Networking

That we live in a wild, crazy, slap-happy world these days certainly comes as no surprise to any of us, yet exactly what’s causing all the craziness, what to expect next, and what the heck we can do about it are mysteries that seem to consume the energy of a lot of folks I know. Here’s one […]

Trick question! Companies don’t buy anything! Companies don’t browse the web, companies don’t call to praise or complain, companies don’t use your product, companies don’t refer you to other companies, companies don’t buy anything! PEOPLE do these things. Those people may work for companies or organizations, but they’re still human beings with all the human emotions […]

Without question, the very best investment any of us can make is in our education! In an up economy or down, investing in your own knowledge, your own education, your own ability to do what you do even better or otherwise provide more value in the marketplace will most likely yield the greatest returns. Your education […]

How many categories of competition are there? Roughly, two! Yes, textbooks talk about brand competition, total budget competition, substitutes, etc., but I prefer to think that there are two basic categories of competition: Direct and Indirect. Direct competition is anyone who gets up every day with the specific, deliberate goal of taking that business you would […]

People often talk about “needing to ‘do’ some marketing,” and they are often perplexed on exactly where to start. This is not surprising considering that if you pick up 10 different books on marketing, entrepreneurship, strategy, or whatever, you may find 10 different approaches. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, by the way, because you’ll […]

In this post,  I would like to take a slight departure to offer a great big thanks to the 2010-11 American Marketing Association, Oklahoma City Chapter (AMAOKC) president Brian Blake and his team for all the remarkable value they are bringing to the OKC market and to the marketing profession! I have been a dues paying […]

For a market to exist, 3 factors must be met (there is a fourth that some authors like to throw in, but we won’t worry about that here). There must first be a need or desire for the product. Potential customers must see some inherent value in the offer being made. They have to imagine how this […]

As J.D. Rockefeller built his fortune around the turn of the 20th Century, he was often accused of exploiting immigrant labor. His critics said he hired those who had immigrated to this nation from other countries because he could acquire their labor cheaper than that of their domestic counterparts. While it is true that he could […]