Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

There’s a pretty tired myth with some small business folks that pegs eBay as simply a way for people to unload junk, collectibles, or out of date seconds.
Now I know many of you also know that people are making lots of money running businesses completely on the eBay platform.
I visited with Janelle Elms, a noted [...]

I’ll be hanging out and presenting on new media use in Toronto this week at the mesh Conference.
The sold out event features keynotes from Richard Edelman of Edelman PR and Michael Arrington of Techcrunch.com
I’m looking forward to a trip to Canada and meeting lots of Duct Tape Marketers.
Check out the mesh schedule.

I get asked the question above plenty. The answer is really easy: People refer people, products, services and companies because they like to, it makes them feel good, it’s just human nature.
The problem with this question and its answer from a business building standpoint is that it’s not that helpful.
The far better question is “who [...]

Social directories and bookmarking sites are good places to visit and get your story seen, spread, and occasionally linked to.
Sites like digg and del.icio.us are great traffic generators and worth the time you put into learning about and participating.
Guy Kawasaki created an interesting social play recently called Truemors – Rumors and News. The idea is [...]

Web marketers have discovered the value of adding audio to websites and sales pages for a number of years now. Used properly, audio can really help visitors connect and get more excited about a product or service (video is quickly jumping into this space too.)
One overlooked use of audio is to help enhance your customer’s [...]

Ok, this one might not be earthshattering, but it’s kind of fun. Sound is a great way to build brand recognition – think about all the jingles over the years that you could not get out of your head.
Mobile phone ringtones have become big business for indy artists and record labels (not to mention [...]

Seth Godin joined me for a special live taping of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast (we had about 500 callers listening in.) to talk about marketing and his new book: The Dip – A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When To Stick)

I first picked up this book thinking, from clues in [...]

It’s absolutely essential that you find a way to differentiate your business in a meaningful way. I know I talk about this all the time, but it’s that important.
What if you interviewed a handful of clients and asked them this question: “What’s the ONE word you would use that best describes what we do well?” [...]