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Blog Posts and Articles
How Driftwood Will Help You Sell More
I was recently at an art's fair where hundreds of local artists were trying desperately to wrangle the thousands of passerby's into their booths. For all their cajoling and enticing, it was like trying to herd cats. I imagine there are many reasons people chose to...
The Booth, The Booth, Trade Booth is On Fire!
Recently I was privileged to have many hours of pure idleness while my wife and her art collective tried to sell paintings at an arts festival. Since idleness doesn't suit me, I sat in a chair across the street and watched with wonder at the strangers stopping by and...
The Silent Struggle of a Christian in Business
Life’s not easy being a Christian, holding on to those ideals, and still running a profitable business. In fact, as Christians we are held to higher standards and hamstrung in ways that our secular counterparts would never understand. Where they can cheat a little,...
The Power of a Villain for Your Business
You're telling a story with your business. And the customer either finds your story good enough to join or rejects it. In any good story, the hero struggles against the antagonist which creates deep emotion. Customers won't become emotional about (i.e. remember) your...
Why Tricking People Won’t Work for Your Business
I think we can all agree that businesses should not try to sell things that people do not really want. Unfortunately that's how people traditionally use marketing; to identify what people will be most susceptible to buying and then how they can be persuaded to buy it....
Why Tricking People Won't Work for Your Business
I think we can all agree that businesses should not try to sell things that people do not really want. Unfortunately that's how people traditionally use marketing; to identify what people will be most susceptible to buying and then how they can be persuaded to buy it....
The Hidden Secrets of Client Emotions
Talking about the origin of emotions is not unlike talking about where babies come from. We understand the process intellectually, but when we try to wrap our minds around that first spark of creation everything becomes a little hazy. Do you really know how the spark...
When Sending a Postcard Says You Don’t Care
Recently my friend received a postcard from a church that he no longer attends. It seemed like the old church was just trying to keep in touch. A Postcard From the Old Church Is Nice, Right? It certainly looked nice enough. On the front of the postcard was the church...
When Sending a Postcard Says You Don't Care
Recently my friend received a postcard from a church that he no longer attends. It seemed like the old church was just trying to keep in touch. A Postcard From the Old Church Is Nice, Right? It certainly looked nice enough. On the front of the postcard was the church...
How To Replace Salespeople
Salespeople exist because people have questions and want to be reassured. Really, they just need some information that will benefit them but aren't sure of how to ask to get said information. So what if you created a system or game that answers questions, gives the...
How You Know That You Are a Good Christian
Would you feed a slice of pizza to a baby? Would you expect the tiny tot to gum the whole thing down, peperoni and all? Of course not. Pizza is not baby food. But why isn't it? The baby could probably handle it (although I'm not cleaning up afterward), why not feed...
The Future of Controlling People
Modern marketing battles for the control of people's minds But what happens when people won't be controlled? What will businesses do when people won't be manipulated and cajoled into buying something that they don't want or need? How will they market or advertise?...
Christians Should Tell the Best Stories
I'm tired of living out moments that easily slide out of my memory. Unfortunately I often find my time at church to be just that, forgettable. It's just so insufferably mediocre and boring, no matter how fancy you make the packaging. And I blame myself for that. I'm...
How to Make Your Salesforce Productive, Please!
I recently spent some time in a coffee shop, sitting across my table from a salesperson named Adam. As he worked on his computer, he kept making sighs and other sounds of despair, as if the task before him was actually killing him. Curious, I felt compelled to ask him...
Should Chrisitians Ever Be Rich?
Is it better to be rich, or is it better to be poor? Can a Christian own a BMW and still claim to be following Christ? The problem is that the rich have everything they need, which tends to make them less grateful when good things come around. Their expectation of...
A Reminder to Be Better
Is life really all about going to school... then getting a job... then coming back home and watching TV? Aristotle once said something interesting, "We are what we repeatedly do." So ask yourself; Is this the person I truly want to be? You are telling a story with...
Should Church Pastors Practice Marketing?
A little while back I had coffee with a local pastor. As I told him about my passion for business and marketing, his eyes practically sparkled. He told me that he thought of his job as marketing too, basically trying to persuade people to come to church. I felt an...
When a Haircut Isn’t Just a Haircut
Recently I was asked by a kindly cosmetology student (hairstylist in training) if I would serve as her guinea pig. I had no idea who she was or if I would come out looking like George Clooney or Lyle Lovett. My first instinct was to run away. Thankfully my good...
When a Haircut Isn't Just a Haircut
Recently I was asked by a kindly cosmetology student (hairstylist in training) if I would serve as her guinea pig. I had no idea who she was or if I would come out looking like George Clooney or Lyle Lovett. My first instinct was to run away. Thankfully my good...
Getting My (Our) Head On Straight
A friend recently read my blog and told me I needed to stop throwing rocks at the church. In many ways he couldn't be more right. I never to toss stones at God's chosen, all I wanted to do was to stir up some conversation. I figured by taking a more controversial...