One “secret” of business success is doing what’s best for your customers, even if it’s not immediately (or ever) in the best interest of your company. Nokia has announced an initiative that will benefit users of their mobile phones — and even green up the planet a bit. The cell phone maker will soon roll […]
Category Archives: communication
Four mistakes to avoid in your next case study
Many marketing and sales experts believe the case study is the most effective tool in B2B selling. One client tells me the case histories I research and write for them (one per quarter) are by far their sales and business development teams’ most effective sales tools, both here and abroad. And why not? After all, […]
How to get your e-mail opened
The biggest challenge for e-mail newsletters isn’t getting people to sign up. It’s getting them to open the darn thing when you send it. What can you put in the “Subject” line to get subscribers’ attention and motivate them to open and read it? Dilemma: If it’s too “salesy” it’s a turn-off. If it’s boring, […]
Why your customers aren't paying attention
Let me guess. You’re probably doing a couple of other things while you’re reading this, right? Uh, hello? Are you listening? Marketing’s first and biggest challenge is getting the attention of potential customers. These days that job is harder than ever, because people are paying less attention than ever. They’re doing other things– consuming other […]
Does your writing need an editor?
Everyone know what a writer does. But what is editing? What does an editor actually do for (or to) your book, article, newsletter? Who needs an editor? Everyone who writes needs their worked edited — even famous journalists and novelists, says Dan Santow, a former magazine editor and now Edelman PR type. In his new […]
The secret of spreading "sticky" ideas
When you have an important idea, how do you communicate it in a way that has impact, a way that “sticks?” Guy Kawasaki recently interviewed Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The book reveals the six principles that characterize sticky ideas. They’re almost always some […]
Business books attract clients: example #2
Yesterday I wrote about the many benefits of writing a business book: credibility, visibility, even a tiny taste of celebrity. A recent article in Manage Smarter agrees. It mentions, among others, a mortgage broker whose self-published book has attracted a steady stream of customers — and millions of dollars in revenues. Also mentioned is presentation […]