninja strategies etc. The implication of all of these approaches was that no one would notice what you were doing. No one would notice that you were
Marketing Feels Bad Because We’re Ashamed Not Because It’s Shameful Read More
Gifts and tools are different things. Gifts are those things that come to you naturally. Those capacities, inclination, tendencies and abilities you were born with. These are the things you do that feel effortless for you where you lose track of time. We are, in some mysterious way, born with these. They are woven into
I caught a cab the other day. Actually a TappCar (Edmonton’s response to the terrible taxi cab industry and Uber). They have priced themselves in between the two. I could give you ten reasons why I love them. But there are always issues. I was heading to visit my grandmother in the hospital. “I want