Frontline Perspectives

People now produce as much information every two days as was produced “between the birth of the world and 2003,” as Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt puts it. That’s five billion gigabytes of information every 48 hours. Read more »

The recent penalties Google has doled out to JCPenney, Forbes and Overstock.com for participation in unacceptable link building and link selling schemes serve as signals that a new era in link building has arrived. Read more »

Gaining a prospect’s trust — and maintaining a customer’s — is key to making sales. But if you’re like a lot of busy marketers, you may be making some common writing mistakes in your various communications. Before long, it can make your company look less than professional … and that can erode your clients’ and prospects’ trust at a time when you need it most.

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Now, here’s a pledge that’ll strengthen business relationships, as well as personal ones (happy Valentine’s Day, everyone). Listen. Just, listen.

There’s no doubt that listening is important. In fact, more than 35 studies show that listening is one of the key skills needed for business success. But it’s hard. Not only because we’re easily distracted, but because we simply cannot listen as fast as we think. Read more »

First, a disclaimer: I realize that the quickest way to ruin something funny is to overanalyze it. So before I ruin this, I just want to say:

Here’s a link. Enjoy these posts … some of them are pretty damn funny. Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising. Read more »

We’re in the process of hiring right now, which means I’m spending a fair amount of time reviewing resumes. I’m continually amazed that the majority of people don’t include a cover letter with their resume. And those who do include one have serious grammar, spelling and clarity issues. What this means is that the majority (and I mean more than 75%) of these people have either made very little, or a terrible, first impression. And because of that, they’re not going to get to the interview stage. Read more »

If you’re like most people, you aren’t reading this. Read more »

I think every marketing person needs this written on a T-shirt to remind them what their customers are really thinking. Read more »

You may not be surprised to hear that we humans hate losing. But do you know just how much we hate it? The answer is: much, much more than we like winning (and we really like winning). Believe it or not, people subconsciously avoid loss so strongly that — even on the most rational decision-making process — that how the fact is framed can have a drastic effect. Simply hearing the statement framed as a loss, rather than a gain, can change how people respond. Read more »

As a consumer, there are days when I wish it was. As a marketer, I know that it’s not.  In fact, I know that e-mail can be highly effective and have seen it create powerful lead and sales results for clients.  But many of us can think of e-mails that are textbook examples of what NOT to do — and these are the ones creating a high level of frustration for consumers.

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