Last week, in a meeting with a new client in Charleston, West Virginia, my team and I had a great on-boarding meeting with their team.  The new client is a very reputable 20-year company in the commercial construction space.  I had a few key take-aways from that meeting that I wanted to share with you.

The context of this meeting was the initial phase of our “Marketing Blueprint” that we use to discover the strategic audiences and key messaging to base our marketing plan on.

This was our team’s first official meeting with their team, and overall the session was very productive.  One of the many take-aways from my perspective, was our client’s comments about the significance and relevancy of the questions we asked to really uncover the story of the client.  “Your questions are spot-on!” He said several times that morning.  

So, in that spirit – I share with you the exact questions we developed for this project – as part of our company’s Marketing Blueprint and BrandStory process. 

In a recent conversation I had with a professional realtor from Michigan last week, the thought of always trying to be on top of the latest and greatest marketing tactics came up.  The person I was talking with remarked that every week it seems as though someone was trying to convince her and her team that the “new thing” will work better than the other “new thing” they’ve been using.

That got me thinking about the concept of “falling in love with boredom.” 

Think DIGITAL FIRST when it comes to your marketing plan.

When I refer to "digital-first," I’m talking about the internet and internet-related assets:

• Website
• Internet search engines
• Digital advertising
• Social media

Fifty years ago, the only ways to reach an audience was through print, television, radio or in person (door-to-door salesman). Obviously, the game has changed, and new technologies are offering ever-expanding opportunities to reach your target audiences.

I’ve been practicing the craft of advertising and marketing for thirty years now, and I still do believe traditional media channels have a significant role in marketing.

That said, there are several reasons why I recommend a digital-first strategy when it comes to marketing companies like yours.

The first may be the most obvious: It is where the people are.

One of my favorite pearls of business wisdom comes from Proverbs 10:4 in the NIV, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.”

We know Solomon wrote Proverbs in part, to offer instruction, wisdom and understanding. However, have you ever thought about this sentence as it relates to business?

It begs the question: Have you ever thought about this verse in terms of your business marketing?

You’re probably asking, “How in the world is he going to tie a Proverb into marketing my business?”

That’s a fair question.

So, I offer this thought for your consideration:

If you are consistently “diligent” in all aspects of your business (including marketing), all other things being equal, you will quickly and greatly surpass the business who is lazy, slow and avoids hard work. I believe this is the law of God and nature, and it is a simple lesson to teach. Diligent work brings financial reward, and it can also bring its own emotional reward in a job well-done.

By contrast, a “lazy” hand represents the company who lacks energy or diligence, is inclined to be lazy or idle, remiss, careless or negligent or lax in regard to their duties (such as marketing effort). This kind of company puts off work as long as they can; they resent real labor; hate tasks requiring focus and effort. In short – they lose.

Here are 5 easy things to help you in your quest to be diligent in your business marketing as you begin your journey from survival to success.

If you’re a marketer today, chances are great that you’re familiar with the company brand HubSpot. 

A question I get asked quite often is, “What the heck is HubSpot?”

You’ve inevitably seen their blog content, digital ads or material published on LinkedIn. 

But do you know what HubSpot really is?