Boomers: Which Kind of Genius are You?

Social entrepreneur Marc Freedman, writing for Harvard Business Review, cites the research of economist David Galenson, who by studying painters concluded there are two kinds of geniuses.

Conceptual geniuses do their best work before the age of 30. These "finders" produce breakthroughs early in their careers, then peter out.

Experimental geniuses peak later in life. These "seekers" need decades of trial and error to accumulate the ideas and techniques that mark their signature work.

Freedman thinks Galenson's research is good news for entrepreneurial-spirited Baby Boomers.

"One in four Americans between the ages of 44 and 70—about 25 million people—are interested in starting their own businesses or nonprofit organizations in the next five to 10 years," Freedman writes.

Provided they didn't peak in their 20s, these 25 million Boomers stand to succeed in launching new ventures, because they bring decades of experimentation to the task.

Half of these aging entrepreneurs also want to "give back" through their new businesses.

"Research shows that half of those who want to become midlife entrepreneurs—more than 12 million people ages 44 to 70—also want to meet community needs or solve a critical social problem at the same time," Freedman writes.

Three Cheers for the Clarity Crowd

Connoisseur of clarity that I am, I was pleased to learn about Marketing Sherpa's latest research finding. 


B2B marketers believe clarity is the "top tactic in developing effective value propositions."


A value proposition states the primary reason customers choose you over your competitors. 


According to Marketing Sherpa, your value proposition should describe:

1. What your company does and 
2. Why an "ideal customer" buys from you

Nearly 70 percent of marketers have written value propositions, the research finds. And 70 percent of those believe "clearly explaining the value of your product or service" should be the aim in writing one, if you want it to be effective.


Three cheers for the clarity crowd!


But don't count yourself in, if you prefer poppycock like this (used by a real company that shall remain nameless):


"XYZ is a global systems integrator with deep experience in creating and managing sophisticated IT solutions for US government agencies within the United States and abroad in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We only partner with trusted, agile and best-of-breed partners who possess the same level of experience and commitment to delivering IT solutions that meet our customer's needs."


Are you having trouble achieving clarity?


Read my special report, Path of Persuasion.

ROI in Trade Shows? Fuggedaboutit.

It's time to change the conversation about trade shows.

Savvy exhibitors have ceased thinking quixotically about ROI and moved on to more urgent and practical matters.

What do they want from their trade shows spend?

It's pretty darn simple.

Leads and sales.

Exhibit marketing isn't like the other popular B2B marketing tactics.

Websites, Webinars, SEO, paid search, e-mail, PR, print advertising, direct mail and social media are all one or more steps removed from personal selling.

Executives demand fancy evidence of ROI in them, because they can readily suck up time and money without clearly driving sales.

But exhibit marketing is different.

It's so closely tied to personal selling that executives don't demand elaborate proof of ROI in it. No more than they demand that salespeople "prove" with charts and graphs the ROI in phone calls, travel, lodging, hospitality and gifts.

Any particular trade show, instead, is judged a lot like a salesperson is judged.

In assessing a show's performance, executives want to know:

• Does the show help our company communicate effectively?
• Does it help us establish industry leadership?
• Does it let us identify promising accounts?
• Does it help us educate and develop buyers?
• Does it create valuable relationships?
• And does it, when all's said and done, produce sales?

ROI in trade shows?

Fuggedaboutit.

How to Write a Blog Post that Will Attract 10,000 Followers

During a recent conference, a social media expert told me, "Writing super-sticky blog posts is so easy, a chimp could do it."

So I sought out accomplished blogger and social media maven Joe Young and asked him to share his secrets.

Here's what he said in answer to my question, "How do you write a blog post that will attract 10,000 followers?"

BOB: Joe, first off, how do you get started?

JOE: Never begin with an idea or point of view. Those things are for sissies. If you want to write a blog post that ranks well and draws visitors to your site, start by using Google's keyword tool to find "Low Competition" keywords. Once you find enough of them, string the keywords together in sentences. Of course, I'm exaggerating when I say "sentences," because sentences typically have a point.

BOB: What's the next step?

JOE: Now that you have all the keywords stuffed into "sentences," you need to chop your achievement into bite-size pieces, so visitors don't choke. That's where section headers come in handy. The more, the better.

BOB: Any finishing touches you recommend?

JOE: After you have compiled your content, sliced and diced it, and added headers, be sure to go back and insert a lot of obvious grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors. You don't want visitors to think you're a snob. Gotta be authentic.

BOB: I understand graphics are important, too.

JOE: Absolutely! Most people are now using mobile apps to read blog posts. An image will lure them in. Videos work well, too. But a word of warning about them. If you use videos in your blog, be careful to keep them super-low quality. Followers hate "slick." Again, gotta be authentic.   

BOB: Is there anything else to writing a blog post that attracts 10,000 followers?

JOE: Nope.

BOB: Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle.

Meet the B2B Consumer

Most B2B marketers don't think of their customers as "consumers."

But according to Tony Zambito, originator of "buyer persona" research, "there is an increasing consumerization effect happening in B2B buying."

B2B buyers no longer progress, zombie-like, through the buying cycle.

Instead, they behave like living, breathing consumers.

As proof, Zambito points to five trends:

Mapping. With so much content on the Web, B2B buyers are "mapping" the discovery process. B2B marketers who want to court them need to understand how customers are finding their way through the jungle.

Ecosystems. All B2B buyers work in corporate "ecosystems." Gone are the days when a buyer made a decision on her own. Marketers need to adapt by incorporating "ecosystem views" into their strategies and organizations.

New rules. B2B buyers are basing buying decisions on new variables, such as globalization and economic uncertainty. Marketers need a firm grasp on the "new rules of decision-making," so they can support how buyers are making decisions.

High stakes. Organizations have become risk-averse and now see buying as a high stakes game. Marketers need to understand why B2B buyers buy. That means grasping buyers' shared attitudes, goals, beliefs, perceptions and motives.

Post-purchase assurances. As the stakes increase, B2B buyers want better assurances after the purchase. Marketers need to move away from "funnel thinking" and put stronger effort into engaging customers after the sale. "Post-purchase support and talent can no longer be an afterthought," Zambito says.