After watching the presidential debate last night, while watching one of the commentators discuss post debate polling and if it really matters, he mentioned that when you ask the people during election season whether they like or dislike negative ads, almost all say they hate them. Yet, after voting, when they are asked why they […]
Has Anyone Every Tested if Testing is Really The Best Way to Figure Out What Works?
Test, Test, Test… That’s all every marketer ever says and hears. Test Everything. The thing is, aside from the simple reality that most people don’t run true scientific tests, and most use the little data they gather as anecdotal evidence to support whatever position they are trying to back up. The Real Truth is that […]
What Your SEO Clients Really Want to Hear…
I’ve been doing SEO for around 7 years now and probably the single biggest disconnect between my clients and myself revolves around using Rankings versus Traffic/Conversions/Sales/Revenue as a metric to measure my success. Here’s the thing, When I look at a Search Query Report in Google Webmaster tools, Google Actually reports to me how many […]
Marketing Goldmine Discovered in 1950’s Self Help Book
I Just finished reading W. Clement Stone’s Book The Success System That Never Fails and I have never dog-eared more pages in a book in my entire life. Aside from an awesome line mentioned in between chapters of this 1950’s self-help book, stating, “one day we will land a man on the moon,” The book […]
How a Little Rose Built a Billion Dollar Empire, and the Secret to Successful Gift Giving From Conrad Hilton
I am reading, “Be My Guest,” Conrad Hilton’s autobiograhy, and it is brilliant. I literally have dozens of pages folded over and saved and I am not even half way through… Here is one golden nugget that could very well have been the secret to his success building a Massive Hotel Empire. During Conrad’s early […]
Al Gore Invented Growth Hacking
When I asked Eric Ries why it took technologists over 100 years to discover what direct response marketers figured out in the 1800’s, he responded, “Because Technologists are stubborn.” If you ever wondered who invented coupons and why, it’s no secret. Claude Hopkins was a door to door salesman who wanted to TRACK whether which […]
Smash Summit 2012 Predictions for Facebook vs. Google By Dave McClure and Fred Wilson
To end the great Smash Summit 2012 event, Dave McClure asked Fred Wilson if he is bullish or bearish on Facebook and Google. After some back and forth about how bullish or bearish Dave meant, the conversation changed to “if I Put One dollar today in Facebook, or One Dollar today in Google, which one […]
Smash Summit 2012- Startup Marketing Advice Summaries (Part 1)
I had the pleasure of attending Smash Summit 2012 today, a co-production of 500 Startups Partner Dave McClure and Next Customer founder, and my friend Jay Weintraub. I probably took more away from this event than any other marketing education and experiences I ever encountered. Brilliant Speakers, Rapid Fire Presentations, Crash Courses and Case Studies,all […]
Unfair Competitive Advantage Strategies and Examples
Gaining an Unfair Advantage over your competitors might be a hard pill to swallow, but regardless of how you feel about it, there is no question that not only do you need to protect yourself from being vulnerable to your competitors eating your lunch, you also have to be prepared to take advantage of opportunities […]
Barter Kings – Brilliant Show Exposes Down and Dirty Sales Strategies
“Sometimes It Just Boils Down to Emotions!” – Barter Kings I would argue, It always Boils down to Emotions!” Barter Kings, A new A&E reality show I accidentally stumbled upon, which premiered tonight, exposes the brutal truth about marketing and sales. The show is about folks who find a product available to trade that they […]