One hundred percent of the people who describe to me what they want their small business website to do have it all wrong. In fact, they have it 180-degrees wrong. They tell me they want it to do the exact opposite of what it should actually do. They say, “I want my small business website […]
Your Small Business Website Should Give Orders Read More »
The explosion in technology solutions in the last 15 years has created a world where specialized skills are commoditized. WordPress made creating websites simple and cheap. Freshbooks help you do your accounting without needing to pay a bookkeeper. Even apps like Over (disclosure: a client) make graphic design something anyone can do. That is both
How The Gig Economy Can Help Small Businesses Read More »
I’m excited to tell you that we’ve officially scheduled another Small Business, Smart Marketing workshop! The next one will be Monday night, June 26 in Hazard, Ky., at the Kentucky Career Center Jobsite from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. I’ve partnered with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program and BitSource to present the workshop, the
Small Business, Smart Marketing Workshop Comes to Hazard Read More »
On Wednesday, I have the honor of speaking to a group of salespeople from a large company. They’ve asked me to explain how to use social media for sales. While I will certainly touch on several sales techniques, the real approach to using social media for sales is to treat it as a networking event,
This is How to Use Social Media for Sales Read More »
I’ve been pondering the concept of agile marketing for a while now. Taylor Trusty, Leslie Radcliffe and I chatted about the topic on Blackstone Media’s podcast back in March. In fact, that podcast evolved into a Blackstone Media event where I’ll be giving a talk about agile marketing and what it means in today’s media environment
What Does Agile Marketing Mean for Small Business? Read More »
How do you measure Twitter for Small Business? Is it the number of followers you have? What about the number of retweets each Tweet gets? Or the reach and impact of that message? Do you even know how to measure those things? If not, don’t feel bad. There are very smart marketers out there who don’t
The Easy Way to Measure Twitter for Small Business Read More »
Every business wants qualified leads. If you don’t use that term, then you want customers lathered up and ready to buy, but they can still be described as a qualified lead. So how do you find qualified leads? Well, you can create content and drive people to it hoping they’ll ask for more information. You
All LinkedIn Does is Deliver Qualified Leads Read More »
Small business content marketing sounds impressive, but to most people the term doesn’t mean anything. Content is vague. Marketing is ambiguous if it’s not immediately confused with advertising. So how do you define content for your small business and how do you prioritize each type? The first step to understand small business content marketing is
Use Tiers to Prioritize Small Business Content Marketing Read More »
In my Small Business, Smart Marketing Workshops, I tell the audience the strategic point of consumer-facing digital marketing should be to get your prospective customer’s email address. Once you’re invited to their inbox, your chances of converting that customer multiply exponentially. But how can your small business emails avoid spam filters? That question came to
How To Avoid Spam Filters With Your Small Business Emails Read More »
Your small business email newsletter may be the most important weapon in your digital marketing arsenal. Once you have a prospective customer’s email address, preferably because they gave you permission to email them, you have an invitation to the most effective digital method of driving business. But to hold on to that fertile ground, you
How Often Should You Send a Small Business Email Newsletter? Read More »
There’s a big hurdle to get over or around in social media for small business. It’s a counterintuitive step we all have to take to prove to our audience that we’re in it for them and not for us. But it’s a confusing and painful step for many business owners to take. The big hurdle
The Big Hurdle in Social Media for Small Business Read More »
As we’ve discussed before, understanding Yelp reviews can be a nightmare for a small business. For years now, there have been countless stories of small businesses claiming Yelp removes positive reviews, won’t take down negative ones that are inflammatory and, even worse, tries to hold paid advertising over small business’s heads in a form of
Understanding What You Can Do About Yelp Reviews Read More »