We’re told marketing is hard. That it requires months of analysis, weeks of brainstorming, and years of consistent implementation. To succeed in marketing, you need the fortitude of General Patton, the genius of Don Draper, and the cash reserves of Warren Buffet. WRONG.One week. That’s all it takes for most small and medium-sized businesses to dramatically improve their marketing. And let’s face it, most business owners do very little marketing, and what they do is not particularly effective.Business owners often don’t know how to best market their company, or are too busy working to make time to promote it. What they don’t realize is that effective marketing doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.Mark Satterfield’s The One-Week Marketing Plan lays out a step-by-step system entrepreneurs can put in place in just five business days. This “set it and forget it” strategy works all day, every day to bring in new business. Tailored to each company’s niche market, this innovative plan can generate a consistent stream of customers for an out-of-pocket expense of as little as $300.Satterfield, founder and CEO of Gentle Rain Marketing, Inc., has more than two decades of experience helping clients in more than 75 niche industries grow their businesses without cold calling or hard selling. Now, in The One-Week Marketing Plan, his strategies and wisdom are accessible and realistic for entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and business owners looking to move in a new direction.One week. That’s all it takes. So let’s get started.
It’s not about Likes—it’s about sales.You’re not alone. Almost all businesses are marketing online these days—everyone tweets, posts to social networks, and blogs. What you’re doing now is not enough to make your business stand out.Forget what all the self-proclaimed “social media gurus” are telling you. Being active on social media and being successful in social commerce are not the same things. Simply getting a bunch of followers or Likes doesn’t cut it anymore.In Kick Ass Social Commerce for E-Preneurs, award-winning digital media strategist John Lawson gives you a straight-shooting, no-holds-barred guide to social commerce. In other words, he shows you how to make money online using social media.One of the most-respected and listened-to voices in the worlds of e-commerce and small business, Lawson stands alone because he can actually back up his words. Lawson is a multi-platform PowerSeller, whose internet businesses have rung up millions of dollars in sales.In Kick Ass Social Commerce for E-Preneurs, Lawson and bestselling e-commerce author Debra Schepp take you step-by-step through:Creating a business plan using a simple, effective template, a proven blueprint for all stages of marketing—from start-up to empireEmploying the best social commerce strategy for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the hottest new social media sitesBuilding a thriving e-commerce business and keeping it vibrant and growingWhat are you waiting for? Read this book and start kicking social commerce ass.
Smart brands such as Chipotle, Zazzle, Nike, and Pandora are ditching the outdated 20th century model of a one-size-fits-all approach to providing products and services. From a Netflix movie night to a marriage courtesy of eHarmony, customization is changing every corner of American life and business.The New York Times bestseller Custom Nation is a practical how-to guide by someone who has built his business on the power of customization. YouBar founder Anthony Flynn and business journalist Emily Flynn Vencat explain how marketers, brand managers, and entrepreneurs across all industries can reinvigorate their businesses and increase profits.In Custom Nation, learn:• Why customization is key to today’s businesses and what does and doesn’t work• How to incorporate customization in new and established businesses to make your products stand out and sell• What strategies work for the most successful and profitable custom brandsDrawing on firsthand interviews with the CEOs and founders of dozens of companies specializing in customization, Custom Nation reveals how customization can make any business stand apart and generate market share, increase profit margins, and develop customer loyalty.
Truth is a powerful marketing tool—and really the only way to promote a message and brand effectively.Truth in advertising has long been something to ignore, or at least downplay. The role of advertising has been to position and manipulate brands to convince consumers that they’re imbued with qualities they don’t necessarily possess, or presume to tell them which ones matter. It worked when the brand’s voice was the only voice, but with the rise of social media that era is over.Marketers have focused their messages on entertainment, creating funny or engaging campaigns that win awards but don’t always sell products. Consumers determine what’s true, and smart companies have realized that every communications medium can and will be used to contribute to those conclusions.In Tell the Truth, Jonathan Baskin and Sue Unerman look at the content and context of marketing communications. They provide the research of hundreds of companies and in-depth case studies on more than 50 global brands to show us that truthful brands deliver sales, profits, and sustainable relationships. Truth truly yields true competitive advantage.
In Evangelist Marketing , Alex Goldfayn argues that technology companies succeed in spite of their marketing, not because of it. He says that if consumer tech makers ceased all marketing activity today, they would not see a significant decline in sales.In this book, Alex presents why the current state of overly-technical, features-oriented tech marketing, branding, communications and public relations is costing the industry billions of dollars—easy money that's voluntarily being left on the table.Then he lays out a step-by-step system for creating intensely loyal brand evangelists based on deep consumer insights and simple, emotional language. Evangelist Marketing is written for consumer tech companies big and small—from PC manufacturers to Web-based services. It's also sure to improve the work of their marketing and public relations agencies.
As an entrepreneur, you’re not afraid to bend the rules and think outside the box. You’re not burdened with linear thinking, and thinking differently and trying new approaches enable you to solve problems.As serial entrepreneurs and cofounders of the largest social network for entrepreneurs in the world, EFactor.com, Adrie Reinders and Marion Freijsen know about the challenges facing new entrepreneurs in the current business environment. Their site—with a community of one million-plus and growing rapidly—is a virtual marketplace for entrepreneurs to make business connections, negotiate deals, exchange information, and advertise their products and services.In The E-Factor, Reinders and Freijsen educate entrepreneurs on the pitfalls that take down most entrepreneurs before they get started, such as restricted resources, skills gaps, and financial limitations, and show you how to overcome these obstacles. Discover how best to secure funding for your fledgling startup and how to use new forms of social media work to your advantage. Along the way, read a wide array of case studies of successes and learn lessons from others’ failures, including those from small business owners and burgeoning entrepreneurs, all the way up to multinational corporations, global brand leaders, and the founders themselves.The E-Factor shows you how to gain leverage and evaluate and reassess goals, products, and company structure to meet needs in a competitive environment. Combine the best traditional entrepreneurial thinking with new tools, ideas, and channels now at your disposal.
It is essential that businesses know how to communicate quickly, often preemptively, and effectively to survive—and at a cost that is far lower than comparable marketing and ad campaigns. The first book by the owner of a top 50 PR agency, For Immediate Release , Ronn Torossian reveals how public relations can do just that—while also defining brands; helping companies and individuals court the press or avoid it; growing business without alienating loyal customers; resolving crises quickly; and improving first page results on the most powerful search engine in the world (Google). For Immediate Release will show you how to: Frame the debate and control the conversation Use new and old media in tandem to find your audiences and create highly personal, relevant impressions tailored for them Promote the interests of your brand or business; deter or potentially stop what is not in your interest Build on great press, and avoid or minimize bad press Ensure the first thing people see about your business or brand during an Internet search is exactly what you want them to see Handle a crisis in the most effective and efficient mannerSee the positive difference effective PR makes through compelling case studies—Louis Vuitton, Fubu, BP, Toyota, Philip Stein, Zappos, and interviews with experts including Dr. Keith Ablow, political strategists Frank Luntz, Roger Stone and Hank Sheinkopf, and many others—and your own business.
How did Joe Sweeney……get Bob Costas to come to Milwaukee (in the middle of winter)?…become the “wingman” to the archbishop of New York City?…take Brett Favre’s off-the-field income from $65,000 to more than $4 million?The answer is simple. Networking.Master networker Joe Sweeney shares his networking secrets from a long and successful career as a business owner, sports agent and executive and investment banking consultant. His first secret: master networkers are focused on giving, not getting.With today’s difficult economy and uncertain workplace, networking has never been more important. Sweeney’s simple but effective 5/10/15 networking plan will give you a leg up in the current job market, help you stay employed, or, if you’ve been laid off, find your next job. The cliché that who you know is more important than what you know has never been truer. Sweeney illustrates his insights with dozens of helpful examples from his own life (along with a few fascinating insider sports stories).With special sections on networking for women and minorities, insights into the usefulness (and handicaps) of social networking sites, how to get (and why you need) a wingman and profiles of other master networkers, Networking Is a Contact Sport is a practical and essential guide for anyone who wants to get ahead in today’s economy.
Storytelling is pop culture’s ‘weapon’ of choice to connect, engage and ultimately convince. Every TV ad a compelling movie? Every Facebook post a contagious piece of content? Every infographic a work of art? Yes, please. Tell me where to sign up! Right now, this very minute, a junior copywriter is adding “storyteller” to his Facebook profile. There is a gaming developer doing the same on LinkedIn. A PR agent is casually including “teller of stories” in his Twitter bio. Graphic designers, journalists, editors, broadcasters, coders, model makers, set designers, ginormous brands, ocean explorers, astronauts, schoolteachers, CEOs, marketing directors, creative consultants and trend watchers are peppering their websites, blogs and email signatures with the word “storytelling.” In Storytelling on Steroids, editor and adman John Weich finds out why. Where did all this storytelling come from? Why are so many professionals suddenly so eager to spread the storytelling gospel? And who blazed the trail for an Age of Storytelling in mainstream communication? In his compact, fast-moving book, Weich explores the iconic brands, cultural movements and social technologies that have contributed most to storytelling’s rise in mainstream creativity and communication. Along the way, he calls out countless pop culture darlings to make his case: Batman, Banksy, Tomb Raider, TED Talks, Radiohead, Jay-Z, BMW and New York Times infographics. He even raves about a powerful little campaign about the worst hotel in the world. What we’re experiencing isn’t a radical new movement but a storytelling renaissance, one fueled by addictive technologies, the abundance of choice and … you! You and the billion others engaged in the most massive and shamelessly personal storytelling experiment in the history of humankind: social media.
Discussions on the outcome of a potential referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU have been characterised by political grandstanding, at the expense of serious economic analysis. With Brexit now a real possibility in the next Parliament, the IEA today releases a report outlining four different options for the UK in the event of a vote to leave the EU, all of which take into account both economic challenges and possibilities. In Brexit: Directions for Britain Outside the EU, various contributors outline several of possible approaches, ranging from a proposal that Britain should promote free trade and openness through the unilateral removal of trade barriers, to maintaining formal relationships with European countries through the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and/or the European Economic Area (EEA). Other proposals offer a view that the UK should seek to form economic and political alliances with countries outside of Europe, such as those in the Commonwealth.