What’s Wrong with Business Plans?

Lots of things. Mostly they put too much emphasis on the outcome and not enough on the process. I’m not a big fan. Yes, I know you need them if you’re going to ask for money. And yes planning is a good idea. But planning is a verb not a noun. You should engage […]

Increased Wine Sales 1,200% (Twelve fold) in 2 years by Blogging

My natural inclination is to believe the facts but disbelieve the story. That is, I usually think there are explanations (perhaps luck, perhaps existing trends) that people don’t give enough credit to. Instead they tend to assume that everything good that happened was caused by something that they did.
Even with that caveat, Hugh MacLeod’s explanation […]

Great Posts on Marketing

Seth Godin has Top 10 Secrets of The Marketing Process. Great stuff!!
I have just two nits to pick. The first is #1 Don’t run out of money.
Yes but … especially for start ups, spend each marketing dollar like it’s your last. There are times when not having enough money makes you watch each dollar so […]

Marketing, Sales & Dating

I was asked by the owner of a Micro-ISV (that a very small independent software vendor) how exactly should he spend his time marketing and selling. He knew he should devote more time to it, but he didn’t know what specifically to do.
[UPDATE:  The question came from Neville Franks, who produces Surfulator a great program […]

Don’t Confuse Marketing Models with Business Models

“The former helps you get visibility for your product, the latter defines how you will actually make money. ” So says  Dharmesh Shah of  OnStartups.com
His post is about the software business and his main point is a the bottom. But I think it applies to may other companies as well.  Not knowing your business model […]

Cheap Trade Show Booth

A trade show display has to do one thing in about half a second:
Allow passers by to decide if they should stop at your booth. That’s it.
To do that, it should be visually striking, and informative. The information should be in bold, short, jargon-free words. As someone is walking by, without slowing down, they should […]

Using Email to Sell

Getting to “NO” is better than nothing.
Sure getting to YES is the best (if it’s a genuine yes) but the worst is a NO that people won’t tell you. Instead they string you along - ask for more info, tell you they need to check with their boss, or just don’t take your calls. If […]

Marketing is like Makeup

When I was in college in the early ’70s it was common for women not to shave their legs or wear make-up. We guys professed a liking for the “natural woman”. One day I noticed that my girlfriend looked remarkably striking. As I starred, I realized she’d put a touch of color to her eyes […]