Content marketing was never really a thing. It was just a new name for something that has been around for a long time, namely long-form copy. Content marketing just uncovered new ways to leverage big chunks of copy. The idea itself is great. Here’s the problem: despite what anyone says, great informative content requires expertise and a fresh take on an industry situation or problem. That, again, is great. But creating that copy requires access to expertise. This means t

If you’re like most busy executives, you’ve got a stack of reading material in your office and more online that you plan to get to someday. If you look at what’s actually in that stack, it’s a collection of material that you thought was important enough to save, but too lengthy to read on the spot. The goal for B2B writing is to make it on-the-spot reading wherever possible—you want to avoid the stack. You do that by creating a visual impression that the material is well orga

From the buyer's perspective, the brand is an insurance policy. A brand on a consumer product tells the buyer exactly what to expect – every time. But in B2B sales, buyers often don't know what they need, what’s available, or how it works. A reputable B2B brand, from the buyer's perspective, insures the buyer against risk before and after buying. From the B2B seller’s perspective, the basic purpose of a brand is to educate the potential buyer and reduce the impact of price

Marketing Advice for Small Tech Companies: What is the difference between a risk and a chance? Determining what is an acceptable risk versus a speculative chance is a challenge. Over time, this becomes intuitive for most tech company execs. In the meantime, following are a few questions to mull over: 1. What aren’t my competitors doing this already? 2. Am I justifiably ahead of the curve or is there a flaw in the idea? 3. Am I evaluating the right numbers? 4. Am I in lov