Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Small business marketing blog
Hey, I live with 5 women so I don’t wade into this swamp casually.
The deal is that no matter how my liberated self tries to convince me that men and women business owners are the same and can be treated the same…the evidence before me is more obvious than a lipstick scrawl on the mirror.
My research complete, I present this finding.
I use the heck out of a couple of toolbars. A toolbar is a browser add-on program that add features to your surfing and these days almost every other website is offering them.
For instance the Google toolbar allows you to view the Google assinged PageRank for a site you are visiting and the Alexa toolbar gives you traffice stats for site you surf to.
Other common toolbar features are pop-up blockers and enhanced search features.
Now Yahoo has beta launched an Anti-Spyware feature. I’ve just started testing it but if it works, then Yahoooo!
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Small business owners need to build trust.
Unless you plan on spending millions on advertising, you must build trust by communicating how your product or service can clearly help your prospective client get what they want out of life.
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Jake Schloegel of Schloegel Design |
There are many ways to communicate benefits such as, case studies, process descriptions, and client lists. But, one of my favorite ways to prove that you can deliver the goods is photos.Continue Reading
There is a widely accepted principle of human behavior that goes something like this. “Your actions tell the world how you expect to be treated.” Look all around you and you will find that the truth of this statement is as evident as the clothes you wear.
So, if you don’t expect to be successful, you’re telling the world you probably don’t think you have what it takes to succeed, if you don’t expect to get the order, you probably won’t, if you don’t expect to get referrals from your clients, you probably don’t believe in your heart that you deserve them.
Too many of the small business owners I visit with scoff at the idea of branding. “That stuff is for big companies, why do I need a brand.”
Here’s the scary part: Every business has a brand. The only real question is whether is was created intentionally or by accident.
You need to put yourself in charge of creating a brand that works for youContinue Reading
The good thing about websites is that you can pack a whole bunch of stuff on them. But, of course, that’s the bad thing too isn’t it.
In all things marketing it is best to keep it simple. People are so distracted these days that if you do manage to get their attention you better not make them work to figure out what you want them to do.
Many website owners figure that all they have to do is lead their prospects to a home page and they will figure out what to do.
Wrong…
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Nobody hand writes a note these days. Well, most nobody. But that’s what makes it so effective as a marketing tool. Look it’s pretty effective as a nice thing to do too but this is a marketing weblog so I figure that’s what you want to hear about.
Every Friday I make a point of jotting off 5 handwritten notes. I say thanks, I say howdy, I say let’s have coffee, I say saw you in the paper last week…whatever comes to mind.
I send them to clients, friends, competitors, suppliers, and prospects.
I know this is an effective use of my time simply because of the amount of people who comment favorably about this practice.
I always keep a box of note cards and envelopes, with nothing on them but my name, so I can use them for just about any occasion – personal or business.
So, turn off the TV, shut down the computer, log off your email and take out a pen. You’ll be amazed at how good it makes you feel.
Google, usually known for cutting edge stuff, finally got around to launching a weblog. Oh they own Blogger and no doubt thousands of Google employees have their own blogs, but now they have an official one.
One of the things about blogs is that they develop a personality over time. At the moment the Google blog has none. We’ll see what it becomes.
I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as no matter what they do it seems to work out for them.
I’m going to keep an eye on the Google Blog
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