Marketing Articles About Mistakes Search Results
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- Tips on 6 biggest mistakes to avoid in B2B content marketing. Each month ClickDocuments asks industry experts a specific question on content marketing. This months question is, “What’s the biggest mistake to avoid in b2b content marketing." I'm in good company again this month with Patsi Krakoff, Maria Pergolino, Ardath Albee,...
(07/20/09 09:00 PM)
- Outlines - Hooray!.
One of my jobs today is to prepare an outline for recompete #3. I've written about the importance of outlines in the past, and to my way of thinking, an outline is the very best tool you can have have for preparing a proposal. Beginners often skip the outlining stage, thinking that they can just dig in and start writing. Or that their proposal is too small to merit an outline. Big mistake. Because what happens when you work without an outline is that you end up with a mish-mosh of written material that is disorganized, doesn't flow, and may not be responsive to the requirements of your RFP/RFA.
An outline is your friend. And the time you take to properly prepare it will pay off down the road. Here are some things to consider when preparing your outline:
- Your RFP/RFA is your guide. Sometimes it will tell you exactly how your proposal should be organized, at least with respect to major headings. You may also be able to ferret out your first level of sub-headings from Section L (instructions), Section M (evaluation criteria) and/or Section C (statement of work).
- Don't use too many levels. The more levels you have, the more difficult it will be for you/your team and for reviewers to follow your proposal. Personally, I like three levels:
I. Major Heading
A. First Sub-Heading
(1) Sub-sub Heading
Of course, some RFPs/RFAs will dictate the specific structure of your proposal. In such cases, you need to follow those instructions.
- Don't think of your outline as being carved in stone. Outlining is really an evolving process. I often change my outlines several times over the course of a proposal because I find -- after things have been written -- that they just don't fit where I thought they would.
I've heard people say that they don't really know how to prepare an outline. That's not surprising because it's often not as easy as it sounds. It can be a frustrating exercise and can take time to get it right. But in the end, you'll be glad you spent the time.
The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) has a useful section on developing outlines. Check it out here.
(04/24/08 09:01 AM) - Prioritize Like a P&L. Today I was having lunch with a friend who is VP of Marketing for a local startup. Small budget, lots to do...how to prioritize? In my experience, when you're trying to grow revenue as fast as possible with little time, money and resources, it's important to think about the after-launch resources a program will take. Think about any program or initiative as an ongoing P&L. The best projects will have sustaining value, like a business that has sustaining profits. In fact, you should first think about the projects that have a clear and direct impact on revenue or cost savings. Can you answer the question: "This program/initiative will have an impact on our bottom line because..." The biggest mistake in selecting programs is the costs of sustainment. Usually things get set in motion that take human capital as part of the processes. The ideal projects are those that are set in motion, sustian and/or grow in impact over time and require little resources to sustain. Many projects I've launched that risked failure and often got orphaned are those that required ongoing program management time and processes. If it was part of an existing process it was easier to absorb. Creating new processes, owners, measures, reporting, etc. and sustaining all of this is an investment – COGS and Opex in a P&L. Sometimes it's worth it...but most of the time we underestimate the cost of sustainment. So, look for the projects that can 'blossom' on their own. For example, customer created...
(10/19/07 09:00 PM)
- 10 Mistakes Managers Make During Job Interviews. http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/jobseeker/tools/ept/careerArticlesPost.html?post=138
(06/26/07 09:01 AM)
- Product loyalty: consumers mistake familiarity with superiority. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070605-product-loyalty-consumers-mistake-familiarity-with-superiority.html
(06/07/07 09:01 AM)
- Career Tiip #14: Show and Know Metrics. Once I was in a meeting at Dell, and someone said the company could stop on a dime. A colleague retorted, We’d stop because of a dime!” As funny as that is, this kind of agility is only possible in a metrics-oriented culture. Friends who have left Dell for new companies are amazed at how metrics-deficient their culture is. They are shocked how employees don’t understand the basics of a PL, and so they work to add KPIs into the business that feed the PL. As a result, these new employees are MVPs to executives because they speak their language. A little over a year ago I visited my undergrad college, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and met with the Dean of Business Marketing. I told him marketing graduates need to be more analytically-capable and trained than they were when I went to school. He agreed, and in fact they were in the midst of planning restructuring of the curriculum to focus on analytics. Demonstrating focus and proficiency in measurement will help your career. By showing a command of measuring your activities, you will appear in much better control of your area…and thus be given more responsibility. Executives will have more confidence in employees who can manage and measure, and are comforted by employees who can speak and present in their language. However, don’t make the mistake of getting stuck on the guard-rail of internal measurement. Balance your perspective with customer feedback, customer measures, and creative thinking. Make some principle-based...
(01/23/07 09:01 PM)
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- [Entrepreneur] What Not To Do. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/print/0,2361,312661,00.html A seasoned entrepreneur reveals the 17 most common mistakes startups make and how to avoid them--plus, the 5 things you must do to ensure success....
(12/12/06 08:04 AM)
- Do Some Web Hosts Specialize in E-Commerce?. Almost any Web host will tell you that it's able to handle e-commerce. Take these claims with a grain of salt: E-commerce is a special application, and mistakes or problems can upset your customers an ...
(08/27/06 09:02 PM)
- Avoiding the More Common Mistakes in QuarkXPress. Figuring out how to use QuarkXPress takes time. Learning how to use it right takes even longer! Here are some of the more common mistakes that people make when they start dabbling in desktop publishi ...
(08/25/06 09:02 AM)
- The top five mistakes entrepreneurs make when they market. A riff I did at WorkHappy.net....
(08/19/06 09:00 PM)
- Seth said it, were you listening?. It bears repeating:
"If you're busy marketing like you've got my attention, you've already made a huge mistake." --Seth Godin
Need some proactive material on what to do about it? Here: Unconverted Leads: What Do You Do With Them? By Sean D'Souza.
BTW: I feel compelled to share: I clicked on an untargeted banner ad yesterday. Don't know if I ever have before. Maybe I did when the web was young and I was curious. It was an ad for the new DVD set for Brisco County Jr. And that's going on my xmas list, no sale today. Now how many banners have I needed to ignore over the years just to find this one? (08/08/06 09:02 AM)
