You’ve heard me up on my soapbox preaching the know, like and trust gospel. What I haven’t talked enough about is what happes when like is more than the opposite of indifferent and becomes friend. Sometimes you do business with your friends. By “do business” I mean hire your friends, form JV partnerships and [...]
More Please: It’s not personal it’s business →
There’s been a ton of talk among Square Peg business owners I know about archetypes, how they affect your business and the way you interact with the world. Briefest overview… Think of an archetype as a generic personality, almost a stock character for those of you into theatre. Each of these characters interacts [...]
More Please: Archetypes for Fun and Profit →When some people talk about marketing, they use loads of jargon. It’s frustrating, confusing and generally unhelpful. To unravel the mess, here’s a glossary of marketing terms, in plain English, covering the second half of the alphabet. Looking for the first half? It’s here. Product life cycle The product life cycle is a theory [...]
More Please: Unickifying Marketing Terms (part 2) →When you listen to the gurus and A-listers, sometimes it sounds like they speak a foreign language. It’s easy to get confused or overwhelmed. Some business owners pretend to know what all that stuff is so they don’t feel dumb or left out. Don’t do that. Here’s a glossary of marketing terms covering the first [...]
More Please: Translation of common marketing terms into regular, non-icky terms →Your business and everything that goes with it, your copy, your website, your product line and business model grow and change as you learn more. To quote Barbara Winter, ”The business you start is never the business you end up with.” Sounds a lot like the rest of life, huh? Your interests and tastes change. Your relationships [...]
More Please: Divorce Your Copy →A former co-worker told me a story about her dad yelling at her for her spelling mistakes. Her response: “But Dad, I don’t care about how to spell it right.” That’s cute and amusing because she was 8. Now as adults, grammar and spelling are important if we’re going to be understood. I’m the original [...]
More Please: Grammar and Spelling are Important! →This article was originally published in a Parlance Monthly Tip Sheet. Get first dibs on articles to help you and your business. Sign up for Monthly Tip Sheet in the box to the right! —-> You’re on the phone with a new prospect. You’re enjoying the conversation. You’re getting excited about working with her. [...]
More Please: I don’t wanna detach! →
I love the psychology behind marketing techniques. I’m nerdy that way. What I don’t love is how manipulative and just… icky… some marketers are when they learn a bit of that psychology. One bit of marketing psychology you can use without being an ickster is the concept of social proof. Better known as All the [...]
More Please: All the Cool Kids are Doing It →
Everyone is motivated by different things. At the most basic level, people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain. But pain and pleasure are defined differently by different people. Last month, Rachel Chong, CEO and Founder of Catchafire, spoke about motivation (among other things) at a Creative Mornings Boston event. Although Catchafire is a non-profit, much of [...]
More Please: Motivation →The holiday season is about to begin and with it comes stress. To add to the holiday stress, this is the busy season in some industries. All that busyness is a recipe for tension, battles and all-around ugliness. I want to share some tips on diffusing those battles, whether we’re talking about irritable customers, unhappy [...]
More Please: Have a battle-free holiday season →
