nnovative, Indispensible, Inspirational. These are the three I’s of an effective Value Proposition. If you want to make your brand work, you’ve got to cater to your target consumers’ needs. We’re not just talking about basic needs here. A product or service can also satisfy emotional and perhaps even spiritual needs. It all depends on how you position your offering.
Whenever I look for a particular product or service, the company’s website has a lot to do with whether I engage with a vendor or not. I don’t disregard product or service quality, of course, but the power of the website is great: It can draw you in or turn you off. We all know [...]
No brand is immune to competition. Even market leaders can have their nemeses, and direct competitors keep a company from having the entire pie for itself. In many cases, competition can actually be mutually beneficial, as it keeps the competing parties from becoming too complacent. In always trying to outdo each other, the companies will push themselves to improve their brands and the products or services they carry. It is a welcome cycle that not many businesses want to admit.
Selling meant singing nothing but praises, and getting customers to buy was the only end point for marketing efforts. And then… it changed. Over the years, sales and marketing have become quite sophisticated due in part to evolving consumer behaviors and expectations. Today’s customers are not as so easily wowed by “smoke and mirrors”. It is not enough that marketers say their product is the best. Even ‘New!’ doesn’t work as well any more. We live in an over-saturated — over-messaged – marketplace.
Women are the primary decision-makers in most American households. According to one study, women make up the majority of all consumer purchases — clothes, computers, new homes, vacations, healthcare, food, etc. It was found that although both partners work in a particular household, it’s the women that spend 80% of the combined income!
I am sure that many of you have read “Getting Things Done”, David Allen’s excellent book for managing time in a chaotic and heavily demanding work context. This is where you have so much coming at you all the time and this book will help you to know how to organize it all. One of David Allen’s rules is called the “two minute rule”. The two minute rule means that if something takes two minutes or less then you just do it don’t even put it on your list. This also means that you don’t prioritize it, you just need to knock it out and get it done.
A blog, when used strategically, is not only an effective way to communicate with customers and clients – it’s also a powerful tool that can help directly generate revenue.
The story of David and Goliath is, of course, a classic Biblical story. Some of you might have heard it at Sunday School when you were kids. The headline would read: “Shepherd boy defeats giant, using only slingshot and a few carefully chosen stones!” The story is often told as a metaphor for the victory of the underdog — how a small, usually insignificant entity can overthrow the dominating opposition.