Companies invest huge sums of money to promote their products and services. But all too often, they overlook the most obvious meanings and messages that would connect with their audiences. They end up wasting their investment and losing the opportunity to make a sale. Consider the remarkably instructive example in a national magazine’s back-cover ad … Read more
If your kids were starving, and you had a fishing pole and a couple worms, would you try your luck in some far-off exotic pond, or would you cast into the fishing hole that has always produced a bucket full of big ones? That’s why the most practical, most effective marketing strategy is to focus … Read more
I’ll bump into business owners at networking functions who insist they have no need to advertise or market, because their business will grow completely by “word of mouth.” At that moment, I know their businesses won’t be around for long. Sure, there are those outliers that became hugely successful just by existing. That’s not going … Read more
You’ve just developed an email, an article, or a blog post, and one sentence is particularly important. You want to make sure nobody misses it. So you should put it in ALL CAPS, RIGHT? Wrong. You probably don’t need to boldface it, either. In fact, if its importance is obvious, you probably don’t have to … Read more
Companies often complain that customers and prospects just don’t seem to understand what they offer, or what differentiates them from the competition. They blame those customers and prospects for a lack of knowledge or intelligence — but they should blame that person in the mirror. As someone who earns a living helping companies communicate, I … Read more
Not long ago, I ran across an article by a CEO of what appeared to be an impressive, progressive company. I expected to find a glimpse of useful wisdom, but was stopped in my tracks by the sheer amount of profanity and vulgarity he had woven into his words. The CEO may have had brilliant … Read more
They lurk in the quiet corners of most offices, maintaining a low profile, performing their normal jobs quietly and efficiently. It’s a carefully practiced deception designed to divert attention from their true identities. They are the Grammar Nazis. When asked to review a document, a proposal, a brochure, or a report, they feign reluctance before … Read more
Ask me for a metaphor for the biggest single misconception about advertising and marketing, and I’ll point you toward the average American’s obsession with weight loss and the strategies employed in the pursuit of that goal. Every few months, a new diet appears. Suddenly, all sorts of people are binging on grapefruits, drinking 24 glasses … Read more
Long after the last Burma-Shave sign came down, outdoor billboards continue to provide an excellent opportunity to connect with people on the go. Remembering seven simple realties of outdoor advertising can make your outdoor boards far more effective, so your investment in them provides a higher return. 1. Choose the right place. Location is one … Read more
We’ve all heard it thousands of times: what we need is some out-of-the-box thinking. We could solve this problem if only we could step out of the box. Golly, J.P., that’s a really out-of-the-box idea! It seems that we can accomplish anything if we’re brave enough to step out of that bad, bad box, and … Read more