ORANGE STAR BLOG
Subscribe to Fresh Squeezed, essential ideas on branding, marketing and growing a small business.
Subscribe to Fresh Squeezed, essential ideas on branding, marketing and growing a small business.
Good Conversations
Most of us don’t converse very well. We listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. A great conversation requires a balance between talking and listening. This balance is important because bad communication leads to bad relationships, at home, at work, everywhere.In this engaging TED talk, professional interviewer, NPR reporter, host and correspondent Celeste…
11.4 pieces of content — move prospects through the buying process
Buyers spend hours gathering information and comparing their options before they make a purchase. According to Forrester, on average a person consumes 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchase decision.Now, this doesn’t mean go create sh*t-tons of content. But it does mean be strategic about the content you do create. You want to create an intentional…
SEO drives more traffic than organic social media
Many people focus on social media as a way to generate more leads and sales, but the truth is, Organic and Paid Search together dominate website traffic by a wide margin for nearly every industry. In terms of revenue results, Organic Search is also the largest channel.A recent BrightEdge study revealed that: Organic Search remains the dominant…
Revenue is not the only way to keep score
One of the things I love about being an entrepreneur is that there are so many ways to measure success. Revenue is not the only way to keep score. Profit can also be measured in time, energy, and money. What do you value more? Is it more freedom? Time with your family? Financial security? The…
10X vs. 10%
Faced with a multitude of competing demands, it can be easy to work on the wrong things.There are times I have felt I am the poster child for this. I have too many ideas and get caught up in the minutia of what is involved in execution.If we’re not careful, this can lead to wasting…
Paul Simon on Inspiration
All new ideas are just a combination of preexisting ideas.So where do you find these preexisting ideas?Everywhere! Inspiration is all around us, we just need to be open to it. Appropriate and recombine — Steal Like an Artist. We can be inspired by anywhere and anything — our subconscious influences and inspiration from unexpected places can…
The Problem with Fancy Features
If you want to create a successful product (or service), you need to focus on solving real problems. Too often, businesses try to add in fancy features that don’t really serve a purpose.Steve Jobs famously said “Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It’s about saying no to all but the most crucial features.”Not all features…
Improve your sales by leveraging the 5 major motivators of human behavior
Have you ever wondered why people buy some things and not others? Or why some people are able to sell ice to Eskimos? It’s not because they have better products or services — it’s because they know how to leverage human behavior. People buy with emotions first and then justify with logic afterward. If your…
Willpower is Overrated
It’s a common misconception that successful people are more disciplined or have more willpower than the average person. The truth is, they don’t — they build systems to make hard things easier to do.Winging it may sometimes seem like the quickest and easiest way to get things done — but in reality, it is often the…
Don’t make me think — what should I do next?!
Don’t make me think. It’s a philosophy that good UX designers live by, and it should be your business’s mantra as well.If someone discovers you, whether via referral, social media, speaking, or search engine results, how easy is it for them to determine their next step?Is there clear messaging about what you do and for…
