Kate asks, “When you write proposals, do you spell out everything or do you try to keep things simple/streamlined?” It depends on what the proposal is, but we start with a template because otherwise we’ll forget things. Ours are typically 4 parts – strategy, tactics, execution, and payment, or STEP for short. The most detail…
Summary In today's episode, I walk through ten practical tips for approaching B2B public relations, especially for marketers new to the discipline. Here's what this means for you. You'll reframe PR as a long-term sales job built on relationships, organization, and patient outreach rather than quick wins. You'll also learn these concepts: why treating PR…
Megan asks, “My company recently had to layoff their canvassing department so now they are trying anything to get leads for virtual consultations for solar sales. Right now they’re aimlessly boosting Facebook posts, and I was hoping to get some insight to lead them in the right direction. Any suggestions?” The real question is, who…
Summary In today's episode, I share advice for communications college students graduating in May 2020 on how to prepare for an unusually challenging job market. Here's what this means for you. You gain actionable steps to stand out, build resilience, and position yourself for success even when opportunities feel scarce. You'll also learn these concepts:…
Jackie asks, “How does all this fancy data science kung fu hubbub help us, we’re a traditional sales company that only makes phone sales cold calls?” Data science is a methodology that can be applied to any data you happen to have. In the case of cold calling, as long as you have data about…
Summary In today's episode, I explain why switching from B2B to B2C marketing is less about a structural change and more about recognizing that sale complexity drives your strategy. Here's what this means for you. You'll discover a simple diagnostic that helps you find and fix the weakest stage in your funnel to unlock multipliers…
Mallory asks, “In your honest opinion, what is the difference in marketing and sales?” The short answer: creation of demand versus fulfillment of demand. We see this most in examples where demand exists – sales are effectively order-takers and marketing is minimal. On the other hand, if demand doesn’t exist (but the product is ultimately…
Summary In today's episode, I break down the difference between marketing and sales by framing marketing as the creation of demand and sales as the fulfillment of demand, using a 2×2 matrix to illustrate what happens when companies do both, neither, or only one. Here's what this means for you. You gain a clear lens…
Summary In today's episode, I walk through why agencies should ditch the traditional retainer model and start thinking like Netflix with subscription-based offerings built on their existing intellectual property. Here's what this means for you. You can build a more scalable, resilient agency business by packaging your expertise, content libraries, and proprietary tools into subscriptions…
Summary In today's episode, I explain why live product demos often fall flat and how treating them like cooking shows produces far more convincing results. Here's what this means for you. You gain a repeatable method for staging demos that highlight milestones rather than fumbling through real-time execution. You'll also learn these concepts: why pre-baking…
