Let’s face it, marketing can be hard! In each marketing blog post, we hope you’ll find the information you need for your business marketing success.
5 Insane (but true) Things About Marketing for Small Business
Marketing for Small Business is not for the feint of heart. As any small business owner knows, there are so many competing demands for your time and attention, that marketing your business often falls to the bottom of your list — although rightfully it should be the highest item on the list. Here are 5…
Content Strategy & The Case to Focus on Your Business Blog
The modern business owner has plenty on his plate, but it might be time to add one more dish. Business blogs are the latest marketing trend gracing websites and social media platforms. These resource-rich information centers give consumers added value and help businesses establish their brands. A report for the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth…
Launching a New Business: Unique Ways to Announce Your New Venture
After months of planning and preparation, you’re ready to launch your new business and make your new business announcement. Now you need to focus on bringing in customers and developing a loyal foundation. That’s easier said than done. Is print advertising worth the money? Will online advertising bring in enough local customers? With seemingly endless…
Why Branding Matters for Businesses of All Sizes
I was on the phone the other day with someone who told me in no uncertain terms that “branding, for most businesses, was a waste of time and money.” This person’s position was that branding was OK for companies like Xerox or Nike, but far too expensive and far too time-consuming for average businesses, who…
Marketing Techniques for Brand Creation
In today’s world, a brand is created through the careful execution of marketing techniques. Those marketing techniques incorporate both online and offline tactics designed to increase word of mouth, reputation, and buzz. Right now, we are about to enter the season where many of the national brands execute marketing techniques they have been planning and strategizing for…
Advertising Rush Limbaugh Red And Blue
The recent comments by Rush Limbaugh has some business owners and listeners asking themselves, is it worth it? Should we have our business advertising in his program? Several national companies have pulled their sponsorship’s of Limbaugh’s program including a couple mattress companies. It’s not the first nor will it be the last time that Rush…
SEO: The Importance Of Search Results
This is the first of a series of blogs that I’ll be doing addressing SEO with local small businesses. I know when I say SEO you probably say huh? SEO is an acronym for ‘Search Engine Optimization.’ Why is it important? Over 40% of consumers won’t shop at a business or brand if they can’t…
Your Brand is the Extra Mile
You know those moments, where you intentionally choose to go the extra mile? Do something unexpected to ensure that your customer has an experience second to none? It’s in those moments that your brand begins to take flight and to transform from the expected into the memorable. Rather than waiting until the “mood strikes” why…
How Good is Your Elevator Speech?
We’ve all heard it, we need to be able to describe our company and what we do in the space of time that it takes to travel from one floor to another in an elevator. And even in knowing it, it’s still difficult to conceptualize and spit out unless you’ve taken time to think about…
Why Your Business Should be on Facebook
I was chatting with someone the other day whose experience on Facebook was that of a meat-market/single’s scene. She was (rightfully) mystified as to why her business (or any business for that matter) should be on Facebook. With that experience on Facebook, I can see why she was confused. The truth is, almost everyone is…
Competing for Attention
As a small business owner, I know, it is HARD to keep the focus on growing your business when the needs of your current business continually take all your time and attention. But here’s the thing we all know, intuitively, if we don’t focus our attention on doing those things that grow our business, we…
Your Customers Should be able to Count on You
I recently found a great little store that provided me amazing, thorough, and knowledgeable service. I was so excited about the service I received from this store I told a friend about it, and even offered to go with her to the store to help her. Unfortunately, when i go there with her, there was…
Tweeting is Word of Mouth
We were recently out of state attending a client’s strategic planning session. We didn’t know much about the area, had been very busy in the weeks leading up to that we didn’t do a lot of investigating on the internet. It also wasn’t a vacation to pull up all the to-do’s of the place you’ll…
Grassroots Marketing: Where Social Media Makes Perfect Sense
We belong to a local Chamber of Commerce that represents a lot of small communities in the area that we live. It represents small communities with populations as high as 8,000, but most closer to 1,000. Like a lot of small communities, the summers are filled with unique and creative events on the weekends. The…
5 Reasons a Local Business Owner Should be Involved in Social Media
There are many reasons that every local business should be involved in local social media. I’ve found that if it takes more than five reasons, then they are afraid of what they don’t understand, or are fearful of change. To go beyond five you are just reaffirming to someone who believes in what you are…