We don’t normally take political stands here at Eilert Communications. Two bills in front of Congress and the Senate, however, got our attention. And not in a good way.

SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” goes up for a vote in the House next week. The Protect IP Act (PIPA) goes in front of the Senate next week. The intention is to “protect intellectual property rights” and “go after online piracy”. We are all for protecting intellectual property. After all, we are in the business of building brands and identities. But these proposals are not the way to do it.

Both proposals go well beyond that intention and venture into the territory of censorship and government selection of which businesses stay in business. One analogy being used that we think is fitting is shutting down the auto industry because a bank robber drove away from a robbery in a car. Continue reading »

Do you make these marketing mistakes?

Common marketing mistakes business owners make can cost valuable business opportunities and serious money.

Over the years, I’ve heard countless business owners voice regrets about spending marketing dollars for no return. As they say “hindsight is 20/20”. Most stories reflected common mistakes. This list highlights the top 7: Continue reading »

Last year I discovered my staff had not learned goal setting in school. To my shock, this appears to be the norm! (which gets into another issue with our education system, but I digress).

Thirsty for new tools that helped them, everyone embraced the new knowledge and picked it up quickly. And, of course, results began to happen.

Tip: our approach included happiness in every area of life – not just work. This made a big difference to the team. Most comments sounded like this: “This is a view of success I like! Most of the time it’s just about money & more stuff.”

The steps.
Here are the steps I take: Continue reading »

Last week, I wrote about the basics of crafting a feasibility study to test a new business idea before investing too much time and money in it. This week, we look at what a feasibility plan might look like.

What does a feasibility plan look like?

There is no “set in stone” format for a feasibility plan. Good plans are on paper or digital – and some great plans have sketched out on the back of napkins (literally). Here are two suggested outlines of information you will need: Continue reading »

Have you ever spent a lot of time, money and energy on a “great new idea”, but wondered later what you ever saw in it? New business ideas are exciting. After all, they are new!

One way is to do a quick feasibility study to test the idea. Feasibility studies serve three key purposes: Continue reading »

Expert presenters have a #1 rule: know your audience. Before crafting any type of presentation, first understand who will be listening, why they are there, and what is important to them. Continue reading »

Everybody loves a story. Stories help us understand and identify with situations and people. Continue reading »

Ever been in a meeting where new ideas die fast from conflict? Here’s a great way to get everyone on board: we call it “yes and”. This improv game can get the creative juices flowing for every meeting – and even diffuse some buyer resistance in a sales call! Continue reading »

Since hearing about Steve Jobs passing away yesterday, I keep finding my thoughts going from the here and now to re-evaluating and remembering my own life and journey over the same years that he built his career. Continue reading »

Attention spans get shorter every day, and the 60 second pitch works for businesses and people to quickly communicate who they are and what they do. Having an effective 60 second pitch (or “one minute commercial”) sets the stage for the conversation that follows. So – how do you craft a killer pitch? Easy – follow this formula and watch the magic! Continue reading »