> Don’t let your goals get in the way of your dreams or your personality. My opinion is that growth targets should not define your identity. But we do need some guideposts to keep us focused for the next year. I would suggest choosing some key words to define you, or your business. Not keywords
>Reading to Become a Wise Marketer
> The goal of The Marketing Spot blog, the reason I write all these blog articles, is to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners with the confidence and knowledge they need to be wise marketers. Meaning: your marketing actually gets you more customers, increases awareness of your business, heightens the experience of your customers, sparks
>Conversation Starters: Omnipresence, Attention, and Selling
> The Need to be Everywhere? The three primary social media channels for marketers and professionals are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Most people in my professional network are on all three. Do we really need to be? This week I downloaded and installed the new version of TweetDeck, my preferred tool for managing my Twitter
What’s the Secret of a World-Class Customer Experience? (Podcast)
The Internet show about small business marketing. Podcast Episode #44 – What’s the Secret of a World-Class Customer Experience This episode of the Power to the Small Business podcast features John DiJulius, author of What’s the Secret: To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience? Customer satisfaction is at an all-time low. It’s never been worse according
Innovation: Turning Things Upside Down
I was having lunch with Eric Brown of The Urbane Lab last week, discussing innovation and how to find “the next big thing.” Eric picked up the Heinz Ketchup bottle on the table and said: “look at ketchup, all they did was turn the bottle upside down.” That simple innovation revived the ketchup industry, but
The Best in Branding
Branding Learning Resources These are the best branding articles from the archives of The Marketing Spot Blog. I’ve compiled them here in one neat, tidy location. I hope you find them educational in your quest to learn more about branding. Please feel free to comment on any of the articles. If you have branding questions,
Features & Benefits or Creativity? Neither
The choice in advertising seems to be features and benefits or creativity. Maybe that’s why there’s so much bad advertising. I don’t think either choice is right. So I asked a trick question this morning on Twitter, which is better; features or benefits? I like this response from Brad Dresbach: Brad’s right. So much of
The Sorry State of Customer Service in America
And why that’s good news for you. Since my return from the Global Golf Marketing Conference in Seoul Korea last week, I have been keenly tuned in to the pathetic customer service we deliver in America. I have no scientific data or statistics to back this up. The following is my opinion (or rant), but
>Finding Your (Business) Social Media Strategy
> Welcome to social media. Now what do you do? Yep, you created a Facebook page and now that blank box is staring you right in the face. What should you type? Good question, glad you asked. Define a Purpose Social media marketing is not just about being present, it’s about participating, with a purpose.
>Conferences, Networking, Social Media and BlogWorld
> (Note: I’m in Seoul, Korea this week speaking at the Global Golf Course Marketing Conference on differentiation and the customer experience. I’m keeping my marketing eyes open for unique ways to differentiate and present your brand, then tie that in to a cool customer experience. I’ll post this week before leaving Korea) Last week