Articles Index

Social Coupons - Good for the Small Business?

The promise of new customers, the ability to get in front of potential customer that may not know you. It's all so tempting for the small business. It all seems to make financial sense, but does it really? Read this and you be the judge, many small businesses regret participating in social media coupon sites due to the loss they have had to take from a financial standpoint. It just may not be a wise marketing choice for you.

5 Steps To a Winning Social Media Strategy

Social media marketing does work, however it will not be an instant fix overnight. Many companies become frustrated because they signup for all of the social networks, but don't see the results they have come to expect. Learn the 5 steps that will make your social media marketing strategy a success.

Marketing Campaign Checklist

There are many things that go into planning a marketing campaign. It's important to make sure that you have everything in order before a campaign launches. Here is a marketing campaign checklist that will assist you in making sure you have done all that you can do to ensure marketing campaign success.

How to Setup Your Google Plus Account

Learn how to get started with Google Plus, by setting up your Google Plus account.

Marketing Methods and Trends - What's New for 2012?

We are entering the second year in a new decade and just like last year there comes a time to say goodbye to marketing methods that we have held onto that no longer work for us and look towards marketing methods that are making their way into the new year with success. Learn what marketing methods that you will need to pay attention to and embrace in order to succeed in marketing your business.

Google+ vs. Facebook - What's the Difference

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the new introduction of Google Plus. Many businesses are wondering if they should invest any effort. Will Google+ take the place of Facebook? I don't think it will overtake Facebook, but I do believe there are major differences that businesses should be aware of. Learn the differences so that you can make an educated decision on whether you should participate in Google Plus as a business.

Why Businesses Should Pay Attention to Google Plus

Google has introduced Google+ and many businesses are apprehensive to move into the social media platform. Learn why businesses need to pay attention to Google Plus, the benefits are plenty and should not be dismissed.

Making Marketing Sense Out of Facebook Open Graph Protocol

Understanding the Open Graph protocol that was recently introduced by Facebook can help in your social media marketing initiatives. The Open Graph enables web developers to create social aspects to usually ordinary websites. This can open up new marketing opportunities for you, but understanding it and how it works as well as privacy concerns is your first step.

Marketing Success - 7 Time Saving Tools I Use

Many of us are doing the job of 2 to 3 people, it's hard to keep up. We not only manage our own clients, but we must work to market our own companies. How can we do it all? The answer is find tools that work for you. We all need tools that help in creating efficient and time-saving processes. Learn more about the 7 tools that help me in staying effective and efficient in not only my own marketing efforts, but marketing intiatives for my clients as well.

Referral Marketing - Understanding the Value of Referral Business

Referrals are the most powerful form of marketing that you can use and it's also the least expensive. Are you rewarding your customers for referring business to you? If not, perhaps it's time to develop an incentive plan and reward your customers for sending business your way.

Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan

I consistently see people struggle with the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan. It's important to understand that there is a difference and that difference can impact how you market your business and whether or not it is successful. Learn the difference and how you can use these two tools not only to enhance you marketing, but to help in saving time and money.

Four Small Business Marketing Steps You Need to Put Into Check

Small businesses always make the mistake of trying to compete with the "big dog" companies that have larger marketing budgets. In doing so many of them miss the mark, which is informing consumers of the solutions they provide and why they should choose them. Are you doing that? Here are four steps to make sure your small business marketing is in check.

Manage and Grow Your Customer Relationships with these Web Based CRM Solutions

Customer relationship are key to any marketing strategy and having tools that can help you manage and grow those relationships is a must. Implementing a CRM is not difficult and there are many solutions that are cost effective and won't break the bank. A CRM enables you to be more strategic when it comes to your customer relationships and then helps when it comes to serving and developing those vital relationships. Here are my top five web based CRM solutions that I recommend.

Twitter: How to Measure the Buzz

Twitter is a valuable marketing tool, but how do you measure the buzz that is being created on Twitter when it comes to you, your company and your products? It's not as difficult as you might think, I show you two easy ways that you can begin using today to gauge what's being said.

Ecommerce Trends and Strategies for 2011 Holiday Season

It may still be warm outside and you may not be ready for summer to end, but if you are in ecommerce and you are planning to sell product to holiday shoppers this year it's time to start putting those holiday plans together. Ecommerce holiday planning takes time and effort and it also means being aware of the latest trends, tools and technologies that consumers are using. You can't just do what you did last year and expect to increase your online sale

How Retailers Will Compete for Your Business this Holiday Season

It's that time of year, when retailers compete for your business and they've put their marketers to work to capture your attention and your dollars in the 2010 holiday season. Learn what strategies and tactics brick and mortar retailers and etailers are using this year to get you to purchase from them.

Marketing Benefits of Using Lead Generation

Lead generation is a win-win for both the buyer and seller. A buyer is able to request information from several businesses that offer the product or service that they are looking for and the seller is given the opportunity to pitch their product or service to someone who has given them permission to do so. Learn how advertising with lead generation can boost your ROI.

Explore the Value of Customer Retention

Do not underestimate the value of customer retention. Learn how you can create customer loyalty and design a marketing and sales plan that creates stickiness among your customers and clients.

How to Build Your Own Brand

Personal branding should be a priority for everyone. Long gone are the days of individuals staying at a job 15 to 20 years. You have got to be an expert on something. The most important job that you have today is to be the President of your own brand. Personal branding takes consistency, dedication and work, but using today's technology anyone can create their own brand. Learn how to build your own brand and develop a strategy that will help you grow that brand.

Online Video and the Impact It Can Have on Your Marketing

Video is making an impact when it comes to your marketing. If you haven't already, it’s time to consider using video to market your business. It doesn’t matter what size business you have, video is an affordable and effective tool that can help you connect with customers and prospects. Learn why video is important, how to generate video ideas and what you need to do to reap the search engine marketing benefit of videos.

5 Ways to Incorporate the Human Element Into Your Marketing

How do you create the personal feel in a digital world? You must create interaction and relationships with consumers that have the potential to be a customer. Consumers still buy from those they like and trust. It does not matter whether you are selling to consumers, businesses or you are a not-for-profit looking for a way to increase donations - you must incorporate the human element. Learn 5 ways to incorporate the human element into your marketing.

Create a Content Strategy

Creating a content strategy can be overwhelming. Where do I find the time? Where do you start? How do you stay organized? Where will all of the content ideas come from? However, with the punch that content marketing has it's not something you can just ignore. Content is seen as the force multiplier when it comes to marketing. It has a direct impact on social media marketing, search engine marketing and public relations. Learn how to create your content strategy easily using three phases.

Social Networking Synergy for PR

A startup called Votizen is leading the way in truly using two social media tools for more than posting baby photos and issuing tweets about your current state of sandwich preparation. Votizen believes that Facebook + Twitter = votes. Votizen is on the cutting edge of marrying social media with old-fashioned persuasion, face-to-face. Just as authors go virtual tours of book blogs, Votizen is giving supporters of a candidate the tools to do virtual doorbelling of their friends and neighbors.

Powerful Tool Lets You Publish a Daily E-newspaper -- Effortlessly

Putting out a daily newspaper is hard, hard work. It takes a big staff. Reporters and photographers, editors and graphics specialists, layout gurus, proofers, printers -- it's a big undertaking. What if I told you that you could publish a daily e-newspaper, about whatever topic you wanted, without doing a thing? That's the idea behind paper.li and similar services. Social networking should be a dialogue, not a monologue. An e-newspaper like paper.li helps start a dialogue with your audience.

Publicity for Authors and Publishers

Publishing is changing fast. More and more books are being sold digitally. Amazon.com isn't just the a huge online seller of books, but is stepping into publishing itself. Authors are also embracing the web and social networking as a way to reach their readers. Is it smart to put all your faith into the web -- or should authors try more of a hybrid strategy?