Octane AI and Shopify

New Conversational Commerce App Increases Online Sales

By Tim Berry

Is “conversational commerce” the next big improvement in online shopping? I hope so. I’m closely following the success of the new Octane AI conversational commerce app. It was announced this week along with convincing data on significant sales increases it generated by actual users. It works with Shopify, the shopping cart platform used by half... Read More »

Infographic: Branding for Small Business and Startups

By Tim Berry

My thanks to customlabels.net for this useful infographic on brand identity for small business. Earlier in my career I consulted for Apple Computer. I watched how zealously they guarded all the details of the big brand identity. It’s refreshing to see in this infographic some useful tips for minding branding for small business and startups. Read More »

Infographic Online Marketing 2018

Infographic: Online Marketing 2018

By Tim Berry

How to find customers generate leads and close sales in 2018. Read More »

Understand The Essential ‘Why They Buy’

By Tim Berry

Close your eyes. Step away from the daily routine. Answer these questions. Why does anybody buy what you're selling? What do they get out of it? Do you fill a need? Do you offer identifiable benefits? Some 30 years ago... Read More »

Define Your Market By Strategic Intersection

By Tim Berry

Sometimes segmentation itself – dividing a market into meaningful segments – is strategy. I knew a consultant who divided potential small business clients up according to their decision-making process. Small businesses divided into a range that varied from the seat-of-the-pants autocratic owners, on one extreme, to the consensus-with-the-team owners, on the other extreme. And I... Read More »

Understand the New World

By Tim Berry

My Friday video this week in six years old now but still important. This is what is slowly and steadily replacing advertising. Here’s a quote: There is good news around the corner — really good news. I call it the idea of tribes. What tribes are, is a very simple concept that goes back 50,000... Read More »

My Fish Bowl Story of Marketing Mistakes

By Tim Berry

Here’s a mistake I made that taught me a lot and helped me teach others. The Mistake Many years ago, I took a new product – early business planning software – to its first trade show. We did the standard booth thing, brought along products, and sell sheets, business cards, and so forth. And we put... Read More »

How Startups Estimate Market Size

By Tim Berry

It’s a common question. How do I know market size? Of course what one does for that depends on the type of business. What works for a web app won’t work for a restaurant. The kinds of information available in one market differs from another. Local demographics might be quite enough for a retail business, but irrelevant... Read More »