Grant Stanley Consulting

You might have noticed a lot of recent complaints about what’s known as “page view journalism.” Thanks to the way online advertising works, many online publishers push out tons of daily content, most of it filler. Or it’s overtly controversial — not on its merits — but for the sake of controversy (and page views). Many attribute this approach to greed. I attribute it to a marginal revenue model. Online advertising has grown by leaps and bounds since its collapse at the dot-com implosion. And yet it’s still not the best way to monetise content and run an online business in 2015. Here’s why: 1. You Need Lots of Traffic. Lots! A general rule of thumb is that you’ll need a million monthly page views before online advertising will begin to pay off. You’ll need more in highly general niches (like celebrity), and less in highly specialised ones where advertisers will pay a premium to reach certain people (like mesothelioma). Regardless, you need a lot of traffic . And...

In days gone by small business advertising was a simple task. You would call up either the local newspaper or the Yellow Pages, get a borderline-extortionate quote and then pay it. Advertising was expensive, but it was simple and, when done well, it worked. Today the opportunities for small businesses have proliferated and become much more targeted thanks to the internet, but with so many options available it can be difficult to decide which the best fit is for you. Ultimately, advertising is only worth the money if it drives people to buy your company’s products or services. So here’s a run through of the main opportunities you should consider investing your advertising budget in, in order to reach your target audience and generate leads for your small business: Google Adwords Adwords is the single biggest system for small business advertising. Google will display your website’s ad above results generated from particular searches. Choosing to display your ads against the r...

Innovators or Sheep? Have you ever notice that so many companies want to be visionary? Able to predict future products and services you need; but yet they also say they respond to market demand by being market-driven . Seems to me that’s an oxymoron. Can you be both market-driving and market-driven? To disruptively break free from reactive business strategy and accelerate the agile and pivot-able strategy, we need to understand the difference between market-driving and market-driven companies. In his 2004 book, “Marketing as Strategy,” Nurmalya Kumar characterised these two types of strategies. Market-driving companies rule the future – they push the envelope of possibility and consistently surprise customers by introducing unique value in exceptional brand new products and services. Market driven companies are doomed to fall increasingly further behind as they react to customer needs that will surely change by the time they deliver the ultimately out of date p...

Branding is the process of figuring out who you are and what you stand for, conveying that to your audience, and then maintaining that perception. And it’s hard work­! It requires careful management, but those that manage their brands well instantly stand out. Obviously brand management has changed a fair amount in recent years, in response to changes in consumers and the culture at large. Brand management today includes a mixing of tried and true principles and an ever-evolving adaptation to the age we live in. As you look ahead to the New Year, here are a few reminders from CSM Consultants for managing your brand successfully in 2015.  1. Experience is everything   From front-end employees and project managers to the nit-picky details of a website, each and every aspect of interacting with a brand plays an important role in how consumers will value their overall experience and relationship with your brand. It’s the small things to a brand that can often be the big...