Glenn R Harrington

How to Increase Cost-effectiveness in Small Business Marketing

How to Increase Cost-effectiveness in Small Business Marketing For an independent business to succeed, it must invest steadily in marketing. The on-going success of many companies in many industries over many years has proven this. Yet, since the globa... Read >

Three Reasons Why Independent Businesses Need Authentic Key Messages To Succeed

Three Reasons Why Independent Businesses Need Authentic Key Messages To Succeed 1. Avoid Direct Competition Whether your company operates clothing boutiques, sells insurance and investment products, or makes violins by custom-order, it’s the same. The... Read >

Key Messages Blunders Part 4: Getting It Wrong

Key Messages Blunders Part 4: Getting It Wrong Many people in business choose to present their products and services with key messages that reflect their knowledge of their company’s offerings and would appeal to themselves. This approach sometimes wo... Read >

Social Media for Small Business: 52 Points Toward An Informed Decision

Social Media for Small Business: 52 Points Toward An Informed Decision Information overload emerged as a public health concern in the mid-nineties. An increasing volume of e-mail, voice mail, and faxes were competing with other media for people’s atten... Read >

How to Distinguish A Conscientious Editor from An Insensitive Butcher

How to Distinguish A Conscientious Editor from An Insensitive Butcher We live in a time when the simple act of writing makes a person a writer. Many writers write simply write to please themselves. They often wonder what’s wrong with readers who do not... Read >

Use A Compelling Elevator Speech to Hook New Prospects

Use A Compelling Elevator Speech to Hook New Prospects In many times and places around the world, children ask their peers, “What’s your favourite color?" The question is generally answered in the same playful manner in which it is asked. Then the qu... Read >

In A Compelling Elevator Speech, Say Why People Buy From You

In A Compelling Elevator Speech, Say Why People Buy From You When account representatives, customer service reps, and others in sales find out that they must briefly describe three problems that they solve in emotional terms, they often resist. Some re... Read >

What Problem Do You Solve?

Authenticity Rules What Problem Do You Solve? Remember the TV commercial with these lines? • Boy: What's this stuff? • Brother: Some cereal. It's supposed to be good for you. • Boy: I'm not gonna try it. • Brother: Let's get Mikey. • Bo... Read >

Loyalty Without Bribery

Loyalty Without Bribery Phrases such as points program, loyalty rewards, frequent buyer, and loyal customer are often used in similar contexts. The central idea is that a company that rewards consumers for making repeat purchases can secure steady busi... Read >

Value, Efficiency, and the Billable Hour

Value, Efficiency, and the Billable Hour In the 1987 film The Secret of My success, Brantley Foster, a recent university graduate, finds himself laid off from his Wall Street job before his first day of work. Having just moved from Kansas to New York C... Read >

Key Message Blunders part 3: Promoting Features That Do Not Provide Compelling Benefits

Key Message Blunders part 3: Promoting Features That Do Not Provide Compelling Benefits In promoting their company or its products and services, many people choose to present their achievements rather than how they solve their market's problems. In do... Read >

Key Message Blunders part 2: Over-Promising

Key Message Blunders part 2: Over-Promising Many people like to present their company or its products and services as a wonderful surprise or as exceeding anybody's expectations. The problem with such over-promising is that it implies low or misguided... Read >

Key Message Blunders part 1: Presumptuous Use of YOUR

Key Message Blunders part 1: Presumptuous Use of YOUR In promoting their company, many people like to present its products or services as already adopted by or already belonging to their market. This is how the presumptuous use of your often appears in... Read >

Do-it-yourself Pitfalls: How to Waste Money Quickly In Advertising

Do-it-yourself Pitfalls: How to Waste Money Quickly In Advertising 1. Plant negative ideas into people's minds. The ad headline Don't waste another dollar plants the idea of wasting money into people's minds. The call to action Don't hesitate is... Read >

Authenticity Rules: A Reality Check for Creative Advertisers

Authenticity Rules: A Reality Check for Creative Advertisers People prefer the genuine and value the real thing as most desirable. Thus, even in advertising, authenticity trumps creativity – a difficult axiom for creative advertisers to follow. On... Read >