Dan Kraus says, “Notice I didn’t say new customers. Or prospects. Closed business – people that actually pay you money for your products or services – should have the biggest impact on your go-forward marketing. However, there are lots of caveats to this. When you are early in your business, before your business model finally gels, any customer that pays you is a good customer. This is one of the most treacherous times and one of the best times to let your closed customers influence your marketing strategy. But (and it’s a big but) you have to be careful in the questions you ask... [...]

Scott Yates says, “If courting customers is like courting a spouse, getting a prospect to download an ebook is like introducing them to your parents. With the prospective spouse and the prospective customer, they will learn all kinds of things about you. When you think of it that way, it should help increase the focus you place on getting your ebook offers in tip-top shape. Or, to use another analogy, it’s kind of like a display of orange slices at the grocery store, giving shoppers an opportunity to taste a sample before committing to a purchase. After all, it’s awfully disappointing... [...]

John Bonini says, “The way you go about setting goals is all wrong. You may not even be aware of it. And thekicker is that it’s not even your fault. You have faulty wiring. (Don’t worry, we all do.) You’re conditioned to attach expectations, as unrealistic as they may be, to any goal you set for your business. Even worse, your knowledge bias renders you clueless to your own faults. You’re taught that setting goals is a venerable investment of time. It’s a sign of ambition and a prelude to success. But what happens when your expectations are what’s keeping... [...]

Selena Larson says, “With over 100 million active accounts and 10 million user-created digital magazines, Flipboard has changed way people read and share news around the Web. The application lets users aggregate social feeds into a digital magazine, as well as follow and build magazines based on different topics, like cooking or international news. At Wednesday evening’s ReadWrite Mix, Flipboard CEO Mike McCue laid out his vision for the future of digital media, though he couldn’t explain it without playing a little Buzzword Bingo”. Flipboard’s Mike McCue On The Future Of... [...]

The latest article on Business Insider is titled “REPORT: This Technology Will Change Digital Advertising”. Patricia Chui says, “Running an auction in less then one-tenth of a second is solving a lot of advertising problems, billions of dollars at a time. But in most major ad campaigns, there are still situations where planning ahead is critical. As Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, puts it, “Would you wait to buy your ad slot for the Super Bowl until the day of the game?” The answer, of course, is no. Big-ticket ads such as those are at the center of a media plan,... [...]

Jay Baer‘s latest ‘Convince & Convert’ blog post is titled “How to get approval for marketing strategy shifts″. Baer says, “Over the past few weeks, I’ve done several keynote presentations about Youtility at small, focused events where nearly all attendees were CMOs or other execs at large companies. In each of these situations, I received the same question from an audience member: “I work at a big company with entrenched marketing processes. How can we possibly move to creating marketing that’s totally different and useful?” It’s a great question, because it strikes... [...]

The latest article on HubSpot blog is titled “4 Signs Your Marketing Strategy Needs an Overhaul”. Annie Zelm says, “When you drive a car that’s almost 10 years old and is approaching the 150,000-mile mark, you’re constantly watching for signs of poor performance. You don’t wonder if something will go wrong — you know it’s just a matter of when and how much it will cost to fix. My car has failed on several occasions, but usually not without warning. There’s a glaring “check engine” light, a shaking steering column, a loud clunking sound (or, with my luck, all three.)“. 4... [...]

The latest ‘Econsultancy’ blog post is titled “Five ways to ensure your marketing strategy grows with your business”. Shafqat Islam says, “One of the most daunting tasks for any new business is developing a marketing analytics model that can scale and grow with the company.   With a fast-growing startup, the value of every marketing decision, from website design to content creation to attending conferences, is critical. Individual startups will have differing needs dependant on various factors. However, we found that there were five key points that helped us to successfully... [...]

The latest ‘Econsultancy’ blog post is titled “Five ways to ensure your marketing strategy grows with your business”. Shafqat Islam says, “One of the most daunting tasks for any new business is developing a marketing analytics model that can scale and grow with the company.   With a fast-growing startup, the value of every marketing decision, from website design to content creation to attending conferences, is critical. Individual startups will have differing needs dependant on various factors. However, we found that there were five key points that helped us to successfully... [...]

The latest ‘MarketingExperiments’ blog post is titled “Digital Marketing: Stop ignoring data and start learning”. Allison Banko says, “March Madness has been one heck of a ride so far, huh? This year’s NCAA tournament is pumping out upsets left and right as Cinderella stories rise and brackets burst. But I’m a Florida Gators fan, and I have to admit, I’m liking what I’m seeing from all of the college basketball madness so far (knock on wood). After a less-than-awesome football season, I’m going to soak up an undefeated record and this No. 1 ranking as long as I can. I’m not... [...]