Yesterday I blogged about social media killing the newspaper star. In the days before that I blogged, tweeted, and facebooked about communities, brands engaging their clients, and the power of word-of-mouth, all of which are facilitated by social media platforms. It seems this is the new way to market. Even established news sources and stubborn minded entrepreneurs have given in. Does that then confirm that social media marketing is in fact the best practice, or rather that we’re all anxious to buy the hype? A flock of mindless sheep making their way up a mountain with no view of what’s ahead. Read More

The long tail, a concept popularised by Chris Anderson in 2006, proves that selling less of more is the most profitable way to do business. For years the film, music, and literary industries (to name a few) focused their attention on a small segment of the talent that made up their business. Why? Because it costs money to promote and sell products. It doesn’t make sense for a publisher to invest in an unknown author who is going to sell 500 books (max) that they’ll never be able to convince the supermarkets and Waterstones of the world to buy. Read More

While companies all over the world are starting to adopt social media, it is still widely misunderstood by many members of their senior management. Erik Qualman , author of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do businesss, does a nice job of summarizing what the execs at DeminHill meant when they wrote “Why Executives HATE Social Media”. They mentioned their lack of understanding, their inability to release control, and their fear of it all being a fad, all issues that Seth Godin addresses in Tribes. Read More

We all struggle to define ourselves. And we certainly struggle to define how we may be useful to other people. Using words that will get others to listen and commission our expertise can be tricky. So how do we encourage people to turn up and tune in?  Read More

Today, I read a fun article by the Harvard Business Review on salespeople's seven deadly sins. Although they listed chattering as the least deadly of the sins, I find it to be one of the most overlooked qualities of salespeople. Amateur salespeople are naturally very nervous to get on the phone. As a result they’ve probably scripted a pitch, or have been given a scripted pitch. A good salesperson might use this pitch for their first call or two, a bad one will use it throughout their entire career. Read More