So, you’ve decided to have a … company. One of the first (of many) decisions is what to name it, right? This is an important, and often emotional, decision that is no less crucial than naming a baby. The big difference is that there can be more than one Brittany or Jennifer in a group… More »
Persona Profiles: Defining Your Target Audience Is Your First Step
In response to the ever-increasing pressure to deliver ROI immediately, marketers (and founders) often skip over the important strategic step of defining their target customer. There just doesn’t seem to be time to invest in this, especially in startup or launch mode. Before you even start developing your positioning, you need to clearly articulate who… More »
Ready to Launch? Four Simple Questions to Ask Before Launching Your Product
Before you jump off the deep end and launch your new product, let’s check in on a few simple questions you can ask to make sure the product is indeed ready for prime time. Don’t have the time to read the entire post? Listen to the podcast version: There’s a popular saying here in Silicon… More »
Announcing Launching for Revenue: How to Launch Your Product, Service or Company for Maximum Growth
I am excited to announce the publication of my latest book, Launching for Revenue: How to Launch Your Product, Service or Company for Maximum Growth, due in March 2018. If you are launching a new company or brand, the odds are definitely against you. Research shows that up to that anywhere from 35 – 80% of… More »
Guy Kawasaki’s Top 10 Tips on How to Be an Entrepreneur
As an entrepreneur, you face new challenges every day and all you can think about is the taste of your first success. Everyone has a different recipe for success and Guy Kawasaki shared his insights at the latest event of the Women In Consulting (WIC), proudly sponsored by ThinkResults Marketing. Guy discussed his latest book… More »
How to Launch Anything: Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start 2.0
Guy Kawasaki is speaking in Mountain View on August 20, so I am reading his latest book, Art of the Start 2.0. It’s a fantastic and practical book for anyone starting anything whether it s a new company product or service, or generating a change internally within a larger organization. Since this describes so much… More »
Microsoft Ventures Demo Day: A Sneak Peek into the Future of Home Automation
Microsoft Ventures‘ first Seattle Demo Day on Dec. 10 was a huge success. Nearly 400 people crowded into the small venue featuring the ten startups that have been in residence since August 2014. All ten companies have home automation technology as that was the theme for this first round of companies for Microsoft Ventures Seattle, in… More »
How to Make Change Work: The Importance of Socializing Ideas
If you are making a big change, a leapfrog change, like repositioning your company, you will need to gather input from the people who will be affected by the change. Why? First of all, I guarantee you will see things from other people’s perspective that you would never see on your own. We all live… More »
The Dangerous World of Rebranding: The New Airbnb Launch
While there has been a ton of controversy about the new Airbnb logo design (it’s too sexual, it looks too much like another logo launched at nearly the same time), dubbed Bélo, I want to speak out in its defense, and in defense of their overall launch strategy. On the day of the launch of the… More »
Using Logo Design as a Strategic Communication Tool to Drive Results
Logo design needs to drive results. The logo is an integral part of the brand. It is the public face of the brand every minute of every day. It needs to be working hard every minute to support your overall communication objectives and support the message you want in the marketplace. There are tons of… More »
Six Essential Questions to Ask When Naming a New Initiative
One of the first steps toward launching a new initiative is to figure out a name. This can be a daunting task as there are many horror stories of naming or renaming initiatives gone wrong. In June 2011, for example, Overstock.com renamed itself as O.co. According to www.ragan.com, “Only three months later the company returned… More »
How to Launch a Logo Design Right: Take a Cue from Cadillac
Cadillac launched its new logo design at the 2014 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), the first new logo in 14 years. They dropped the “crest” as it had “become dated.” The new logo is describe by Cadillac as having a “jewel-like” quality to it and a sleeker, more modern edge to it. Not only… More »
Tips from the Trenches: Trae Vasallo on Launching Well
Last week I shared some of the details of my interview Trae Vasallo, General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). As I mentioned, I wanted to get her perspective both on coaching women (and btw, the tips are applicable to men as well!) and launching great technology companies. We talked for a while… More »
Want the Golden Ring? Tips for Success from a Top VC
I recently interviewed Trae Vasallo, General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) because I wanted to get her perspective on coaching women and launching great technology companies. I had heard about her on many occasions and was encouraged to seek her out. Calling up one of the most powerful VCs in the world… More »
Know Your Users: Simple Features Make the Difference
In web design, as in life, sometimes the smallest gesture can make the biggest impact. I was recently asked by a Board member of the nonprofit, Center for Domestic Peace to help them with their brand strategy. So first thing I did was look up their website (like 90% of people). What struck me the… More »
Facebook Content Strategy: Why Being Smart Is Better than Being Big
In contrast to the truly uninspired Pepsi Facebook strategy we reviewed last week, a small nonprofit here in the Bay Area, is doing something very interesting and increasing fan engagement at the same time. Probably not a coincidence! In the spirit of transparency, this nonprofit is a ThinkResults client but we did not come up… More »
The Results Are In: The 2012 ThinkResults Launch Survey
Back in the summer, in partnership with our survey partner, The Insight Advantage, we surveyed B2B and B2C leaders about their experiences with launches within their companies over the past year. The results that we saw were very consistent with the experiences we’ve seen with our clients here at ThinkResults. The majority of respondents were… More »
Our Latest Mission: Rebranding a Nonprofit to Win
Over the summer, we’ve been secretly working on a great project … we’re doing a pro bono brand relaunch for Operation Freedom Paws. Why? Because we are a bunch of softies here at ThinkResults. The combination of giving shelter dogs new lives as service dogs and helping veterans with invisible wounds move back into a… More »