Going head-to-head against the competition has long been the default way of doing business for companies hoping for sustained, profitable growth. Unfortunately, in today’s overcrowded industries and marketplaces competing head-on results in noting but a bloody “red ocean” of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool which leads ultimately  to imitation of competition, competing on...Read More

I’ve worked with Perry Marshall for a number of years.  We meet together several times a year – I use him as a sounding board for my biggest ideas and toughest problems. I’ve watched the 80/20 principles he covers in his book percolate in his mind and discussions over the years as he was pulling it...Read More

I heard about Ryan Holiday years ago as a marketer for American Apparel and as they guy who pulled off some pretty incredible publicity promotions through subtly controlling and feeding the news machine ever hungry for stories and ever willing to be “duped” for the sake of a clicks and page views. You’ve seen it...Read More

This is a classic book.  One that I’ve consistently kept on my bookshelf through several moves and “dejunking” exercises at my office. Published in 1985 it’s pretty old, but the principles he outlines are timeless.  Often overlooked and forgotten in modern advertising thought, David Ogilvy’s ideas have proven to be even more effective in todays...Read More

Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable Seth Godin says that the key to success is to find a way to stand out—to be the purple cow in the field of monochrome holsteins. Godin himself may be the best example of how this theory works: The marketing expert is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling...Read More

This is a book that I wrote in 2005 when I began focusing the bulk of my consulting efforts on high-cost products and services.  I was being contacted regularly by small business owners who had great ideas and great products, but there were too many that I couldn’t work with.  It was just too much...Read More