Introduction The world is full of myths, from fake news to faux facts. Mount Everest is not the world’s tallest mountain, The Great Wall of China can’t be seen from space, and the word “sushi” does not mean “raw fish”. (It’s the vinegared rice on which the fish was traditionally served, and it’s spread to mean the sour taste of the rice - so it describes the flavour of the dishes, not the dishes themselves.)

To sell anything effectively, it pays to understand the people who are likely to purchase it. If you’re trying to sell fish, for instance, the way you sell it to a Michelin-starred restaurant will be vastly different to the sales pitch to a zoo looking to feed their penguins. One is concerned with quality, the other is all about price (unless they have a particularly fussy Emperor in their enclosures). Building a business to sell is no different. To get maximum value, you need to know what a buyer wants and is willing to pay for it. The answer is multi-faceted: from positioning via industry benchmarks and perfecting your brand to attracting and retaining talent through your employer brand. In this series, we’ve previously discussed these areas and how marketing can help you build value, but one key element remains.

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said ‘the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.’ This couldn’t be more true when it comes to business and marketing. Although fear can hold us back in all walks of life, in business, fear is anathema. It stifles growth, has a detrimental effect on profits and can ultimately result in the thing we fear most in the first place: failure. In order to implement a powerful marketing strategy and reach your true business potential, it’s crucial to overcome these fears. Here’s what ‘marketing fear’ looks like, how it’s holding you back, and how you can overcome it.

GDPR – the EU General Data Protection Regulation – is among the biggest legislative changes to hit UK businesses in years. Organisations that fail to adhere to the new rules face fines of €20m or 4% of their global turnover. And there’s no limit on size of business; it affects everyone.

 In 2007 the CIA had a day at the races, running an experiment on information overload - specifically, among professional horse race gamblers. The organisation found a break point at which too much information became a drawback. Once an experienced handicapper had the minimum information necessary to make an informed judgement, the additional information didn’t lead to more accuracy in their predictions – only overconfidence.