Failure is not part of the success equation, but it is part of the success process. Walking doesn't include falling. Falling is included in learning how to walk. What trips us up is in seeing everybody around us walking and never falling so the first attempt at walking that results in falling we say "walking isn't for me." Walking is for you. Howev…

Tony Robbins said something that reshaped my beliefs. He said "identity drives behavior." We will act consistently in accordance with who we believe we are. What is it, then, that shapes our identity? Because if this be true, then we don't have a behavior problem, we have an identity problem. Pain shapes our identity. Not necessarily the pain but h…

Very often people first create the product or service and then finding marketing that fits the product. That is backwards. You need to create products that fit your marketing. You already have a particular brand image. People have a perception of you already. That will buy from you as long as you are selling products in line with their perception. …

I actually wasn't going to share this recording but I couldn't help myself. Insurance companies and banks always have what they call contingency plans. They always account for the off chance that they may be wrong. However, marketers and entrepreneurs rarely use this tactic. They rarely account for the off chance that they are wrong. But what if yo…

Would it have really made a difference had Apple's logo been a half eaten apple or an apple with no bite in it at all? Or if Nike's logo was facing the other way? Probably not. You see the Apple logo is iconic not because of the way it looks but because of the story it represents. We spend far too much time worrying about how our logos look because…

Prior to Facebook and Instagram there was Mxit. Now Mxit was really boring unless your friends were on it too. And so the frenzy around it grew. Amazing that we call these "social networking" sites but the minute we get onto them we look for what's familiar. We tell our friends and family about it because it is much better when we have people we kn…

This equation was developed by the great Peter Drucker. In a disruption crazy world we have found ourselves developing businesses that are focused on one half of the equation and we're shocked why business failure is so high. Innovation is about finding a different way of solving an existing problem. Marketing is about finding the people experienci…

Premium selling remains one of the least understood methods of selling because it often defies logic. Lamborghini, Apple, Angelo Galasso, Creed... the list is endless of premium brands in an industry where far cheaper alternatives exist. Premium product buyers buy very different reasons to the average buyer. They are people often willing to pay ext…

Seth Godin gave a definition of a brand that I really loved. He said the value of a brand is the price people are willing to pay above the alternative. There are cheaper sneakers than Nike's but people are willing to pay for Nike's because Nike is a brand. Brands aren't born, they're created. A brand is no different to tribal markings. It is design…

We've all heard of E-Commerce, that is selling over the internet. Then there was M-Commerce, selling over a mobile phone. R-Commerce is relationship selling. Selling that is birthed from a relationship that is established between consumer and brand. We may believe in love at first sight but not in proposal at first sight. Even though there may an i…

Everyone would rather jump over a puddle than have to swim across a river to get what they want. Marketing is about building a bridge over the river of uncertainty so that all the prospect has to do is merely jump over the puddle of costs.

Rolex, McDonald's, KFC, Apple... massive brands that STILL spend millions of dollars in marketing and advertising. Yet every now and then I'll bump into a small business owner who somehow believes they have a new product or service that doesn't need marketing. They literally believe their product will sell itself. My response to them is always, not…

The two aren't the same. Though a branded product may be popular, a popular product isn't necessarily branded. A branded product isn't necessarily known by everybody. It is known by those who will value it and can actually afford to get it. As small business owners our focus shouldn't be spent in trying to be popular, but branded. Being positioned …

The cost per client is how much does it cost you in terms of time, money and other resources to acquire a single client. If you run a business where a client pays you 2k a month for 12 months but it costs you 2k to acquire them would you pay that? Would be silly not to because you'd essentially be buying 22k for 2k. Understanding your cost per clie…

People are convinced what they are is all they're ever going to be, but that's not true. They don't realize that just beginning to make different decisions you can have a totally different outcome. Problem is that everything we do resembles who we are and what we believe. If you don't think you can change, that means your business will never change…

The great advertising giant, Claude Hopkins, would always say "the purpose of all marketing is not entertainment but sales." Today we seem to have shifted away from that. We seem to focus on entertainment and not so much the sales aspect. However, I still stand by the giant. I believe all marketing should centre around getting people closer to maki…

Whether it be digital or otherwise, it is still marketing. All successful marketers through the ages understood human nature. They understood the deep rooted biases that drove all their decision making. Not enough marketers today have that understanding.

Metacognition also known as thinking about thinking is a field of study that centres around what causes us to think the way we do. This study includes a study on cognitive biases. In business we often overlook these fields of study and are often shocked by the results we obtain. Metacognition explains what preceded the decisions that lead to the re…

Very often in developing ads or making presentations we say to ourselves "if I was the client this is what I'd want to know and see." This is a skewed way of thinking because the client doesn't know what you know. The average client doesn't have the perceptions you have. It takes researching the average thinking of the client. What do they want? Wh…

Business and marketing is a very long game. However, many give up simply because they had a slow start. But a slow start does not mean game over. Very often it's going to take longer than you expect. It is going to demand more than you thought it would. That company may only make that first million after 10 years and not 3 years like you'd thought.…

The information being so readily available on virtually any subject one of the greatest assets an entrepreneur or marketer can have is transparency. Far too many wannabe entrepreneurs are swindlers. They add no real value to the marketplace and yet expect to be paid exorbitant amounts of money. That may have worked in the past but not in this curre…

How well is your marketing campaign actually doing? What is the ROI (Return on investment)? The beauty of the scientific method is that is removes all delusions and you're forced to face the cold, hard facts. You need to create a means of monitoring the results of your marketing. That's where the scientific method comes into the picture.…

I think somewhere in the conversation about the growing irrelevance of marketing in the formal education set up, we somehow came to believe that no level of knowledge is required to properly market your business. Marketing, like any area of study, has its fundamentals that must be adhered to if you are to properly market your business. Without thos…

The internet and social media are the great equaliser where marketing is concerned. As things stand even a company of one can have a voice and reach their client base through social media. Content Marketing is possibly the greatest and easiest way to position yourself as an authority in your niche.

Most entrepreneurs play to win the game. But marketing and branding is about playing to win the league even if you lose a few games along the way.

Why a potential client says no: 1. Doesn't need the product or service2. Cannot afford the product3. Doesn't see the value of the product All of these three speak of a problem in your marketing and branding. The first two says you're targeting the wrong people. Change your target market. The last one says you aren't articulating the value of your p…

The more time I spend in business the more I see the general level of disrespect people actually have towards business. It's seen as this easy thing that will make you a millionaire in 6 weeks. Very few people actually break through that illusion to see business for what it truly is and the demands it carries.…

Before you can tell people what you do and why you are the best, you first need to get their attention. Storytelling and marketing requires that you understand how to grab people's attention and then trading that attention to tell your story.

Many an entrepreneur have no idea why people make their decisions. If you don't know how people make their decision you will not know why people are not buying from you and how to change that. In this episode I share about what influences people's decision making.

How many times have you seen an ad on Facebook and your immediate response is "this person thinks we're stupid?" We live in a world where information has never been more abundant. The marketplace is more informed and unless businesses change the way they market to these people they will continue to repel clients with the same marketing they thought…

Things happen. In life. In business. Often these experiences become our justification for never doing anything again. We build monuments to our experiences and use them as justification for the rest of our lives. PS: In this episode I feature an aeroplane 😂😂😂

The most defining moments in your journey to success is your response to failure. In this episode I share about the two types of failure and how failure may be part of success process but not necessarily part of the success equation.

Many small business owners project their "brokeness" to their business and its customers. In this episode I share how pricing can be the reason people aren't buying from you.

In this episode I share a concept I shared with my team on telling your story in the digital age. Many small businesses seem to be missing it in their marketing and its hampering their business.

In this episode I use Christianity as an organization as benchmark on how you can market your business. It's the same reason why hotels have vending machines on every floor. It's about convenience. Making the acquisition easier for the customer by going the extra mile to get to them.

In this episode I deal with the importance of Mentorship. Mentorship is a subject that's epped of late but remains pivotal. I deal with why many people actually struggle to find a mentor and how they can change that.

Have you ever wondered why Apple has been so successful in the products they sell? From laptops to earphones to smart watches... it isn't because they're better. It's because Apple sell a philosophy packaged in electronics. Find out how you can do the same for your business or brand.