5 Assets Every New Business Program Needs – Research

First came planning, now comes research.
Planning is all about preparing the outreach strategy and accompanying assets. Your messaging strategy must revolve around an actionable insight to stand out from the clutter (for more tips on messaging strategy, click here).
Once you have determined a niche and insight to bring to a particular category and audience (CPG, automotive, [...]

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5 Assets Every New Business Program Needs

The traditional new business cycle is similar to dating:
1) Make a call
2) Build a relationship
3) Uncover an opportunity
4) Lose opportunity
5) Begin again
6) Onward and upward
7) Uncover opportunity
Traditional new business is cyclical, nerve-wracking, a numbers game and ultimately, a game of luck and chance, of being in the right place at the right time. Now, we have [...]

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New Business Messaging

The onset of a new business campaign is promising and uncharted.  The slate is wiped clean, and your team can focus on a new target market, a new category, a new message and a new set of assets.  As with anything that turns into a pot of gold, messaging takes time and preparation.  Without a [...]

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New Business 101

For the rookies (like moi). 
I got into ad agency business development two years ago, and I’m still learning the ropes to this day.  Unfortunately, there is no handbook when you first enter this biz; oftentimes, it feels as if you are thrown in headfirst with the sharks.  Of course, there is a level of mentorship, learning and [...]

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SEO Crash Course for New Business

I’m just getting into this SEO thing, and let me tell you, it works.  It really, really works. Bring on the water works.
We’ve established that content is king.  Good content conquers all, but there is only so much conquering going on if no one can find you.  Let’s begin with your website.  Your website is [...]

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Social Media, ROI and New Business

Critics will disagree, but in my humble opinion, there is definite value in an internal social media marketing campaign.  It all depends on what your company wants to measure – traffic, conversation, inbound links, leads?  When it comes to social media, definitive numbers can get a little fuzzy; instead of focusing on a hard number of leads, establish a goal and set a [...]

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The Reintroduction of the Retro Brand

Old school brands are viewed as either a challenge or an opportunity in the eyes of marketers.  On one hand, retro brands are legacy brands, with mass recognition and a history of success; on the other hand, many have lost establishment and are battling dwindling loyalty or little perceived relevance to modern society.  The good news in all of this is that with the right marketing [...]

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Blog Content Strategy for New Business

Yesterday, I attended a social media webinar hosted by Awareness Networks and Hubspot.  A segment of my job includes drumming up a social media strategy for clients and then executing that strategy as part of their new business campaign.  I am always open to social media discussion and opportunities for growth. Yesterday’s webinar covered driving inbound leads [...]

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Cold Calling Still Viable for New Business

Some may disagree, but as I’ve seen it in my short tenure in the world of business development, cold calling is certainly not dead. Sure, it’s not easy nor is it convenient most of the time, but it is a necessary component of your agency’s new business campaign. Without cold calling, you are left with [...]

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New Business Funnel

While perusing Deliver Magazine, I came across the direct mail purchase funnel, a basic B2C sales funnel. Over time and after a series of lead management trends and metrics, many companies compile an internal new business funnel. In the business development space, we rely on direct outbound calls, email campaigns and specific conversation criteria to get to an opportunity.  We [...]

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