Doug's Blog Archives – Page 2 of 58

25 May 2017

Do You Know What Makes You Successful At Sales?

By Doug Wagner|2020-07-02T16:19:19-06:00May 25th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales, Working on the Business|Tags: adding value, business, business advice, business systems, Challenger Sales, entrepreneur, inbound marketing, marketing, Marketing Strategy, sales, sales process, small business, small business owner, Steps of the Sale, Working on the Business|

Most small and mid-sized businesses cannot clearly define the process they use for successful sales. This lack of clarity severely limits the growth potential of an SMB. Here’s why.

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I didn’t say YOU can’t sell. If you’ve been in business or sales for a few years and are still around, you’ve probably figured something out that works for you.

In fact, I haven’t met very many business owners who don’t think they can sell or at least have someone on […]

24 May 2017

There is Only One Headline That Matters

By Doug Wagner|2017-05-26T15:31:59-06:00May 24th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing|Tags: blogging, content, entrepreneur, Getting Clicks, Headline, Headlines, Ideal Clients, inbound marketing, marketing, Marketing Results, Online Marketing, small business, social media|

When creating any online content, the first thing most people read is the headline. It either entices them to read it, or it doesn’t.

Your headline gets displayed on search results pages, social media shares, and in blog listings. In social sharing, posts with well-chosen images have several times the engagement and click through ratios if the headline is compelling.

The third factor is the text that introduces the article. This text description can originate from the meta description or the first part of the article […]

19 May 2017

3 Questions To Ask Before Cutting The Marketing Budget

By Doug Wagner|2017-05-19T12:49:17-06:00May 19th, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing|Tags: business, business advice, business growth, business strategy, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Results, Marketing ROI, Marketing Strategy, Online Marketing, Working on the Business|

Most starting and early growth entrepreneurs are focused on costs. Shifting your mindset about marketing budget can change your results dramatically. These 3 questions help you do that.

The First Questions People Normally Ask

If you own a business and someone says you should use some powerful integrated marketing software that costs $800 per month – what is your first thought?

If an online marketing firm comes to you with a proposal to increase traffic and lead generation from your website and it will cost $4,000 a month […]

15 May 2017

Get Serious About Defining Your Ideal Clients

By Doug Wagner|2017-10-18T16:52:05-06:00May 15th, 2017|Categories: Branding, Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing|Tags: 80/20 rule, Brand Strategy, business, business advice, business strategy, Ideal Client, Ideal Clients, inbound marketing, marketing, Marketing Results, Marketing Strategy, Perfect Client, sales, small business owner, SMB, SME, Strategic Marketing, Target Market, Venn Diagram, Working on the Business|

One of the keys to strategic marketing is to make the best use of your limited resources for the greatest results. One of the most powerful drivers of marketing results is to define your ideal clients precisely.

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The best way to show how this works is to take you along on my latest journey to do just that for the online marketing services portion of our business.

A good strategy is just as much about what you will not […]

2 May 2017

Change or Die: Thriving In Turbulent Times

By Doug Wagner|2017-05-02T00:37:18-06:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse, Working on the Business|Tags: Boom and Bust, business, business advice, Business Culture, Change Management, Corporate Culture, Entrepreneurship, Incremental Improvements, James Bond, Mark Watney, Miracle Max, Oil and Gas, Princess Bride, Slash and Burn, Systems and Processes, The Martian, Working on the Business|

The oil and gas industry is notorious for riding the boom and bust cycles inefficiently. When oil is over $80 a barrel, the profits are large enough companies choose to ignore innovation and spend on growth instead. The problems compound the faster you grow until you can’t survive below $70 per barrel.

When prices are low, there is a slash and burn reaction because the company was never set up to be efficient. Now, the money and resources are not there to support creating efficiencies. […]

24 Apr 2017

Small Potatoes, Time, and Inbound Marketing

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-27T18:48:22-06:00April 24th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business advice, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, estimating time, inbound marketing, marketing, planning, project management, time management, Work, Working on the Business|

When you make mistakes, it is best to learn the lessons they teach you. Sometimes the lessons are about something else entirely – like time management and inbound marketing.

Counting Potatoes

It all started when I was making my supper. I was a bit hungry and grabbed some baby potatoes to roast. I would usually eat one large potato or two medium ones. Baby potatoes are much smaller. Obviously, one large potato is the equivalent of about 50 baby potatoes.

Having made this mistake before, and being considerate of […]

20 Apr 2017

Show Your Humanity to Engage More on Social Media

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-20T17:30:44-06:00April 20th, 2017|Categories: Branding, Current Events, Doug's Blog, Marketing|Tags: authentic, brand, business, business advice, Carrie Wilkerson, Celtic Music, Fiddle, Get Reel, Guitar, Humanity, marketing, Personality, Richard Branson, small business, small business owner, social media, Social Media Engagement, Sound, The Barefoot Executive, Video, Video Recording Studio, Virgin Group, YouTube|

There are two main camps in online marketing: business is business and business is personal. The first camp paints itself as impersonal, professional, and aloof. The second acknowledges that people do business with people. When done right, letting your humanity shine through your marketing messages increases social media engagement – without losing the professional touch.

3 Examples

Virgin is Human

If you are considering any of the companies in the Virgin Group, you will probably find the personality of […]

13 Apr 2017

Daraja – Raising Chickens and Developing Business Skills

By Doug Wagner|2017-05-26T17:44:19-06:00April 13th, 2017|Categories: Current Events, Doug's Blog, Non-Profits and Community|Tags: Arsheen Dhalla, business, business skills, case study, Chicken Farm, Daraja, Daraja Foundation, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, non-profit, orphanage, school, Zanzibar|

Arsheen Dhalla is busy doing remarkable work in Zanzibar through the Daraja Foundation. Daraja means bridge in Swahili. During one of her infrequent visits to Calgary, I had the pleasure to sit down with her and listen to her story. There are many stories to tell. For this first video in the series, we decided to focus on the development of life and business skills.

The Chicken Farm Club

Initially when Arsheen traveled to Zanzibar in this capacity, her work primarily centered on an orphanage and a local […]

12 Apr 2017

5 Powerful Exercises to Rehab Your Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-12T16:44:29-06:00April 12th, 2017|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Oilfield Pulse, Working on the Business|Tags: business, business advice, business strategy, Creating Value, Ideal Clients, Increasing Sales, innovation, marketing, O&G, Oil and Gas, Oil and Gas Industry, Oil and Gas Service Company, sales, strategy|

In rehab, you engage with experts and specialists to get through the first few stages of recovery. You can also speed it along by outsourcing to clinics outside of the public health care system.

At some point, you have to do some of the work on your own. If the exercises are too complicated or time-consuming, most people won’t do them.

So here are some simple but powerful exercises you can do to rehab your business. You will get stronger faster, by pushing the exercises […]

29 Mar 2017

If Marketing Is a Growing Asset, Would You Invest More?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-12T11:10:41-06:00March 29th, 2017|Categories: Doug's Blog, Marketing, Oilfield Pulse, Sales|Tags: business, inbound marketing, marketing, Marketing Assets, Marketing Services, Marketing Strategy, Oil and Gas, sales, small business|

For most Oil and Gas (O&G) service companies, marketing works like this. You put money into it, and if it works, you get some leads. Marketing is an ongoing expense instead of an asset. Stop spending, and you stop getting results.

Sales Assets

Sales work much the same way. The biggest difference is it is primarily composed of people. If customers are spending somewhere and you want more sales, you either motivate your sales team a little more or hire additional sales people.

There are two common types of sales people everyone talks […]

Doug’s Blog

The First Questions People Normally Ask

Counting Potatoes

3 Examples

Virgin is Human

The Chicken Farm Club

Sales Assets