Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Analyzing the Facebook Platform, three weeks in
Marc Andreesen’s lengthy take on Facebook for business
(tags: Facebook)

How Facebook could crush MySpace, Yahoo!, and Google.
Slate.com article on Facebook
(tags: Facebook)

Facebook Application Review of Toolbar for Firefox
Toolbar just to stay in touch with Facebook
(tags: Facebook)

Lots of marketers and journalists are writing about the use of the phone as the hot new marketing machine. Apple’s iPhone release hasn’t done anything but flame this hot fire either.
The truth is that for most the phone as a marketing medium still only represents possibility, but there are some fun and interesting plays being [...]

Many small businesses have products and services that are pitched at various levels inside organizations. Most the time all of the effort and messaging is focused on that buyer, division, or purchasing agent.
While this is a necessary approach if you are to make the sale, you can’t ignore other layers in the environment.
You should [...]

A lot of folks thinking about starting a business spend all their time doing the typical start-up stuff like incorporating, finding office space, and designing business cards. All good and needed steps mind you, but don’t neglect the most important step.
If you are employed today and thinking about going out on your own, start talking [...]

Regular visitors to this blog may note a slightly different look today.
I have migrated this entire blog to WordPress. I am very excited about the expanded possibilities this platform gives me. The folks at WordPress have been a great source of help in this process, which in my case was not an easy one.
You may [...]

I am moderating a panel of film industry icons next week during the LA Film Festival. You can join in during a live online session – I want lots of Duct Tape readers asking questions! The event signals the kick-off of an aggressive effort by OPEN to build an online small business community that features [...]

Retail can be a tough business. Competition is fierce, location is everything, and the buyer is fickle and expensive to reach.
That’s why successful small retailers perfect the art of loyalty, referrals, word or mouth, promotion, and community building.
You know, as I read that list I wonder why service businesses don’t take a page from this [...]

I am helping AT&T build their small business advice portal called OnwardSmallBiz. The growing resources being made by the Fortune 500 aimed at the Fortune 1,000,000 set is a very encouraging recent trend.
I am acting as AT&T’s small business marketing expert so stop by and ask me a marketing question here.