10 ways to gather competitive intelligence quickly and efficiently, even if you’re a small business with minimal resources. Just because you’re small doesn’t mean you can’t compete. While small businesses may not have the same resources as larger competitors, they do have distinct advantages. Small businesses are often faster and more flexible, able to adjust to changing market conditions. It’s …
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10 Most Effective Marketing Strategies for Small Business
The ultimate list of effective marketing strategies for small business in an increasingly digital world. Learn the best marketing ideas for small business growth. There’s so much written about digital marketing tactics that it’s hard to know where to start. It’s especially true if you are a small business owner without a marketing department or a lot of digital experience. …
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15 Innovation Activities for Novel Ideas
Quit brainstorming and start uncovering novel and useful ideas for your business. Brainstorming stinks. While there are cases where a well-trained brainstorming expert can get a group to come up with something useful, for most people it’s a drag. Most attendees simply dread them. Especially when larger groups come together in corporate environments. The trick is to avoid large sessions …
20 Favorite Small Business Marketing Tips
You’re sure to find a tip on this list that will spark a worthy idea for your small business marketing efforts. If you’re a small business owner looking for a few pointers to help your marketing efforts, you’ve come to the right place. In the early days of this blog, I wrote a post for corporate marketers: 50 Quick Marketing …
The Final Test of a Good Marketing Idea
You have a marketing idea but aren’t sure if it’s any good. This is the third of three critical questions to ask before implementing the idea in your small business, including a template to easily prioritize your ideas. Maybe you’ve got an idea in mind. But is it a good idea? Hopefully you’ve already been following along. Back in May, …
The Second Test of a Good Marketing Idea
You have a marketing idea but aren’t sure if it’s any good. This is the second of three critical questions to ask before implementing the idea in your small business. Maybe you’ve got an idea in mind. But is it a good idea? Earlier this month I wrote about The First Test of a Good Marketing Idea. It was the first …
The First Test of a Good Marketing Idea
You have a marketing idea but aren’t sure if it’s any good. First, ask yourself this question. They’re always there. Those pesky ideas. Lots of “tips” and buzz around the internet about digital, social and content marketing. Add onto that in-person marketing, media and events—it’s a lot to wrap your head around. Maybe you’ve got an idea in mind. One …
Don’t Be a Chicken: The Lesson That Will Save Your Business
You’re a chicken. Yes… you. The one running your small business or startup day in and day out. The one who thinks any customer is a good customer. The one wondering why your marketing efforts and sales materials aren’t converting as well as you want. The one stuffing many different messages into your website because you don’t want to leave …
Your Competitive Analysis is Worthless if You Don’t Answer These 5 Questions
Don’t just look at web traffic and keywords. Make your competitive analysis more strategic and actionable by answering these critical questions. I see a lot of articles around the web these days that promote the idea of competitive intelligence. But most posts and articles say to look at web sites, web traffic and key words. While there may be some …
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5 Must-Read Small Business Marketing Blog Posts
Every once in a while I read a post or an article and think to myself, “That is really good!” And this was a particularly good week for some of my favorite blogs. So I’m sharing with you some of the strongest posts. These blogs are good to follow if you work in marketing, but they are especially useful for …