Stop Apologizing

I assume you have an idea or two about how to make your company grow better. (Now is a good time to tell people that idea)But to persuade humans to change, you need to speak with impact. Here's one mistake I see PMMs making, one that is easy to fix: “I have an idea, but you’ve … Continue reading Stop Apologizing →

Ctrl+CEO

Tech product marketers drive a company’s positioning, so we “punch above our weight” in relevance to the CEO. Often, even a fairly junior PMM works with the CEO, an unusual requirement for that stage of career, and nothing they teach you in school. I see examples of it going well, and of it working badly. … Continue reading Ctrl+CEO →

“Executive Presence” Means Nothing (Sentence Carving 101)

2 PMM leaders that I coach recently got performance reviews. Both were told they need to work on executive presence.This is a useless piece of feedback. Because no one can say what it means. What’s Really Going On? They’re really saying you don’t speak with impact.For impact, there’s one behavior that makes the biggest difference.How you carve … Continue reading “Executive Presence” Means Nothing (Sentence Carving 101) →

Reference Marketectures & Platform Positioning

When you need to sharpen up your positioning or reboot it because you’re launching a new product, have a tough competitor, or enter a new market, you can get to better positioning, faster, by taking a reference marketecture approach. A reference marketecture is a drawing of the capabilities offered by all the main vendors in … Continue reading Reference Marketectures & Platform Positioning →

The Price You Pay When You Hide Your Pricing

I’m seeing a growing number of tech companies who have decided NOT to list pricing on their websites. I ALWAYS challenge this, because there’s three things wrong with this decision. 1. Hiding your pricing creates fatal levels of doubt Why don’t they say what it costs? This is the worst. Not showing your pricing raises … Continue reading The Price You Pay When You Hide Your Pricing →

Recession Positioning: How PMMs Can Help, and How to Get Started

The economy is slowing – and it’s likely to get worse. But for SaaS product marketers, it’s a chance to build your “recession positioning” chops. Here are some thoughts from my time going through the Dot Bomb, the GFC, and more localized tough times. A lot of tech PMMs have not had the experience of … Continue reading Recession Positioning: How PMMs Can Help, and How to Get Started →

Provoking People to Build Great Messaging

“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost How do you get from the way you currently talk about your company and your products, to differentiated talking and storytelling? With the help of other people. But how do you get the best out of people? How … Continue reading Provoking People to Build Great Messaging →

8-Steps to Sharper Differentiators

Sharpening your competitive differentiators can impact your company’s pipe gen, sales and win rates this quarter and this year. If that’s something you need to do, here’s the approach I use. What is a Product Differentiator? Product differentiators are unique ways your product creates value for customers. George Hu, when he was at Salesforce, used … Continue reading 8-Steps to Sharper Differentiators →

Product Marketing, Diction, and Roots

“Short words are best, and old words when short are best of all.” -- Winston Churchill Diction is the art of choosing the right word. For product marketers, diction is a core area of study, skill, and practice. Storytelling, naming, or describing – picking the right words makes a big difference in how your listener … Continue reading Product Marketing, Diction, and Roots →

How to Help in a Crisis

In the last couple of weeks of checking in with old friends and colleagues about how they’re doing with the COVID-19 crisis, 2 people said to me “I wish there were more I could do.” Good news: There is. First, at the simplest level, step up and lead at your company, if the company isn’t … Continue reading How to Help in a Crisis →