the marketing bit
a marketing guide for small business
Who uses social networking sites?
Jun 29th
Do you wonder if your customers are going Social?
Knowing where one’s customers hang out is critical to effective communications. One has to know where they are in order to design plans to reach them. Unfortunately, many small business owners still wonder if their customers are even using social networking sites or SNS (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or MySpace).
Well, the answer would appear that they do. Pew Research Center has been (more…)
Macy’s ‘retail M.B.A.’ helps small vendors
Jun 28th
Image via Wikipedia
I love reading stories like a recent one In Crain’s New York about Macy’s. One reason is because stories like these are great lessons to all types and sizes of businesses. Another is this particular story demonstrates the power of taking control over one’s business problems. If it isn’t working, change it.
The short version: Macy’s needs diversity in its merchandise to meet the desires of a very diverse shopping base. But Macy’s has difficulties finding vendors who have the products to meet customer needs as well as the wherewithal and critical mass to fill the racks of a national More >
Amazon breaking into Discount Coupons
Jun 28th
Groupon gets another discount coupon competitor…one with chops.
When talks with Google went down the drain, Google decided to offer Google Offers. Not to be left in the dust, it seems Amazon also wants to get into the online coupon craze by introducing
AmazonLocal offering 50% Off
AmazonLocal. Basically, it runs like Groupon by promising discounts at a minimum of 50% for a limited time for restaurants, spas and other businesses. Markets are currently limited to Seattle and Boise so AmazonLocal may not be available in your market today, but the expectation is new markets will be added in the coming months.
Amazon and LivingSocialYou More >
Fun, Inspiration and run a Business? What are you smoking?
Jun 24th
Yes, it is possible to have fun, be inspired and still run a business, even a small business
Unfortunately, this isn’t what happens. What happens is we get all tied-up doing the busy work that doesn’t produce any fun, isn’t all that inspiring and, worse, doesn’t deliver anything to the bottom line. Maybe it just human nature, or maybe, just maybe we need to become smarter about how to work.
Start having Fun
Some or most of us know people who worked most of their lives, doing their jobs and not really having much fun. It seemed, at least to me, that More >
5 Reasons to think twice about offering a Groupon discount
Jun 21st
Image by paulamarttila via Flickr
Are discounts good for your small business?I probably need to be upfront with you. I am not a bargain shopper. I experience no thrill with a discount coupon in my hand, if I’m lucky enough to remember it.
Yes, I understand there are those who are coupon and bargain shoppers. I see them in the grocery stores with their portfolios brimming with coupons and I see the glint in their eyes as they double check the check-out register to make certain it subtracted every coupon. But that is not me.
The real question for you as a More >
A fresh look at Social Media today
Jun 21st
You want to pay attention to this video. Really pay attention and think about how these changes are and will continue to impact your small business. Social media is here to stay. So, the question is not IF, it is HOW WELL you will use this media to grow your business. What are you doing with social media to keep your small business thriving?
In Marketing, Timing is Everything
Jun 20th
Yes, there is a good time to post to Social Media
As with any media, there is a good time to reach maximum exposure and not so good times. Sunday readership of newspapers is higher than Monday. Six p.m. news has more eyeballs than 4. So it is with social media marketing on Twitter and Facebook.
Dan Zarrella is a natural born number cruncher and he crunches all sorts of data pertaining to the Internet. This time, he and Kissmetrics came up with an easy to understand info-graphic that just might assist you in reaching more fellow Tweeters and Facebook Fans. Take a look.
The More >What does Your Personality have to do with Social Media?
Jun 16th
Using your personality to define how to use social media
I am not one of the crowd who believes ALL small business owners have to be on ALL of the various social media channels. One of the
Social Media
reasons I don’t follow the ALL approach for social media is I learned some of the best marketing minds don’t. Seth Godin for example refuses to Tweet. When asked why he doesn’t tweet in an interview I heard several months ago, Seth explained he has found the tools that work for him. He is happy to blog, post on his Facebook Page and More >
Is your business website being held hostage? – Part 2
Jun 9th
7 Steps to keep control of your business website
In our last post we shared a short story about how one unsuspecting small business owner lost control of her website to a Mr.
Is your business website being held hostage?
Unreliable. In this post, we’ll describe how you can protect yourself and retain control of one of your company’s most important online assets.
This list is really for the small business owners who don’t want to get too involved in the management of their websites. In these instances, business owners will most likely be outsourcing the management of their site to a website More >
Is your business website being held hostage?- Part 1
Jun 8th
Make certain you never experience this website hostage situation
Listen to a short, but scary story that could be yours if you don’t take these steps to achieve website protection.
Is your business website being held hostage?
A lady purchases a small business. In the process, the domain name is transferred to her. She, in turn, signs up with a stranger who offers website hosting and ongoing website maintenance and updates. We’ll call this stranger Mr. Unreliable. Besides, he’s handling a couple of other small business websites in the area. How bad can he be?
Mr. Unreliable turns into this small business owner’s More >
