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I thought I’d share something I learned from Russell Brunson’s book Expert Secrets , which I recommend. It is a way of positioning something in a new and sexy light—finding a way to carve out a little blue pond out of a red ocean, to use the “Blue Ocean” terminology. To illustrate the 5 hooks he uses an example from the weight loss industry. Here is a direct excerpt from his boo Read more
Recently, there was a question on this site about awful products that succeeded (sales-wise) because of great marketing. It made me think of the opposite scenario--really great products that failed because of poor marketing. Here are a few. Volkswagen Phaeton In 2002, Volkswagen launched a brand new car model called the Phaeton. ThePhaetonwas described by Volkswagen as a premium class, full-size luxury vehicle and ma Read more
This is an excerpt from Trevor Noah's amazing autobiography Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood The money kept rolling in and I was balling out of control. This is how balling I was: I bought a cordless telephone. This was before everyone had a cellphone. The range on this cordless phone was strong enough that I could put the base outside my window, walk the two blocks to McDonald’s, order my l Read more
Davis Smith is the CEO of Cotopaxi , a company that sells a premium line of outdoor gear. Before founding Cotopaxi, a B-corp that has been a subject of a Harvard Business School case study, Smith had founded two other companies: baby.com.br and pooltable.com. We asked him how he went from selling baby products in Brazil and pool tables in the US to founding Cotopaxi, and what being a certified B-Corp means to h Read more
In an era of tech startups, angel investors, venture capital funds and unicorn hunting, an often-overlooked avenue for entrepreneurs to create successful businesses with great long-term potential is to discover viable Red Ocean business opportunities within established markets. Generally, there are two ways that entrepreneurs can create a successful business by meeting a market’s unmet needs – Blue Read more
