I'm so tired of watching #marketing departments go through the motions, instead of challenging themselves to be data-driven with a growth mindset. In this interview with CleverFunnel Digital, I sit down with Chris Franks to discuss how we developed a deeper understanding of customers without resorting to a checklist approach and where I see marketing is going over the... Continue Reading →
Why Marketing Fails
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guxtt3eMYcM In this video I answer the question, "why does marketing fail?" It simple really. We don't know the product, customer or market. So get out of the office and go to where the work is actually being done. You'll be surprised how fast your marketing efforts turn around.
Running a marketing hackathon
Hackathons were invented by the software development community and are actively used by teams the world over. Imagine a mad race where everyone, at the same time, tries to invent something to solve a problem (although they can take many forms). At the end (generally a day), teams present what they’ve made and there is... Continue Reading →
Inspiration from PFL
Marketing to marketers is the toughest job, but occasionally I see things that really make me step back and think wow. Several people in my office recently received an assortment of account-based marketing (ABM) materials from PFL, a direct mail company out of Montana. I loved the campaign's creativity so much I just had to... Continue Reading →
Tale of Three Posts
Social media engagement is hard. First of all, how do you get people to engage? Secondly, how do you know if it worked? Today I want to review three recent LinkedIn posts on my personal account. What types of posts performed best? What does “performed best” even mean? The first post promoted a blog article... Continue Reading →
Test Driven Development in Agile Marketing
Software developers have long been discussing this concept of Test-driven Development, or TDD. It’s been around (by this name anyway) since 2003. Effectively developers used to code in silos. They’d build stuff to spec and send it off to the testers, who had to figure out how to use it, break it and create recommendations... Continue Reading →
Sizing Agile Marketing Stories: Don’t Go It Alone
Story sizing. I just felt the collective grown from the mere mention. In Agile, we’re expected to understand the size of work before we do it. Then we give work, or “stories”, a size relative to other work we need to do. It seems pretty straight forward right? [insert moan] SIDEBAR: Is it just me... Continue Reading →
Beware of Templates
I see a lot of small businesses that use website templates. In fact this very site uses one too. There are a lot of great website templates out there. WordPress, Squarespace and Wix all offer professional solutions that are easy for small businesses. But beware of the template. There are common pitfalls that could undermine... Continue Reading →
Lessons Learned From Small Business Saturday
Like every year, I went out on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to do a little shopping. I love Small Business Saturday. It gives me a sense of purpose to my holiday shopping. I feel better helping my community and look forward to seeing what little shops around town have in store for me, literally. But... Continue Reading →
Creating a Marketing Career Path When You’re Just Getting Started
I was speaking at the University of Colorado recently to a room full of marketing majors. One of the questions someone asked stuck with me. A women in the room raised her hand and said she was trying to figure out where to work after graduation. She struggled with the different options and was looking... Continue Reading →
