This article is an edited excerpt from How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It (Diversion Books, 2011) by Mark Cuban (Available at Amazon and iTunes). Anyone who has started a business has his or her own rules and guidelines, so I thought I would add to the memo with my own. My “rules” below aren’t just for those founding the companies, but for those who are considering going to work for them, as well. 1. Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love. 2. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession. 3. Hire people who you think will love working there. 4. Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales. 5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them.Pay up for…

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Ten disruptive marketing trends that will shape the future of brand leadership. 1. Mobile will be the dominant platform. Intelligent devices— smartphones, tablets, watches, wearable gadgets, glasses, microchips, HoloLens (pictured), and others—will reshape and remix the marketing world. As we shift to a world of intelligent devices, marketing will strike up an even more personalized relationship with customers. Those who can do it faster than their competition will lead in this evolving category. 2. Transparency will be part of all successful business – customer relationships. Customers want more engagement from companies. Companies locked into a conventional broadcast model are failing. By 2020, customers will have an even greater expectation of transparency. Authentic companies, including those that admit their mistakes (a trend called “flawsome”), will be heavily rewarded, as will companies that make social responsibility a main part of their culture. Such actions help them form a connection with their customers.…

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There are 20,000 people on Facebook every second of every day. With these kinds of staggering numbers, it’s easy to see why many companies, particularly the smaller ones, focus a lot of their digital marketing attention on social media. After all, when there are that many users, why bother with other avenues? The problem with reaching out to customers and potential customers via social media is that it’s a bit like trying to get attention in a crowded room. With thousands of companies constantly posting content on Facebook and Instagram, the competition gets pretty fierce. The best marketing efforts are efficient, reaching as many people as possible in a meaningful way. But impactful posts on social media are not quickly conceived nor easily acquired. It seems like some need a refresher as far as digital marketing beyond social media is concerned. Here are the often forgotten assets which are key to the digital presence of a…

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By JUNTAE DELANE for digitalbrandinginstitute.com Today marketers face many challenges within the digital marketing space. From working with bootstrapped budgets to creating buy-in with senior managers, the modern-day marketer must find creative ways to balance resources. To be successful, marketers must overcome challenges and  juggle many responsibilities within their departments. Here are the top 5 problems marketers face today and how they solve these problems within their organizations. 1. Providing ROI If you’re a small business, local organization, or Fortune 500 company, your marketing efforts must be measured. At the end of the day, campaign tracking is critical. Not only is tracking a necessary business practice, but it also provides more weight when negotiating a marketing budget increase. The best advice I can give marketers is to track everything. Even if it is not required. This is critical because one day you will be asked to provide more insight on a metric you previously weren’t expected to track.…

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One of the most talked about topics among CPA firms as it relates to marketing is “How much should we be spending?” National studies on CPA firm spending indicate that the range of spending for most CPA firms is somewhere between 2-3% of gross revenue. The latest Association of Accounting Marketing Study on CPA firm marketing budgets (conducted by Hinge), indicates the fastest organically growing CPA firms spend less on marketing than slower growing firms.[1] While it seems counter-intuitive that low-growth firms are spending more, there are a number of factors that upon deeper consideration likely explain the finding. Here are four likely reasons: 1. High-growth firms know how to get a better return on their investment. What dynamics are involved in getting a return on investment on marketing budget? Certainly the quality of the activities is important, but two other elements that carry more weight are having a solid…

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