Reflections of a dinosaur on 2017
Never have JM Keynes's words been more relevant: “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones” He said this in relation to economics, but it seems to me that it is now ubiquitous across everything we do personally and as...
How to make your website really work for you
A friend of mine recently drafted a website for a product he is launching, and asked me to have a look before publishing it. Not a great thing to be doing, as by the time I had finished commenting, he had tuned out. There was just too much bad news. There are millions...
9 strategies for social media marketing success
Social media is the 'shiny new thing' of marketing. Everyone seems to want one, whatever it is, and everyone has a view. There is plenty of advice around on how to do it, I just put the term 'How to manage social media' into Google and got 54.5 million responses in a...
How do you build a truly successful sales foundation
Selling is a tough gig, but it is one that every business has to master or fail. The days of waiting for the next customer to walk through the door and place an order are over. These days you have to be out there hunting for new customers at the same time you are...
Where are your OSZ boundaries?
We are all familiar with the term 'Comfort zone' as in 'that is outside my comfort zone'. When most people speak publicly to a large audience for the first time, it is way outside their comfort zone. That discomfort manifests as fear, they sweat, the knees are...
How to easily solve the strategy jigsaw
Imagine, your task is to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle with one of your kids, but the puzzle is an old one, in a bag, so you do not have a picture of the end result to work to. It is further complicated, as some of the pieces in the body of the picture are also...
How to set a marketing budget that works
Pretty obvious question, particularly at this time of the year when organisations are starting to think about the preparation of the 2017 budget. In many enterprises, the marketing budget is set by the boss and the finance people. They see marketing as a cost, so...
Should we be rethinking our Unique Selling Proposition?
From the dawn of marketing time, the Unique Selling Proposition has been a foundation idea. I wonder if it holds the same attraction now, post the digital reconstruction of marketing, or should we be rethinking our approach. The USP was intended to communicate what...
Requiem for a master poet.
My first year at University, 1970, was marked by many life defining events. Call-up to Vietnam and the resulting awareness of the world around me, an opening of my mind to thinking beyond the surf, sport, beer and meat pies of my youth, meeting Harvard Professor Jim...
The essential 70/20/10 rule for business optimisation.
Most of my time is devoted to improving SME manufacturing businesses. I do it for a living, mine and theirs, and I have an ulterior motive. I want my grandchildren to have a better life than me, and while I have had a great life, the pace of improvement has faltered...