How Marketing Sets the Stage for Your Success As a business owner, I’ve encountered a recurring mistake among my peers: the tendency to delay marketing. Whether they’re on the verge of launching a new service offering, contemplating a niche change, or shifting their business focus, many entrepreneurs think it makes sense to hold off on their marketing efforts. However, this mindset can be detrimental, as marketing isn’t something you should delay. It’s a continuous process that’s essential to creating and nurturing relationships that ultimately drive your business. Marketing vs. Sales: Underst ..read more

How Providing Value Can Transform Your Marketing Strategy and Boost Sales In the ever-evolving world of marketing, building meaningful relationships with your audience is crucial. One of the most effective ways to foster these relationships is through a strategic approach to your content. I want to explain a concept I discuss with my clients often: the 80/20 rule in content marketing. This strategy emphasizes providing immense value to your audience while balancing it with promotional efforts. Understanding the 80/20 Rule When creating content—be it for social media, email campaigns, or blogs ..read more

Why Authenticity in Content Creation Matters Have you been hesitant to implement AI in your business, especially as it relates to your marketing content? You aren't alone. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, businesses are under pressure to generate continuous content to stay relevant. However, the fear that AI-generated content might feel inauthentic or even akin to plagiarism holds many business owners and marketers back from using it. So how can AI be leveraged to generate authentic content that truly resonates with your audience? The Dilemma Surrounding AI and Content Authenticity Whe ..read more

Guest Blog by Mark Harbeke, owner of Harbeke Marketing If you run a micro or small business, you know how you’re doing for what matters most — gross revenue — by looking at the Sales dashboard in your website management platform. If your website platform does not have this dashboard (or maybe you don’t use it because you don’t host an e-commerce store to sell products or services online), you can also count the number of orders that came in via email, your customer relationship management (CRM) platform, or your terminal if you only sell in person. However, if you generate business via your we ..read more

Building Strong Relationships and Expanding Your Reach Through Strategic Collaborations In the expansive world of marketing, building relationships is paramount. It's not just about making connections with potential clients or referral sources; it’s about creating meaningful collaborations that expand your reach. One of the most effective ways to do this is by leveraging other people's audiences (OPAs). Whether through guest blogs, podcast interviews, or collaborative presentations, OPAs offer a lot of opportunity to showcase your expertise and tap into new networks.  Understanding OPA: T ..read more

The world lost a great soul on August 30, 2023. John Biethan, our friend, colleague and podcast expert passed away unexpectedly. The loss of his presence will be deeply felt by a vast number of people across the country. John touched many more lives than he, or anyone else, probably realized. John made people feel incredibly special in the most genuine way. He fiercely advocated for those he trusted and admired. Aside from my close family and friends, I always thought of John as my biggest cheerleader, and I've heard others share the same. John dedicated his work to helping people tell their ..read more

Recession, no recession? Depends on who you ask. All I know is that gas prices and the cost of groceries certainly aren't going down these days. During economically uncertain times, it's no surprise that we as consumers (and business owners) tend to prioritize our spending. We focus first on investing in those products and services that we really need to have, rather than those we merely want to have. Recently, I listened to this podcast episode, by Leah Neaderthal, where she acknowledges that there’s no silver bullet to getting clients (I preach the same!) but having a good "Painkiller Statem ..read more

Guest Blog by Elle Rosselli, Founder at ClearCopyWorks Creating content for your business is a vital part of what you do.  How else can you attract new leads, turn them into raving fans through engagement, and convert them into delighted clients that will pass along referrals? You may be great at coming up with ideas for new content, and you can obviously write, but how do you know when your efforts are enough and when to hire a copywriter? A good copywriter can take your ideas and run with them, creating content that is both engaging and effective. And free you up to concentrate on oth ..read more

Organization can be a challenge; especially if you're a newly minted woman entrepreneur or mompreneur, and you have a zillion things going on at every waking hour. Getting some of your backend business processes organized can help save you time and headaches when it comes to working on your business. After all, you want more time to do the stuff you love - right? Here are 5 tips for getting your small business organized: Streamline your invoicing. If you're still creating your own invoices in a Word Document, exporting them to PDF, attaching them to an email and typing out an email to your c ..read more

How easily can you recall an instance of extremely positive customer service that you received? What about a negative experience? It seems easier to remember the bad interactions than the good, so I wanted to share a positive story. And I had an entire post written about the wonderful, proactive customer service I recently received from the Apple Store. Aaaaaand....then they dropped the ball. Everything was going smoothly with the repair of my MacBook pro - the Genius Bar employee was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, the laptop was fixed and shipped back to the store faster than expected ..read more