As the world continues to change, organizations can benefit from adapting their marketing strategies. Michael Stahl shares ten ways to make the most of your marketing efforts in 2021.
Today’s post is by Michael Stahl, CMO at SERVPRO (CLICK HERE to learn more).
The year 2020 brought both challenges and opportunities to marketing professionals. In fact, that’s probably an understatement. But the year has come to a close (thank goodness!), and it’s time to look ahead to hopefully brighter, safer, and more profitable days. As we shift our sights to 2021, I’ve put together ten marketing basics that can help you build a strategy to increase engagement, market share, and revenue.
Reposition your product for modern consumer needs
Considering we don’t know when the global pandemic will end, nor fully understand its long-term repercussions, we need to Read more
https://i0.wp.com/www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210117-Calendar-Flip-2021.jpg?fit=1280%2C859&ssl=18591280Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2021-01-18 08:00:202021-01-21 21:50:25Marketing 101 As We Head Into 2021
It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published over the last 12 months. Welcome to the 2017 edition of The Figgies (our NINTH YEAR of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016editions of those awards).
This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):
1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.
2. Pick up a copy of my books. They make great holiday gifts for the professionals in your life. The titles include:
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2017-12-13 06:50:572018-12-28 19:22:17Best of thoughtLEADERS 2017: Our 9th Year of Badassed Blogging
It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published over the last 12 months. Welcome to the 2016 edition of The Figgies (our EIGHTH YEAR of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 editions of those awards).
This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):
1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.
2. Pick up a copy of my books. They make great holiday gifts for the professionals in your life. The titles include:
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2016-12-21 06:02:002016-12-11 13:15:46Best of thoughtLEADERS 2016: A Basket of Kickass
Differentiating your business and making it stand out isn’t about cosmetic external attributes. It’s about sharing the internal elements that make your business different.
Today’s post is from Winnie Brignac Hart, co-author of Stand Out (CLICK HERE to get your copy).
Today, we’re bombarded with marketing messages from every side – the New York Times estimates over 5,000 messages every day. Marketers used to try to reach consumers at home watching TV or reading newspapers and magazines, but now advertisers reach consumers in real time, trying to catch their attention at every turn. It’s absolute sensory overload as companies press harder to make their brands stand out.
My sister, Lorrie, and I are identical twins. Because we are identical twins, we know a lot about the confusion and frustration that comes from a lack of clarity when things look the same. It has taught us a simple truth about differences.
We live in a world that appreciates and expects individual differences in appearance and behavior. So when we encounter two identical individuals, this experience challenges our beliefs about the way that the world works. Of course, identical twins are never exactly alike, and some differ in profound ways. Yet we can’t stop ourselves from comparing them and trying to find the differences that help us to tell them apart. By taking a closer look at twins, we can learn a great deal about the concept of differentiation. When I look at my twin, I can experience how others view me – and actually see myself from outside of myself.
I did not think about it much until I was almost 13. Around that time, I remember clearly that looking and being different from my twin sister was just about the most important thing in my world. I wanted to be seen as a separate and distinct person. I dressed as differently as I could. I cut my hair differently, I hung out with other people who were trying to be different, too – artists, musicians, and other experimental types who for one reason or another were trying to find their own identities. What I found was that most of what I did to be different was external. I was trading being part of one group (the twins) with being part of another, larger group (creative types).
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2016-06-20 07:03:282016-06-18 10:37:348 Elements that Differentiate Your Business and Make it Stand Out
Our reader poll today asks: How effectively do content marketing efforts (blogs, white papers, etc.) drive action by your customers?
– Extremely — our content marketing drives great lead generation: 6.06%
– Generally — our content sometimes sparks new conversations with prospects/clients: 34.55%
– Not at all — our content generates few, if any, comments, feedback or leads: 36.97%
– Not the point — we only publish content because everyone else does: 4.24%
– Not relevant — we have much higher priorities than content marketing: 18.18%
Increase Your Return. “That’s Marketing’s job.” Sorry but if you think content marketing is only the purview of marketers, you’re missing a big opportunity. Thought leadership is your product and the leaders in your organization have plenty of it. If you’re not tapping into it, you’re missing out. First, you should be driving new ideas. Second, share those ideas with the world. Think about all the knowledge your team has to share with the outside world. Give them a platform to do so, have it link to your product/service (both in terms of the content you share as well as with relevant URLs), and be responsive to the ensuing discussion. You’ll be surprised how many leads come from sharing great ideas.
Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!
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Growing your business is all about understanding how to attract and retain customers. There are several simple techniques you can apply immediately to make customers flock to your business.
Today’s post is by Joe Calloway, author of Magnetic (CLICK HERE to get your copy).
We’ve entered an entirely new marketplace for business with an entirely new set of rules. Businesses can no longer thrive following a strategy of going out and getting customers. Today we must become, in effect, magnets for customers and create a never-ending flow of new business that comes to us. It requires letting go of much of what we’re used to, what we’re comfortable with, and what used to work.
Let Cate represent a business. Cate can be in any arena of business – retail, business-to-business, consumer, industrial – it makes no difference. There are some new factors at work that can, if Cate gets them right, ensure steady and ongoing growth. Of course, the main rule is this: the rules always change.
The first factor that Cate must understand is that traditional advertising and marketing will play a much smaller role than ever before in creating business. They are still part of the mix, but the most powerful factor in buying decisions, whether business to business or consumer purchases of products and services, is word of mouth. Nothing else even comes close. It is the single most important element in the growth of any business. It is more powerful than any advertising and it should be at the core of Cate’s marketing strategy.
To be a magnet for business Cate must also change how she thinks about social media. It’s not what she says about herself on social media that influences prospective customers; it’s what her existing customers say about her. The Internet has changed the math on the power of Cate’s customers, be they satisfied or dissatisfied. They don’t tell a handful of people anymore. They tell dozens, or hundreds, or thousands. Today’s buyer of almost anything goes to the Internet to see what others think as they make their buying decisions. If the Internet, meaning everyone who posts their impressions of Cate, says “we love Cate’s business,” then her success is assured. She becomes a magnet for attracting business. If the Internet says “one star – stay away,” they stay away.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2016-02-01 07:02:282018-08-12 15:09:40Magnetic: The Art of Attracting Business
It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published over the last 12 months. Welcome to the 2015 edition of The Figgies (our SEVENTH YEAR of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions of those awards).
This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):
1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.
2. Pick up a copy of my books. They make great holiday gifts for the professionals in your life. The titles include:
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2015-12-16 06:43:452015-12-05 10:21:43Best of thoughtLEADERS 2015: Even Better than Last Year
When someone else takes credit for your work, there are four steps you must take: seek clarification, request it be fixed, get mad, then get over it.
We’ve all had that experience where we work really hard on something and instead of getting recognized for our contribution, we have to sit there and choke back bile when someone else takes credit for the work. It’s infuriating to think about how hard you worked and how much effort you put into a project only to see some other glory-hound or charlatan pass all that effort off as their own.
I’ve dealt with it many times. I’ve found copies of my articles and blog posts on other websites only to find they weren’t attributed to me. They were passed off as someone else’s work. It’s maddening. There’s a feeling of helplessness that comes along with that situation.
So what can you do when you’re in this situation? What do you do when someone else passes your work off as their own? How do you handle it when someone else takes credit for work you did? Here are a few thoughts:
Seek Clarification
It could be an accident. You might be wrong in thinking someone is taking credit for your work. They might have sung your praises before you walked in the room to find them presenting your deck. They may have written a nice email giving you full credit but all you heard was “I received this presentation from (NOT YOU) and it’s great.” Clarify first. Just ask. If you are wrong and the person gave you credit, thank them politely for promoting your work.
Request (Nicely) a Correction
If it’s clear they did pass of your work as theirs or they took credit for your idea, ask them (in private) if they could clarify to others that it was actually your work. You might say “I’m glad you liked my work but after your presentation some people are under a mistaken impression that you did the work. I would appreciate it if you could clarify to them that the work was mine.” More often than not they’ll heed that request.
If it’s your content that has been stolen/plagiarized, send an email or make a call asking the person to remove it and to never do it again. Give them a clear timeline for action and show them a reference back to your original work. They might be unaware that the work was stolen (maybe someone on their team did it – see the point above on clarification). If you’re okay with your work being republished with attribution, ask them to include the correct attribution with any links you desire back to your original article. Many times they’ll comply with this request.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2015-10-07 06:19:092015-09-12 12:41:57How to Deal With Someone Taking Credit for Your Work
Are you experiencing profile view dropped on your LinkedIn Profile? These 9 reasons your profile views dropped will help provide the fixes you need.
Today’s post is by Lisa Rangel – an Executive Resume Writer and Official LinkedIn Moderator at ChameleonResumes.com.
LinkedIn can be a truly powerful tool for creating meaningful business connections across the world and has helped thousands of people and companies find each other. However, in order to be discovered on LinkedIn by companies in search of new talent, you need to make sure your profile is as visible as possible.
One problem experienced by many users is a drop in page views. This means that there aren’t as many people or companies taking a look at your skills or talents which will then translate into fewer offers for interviews and it could even mean you are bypassed for a position that would have just been perfect for you.
Take a look at the following reasons for the possible cause and make the necessary changes to get your profile seen again by the right individuals.
You have not used all the skills allowed. LinkedIn allows you to include up to 50 different skills in your profile so you can truly show prospective employers what you are made of. One of the biggest mistakes many people make when setting up their LinkedIn profile is not including as many different skills as possible. If an employer searches for a specific skill and you have not listed it on your profile, you will not show up in the search results.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2015-06-29 07:03:512021-12-19 08:11:419 Reasons Your LinkedIn Profile Views Dropped and Best Ways to Fix It
It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2014. Welcome to the 2014 edition of The Figgies (our SIXTH of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 editions of those awards).
This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):
1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.
2. Pick up a copy of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful Personal Leadership (especially if you’re looking for last-minute holiday gifts for bosses, team members, or your mom – she’ll love it). I talk a lot about the book because I’m evangelical about the topic. Buy it. Read it. In the words of Roland Smith (former CEO of Wendy’s/Arby’s) “It could change your life.” To get a sense for what the book is about, read this free ChangeThis Leadership Manifesto which is based on the book. If you like the manifesto, you’ll love the book.
Thanks for your incredible support in ’14 and best wishes for ’15! We hope to be a part of your future success! Now on to the best of list!
Today’s post is by Natasha Golinsky, founder of Next Level Nonprofits.
I saw an article on Harvard Business Review this week that I thought was dead on –Why Smart People Struggle with Strategy. As I read the quote “The problem with smart people is that they are used to seeking and finding the right answer; unfortunately, in strategy there is no single right answer to find” my entire life flashed before my eyes. I saw myself in high school on an event planning committee totally stressing out over the details of something. I saw myself as a young professional totally micro-managing the development of a course I was writing. I saw myself yesterday almost melting down as my kids were being graded for their final home-school report cards. My entire life has been a chronic search for the “right way” to get a job done.
If you’ve been at a startup for any length of time you’ll know that there is no recipe for success. During my first ten years in business I would regularly go out of my way to meet other leaders who were experiencing a lot of success in my field and ask them “what did you do to achieve your results” and they would give me an answer that was totally opposite of what the person I had sat down with last week had said. The inevitable result of each weekly coffee date was total confusion and discouragement. I would find myself trying to create a master strategy by fusing together everyone’s best tips hoping I would strike gold. The mix and match approached never really worked out financially but did a great job of driving my confidence as a business leader way down. I was following the best advice I knew and was getting nowhere.
Have you ever felt like that? You read a great blog post about what it takes to succeed only to read a totally contradictory post the next day but both are working for those individuals? “Who’s right” is probably what you ask yourself. My best response: instead of looking at what they’re doing differently, look at what they’re doing that’s the same. One of your competitor organizations may be having a lot of success gaining visibility through Facebook while another doesn’t use Facebook at all but uses Twitter. Who’s right? Both. Both invest in communicating with their stakeholders. No one method is the right way. What works for one may or may not work for the other; you’ve got to remove all expectations, try it out and see what happens for yourself. Who knows? It may work great or it might not work at all. Unfortunately there is no other way to really know for sure.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2014-11-10 07:02:432018-08-13 11:34:46Why there’s No Right Way to do Things Like Strategy
Happy Birthday to me! No, it’s not my birthday (although you can send me gifts if you like). It’s thoughtLEADERS‘ birthday and the firm just turned 10. 10 years old. Mind-boggling.
In those 10 years I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve learned a great deal as an entrepreneur, an executive, a leader, and a person. Good times, bad times, y’know I’ve had my share… (yes… Zeppelin). I’d like to share some of those things I’ve learned with all of you. My hope in sharing these things is that you’ll avoid mistakes I’ve made, be more successful than I’ve been, and enjoy your life more.
Before I launch into that top 10 list, I’d like to thank everyone around me who has helped me succeed with this business. My wonderful clients who make it all possible. The awesome participants in my classes (except that one guy that one time… you know who you are). The fantastic colleagues who do such amazing work. My friends and professional contacts who recommend me and my work. My family members who have supported me throughout this crazy ride. Without all of you, thoughtLEADERS is just a cool website. Thank you for everything from the bottom of my heart.
Shutting up now. Time to drop the knowledge. Within each of these tips is a link to another post I’ve written on that topic so if you want to learn more about that particular topic, click on through to the other side (Jim Morrison… kinda).
10.Jump in with both feet. If you’re considering starting your own business (or you’re taking on a major new project or role), you have to go all-in if you want it to succeed. You can’t be half-pregnant. When I first started the business, I ran it part time while I held a full-time job. I reasoned I would go full-time with thoughtLEADERS when I had a big, stable, predictable client base. Hey idiot – you won’t have a big, stable, predictable client base until you do it full time. I have another venture I ran part time while running thoughtLEADERS. It’s not doing so well. You’d think I would learn… Commit. Dive in. You can be an entrepreneur with zero risk.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2014-08-27 02:07:512018-07-08 19:10:4510 Things that Took Me 10 Years to Learn
