I've got two quick questions for you: Who are the most successful businesses in your industry? Are they doing more marketing than you? I don't know the answer to question one, but the answer to question two is almost certainly 'yes'. Now, here’s the conundrum. Do you think they do more marketing than you because they’re [...]
Marketing is like showering and brushing your teeth – something you should do daily not occasionally, as I explain in this episode of 3MinuteMarketing. Marketing is all about building trust, credibility and brand recognition. But you can’t build these things overnight. You need to fill the bathtub one drop at a time. That’s why you need to do [...]
Don't make the mistake of treating your business card as a piece of stationery. A high-quality business card can be a powerful marketing tool. Why? Because you want your small business to stand out and be memorable. You want to catch the eye of potential clients and referral partners. A creative, well-designed and attractive business card [...]
"Marketing is a contest for people's attention," to quote the great Seth Godin. So what can small businesses do to gain attention? The answer is to stand out. A lot of small businesses are scared of standing out in their marketing. But the problem with that is if you look and sound just like everyone else, [...]
Content marketing works. The more blogs and videos and social media posts you publish, the more leads and referrals and sales you're going to generate. That said, there are a few caveats if you want your small business’ content marketing to pay off. First, content marketing works only in the long term. It’s not a get-rich-quick [...]
I'm a big fan of print marketing because when you give the right piece of print to the right person at the right time, it can have a big impact and generate sales. But having said that, a lot of small businesses get print marketing wrong. They include too much information in their marketing materials, and [...]
A CEO friend of mine stumbled upon a really cool marketing idea. He told his sales staff to stop chasing sales for one month…. and, instead, concentrate on doing one-to-one marketing with existing customers. This CEO wanted to find out if the customers were happy with the level of service they received. He wanted to know [...]
Agree or disagree? My view is that if you want to build trust, credibility and brand recognition, then you need to keep marketing every single day. Marketing isn’t a ‘sometime’ activity, it’s an ‘all-the-time’ activity. You have to fill the marketing bathtub one drop at a time. So is it true that the small business that [...]
Is it print or digital? Brochures or banners ads? Social media or text messages? The answer is that it differs from business to business and industry to industry. Don’t follow a rigid formula, or blindly do whatever everyone else is doing. Rather, deliver the marketing that your customers prefer. So, don’t be set in your ways. [...]
We don’t like consuming the corporate propaganda that other companies put out, as I explain in this episode of 3MinuteMarketing. So why would customers enjoy consuming ours? Businesses need to stop talking about how wonderful they are. Instead, they should talk about their customers – about their hopes, fears and values. It’s not about you. It’s about them. [...]
