Copywriting legend Gary Halbert goes to prison for tax fraud. The conditions are harsh. He doesn’t know if he’ll survive in Boron Prison for long. So he writes letters to his son to teach him everything he knows about copywriting and marketing. And later his letters became the famous book: The Boron Letters. In one…
Articles
Negativity Bias: Why Cheap Marketing Pushes Away More Buyers Than It Attracts
I don’t know how it was for you. But when I prepared for university exams, three wrong answers erased one correct answer. When it comes to marketing, it’s worse. One negative association cancels out three positives. Because people have a negativity bias. Negative things have a stronger and longer-lasting impact on emotions and memory than…
How B2B Buyers Choose Which Problem To Fix (And How To Make Yours The Priority)
Every business has dozens of problems at any given time. Even thriving ones. A new regulation comes up and you have to comply. You have to hire but can’t find the right candidate. Or your clients churn and you have to find out why. Being in business means dealing with problems. It’s the same for…
Why Nike Can Get Away With ‘Just Do It’ and Your Consulting Firm Can’t
The biggest mistake in consulting firms’ messaging is copying consumer brands. I know. Who doesn’t want to be inspirational like Nike? Who doesn’t want to influence buyers with a strong mission like Patagonia’s? But think about it. These are consumer brands. They sell commoditized products. A jacket is a jacket. No matter what brand you…
Why A Winning Consulting Positioning Demands Weaknesses (And How To Embrace Them)
In 1970, Listerine’s marketing department was feeling the heat. P&G had launched a new mouthwash brand as a competitor a few years before. They called it Scope. And they attacked Listerine’s obvious weakness — taste. Listerine burned like medicine. Consumers knew it. So Scope entered the market using taste as its differentiator. They claimed a…
The Objection Funnel: Why Credibility Can’t Replace Clarity in Consulting Firms’ Messaging
Most marketers think social proof sells. But it doesn’t. It reassures. And this difference changes how to do messaging right. Imagine going to a consulting firm’s website. You’d like to figure out what they do. But you struggle. Because first, you read an aspirational mission statement that means nothing. Then they bombard you with social…
Points of Parity: Why Saying What Buyers Expect Never Makes Your Consulting Firm Stand Out
You can’t differentiate your brand by using what’s expected. Let me explain with an example. Go to 20 management consulting firm websites. You’ll see that they claim to be different by providing high-quality work. Or by bragging about years of experience. But here’s the problem. These are expected by buyers. All management consultancy firms are…
How To Legally Reduce Your Competition In Crowded Markets
Who wouldn’t want less competition in the market? How easy everything would be. You could charge much more. Clients would stick with you longer, maybe forever. And you’d grow like there is no tomorrow. It’d be a dream come true for every executive. Well, there are ways to reduce your competition legally. The obvious option…
7 Rules to Build Messaging That Actually Influences Your Buyers
Why do many consulting firms struggle to get their message across? Why is their value lost in translation? Here’s one reason. Many executives confuse messaging with copywriting. But messaging isn’t just about beautiful words. It’s about making decisions. It’s about clarity. Most consulting firms skip straight to copy and content, without building the structure beneath…
12 Differences Between Incumbents And Challengers (And How Challengers Win)
Every industry has its incumbents. Established players who come at the top of buyers’ category ladders. Like McKinsey and Accenture for consulting. Salesforce and Hubspot for CRM. Or Adobe and Canva for creative software. And then you have the challengers. New and upcoming players who try to get a hold in the market. They compete…
