Focus over Frenzy – 4 Steps to a Stronger Small Business Digital Presence
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Focus over Frenzy – 4 Steps to a Stronger Small Business Digital Presence

“Don’t spread yourself too thin… focus trumps freneticism any day.”  – John Coleman Small businesses and organizations know a lot about being spread too thin, especially when it comes to marketing. Trying to stretch time and budget resources to promote their business when they’re already wearing every hat and squeezing every penny is daunting.  And…

One Isn’t the Loneliest Number for Entrepreneurs: Celebrating Business Survival
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One Isn’t the Loneliest Number for Entrepreneurs: Celebrating Business Survival

Ok, this post is not about twins turning 100. I just couldn’t resist using this priceless photo as a featured image. No, what I really want to talk about is businesses reaching milestones and what celebrating them means, so in some weird way, this picture really does fit. Stay with me for a sec. When…

9 Tips for Building a Solid Small Business Social Media Foundation

9 Tips for Building a Solid Small Business Social Media Foundation

Know you need a solid social media marketing effort for your small business, but not sure how to get started? Taking the time to build a strong foundation will save you from ending up like little pigs 1 & 2 in the classic 3 Little Pigs fairy tale, rebuilding each time the fickle “wolves” of…

Authenticity in Social Media: Business Milestones (& setbacks) as Social Content
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Authenticity in Social Media: Business Milestones (& setbacks) as Social Content

Small business owners often ask how transparent they should be in their social media marketing, and I always tell them that rather than hiding behind a mask (like my fun welder’s mask?), giving folks a glimpse of what it takes to run a small business can often convey the dedication, determination and sheer courage a…

Case Studies: Building Your Business Story with Visual Assets
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Case Studies: Building Your Business Story with Visual Assets

The well-researched stats are piling up that businesses need to be more and more visual in their digital marketing efforts. While these numbers originally seemed part of a carefully designed message to market specialty social media, web design and photo/video services, behavioral studies have caught up, and show that in addition to shorter and shorter…

Are You Leveraging Your Content Assets? Building a Better Business Story
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Are You Leveraging Your Content Assets? Building a Better Business Story

A bold announcement that surfaced on my very own LinkedIn profile and strangely enough, an episode of the old HBO series The Newsroom got me thinking recently about content assets and the art of telling better business stories, especially in the fast-paced online environment. My clients often ask “How much of myself do I have…

The Truth about Digital Marketing, Automated Marketing Software and Small Business
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The Truth about Digital Marketing, Automated Marketing Software and Small Business

If you’re in business for yourself, you’ve no doubt scratched your head over fitting digital marketing tasks (email marketing, social media, blogging, website updates) into your already jammed schedule. It’s tempting to wish there were some integrated system to help you do everything in one place, save you time when digging for meaningful content and…

Finding the Sweet Spot of Entrepreneurship— Periodic Marketing Asset Reviews

Finding the Sweet Spot of Entrepreneurship— Periodic Marketing Asset Reviews

It’s easy to get caught up in the “there’s so much to be done” aspect of running a small business, especially when it comes to the never-ending grind of digital marketing. But every so often it’s critical for small business owners to stop and assess how far they’ve come. This is important not only in…

The Social Media Marketing Shack that Jack Built: 5 Steps to a Solid Foundation

The Social Media Marketing Shack that Jack Built: 5 Steps to a Solid Foundation

In today’s speedy online environment, the idea of foundation building as a way of attracting customers may seem like a waste of effort. The constantly shifting social media marketing landscape often confuses small businesses into hastily erecting a series of social media shacks to stake their claim within each new trend. Often they don’t take…

Are FREE Offers a Small Business Marketing Asset or Liability?  Part II: Choosing FREE Marketing that Converts

Are FREE Offers a Small Business Marketing Asset or Liability? Part II: Choosing FREE Marketing that Converts

Among many of the small businesses I have worked with over the years, there is sometimes a struggle with the concept of added value or FREE offers as a way of marketing their business. The reality of limited resources and the effort and patience required to make an added value offerings convert to sales can…