Posts Tagged ‘branding’
3 key business skills, part 2: Marketing
It is also essential to let the world know about your business. Your marketing should do more than just announce your presence. It should “attract” customers. It’s about finding your market and being there, building strong and long-lasting relationships. Take your marketing in 3 stages. They need to know they need you Start by making…
Read MoreThe 4 stages of a new hire (but only use 3)
Congratulations: you hired someone new! And of course, they are the right person. Probably. Almost definitely. But, still, we need to have a conversation. New hire journey First of all: of course you do. It will take everyone time to learn the job, the business, the culture, and even what to do when the coffee…
Read MoreThe 5 best ways to alienate your clients
Learn from your mistakes, examine your failures, and begin with your blunders. We all know the importance of doing things incorrectly, as a way to learn to do them correctly. Thomas Edison is credited with saying: “I didn’t fail. I just found 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb”. Let’s embrace the value of finding…
Read MoreThree things you don’t do, but keep talking about
There are good ways to talk about your business, and there are bad ways to talk about your business. The good ways make people understand what you do and want to work with you. The bad ways leave people confused, uninformed, or bored. The following are three bad ways to talk about your business: while…
Read MoreWhy you should stop trying to be better
It’s a little bit like trying to be perfect. Trying to be better does not add value. But wait: doesn’t better mean an improvement? Wouldn’t that automatically add value? Yes and no. Better is comparative to a previous version or an outside influence. Value is, remains, will always be, about the client. Better and best…
Read MoreYes, business person: your work is creative
I am talking to you, the accountant. And you, the attorney. I am talking to you: the realtor, the banker, the writer, and the art hanger. Everybody reading this, all of our work is creative. It is the core idea in my interview on Jessica Matthews’ How I Create Me podcast. Creativity is transformation When…
Read MoreDon’t tell me: show me
Raise your hand if you do not sell a quality service. Hmm, it doesn’t look like anybody is participating. I suppose everybody here does offer a high-quality service. And that’s exactly the problem. If it is true for everybody, then it means nothing to anybody. There is no such thing as quality Because if it…
Read MoreThe formula for happy employees
One of the top three challenges that new employees have is unmet expectations: the job is not what they expected it to be. That means difficult conversations where they are telling you that they expected something different, and what are you going to do about it. Or even worse: they quit. One simple fix will…
Read MoreWhy you should have a website
I received my first garlic crusher in my later 30s. Garlic is a common ingredient in my cooking, but I could never purchase a unitasker gadget like a garlic crusher. Then I received one as a gift, proving that thoughtfulness is not about price, and not only do I crush garlic on the regular, I…
Read MoreFix your marketing: add your brand
Pretend, for a moment, that you are in the business of pens. Now pretend that you are planning your marketing efforts for your pens. And you come up with the message you want to get out there: We sell pens With that message, what makes somebody buy your pens rather than somebody else’s? Price, proximity,…
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