Blogs

Do you value market intelligence, or do you just assume you know your marketplace and customer motivations? Far too often, this King Monkey has seen the gathering of market intelligence relegated to the “nice to have but not necessary” portion of marketing budgets. At a recent brainstorming session with my team to discuss strategies and tactics…

The hills of San Diego and southern California are a bit greener these past few weeks. Recent rains have helped ease some of the drought conditions that have turned roadsides, hillsides, and backyards various shades of dusty brown the past few years. I find all the green energizing, purifying, as though the area is undergoing…

How do you know when a prospective customer is a “real” prospect and not just someone who’s too nice or too embarrassed to say “no” or someone who’s so indecisive he or she will never say “yes”? Think about the time and effort you’d save and the resources you could reallocate, if you could only…

Digital marketing, like traditional marketing, is most effective when you “look before you leap.” In other words, consider goals and objectives, and then focus on necessary tactics, not the other way around. Sounds straightforward, I know, a real no-brainer, but you’d be surprised. Many digital marketers are more about selling tactics—aka “services”—rather than selling what…

If you’re lucky, website visitors will give you 10 to 15 seconds to capture their attention before they move on to a shinier, more engaging web experience. As the marketing/sales leader for your organization, you need to be asking, “What are we doing on our website to capture hearts and minds in those precious few…

When it comes to communications—ANY communications—whether it’s whispering sweet nothings to a potential love interest, or trying to engage potential customers to buy your product or service, if you don’t know WHO you’re talking to, how can you hope to make a successful connection? Far too often I see business development and marketing types launch…

Goals are important. They are what drive us and give direction to our lives. Goals help us lose weight, get fit, finish household chores, climb mountains, buy houses, ask that special someone out on a date, have kids, work harder so we can make more money to buy the things we want, etc. In business,…

Congratulations to the folks at DMOS Collective, whose Kickstarter campaign has gained over 180 backers and is officially “funded.” Good Stuff—and just in time for winter! DMOS is now ready to produce their first batch of kicker tool shovels—which are awesome for building kickers, but are also tough, supremely stow-able driveway shovels that won’t break…

The authentic, genuine YOU that you present to an audience—whether that audience is one person or one hundred—NEVER changes (at least it shouldn’t), but the way you communicate and connect with your audience by necessity must change with the context of the situation. From how you speak to the clothes you wear, you have to “know”…

As any sales and marketing expert knows, one of the keys to success is “knowing your audience.” The same goes with communication, whether it’s person-to-person or if you’re addressing your team or the entire company. Who is you audience? What needs does your audience have in relation to what it is you are trying to…

I read this quote today, “Influence may be the highest level of human skills” (author unknown) and it got me thinking about a blog I wrote two summers ago about “Influencer Marketing.” It seems I must have been channeling my younger self as I contemplated a topic for this week, which probably has something to…