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The Monkeyz Blog helps brands thrive, learn, and innovate—sharing expert insights from the Barrel O’Monkeyz team to spark growth and fresh ideas.
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Difficult Conversations Don’t Have to Lead to Hurt Feelings
One of the things I’ve learned in my career as a Marketing and Product Development Executive and Entrepreneur is that difficult conversations are often necessary and productive. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the phrase “difficult conversations” the first things that spring to mind are images of people arguing and going away…
Jumpstart Those Creative Juices
Whether you’re a prolific novelist, journalist, musician, poet, or blogger, I’ve got to believe one of the worst feelings in the world for a writer is to have writer’s block—to struggle to find the words when the words have always seemed to be there before. Ditto for content marketers, when the lifeblood of their businesses…
Saying No: It’s Harder than You Think
Do you have a hard time saying no? Lots of people do, including me. It must have something to do with my entrepreneurial spirit or some fear that I’ll miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Or maybe I’ve just got this nurturing soul deep down inside that never wants to let anyone down…
Look Before You Leap (otherwise, how do you know you’re solving the right problem?)
Do you LEAP before you LOOK? Chance are you don’t . . . and chances are you wouldn’t buy a new car or home or invest money without first doing your homework. Why then do many agencies start with “how” a thing is going to be done before first fully understanding what it is you…
Here’s the Problem . . .
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s recent comment, “To put it mildly, the world is a mess,” pretty much sums up the news these days. Seems like every potential hotspot, from the Middle East, to the Ukraine, to western US wildfires, are heating up . . . or worse. This got me to thinking about…
The Business Development Funnel
Are you operating at your full sales potential? Business Development is all about identifying the right target audience for your product or service and building strong relationships to understand and meet client needs. In Business Development parlance, we know this as the “Sales Funnel.” Into your “Sales Funnel” go all your prospects—and through relationship building,…
Rounding Out Your Inner Circle
The life of an entrepreneur or small business owner is often times a lonely island. You’re usually at work long before anyone else arrives and you stay long after others go home—and that’s if you’re fortunate enough to have a team working with you. Many times, entrepreneurs work alone. They are their Accountant, IT specialist,…
Heard Any Good (Brand) Stories Lately?
Success comes from being able to tell the story of your brand and engage audiences in ways that are creative, non-intrusive, and fun. Below is how we tell our brand story at Barrel O’Monkeyz. As our name suggests, we are energetic, nimble, and don’t believe business has to be stuffy to be effective. Our formula…
New Tools, Same Fundamentals
Time and time again I am struck by how new technologies and new ways of communicating tend to make some of us think certain “old ways” of doing things are no longer useful, especially when it comes to marketing. Sure, the rotary phone and telegraph have gone the way of homing pigeons and the pony…
Cold Calling Know How
Do you dread cold calling? Do you wonder if it’s just a waste of time? Don’t toss cold calling out of your marketing tool kit just yet. Even in this day of digital and social media, some traditional techniques never get old. When done right—when done with purpose, authenticity, and targeted at the right audience…
What Makes Your Brand Unique?
What does the story of your brand tell your audience about your products or services . . . about your company? Is your brand nothing more than a logo, a tag line, and a business card, or does your brand connect emotionally with those you serve? (Hint: If it doesn’t, it should.) Your brand represents…
How Are Your Soft Skills?
More news watching this week got me to thinking about “soft skills.” You know what I mean—those “people” skills such as an ability to listen, to communicate, and be friendly, among other things. It seems no matter where I look, whether locally, nationally, or even the world stage, these soft skills are in short supply…
Relationships: Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Long time readers of this blog as well as newbies have probably figured out by now that relationships are important to me, whether we’re talking about business relationships, personal relationships, or something in-between. Relationships are intrinsic to human nature. Even if you choose NOT to have a relationship with someone—you still have a relationship with…
Are you likeable?
Most of us prefer to think that business is all about dollars and cents, profits and loss, but it isn’t. Business is about relationships, and more specifically about nurturing those relationships so that there’s something “in it” for all parties. Profit and loss are just byproducts of that relationship . . . and likeability is…
It Pays To Get Noticed
It seems like there are lots of folks out there who will pretty much do anything to get noticed. I’m thinking of the Paris Hiltons and the Kardashians of the world (though Paris has been “quiet” as of late), plus all those pseudo-celebrities filling out the casts of the dozens of reality shows dominating our…
Time to Take The Opportunity Blinders Off
Perusing the Web the other day, I found this quote: “…Opportunities! Every life is full of them. Every newspaper article is an opportunity. Every client is an opportunity. Every sermon is an opportunity. Every business transaction.” Now that’s music to my ears! The quote comes from Orison Swett Marden. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Born…
