A Creative Business Formula article has been published in Belarusian to coincide with the Minsk launch of the book ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’ in Belarusian. The article can be downloaded, printed, and shared on websites and elsewhere. It is online here: Стварыце сваю ўласную бізнэс-формулу The article has been […]
Tag Archives | business formula
Marketing Strategy is ‘Invisible’
One of the reasons that strategic marketing is overlooked is because it’s not obvious; it’s not ‘in our faces’. Strategy is practically invisible to outsiders, because it is the thinking behind the scenes within businesses that we never get to see. Marketing strategy is invisible. What we do see, as consumers and observers of businesses, […]
Strategic Marketing avoids Bad Customers
Not all customers are good customers! Strategic Marketing will avoid and deter bad customers. Customers can be bad customers for all sorts of reasons. They can be unprofitable or troublesome. They can waste your time or cause stress. Some interfere too much. Some aren’t worthy of including in your portfolio. Others pay late, or never. […]
Ansoff’s Matrix for Creative Business Development
Strategies for creative business development and growth using Ansoff’s Matrix (or Ansoff Matrix). When advising creative and digital businesses about strategic marketing and growth, this tool is useful to consider different options. In a Masterclass I gave on creative business development in Ukraine, there was a question about developing new products for new markets, which […]
Devise a REAL Business Strategy
Most so-called “business strategies” are in reality just audacious goals and ambitious growth targets, bundled with a ‘vision of the future’, then packaged as a ‘business strategy’. Sadly, this is true for many design, media and technology companies. A REAL business strategy is different. A real business strategy is a clever solution to a particular […]
Create Your Own Business Formula
Don’t write a business plan until you have read this article! Creativity and Business Some people regard creativity and business as being like oil and water – they just don’t mix. They think it’s a question of choosing between creativity or business. I disagree. The challenge for creative people when planning a business is to […]
The ‘3Ms of Marketing’
The best way to illustrate the technique of using the 3Ms of Marketing most effectively is to use a true story. Julie, a jeweller, asked me for some marketing advice. With a limited budget for marketing communications, she couldn’t decide whether to invest in a better website or in a printed brochure to promote her […]
Don’t be a ‘busy fool’ – act strategically
Are you a ‘busy fool’? We avoid doing difficult things by occupying ourselves with trivial things. We deal with urgent trivia instead of what’s really important. Keeping busy like this allows us to avoid having to make important decisions. In my work, advising and training hundreds of businesses all around the world, I see too […]
Your Competitive Advantage
What’s your Competitive Advantage? Knowing what you can excel at in relation to competitors – and then building your business strategy around that focus – is probably the most important element of any successful business strategy. If you are competing in a market place by offering the same thing as many other rivals, then you […]
Increase prices with a winning marketing strategy
Devising a successful marketing strategy leads to charging higher prices for your creative products and services. It also works the other way around. If you increase your prices, you will have to devise an improved marketing strategy. Whichever way you tackle it, you can increase prices with a winning marketing strategy. This is because a […]