“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
Unknown
Is your company creating enough value for your customers?
I don’t mean that in a chiding way—just as a thought-provoking question for business strategy.
Wed, Jun 10, 2020 — Like the eye of a hurricane, businesses raked by the leading edge of the COVID-19 pandemic are now taking a cautious look outside. Though the winds have subsided, and it’s tempting to think that the worst is over, the eye simply gives us a chance to prepare for what’s left to come. If you have withstood the worst of the impacts of the pandemic so far, you likely have accepted that the storm was coming, and had battened down your hatches (or at least applied for PPP funding to keep vestiges of your business afloat). Now, though, as we can start to imagine a future in which a return to a “new normal” is evident, it’s critical to have your plan in place when the rebound hits.
Wed, Jun 10, 2020 — There was a time, generations ago, when buyers didn’t venture too far from their home to satisfy their basic needs. Today, most consumers don’t think twice about using a few keystrokes to get the necessities shipped from some distant warehouse to their front door. Despite this phase shift, “buying local” remains a relevant concept, and even source of pride for communities that rally around the bricks-and-mortar businesses that still dot the landscape.
Fri, Apr 24, 2020 — Blog 1: Avoiding the Ad-Budget Ax In these uncertain times amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there are likely two distinct pathways for businesses to follow—adapt or perish. Because none of you reading this would ever consider just laying down your arms and not fighting for survival, I thought I’d share a couple of quotes from noteworthy types who chose the latter mindset, choosing to both adapt, and thrive, rather than just survive.
Thu, Mar 26, 2020 — Those of you in the restaurant chain or franchise business may enjoy the details of this successful restaurant promotion executed by Doug Reifschneider. Doug was Vice President of Marketing at Pita Pit at the time, but recently joined Chief Outsiders as a fractional CMO. The promotion involved six Pita Pit restaurants located in Northern Idaho and the Spokane area who agreed to pool funds to test a cooperative advertising program. The test included a guerrilla radio advertising tactic, print, social and email support with offers to encourage trade-up and increase party size.
Fri, May 12, 2017 — As a CEO, you want results. To support your lofty goals, you’ve run a good strategy session; and you have a solid plan of attack. But, do you really understand the journey from your strategic plan to your desired outcome? Are you ready to use the single best tool you’ll ever have, the little understood key performance indicator, or KPI?
Tue, May 9, 2017 — Like it or not, two big changes are coming to search that will impact the ranking of every web site – voice search and Google mobile-first indexing. One is fueled by the way we search and the other is what Google will search in the near future.
Tue, Mar 14, 2017 — Hiring, outsourcing and leadership considerations In my previous post, we explored the question, “What should my marketing organizational roadmap look like?” In this installment, I’d like to discuss three additional questions that often surface as CEOs build their marketing organizations.
Tue, Mar 7, 2017 — A marketing organizational roadmap for B2B venture CEOs After slogging through the early startup phase and acquiring the first handful of customers through relationships, sheer selling tenacity and perseverance, many founding CEOs at B2B ventures ask me: “To scale my company, I know I need a marketing team. But I don’t know where to start and what path to follow. Can you help?”
Wed, Sep 7, 2016 — A jargon-free discussion Did you know that, mathematically, if you improve revenue by 2% per month, you will more than double your business in 3 years? The value of a strategic plan then, is to create the “how to” strategies, initiatives and resourcing to get there. Whoa…so how do you get this done?