Last week, I attended Dreamforce 16, the annual conference by Salesforce. I had been told it was one of the most inspirational conferences ever, so despite not being a Salesforce customer, not being in a sales or customer management role, and not really being into software/technology/data, I really wanted to check it out. Thanks to the folks at […]
Differentiation may quite possibly be the top priority in brand development. In today’s competitive business environment, simply being better than other brands no longer creates a sustainable advantage. Your brand must be different. As you scale-up your brand, it is critical to identify and develop your key brand differentiators. […]
This month’s content roundup is geared toward small business owners. I don’t write a lot about small business since, to date, I’ve worked mostly with larger companies, but I just had to write this post because I recently read that 52% of small-business owners don’t have a website (source: Yodle). I could barely believe that […]
Many start-ups get derailed because they don’t get their brand right. To avoid this fate, you need to develop a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB). […]
– the book: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to the Power of Beliefs in Business is the 4th in a series of books, Zingerman’s Guides to Good Leading. If you’re not familiar with Zingerman’s, check out their online store (prepare to drool) and their training company, ZingTrain (prepare to be amazed). – the brains: Ari Weinzweig, […]
My blog series on “How to Scale-Up Your Brand” continues today with instructions on how to plot your brand positioning. A clear competitive brand positioning is essential to brand-building because it defines who you are selling to, what your business scope is, and how you create unique value for your customers. In this post, you’ll […]
Apple has removed the word “store” from the names of its retail locations. This suggests Apple may be thinking about itself less as a product company and more as an experience brand. This video analyzes the significance of this change and gives you a look at the retail customer experience at the new Apple Union Square in […]
In the research I did for my latest Harvard Business Review column, The Best Salespeople Do What the Best Brands Do, I came across a lot of terrific sources on how to achieve sales leadership. I was only able to include a few in the piece, so here’s a round-up of some more clarifying insights […]
– the book: The Five Hour Workday: Live Differently, Unlock Productivity, and Find Happiness – the brain: Stephan Aarstol, the CEO and founder of Tower Paddle Boards. You might have seen Stephan on Shark Tank a few years ago. Although his pitch was considered a major screw-up by many (thanks to a computer glitch), he ended […]
Here’s the next post in my blog series on how to scale up your brand. You’ll learn an exercise to identify your core customer target. […]
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