Over the years, I've heard countless small business owners utter the phrase, "We get most of our business from referrals." or "We don't do any advertising...our customers come to us." As a marketing and advertising consultant, businesses who rely on referral marketing alone make me cringe a little (okay, a lot). I understand the logic behind their perspective. They are some of the … [Read more...]
Justifying your Content Marketing Expense
Content marketing sure is a popular buzzword these days. For those of you who are unsure of the benefits of content marketing, it's essentially the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content in order to drive an action (click to website, call, etc.). We hear reports of companies increasing their spend in this area, and how it's the new "future of marketing." But for marketing … [Read more...]
Marketing Tips from The Bachelor: How to Woo your Prospects into Customers
When I'm not marketing for my small business clients, one of my guilty pleasures is watching television, including ABC's reality shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. What I have noticed since watching several seasons of the show is that some contestants are better than others at playing this reality dating game. Some of them are not very well-skilled at getting noticed, and they hardly appear … [Read more...]
12 Marketing Tips for a Successful Year
For those companies without the luxury of a large sales and marketing department, I thought I would gift you with 12 ideas (one for each month of the year) on how to positively impact your marketing results in the coming year. Refresh your Brand: Is your current company brand up to par? Consider revising or re-designing your company’s logo. If you have a logo you’re happy with, make sure … [Read more...]
Building your Business with Social Media
Social media marketing can boost traffic to your website, and keeps your company top-of-mind. The value in this alone can be enough to boost your business to the next level. Is your business taking advantage of the opportunities that social media offers? One of the key tips I give business owners who are unsure about social media is to create a (separate) business account and start snooping … [Read more...]
Social Media – Should you DIY?
My husband, Jason is an avid do-it-yourselfer (DIYer). If he can figure out how to fix it or build it online, or by reading a book, he’ll do it. I, on the other hand, can think of many things that are better left to the professionals (e.g. fixing a major plumbing issue, upgrading a technology system). If I don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to do the job, I’d much rather find an expert … [Read more...]
Blogging: the Key to New Customer Acquisition
For business owners trying to win at the search engine optimization (SEO) game, there’s an overlooked technique that actually works better in the long run, and costs a fraction of the price of Google keyword advertising: blogging for business. This tip will help you discover the reason why your current website isn’t ranking well on Google, and show you how this technique costs much less, but … [Read more...]
10 Steps to Better Business Writing
When I read most of the small business copy these days, frankly I'm a little bored. It's the same, product-focused, third-person language that I've read for years in advertisements, web copy, print brochures and more. As a business with a unique product or service to sell, how can you spice up your writing to help you stand out against the herd of ho-hum marketing writing? Here are 10 ways to … [Read more...]
What is Content Marketing?
You may have heard the term ‘content marketing’ floating around lately, but how many of you know what it means, and how to apply this strategy to your business’ marketing plan? First of all, to understand content marketing as a strategy, we need to define content marketing. All forms of advertising have content, of course. Types of marketing content include: Headlines Taglines or … [Read more...]
How Not to Waste Time on Social Media
How do I use social media effectively in a limited amount of time? That is the question. As we all know, devoting time to social media marketing presents a challenge for many businesses. It's one thing to set up a social media account, but then to also create a content strategy and regularly post on social media -- well, that's more of a challenge. So here are some tips for how to stay active … [Read more...]