A few of my colleagues in web design asked me to write this post, so here it is. Not too long ago, I chose a new direction for my consultancy, and a specific vertical to serve. By writing down my thought process, and why I made the decision to niche down with SEO for manufacturers. […]
Why I Changed My Positioning
Focus on Top-Line Revenue, Not Cutting Costs
Cash flow is like oxygen for businesses. Without cash flow, a business will asphyxiate. The ability to consistently turn a profit means survival. Businesses that are in the danger zone — right on the line between financial comfort and anxiety, often turn to cutting costs. I agree that cutting costs is a good idea, but […]
Why I Don’t Worry About Plagiarism
If you’re a business that has committed to content strategy, and jumped in with both feet, you may worry about competitors plagiarizing your material. While it’s easy for anyone to simply copy and paste your blog posts or marketing materials and repost it as theirs, plagiarism is something I don’t worry about for a second. […]
The Long, Creative History of Content Marketing
When you hear someone talk about content marketing, you probably conjure up thoughts of blogging. Maybe you’re even picturing filming videos for YouTube, or starting a podcast. But what if I told you that content marketing is much older than you think it is? What if I told you that things you never even considered […]
Content Marketing Positions You As An Industry Expert
Content marketing is a customer acquisition strategy that most businesses know about but few take advantage of. (If you’ve never heard this term before, content marketing generally refers to blogging, videos, podcasting, and even print.) Content marketing works by positioning your business as an expert in your industry. When your prospects are looking for information, […]
What’s Your Point Of Differentiation?
There are three main points of differentiation for a business. Be cheapest, be fastest / have best service, or be highest overall quality. It’s possible to do two, I have a hard time thinking of any company that consistently does all three. This means you have to make choices, and decide who you serve, and […]
Article Discussion: The Future of the Digital Design Agency
Published January 29th, 2015
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Recently there’s been a lot of discussion about the future of digital design agencies. In recent months, consultancy Adaptive Path joined the Capital One team. The partners at Teehan + Lax joined Facebook. The general feeling in the industry is that large companies now understand that design is valuable, and they are looking to build […]
Sell Solutions, Not Services
This is for my homies in the web industry, and service providers in any industry, who feels like they’re stuck at a plateau. Everyone reading this wants to earn more money. But how? How do you earn more money? You can work more hours, you can take on more clients, or you can make the […]
The Long Path To Becoming A Thought Leader
Most people never believe that they have something special to offer the world. Most people have way more knowledge than they realize — but hesitate to share it. They want to become a thought leader in their industry, but the distance between there and where they are seems insurmountable. There will always be people ahead […]
Good Ideas Still Have To Be Sold
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them.” — Steve Jobs, 1989 “We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through.” — Steve Jobs, 2006 There’s a few perspectives surrounding the statement, “People don’t know what they need until you show it […]