Elastic Path’s Linda Bustos (@Roxyyo) asks, “How Strong is your Value Proposition?“ If the answer is, “not very” or “huh?” then you should read the article and start working on it.
As an extra added bonus, marketing guru Bryan Eisenberg commented on Linda’s post and gave a link to a related article he wrote.
Elastic Path lets a guest poster discuss some cross selling strategies.
Would it even be possible to be nicer than the Jonas Brothers? The latest piece in People.com about the boys says that they select girlfriends on the basis of their niceness (smart move, btw).
What if niceness was part of your PR strategy? “Do business with me because I’m nicer than my competitors.” We’ve already seen the opposite strategy – rapper Akon claiming to be a felon when he wasn’t, for instance. Please note that I do not endorse this strategy. 
It is a truism that people like to do business with people they like. So it’s probably worth doing a niceness audit of your business, and making sure you pass muster.
I wrote a while back about Threadless.com. It looks like their crowdsourcing approach and narrative-linked product line has also caught the attention of Time Magazine.
We’re hard-wired to be drawn to stories. Is there an opportunity for a story in your product line?
Reading an article from Portolio.com about Joel Osteen (which was predictably suspicious) made me stop and think about his remarkable ability to connect with people.
Now you may or may not be a fan of prosperity theology – and for the record, I’m not. But isn’t it interesting how many lives Osteen has profoundly affected, and for the better, it must be conceded. From a sales perspective, he’s clearly one of America’s greatest salesmen.
What’s his secret? Relentless optimism. It’s a pattern in his life and his speaking. And it’s worth emulating.
So few things are as annoyingly hopeless as the practice of using Chinese math. You know – the idea that “if you can only get 0.00001% of the population, you’ll be a success.” Here’s the problem with Chinese math: it doesn’t work. Small percentages do not translate to easy results.
So why are Chinese business websites using this discredited form of reasoning?
PS> If you’re thinking, “if Chinese math doesn’t work, what does?” then here’s your answer. Don’t use comparative figures aspirationally; instead, show trends and figures from ideas that already work that demonstrate how your parallel idea is plausable.
If you need a brief instructional or motivational sales video, do a YouTube search for Jeffrey Gitomer. Then watch and be amazed.
Probably not what you’re used to.
A 20 year old classic is brought up to date – The Sales Bible
Plus almost half of all respondents will use their rebate checks to shop until they drop. Read the whole article from Information Week.
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