I was planning on writing something that helped break out the differences between the elevator pitch, the unique selling propositions (USP’s), and value propositions. Then I came across the exact same post written last year by sales guru Jill Konrath, which is pretty solid, so I am reposting here in its entirety down below. One […]
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3 Most Common Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make (and How to Fix Them)
You’ve heard it before: the vast majority of businesses fail within a few years. Now… let’s think about this for second. Why do smart, hard-working people with good intentions crash and burn? It’s often a combination of factors, from co-founder conflict, to funding issues and execution struggles…but at the core of it, businesses fail for one fundamental […]
How to Stay Relevant In A Digital World
This summer, NASCAR made a comeback. That comeback is very much attributed to its recent focus on social media. Not just its presence on social media—its recent emphasis on understanding its customers is important, too. Their goal? To be “customer-obsessed.” NASCAR recognized an opportunity in social media, seeing it as a place to […]
3 Profit-Eroding Expenses That Startups Must Avoid
The biggest mistake startup founders make in allocating their capital is not monitoring financial results. As a result, they end up engaging in activities that fail to enhance profitability. Here are three profit-eroding expenses startup founders should avoid. Sexy Markets Too many founders target markets that are sexy in order to attract great publicity. But […]
Being Exclusive Without Excluding
There is a fine line to walk when it comes to positioning your company within its market. When your segment focus is too broad, you risk wasting marketing budget. Feeling too “general”, your branding and imaging will not appeal strongly enough. On the other hand (disregarding genuinely specialist products), too narrow of a focus can […]
Don’t Assume Your Way to Failure: Testing Assumptions
Assumptions – We’ve all made them from time to time, and sometimes they can be harmful. Nowhere is this truer than in developing a business. When it comes to taking an idea to prototype, and then from prototype to product, there is a key ingredient to success that is all too often overlooked: assumption testing. […]
Customer Validation – Truth and Consequences For Startups
When startups fail to obtain evidence to support their assumption that customers will buy and use their product, their chances of failure sky-rocket. A lack of customer insight means you’re more likely to launch something that does not have the necessary product / market fit. It also means an investor will refuse to fund you, […]
4 Key Things You Need for a Social Media Strategy
If you’re trying to wrap your head around social media, you’re not alone. Everybody feels like they need to have some kind of presence on social media to capture the opportunities. Most people have trouble capturing these opportunities. So how do you gain a competitive edge on social media? First you need to have a […]
The Importance Of Understanding The Demographic Profiles Of Your Target Market
You have laid all the groundwork for your product, implemented penetrative marketing strategies and even reduced your price points to rope in more customers, but still, your product isn’t catching on. Many entrepreneurs commonly find themselves in this predicament, with a good number of them blaming themselves for the same. What they fail to understand […]
Design a Recurring Revenue Model for your Startup
One of the first things that a venture capitalist looks for in assessing an investment opportunity is the revenue model of the business. More specifically, they are looking for the frequency of that revenue stream, and whether or not it is recurring and easily predictable. The rationale behind this is that investors prefer businesses that maximize the lifetime value of their consumers, […]