There’s a great Jerry Seinfeld comedy bit that perfectly sums up how some people feel about public speaking. “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” In my experience working with clients, I’m afraid that I have to agree. Speaking in front of people is a fear born right out of “show and tell,” back when they were a kid. Getting up in…
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As small business owners, the internet has given us so much. It’s often used for procrastinating, with cat videos on YouTube or reading random articles on Wikipedia. But that’s the “bad” stuff. It’s also given us social media networks that we can use to connect with clients directly.
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Ad-blockers are on the rise. Boy, there’s a phrase that puts cold fear into the heart of any marketer or business owner! Marketing has been in a Cold War with ad-blockers ever since the early days of the internet. Ad-blockers are browser extensions that will automatically filter out all of the advertisements on a website before it loads. The result is that the viewer will get a website completely free of any ads. Great for the viewer, but not for the businesses that are buying ads on the site. Thankfully, there are a few ways that marketers can combat ad-blockers…
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Do you know what the most effective method of advertising was back in the golden age of “Main Street” America? The storefront window. Pedestrians would walk by and look in all of the storefront windows on main street to see the most interesting and expensive items sold. And it worked! People would come in off the street to take a look around the stores. If the store owner was a particularly effective salesperson, they would walk out with a bag full of products, maybe even the one they saw in the window. In the marketing world today, the storefront window…
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When I talk to clients about what marketing technique usually gives them the best return on their investment, they are often shocked to discover that it’s their email list. A targeted and high-quality email list is one of the most valuable assets that a business can have. It enables all kinds of email marketing, allowing them to reach out to already existing or potentially interested customers with all kinds of marketing content, ranging from digital newsletters, to new product announcements, to marketing campaigns. An email list isn’t something that you can just buy off the internet (well, you can, but…
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Do you have an Instagram account set up for your business? If not, you’re missing an incredibly valuable opportunity to connect with potential clients and customers in a way that is unique from every other social media channel. Instagram is currently the most used social media network out there today, with over 800 million monthly users. Even better, these are highly engaged users! They are actively looking for content, services, and products, all of which you and your small business could provide them with. So the 800 million dollar question is… Why aren’t you on Instagram yet? Is your small…
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Some of my favorite people in the world are small business owners. There is something I just love about an entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to succeed. I admire them for starting out with nothing but a dream, building that dream into a plan, and that plan into a successful business. The big question that I’m asked the most by new small business owners is, “How do I get started?” Well, I can help with that! Hiring a virtual assistant in the early days of your new small business can give you a huge advantage, getting things started in the…
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So, have you heard that Facebook’s been in the news lately?! The last few years have been pretty tough for Facebook, with advertising accountability issues and huge data breaches. Thankfully, it seems that the ship has steadied and Facebook is on track to make a big recovery! This makes it the perfect time to take a look at how your small business can best take advantage of the variety of advertising options Facebook offers. Although it was never originally designed as an advertising platform, Facebook has evolved over the years to become an incredibly valuable marketing tool. It enables brands…
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When was the last time that you went to the mall? Didn’t it seem just a little emptier than it used to be? That’s because it is. eCommerce is quickly eating up much of the market share of big and small brick and mortar companies alike. If your business sells either products or services, you should be making a huge push online. By doing so, you will be able to reach so many customers that you otherwise would never have met. The Importance of a Digital Shopping CartIf you want to be able to make sales online, it needs to…
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What is the difference between good copywriting and bad copywriting? I can sum it up in a word: readability. If you offer your customers a blog, email campaign, or web page that is difficult to read, that doesn’t flow, isn’t infused with your brand personality, or that bores them, they are going to dismiss and forget it. But if you give them something that’s easy to read, it will quickly engage them and draw them in! Readability in General Readability is simply how easy something is to read. If you write a piece of content full of difficult to pronounce…
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