How much will you lose by not having your online sales channel developed and marketed properly? My nephew can build me a website for $2500. Why does yours cost so much? I used to get this question a lot. Now I mostly pre-empt it, so I hear it much less. One has to decide if their goal is to have a website or an online business. A website requires much…
Marissa Levin more than doubled her revenues at Information Experts in the past three years, and she’s the first to tell you she couldn’t have done it alone. Her secret sauce: A great advisory board. About three years ago, the founder and CEO of the 18-year-old strategic communications consultancy turned to a mentor for help in growing Information Experts. “My company was stuck at $5 million,” she says. “I couldn’t…
What is the purpose of your website? This is a multiple choice question: (A) Our website is for current customers and prospects who have previously heard of our business and want to learn more. (B) Our web site should help us reach new customers – ones who have never heard of us but are looking for the product or service we offer. (C) All of the above. (D) None of…
Part 1: Basic Intro and Vocab Lesson Thanks to the web2.0 phenomena, social media marketing has gone from zero to hero in a few short years. A lot of marketing managers and company execs are still standing around wondering what all these social media tools are, how and why they can help, and how to get started. Engaging with consumers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, YouTube and others can help…
We have the good fortune to speak with many manufacturers in the process of developing potential partnerships and often hear prospective partners ask a lot about social marketing and Twitter campaigns. As part of the process of honoring the request we do an analysis of their existing online profit center. Following the analysis, we schedule a time to discuss what next steps need to be taken to prepare for social…
Many companies market their products through traditional sales channels with master distributors, distributors, and dealers all playing a valuable role. Strong distribution channels, or outlets, are a hallmark of a solid company. However, even the most traditional company, heavily reliant on distribution partners, can still greatly benefit from developing a direct-to-consumer sales channel. Here are the Top 5 Benefits of a Direct-to-Consumer Sales Channel: New Product Introductions. Introduce new products…
The daughter of one of our team members recently graduated from FIDM in SF and chose to apply her skills and talents through the development of website designed to help fashion designers with the unpleasant side of creating a fashion business. She built a beautiful site, applying the latest SEO techniques, quality content, consistent updates and all the other steps the daughter of someone in the industry would employ. One…
For a myriad of reasons (economic recovery, increased global competition, or simply tired of sluggish growth), there has been a renewed focus on cranking up the sales side of the business with frequent requests for recommendations on effective sales training and techniques. So, in the spirit that it takes a “village of gurus” to help a company, I have recommended several books and techniques, which when woven together, will give…
Attention all CEO’s, we hear you! You like the idea of your company or brand doing more “social” marketing. You want to see growth in the use of mobile. While Social Marketing and mobile apps and services are tools to be employed by manufacturers selling direct, they are tools to be applied to a well designed, fully optimized, frictionless online profit center. Traffic, even socially generated traffic costs money/time to produce. In…
There are a handful of authors whom I suggest business leaders read everything they write: Jim Collins, Pat Lencioni, Malcolm Gladwell, and Steven Berlin Johnson – the latter likely the lesser known of the group. In fact, it is one of my best-read mentors, Reade Fahs, who first turned me on to Johnson’s work, hammering me for not having read Steven Johnson’s earlier book Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants,…
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