4 tools we can’t run our business without https://t.co/MPwJtkWrfk

If every sale, relationship, and decision still depends on you… you’re not scaling—you’re stuck. “You’re not actually leading. You’re anchoring. Because the business cannot outgrow your ability to do those things.” -Guy Barretta Leadership isn’t about control. It’s about

The Middle Is Where Growth Dies https://t.co/euSaIscMld

Most founders start a business to gain freedom but end up stuck in the day-to-day. “You don’t go into business saying, ‘I hope I wake up to the day-to-day every single day.’” - Guy Barretta As a fractional COO, Guy Barretta helps owners step out of operations to focus on

“Invisible” is the last thing you want your brand to be. But that’s what happens when you live in the middle: Sort of affordable Kind of nice Somewhat different When you try to appeal to everyone, you end up resonating with no one. Growth comes from decisive positioning. Pick

If your market is flattening, don’t broaden your appeal. Instead, sharpen it. The growth play is simple: Choose your edge. Value end: Fast, affordable, accessible. Premium end: Exclusive, elevated, unforgettable. Then build everything — your product, your message, your culture

Mid-tier brands can’t win the new game. They can’t out-price discounters. They can’t out-shine premium players. They’re too expensive to be cheap and too generic to be elite. Retail learned it the hard way: Sears and JCPenney collapsed trying to be everything to everyone.

Rogue Pine helps growth-stage brands find their edge, clarify their story, and choose a side worth scaling. https://t.co/wn831Y7P2l #MarketingStrategy #BrandPositioning #Leadership #Growth #RoguePine

So here’s the growth play: Pick a side. Decide if you’re building for value or for luxury, and design everything around that choice. #MarketingStrategy #BrandPositioning #Leadership #Growth #RoguePine

Consumers don’t want average. They want the best or the cheapest. Anything in between feels like compromise, and compromise doesn’t sell.

Both ends are thriving. But the middle? It’s disappearing. #MarketingStrategy #BrandPositioning #Leadership #Growth #RoguePine

On the other hand, Aldi, Spirit Airlines, and Temu are winning with speed, scale, and simplicity. #MarketingStrategy #BrandPositioning #Leadership #Growth #RoguePine

On one end: premium brands like Apple, Tesla, and Ritz-Carlton are raising the ceiling with high-touch, high-price experiences. #MarketingStrategy #BrandPositioning #Leadership #Growth #RoguePine

The Middle Is Where Growth Dies ☠️ The market is now a barbell: �️ One end: Premium, high-touch experiences. 🎯 The other: Value, speed, and simplicity. The middle? It's vanishing. Consumers want the best or the cheapest—not a compromise. Scroll down to learn the growth play

The middle of the market is gone. Premium brands like Apple and Ritz-Carlton keep raising the ceiling. Budget players like Aldi and Temu keep lowering the floor. Both ends are thriving. The “safe” middle, where most brands used to live, is where growth goes to die. Consumers

“No one cares what your product is. They care what it does for them.” -Mick Essex That’s why people buy Toyotas for reliability, or trust Allstate’s “You’re in good hands.” A strong brand delivers a promise over and over again until it becomes part of people’s lives. Until it

In a world flooded with AI-generated content, brand becomes the last true differentiator. Cracker Barrel’s failed rebrand and Waffle House’s quiet logo experiment both proved it: data doesn’t build loyalty — emotion does. Hear Mick Essex’s take on why brand is becoming

A 30% drop in August revenue looked bad and the data was confusing. Then Mick’s team dug deeper. Turns out it wasn’t an August problem at all. “If you see things that are bad in August,” he said, “something happened in May or June that led to it.” That’s the difference

This is the right mindset.

Big Data, Brand Loyalty, and Baseball https://t.co/l3obefkeIu

We’ve all heard it: “Email is dead.” “This platform is over.” “Marketing has changed forever.” Give it 36 months — and the same ideas cycle right back. “We get caught chasing the next big thing,” Mick says. “But if you listen to your customers, you’ll always know what to do