Blue Spur - Writing and Marketing that Sells

Disclosure Act: Talk About Writing that Sells

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:48:35 -0400

The creative power of congressional writers never ceases to amaze. They've labeled a bill the Disclosure Act, when in actuality it serves to obscure donations from the biggest contributors to political campaigns. Big players like the NRA, Labor Unions, and AARP get a pass on campaign contribution disclosure while grass roots movements are forced to maintain full transparency.

I can't believe this made it off the floor. Even if the senate and president sign off on it, it's going to be challenged in the supreme court on the grounds that it creates an unfair playing field on the exercise of free speech.

My New Marketing and Sales Blog

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:45:01 -0400

Usually, this space is reserved for a bit of advice or a rant on marketing or some related bit. This entry, however, is more like a press release - that is to say, straight self-promotion concealed as news.

The simple fact is that my corporate site blog is up, along with a much needed revision of the main site. That would actually make a good entry here: when is the right time for a site makeover? The singular answer in this case, though there are many, is when the site no longer resembles your offering.

Sales Maverick

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:13:00 -0400

The sales maverick goes it alone. He doesn't wait for campaigns, barely listens in sales meetings, and immediately knows how to pitch any product on just hearing its name. White papers, market research, and even case studies are useless to him. After all, customers don't read that stuff. He'll pick up a couple of percentage and dollar stats from the headline on a company news release and he's off. He has his own way of grabbing a prospect's attention.

Stop Marketing Now!

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:06:03 -0400

Don't you know there's a recession on - maybe a depression? You have to stop marketing now. Well, most of you at least. If most of you don't cut back, pull in, downsize, reel in spending, and put a lid on marketing, there won't be

Yelling at the Radio

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:41:18 -0400

My children continue to remind me that the commentator on the radio can't hear me. Yet I persist in my rant at bad advice. I just can't stand it when the broadcast guru steps outside the things he knows and

Potato Battery Marketing

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:08:49 -0400

We all know what a potato battery is. You put a copper (penny) and a nickel (nickel) electrode in a potato and produce a small current of electricity. It's a classic experiment that's been bouncing around school science fairs for decades. So if everyone has heard about it, why does it keep showing up?

Generating Business Leads that Matter

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:50:01 -0400

If you don't need any new business leads, stop reading. Or better yet, comment on this post and tell me what business you're in. The truth in business today is that most of us need leads. We network for them, we market for them, heck, sometimes we'll even beg for them. But, the secret about leads is

Sell What You've Got

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:13:54 -0500

Many businesses spend all their time preparing the next best thing thing to sell that they fail to realize the value of selling what's right under their noses. I don't care if it's hard goods, food, software, or even advice, selling what you've already got is far more profitable than dumping time energy and capital into a shiny penny.

What's Being Said to Your Customers

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:40:22 -0500

So much of our time in business is spent crafting the next pitch that we fail to hear what is being said about us. Are your customers happy? Yes? Are they happy because of the benefits you are touting? Most companies don't know. How much farther ahead would your messaging be if you focused it on only

Content: Where Does It Come From?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:36:09 -0500

We keep hearing all the SEO guru's saying that content is king. They tell you to get content out on the web that somehow points back to you. But where to you get all this content? Most companies have a brochure or two with some content. They may have written a press release about a new product or a twist on an old product. But content has to come from somewhere. And it has to be

The Relationship Between Selling and Marketing

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:33:25 -0400

A recent article appeared in the Baltimore Business Journal asking "Are you selling or just marketing?" In the article, Matt Neuberger noted some important aspects that a salesperson should engage in such as becoming "more personalized and should be designed to understand a client or prospect." Selling he noted "involves real buy-in." He then goes on to note marketing tasks that really aren't part of sales, but which many salespeople spend their time doing, such as

What Do You Believe In?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:39:40 -0400

Okay, you have a brand. It's a brand that provides value to customers in the form of quality products. It's a brand you've spend umpteen thousands of dollars advertising and building. And yet consumers want to know something else about your brand.

Your Untapped Viral Marketing Power Tool

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:00:42 -0500

Many companies think of marketing communications as mere advertising, mass, direct, or otherwise. Public relations seems to also be a well-tapped channel among larger companies. Marketing communication, however, reaches way beyond the confines of advertising and public relations. Companies need to look at and engage all the communications avenues open to them, even ones currently buried in the back corner of engineering.

Don't fail to engage the power of great documentation in garning loyalty and feeding viral marketing.

The Dangers of Competition Between Sales and Marketing

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:55:44 -0500

I recently ran into an interesting situation. A business owner learned that his marketing managers had extensive sales experience – always a good thing in a marketing manager. He put his brain to work on this little tidbit and figured that if his marketing people were selling along side his salespeople, he could increase sales without increasing overhead. This guy saw himself as someone who thought outside the box, a real problem solver. Unfortunately, he practiced seagull management, where rather than working in the business, he flew in every couple of weeks, crapped all over everything and flew out. He told his marketing people to spend 50% of their time selling, he gave them a commission structure to motivate them, and threw on a sales quota to cover accountability. (oh yes, it was a sales quota above and beyond what anyone in the company had ever accomplished, based on the 400% increase he hoped would magically take place.)

Relationship & Price

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 13:18:08 -0500

"I lowered the price to get them in the door. I knew that once they saw the value of our service and we could build a relationship, they would be a good repeat customer."

That's an actual quote from a salesperson I worked with. He was forever selling low-margin deals (a.k.a. unprofitable deals) with the big plan of making it up on volume.