Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 12, 2015

In new business development efforts, B2B firms of all types are often challenged by prospective clients with this question: “Do you have any experience working for companies in my industry?”. This is also a way to test the business potential of a new industry vertical without hiring an employee.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Peer-to-peer Thought Leadership B2B 100

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 14, 2014

The most noteworthy article on B2B selling was published in a 1966 Harvard Business Review article (#66213). The B2B marketer’s task is to equip the sales force with methodologies and tools that help initiate and facilitate intrinsic selling. In “How to Buy /Sell Professional Services,” author Warren J.

Case Study 100

Case Study Case Studies Studies B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

OCTOBER 9, 2016

So rather than badgering and shaming the “No Marketing Plan” companies, we should help them focus exclusively on the critical components of marketing that will help them succeed. Many companies either don’t have a clue, or have an unfounded / unrealistic viewpoint on why people should do business with them.

Planning 100

Planning Marketing Plans Work Management Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

The tenacity of Nan Britton and her family helped to prove that America’s 29th president fathered more than the Teapot Dome corruption scandal. Unfortunately, there are no DNA tests to validate marketing as a legitimate member of the CXO family of business functions. Harding, was recently vindicated by new DNA testing.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Enterprise Management Lead Ranking Work Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 22, 2015

In the business world, just about everything you do can influence your success. A few years ago, a former business associate asked if I would set up a “networking interview” for his best friend’s daughter, who was a recent college graduate exploring career opportunities in marketing. The way you dress. The language you use.

Course 100

Course Network Marketing Personalization Positioning 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 5, 2016

Surprisingly, a significant number of professional services firms continue to resist building online brand visibility as a business development strategy. The excuses we hear from them most often include: “We’re in a relationship business.”. Our business is driven exclusively by referrals.”.

Validation 100

Validation Ideal Customer Profiles Thought Leadership Network Marketing 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 31, 2018

This is particularly challenging for professional services firms – legal, accounting, investment advisory, technology, management consulting, recruiting or marketing – where top-of-mind awareness (getting people to remember you) is a critical part of business development. Or ideally, as the only firm under consideration.)

Work Management 100

Work Management Marketing Management Marketing Automation Services CRM 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

Business owners across all industries and professions start companies because they have a specific expertise or interest – whether it involves trading currency futures or replacing car mufflers – and eventually discover that selling their product or service is neither in their wheelhouse, nor something they enjoy doing. Your credibility.

Paid Search Agency 100

Paid Search Agency Advertising Agencies Planning B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 19, 2015

I served as a busboy for two months before I earned a job as a waiter, which helped to pay my bills. More importantly, the experience provided some valuable insights about “making the short list” that continue to have direct application to our B2B marketing business.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership B2B Word of Mouth Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Sales cycle management is particularly challenging for B2B firms, and for professional services firms in particular, where top-of-mind awareness (getting people to remember you) is a critical part of business development.

Sales Cycle 100

Sales Cycle Marketing Management Lead Nurturing Sales Qualified Leads 100

Marketing Craftmanship

DECEMBER 28, 2016

But for small and medium-sized firms, where every marketing dollar is expected to yield tangible business results, award competitions make very little sense. But the easiest tactics, like award recognitions, are not always the most effective or enduring ways to help your business grow.

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Aggregators 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JUNE 23, 2014

In the early 1990s, Highlander Consulting was engaged by Phibro Energy to help introduce energy derivatives to Chief Financial Officers at corporations with substantial exposure to fluctuations in oil, gasoline and jet fuel prices. The CFO as Productivity Manager: “There is a third CFO function, which is managing money for the business.

Allocation 100

Allocation Thought Leadership Work Management Consulting 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 14, 2015

And that’s why Steve Jobs’ advice should be followed by marketers: Start with a specific business outcome you’re seeking, and build your tactical strategy in reverse order. And you’re more likely to make the short list by providing content that’s interesting and helpful to them, and not simply touting your own credentials.

B2B Thought Leadership 100

B2B Thought Leadership Thought Leadership CMO Marketing & Strategy 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

B2B companies – professional service firms in particular – can benefit by creating a culture similar to the Marine Corps; training all employees with basic marketing & sales skills that can help the firm to grow and succeed.

B2B Sales 100

B2B Sales Cross-Selling Work Management B2B Marketing 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

An upfront articulation of the firm’s value proposition serves as the cornerstone of a written marketing plan that should include: tangible business goals, appropriate marketing strategies and tactics, calendarized activity, budgets and accountabilities. No plan = lots of wheel-spinning + no tangible business outcomes.

Transparency 100

Transparency Thought Leadership Planning Enterprise Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Get Quantitative – The nature of PR tactics can make it difficult to demonstrate a direct correlation between that activity and tangible business outcomes. Most senior executives accept that reality, and do not expect PR to be a profit center.

PR 100

PR Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

JANUARY 10, 2015

In a business where an S.E.C. Many funds prefer to restrict market visibility, and even sacrifice potential asset growth, rather than to put the firm’s reputation and entire business in jeopardy by raising its public profile. She warned them, “It’s always the quiet ones that you need to keep your eye on.”

Practices 100

Practices Planning Enterprise Management Transparency 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 19, 2012

LinkedIn has become an important business channel, not only for individuals to showcase their professional credentials, but also for companies seeking to promote their value proposition and to establish or manage brand awareness. These brand implications are less significant on Facebook, which is not generally viewed as a business channel.).

Enterprise Management 100

Enterprise Management Work Management Marketing Management Ideal Customer Profiles 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 6, 2016

Over the course of my business career, I’ve run into several grown-up “Marketing Cry-Babies.” White papers and editorial content are poorly disguised sales pitches, and offer no helpful information or insights. So the firm’s public-facing materials and “thought leadership” are promotional and self-serving. It’s All about ME.”

Marketing Management 100

Marketing Management Paid Search Agency Marketing & Strategy Paper 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 21, 2014

Most Client Newsletters Deliver No Tangible Business Value. Here are three highly subjective myths and realities to help your firm determine whether it’s a worthwhile tool, or how to improve your current newsletter.

Newsletter 100

Newsletter Marketing Mix Word of Mouth B2B Thought Leadership 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 24, 2011

The most noteworthy article on the subject of B2B selling was published in a 1966 Harvard Business Review article (#66213). The B2B marketer’s task is to equip the sales force with methodologies and tools that help initiate and facilitate intrinsic selling. …and How Marketing Can Support Its Effectiveness.

Work Management 100

Work Management Validation B2B Sales Marketing Management 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Were there tangible and realistic business metrics to measure your Blog’s ROI…or did you think pre-nuptuals would kill the relationship? I can’t look at the company’s website anymore, because my Blog is always there, reminding me of our failed relationship. Does my Blog deserve a second chance? Or should I simply move on?

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Thought Leadership Promotion Social Media 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 29, 2013

As a result, effective public relations involves pushing a company’s or client’s agenda (or products and services) without being a pest, and ideally, by being helpful to reporters who are in a position to reciprocate with media coverage. It will remain a business function, nothing more. It’s a dance that both sides understand.

Public Relations 100

Public Relations PR Blast Campaigns Press 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 8, 2016

There’s no short-term marketing panacea to offset what may be a rough road ahead for hedge funds, which is a storm that hedge funds have helped to create. Your fund’s goal is to do business with the people who believe the same things that you believe. Investors need to know what drives you, what inspires you, what excites you.

Allocation 100

Allocation Cross-Selling Marketing Management Validation 100

Marketing Craftmanship

AUGUST 7, 2011

Call In The Cavalry – The odds are, if you’re running a successful business, that you have plenty of satisfied employees and customers. The solution is simple: swallow your pride, and ask for help from your fan base. Solicit at least one positive post every month, and don’t forget to thank those who take the time to help you.

Brand Identity 100

Brand Identity Branding Viral Marketing Opinions 100

Marketing Craftmanship

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

From minor misquote to major hatchet-job, these real and perceived offenses occupy the attention of senior managers and their advisors, whose polite clarifications and outraged denials fill the “Letters to the Editor” section of every business and trade publication. Que Sera, Sera.

Media 100

Media Press Paid Search Agency Mobile Advertising 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 4, 2017

I had long wanted to play the bagpipes, and in a heartbeat decided that bringing home an authentic set of Scottish bagpipes might help to cross that item off my bucket list. I’ve always wanted to learn to play the bagpipes, and was hoping you might be able to help me. So good day.”.

Generation 100

Generation Marketing & Strategy Paper High Quality Lead 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 12, 2011

It’s a single, albeit important step in a multi-step process that BEGINS with defining a very specific business outcome the media placement will help to achieve, if the 3 rd party endorsement is properly merchandised. Business metrics notwithstanding, some CEOs would prefer the cachet of being included in Forbes.

Merchandising 100

Merchandising Verticals Press Marketing Prospects 100

Marketing Craftmanship

MARCH 7, 2016

For disaster to strike, all it takes is a summer college intern, who wants to be helpful by posting or tweeting an item or comment that hasn’t been cleared, or that gets garbled while he’s also texting a friend to meet him for lunch. Until then, marketers need to back off hedge funds with respect to social media.

Social Media 100

Social Media Work Management Marketing Management Media 100

Marketing Craftmanship

APRIL 17, 2011

Rather than studying IRS rulings, is your accountant better served, in terms of business development and retention, by inviting clients and prospects out for a round of golf, dinner and drinks? Two months later, the CEO engaged me again, to help his marketing director make the plan actually work.

Transparency 100

Transparency CPA Cost per Acquisition Ad brokers 100

Marketing Craftmanship

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Brands help customers understand what a company knows, what it stands for, what it will deliver and why they should trust it. The overall impression will be that the company is in trouble or going out of business. Communication with business partners may best be managed through personal phone calls from their company contact.

Brand Identity 100

Brand Identity Branding Urgency Marketing Enterprise Management 100