Lately, my husband & I have been watching a lot of home improvement shows on HGTV and DIY Network, such as Kitchen Crashers and I Hate my Bath. We recently spent a four-day weekend updating our Brownsburg home with new interior and exterior lighting, doorknobs, fixtures, tile backsplashes and more. After the process was complete, we couldn't help but marvel in all of our new updates. With just … [Read more...]
What your sales team is begging you to do
If your small business has a sales team, or someone devoted to selling, I'd like to tell you something that will help make their jobs easier, and in turn, will help your company produce more sales. It is not a secret. In fact, companies have been doing this successfully for years. What is it? To answer this, let's ask the sales reps: What is one of the main things that could help make your job … [Read more...]
Keys to Success When Working with a Marketing Firm
Since starting my Indianapolis area marketing firm in 2005, I have worked with a variety of clients, from solo entrepreneurs to other agencies and creative firms, as well as small businesses with a full staff and sales team. But no matter the size of the client, the success of the company's marketing program is usually not dependent on their marketing budget or how flashy their ads look. If you … [Read more...]
Managing your Pile of Business Cards
In the Indianapolis business community, we do a lot of networking, and that means exchanging business cards at the end of a conversation. Unfortunately, in many cases, these beautifully-designed business cards end up getting shoved into a box in the corner of an office, never to be seen again. To ensure that this doesn't happen to you, I want to share a simple process that will allow you to keep … [Read more...]
10 Signs You Need to Outsource Your Marketing
I thought I'd have a little humor with this post, which I feel needs little introduction. Here are 10 signs that your business needs to outsource its marketing efforts: Your latest WordPress blog post still says, "Hello World!" You have 10 Facebook "Likes" on your Fan Page (and they are all your friends and family). You still pay $30/month for your email marketing software but … [Read more...]
Facebook Fan Pages: Back to Basics & Branding
So by now, most of you have heard about or seen the new Facebook timeline and changes to how Facebook fan pages will display at the end of March, 2012. So what does this mean for small businesses? 1) If you haven't branded your fan page yet, you're in luck. Gone are the days of custom tabs where companies practically begged you to follow the gigantic arrow pointing to their "like" button. Now, … [Read more...]
You’re Tweeting All Wrong: Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners
First of all, I want to start by saying that there is not one way to use Twitter. Obviously, there are many types of Twitter accounts. There are celebrity profiles where thousands follow their favorite celeb's every thoughts, national brands that celebrate the fans that love them, and even customer service accounts, where sometimes irate customers can rant or get advice on a recent experience with … [Read more...]
Intimidated by Social Media?
Here's How to Get Started I've talked to so many small business owners who know that social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) is the latest trend they should be capitalizing on to help grow their business. But ask them how to go about initiating a social media campaign and they give me a blank stare. They just don't know where to start, and it all seems so overwhelming. So if you're among the … [Read more...]
Creating the Perfect Marketing Strategy without Copying It
Not all businesses are created equal, right? So quit marketing and advertising your business like everyone else. My point is simple: Find the right combination of advertising, marketing, PR and promotional activities that fit the unique offering, customer base and budget of your business, and you'll find success. Don't just jump on the Twitter or Facebook marketing bandwagon because the … [Read more...]
Traditional Versus Online Advertising: What’s Your Share?
Wanted to share with you an article I wrote this month, which was featured in an e-newsletter of a colleague of mine, Janet Falkenberg of ExecuStrive, an Indianapolis virtual assistant firm. Thanks, Janet, for letting me share this article with my Indianapolis business colleagues. Do you consider yourself a “traditional marketer”? Are you spending a majority of your marketing and advertising … [Read more...]