Paul Johnston

"How do we get customers to choose us over our competitors?" In a crowded market it's imperative to demonstrate that you understand what your customers value and can communicate how you can solve their problem better than the competition. Stand-out Marketing presents original research which compares the content produced by organizations in a range of sectors which demonstrates that customers are left swimming in a "sea of sameness" by copycat marketing that makes choice difficult. On the back of this unique and fascinating research, Stand-out Marketing sets out a framework of five competencies for business leaders, marketing and sales professionals to successfully differentiate themselves from competitors. These include seeing the next competitive move, staying in tune with your customers and becoming indispensable to them, activating and evaluating initiatives, as well as building an organizational culture which enables these competencies. Featuring interviews with industry experts, tools and exercises throughout, Stand-out Marketing is an essential resource to help companies stand out, deliver genuine value, and achieve competitive advantage.

"How do we get customers to choose us over our competitors?" In a crowded market it's imperative to demonstrate that you understand what your customers value and can communicate how you can solve their problem better than the competition. Stand-out Marketing presents original research which compares the content produced by organizations in a range of sectors which demonstrates that customers are left swimming in a "sea of sameness" by copycat marketing that makes choice difficult. On the back of this unique and fascinating research, Stand-out Marketing sets out a framework of five competencies for business leaders, marketing and sales professionals to successfully differentiate themselves from competitors. These include seeing the next competitive move, staying in tune with your customers and becoming indispensable to them, activating and evaluating initiatives, as well as building an organizational culture which enables these competencies. Featuring interviews with industry experts, tools and exercises throughout, Stand-out Marketing is an essential resource to help companies stand out, deliver genuine value, and achieve competitive advantage.

This book offers both marketing and sales professionals a rare combined insight into both worlds to continuously capture customer intelligence and create value, by blending detailed research with academic rigor and commercial experience of the authors in both Europe and North America. It has never been easier to produce great marketing content and sales collateral. And yet, 90% of the content that marketing produces is NEVER used by sales. Why not? Because it’s not relevant to the audience or the prospect doesn’t even know the content exists. Furthermore 58% of deals end up in “no decision” because Sales has not presented value effectively. Companies are creating lots of noise but failing to resonate with the customers. So what? The danger, aside from marketing wasting tens of millions of dollars on ineffective content and tools, is that customers will disengage. 94% of prospects say they have completely disengaged with vendors because of irrelevant content. In order to grow fast, the authors argue, Sales and Marketing teams need to slow down. They need to work together to truly understand their customers’ needs, wants, motivations and pain points so that they can offer customized “value”. The book sets out how to establish a formal program to continuously capture customer intelligence and insights – the shiny gems of understanding that help prospects to connect the dots – so that value can be consistently articulated in marketing and sales conversations. By integrating the best ideas and practice from commercial experience and academic research the authors show how to create value across the entire marketing and sales value chain – not only get a new customer, but to continue to create value for future purchases by creating “post-sales” value.

In a mythical world of shapeshifters, goddesses, swords, and sorcery, Con, a lone warrior, has spent generations protecting an ancient and deposed royal bloodline, but he's always known that there would come a time when his protection would no longer be enough. That time has finally come. In a bid to restore the bloodline to the throne, and save mankind, he'll have to take on Lilith, an evil queen whose dark magics have been allowed to spread their influence and control for far too long. It will take a very special kind of strength to stand against her, but Con is far from helpless. His soul has long been host to a separate entity, Vel, a powerfully magical creature who can manifest in times of need, becoming Convel, with the heart and mind of both and the body of huge black wolf. Their combined power and guile will soon be put to the ultimate test if they are to have any hope at all of stopping Lilith and saving humanity ... even while protecting a dark secret of their own-one that could easily destroy it all.

In a mythical world of shapeshifters, goddesses, swords, and sorcery, Con, a lone warrior, has spent generations protecting an ancient and deposed royal bloodline, but he's always known that there would come a time when his protection would no longer be enough. That time has finally come. In a bid to restore the bloodline to the throne, and save mankind, he'll have to take on Lilith, an evil queen whose dark magics have been allowed to spread their influence and control for far too long. It will take a very special kind of strength to stand against her, but Con is far from helpless. His soul has long been host to a separate entity, Vel, a powerfully magical creature who can manifest in times of need, becoming Convel, with the heart and mind of both and the body of huge black wolf. Their combined power and guile will soon be put to the ultimate test if they are to have any hope at all of stopping Lilith and saving humanity ... even while protecting a dark secret of their own-one that could easily destroy it all.

Quint Dalrymple investigates the strange disappearance of the Lord of the Isles in this gripping dystopian thriller. November, 2038. Scotland has been reunified and Edinburgh's thirty-year experiment with supposedly benevolent totalitarianism is over. But there's still plenty of work for ex-investigator Quint Dalrymple, who's looking into an attempted strangling in Leith. A young man has been attacked by an assailant wearing a bizarre tree-fish costume. Before Quint can make headway, he is asked by the head of government to look into the strange disappearance of the Lord of the Isles. How could Angus Macdonald, leader of the opposition, have vanished from inside his locked bedroom while his valet was sitting outside? And why has a severed finger been hidden in the room? When a body is discovered, arranged in a disturbingly macabre pose, it becomes clear the two cases are linked. As Quint delves further, he is drawn into a complex web of deception whose threads lead far back into his past ...

This book takes the reader on a fictional journey to listen in on the conversation between Jesus and his disciples on the road to Emmaus. This account gives a fictional first person account to the events that happened around the time of the death of Christ on Calvary. It looks at the prophecies that were given hundreds of years earlier that came true with uncanny accuracy.

This book, although written in the author's usual Christian Inspirational genre, is a unique offering. It is an apocalyptic tale that centers on the story of a workaholic multimillionaire whose family is falling apart. It opens with a nuclear attack on America and follows Brian and the Worthington family through the prophesied time known as the Tribulation. The book is unique because at the end of each chapter the author offers insights into his thinking and the Bible references that guide this compelling story.

A small, weak, and sickly young man who excels at academics leaves the family farm when the love of his life falls in love and marries his often overbearing brother. His talent for art and foreign languages propels him from teacher to headmaster of a private academy. Later in life, the chance at an even better life presents itself when a timber baron recruits him as a private tutor for his children. In route to this new opportunity he stumbles across a Sasquatch and his life takes a turn in a whole new direction. This short fantasy novelette will draw you into this man's life and reinforce your Christian faith. This is a compelling story for the believer and non-believer alike.

This novelette is short on pages, but long on impact. It is an intensely Christian story. It tells the story of a man now old, broken, and with regrets who on the outside was a good Christian man all his life. Yet, looking from the inside out he came to the conclusion that he had lived his life as a halfway Christian in contrast to his best friend who lived his life for Christ with no reservations. With his own mortality in mind, he receives a late life calling from the Lord at what he considers the midnight hour of his life. He attempts to right his wrongs and is brought across the pathways of two very needy youths. One is tortured by guilt for being more interested in a video game than his own brother's welfare which led to his brother's death. The other is a cast off child. His innocence was sold by his drug addict mother to any pedophile predator with enough money for her next fix. He is shunned by the other neighborhood children and driven to the brink of suicide by his short but infamous past. Can God use a man who has lived his life as a halfway Christian to heal the wounds of these needy children? Read it for yourself for the answer and delve into the sensitive subjects of doubting one's salvation and what is the balance between living a righteous life before God and still showing compassion to those struggling with sin and temptations.

This is a the story of Little Man. A black family in a crime ridden neighborhood of a major American city finds their Christian faith challenged by the senseless murder of the father. Ten difficult years pass and twelve year old Jerry Jr., AKA Little Man, goes to the local convenience store for an ice cream cone. While at the counter, the local crime boss comes in to make an example of the elderly shop owner who refuses to pay protection money. This child of a murder victim witnesses a murder and is threatened to keep his mouth shut. The problem is he has felt extreme bitterness for those he considered cowards who refused to stand up and tell what they knew when he father was killed allowing his killer to walk free. What will he do when cooperating with the police could get not only himself killed, but his whole family killed as well

The smell of beans baking in her oven transports a lady back to her teen years and a very special family reunion in her small hometown in a valley among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. God placed a very special burden on her heart as a girl for her two wayward uncles. This inspirational Christian tale will carry you on a non-stop journey to a most unusual ending. Packed with authentic Appalachian dialect by an author who spoke it as his native tongue, these lovable characters will win your heart as their stories unfold. This is one that you'll want to read in one sitting without putting it down.