By Francis Moran
It doesn’t have much to do with bringing technology to market but today’s post is one I’ve been meaning to write for a while. Having spent the last two weeks travelling across three continents, six time zones and nearly 20,000 miles, it seemed appropriate that I tackle it today. A lot of entrepreneurs and startup CEOs become reluctant road warriors as they raise funding and meet with customers who can be globally distributed. If today’s post helps stretch your scarce travel dollars while making things less stressful, then I will have done well.
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By Bob Bailly
“Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”
— Harry S Truman, 33rd president of United States (1884 – 1972)
Over the last several months Canadians have watched the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau move from the fringes of the Liberal Party to become its newly elected leader. After he garnered 80 per cent of the first ballot votes at the party convention last weekend, Justin Trudeau has finally been able to overcome the disdain of his opponents and the media. But as journalist Michael Den Tandt observes, “the latter will not last – unless Trudeau proves to be as effective a leader as he is a campaigner.”
But what constitutes an effective leader?
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By Leo Valiquette
Focus.
It’s what distinguishes talkers from doers, which I touched upon in last week’s post about lessons learned at a literacy conference that apply to entrepreneurs as much as they to do authors.
While I was at that conference, I ran into Canadian fantasy fiction author Ed Greenwood. Over a span of less than 30 years, this man has published scores of books, hundreds of magazine articles, a pile of short fiction and worked on countless other related projects. He is a working writer well accustomed to navigating the often-absurd complexities of the publishing industry and trying to earn a fair living while doing so. Anything beyond a month to crank out a draft of a novel is a luxury for him. He’s scarce on social media and I’ve probably just given you the reason for that.
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By Daylin Mantyka
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are Fast Company, Gabriel Weinberg’s Blog and ReadWriteWeb.
The sex panther formula for finding your brand’s secret sauce
Anchorman’s Brian Fantana may have been off the mark with his sex panther cologne — but his head was in the right place. Mark McNeilly writes about the importance of product differentiation and finding that secret sauce that separates your brand from the rest.
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By Tim Peter
The Internet offers customers lots of options before they make a purchase decision. In fact, it’s cliché to say that on the Internet your competition is just a click away. But it’s true. Research from Google and others suggests that customers view an average of seven to 10 sites before making a purchase decision. In some industries, those numbers are even higher.
Why so many?
Simple. Regardless of whether they are looking for a new car, consultant, contractor, or chiropractor, customers really look to answer only two questions when researching products and services online:
Will this product/service meet my needs?
Why should I buy from you?
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The saddest marketing story I’ve ever heard
April 10, 2013 by Francis Moran
I heard the saddest story the other day. A few years ago, we worked on the launch of a new personal finance website developed by a veteran personal financial advisor […]
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What an entrepreneur can learn from a literary conference: Part II
April 09, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
I’ve blogged before about my ambitions to become a fabulously successful novelist and my annual April trek to Toronto to attend the Ad Astra literary conference. Having just returned from the 2013 edition, here are my latest observations that apply as much to entrepreneurs as they do to authors […]
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When is it time to say, ‘Our CEO’s got to go?’
April 08, 2013 by Denzil Doyle
By definition, innovation is all about change, which means that the duties and responsibilities of a high technology CEO are bound to change as the company grows […]
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Great articles roundup: Smarter marketing, entrepreneurship, women in tech, word of mouth, content marketing
April 05, 2013 by Daylin Mantyka
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are, ReadWriteWeb, Ventureburn, Techvibes, Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That and Velocity […]
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Trademark hygiene: A cautionary tale
April 04, 2013 by David French
Businesses, particularly when they are starting out, often make the mistake of assuming that by merely incorporating they have reserved their name. They have acquired some rights, but only in the smallest sense […]
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‘You can’t cross a canyon in two leaps’
April 03, 2013 by Francis Moran
Canada lost one of its most populist and colourful political characters last week when former Alberta premier and Calgary mayor Ralph Klein died. There are a number of marketing lessons, both salutary and otherwise, to be drawn from the exploits of this seemingly simple man […]
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Best of: Just the facts … no, these facts
April 02, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
In my years as a journalist I endured my fair share of embarrassing gaffes, both my own and those of my staff (which I was often on the hook to explain, apologize for and redress.) Despite the emphasis on clean, factual and reliable content, the occasional mistake is made in the newspaper business […]
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March roundup: What does it take to get technology to market?
April 01, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
March break aside, we kept up the pace last month with a great lineup of content that featured some excellent posts from our guest bloggers. Hot topics included opportunities in the global smart TV market, criteria for hiring a worthy writer and the risks and rewards of having a product that is truly unique in the marketplace […]
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The Future of A&R – Walabe : [...] http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/top-10-questions-every-strategic-communicator-should-ask... [...]
Traditional Marketing is Dead – Long Live Bikini Waxer Marketing | Scalexl : [...] pointed out by Alexandra Reid on the Francis Moran website content marketing is becoming more and more like journalism. So, it is not just about the content, [...]
It’s Summertime…and the Networking is Easy? | THE MERRAINE BRAIN : [...] In fact, summer is perhaps one of the times least used to network, yet at the same time has shown to be the most productive time to network. People tend to be in a brighter mood compared to during the gloomy winters-especially where I am from in England! Networking needs to be fun and not approached as another chore, like mowing the lawn. (http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/social-media-strategy-why-meeting-in-the-real-world-matt...) [...]