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From Recovery to Recession: A CEO’s Guide to Thriving Through Economic Shifts
When markets shift—and they always do—the winners are those who don’t wait to react. They move first, and fast. No matter which of the four cycles you’re currently experiencing, one constant remains true: waiting for things to be more favorable is a bad strategy. Additionally, doing nothing is not an option. Companies that anticipate, plan, and act in alignment with their current business phase can maintain resilience, capture opportunities, and outperform competitors who simply “wait it out.”
When to Hire a Fractional CMO, Part 3
Wed, Jul 21, 2021 — Find Your Fit: Five Qualities to Look For Of all the partnerships in our lives, few have the “break-up” potential of the full-time Chief Marketing Officer, and the company they’ve pledged their allegiance to. The most recent stats on the matter bear this out: Last year, the average tenure for a CMO was just 40 months – an 11-year low, according to headhunting firm Spencer Stuart. The survey also noted the lowest-ever median tenure (25.5 months in 2020) – a sign that could point to increasing pressure for quick results for newly-minted CMOs, or, like completing a puzzle, finding that piece that’s the right fit.
When to Hire a Fractional CMO, Part 2
Wed, Jul 14, 2021 — Do I need a CMO, In-House Team, or Agency? For this blog, I am going to start with a very controversial statement: You may not need ANY marketing help. Though it may seem blasphemous for someone like me to make this statement - someone whose career has been built on marketing success - I would be remiss if I didn’t come clean about this fundamental truth.
When to Hire a Fractional CMO
Tue, Jun 22, 2021 — Introduction: Greening Your Garden - How a Fractional CMO Can Accelerate Your Growth In the world of botany, there are only a fortunate few who have the expertise to produce green, healthy, and thriving plant life every time they put a seed in the ground. For the rest of us – well – we generally need MiracleGro or some other catalyst to make the garden grow. As a CEO, you, too, are invariably looking for your own version of MiracleGro – that evasive ingredient you need to help catalyze growth and turn your brown landscape a verdant shade of green. The good news? A confluence of trends, including the rise of the “gig economy” and the COVID-19 pandemic, have supported the notion of the fractional Chief Marketing Officer – essentially, a gardener supreme who brings the plant food, seeds, and water in a bid to help you sow success.
B2G: Three Reasons Why Marketing to Government Can be a Win-Win Proposition
Wed, Jun 16, 2021 — The days of the $1,300 toilet seat and the $800 screwdriver are long over. Today, government procurement is an intricate process that ensures government agencies have the tools, resources, products, and services they need to serve their constituents, and that providers are offering the best combination of price and quality.
Marketing with Impact: Four Goldmine Strategies
Fri, May 21, 2021 — Of all the ways to make money, panning for gold is probably among the most difficult. But what if I were to give you all the panning equipment and a map indicating exactly where the gilded stash is buried? A little easier now, right? Today, I’m here to deliver the precious metals – a goldmine of marketing strategies that, if followed, may not result in gilded nuggets, but instead more customers, more revenue, and a golden future.
US Markets are Recovering – Are you ready?
Tue, May 11, 2021 — Source: ITR Economic Trends Report, March 2021 According to the latest trend forecast from ITR Economics, the US economy is demonstrating its resilience, markets are recovering and, even though supply disruption and many hiccups will likely continue, companies in most industries can now become more focused on growing vs simply surviving. CEOs have a range of choices depending on industry growth rate, cash flow and ability to ramp up the commercial engine:
The Entrepreneur’s Growth Playbook
Thu, Apr 22, 2021 — Blog 1: Are You a Pioneer or a Settler? Six Steps to a Better Business Model Written by: Paul Sparrow, Area Managing Partner & CMO, Chief Outsiders with Samuel Kniseley Ballesteros of The Advantage Solution and a Professional EOS Implementer Take a trip with us, if you will, back to Northern California in 1849. Word has spread across the land – there’s gold in them there hills, and we need to go find it. On just this pronouncement, and with not much more than hope and a promise, pioneers set forth to go find the gold – and with it, riches beyond their wildest imagination. You know the rest of the story – some of these folks went boom, most went bust, and the California Gold Rush became a literal flash in the pan.
Beyond the Mirage: How to Ensure Your 2020 Gains are Real and Lasting
Fri, Mar 19, 2021 — Blog 1: Reality Testing Your Sales Growth By Paul Sparrow and Adriana Lynch We are well into 2021 – for many businesses, optimism has been renewed, plans have been made, and in a review of 2020, things weren’t quite as “off” as expected. A recent proprietary study of small business (SMB) CEOs seem to confirm this prognosis: 45 percent of respondents indicated that their business has grown in the past 24 months, and 27 percent have seen flat results over that time – meaning, by our math, that more than two-thirds of businesses have the impression they’ve dodged the proverbial COVID bullet.
Successful Strategy for Entering International Markets
Mon, Dec 7, 2020 — "The life of a typical entrant is nasty, brutish, and short.” - Paul Geroski, London Business School There’s nothing that quickens the pulse of a growing enterprise-level business than expanding its footprint beyond its native borders. “Taking a company international,” as it is often less formally referred to, is no small task. What works well at home might be less than perfect abroad. It is also difficult to manage from a distance, so successfully going international takes some planning. CEOs need to keep target markets, objectives, entry mode, organization and execution in mind. It’s little wonder that many companies toil mightily to realize a decent return from a global shift. According to a Harvard Business Review study of 20,000 companies in 30 countries, it can take almost a decade to realize a positive rate of return on an international investment.