How to conduct a competitive analysis

Since we’re all working from home more these days, it’s a perfect time to work ON your business. With the perspective gained from being outside your office walls, spend some time looking objectively at your marketing communications. This process, known as a marketing communications audit, covers all your internal, external, traditional and digital communications and puts it in perspective of your market position, your market audiences and your business goals. (more…)

How to conduct a competitive analysis2020-08-27T17:14:26+00:00

The rule for a better pitch

How briefly can you tell your company story? Can you boil what you do, who you do it for, and why, into a pitch that is interesting and relevant to the listener?

In a pitching workshop I teach for the Pappajohn Venture School, I teach start-ups how to turn their value proposition and a snapshot of the company’s operational status into an exciting story they can tell in six minutes or less. (more…)

The rule for a better pitch2020-04-02T18:04:11+00:00

Twelve Tips for Video and Podcasting

There was a time when it seemed everyone needed a blog. Then they were all jumping on YouTube with video podcasts. The algorithms have changed, and neither are the in-bound content silver bullets they once were, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a good fit for you. If you’re trying to establish yourself as a subject-matter expert, build a closer connection to your target audience, or just love to teach, ’casting may be right for you.

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Twelve Tips for Video and Podcasting2020-03-03T17:29:29+00:00

How to run a business — or what I learned from a bull rider.

I travel a fair amount for business. Once, on a connecting flight from LA to PHX I sat behind a young man who had just finished a week at a bull riding school. Tall and rail-thin, he stood out in the crowd of business travelers with his crisp white t-shirt and black hat. With a thick southern drawl, I listened as he started to tell his seatmate about bull riding and his aspiration to make it big.

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How to run a business — or what I learned from a bull rider.2020-03-03T17:29:53+00:00

The S&P 500 is a Brand Killer

With very few exceptions, I don’t work for publicly traded companies. Or companies held by venture capital firms. Or companies built to flip.

That means most large corporations, including the Fortune 500 and most high-tech darlings, are off my radar.

Why would I do that? Those companies have the largest budgets. They often have high aesthetic, and they understand the need for effective marketing and communications.

Because with very few exceptions, nearly all of them are slowly killing their brands and nothing marketers can do will change that.

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The S&P 500 is a Brand Killer2020-03-03T17:31:42+00:00

Four ways to keep your email subscribers happy

An email inbox is a private space. In my personal inbox right now, I have a conversation with a friend about weekend plans, an Amazon shipping notification for my daughter’s birthday present, a communication with my accountant, and a weekly update from my favorite blog. These are all valuable communications to me, and some contain sensitive details like credit card information.

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Four ways to keep your email subscribers happy2020-03-03T17:31:48+00:00
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