The Confederation of British Industry have released a fascinating news release, speculating that the recession may be the catalyst for a new era in business. “The business environment of the next decade will be significantly different to what might have been expected just two years ago. The financial crisis and the recession that has followed have altered operating conditions by … Read More
Death through attention to detail: the curse of the small business.
You’re probably already familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare. A hare mocks a tortoise and challenges him to a race. The hare is over confident, and keeps resting, sleeping and checking his email. What happens? The tortoise wins the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. It’s a good … Read More
Can anyone help with my itch?
There are three groups of people. People who need what you sell, people who want what you sell, and people who don’t need or want it. For the people who need it, as long as you communicate that your solution scratches their itch, they’ll buy it. The people who merely want it are another story. They require more work, and … Read More
Clarity: -=+
We’re all busy and we’re all overloaded. So get to the point. What can you do for me? What solution do you sell? I know what my company sells. We sell money at a lower price. You pay me $1,000 and I generate $1,500 in sales. I sell expertise that generates cash. I sell sales. What do you have for … Read More
The only four letter word that improves sales
I can’t think of a single product or service that isn’t improved by easy. Easy doesn’t mean simple, doesn’t mean basic and doesn’t mean less. It means that whatever you want to achieve can be accomplished with minimal effort. Easy doesn’t threaten quality, power, efficiency, functionality or speed. It’s one of the most effective four letter words that you can … Read More
Play before you Pay – Blackberry’s missed opportunity
When Marcus Tettmar (creator of the astonishing Macro Scheduler) showed me his BlackBerry a few years ago, it took me about 48 hours until I had my own. I won’t ramble and drool here; suffice to say that I know of no-one who has downgraded from a BlackBerry to an iPhone… As a (then) new BlackBerry user, I was a … Read More
M is for Mac, Marketing and Madness
At this year’s Software Industry Conference in Boston, USA, I gave a presentation on The A to Z of Online Marketing. Letter M dealt with the Mac. Chances are that you don’t have or use a Mac, and aside from seeing them in a store, you probably only know one or two people who have one. I’m guessing they’ve already … Read More
Make your website work for you – CNN vs. BBC
The new CNN website is scheduled to go live next Monday, and a TechCrunch article gives us some details and screenshots of what’s to come. The New CNN.com (First Screenshots) I don’t really visit CNN for news, but have always found the similarities (and differences) between their main navigation and that of the BBC News website oddly interesting. CNN’s is … Read More
Pricing gestures that go a long way – one step further than delighted with Amazon
Amazon finally made the Kindle available to the rest of the world a few days ago. Obviously I’d pre-ordered it weeks ago, and am now the delighted owner of a truly remarkable device. When I ordered it, there were three options available: Kindle US, Kindle International and Kindle DX (larger). As of today, Amazon appeared to have merged the US … Read More
Google vs. Yahoo – the pyramid of realism
Google recently announced a year-on-year 7% increase in revenue, with profits up $25 million. Not bad for a recession. Yahoo, meanwhile, just announced (or tried not to) a 12% decline in quarterly revenue, with a 19% decline in search-ad revenue year-on-year. Paid search appears to have three contenders, in theory. Yet the charts speak for themselves: Google: Microsoft: Yahoo: At … Read More
