Susan Oakes makes an interesting point on her site, M4B Marketing Blog, that has crossed my own mind on more than one occasion.   In her article, “How Not To Retain Your Key Customers“, Susan questions why companies focus marketing on obtaining new customers instead of making offerings available to current, loyal customers.  I have to say, [...]

We’ve heard lots of advice during this recession about continuing to market hard.  That’s good advice as far as it goes.  But I’m afraid that when the rubber hits the road, marketing may still end up getting cut in many small businesses due to costs. So the question becomes: how do you continue marketing your business without [...]

We would like to take a moment to wish you and your families an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

If you are considering starting a ‘green’ business, you need take into consideration that this is a big commitment.  Promoting your business as being green can open you and your business up to close scrutiny.  Claiming that your business is green while your practices are not is considered ‘greenwashing‘.  If your claim to being green [...]

As the iPhone gains popularity, more and more interesting apps become available.  The iPhone is a great tool for entrepreneurs because it helps you stay connected to your business even when you’re on the go. Sarah Scrafford has compiled a detailed list of some of the most useful iPhone apps.  I do not have an iPhone but [...]

With more people turning to the internet this holiday shopping season, take extra measures to guard your paying customers valuable credit card information.  Protect your business reputation and give your customers peace of mind by tightening up your website security.  The future of your business depends on you being aware of flaws that may exist and fixing them [...]

Business cash flow is an important factor during these tough economic times.  You offer your customers the best services and products possible only to find out later that their invoices are going unpaid.  Getting customers to pay after the fact can be like banging your head off the wall.  Lots of time and energy wasted [...]

Some small businesses, faced with reduced cash flows in these economic times, are turning toward a bartering system to get by.  Anyone with skills or goods can swap services or items without ever exchanging money as pointed out in the Business Week article, “Barter Exchanges Catch On As Credit Tightens“. As mentioned in the above article [...]

If you’re afraid of failure, don’t be.  There is a lot to be learned from failing.  Taylor Davidson, author of the post “How To Fail: 25 Secrets Learned Through Failure“, has provided a list of observations and personal experiences that have taught him about failure.  One lesson that stuck out to me was #19, Hire Resumes.  Taylor [...]

With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, I have read and heard many predictions of customers doing most of their shopping online this year.  So to take advantage of this opportunity, now is the time to put some extra focus into developing your online sales strategies.  David Kam, of MarketingDeviant.com, has listed some easy to [...]