Small Business

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• Quirky, Weird and Hard to Predict
  In a post at Copyblogger, Sonia Simone offers some unconventional blogging advice, her nine "little known" rules for a successful blog. It's an interesting read, with plenty of key takeaways ...
  Blogging, Small Business
• A Tale of Two Innovations
  The next time your management team meets to determine the fate of a recently introduced product or service, consider a post by Scott Anthony at Harvard Business Online. He argues ...
  Metrics, Small Business
• A Skeptical Look at Word-of-Mouth
  Marketers don't always agree on the best way to achieve results, and Michael Antman takes the contrarian view of a strategy popular with many of his colleagues. "[S]ome businesses, especially ...
  Small Business, Word-of-Mouth
• Good Copy, Bad Copy
  We never tire of good writing advice, and Anna Goldsmith of The Hired Pens recommends an interesting editing process that begins with taking a break. "We all know that when ...
  Copywriting, Small Business, Writing
• Meltdown Marketing
  Marketing budgets often take a hit during economic downturns. And whether your department experiences a cutback, or you're simply on the hunt for inexpensive ways to increase your reach, Jenni ...
  Economic Crisis, Local Marketing, Small Business
• A Clearly Good Marketing Plan
  "Marketing plans are essential documents for virtually any business," says Tim Calkins in an article at MarketingProfs. "[I]t is hard to do great marketing without a clear plan. Unfortunately, many ...
  Marketing Plans, Small Business
• The Right Way to Serve Up Links
  Most Web sites have a page with outbound links. In theory, they serve as a resource for your customers, but Shavkat Karimov argues that, in practice, links pages rarely add ...
  Small Business, Website Design
• Go Cone Yourself
  "It's hard to keep those marketing juices flowing if you are feeling bogged down," says Drew McLellan at his Marketing Minute blog. "Sometimes I have to give myself a reprieve. ...
  Creativity, Small Business
• You Don't Say
  You're in line at a store when the cashier answers the phone, speaks in a snarky tone, rolls his eyes, hangs up and then comments on the caller's stupidity while ringing ...
  Customer Relationships, Customer Service, Small Business
• Search Is 6/8 of Research
  You have lots of options when it comes to market research. "[T]here is a research firm for every project," says Ed Erickson in an article at MarketingProfs.com. "Don't settle for ...
  Hiring Outside Resources, Market Research, Small Business
• Fight Fire With ... Rohit's Five-Step Action Plan
  It's mid-afternoon and you learn—a little too late—that a blog post badmouthing your company has just gone viral. Rohit Bhargava offers a five-step plan for dousing the flames of these ...
  Blog Monitoring, Public Relations, Small Business, Word-of-Mouth
• Dinner-Party PR
  In a post at Silicon Alley Insider, Jason Calacanis says start-up companies don't have to splash out $10,000-a-month retainers—or even hire in-house PR—to get the right exposure. These are only ...
  Public Relations, Small Business
• The Price-Hike Gamble
  No doubt you've noticed it with your cable bill, your phone bill or anything else you pay on a regular basis—prices that creep slowly, and steadily, upward for no readily ...
  Customer Retention, Pricing, Small Business
• Google's Smarter Than You Think
  The more you focus on SEO strategy, the more you might begin to think you can outsmart Google. But Dharmesh Shah argues in an article at MarketingProfs.com that gaming the ...
  Google, Search Engines, SEO, Small Business
• Brand Aid
  In an article at MarketingProfs.com, Mike O'Toole explains why small businesses instinctively understand the importance of developing brand equity: "It is the quality that motivates your customers to recommend their ...
  Brand Positioning, Branding, Small Business
• The Weakest Link
  In an ideal world, your entire team would demonstrate the skill and enthusiasm needed to make every marketing campaign a success. Unfortunately, though, you're going to encounter subordinates who don't ...
  Management, Small Business
• Red-Hot Whitepapers
  If you're writing a whitepaper—or plan to include one in your marketing strategy—you should check out a Pro article at MarketingProfs.com in which Steve Hoffman provides an in-depth list of ...
  Small Business, White Papers, Writing Whitepapers
• Copywriters: Big Brother Is Watching
  When you hear the name George Orwell, you probably think of books like 1984 and Animal Farm. But the philosopher-author also penned a 1946 essay called "Politics and the English ...
  Copywriting, Small Business
• Scratch That Niche
  Reaching a niche audience—and only those people—can be tricky. But in a post at his eponymous blog, Seth Godin proposes the inventive approach of piggybacking onto a product that your ...
  Creativity, Customer Acquisition, Small Business
• Make Your Viral Dreams Come True
  As it becomes easier than ever to produce and distribute online videos, you probably see how the medium can serve as a key marketing tool. And in a guest post ...
  Small Business, Videos, Word-of-Mouth