After their first year of operation, Freshbooks had a grand total of 6 customers. Less than a decade later, they’re servicing over 4.5 million happy customers. Want to know how they did it? So did I. That’s why I reached out to Saul Colt, their “Head of Magic” (that’s his real title!). Over the course of 25 […]
Old Spice had a problem. Their customers weren’t leaving them for a competitor, cutting back on luxuries, or trying home-made alternatives to aftershave. They were, quite literally, dying off. Yep, that’s right. Old Spice had such extreme customer loyalty and branding power that their customers used their aftershaves – and other products – right into
Sometimes an idea is too new, and the world just isn’t ready for it yet. But other times, the right idea at the right time can cause an industry to explode. Well, it doesn’t explode overnight, exactly, but every new company trying out a new idea has the potential to be absolutely astounding. Pinterest. Twitter.
What’s the secret of the success of Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook? Platforms. They took a single business model and evolved it in dozens of different directions. Rather than fighting for market *share*, they all did a fantastic job of *exploding* their market *size*. Talk about business model innovation! And you don’t have to be
For 13 years something has hung on top of my desk, right where I can see it. It’s a certificate recognizing my contributions as part of the Microsoft Regional Director Program, an honorary position was conferred to me based on my contributions to the geek community. Do you have something like this? Maybe it’s a
Facebook grew from around 1 million users to over 845 million in 7 years. Amazon.com grew in five years to 10 times the annual sales of Walmart, Target, and Buy.com combined (not to mention that Walmart and Target – together, have had about 150 years of growth to get there). When it comes to growth
One of the biggest lies in marketing is “the money’s in the list”. It’s simply not true. I once had a list with over 25,000 subscribers and it didn’t make me a dime. Why? Because I never built a relationship with them. I basically sent them ten pitches in a row and hoped they’d buy.
Teddy bears don’t talk, nor do they form relationships with sentient beings. So how in the heck can they show us how to build business relationships or make a new connection? Before I answer that question, let’s think about it. Have you ever felt animosity toward a teddy bear? Likely not, because they’re so darn
David Ogilvy, the “Father of Advertising” as some have described him, was a well-known and very successful advertiser in the middle part of the 20th century. Actually, Time magazine called Ogilvy “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry.” Quite the curriculum vitae, I’d say. Ogilvy started an ad agency named Ogilvy & Mathers, and
The question on everybody’s lips these days is “How do I make social media work for bringing in more business”. It’s quite amazing to see how these platforms have matured in such a short amount of time and how small businesses can foot it with the big ones by creating a huge online presence on
