Sales and Marketing


Recent Sales and Marketing Articles

'Create a Bond Between a Customer and Your Product' 

A.G. Lafley, the former CEO of Procter & Gamble, explains how customers can help you define your start-up strategy.  Watch video

6 Steps to Host a Successful LinkedIn Group

It's easy for neglect, spammers and poor practices to devalue a LinkedIn Group. Get back on track with advice from some pros.  Read more

Tiger's New Nike Ad...Too Soon?

The new Nike ad proclaims "Winning Takes Care of Everything." But does it? Is this ad too much, too soon?  Read more

How to Torpedo a Competitor

If another vendor has gotten to the account first, you'll need to play a defensive game.  Read more

Why Generosity Is the Most Powerful Networking Tool

A Skimmer's Guide to Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success , by Adam Grant.  Read more

Why Small Data May Be Bigger Than Big Data

Forget punch cards. How smart businesses can connect with customers to create loyalty.  Read more

Make Your Website Rock: 3 Tools

These three tools will help you get more more subscribers, better engagement, more useful content on your website.  Read more

Attract a Huge Crowd With LinkedIn

Don't let your virtual and live events be a bust. Use these LinkedIn event-marketing strategies to create your A-list and fill those seats with just the righ...  Read more

3 Ways to Get Inside Your Customer's Head 

User experience expert Amy Buckner Chowdhry explains how to understand what your customer needs before you launch a new product.  Watch video

Sometimes Yes! Means Maybe...

Don't assume that getting a top executive on board means that you've closed the deal.  Read more

New Life for Old Brands

Finding new opportunities in reviving classic products.  Read more

You Might Be Too In Love With Yourself--and Your Product

5 simple rules to start viewing your business as a potential customer does.  Read more

IBM's Hilariously Awful Tablet Ad

If you're going to advertise on a tablet app, fit your message to the medium.  Read more

Your Business Needs a "Special Sauce"

The most successful businesses define what sets them apart--almost to the point of obsession.  Read more

Why Smart Entrepreneurs Care About Gay Marriage

Hundreds of thousands of gay couples could soon hear wedding bells. Here are five ways for entrepreneurs to capitalize on them.  Read more

Why Networking Doesn't Work

Working a room and shaking dozens of hands? Forget it. Re-think your networking to make lasting connections.  Read more

That's So 2012: Have Pinterest, Foursquare and Groupon Peaked?

Do you fall for social media marketing trends? Slow down and learn from a few whose stars may be fading.  Read more

Try This Proven 3,500-Year-Old Sales Secret

Everyone has to sell something, sometime, even if it's just an idea. Here's a proven 3,500-year-old technique for making the sale.  Read more

Why Consultative Selling Doesn't Work

Forget becoming a trusted adviser. Customers want a manager not a consultant.  Read more

Customer Inertia: How to Get Past It

Getting customers to try a new product or service can be a challenge. Here's how to get them on board.  Read more

Do Customers Love You? 5 Questions to Ask

Want to be as adored by customers as Virgin Airlines? Get a solid foundation in place by thinking through this set of important questions.  Read more

4 Keys to Customer Loyalty

Customer satisfaction is a joke. It's customer loyalty that's the real challenge.  Read more

Top 10 Motivational Books of All Time

Every business library should include at least one of these gems.  Read more

Where You Should Market Online

A recent study outlines online channel and social media activity for 33 different industries.  Read more

3 Reasons Start-ups Should Consider Crowdfunding

Do you have a great idea but intimidated by the difficulties of getting started? Here are three ways crowdfunding can help you.  Read more

Looking for New Customers? Think Global

Don't be intimidated by customs, language translation, and currency exchange--exporting is easier than you think. Five tips to get started.  Read more

7 Things You're Doing Wrong on Pinterest

Have you made any of these mistakes? If so, you're not benefitting from Pinterest as much you could be.  Read more

When Walmart Gets Mad

Nothing frustrates a retailer like bare shelves. If you fall short on an order, here's how to get out of the big box doghouse.  Read more

Pitching Your Start-up? 5 Things to Master First

Whatever kind of company you are starting, you need to know how to talk about it from Day 1. Here are a PR pro's top tips for starting out with massive momen...  Read more

How to Revive a Cold Opportunity

Even if you've dropped the ball, you can still win the game. Here's how to reheat a cold lead.  Read more

Life is Good Founder Bert Jacobs: 'We Wanted Control of Our Baby' 

To take the Life is Good brand beyond t-shirts, Bert Jacobs and his co-founder brother had to borrow $16.5 million to buy out contracts with t-shirt licensees.  Watch video

I Lost $60-Flippin'-Thousand Dollars? Don't Let This Happen to You

Avoid these common--and very painful--digital marketing scenarios that can lead to thousands of wasted dollars.  Read more

Using Your Customers to Drive Business

Your network of customers, friends, and family can be your biggest assets in building your business. Contactually CEO Zvi Band gives tips on leveraging exist...  Read more

How to Evaluate a Market Strategy

These seven characteristics of market strategies actually generate sales.  Read more

3 Things to Do Before You Launch a Beverage Company 

Kara Goldin, founder of of Hint Water, explains how you can determine if your new drink has promise.  Watch video