Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

The title to this post is one of my small business marketing mantras and the topic of an interview I did recently with Stacy Perman at BusinessWeek.
Create the system, work the system, go to the bank. Okay, I skipped few steps, but you’ve got to get out of the “idea of the week” rut [...]

When a prospect shuts you down with a no, some think that’s the end of the game. In some cases, it’s just the beginning – the beginning of the puzzle that is.
When a qualified prospect (you caught the word qualified, right?) says no, it can actually mean many things. Your job is to figure out [...]

I suspect that women entrepreneurs already do rule the world, but they’re allowing our male egos to think differently for the moment.
I live with five women and have worked with countless women business owners over the years and they just have an unfair advantage.
Want to know what I think it is?
The women business owners I [...]

I find the entire category of local search fascinating. The fact that people are increasingly turning to the Internet to hunt down businesses around the block makes this trend one that you can’t afford to sit out. When someone wants to find a local shoe store they type something like South Dallas Shoe store kids. [...]

I like reading TechCrunch but if I read about another online social network start-up I’m going to throw up.
Here’s my belief on this fad – online social networking is neither social or networking. Hey, I’m as up on the whole Web 2.0 thing as anybody, but social networking, over a computer, for a business can [...]

This week’s marketing podcast features an interview with Dr. Ivan Misner, PhD, founder of Business Network International (BNI)
BNI is a business and professional networking organization that allows only one person per professional classification or specialty to join a chapter. There are BNI chapters in corner of the United States and a growing number of countries [...]

I delivered the keynote address for the Association of Idependent Information Professionals annual conference in Miami this week and the subject was Building Customer Loyalty
My charge was to give the attendees some tips and tools to help them do more business, more frequently with their existing clients.
This topic gave me a chance to present one [...]

I had my eyes opened recently to an email marketing point that I was having trouble determining an answer to.
Should you require double opt-in or verification of an email address when someone subscribes to an online newsletter or offer? One side of me fought this idea with the thinking that it just adds another hoop [...]