Distillations

Many years ago, during an initial client engagement, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the brand I was about to start working with shared a user manual of sorts with me and his then-new team. Having never seen such a manual before, I didn’t know...
A brand refers to the unique, intangible, and often indiscernible, association prospects and customers have regarding your products and services. That’s why it’s important for internal stakeholders to understand what your brand stands for, because there must be alignment between how customers perceive the brand...
I can say, without a doubt, that no book better sums up the work I’ve done for the last 15 years better than Subtract. It’s focus on removing elements as opposed to adding new ones to get out of ruts, solve challenges, etc., is music...
My recent experience of buying a washing machine after my old one suddenly went kaput gave me a new appreciation for customer experience. In many ways, it’s now more important than brand, especially for small businesses. In my experience of working with brands of all...
Why hire a consultant? Small businesses of all sizes can benefit from hiring a consultant, in large part because of the wealth of experience, industry knowledge, and problem-solving ability consultants bring to the table. Consultants, because they have often worked with dozens—if not hundreds—of similar...
What is successful small business content marketing? Your customers come looking for your products and services because of a challenge that’s arisen; to earn their business, focus on earning their trust and—most importantly—their attention. Successful small business content marketing involves the creation of content that...
What is content distribution? Content distribution refers to the dissemination of your brand’s various content types across platforms to a desirable audience you do business with or wish to do business with, or both. The distribution of your content involves paid, owned and earned channels...
What is a content production mindset? The content production mindset refers to belief held by some marketers that to win at content marketing brands must single-mindedly focus on producing and sharing more content than their peers. The thinking goes that the more blogs and other...
What is a content mindset? A content mindset refers to seeing your brand’s content holistically, viewing it as anything created by, for or about your business, including, but not limited to blog posts and pages, e-books, guides, white papers, sales and marketing materials, emails, and...
Small business owners can learn a lot from the nation’s most ubiquitous coffee retailer, Starbucks. The brand’s coffee is table stakes. Their real business is creating an enviable customer experience, high levels of customer service, and delivering the additional products or innovations customers have come...