IS IT OKAY TO STRETCH THE TRUTH IN SALES?

POSITION: SOMETIMES, YES

There’s a major difference between stretching the truth and outright lying, and anyone who tells you that salespeople can be successful without stretching the truth a bit is, well, outright lying.
There are times when a little manipulation of the truth is unavoidable. In a perfect world – one with no competition – it’d [...]

IS SOCIAL NETWORKING MORE ABOUT NETWORKING OR MARKETING?

POSITION: NETWORKING

In the November 9, 2009 issues of DM News, there’s an announcement that Email Data Source is launching a new tool that will enable marketers to measure Twitter’s impact on the traditional brand marketing perspectives of reach, frequency and effectiveness.  According to the article, the new tool will grab the brass ring, the coveted [...]

DOES “PERSONAL BRANDING” DESERVE ALL ITS HYPE? (ROUND 2)

POSITION: ABSOLUTELY!

I’d say an unequivocal yes to that question with the proviso that it’s an authentic representation of you. Having a personal brand is very important, particularly in these challenging times, when we all need to be able to distinguish ourselves from the crowd.
 
Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand, [...]

TO BE SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS, MUST AGENCIES PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH?

POSITION: NOT NECESSARILY

Chances are you’ve never seen a TV commercial for an advertising agency, because ad agencies don’t use that medium to promote themselves. It’s not the most effective way for them to reach their target market. But that hasn’t prevented millions of brands from trusting agencies to develop effective TV spots.
Same is [...]

MICRO DEBATES: POLITICAL WRITERS WANTED TO JOIN THE DEBATE TEAM

Perspectives is excited to expand our “200 Word Micro Debates” into the political arena!

For nearly a year, the Perspectives site has focused on business and marketing issues, building up a strong following of loyal readers.  Now it’s time to broaden our focus, and host debates where they matter most: politics.
Each 200 Word Micro Debate spotlights [...]

DOES “PERSONAL BRANDING” DESERVE ALL ITS HYPE? (ROUND #1)

POSITION: DEFINITELY NOT!

Personal branding is getting a ton of hype these days, and I can’t quite figure out why.  Personal branding has been around since the dawn of time, but we used to just call it reputation.  (I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that I’m not that old.)  Everything you do, [...]

OBAMACARE: GOOD OR BAD FOR AMERICA?

What better way to kick off political debates than with the topic everyone is talking about?

We want our first political micro debate to be based on one of the most highly talked about topics in the country: Would Obamacare be good or bad for America?  But we still need some good writers and passionate debaters [...]

IS THE PRINT INDUSTRY DEAD?

POSITION: NO, IT’S NOT

Print has been a dying medium for most of my adult life. Now more than ever, people seem to want to kill it off once and for all.
Yes newspapers have been on the decline. Numbers don’t lie, and there’s no denying that as a marketing medium, print has serious challenges ahead of [...]

MAKING MONEY BY NOT MAKING DECISIONS

I must admit, it has been painful for me to watch the Brett Favre story play out every August for the past few years.  The “will he retire or will he play” conversations dominated sports talk radio across the country and were covered across all sorts of national and local news programming for weeks.  As a passionate [...]