Invent or innovate?

These two words are often confused with one another.

Thomas Edison was an inventor. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are innovators.

Inventors create something out of thin air while innovators take something that exists and make it better, easier to use etc.

The first email was sent in the mid 1960’s but was not adopted mainstream until the early 1990’s.

The first computer was used in 1943 but the first personal computer was not until 1981. It was not until the graphical interface first with the Lisa by Apple in 1984 and then with MS Windows operating system in the late 80’s /early 90’s that mass adoptions began.

The internet was created in 1961 but it was not used for ecommerce or socially in the form of chat rooms until the mid to late 1990’s.

The electric car was created at the turn of the 1900’s but as we know…the combustible engine won.

The 3D printer was something everyone knew was great but it took a long time before the real value was understood.

Thom and I discuss inventions vs. innovations.

Founder Sellers

Are you a Founder Seller?

The process of how businesses in this country are formed usually goes something like…

– Someone has an idea

– That person asks friends, family and colleagues to verify that idea is good.

– They write a business plan

– They raise money

– They may receive a round of money

– Develop product

– Market/Sell Product

Here is the problem….up until that company actually has a happy paying customer…the business plan is mostly guess work. The worst thing is when money is actually raised too soon by the Founders because this may falsely verify their hypothesis.

Investors are often NOT experts in knowing what will work or not. If you build it….does NOT mean they will always come….Even if it is an amazing idea. Founders and CEO’s need to test their hypothesis in the real world so their perspective can be either verified, shifted or even shattered.

You can NOT understand your customers’ needs while sitting in your office. Interns or entry level sales people should not be expected to go into the field for you to get this feedback. You as the Founder and other Stake holders are the ones for this job.

Thom and I discuss the importance of Founder Sellers .

We both are reading “Nail It then Scale It” by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom.

We discuss an example that involved a revolutionary invention for the time by Thomas Edison that ultimately failed and how that experience changed how he approached inventions for the rest of his life.

If you are starting a business or launching anything new….this book is a must read. mergedanalytics.com #nailitthenscaleit #mergedanalytics #smartlinks #foundersellers

Do the Analytics end when your Campaigns end?

When your email campaign ends…do the analytics end with it?

By using MergedAnalytics with ESP tools like Mailchimp , Constant Contact, Active Campaign etc…the analytics live on well after your campaign is over.

Here is an example….this person first Clicked a SmartLink in a Mailchimp email on June 6th. 3 weeks later…MergedAnalytics is still delivering intelligence when this person revisits the website completely outside of the campaign.

Starting with the 3rd Visit….your ESP would have no way of knowing this person was still interested in your company.

MergedAnalytics keeps delivering intelligence long after your Campaign ends

Try it for yourself…. mergedanalytics.com

Deliver Intelligence to your Customers in YOUR BRAND!

Just completed another White Labeled version of MergedAnalytics for a growth marketing agency in San Francisco.

They provide their marketing services in the auto and logistics verticals.

White labeling MergedAnalytics helps our Agency partners increase both client acquisition and client retention because of the intelligence they deliver in their own brand.

Learn more about our White Label partnerships… https://mergedanalytics.com/partnering/

#whitelabelsolution#mergedanalytics#smartlinks

The Value of the Target Audience

It is the halfway point of the year….Do you know who your target audience is?

It could take time discovering who you should be targeting and it is certainly not as easy as it sounds.

You will notice some marketing tactics basically list everything their company does in hopes someone will see one thing they need and call you….like throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping at least one strand sticks.

Do not spray your message and pray that someone in the world will notice. That is not a winning strategy for anyone.

Discovering your target audience can take time and a lot of trial and error but it is worth finding.

One thing I have found to be helpful is to become a source of information for your industry…..not just your business.

When people think about the space your are in …. you should strive be at the top of their mind.

Educate rather then market.

Thom and I discuss the benefits of finding the right audience for your business.

Good things happen like…sales cycles become quicker and your deals become more profitable.

mergedanalytics.com

Thom StallingsMergedAnalytics LLC#intelligencedelivered

Deliver White Labeled Analytics in your Brand

Aside from all the SEO and other Digital Marketing your agency provides your customers….how do you provide the analytics showing how well it is all working?

Are their accounts that you should include in your ABM plans that are not a part of it now?

Are you A/B testing?

Very often MergedAnalytics is that final piece of the puzzle.

How well (or not) your digital marketing strategies and tactics are working often is something that does not quite get measured.

By utilizing MergedAnalytics….your agency can merge those analytics collected from the social media marketing , email marketing and website visits into a single easy to digest platform.

This will not only provide insight into new prospects but this information will help you nurture, support and upsell your existing customers.

mergedanalytics.com

#whitelabel#mergedanalytics#smartlinks

MergedAnalytics mentioned in a post by Marcus Grimm regarding the future of Cookies and IP address Tracking tools

A post by Marcus Grimm regarding IP Address tracking caught my eye because well…that is what MergedAnalytics provides.

The best part about reading this post completely unprovoked was…he mentioned MergedAnalytics as being a tool that in his words is … “battle- proof”.

He wrote…
“For many of my clients, I’ll deploy MergedAnalytics on their website. It’s less than a hundred bucks per month and is relatively battle-proof. “

Anyway….read on. There are some good nuggets of information for any company looking to get more information on the People and Companies who are interacting with their digital brand.

Also… Marcus wrote this post on a platform called…..NotePD .

NotePD is a tool developed by my virtual Mentor James Altucher. Great social media tool that will help you become an idea machine if used daily.

Here is the link… https://notepd.com/idea/10-thoughts-about-ip-tracking-software-for-b2b-j3na2

mergedanalytics.com

How to handle MergedAnalytics data

Many software deployments fail.

The reasons are usually the same even if the software is incredible.

Why does software fail? Here are the most common reasons…

– No direction from the business sponsor as to why you need to use the software
– Best Practices – How should the users enter data in a uniform way so that the data can be useful
– How the software will help the end user. What is in it for them? It can NOT be just for management to receive reports.
– Power User(s) – People with knowledge as to how and why users need to use the system
– Training

MergedAnalytics is no different.

In this segment Thom and I discuss getting the most out of the intelligence MergedAnalytics delivers.

#mergedanalytics#smartlinks#datamining

MergedAnalytics – Flagging

Who are your website visitors?

Is everyone who clicks on your website a prospect or a customer?

I doubt it.

Website visitors come in all flavors ranging from…

– Competitors
– People looking for employment
– People who want to sell their services to your company
– Investors
– People who are there by accident
– Customers
– Prospects
– Family and Friends
– Internal people within your organization
– Partners

You need to get good at filtering out the people you want to remarket to once they land on your website.

Thom and I discuss how MergedAnalytics can help by flagging certain visitors that you either want to know when the click through your website or even visitors that if you see a certain indicator …you know to ignore them right away.

mergedanalytics.com

Thom StallingsMergedAnalytics LLC

#mergedanalytics
#smartlinks
#intelligencedelivered