BRUCE’s BLOG
Are You a Dancing Bear?
Are you operating from fear or are you looking towards accomplishing the things that will make you feel good about yourself and your life? Or are you a dancing bear, yo-yoing back and forth pain and pleasure or are you moving positively into the future? And even more importantly, are you writing resolutions that allow you to further express your authentic truth or are you using resolutions to force yourself into unnatural behaviors?
Resolutions that Matter.
Each year we burden ourselves with lots of unrealistic promises that we simply know we’re not going to keep. Truth is, I think the less realistic we make the resolutions, the more easily we can ignore them. Perhaps we even subconsciously set ourselves up to fail. Here are some proven suggestions that can help you make the most of the new year.
Dealing With Sexual Harassment in Your Company
Soon more workaday businessmen will start reaping the ills of their bad behavior. When that becomes commonplace, businesses in your own hometown — hell, even the company you work for — might have to start dealing with the long overdue fallout of sexual harassment. Remember that people make decisions based on their emotions and justify those decisions with facts. Brands that forget this simple truism do so at their own peril.
What Do YOU Think Disruption Means?
Savvy marketers are always looking for ways to interrupt your view, make you question your traditional activity or try something different. And whether you’re trying to sell crackers, direct clients to your investment company, or fill your cruise ships, disruption is still an effective way to reach your potential customers. Because unless you’re the market leader, lulling them to continue doing what they’ve always done is not the way to build your business. Getting their attention is.
You Cannot Square A Circle.
Are you presenting your brand, your business, and yourself in simple terms that your customers can understand? Or are you wrapping yourself in acres of tiresome talk? Are you using big words when small ones will do? Are you using long rationalizations when simple examples offer more clarity? Are you writing an SAT essay when you should be tweeting a competitive advantage? If you are, you are squaring the circle.
The Secret To Building a Successful Business.
Showing your customers not just how you can help them achieve what they want but how they can be who they want to be puts you in a singular position way above your competition. And making your customers feel good not about just what you can do for them but about themselves will secure your placement in their roster of critical contributors to their own success.
The Importance of Giving AND Taking.
Like Dr. Doolittle’s Pushmepullyou, there’s no moving forward without cooperation. And in an effective relationships, there’s no giving without taking.
Logically Illogical Logic
You need to not just understand your customer’s motivations but recognize their aspirations. Then, by creating your brand message to show them how they can express and accomplish their hopes and dreams with your help, your vendor/customer relationship can take a new and more profitable course.
From an Organization to a Destination.
To build desire, increase purchases, and expand your profits, position what you sell as an experience your audience will consume.
The Distractor in Chief
Why else would the president insult the pregnant widow of a fallen soldier? Why else would he insult the Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Maria? Why else would he go to war with the NFL over freedom of speech? It’s much too easy (and naïve) to write it off to him being a clumsy boor. What if there’s something else going on?
Making wine — and business — better.
I’ve had the great fortune to spend the last few weeks touring...
Five Things You Can Learn From Fireman Bob’s GoFundMe site.
After Hurricane Irma left an 82-year old retired fireman homeless, we created a GoFundMe site to help him rebuild his home. Building Bob’s site taught me about how to use the GoFundMe app but it also taught me a lot about how to use social media as a promotional tool. I discovered five simple tips that can make your social media efforts more successful.
Numbers Lie.
Unlike the little town of Lake Woebegone “where all the children are above average,” most people do not get exceptional results because most people do not do exceptional things. Average is average for a reason. If you want to build your brand, build your business, or build your life, one of the first things to do is consider zigging while everyone zags.
My 82-year old neighbor left homeless by Hurricane Irma.
If you want to help a real person and don’t know where to turn, consider helping Bob Eaken rebuild his life.
There Has to be a Better Way to Help.
The Red Cross’s brand awareness has gone a long way to help it continue to collect large sums of money from a concerned and generous public. But a powerful disconnect between their internal intention and abilities and their external image will eventually weaken even a century-old brand.
The Wrong Way — and the Right Way — to use Social Media in a Crisis.
Simple, direct, and to the point. Jim Fried understands the concepts behind an All About Them marketing strategy.
Defensive, insensitive, callous. Jack Michel clearly does not.
Business Advice From Hurricane Irma.
The computer I’m writing this blog post on is powered by a...
Make Business Simple – My Four-Word Rules For Success. #10 in a Series.
We’ve spent the last few weeks talking about my four-word rules for...