If your small business regularly publishes blogs, don’t make the mistake of making your blogs too long. Shorter blogs are generally more effective than longer blogs. Why? Because we all prefer easy-to-consume information. Two-hundred clear and concise words are better than 500 that drone on and on. Don’t force your customers to work hard to find [...]
Some small businesses swear by the rule that they should ‘always be closing’. However, a more effective business rule is ‘always be marketing’. If you want to make sales, then you need to build trust, credibility and brand recognition with your customers. That takes time. But the more marketing you do, the more trust, credibility and [...]
When's the best time to post on social media? Morning? Afternoon? Weekday? Weekend? My answer: who cares. What you post is infinitely more important than when you post. If you want your social media marketing to be effective, you need to stop being distracted by the little things. Instead, concentrate on the bigger picture. That means, [...]
Stop thinking of your small business as, say, an accountancy practice that does content marketing on the side. Instead, start thinking of your small business as a media company that does accountancy on the side. Why? Well, the small business that puts out the most helpful and relevant content wins. Once you become obsessed with pumping [...]
Here are three easy marketing opportunities that small businesses aren’t often aware of: Using email signatures to link to free resources such as ebooks or events you are hosting Promoting your small businesses services or product offering in your personal voicemail Highlighting new products or special offers in invoices The last one is a personal favourite [...]
Here’s a really fun story about two rival barbershops. It may or may not be true, but it does teach a valuable marketing lesson. Shop 1 undercut Shop 2 by marketing itself on price. Shop 2 found an ingenious way to hit back at Shop 1. Their marketing stood out, while they found a way to [...]
If you want to do effective content marketing, then you need to follow these five simple rules of writing. Use short words – not big words Use fewer words – not more words Use shorter paragraphs – not longer paragraphs Use English – not business jargon Use full stops – not commas Follow these guidelines and [...]
Which social media platforms should your small business be on? Facebook? Pinterest? Tik-Tok? Instagram? As there are so many to choose from, there’s always the worry that you’re somehow missing out. But as a small business, what you need to do is hang out where your customers hang out. If they’re business professionals, they’re probably on LinkedIn. [...]
“Make the customer the hero of your story.” That quote from Ann Handley gets to the heart of what separates good marketing from the bad. A lot of small business understand the importance of telling stories in their marketing. But then they often fall into the trap of positioning their business, product or service as the [...]
Here's a controversial thought – most customers are less concerned about price than small business owners. "But don't customers always ask for discounts?" Small business owners obsess about price, with the result that they plant the thought in customer’s minds by constantly talking about it. What customers really care about is value. They are willing to [...]
