Advertising tips

Hands typing on a keyboard, with the caption, Good blogs are a fantastic way to promote your business online. But you have to write them.

How to Write a Great Blog

I know what you’re thinking: Writing is the worst! You haven’t had to write a paper since graduation; why ruin that streak now by writing a blog? While writing may in fact be the worst (said the writer), it’s an important part of any digital marketing campaign. Why? Because blogs are one of the best things you can do to get noticed online. Studies have shown that websites with blogs have a 434% chance of ranking higher in the search...

Two small business owners look concerned, with the caption, "Marketing is a really, really important business tool. But sometimes, you have some work to do first."

Seven signs your business will benefit from more marketing… and six times it won’t

Marketing: is it for you? As marketers, we are firm believers that businesses can’t thrive without good marketing, because marketing is a powerful tool to get customers in the door. But we’re going to be the first to tell you: more marketing is not always a smart first move for every business. Most, yes… but not all. But how do you know? Seven signs that marketing will really help your business You have a lot of really happy customers, but...

A man looking at an idea board, with the caption, "Not all marketing channels are built for small business. Choose carefully for your audience and your budget."

The top marketing strategies for small business, examined.

You’ve decided to take the plunge and up-level the marketing of your business. Congratulations, that’s awesome! Deciding to take control of your destiny by efficiently driving new customers to your company is a huge, (if sometimes daunting), decision. Of course, the first question most business owners ask is “OK, so what do I need to do?” And this is a great question; there are a lot of different marketing vehicles (also known as marketing channels) out there, and they all...

A car GPS system with the caption, "How can you reach your customers if you don't know who (and where) they are?"

Marketing targeting: how to pick an audience that won’t waste your money

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.” Meaning that, while it can be fun to get in the car and go on an adventure, directionless wandering doesn’t work well if you’re trying to meet a group of friends at a new restaurant for dinner reservations which are set for a specific date and time. Instead, it’s a better idea to plug the address into Google...

A picture of a sculpture of Theseus and the Minotaur, with the caption, "Forget the magic marketing myth of cheap and wildly effective marketing trick. Real, effective marketing is a lot of work. There are no shortcuts, no “get rich quick” schemes, no snake oil solutions."

The Myth of the Magic Marketing Trick

From time to time, we run across people who seem to be convinced that there is a secret arsenal of marketing know-how that can deliver droves of customers at little (or even no) cost. That there’s something that big-company marketers know about that they hide from the little people. All they have to do is discover it, like secret pirate treasure. Unfortunately, this is akin to Magical Thinking, and often equates to people saying urban myth-adjacent things like “well, when so-and-so...