Recession or not, the New Year is filled with promise and I have plenty of clients and friends determined to see 2009 as the best year ever. So we dream, and dreams turn to plans. As for plans, they turn into a bunch of stuff that must be done.  And that’s when trouble sets in. It’s too easy to overwhelm ourselves with self-imposed obligations. Somehow, we need a way to keep the dream-stream ...

Conventional marketing wisdom says you need a precise target market. And conventional wisdom is right. I teach this principle myself, with a process I call “find your tribe”. The more closely you specify your target, the more exactly you can research their needs, aversions and aspirations – the very stuff of good brand messaging. Also, in the online world, niche targeting is almost the only ...

My friend, Tom Gentleman, passed on this article today and I thought I’d pass it on. By Chin-Ning Chu The distinction between the eastern and western philosophies of warfare is important to keep in mind. Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which has been studied by military leaders, politicians, and businessmen around the world for hundreds of years, is not about war at all. It is a set of strategic th...

Are people reading your brochures? My guess is probably not. In fact, sales guru Jeffery Gitomer, once handed his clients little branded wastebaskets with the company brochure sitting inside. He’d tell them, "I’m saving you a step!" Think about creating a simple presentation and burn to a CD or DVD. It could be as simple as a narrated Powerpoint presentation. The cost of mate...

Keeping tabs on your industry, competitors or people is easy as pie on the Internet. In this week’s Click for Clients Marketing Minute, Andy looks at Google Alerts and Serph.com to have the latest intelligence delivered to your inbox or RSS feed. ...

Click for Clients is all about the New Internet, a.k.a.Web 2.0. Specifically, it’s about how to get more leads and build your business with the extraordinary new tools that are bursting onto the scene week by week. It’s heady stuff, full of promise and opportunity for those willing to learn. Now here’s the challenge. There is SO MUCH new information flooding onto the market, you ...