by Peter Helmer          This is a quiz: how do the most successful professionals get most of their new business? Spending 16- hours a week on business development activities. Networking like crazy. Cultivating their clients. Cold calling. Getting leads from the Internet. The answer is ”(c) Cultivating their clients.”  These professionals get most of their new business from existing clients either via additional work or via referrals, according to my recent …Read More

by David Lund            That is the big question in business.  On a daily, monthly, and annual basis, we ask, how can we grow our sales?  This blog post will focus on four ways to sell more to your existing customers.  Part 1 will cover planned and impulse purchases. Part 2 (one week from today) will cover up-selling and cross-selling.  We will save the topic of attracting new customers for another …Read More

by Hank Blank         I have been a member of MENG for a number of years and have spoken on a number of occasions to chapters across Southern CA and on national MENGinars. I read that MENG members are current or former VPs, SVPs, CMOs, COOs, and Presidents.  Currently 84% have Fortune 500 experience.   Seventy percent have graduate or post-graduate degrees, many from the top twenty business schools across the country.  …Read More

    by Richard Guha                      This means the ancient Romans, who were as different from the image of today’s Italians as can be imagined.  When the Roman Empire built roads, they were completely straight.  They made no concessions to hills, rivers, or people’s houses. They simply went in a straight line because that was most efficient.  Even today in Europe, you can tell which roads were Roman in origin because of …Read More

by Sarah Miller Caldicott           Will the Fortune 500 exist ten years from now?  According to a 2012 study by Millennial Branding (conducted on Facebook), a projected 40% of the companies now listed on this esteemed roster probably will not be around by 2025.  In a survey of over four million Facebook users, only 7% of respondents indicated that they are currently working for a Fortune 500 company. Looking ahead, big …Read More

by Maura Mitchell       Marketers either rant or rave when I mention daily deals.  Phrases like ”money pit” and ”worst mistake I ever made” are interspersed with ”we got a lot of new customers” and ”I’m going to do it again.” So what’s the truth about the effectiveness of Daily Deals? The headline is if you’re in the right industry, at the right stage of brand development, and create the right …Read More

by Drew McLellan     I am so tired of hearing people say that they want to create a Facebook page or launch a business blog or produce an ebook because they’re free.  Let me make this perfectly clear: Social media, digital marketing, content marketing (put whatever label on it you’d like) is not free.  Sure, access to many of the platforms is free.  And you can probably do a fair amount …Read More

by Patricia Martin      Photo by: Gardenfork.tv Measuring the Impact of Social Media on Brand Performance I’ve been a fan of the Ford Fiesta’s pioneering relaunch since its inception last year. Recently, the vehicle’s social media campaign benchmarked solid ROI.  According to U.S. News & World Report, the zippy subcompact is the best car for the money in its category and it has consistently been at the top of the subcompact …Read More

by Charles Gold       It seems like everyone in marketing circles has been passing around Lisa Nirell’s recent Fast Company article, Why CMOs Are Facing Extinction. Of course.  With a title like that, it’s going to get the attention of those of us who support our families as CMOs. The article enumerates industry trends that allegedly put the B2B CMO at risk of going the way of the dinosaur.  The trends …Read More

by Carol Phillips         In my brand strategy class, a concept that has generated a lot of discussion among my MBA students this semester is that of the ”hostile brand.”  According to Harvard prof, Youngme Moon, hostile brands are ”brands that play hard to get.”   The antithesis of ”feel good brands,” hostile brands defiantly demand a decision – love me or leave me. Success through Alienation It sounds risky, yet the …Read More