Over the last several years, many technologies have been developed to help accelerate and automate the sales and marketing functions. First, it was upper funnel tools that help drive customer awareness and consideration through marketing automation, which I have previously written about. Then, came the middle and lower funnel tools that help drive customer evaluation and […]
Top 10 Traits of High-Performing Marketing Teams
Here some common traits that are found in some of the most powerful marketing teams in the e-commerce industry.
The Search for Product-Market Fit (the Holy Grail)
Every entrepreneur believes they have the greatest product that is going to revolutionalize the world, worthy of venture capitalists bathing them in piles of cash to achieve their dream. But, venture capitalists don’t back products, they back winning business models. And, winning business models are anchored by companies that have the potential to generate lots […]
Top 5 Media Buys for First-Time Marketers
Getting the word out about your startup business is always a challenge, but at least there are a handful of techniques you can focus on to jump start your early marketing efforts, all of which are available on a cost-effective basis.
Marketing Attribution: What is it and Why it Matters
The best marketers turn to marketing attribution tools to help optimize marketing within every sub-channel of their business. Let me explain.
Don’t Be Afraid of Hiring Former CEOs as Employees
The common mistake that most entrepreneurs make when setting up their management team is filling it with people that they feel are easier to control or won’t make them look stupid. That typically means an older, former CEO would never get a reasonable look as a direct report into the CEO of most early-stage companies. […]
Should You Clone Yourself When Hiring?
Come on, we have all thought it as entrepreneurs, at one point or another in our careers: “I just wished I could clone myself in finding new employees for my business. Nobody works harder than me. Nobody is as smart as me. I don’t trust anybody to make decisions or manage teams better that I […]
Too Many Meetings Suffocate Morale and Productivity
Early stage companies have many demands on an employee’s time. From getting the product built to marketing for new customers to getting the capital lined up, it is a never ending battle to fit in all that work in a limited amount of time. But, what I often see is productivity gets squeezed by early-stage entrepreneurs […]
Avoid Internally Shuffling People Into Wrong Roles
The old adage, a “bird in hand is worth two in the bush” may work in some instances in business, but slotting people into employee roles is definitely not one of them. I can’t tell you how many times I see early stage entrepreneurs slot a person into a role, simply because it is convenient, […]
Want to Sell More? Keep Your Mouth Shut!
I have written dozens of useful how-to lessons for driving sales, but perhaps none is more important than this one. This is the day that you learn that driving sales has very little to do with what YOU have to say. And, it is everything to do with what YOUR CLIENT has to say. The magic […]
How to Recruit and Retain Rockstar Talent
You have heard me preach over and over again how great teams build great businesses. That I would rather invest in an A+ team with a B+ idea, than a B+ team with an A+ idea. Well now, you can learn exactly how to recruit and retain rockstar talent for your business. My close colleague Jeff […]