Small biz marketing tips

A sports referee with the quote, "Don't let one bad call derail your marketing campaign. Real progress comes when you learn from your mistakes."

Bad calls are gonna happen: a small business guide to marketing campaign fails.

What do marketing campaigns and sports have in common? If you pay attention to any broadcast sports on a regular basis, you’ve been impacted by the so-called Bad Call. The refs make an absolutely insane ruling that leaves the fans absolutely flabbergasted, screaming things at the TV like: “There’s no way that wasn’t a catch!” “Come on, refs, whattya have to do to get a pass interference penalty in this league? He was flat-out mauling the guy!!” “He had it...

Two twins, with the quote, "So what if you've said it before. Say it again. In marketing, repetition is actually a good thing."

In marketing, it’s OK to repeat yourself. Really. It’s OK to repeat yourself.

Important newsflash: using messaging once, or covering a topic in a blog post once, or executing a brilliant marketing strategy once, does not make it off-limits for the rest of all time. As humans, we tend to get bored with things that we experience on a regular basis, whether it’s eating at the same place for lunch every day, listening to the same songs on the way to work on your way home, watching Star Wars 76 times in a...

A businessman holding a christmas tree, with the quote, "Why would you put a lot of resources into something you'll be publishing right when people are the most distracted?"

Our gift to you: do you really need that holiday marketing video?

‘Tis the season for corporate holiday cheer, which in this day and age means holiday email after holiday email, from every business contact you have ever made—and even probably some you haven’t. And a high proportion includes their version of the dreaded holiday video. Now, I’ve done competitive research on corporate holiday videos. They range from the mind-numbingly boring (the vast majority), to cringe-inducingly awkward (a healthy second), to the occasionally truly brilliant. Yes, brilliance is possible, but let’s just...

A stressed looking business owner, with the quote, "think you can't afford marketing? Do you have any choice?

Three quick, cheap, and easy marketing wins for small business

I speak to a lot of small business owners (particularly the really small business owners) who tell me they don’t do any marketing because they can’t afford marketing. To which I respond: You’re probably already doing marketing, but you just don’t know it (whether you think of it that way or not, your website is important marketing!) Doing a tiny bit of cheap marketing is better than doing no marketing at all and How the heck are you going to...

A computer screen showing a Wordpress theme, with the quote, "Your website is your most important marketing investment. Make it great."

The official Urban Sherpa great website checklist.

In an earlier post, we went out on a limb and made the claim that a really good website is the most important marketing investment a small business can make. In fact, just the other day I was giving a local business a free phone consultation (yes! We do that!), and the business owner said her biggest concern was how their marketing could help them stand out from their competition. Of course, I suggested she update their website. Why? Because...