Comments on: Marketing From the Heartbeat Out

By: smorrow

smorrow — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:44:22 +0000

Great article. As always providing insight and inspiration. Got me really thinking about bending the edge, pushing out, and looking to creating a new paradigm. I really needed to hear this today. Many thanks and keep provoking and inspiring. ~s

By: Power Tools: Are You One?

Power Tools: Are You One? — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:58:41 +0000

[...] beyond the tight constructs of what we’re told to do. Ways that change the game. Ways that expand, rather than conquer the market. Ways that make patently obvious our unique contribution. Ways that make us [...]

By: Best of Awake@TheWheel 2009 | Jonathan Fields

Best of Awake@TheWheel 2009 | Jonathan Fields — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:19:50 +0000

[...] Marketing From the Heartbeat Out – One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes make is treating product development, marketing and sales as three independent pursuits. Truth is, they are all hopelessly intertwined parts of the same process. And, without fail, the more innovative energy you give to the first, the less … [...]

By: Andrea Butje

Andrea Butje — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:18:22 +0000

Loved your post, thanks. I am curious, when you say you created “solutions that didn’t just serve the existing market better, they expanded the market by including those who’d normally never exercised or done yoga”. What exactly did you do to reach these folks?

Thanks for all the excellent, fun, inspiring writing!

By: Cath Duncan

Cath Duncan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:37:37 +0000

I guess this is probably one of the reasons why so many solopreneurs are doing so well – being the only one in the business, they often have to be the product development team, the marketing team and the sales team. I guess that makes it easier for your departments to actually be talking to each other in this way – although it’s still not impossible to have the total disconnect between these departments and find yourself thinking and talking a different way when you’re in “sales mode” to when you’re in product development mode, etc. (I’ve experienced this myself when I first started my business, because of how I thought I “should” communicate/ think when selling!)

I spent a year selling personal development products for an international company and so I’ve experienced first-hand the importance of product development (and continuous evolution) being the heart of the business. The product I was selling couldn’t be evolved or customized and this made my job as a salesperson infinitely more difficult. This was a great experience for me, because my frustration with their product motivated me to develop my own products and to appreciate the necessity of continuous evolution (and customization where possible) of my products.

This post really resonated with me, and reminded me of stuff I’d forgotten, which has sparked some cool ideas! Thanks, Jonathan

Cath

By: Sunday

Sunday — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:51:18 +0000

This post and comments opened my mind in all kinds of directions about marketing. My own experience with corporate mentality is that it’s amazingly short-sighted: I worked in a place that would stiff their vendors so quarterly profits looked good. The fact that they drove their vendors to charge them top dollar (and to pretty much hate them) seemed like good business to them. (Oddly enough, this was an alternative energy business, geared toward the future…)

By: Jonnie Jensen

Jonnie Jensen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:34:22 +0000

A really great post. What I heard was be real and be willing to ask people whats wrong. That is truelly where the answers will come from and provide differentiation. Then as always its having the balls and support/agreement to carry out.

Its sent my head spinning with thoughts. Thank you

By: Don’t Skimp on Innovative Energy for Product Development | blog by dee

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:26:51 +0000

[...] Career Renegade Blog: One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes make is treating product development, marketing and sales as three independent pursuits. [...]

By: Edgar A. Uy

Edgar A. Uy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:37:41 +0000

Great post. I’m a firm believer that advocacy from customers is worth more than the slickest marketing campaign. Innovation requires stepping out of our comfort zone and being comfortable exploring our world without being tethered to conventional wisdom.

By: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan Fields — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:34:26 +0000

@ Don – No doubt, it’s not easy, especially when you work in an organization that’s built it’s history around a “red ocean” i.e. blood in the water, competition-driven solution. The book, Blue Ocean Strategy is actually great at laying out a comprehensive process to make it happen.

@ Alex F – Mind whirling is my forte, lol!

@ Alex S – You’re right, identifying the reasons why non-consumers are not consuming is critical

@ Amber – Yeah, Cirque was really visionary with what they pulled off

@ Tanya – Just keep exploring, it’s worth the effort

@ Amy – I’m honored to have made your marketing list!

@ James – Thanks for sharing that post, the really cool thing about this approach is, at least for a while, it makes competition largely irrelevant

@ Andy – Rock on, brother!

@ Naomi – Actually, I just invented a purple cow creator, only 99 cents an idea, lol!

@ Scott – Great examples, thanks for sharing

@ Rudolf – When the solution itself is innovative enough, the hook becomes self evident