The Marketing Perfect Storm in the Monday Morning Marketer
Ah, the perfect storm. A term derived from meteorological roots, made popular in fiction, and then again in a blockbuster movie of the same name. Our dear anonymous friends at Wikipedia would define this term as any event where a situation is aggravated drastically by an exceptionally rare combination of circumstances.How does this relate to you and your marketing? Well, I'm glad you asked. It occurs to me weekly in my client consultations how rare that perfect marketing moment is. Rare, not due to a lack of planning or budget or concentrated effort, but rare due to the elusive nature of people and the old cliche (creative writers hate cliches) "best laid plans". You simpl

Another M Word I Love - Memorabilia
My grandfather, a World War II vet & proud member of the Royal Canadian Legion, passed away two years ago. My only knowledge of him in his war years is a photograph. It is not your typical war photo. No uniform, no equipment, no machinery. It is a youthful man caught off-guard in his bunk, with striped pajamas, ruffled hair and a twinkle in his eye as he looks off to a poster of a bombshell, not a bomb, pinned up on the wall. That is memorabilia. That photo is what was on display at his funeral. That twinkle in his eye is what makes that piece of memorabilia so meaningful, as that same twinkle was in Papa’s eye every time he looked at me in the 35 years I was privileged to hav

All You Need to Know to Hire Business Experts in 3 little Ps.
(Monday Morning Marketer)Ever been burned on getting outside expert help? Ever tried to hire web developers, graphic designers, marketing experts, business coaches, sales help, accountants and more?  Has it worked? When it has, do you know why? When it hasn’t, do you know why? The sad stories I’ve heard from my clients really pain me too. I can’t stand to hear that any money or any momentum was lost due to hiring missteps with those all important additional experts. A significant part of my marketing career as a marketing and communications strategist has been pulling together teams of these types of experts who are co

Another M Word I Love - Power of Managing
It's an overused word, it means so many things, but in context of the inundation of pandemic influenza "news" and the actual 'flu' itself, it is a word that must be fully appreciated this week.Managing. A resume word. A verb to indicate you were capable of coordinating a bunch of stuff and of not failing while doing so. Big freakin' deal! If you have this on your resume, strike it! It is not a powerful word when applying for a job! Nor is it powerful when you attempt to present your best strengths. The is a mediocre word. It does not describe your innate strengths and unique qualities.Managing. A coping word. A verb that suggests against all odds you were able to get by. A p

Armour Yourself Against Expert Knowledge in Monday Morning Marketer
Are you tired of reading conflicting ideas about how to best build your business? Do you suffer from a bit of ‘analysis paralysis’ every time you read an article or blog or listen to an expert with advice different from the path you’ve just taken? The best existing example is with the debate on social marketing vs. traditional marketing. Talk about confusing! My opinion is that it is an AND not a VS. in that statement, but it doesn’t even matter. The point here is you are currently inundated with articles and advice as soon as you open your mind to learning something new. So, are you confused about how to tell the good advice from the bad? No need to be! And I’ll tell yo