It’s time to stop dabbling and get serious
When you’re struggling to grow your business, effective marketing is one of the most efficient ways to get it back up and on its feet. But you can’t always afford to hire an experienced marketing specialist because, frankly, people are expensive. Plus, one...
4 ways your LinkedIn strategy helps you reach more customers
With so many social media options out there, it’s important to discern which are best for your business. Of all the social media platforms out there, LinkedIn has proven itself to be particularly favored by business people. If that’s where your customers hang out, a...
SEO best practices: Understanding and optimizing your website for SEO
Seems like everyone is talking about “SEO best practices” these days—but what does that even mean? Put simply: by implementing SEO best practices, your website becomes more search-friendly. The more search-friendly your site, the higher your rankings will...
4 innovative ideas to build your customer database
How to build your customer database…it’s a tough question that keeps many business owners up at night. You want to reach your customers and clientele on their level. You want to meet their needs, provide service that wows them, and keep them coming back for more. But...
Generational marketing: How to market to Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers
There’s a lot of buzz about generational marketing and a LOT of overgeneralized advice when it comes to targeting your ideal audience: Millennials love Snapchat! Baby Boomers are steadfast and drawn in by reliability! Generation X is cynical and always looking for a...
5 unexpected insights you can learn from competitor research
You can’t see the road ahead if you’re too focused on the rearview mirror. When it comes to learning from competitor research, many businesses adopt a “keep your eyes on your own paper” mentality. Yet, we all know we can’t exist (or thrive) in an echo chamber. There...
If you aren’t selling, do you need a secure site?
You may have heard about TLS or “Transport Layer Security” (also commonly referred to as SSL), a security protocol that ensures communications between your website and server are encrypted and can’t be intercepted. With big companies reporting data...
Speed up your sales cycle
If you align your sales and marketing teams, they become an unstoppable force. Marketing influences how people think and feel, building and nurturing relationships—and relationships drive sales. Period. Your sales team spends 80% of their time with the...
Great Content: The cure for the engineer’s marketing allergy
How to speak that engineer marketing language The first rule of marketing is know your audience. Find out what they want. Connect with them and show them how you will solve their problem like no one else. Reach your audience on a personal level. Get in their head....
When the rubber hits the road
As the saying goes, the "rubber hits the road" at the point in time when a salesperson is in-front of a customer and moves to quickly communicate why they should buy. Salespeople need the right tools at their fingertips as they initiate relationships, build trust...
Try making your own eggnog this holiday…
Leave the pre-made eggnog on the grocery shelf... a top-notch, home-made eggnog is not much work. Here's how to make your own eggnog: Booze: Bourbon, brandy or rum are the typical choices. You don't have to go expensive either beacuse the booze flavor is complimented...
Give your customers a big ol’ “bro hug!”
When you see an old friend, do you give them a handshake or a 'bro hug'? Of course, if you’re under 30 years old, you give them a hug to let them know that you’ve missed them and you appreciate them. It's more intimate than a traditional...
Blueprint for a successful content marketing strategy
Who in their right mind would build a house without a blueprint? You need a detailed blueprint to convert the piles of building materials on your empty lot into a beautiful, finished home. If you try to build it on your own, without a blueprint, you’ll end...
Marketing’s Secret Sauce: The Message
It seems like anything successful has a secret formula, proprietary technology or “secret sauce” behind it that makes people talk about it. Marketing is no different. The secret sauce of successful marketing is the message. It must command the attention...
They keep moving the marketing goalposts
There's an inherent mystery around the art and science of optimizing a web site for search. The optimization process changes nearly every week as Google works behind the scene, changing the rules to make their engine’s results more search friendly and...
12 tactics to transform your email signups from a trickle to a torrent
Your email list is one of your most valuable owned assets. It's the key to engaging your target audience and building trusted relationships with them. But most marketers don't do enough to build and nurture theirs. "But wait just a minute," you protest. "I put a...
Targeting your audience using LinkedIn
One of the mistakes marketers often make in trying to reach their target audiences is over-relying on organic distribution and under-relying on paid distribution. For many B2B firms, LinkedIn is the most important channel for sharing content with the people they need to target.
8 must-have elements of a strong home page
When visitors arrive at the home page of your website, are they able to quickly and efficiently find what they’re looking for? Or do they become confused and frustrated - because they can’t easily figure out exactly what you do or how your website is structured and...