Most people I know, including me from time to time, do not like failure. There can be lots of financial and psychological costs to failure. However, most successes in business and life are preceded by failure. Most times, lots of failure. Additionally, sometimes winning ideas come from losing. Here’s a great example: In 1985, Proforma…
Read MoreMy daughter turned me on to Lenny’s Podcast. Lenny Rachitsky has the #1 business newsletter on Substack and is a quiet, unassuming model of what a podcast host should be. He interviews “world-class product leaders and growth experts,” blah, blah, blah. Anywho… One podcast featured an Etsy exec name Tim Holley. Listening while mowing the lawn, I heard Tim say, “We are constantly trying new features. Our failure rate is 80%.” I smiled. That number gave me great comfort. The hardest part about being a sales trainer is coming up…
Read MoreFrom a very early age, the message of failure is driven into our subconscious: Failure is bad. Failure means you didn’t prepare. Failure means you didn’t study hard enough. Failure means you are lazy, or worse, weren’t smart enough to begin with. All of this teaches us that, more than anything, failure is something to…
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Businesses spend about $250 billion per year on promotional products, printing and custom packaging. You are probably within an hour’s drive of at least $1 billion in business. You are surely an internet connection away from the full $250 billion. So, why do so many distributor owners and sales reps fail to get wealthy? I believe fear of failure is the No. 1 cause for failure…
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No matter what you think about Amazon, you have to admire its founder, Jeff Bezos. He has become the wealthiest person in modern history. Here’s what he says about failure: “Nine times out of 10, you’re going to fail. But every once in a while,…
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Failure is a part of success. Sometimes failure can be the key to your fortune. You may have heard the story of how an engineer at 3M was trying to invent a super strong adhesive, but came up with a super weak one instead. That weak adhesive he invented became the secret to 3M Post-it…
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Trust, but verify. Three simple words that form the best advice I can offer when talking about sourcing safe product from suppliers in our industry.
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I wrote recently in this space about swag that went wrong for Goldman Sachs at a conference for women in tech. In fact, the comments on that post continue over in the Promo Marketing LinkedIn Group (If you’re on LinkedIn, and you aren’t already a member of this group, you should be—there are some very interesting contributors and some great discussions).
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When it comes to marketing, there are no guarantees. A great marketing idea that is poorly implemented or incorrectly presented can have less than desirable results. You might spend hours of development time and a ton of money, so pay heed to the advice to ensure top results.
There are many factors that dictate the success or failure of any marketing campaign. Let’s discuss what they are and how to prevent the disasters from happening—or at best, keep them to a minimum.
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As a consultant, I am often asked, “what are the characteristics of successful people in the industry?” One interesting note—it has nothing to do with gender, age or tenure in the industry. Instead, it has everything to do with the character and integrity of an individual. I have noticed through discussion and observation several factors that I believe truly make a champion. And by the way, becoming a million dollar salesperson isn’t the Holy Grail barometer of success. Success can be measured and identified on many, many levels.
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