Table of Contents
A. The Truth About What Customers Want
TRUTH 1 Your customers want a relationship, not a one-night stand
TRUTH 2 Design it, and they will come
TRUTH 3 Sensory marketing–smells like profits
TRUTH 4 Pardon me, is that a breast in your Coke?
TRUTH 5 One man’s goose…
TRUTH 6 Throw ‘em a bone, and they’ll no longer roam
TRUTH 7 Stay in their minds–if you can
TRUTH 8 These are the good old days
TRUTH 9 Why ask why?
TRUTH 10 He who dies with the most toys wins
TRUTH 11 Your customers are looking for greener pastures
TRUTH 12 “Because I’m worth it”
TRUTH 13 Love me, love my avatar
TRUTH 14 You really are what you wear
TRUTH 15 Real men don’t eat quiche (but they do moisturize)
TRUTH 16 Girls just want to have fun
TRUTH 17 Queer eye for the spending guy
TRUTH 18 Yesterday’s chubby is today’s voluptuous
TRUTH 19 Men want to sleep with their cars
TRUTH 20 Your PC is trying to kill you
TRUTH 21 Birds of a feather buy together
TRUTH 22 Sell wine spritzers to squash players
TRUTH 23 They think your product sucks–but that’s not a bad thing
TRUTH 24 When to sell the steak, when to sell the sizzle
TRUTH 25 People are dumber than robots (lazier, too)
TRUTH 26 Your customers have your brand on the brain
TRUTH 27 Let their mouseclicks do the walking
TRUTH 28 Nothing shouts quality like leather from Poland
TRUTH 29 Consider investing in a drive-thru mortuary
TRUTH 30 Go to the Gemba.
TRUTH 31 Your customers want to be like Mike (or someone like him)
TRUTH 32 Go tribal
TRUTH 33 People like to do their own thing–so long as it’s everyone else’s thing too
TRUTH 34 Catch a buzz
TRUTH 35 Go with the flow–get shopmobbed today
TRUTH 36 Find the market maven, and the rest is gravy
TRUTH 37 Hundreds of housewives can predict your company’s future
TRUTH 38 Know who wears the pants in the family
TRUTH 39 Youth is wasted on the young
TRUTH 40 Make millions on Millennials
TRUTH 41 Grownups don’t grow up anymore
TRUTH 42 Dollar stores make good cents
TRUTH 43 The rich are different
TRUTH 44 Out with the ketchup, in with the salsa
TRUTH 45 Look for fly-fishing born-again environmentalist jazz-loving Harry Potter freaks
TRUTH 46 Ronald McDonald is related to Luke Skywalker
TRUTH 47 Sign a caveman to endorse your product
TRUTH 48 Make your brand a fortress brand–and make mine a Guinness
TRUTH 49 Turn a (pet) rock into gold
TRUTH 50 Think globally, act locally
B. The Truth About Creating Brands People Love
TRUTH 1 Managing brands is not common sense
TRUTH 2 No one loves your brand as much as you love it
TRUTH 3 The brand is not owned by marketing; everyone owns it
TRUTH 4 Making more by doing less
TRUTH 5 Does your brand keep its promise?
TRUTH 6 Price is the communication of the value of your brand
TRUTH 7 Brand personality is the emotional connection with your brand
TRUTH 8 Does your sales force know the difference between a product and a brand?
TRUTH 9 Beware of the discounting minefield
TRUTH 10 Packaging protects your product; great packaging protects your brand
TRUTH 11 Brand management is association management
TRUTH 12 The retail experience is the brand experience
TRUTH 13 Corporate ego: Danger ahead
TRUTH 14 Brand metrics: Best measure of success?
TRUTH 15 Customer complaints are a treasure
TRUTH 16 Brand stewardship begins at home
TRUTH 17 Market share doesn’t matter
TRUTH 18 Avoid the most common segmentation mistake
TRUTH 19 Public relations and damage control: The defining moment
TRUTH 20 Focus equals simplicity
TRUTH 21 Marketing is courtship, not combat
TRUTH 22 Don’t sacrifice brand focus for sales
TRUTH 23 The medium is not the message; the message is the message
TRUTH 24 Brand development and the small business
TRUTH 25 Imitation is an ineffective form of flattery
TRUTH 26 Positioning lives in the mind of your target customer
TRUTH 27 The value of brand loyalty
TRUTH 28 Quality is not an effective branding message
TRUTH 29 Effective use of celebrity endorsers: The fit’s the thing
TRUTH 30 Brand-building consumer promotion
TRUTH 31 Advertising built for the long run
TRUTH 32 A service brand is a personal brand
TRUTH 33 Is your brand the best at something? If so, be satisfied
TRUTH 34 Great positionings are enduring
TRUTH 35 Effective branding begins with the name
TRUTH 36 Your brand makes your company powerful, not the other way around
TRUTH 37 Be consistent but not complacent
TRUTH 38 Is your brand different? If not, why will someone buy it?
TRUTH 39 The three M’s of taglines: Meaningful, motivating, and memorable
TRUTH 40 Customer service is the touch point of your brand
TRUTH 41 Smaller targets are easier to hit
TRUTH 42 Beware of the allure of brand extensions
TRUTH 43 Keep advertising simple, but not simplistic
TRUTH 44 It’s a long walk from the focus group room to the cash register
TRUTH 45 Repositioning can be a fool’s chase
TRUTH 46 With advertising, don’t expect too much
TRUTH 47 Don’t let testing override judgment
TRUTH 48 Effective advertising is 90% what you say, 10% how you say it
TRUTH 49 Compromise can destroy a brand
TRUTH 50 Don’t let the pizazz outshine the brand
TRUTH 51 There are no commodity products, only commodity
C. The Truth About Starting a Business
Part I The Truth About What It Takes to Be a Business Owner
TRUTH 1 Why people start businesses
TRUTH 2 The right business for you
TRUTH 3 Questions to ask before you quit your job
TRUTH 4 Key characteristics of successful business owners
TRUTH 5 You may not need “prior business experience”
Part II The Truth About Generating and Testing Business Ideas
TRUTH 6 The most common sources of new business ideas . . . . . . . . . 21
TRUTH 7 Want several alternatives? Techniques for generating new business ideas
TRUTH 8 A make-it or break-it issue: Selecting an idea that can be sold into a niche market
TRUTH 9 Screening and testing business ideas
TRUTH 10 Writing a business plan: Still as important as ever
Part III The Truth About Entry Strategies
TRUTH 11 Starting from scratch: Developing your own product or service
TRUTH 12 Franchising: Buying into someone else’s formula for success
TRUTH 13 Believe it or not: There are legitimate opportunities in direct sales
TRUTH 14 Buying a business
TRUTH 15 Internet businesses: The sky does seem to be the limit
Part IV The Truth About Getting Up and Running
TRUTH 16 Choosing a location for your business
TRUTH 17 Something you’ll say a million times: Your business’s name
TRUTH 18 The paper chase: Obtaining business licenses and permits
TRUTH 19 Choosing a form of business ownership
TRUTH 20 Creating a Web site: An absolute necessity
Part V The Truth About Raising Money
TRUTH 21 How to think about money as it relates to starting a business
TRUTH 22 Calculating your initial start-up costs
TRUTH 23 Personal funds, loans from friends and family, and bootstrapping
TRUTH 24 Debt financing
TRUTH 25 Equity funding
TRUTH 26 Grants: It takes the right fit
TRUTH 27 Persistence pays off: Finding alternative sources of start-up funds
Part VI The Truth About Building a New Business Team
TRUTH 28 How to approach the task of building a “new business” team
TRUTH 29 Starting a business as a team rather than an individual
TRUTH 30 Recruiting and hiring employees
TRUTH 31 Board of directors
TRUTH 32 Board of advisors
Part VII The Truth About Intellectual Property
TRUTH 33 Intellectual property: What is it, and how is it protected?
TRUTH 34 To patent or not to patent?
TRUTH 35 Trademarks: An essential form of protection
TRUTH 36 Copyright laws: A surprising breadth of protection
TRUTH 37 Trade secrets: Guard them carefully
Part VIII The Truth About Marketing
TRUTH 38 How to approach marketing in a new business
TRUTH 39 Segmenting the market and selecting a target market
TRUTH 40 Establishing a brand
TRUTH 41 Selling benefits rather than features
TRUTH 42 Pricing: The most dicey element of the marketing mix
TRUTH 43 It’s okay to advertise, but think through your choices carefully
TRUTH 44 Public relations: More important than ever
TRUTH 45 Distribution and sales: More choices than ever
Part IX The Truth About Financial Management
TRUTH 46 Managing a business’s finances
TRUTH 47 Financial objectives of a business
TRUTH 48 The nitty-gritty: Forecasts, budgets, and financial statements
Part X The Truth About Growing a Business
TRUTH 49 Preparing for growth
TRUTH 50 Stages of growth: More opportunities, more challenges
TRUTH 51 Strategies for growth
Part XI The Truth About Starting a Business and Maintaining a Healthy Personal Life
TRUTH 52 Work life balance: Practical tips
TRUTH 53 Starting a business as a means of achieving a healthy personal life
