Be front and center of your customers ….. all year!!!

Looking for a creative way to be in front of your customers all year? Create a calendar to give away. Personalize it by including behind-the-scenes photos of your business and facts about your business and/or employees. It’s also a great way to entice customers to return with a special promotion each month. It’s an unexpected … Continue reading →

Originals leave a legacy. Imitators are quickly forgotten.

The second person to install a urinal in a building wasn’t an artist, he was a plumber, following the blue prints. “When Duchamp put a urinal in a gallery, he was an artist. The second guy to do it was a plumber. Be first! “ In more and more markets, the originator of the idea reaps an enormous share … Continue reading →

When the Customer has No Choice…Provide a Positive Experience

I know that I have to fill out this form before I receive health, dental, and vision insurance, and before I see a health professional, and before I see a service professional or purchase a service, but the way you go about designing that form or paperwork and the way you ask me to fill it out will … Continue reading →

The Indispensable Strategy When Sending a Personal Email

Here are some easy how to tips to follow, that will help you avoid being perceived as a spammer, or having your emails in the trash bin or simply ignored. I’m going to let you in on the most important, and most often overlooked aspect of emailing: It’s not about being a greedy, lazy organization that has embraced what I’m … Continue reading →

6 Solid Rules for a Indispensable Billboard

The 6 solid rules of a remarkable billboard (remarkable = cost effective) are as follows: 1. “Next exit” 2. EZ off and on 3. Free parking 4. Major thoroughfare 5. Take action now 6. Credible promise Billboards are useful for building brand trust, but only if you run them for a very long time and … Continue reading →

Tell me again why they have an expiration date?

Worth thinking about that the next time you’re annoyed at a customer. Or when you’re dreaming up a policy designed to punish a few outlier customers while it actually annoys all of them. Tell me again why the gift certificates and cards you sell have an expiration date? Tell me why your pre-paid gift cards … Continue reading →

Word of Mouth is Not New

Word-of-mouth is not new—it’s just different now. I call the different part, “word-of-mouse” and “ideas that spread.” There were always manifestos —gossip or ideas or politics that spread like wildfire on a very windy day, in a very, very positive way, from person to person. Without running an ad or buying a billboard. Past history shows us that Galileo managed to … Continue reading →

4 Ways to Build Your Tribe

Marketing (Advertising) is obviously not dead, but, in the social media world, it has morphed. The new marketing of today is tribe-building . Marketing (Advertising) is no longer about interrupting the marketplace with your media messages. It is about two-way conversation—in other words, engagement. Marketing (Advertising) is no longer about retail distribution and sales (generating transactions). It is … Continue reading →

Five Rules to Create a Remarkable PowerPoint

Presentation software can be a wonderful tool if used correctly. It can also be a dangerous distraction that interferes with communication rather than facilitating it. The line between the two is thin. Here are the five rules you need to create a remarkable PowerPoint presentations: No more than six words on a slide. EVER. No … Continue reading →

Being Indispensable is by Choice

Remember how many times in your life you’ve been given a choice.  You can go to the party OR you can study for your exam.  You can start working now OR you can go to college. Were you really forced to choose only one? No, but what I do believe is that the people, products, and services … Continue reading →