The US Federal Government is the world's largest B2B buyer and given that (a) not all Federal websites are down and (b) the healthcare.gov (Obamacare) website is having problems suggests that there is a supply chain and specifically a Federal procurement system problem at work. As the unbelievable drama in Washington DC plays out andContinue reading “Not all Government websites down: is it the Federal Procurement System?”
Category Archives: Small and Medium Industry
Can you really start advertising at 1$/day ?
Given the significant interest among businesses about how much to spend on Google AdWords or other PPC here is a quick answer: you can really decide to spend as little as $1 a day and see how you go. Sounds like a "pennies a day" magazine subscription pitch but the fact is that you can stopContinue reading “Can you really start advertising at 1$/day ?”
Does Internet Sales Tax really level the playing field between clicks and bricks?
Does Internet Sales Tax really level the playing field between clicks and bricks? The US Senate has passed the Internet Sales Tax law that will force online retailers to collect sales tax for the shipping destination state. Initial plans are to have Internet retailers with over $1 Million sales to collect the state sales taxContinue reading “Does Internet Sales Tax really level the playing field between clicks and bricks?”
Why “plugging away” with useful content is so important to digital marketing success
"Plugging away" or just routinely updating your organization's web presence with useful content is critical to digital marketing success. Because once created, digital content is forever! It does not matter whether it is your website that is being constantly updated, or blog posts are coming up, new YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter contentContinue reading “Why “plugging away” with useful content is so important to digital marketing success”
Avoiding the Inventor’s bias in Concept Testing for New Products
Avoiding the Inventor’s bias in Concept Testing for New Products is really important. You are an inventor (or the NPD team in a large company) who has come up with a great product idea, clearly there is market need and the idea is pretty clear. You can easily start production, maybe a prototype locally and then large scale globally sourced production at low cost. But please pause and take a deep breath…..
Multi-country globalization in 2013
In India over the holidays, I found that globalization at the multi-country level to be rising and thriving-like never before. This blog post as we ring in the New Year 2013. First two somber incidents and public reactions: The Delhi rape has outraged the Indian public with multiple protests and huge pressure on the IndianContinue reading “Multi-country globalization in 2013”
Hurricane Sandy: what can businesses really do?
Hurricane Sandy is arriving today at the East Coast of the US and is being hailed as a "Super Storm." Hurricanes are a rarity in the East Coast and local and State Governments, private and public organizations are pulling out all the stops to keep people safe. Businesses have to wonder what they can doContinue reading “Hurricane Sandy: what can businesses really do?”
B2B marketing opportunity appears when the Buying Center members face Buy Task challenges
That B2B marketing opportunity appears when the Buying Center members face Buy Task challenges is a concept that is simple and obvious to the buying firm buying center and strangely only to the more perceptive B2B marketer. Here is how the Buy Task challenge plays out for the Buying Center and spells B2B marketing opportunityContinue reading “B2B marketing opportunity appears when the Buying Center members face Buy Task challenges”
Click-Through-Rate (CTR) in Google AdWords or PPC is like opening a Direct Mail piece
Click-Through-Rate (CTR) in Google AdWords and PPC (pay per click) is like opening a Direct Mail piece, if you think about it. Here is how: Direct Mail involves preparing a mailer that has a letter and some kind of a response form along with a reply envelope. This is what we call "junk mail" andContinue reading “Click-Through-Rate (CTR) in Google AdWords or PPC is like opening a Direct Mail piece”
Pharmaceutical companies outsource innovation to Biotech firms
Pharmaceutical companies have great strengths in the marketing of medicines but tend to outsource the uncertain business of early stage innovation to small Biotech firms. For creativity and radical innovation is difficult to do in very large organizations. There are just too many processes, and many of them are not very clear in the firstContinue reading “Pharmaceutical companies outsource innovation to Biotech firms”