The first persistent problem of learning is that learners see no reason to participate in the learning. In part 2 of a 6 part series, explore the parallels between creating the need in the buying process and doing the same in the learning process.

Parallels between the buying process, selling and learning make themselves evident as you ponder the wealth of information about all three. Believe it or not, solutions from the sales body of knowledge could substantially improve what happens in adult learning.

The generally poor customer experience from sales teams in car dealerships in Guelph and Kitchener/Waterloo have me wondering about whether we haven't reached the end of the line for dealerships.  When it comes to customer experience for a big ticket item like a car, you'd better put up or shove off.

MEDIA RELEASE: Guiding Star Communications and Consulting is the lead partner in an online platform called Case Swarm (www.caseswarm.com).  

Case Swarm is an industry- or problem-agnostic software-as-a service web platform that enables social case study exploration.  Case Swarm lets defined teams explore case studies in a safe, structured and secure web environment. It collects the best insight from within teams, and gets people sharing their trouble-shooting excellence.

Content marketing has been around for a long time - but now, we've coined the term and created lots and lots of buzz about it.  Seems simple enough - (potential) clients would rather learn about your solution or product through reputable content.  They'll embrace, even if created by you, if it isn't overly pushy, and helps with big picture creation.  I recently toured a web-based content curation tool Curata - and was quite honestly blown away!

Television advertising, as spotted on several Canadian TV channels, seems to be stuck in a rut of inanity.  It's feeling a bit like a Gong Show when ads show up; I'm just wishing I had the gong that would magically dismiss the stupidity from my screen.  Ad agencies should be ashamed of silly, shoddy work.

At the heart of the buying process is a (potential) client's pain.  Why must we persist in generating insipid, navel-gazing marketing communications that just don't respect that?

Engaging members of your target audience in deliberate and fun exercises during advisory boards can generate remarkable insight into your brand planning.

The principles of stickiness suggested by the brothers Heath actually make a whole lot of sense when applied to websites. Here's how you might build a sticky website.

Because relationships strongly colour our perceptions of brand, how your people act collectively (aka your organizational culture) speaks loudly in your efforts to brand yourself.  It's about more than logos and wordmarks - it's about values!