Author Archive

Small Business Marketing Tips: Why Solving People’s Problems Will Make You Richer Than You Ever Thought Possible

All businesses exist to solve problems.
If you’re a dry cleaner, it’s removing dirt from fragile clothes without damaging them.  If you’re a taxi driver, it’s helping people get from point A to point B quickly.  If you’re a marketer, it’s creating additional revenue for your customers and clients by helping them attract more business.
But there’s [...]

Recession Marketing Tips: How Your Mindset Creates Success, Even in a Down Economy

Have you watched the news lately?  Listened to the radio?  Opened a newspaper?
If so, then you’ve been inundated by doom and gloom everywhere you turn.
Or maybe you’ve noticed your store is a little emptier…your inbox a little less crammed…your phone a little quieter.
You hear about businesses, households, and individuals failing all around you, and you [...]

Small Business Marketing Answers: Is It Ever Okay to Lose Money on Your Marketing?

I’m in the middle of a fantastic dialogue with a client.  We’re working on an online referral generation strategy for his financial counseling business and are in the process of playing with the numbers to determine what kind of referral incentive would be appropriate.
In the course of our emails back and forth, he sent me [...]

Entrepreneur Magazine Got it All Wrong

Entrepreneur Magazine had a recent article called 3 Weeks to Start Up.
I couldn’t disagree with it more.
It starts out okay.  Tells you start with a viable idea, ask yourself if people need or want what you’re going to sell, if they’ll pay for it now, if they’re already paying for it.
These are the right questions [...]

Merry Christmas from the Marketing Wizard’s Alliance

It’s been a heckuva year.
Recession worries, massive political change, and the ups and downs of running and growing your own business.
If you’re like me, you get to the end of the year tired…reflective…and optimistic about what the future holds.
And that’s what I love best about the holidays.
For the next few days, we can forget the [...]

Relationship Marketing — OR, The One Simple Paradigm Shift that Will Change Your Marketing Forever

Okay, folks, listen up.
If there’s one single shift you can make in the way you think about marketing to revolutionize your revenue, it’s this.
Marketing is the simple act of buying customers.
The faster you let that message really sink in, the better off you’ll be.
Whenever you run a print ad…give your sales team a commission…send a [...]

The Economy May Suck…But Small Businesses Are Thriving

NOW HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE!
It’s not time to press the panic button.  Not yet.
The economy is going downhill fast, right?  At least that’s all you hear everywhere you turn.  The Wall Street Journal reported 500,000 layoffs last month.
Facebook won’t buy employees’ stock.
Donald Trump thinks his own condos are too expensive.  (Is he gonna cut [...]

Business Building Tips: What to Do When You Fall Down

Over at his blog, marketing master Clayton Makepeace has a fantastic new post about what to do when you lose.  It hit me hard when I read it today, so I knew I had to share it with our readers!
You see, especially now, with the economy struggling and small businesses everywhere nervous about what’s coming [...]

Recession Marketing Tips: The ONLY Person Your Small Business Has to Please

Jim’s newly-released report, “How to Market Your Crap When the Economy Is in the Toilet,” makes an incredible point.
When you’re trying to protect and expand your business in a down economy, you’ve got to pay EXTRA attention to customer service.
Making your customers happy MATTERS.
Another case-in-point: over at his blog, marketing master Seth Godin has a [...]

Marketing Lessons from the Fray:
Why Barack Obama Got Elected

DISCLAIMER: We know that whenever we bring up politics things can get heated…so just to remind you: we’re here to talk marketing, not politics.  Our purpose is to dissect the marketing lessons gleaned from this past election season and help you apply them in your business to protect and increase your revenue during the recession.  [...]