Marketing Strategies

  • Branding (61)
  • eMail Marketing (10)
  • Features and Benefits (4)
  • Market Research (21)
  • Marketing Budget (9)
  • Social Media (10)


    • Storytelling à la Reality TV: What The Next Food Network Star can teach you about marketing

    Storytelling à la Reality TV: What The Next Food Network Star can teach you about marketing

    by | Dec 8, 2019 | Branding, Storytelling, Writing Tips

    I'm normally not drawn to reality TV shows. I'll admit a wee addiction in the past -- especially the early years of American Idol and The Apprentice. But I nipped those habits in the bud after a few seasons. It was easy. I just cancelled my cable. But at the beginning of this year, I moved in with my boyfriend and rediscovered my love of reality TV through The Next Food Network Star. The main idea of the show is to find the next FN "star" (while also promoting FN and its current cast). But here's what you can learn from watching...
    The Remarkable Purple Carrot: A Marketing Parable

    The Remarkable Purple Carrot: A Marketing Parable

    by | Dec 6, 2019 | Branding, Case Studies

    Here in the West, purple carrots aren't a commonly found in your local produce departments. In fact, you'll probably have to go out of your way, by searching for them at the fringes: places like your farmer's market or a specialty grocer. There's a little vegetable stand near my house where I can find maybe 3 or 4 at any given time (mostly because there's a woman who comes in every morning and buys nearly all of them for herself). The shop owner literally can't keep enough of these guys on hand. In short, these guys are special. Remarkable even. And they're almost certainly a topic of conversation when served to dinner guests. They're so special, they make the chef look special, too.
    5 Marketing Lessons from Celebrity Chefs

    5 Marketing Lessons from Celebrity Chefs

    by | Dec 5, 2019 | Branding, Case Studies, Community & Relationships, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research

    Except for my client Rebecca Joseph (aka The Rabbi Chef), your goal is probably not to be the Next Food Network Star. But there's a whole lot that celebrity chefs can teach us about working in a crowded marketplace. The successful ones truly excel at building their brands and growing their fan base. How do they do it? Here are five of their marketing strategies that you can (and should) adopt today:
    Features vs. Benefits: The Stories that Produce Sales

    Features vs. Benefits: The Stories that Produce Sales

    by | Dec 4, 2019 | Features and Benefits, Ideal Heroic Client, Storytelling, Writing Tips

    The $64,000 question is: Do your customers want to buy what you're selling? If you've done your homework (i.e., market research), and you know without a doubt that your product or service is something people need and/or want, yet you still fail to generate sales, then there's something missing in your marketing messages. In short, you're not "speaking" your customer's language (either online or in person).
    Collaborate in the (Online) Kitchen and Yield Exponential Results

    Collaborate in the (Online) Kitchen and Yield Exponential Results

    by | Dec 1, 2019 | Community & Relationships, Marketing Strategies

    Have you ever tried to do something big? No, I mean, massively huge -- something even a little audacious? If you haven't, you're missing out on one of the best adventure of your life. But if you have, then you know you can't really pull off something enormous without the help of other people. Which is why my Entrepreneur's Manifesto calls you to "Collaborate in the Kitchen. Here's a story about one woman who is doing just that...
    The Golden Triangle of Coffee Joints: A Marketing Parable

    The Golden Triangle of Coffee Joints: A Marketing Parable

    by | Nov 29, 2019 | Case Studies, Marketing Strategies

    Locally-based businesses (as opposed to multi-national corporations) are the life blood of any community. And people are beginning to understand the importance of nurturing local economies. But there are still a few hold outs. While it is clearly to our collective benefit to support local businesses, many people still patronize national chains. And the reasons don't all have to do with pricing. If you are a small, locally-owned business trying to compete with the big guys, you might want to consider the following parable.
    5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick

    5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick

    by | Nov 25, 2019 | Features and Benefits, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Marketing Strategies, Writing Tips

    When I was still a youngster (in the days before the Internet was considered a valid way to get your message out), I spent my nights and weekends at the UC Davis Extension learning the "official" rules of "Product-Price-Place-Promotion." One of my first professors (I think his name was Mr. Aguilar) had a strange attachment to the term "pasta marketing." He must've used this term at least twice in every class. His point was that lots of people do their marketing like they cook their pasta: they throw it against the wall to see if it's done. If it sticks, they think it's good. And if doesn't, well...you go back to the drawing board.
    No More Marketing: Why I’m Done

    No More Marketing: Why I’m Done

    by | Nov 19, 2019 | Branding

    What I’m about to tell you might kill my business, but I have to say it: I’m done (yes, you can stick a fork in me). I’ve never wanted to build an empire — at least not one whose sole purpose was “bigger, better marketing.” And a...