Today has been a bit of a bummer. Things are getting really hectic after the summer holidays, my to-do list is about a mile long, I am blogging way too late and sending the blog out, well, God knows when!
What now? [Read more…]
Marketing Consultation and Planning on the Digital Spectrum
Today has been a bit of a bummer. Things are getting really hectic after the summer holidays, my to-do list is about a mile long, I am blogging way too late and sending the blog out, well, God knows when!
What now? [Read more…]
I have a little boy. Like many boys, he is a guys-guy and loves each and every superhero he can find. Sometimes I worry that he will become like the characters in Big Bang Theory – which I can live with as long has he is like Leonard and not the others lol! Anyway, I know more about superheroes than a woman my age normally would, although I don’t know all that much. The other day, however, I realised something: Superheroes are awesome at branding! Sure, they get help from the marketing geniuses behind the scenes, but still – awesome!
Here are 7 things that superheroes totally get right when it comes to branding! [Read more…]
One hour. 60 minutes. 3600 seconds. That’s one session at the gym. That is one TV show (with loads of ads). That’s one massage session – and not nearly enough! You can’t really do that much in an hour. Do you sell your time? Whether as a consultant, trainer, masseuse, teacher or whatever. Does it all work out? Do you buy an hour from someone? How much do you get out of that hour?
What do you mean you don’t get it? Really?! There are actually a lot of people out there who think a lot of other people get it and can’t understand why there are not lots of people lining up to buy from them! :)
A few local IT companies have approached me about their marketing. These are smaller players in the market, offer various IT services and often also sell hardware. Most of these don’t sell a lot to IT specialists. Their main customers are individuals and small and medium sized businesses who don’t have an IT person, or if they have one, they are general IT managers who have a good overview of things, rather than specialists in anything.
The thing about these IT companies is that they are all pretty much the same – well, at least the ones I have checked out. They don’t set themselves apart in any way, and none of them talk like humans about what they can do for their customers. They all seem to get lost in techie jargon. Because they are all the same, and because they all speak tech jibberish, people don’t really care where they buy things. They will buy based on price and the whole market therefore competes on prices – and if people buy because of good service, it is more often than not because they were lucky enough to be serviced by Steve or Johnny or someone who is naturally good at customer service, rather than it being because of the company’s focus on customer service.
There are huge opportunities for differentiation in this market. Speaking [Read more…]
Most of us don’t decide to live an empty life. Most of us do not want to do work that we are not interested in. Most of us don’t decide to go into business just because… Heck, those that have tried it know that you don’t go into business just for fun – it is a lot of work, unpaid for a long time and feels a bit like being back at university – you never really have any time off because you could always be doing something (and always feel like you should be doing something). You don’t go into business unless there is a fire in your belly. Unless it is what you really want to do. It’s a bit like acting. After three years at drama school and a few years in the “biz” I realised I simply did not want to be an actor – and believe me, that is not a business you’re in unless it is the only thing you can imagine doing!
I remember meeting with young and talented designers with a very exciting project. We discussed [Read more…]