You’ve no doubt heard the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.”
It’s a common malady in the business world, and particularly evident these days during tough times. Companies know that the results they’re getting aren’t what they’d like to see and are not likely sustainable, yet they don’t quite know what to do about it. So they keep doing what they’ve always done in tough times – they Continue reading “Stop the Insanity! Are You Continuing to Make These Same Mistakes Over and Over and Over and…?”
Identifying the key benefits that answer the question of WIIFM (“What’s in it for me?”) for your customers and prospects, the first step in writing compelling copy. The second is positioning what you have to offer relative to what your competition has to offer.
Over the years I’ve noticed a dangerous tendency—among myself and others—to assume that we “know” our customers, or target customers. Because we think or believe something, we assume that—of course!—others think or believe as we do. They don’t.
Years ago I was fortunate to be able to work with one of the true gurus in the field of direct marketing copywriting—
A recent LinkedIn question resonated with me—”Why don’t people like to talk about pricing UPFRONT?” Why indeed?
Elevator pitches have been a mainstay of business networking for decades. Initially named because they were likely to be delivered while riding in an elevator, requiring a short, pitchy and impactful statement for that brief span of time, today’s elevator pitches are just, if not more, likely to be delivered via Zoom.
We’ve been managing our own, and client, LinkedIn profiles and company pages for several years now. I’ve always been a big LinkedIn fan and I’ve seen interest in using LinkedIn for business development grow significantly during the pandemic as opportunities to connect in person with clients and prospects has diminished, or disappeared in some cases. As we work with clients who are new to LinkedIn we tend to see a lot of the same issues that are hindering their ability to use this powerful business-to-business (B2B) social media channel most effectively. After working with a couple of new clients to help them develop and fine-tune their strategy, I thought I’d share some of the most common missteps I see and offer some advice for others who don’t feel they’re getting enough traction on LinkedIn (or other social channels—the same best practices apply there as well). 
So you want to be an expert? Seems like just about everybody does these days, and social media makes it relatively easy, and very inexpensive, to take steps to gain expert status, or thought leadership. We work with a wide range of clients, primarily in business-to-business (B2B) related industries, many who are business consultants wishing to establish themselves as thought leaders in various industries. Here are “3 Steps for Gaining Traction as a Thought Leader”: