Blog
The Value of Making a Long-Term Commitment to Your Brand
Last spring, I wrote about how it is important to stick with your brand identity – even when you are bored with it. Back then I noted that while you might tire of your brand in a year or two, it may take a decade before your clients or customers even begin to recall...
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What’s in a Name?
I happened on this fun story the other day where graphic artists critique the campaign logos for the top eleven Democratic contenders in the 2020 presidential campaign. Back when the world was young, I worked in politics, so I find this kind of minutia interesting. ...
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50 Shades of Blue
Working in a creative role amidst folks who have been trained to believe that every problem can be quantified has provided me with moments self-enlightenment, entertainment and, yes, frustration. The frustration arises when I am paired with teammates are not on a...
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Your Customers Don’t See Your Brand Like You Do
Whenever I think about a customer’s relationship to a client’s brand, I remember a conversation I had with an executive at a company my firm was wooing. In our business, we got new clients through an RFP process. We always branded the cover of our proposal with the...
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How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Your Brand
One of the perennial battles I have with clients involves their urge to rebrand too often. You put a lot of time into creating your brand, but you live with it every day. It doesn’t take long for you to notice snazzier colors, slicker fonts or zippier taglines that...
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If You Want to Persuade, Stop Talking and Listen
Watching the current state of political discourse, I’m reminded of a time when I, as a student debater, was in the library cramming to prep for my next debate. My debate coach stopped by and, picking up on my state of panic, suggested that when you are short of time,...
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Mastering Your Own Domain
It’s good to have some basic technical skills related to your profession.
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Elon Musk Talks Like a 7th Grader — And So Should You
Awhile back I read a blurb from CB Insights – they produce a fun, data-driven, daily email blast – titled, “Elon Musk talks like a 7th grader.” They came to this conclusion after analyzing 28 quarters of earnings call transcripts. They explained that this...
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Typing to the Sound of Bagpipes
Early in my career, I worked for a man who played bagpipe music on a boom box when he was writing. He also would post a sign with a skull and crossbones on his door. I took the sign as a warning not to complain about the bagpipe music. Gary was actually a very...
read moreCommunicating in a Post-Text World
If you haven’t noticed, the future of the Internet is video/audio. If you don’t believe me, you can believe the New York Times. Or ask any twenty- or thirty-something. Blogs are giving way to podcasts and YouTube channels. Just last week Instagram introduced a new...
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6 Reasons Why You Should Get Help Creating Content
You’re a professional. You are a better than average writer. You know more about the issues that matter to your clients than anyone else. So you should make the time to write your own articles, posts or presentations, right? Wrong.
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When it Comes to SEO, Professionals Need to Proceed with Caution
Professional service providers need to prioritize the quality of their content over search engine optimization in marketing posts.
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Drumming Up Business
Doing anything that pushes you outside your comfort zone can help you build your business.
read moreThe Fall of Man
It’s gotten so bad that I wasn’t even surprised to hear that Matt Lauer was fired from the Today Show this morning for sexual misconduct. I guess it would be news if a male in a position of power or influence had not engaged in sexual misconduct. When I was coming up,...
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Four Letter Words Are Your Friends
We all love our terms of art. The define us as part of a group, and they establish our professional credentials. What they don’t do is facilitate effective communications. Speechwriters know that the most effective way to communicate or persuade is through the use of...
read moreWould You Rather Be Lucky or Good?
I vividly remember one day talking to my parents, well, actually talking to my mother while my father watched TV, about some recent career achievement. My mother said, “aren’t you lucky to have this opportunity,” and my father looked up from the TV, interrupted and...
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Is an Ad Campaign the Solution or the Problem?
Recently the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade group representing the US pharmaceutical industry, launched an unprecedented image campaign titled “Go Boldly.” The campaign was rolled out amid puzzled looks from biopharmaceutical...
read moreFeedback Fatigue
I blame the millennials. I can’t have a commercial interaction with a human, be it by direct contact, telephone, web chat, text or probably bot, that doesn’t end in the request to complete a satisfaction survey. I bought tea yesterday and was given the opportunity “to...
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