Thought Leadership

Are chief marketing officers tuned into what really makes them effective?

1. Your prospects need you. Do you imagine that by promoting yourself, you are intruding on or interrupting your prospect? Are you thinking, "They won't want what I have," or "They've probably already got someone." Well, as Stock Photography Guru, Rohn Engh, likes to say, "At this very moment, your prospects are waiting for you." Whether it's true about a specific prospect is irrelevant; if you approach each prospect with that frame of mind, you'll make a better presentation.

Here are a few tips to build terrible marketing strategies. 1. Build the Strategy from the Top Down Q. In a ham and eggs breakfast, what's the difference between the pig and the chicken? A. The chicken was compliant, but the pig was committed.

Standing out from the crowd in a highly competitive environment is a huge challenge. In today's competitive climate - and with the downturn in the economy continuing - marketing and public relations efforts should take the forefront to demonstrate continued viability of the company.

The dotcom boom and bust has left many businesses wondering whether it is even worth trying something new. Donald Sull offers six disciplines to help innovators manage risk:  The Roaring Nineties were boom times for entrepreneurs. The venture capital flowed,the hype was loud and everyone wanted to get in on the act.  

Airline pilots, risk managers, and entrepreneurs operate in environments that are practically defined by uncertainty. As a result, they’ve developed techniques that make uncertainty more manageable — and less perilous. There are three proven strategies for navigating short- and long-term uncertainty. With a little creativity, you can apply any of them to the decisions you face in these uncertain times.

In industries with dedicated B-to-B sales forces, for example software or capital equipment, sales pipeline measurement is serious business! Management is focused on measuring progress towards revenue targets, particularly when there are quarterly earnings expectations to be met, and sales professionals are focused on hitting their targets to achieve sales commission levels and bonuses. Management and sales stars have learned that sales success results from discipline, focus and measurement throughout the sales process.

If you're responsible for e-mail, direct mail, or other marketing communications materials, you have to face an unpleasant fact. Your readers don't want to hear from you. Every day they are bombarded with marketing messages, which makes them skeptical, doubtful, suspicious, and mistrustful. Quite a combo.

Few would dispute that Google sits at the center of the Internet. As the leader in search, Google is now the Internet’s premier brand and the planet’s most potent free service. Managing that commanding position falls largely to seasoned technology executive Eric Schmidt, who in 2001 was tapped for the CEO post by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

The recent Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco was an upbeat affair showcasing a lot of interesting technology. The initial consumer-focused hype is receding as the next phase of "social business" adoption gathers momentum. In this article, I'd like to share my thoughts about the state of Web 2.0, where it's going, and what it means to a customer-centric business. Web 2.0 is growing up