Marketing Efforts Too Often Focus on Demographics and Psychographics to Define What the Business Will Make and Sell to Customers. Better To Embrace a Sense and Respond Mindset and Ask Customers About Their Jobs to Be Done and Their Journey.
How To Transition From “Make and Sell” To “Sense and Respond” Read More »
Building a product or service that leverages the network effect is the secret sauce that adds the potential to make it go viral. A network effect is when the more people use it, the more valuable it becomes.
How To Go Viral with The Network Effect? Read More »
Pricing mechanisms come in two principal forms: fixed and dynamic. Fixed pricing has predefined prices based on a static set of variables while dynamic pricing changes prices based on market conditions. Price mechanisms can affect both your revenue stream as well as your costs.
Why You Need To Understand Pricing Mechanism Types Read More »
Sales is less about mastering closing tactics and more about providing so much perceived value that the customer asks for the sale.
11 Ways to Create Value and Make the Customers Ask for the Sale Read More »
The ultimate goal when defining your key activities as part of your Business Model Canvas exercise, is to help you discover what activities you need to address in order to differentiate your product or service from your competition.
Key Activities and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s key resources allow it to create and deliver its value proposition, reach its target market and maintain a quality customer relationship with them so that the business can earn revenue. For a company to produce a product or service, it needs access to physical resources, intellectual resources, human resources, and financial resources.
Key Resources and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s cost structures represent the specific costs that the business will incur while operating under a particular business model. Through understanding the key resource, key activities, and its key partners, the business can determine its available cost structures. By choosing to be either Cost Driven or Value Driven and properly using Operating Leverage, the business can find its optimal cost structure.
Cost Structures and Your Business Model Read More »
Every day, entrepreneurs invest huge amounts of time and money to build a business that they think will be better than the competition. However, all too often entrepreneurs struggle to articulate how their value proposition is fundamentally different from their competition. These businesses are what I call clone businesses.
How to Transform your Clone Business and Stand Out Read More »
History especially when it comes to war is chocked full of lessons for the small business owner if they take the time look at the messages and consider how they might apply the lessons to their own business.
How The Graf Spee Can Teach You To Be Successful In Business Read More »
The attributes that consumers have always associated with luxury items have changed in the last few years. The terms that business owners use to convey their value proposition also needs to change lest they miss out on this trend. In this post, I share a personal experience that has galvanized this lesson in my own thoughts.
A Relieving Look at How the Definition of Luxury has Changed Read More »
When you are deciding how much of time and financial resources to allocate between push and pull marketing strategies, keep in mind that the battleground has shifted and the prospect is the one who holds the high ground. Rather than fight this reality, just accept who has the real control and find the best ways to help people buy in the way they want to buy, instead of the way you want to sell to them.
PULL Marketing vs. PUSH Marketing – The Shifting Battleground Read More »
Asking the right questions is crucial to your ability to optimize or turnaround your B2B marketing and sales operations. But even if things are going well, it is a good idea to periodically test your assumptions. Competitors are not standing idle and technologies, channels and customer needs are constantly shifting. Here are eight important questions to get you started:
8 Essential B2B Marketing Questions: Ignore these at your peril Read More »
Businesses all too often commit resources to developing a product or service based on the verbal feedback they received from some potential customers. This is no way to test your assumptions that people will exchange hard earned money for what you are selling! Employing a simple 3-page website can ultimately help you determine if customers are willing to exchange money for your offering.
Super Simple Way to Test Your Business Model Read More »
It is often far better to see what the market leader is doing and just be a little different in your value proposition. Being the first to market means you will make lots of costly mistakes that your competitors can learn from and then capitalize on at your expense. Keurig and Xerox were not the first movers but today they dominated their markets by capitalizing on the dominant players mistakes..
Watch the Leader and Profit by Capitalizing on Their Business Mistakes Read More »
Putting together a solid hunting plan to hunt pronghorn antelope has a lot of similarities to putting together a solid marketing plan for your product or service. As any regular reader of my blog or someone who knows me personally would know, I’m obsessed with archery hunting for pronghorn antelope. As anyone who is familiar
An Amazingly Simple, No Bullshit, 2-Pronged Marketing Strategy Read More »
Discover 3 Free Internet Enabled Word-Of-Mouth Tactics That Allow You To Control The Dissemination Of The Information Shared By Your Clients.
3 Free Ways to Boost Your Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Read More »
Natural law is a philosophy that states that people are motivated in their actions by human nature. It refers to the use of reasoning to analyze human nature and to deduce the rules that govern a person’s actions and behavior. We have all seen the image of a stick and sting that suspends a carrot
How to Apply Natural Law – Your Key to Unlocking More Sales Read More »
When it comes to marketing, small businesses should understand that psychology and sales are two parts of the same coin. From the world of psychology, one cognitive bias that a small business owner should embrace when it comes to marketing is known as “the halo effect.” Technically speaking, the halo effect is a cognitive bias
How to Harness the Halo Effect to Boost Profits Read More »
As a small business, you have to consider the concept of microeconomics when pricing your product or service to maximize revenue. By definition, microeconomics studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of limited resources (i.e., money). Contrast microeconomics with macroeconomics. Macroeconomics considers the sum of all economic activity such
Using Microeconomics to Maximize Revenue Read More »
A Business Model is Customer-Focused And Is Your Value Proposition. Most Businesses Can Be Categorized Into 1 of 11 Different Types Of Business Models.
11 Common Types of Business Model Read More »
According to many studies, one of the most precious assets in American society is a person’s time. The time required at work, at home, with friends and family, and running errands do not fall under the categories of relaxation or recreation. For this reason, people place a high value on their free time. Don’t believe
The Most Precious Asset Read More »
When you have a new product or service, your customers will likely never take the risk of purchasing it unless you offer them a free sample first. Sometimes the free sample may come in the form of a gift from another person. I never considered getting a massage until I received one as a gift.
Free Samples Can Drive Sales Read More »
Small business owners can learn a lot from Pierre Omidyar and the birth of eBay.
5 Valuable Business Lessons from Pierre Omidyar and eBay Read More »
Once you have made a hypothesis regarding your customer segment and value proposition, you need to gather insight to validate your hypothesis by designing questions or experiments to take to potential customers. If you are designing questions, it is important to avoid questions that will influence the customer’s response. In other words, avoid leading questions
Testing Your Customer Segment and Value Proposition Hypothesis Read More »
Now that you have a potential list of products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to see if it creates the benefits your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised to see. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Deliver Gains Read More »
Now that you have a list of potential products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to exposed them to the first test. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services. These questions will help you determine if your products or
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Alleviate Pain Read More »
After you understand the customer’s job, their pain points, and their gain points, it is time to define a value proposition to deliver to them. The products or services that you will provide can come in four different flavors: With these flavors in mind, make a list of all the products and services your company could deliver.
Defining Your Value Proposition’s Products and Services Read More »
When fleshing out your business model canvas, you need to define your customer segment and value proposition. However, it is sometimes necessary to consider both the economic buyer and the end user when defining your customer segments. For example, the other day I took my grandson to a Chuck-e-Cheese. The end user was my grandson
Serving Economic and End User Customer Segments Read More »
Ignore the status quo and don’t build a better mousetrap. Stop focusing on what your competitors do. Instead, challenge orthodoxies. To do so, start with any of the nine business model building blocks and build outwards. While we typically start with customer segments to build a customer-driven business model, there are four common starting points.
Inside Out Business Model Read More »
To apply the Blue Ocean Strategy, you start with a Business Model Canvas that describes your industry and then look at your the business model canvas from three different perspectives: the cost perspective, value proposition, and the customer segment.
Applying the Blue Ocean Strategy to the Business Model Canvas Read More »
The term “red ocean” refers to all the industries in existence today, otherwise known as “the known market space.” Blue oceans, by contrast, denote all the industries not in existence today, otherwise known as “the unknown market space.” Red oceans are contested markets while blue oceans are untainted by competition.
What is a Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean Strategy Read More »
There Are 5 Levels Of Permission Marketing That A Customer Can Grant, Each Level Increases The Business’s Autonomy And Level Of The Customer’s Trust..
Permission Marketing- How To Build Trust Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at industry forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into three categories:
Critical Thinking About Industry Forces Read More »
When considering your unique value proposition, I find it helpful to consider a list of common value propositions to help guide me and my client’s thinking. To that end, here are eleven common value propositions that businesses might offer to their selected customer segment. Review the following value proposition types and determine which one is
Choosing a Value Proposition Type Read More »
The first step for a new business or an existing business coming out with a new product line is to define the customer segment they are targeting. During the early stages of the process, I recommend starting out with a broad definition of the customer segment. The following is a list of five common customer
Choosing a Customer Segment Type Read More »
When we refer to channels in the Business Model Canvas, we are speaking about marketing channels or distribution channels. Here are 5 you should address: 1, Awareness 2, Evaluate 3, Purchase 4, Deliver 5, Customer Support
Channels and Your Business Model Read More »
The second step in creating your Business Model Canvas is to identify your value proposition. What is a value proposition? Simply put, a value proposition is a collection of products and services a business offers to meet the needs of its customers that helps to differentiate it from its competitors. For example, several manufacturers offer
Value Propositions and Your Business Model Read More »
“For whom are you creating value?” Sometimes that answer may be a bit complicated.
Customer Segment and Your Business Model Read More »
The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and lean start-up template that a business can use when developing new or documenting existing business models. Basically, it is a visual representation that describes the nine critical elements of a firm’s product or service offerings.
The Business Model Canvas Series Read More »
When I grew up in Massachusetts, I remember reading a story about Joe Kennedy. He would go up to owners of older drafty apartments in downtown Boston and make them a unique proposition. Many of the units were poorly insulated and cost a small fortune to heat in the winter. Joe would agree to insulate
Capturing Value in Nontraditional Ways Read More »
I’m a fly fisherman, and anyone familiar with the sport understands that to land a fish using a fly rod requires a lot of skills. I think I like fly fishing because it is cerebral and has so much in common with B2B sales. In fly fishing, you have to understand in great detail the
Customer on a Line Read More »
Ever go to a high school dance where the dance floor was empty because nobody wanted to be the first one to dance? Finally, one brave couple strolls out, perhaps encouraged to do so by a chaperone or staff member, and before you know it the dance floor is full. You just witnessed “Priming”. Casinos
Can Your Business Benefit from Priming? Read More »
Often I encounter clients that want to produce a product or service on the low end of the price window in the hopes that lower costs will mean more business for them. However, being the low-cost provider is not the best place to be unless your value proposition is clearly operational excellence. This is because
Operational Excellence – Why Quality Pays Read More »
Do you know what your customer wants? I believe that pretty much every customer wants the same 9 things, although they may look slightly different depending on the industry. They want: If you can satisfy one or all of your customers’ wants better than the other guy, you have a recipe for success. Are you
9 Things Every Business Customer Wants Read More »
Sometimes you have a new product or service category with little or no competition and are free to charge whatever you want for early adopters. When I had an Invisible Fencing franchise the sum of direct costs for a self-install kit was about $100 in parts and another $100 to cover the parent company’s national
Pricing Strategies – Pricing by Available Options Read More »
