The anonymity inherent in the online marketing mindset causes salespeople to think of potential clients in an adversarial way. Too many business owners are focusing solely on how they can lure or trick people into visiting their websites with keywords and newsletters. On the Accelerate! Podcast, Andy Paul and I talked about how this behavior… Continue reading
When I speak to audiences about Clicksand, I always make the point that those who sell online marketing snake oil (I call them pitchmen) know that what they’re selling is bad for businesses. The data, decisions, and dashboards that are built into online marketing are designed primarily to make the product addictive, just like casino… Continue reading
The people who designed online marketing dashboards did so knowing full well that data is addictive. They hook you with metrics and numbers and then use that fascination to distract you from what’s really going on with your business—they redirect your focus from sales and progress to activity. Stephen Woessner and I hashed it out… Continue reading
In the prologue of Clicksand, I describe five emotions that many business owners have in common these days. If they’ve tried online marketing and have been unhappy with the results they’ve seen, they tend to experience some or all of these emotions: Frustration – Why isn’t online marketing what we were promised it would be?… Continue reading
Instead of cranking up the volume and trickery with your online marketing strategies, consider incorporating a ‘relationship process’—a more genuine and effective method of business development. Nancy Gaines and I dug into the many ways companies are failing when they focus only on a sales process and neglect to systematically build and nurture relationships. Here’s… Continue reading
Whenever I make a keynote speech about the dangers of Clicksand, almost invariably the same question will be raised in the Q&A afterward. Business owners always want to know how they can get out of the trap. One of them will usually ask, “What is one simple thing I can immediately do (or have my… Continue reading
On his last day in office in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower made a speech in which he warned the nation about the rising influence of what he called the “military-industrial complex.” As America’s top general in World War II and then as president, Eisenhower had seen firsthand how U.S. industrial manufacturing firms had turned our… Continue reading
Are you distracted chasing mythical new customers that you can supposedly attract with online marketing when there are huge opportunities right in front of you within your network of existing relationships? I recently sat down with Derek Champagne on the Business Leadership Series podcast to talk about how online marketing can be so attractive that… Continue reading
It’s ironic (and telling) that most online marketers sell with in-person, relationship-based approach while they are telling businesses to try to reel in customers without interacting with anyone. Neil Ball and I talked about this disingenuous approach on The Entrepreneur Way podcast recently. Here’s a short sample clip from the show: Listen to the full-length… Continue reading
One of the things I dig into in “Clicksand” is how similar the concepts behind many online marketing tools are to those used in casino gambling. The dashboards and stats used for online marketing reporting are supposedly there to help business owners make better decisions, but in reality, many of the reports are just designed… Continue reading