"Man is so constituted that he then only excels other things when he knows himself." – Boethius, Philosopher "Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment." – Lao Tzu The emphasis on knowing your customer gets a lot of attention in marketing. Treated as the holy grail, that understanding enables you to craft better messages, target your Read more...

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." – Harvey Mackay Integrity means different things to different people. The origin of the word in Latin comes from the meaning ‘intact’ as in whole and undivided. Modern meanings expand this to the quality of honesty and moral principles. I Read more...

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" —Dr. Seuss People don’t remember much unless they have a repeated experience of a person, idea, experience, or place. Research about the Forgetting Curve by Ebbinghaus illustrates the rate at which the average person forgets: approximately 40% the first 24 hours; 60% the next; then Read more...

“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” – David Packard Marketing connects people with opportunities to move them forward in the world. Marketing makes solving every-day problems possible—by shaping ideas into viable products, by optimizing innovation into something useable by consumers, by taking a brand-new way of doing something and helping Read more...

"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” – Peter Drucker The quote by Peter Drucker isn’t talking about Read more...

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” Dalai Lama The secret to marketing copy that connects wholeheartedly with your audience? Using exactly the same words in the same way that they talk about their problems and what they need. EXACTLY the same Read more...

“A role model should be like the light at the end of a tunnel, guiding you when you are lost.” —Cristina Imre We are all competing for people’s attention when we are in business. And while I fully believe there is enough for all of us (coming from a mindset of abundance), we are also Read more...

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” —Rollo May If your business grew out of a passion you have to either do something or to create an impact/make a difference in the world —or both—then building a community can be instrumental. Social media started out as a community building set Read more...

"There is no truth. There is only perception." —Gustave Flaubert Pricing by value was the topic in my last essay: Your Price Signals Your Value to Your Market. In a nutshell, your price reflects the value delivered to your customer, rather than the cost of the product or service to you – a completely customer-based Read more...

“Perhaps the reason price is all your customers care about is because you haven’t given them anything else to care about.” —Seth Godin Pricing often seems like a tactical, mundane sort of topic. Prices are usually set according to what already exists in the market: slightly above or slightly below a competitor. Most small businesses Read more...