I’ve wagered a bet with my marketing crew that this is going to be my most read post of 2018 simply because it has the word “porn” in the title. The fact that you’ve clicked and made it this far, means you haven’t let me down… so read on, perverts!

One of the core tenets of scaling a business is to spend more time working ON it (meaning focusing on strategic activities that drive growth) and less time IN it. This can be incredibly challenging for execs that are really competent and may feel more comfortable with tactical work, or for those of us (and I’ll raise my hand here) who are type-A control freaks and figure it’s just faster and easier to do everything yourself. Unfortunately, both of these behaviors can present significant barriers to growth.

Looking for some tips and tricks you can use to increase your professional impact? Check out this podcast with my MR industry pals Dave McCaughan and Kevin Gray as we talk about the evolution of the market research industry and the new skills you need to drive real business impact.

Somewhere along the way, you may have become convinced that stasis is safer than movement. Consistency feels comfortable; volatility is frightening. But, in this ever-changing world, we are constantly forced to reinvent ourselves and, in some cases, our businesses. And this reinvention process by very nature requires an entrepreneurial mindset. Constant reinvention requires the ability to drive a long-term vision, create opportunities for growth and foster new ecosystems. But how to actually DO it?

ESOMAR Members! As a two term ESOMAR Council Member, I am presenting myself as a candidate for Vice President for the 2019/2020 term.

Trade shows and events are typically one of the largest marketing expenses for B2B firms. They can be magical from a brand awareness and PR perspective or, on the downside, a total boondoggle for sales and marketing teams. I often hear sales folk enthusiastically evangelize an event without being able to quantify the number of sales qualified leads generated or demonstrate conversions to sales after their return to an office.

Most growth-focused businesses have processes in place for ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty, but what does it mean to have a truly customer-centric business, particularly as it relates to marketing?

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an intrepreneur, one of the biggest determiners of success and, ultimately, growth, is how you respond to failures or setbacks.

Trying to envision what’s on the horizon in 2019 and how it might impact your strategic planning? The innovation we see in the market research industry impacts the way we research and, subsequently, interact and market to consumers on many levels. Trends like mobile, passive data collection, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been consuming media attention in 2018— but there are even more innovate marketing and research methods we can glimpse in the pipeline.

Although we’re just a little over a month past the halfway mark of 2018, now is the time to start thinking about strategic planning. Not the plan itself... but the plan behind the development of the plan.