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TDZ Blog

Strategy Is Changing; What Does That Mean for You?

By Tracy Diziere | October 1, 2019

A recent Forbes article covered how marketing strategy in mature organizations is “moving from communications leadership to growth accelerant.” That might sound like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to some of you. And like some pie-in-the-sky idea to others. So let’s break it down for the entrepreneurial-minded leader, shall we? As a small service-based business leader, you’ve […]

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Channel and Global Marketing Teams: Better Together and with a Creative Partner

By Tracy Diziere | August 13, 2019

As technology service offerings grow, channel partners’ opportunity to step in, cultivate custom solutions, and offer managed services has skyrocketed. In tandem, revenue from indirect channels has soared. While stats vary, a Forrester study commissioned by Mediafly reports that almost half (49%) of a company’s overall revenue comes from the channel. Or as Principal Analyst […]

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Success Is an Inside Job

By Tracy Diziere | December 19, 2018

Part of my message at today’s Conscious Connections panel “Insight from Women of Influence, Impact + Profit” was “Success is an inside job.” This was/is a hard learned lesson and speaks to the need for personalized attention when growing as an entrepreneurial-minded leader. I/we need this kind of help. That’s why I fill the role of […]

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Why We Take a Holistic Approach to Service

By Tracy Diziere | November 6, 2018

Why do we take a holistic approach to service? Why does service experience design start with a broad view? David Clarke in an Adweek article says it best: Experience isn’t just one thing. It’s comprised of sales, customer service, order entry, human resources, quality assurance, shipping, billing, collections, maintenance—a hundred parts of an enterprise. Therefore, […]

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Nothing Is Created Alone

By Tracy Diziere | January 9, 2018

I’m putting a stake in the ground: Nothing is created alone. This is what came from my Root Session with the fabulous team at Root + River. I’ll write more here later. The important thing is to know that it does take other people to create. We need each other. Despite our ideas about rugged […]

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How Are You Responding to Uncertainty

By Tracy Diziere | September 23, 2016

Not Much Is for Certain. How Are You Responding to Uncertainty? Spoiler alert: I don’t have it all figured out but I do have one tool you can use related to strengths which I’ll address at the end. There seems to be a lot of buzz and advice around being comfortable with–accepting?— instead of responding to […]

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Creating Your Own Vocabulary – Tracyisms

By Tracy Diziere | August 15, 2016

As you learn new things, identify trends, or solidify your own ideas about your industry or your world, it’s often useful to create your own vocabulary. I’ve created this post as a running tab of the words I’ve created or picked up on and made my own. I call them Tracyisms. Do you have words […]

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How to Develop a Plan to Update Your Website Content

By Tracy Diziere | July 16, 2016

How to Develop a Plan to Update Your Website Content for Solopreneurs Looking to develop a plan to update your website content–either on your own or with some outside help? Most of us know there’s dated content on our sites. If we look at updating our content, we’ll be able to re-post, re-promote and ultimately add […]

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Change Starts with You (and 3 Steps to Start)

By Tracy Diziere | May 17, 2016

“Stuckness” sucks. The way out? Realizing that nothing is keeping you glued in place but you. That you don’t need to wait for something to happen to loosen you from the grip of whatever’s got you. And the big realization: That change starts with you. What do you mean, “Change Starts With You?” It starts […]

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Knowing Yourself – The Start of Your Success Journey

By Tracy Diziere | April 26, 2016

I believe that success starts with knowing yourself–and defining your version of the word.  When we begin tapping into our authentic selves, we start to uncover what is unique to us. We begin to notice where we have deviated or fallen away from the path that is of our own design. And while perhaps different […]

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Guest Blog Posts

In addition to our own posts by title below, check out the following guest posts:

Focusing on Successes and Strengths vs. Failures and Weaknesses

The Best Place to Spend Your Marketing Time & Money

Customer Expectations: Mind the Gap

Key Topics

Do You Need Technology for Content Marketing?

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Do You Need Technology for Content Marketing?

In this post, we address whether you–as a small business owner–need technology for content marketing. Technology here refers to marketing automation software or a platform. You may or may not need a big technology investment to support your content efforts.  [box] This is one of our Business Breakdown posts. We break down a marketing headline, […]

Collaboration

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Collaboration

Collaboration means a lot of different things these days: from B2B companies working with suppliers and customers to entrepreneurs using technology to be productive to small businesses joining forces.  It can also mean Strategic Partnerships, co-marketing, and simply an extra brain to jump-start creative thinking. Marketing Collaboration-on-Call™ No matter how you are defining collaboration, we offer a flexible solution to […]

How to Budget for Culture

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on How to Budget for Culture

Hint: Make culture directly funded by each sale There’s a lot I could say about Buffer‘s (aka Bufferapp’s) pricing transparency and how they have budgeted for culture, as well as the impact that has on me as a prospective customer. But, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just let this sink in: […]

Why Hire a Strategic Marketing Consultant?

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Why Hire a Strategic Marketing Consultant?

Business owners, internal marketing stakeholders, and entrepreneurs might benefit from hiring a strategic marketing consultant, but often aren’t aware of the circumstances that would prompt such a decision. Also, there is a lack of understanding about the problems a marketing strategist and consultant can solve, resulting in leaders asking “Why hire a strategic marketing consultant?” […]

Business Process and Operational Efficiency

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Business Process and Operational Efficiency

Who Needs Business Process and Operational Efficiency? Entrepreneurs, microbusinesses, and small businesses (primarily) invest in people and task-based projects to perform their essential functions, usually creating departments or teams to achieve certain objectives. When departments or personnel have different needs and constraints, the organization’s efficiency may suffer. We consult with C-suite, VP-level management, Boards and […]

Our Position on Collaborating with Agencies

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Our Position on Collaborating with Agencies

for Internet Marketing Firms, Creative Agencies, Boutiques, Web Dev Cos, Independent Consultants, & Freelancers (whew!) Let’s be honest: For all of our creating differences, small marketing & PR agencies usually do the same (or complementary) things.  So choosing collaboration over competition should be a no-brainer, right? We can’t be bothered with egos when there’s important […]

The Alternative to Firing Your Clients: Better Screening

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on The Alternative to Firing Your Clients: Better Screening

In my earlier post Firing Customers: Why and How,  I referenced Collapse of Distinction: Stand Out and Move Up While Your Competition Fails. This is a book by Scott McKain and although I haven’t read it yet, he has published an informative article on MarketingProfs.com: Why You Should Fire (Some of) Your Customers.  Herein, he recommends who to […]

StartUp Connect Summary, Part 2

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on StartUp Connect Summary, Part 2

(This is a continuation from Part 1. Originally published 12/19/13. ) I only attended the Saas/e-commerce breakouts since tech marketing is more my thing.  Here are my rough and random notes, with commentary. Brad Jannenga of WebPT and Bob La Loggia of Appointment-Plus had an amusing session addressing life as an entrepreneur.  No slide deck, […]

Start with a Goal

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Start with a Goal

“Start with a goal.” It sounds so simple. And it’s a message that’s so pervasive. Yet putting goal-setting into action can range from being an exercise that begins with positive momentum but becomes difficult to maintain to virtually non-existent due to day-to-day demands.  Nevermind full-on strategic planning, which can be too daunting, misguided, or cumbersome […]

Marketing Soapbox: Nonprofits Need to Segment

By Tracy Diziere | Comments Off on Marketing Soapbox: Nonprofits Need to Segment

Nonprofits need segmentation strategies. One of the biggest problems I see as a donor is when I receive mailings and other costly marketing materials (such as gala invites) when I have only donated a small amount to a particular charity. Nonprofit organizations need to understand their markets (i.e., target donor personae) and design communications strategies […]