Reading Time: < 1 minIn the last move of Google’s weird switch from “Universal Analytics” (“UA”, the Google Analytics that everyone has used for years) to “Google Analytics 4” will happen in just a few weeks. For those not familiar with this, Google Analytics is software used to track information about your website visitors, and Google made a massive […]
Marketing
Value is what people perceive it to be
Reading Time: < 1 minThe word “value” gets discussed and dissected in business quite a bit, but what does it really mean? At the end of the day, it means whatever the customer wants it to mean. I once bought a $5 bottle of Coke and was happy to do it. Given the situation, the value was high. I […]
“What is spam?”, 10 years later
Reading Time: 2 minI share a lot from Seth Godin on this blog and in emails to various people, but there is one of his posts that I share far more than others called “What is spam?“ He published it 10 years ago today, and I fear that things have gotten far worse over this last decade. The […]
They don’t care about your hot take regarding TikTok
Reading Time: < 1 minI was on a call recently with a potential client, and we got pretty deep into what he was looking to accomplish. I sort of summarized the call by saying something like “We’ll sell you a website and marketing, but I know that you’re just buying phone calls.“ Most businesses don’t want to improve their […]
Taglines vs Headlines
Reading Time: < 1 minThis was from a short conversation I had a few weeks ago, and I thought it was worth sharing. What’s the difference between a “tagline” and a “headline”? Here’s how I see it. Taglines define your company. Nike is “Just Do It”. Apple used “Think Different” for years. Our is “Building a Brighter Web”. They’re […]
The commodity versus the product
Reading Time: < 1 minWhat is it that you sell? Even if it’s just one product, it’s really more than one thing to your customer. As an example, in his classic book “The E-Myth Revisited” author Michael Gerber shares this quick note about what Revlon actually sells: Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon and an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, once […]
If you purchase from cold outreach, you’re condoning their behavior
Reading Time: 2 minAs with most of you, I get hit with cold outreach all the time. Cold emails, phone calls, LinkedIn connections, people at our door, etc. While they may occasionally have decent offers, my rule on cold outreach has become very simple — no. Last week I had someone stop by our house to sell us […]
Don’t ascribe attribution to Google when other investments drove the real value
Reading Time: 2 minWhen monitoring your website traffic, it’s easy to look at your sources and see that Google has sent you the most traffic, leading you to think you should double down on it. Maybe you should, but maybe not. There are certainly people that Google sends to your site that you should be thankful for. If […]
Maximize your interactions
Reading Time: < 1 minAutomation in a business, particularly in marketing, is a very attractive thing. You can save time and just have messages and connections happen automatically. With that saved time, you can now do even more! But what “more” will you be doing? In my mind, the messages and connections are the thing you should be doing […]
Does your sign really need a phone number on it?
Reading Time: 2 minWhenever you’re in the car, I’m sure you see many of the same things as you’re driving — signs on the side of the road (or up on billboards) promoting one business or another. Many of them are illegal “bandit signs”, but this isn’t about the legality of them (though I hate those), but more […]