What kind of marketing is the most effective?

sneezr.ca Have you ever asked yourself that question? I did. In fact, many years ago I spent countless hours trying to figure it out.
The answer turned out to be quite simple: word of mouth marketing. Or as I call it: the art of cultivating recommendations.

Surprised? Probably not. With recommendations, there is no sales pressure and no credibility issues. When your friends, family members or trusted co-workers recommend something or someone to you, they are genuinely trying to help you. That means a lot, which is why you usually remember it for a long time. But here is the catch: recommendations must be earned. How do you do that? Where do you start? How do you give people a reason to talk about your products/services? How do you nudge your story into every day conversations? I launched sneezr.ca to help you answer those questions.

Can you have great branding without great thinking?

What follows is a condensed version of a true story.

A few days ago, a friend of mine emailed me an article written by a student of a Canadian business continue reading

Why BlackBerry failed

One of the great corporate failures in the last five years is BlackBerry’s inability to find its story.

Oct 7, 2013

Quick question

What’s the most important thing you know?

“You really think Yann Martel is a good speaker?”

An acquaintance asked me the above question soon after I published “Are you a dreamer.”

My 2¢: You bet. Sure, he says “um,” continue reading

Your handful of coins

Thomas Edison used to hold a handful of coins while resting in his chair, so if he lapsed into sleep during the day, the coins would fall, hit the floor, continue reading

Are you a dreamer?

This is long so feel free to skip it.

Caspar David Friedrich – The dreamer

Today, let me tell you two quick stories:

Story #1: The man who walked through life backwards.

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How busy is your internal editor?

If you want to do something that’s at all original, that’s at all valuable to the market, you need to adopt a leadership position. You’re bringing continue reading

Does your offer look & sound as great as it is?

luxy

Image via luxyhair.com

My 2¢:
– An idea must be more than right—it must be pretty if it’s to become eyecatching.
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Does your business/product/service look as great as it is?

A marketing idea must be more than right—it must be pretty if it is to create positive and lasting excitement in the world. Case in point: Poo-Pourri.

My 2¢: It is always easier continue reading

Real vs Fake Bouquets

Did you catch the new iPhone reveal?

I like the new iPhones.
The iPhone is the real McCoy. A solid concept maintains its shape no matter how much you poke or probe it.

This reminds continue reading