Collaboration: “The action of working with someone to produce or create something.” When Collaboration Works Collaboration can produce astonishing results! At Pixar, everyone gathers in a room to see the dailies and picks the last day’s or week’s work apart scene by scene, pixel by pixel. Judging from their numbers at the box office and
Formula for Innovation
While the word innovation might be a bit overused these days, the concept is sound. The Latin root of the word is “innovo,” which means to alter, renew or restore. In business, to renew represents opportunity and to alter symbolizes transformation. Yet change doesn’t always mean a better outcome. That’s why a more useful meaning
The Value of a LinkedIn Company Page
According to the Small Business Administration, in 2011 there were 28.2 million small business in the United States, representing 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms (a small business is commonly defined as employing less than 500 employees). Yet, there are only 4 million LinkedIn Company Pages. This means that approximately 85 percent of businesses do not
How Do Consumers Define Exceptional Customer Service?
Exceptional customer service is a competitive differential. Every business seeks to provide it, but somehow, not all deliver. To be notable, customer service has to bypass good and edge closer to superlative. Why? Because customers fire companies every day because of unacceptable employee attitudes and actions. How does the word superlative translate to action? Let’s
The Real Truth about Advertising and Articles
Pick up any magazine, and browse through the ads. What do you see? Catchy slogans, free-trial or limited-time offers and wild claims. In other words, companies make use of that medium to actively promote their products or services and try to persuade readers to buy them. But sometimes this backfires. At best, readers might overlook
Animate Your Marketing with Videos
Are you looking for a way to spice up your marketing? Try adding videos. Think about it. Which would you rather do? Spend 10-20 minutes reading a corporate brochure or 2-3 minutes watching an engaging video? The answer is clear. In fact, a Forbes Insights/Google survey discovered that if both text and video are available
Why Ebooks Are a Crucial Marketing Plan Component
Do you want to write a book, but don’t have the time to wait on the lengthy publishing format? Then consider writing an ebook. Ebooks have many advantages over traditional books. Here are just a few. Advantages of Ebooks They are quick and affordable to produce. Got a lot to say? Ebooks can be any
Are White Papers a Part of Your Marketing Strategy?
Do you produce white papers? If not, it’s time to start. The Content Marketing Institute conducts a yearly content marketing survey with B2B marketers. This year’s B2B Content Marketing 2015: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America survey found that 68 percent of B2B content marketers use white papers, up from the 64 percent reported
3 Proven Strategies to Develop Business Acumen
Business acumen is one of those terms that, if you ask five people what it is, you’ll get five different answers. Merriam-Webster defines acumen as “the ability to think clearly and make good decisions.” In practice, it means knowing how the company operates and using that knowledge to improve performance. For example, business acumen helps
4 Tips to Improve the Sales Cycle
Is there a magic formula for shortening the sales cycle? Unfortunately, the answer is no. But there are some tried-and-true techniques that can help improve the time it takes to close a sale. After finding qualified prospects, use these to help prospects discover how your products or services assist them solve problems or become more
Eliminating the Guesswork in Qualifying Prospects
In order to manage the sales cycle, it’s important to know who the best prospects are for a company’s products or services. Calling on the wrong company or the wrong person at a qualified company squanders time and delays closing the sale. That’s why defining the right target markets and creating customer profiles are important
Time to Update the Marketing Playbook for Millennials
With 75 million consumers in the group, Millennials are the second largest generation in the United States today…but not for long. This year Millennials will surpass the Baby Boomers to become the largest generation. Since numbers alone don’t create sales, it’s important to know how this group thinks and behaves in order to tap into
5 Listening Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Business
It’s no secret that people would rather talk than listen. By using the key words “Listening skills for business” in a recent online search, we discovered there were 14,200,000 responses. On the other hand, when searching under “Speaking skills for business,” there were only 34,700,000 entries. That’s almost a 2:1 ratio. Do you ever wonder
Warning! Do You Have a Computer Backup System?
We all know we are supposed to perform computer backups regularly. Just ask any company that experienced a computer failure, or ask any backup company, and you will hear the horrors of data loss. The statistics vary depending on the number and type of companies surveyed, but the issue is the same: regardless of the
Do You Suffer From the Impostor Syndrome?
The Impostor Syndrome was first acknowledged in the 1970s. People who have it do not accept their own accomplishments, dismiss them as luck or timing and believe they are deceiving the outside world. It is found more often in high-achievers than in the general population. While the Impostor Syndrome was thought to be more prevalent
Want to Grow Your Business? Don’t Forget Pinterest!
It’s very easy to think that women and Millennials use Pinterest to waste time. But according to Forbes Magazine, Pinterest may present a very significant growth potential for business. The statistics show that over 70% of the U.S. Pinterest users are women, which is great if your target market is composed of mostly women—especially since
Birthday Email Campaigns Deliver Results
According to E Joseph Cossman, entrepreneur and author of How I Made Millions in Mail Order, “The best way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once.” Unlike your spouse, your customers probably wouldn’t notice if you forgot their birthdays. On the other hand, they probably would notice if you remembered their birthdays
Winning Online Customer Service Tips
Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of ecommerce giant Amazon, has described his company’s customer service philosophy as follows: “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little better.” With this mandate, is it
Is it Time to Redesign Your Website?
As technology advances, the expectations of internet users advance with it. According to a Forbes article on top technology trends for 2014–2016, “A great digital experience is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a make-or-break point for your business as we more fully enter the digital age.” Does your site provide a “great digital experience” or
Mobile Marketing: A Buzz Word Worthy of the Buzz
Here is a challenge for you. Find a blog post or research report on future marketing trends that omits the term “mobile devices.” It’s virtually impossible and with good reason. Mobile internet access is a burgeoning trend with no end in sight. Last July, The Wall Street Journal reported “American adults now spend almost a
Referrals: Just Ask
Asking for referrals in the B2C area is a common practice. Asking for referrals by B2B companies is not as common, even though it’s a great way to generate new business. This may be because B2B personnel may not know who or how to ask for referrals. Sources of referrals are everywhere. The most obvious
7 Tips for Creating Engaging Marketing Content
Producing marketing content that connects with your target audience is a balancing act. You want to convince prospects that your company offers the best services or products. Yet, continually pushing overt sales pieces may disengage the audience. The right mix involves generating content that grabs their attention, provides relevant information and persuades them to contact you
Social Media Marketing: Is It Just Noise?
LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest. These are some of the many and most well-known social media platforms available for companies to reach out to prospects and customers. And the people using them is staggering. There are over 300 million LinkedIn members, more than 645 million active registered Twitter users and over 1 billion
The Value of Storytelling
Joseph Stalin is rumored to have once said, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” Chilling and cold-hearted, true; however, it reveals a truth about the ways in which consumers understand the world. People aren’t good at understanding big numbers. That is why Stalin’s supposed quote rings true. One million
