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...]
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...]
The Secret Approach for Marketing Success
For business owners looking to make a quick profit off of a shotgun marketing approach, I have three words for you: It takes time. No matter what kind of advertising or marketing or communications you do to promote your business, if you don’t put enough time into testing your chosen tactic, you won’t see the success you desire. Let’s take the case of print advertising, such as advertising in … [Read more...]
Business, Marketing and the Lemonade Stand
My daughter, Elaina, definitely has the entrepreneurial spirit. When the weather gets warm, she can’t wait to get outside and sell lemonade or candy to the neighbors. Her Daisy troop participated in the National Lemonade Day in May, a free, community-wide initiative powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, and locally here in Indianapolis by entrepreneur Scott Jones (Indianapolis.lemonadeday.org). I … [Read more...]
Marketing Strategy – Start with the End in Mind
When deciding how to create and spend your marketing budget, it makes sense to take a step back and evaluate your current business, your goals and customers. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you look back on your previous year in business: How did your business perform overall last year? Did we attract new customers? If so, from where? Did we retain or sell to … [Read more...]
5 Marketing Tips You can Start Using NOW
If you are hesitant to begin marketing your business or aren’t sure you’ll have the time, you’re not alone. As a business owner myself, I know how hard it is to find time to network, plan a strategy, handle the sales and the customer service, along with all of the other hats required of a small business owner. But I’d like to give you some quick and easy marketing tips that you can begin … [Read more...]
Your Biggest Business Challenge: Marketing
Over and over again, small business owners – from startups to seasoned pros – when asked about their biggest business challenge – admit that they struggle when marketing their businesses. Why do companies have so much trouble in this area of their business? I have some ideas on why this occurs, and what business owners can do now to change their fate. Are you making one of these marketing … [Read more...]
Doing without a Marketing Plan
Why are small businesses today going without marketing plans (and why is it a bad idea?) When I talk to Indiana small business owners about their marketing strategies, I often get a blank stare. Many of them don't have a formal marketing plan, but rather some marketing ideas they've written down or advertising tactics they've tried. They are looking to me for answers or a "quick … [Read more...]
Lifecycle Marketing: In What Stage are your Customers?
I recently met with Indianapolis-based Right on Interactive about their customer lifecycle marketing products. While I know the importance of moving the customer through various stages of a buying cycle, it was interesting to see how new technologies are helping companies capture and track engagement, as well as use the information to assist in the sales process. Before we get into details … [Read more...]