Creative doesn't cost more

Look around at the advertising, marketing and training work that's going on around us. Some of it is great, fresh, and makes an impact. Then there's the other 95% of what we see every day--competent, status quo, mediocre, unoriginal, derivative, etc.

It doesn't have to be that way. Just because a manufacturer makes a seemingly unexciting product doesn't mean we have to create mediocre marketing strategy and execution.

Great ideas don't cost more--they don't take more time, they take more heart and more engagement.

Don't fall for the "we don't have enough budget to be creative" line. Almost every brand, product or situation can have inspired solutions. It takes only a few things: a client that is willing to be bold and a supplier with heart.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Brace for the next wave

We all want the recession to be over. And it may be. But we will still see companies fold even if the recession is in recovery.

There are numerous companies that have been holding on for dear life and may have run out of funds, they will vaporize. Other companies are realizing that they don't have a business model that is viable today and are shutting their doors. Others are surviving but are one misstep away from disaster; and if one client, for example, doesn't pay up, it could be all over.

This means we can't be complacent and we have to be more determined than ever to grow.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

Hunger can be a beautiful thing

I was recently working with a newer client of ours and was so fired-up and excited that I had to stop for a second and ask why: Why was it so great to work this company? Was it because they were a new client or a new product for our company to learn? Were they friendlier? What was it?

I came to one conclusion about the client: They were hungry. This client wanted progress, it had been a tough recession for them. They needed fresh ideas and were ready to cooperate and partner with us to help them.

Maybe if this client had been doing great, they wouldn't have been so tremendous to work with, so appreciative of our ideas and willing to try them.

There's a world of difference between a client that is guarded and distant versus one that has its mind and arms wide open. The results are also drastically different, for all involved.

A hungry client like the one I'm describing will get their suppliers' best thinking--and is a supplier's dream to work with.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter