Make the Most of Google My Business
Make the Most of Google My Business
Looking for a free way to boost your small business online? Google My Business is your ticket to driving traffic straight to your (real or virtual) doors! Google My Business is a business listing site like hundreds before it. The difference is, it’s optimized for local search. It helps you connect with people right in your own backyard who are looking for your products and...
To Groupon, Or Not to Groupon?
As a small business owner, you want exposure wherever exposure is available. Whether it’s social media, pay-to-play advertisement or even IRL marketing strategies (guerrilla marketing, anyone?), the more visibility you have, the better, right? But what if that “exposure” means that you peddle your wares at a significant discount, a la “daily deal” coupon sites like Groupon, LivingSocial or any other “buy this now and...
Here’s My Card: Should Your Small Business Go Back to Business Cards?
There was a time, not so long ago, when business cards were ubiquitous. You couldn’t go much further than the corner café without someone pressing a 3.5 x 2-inch piece of “very valuable contact information” into your hand. Wallets regularly burst at the seams, unable to contain the hundreds of cards ranging in condition from pristine to unreadable, depending on how often they’d been pulled...
The Pros and Cons of Amazon for Your Small Business
Don’t look now, but Amazon has just taken another giant step in its neverending question to dominate retail. Amazon on Sept. 17 launched Amazon Storefronts, designed for U.S.-based small and mid-size businesses (SMB) that offer products in 27 categories ranging from handmade crafts (think Etsy) to automotive parts, pet supplies, home and business services and more. The site also offers curated collections for things like...
Should Your Small Business Get Political?
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: “A politician walks into a nondescript farm-to-table restaurant named after a scarlet female fowl …” Oh, so you already know about Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ quick jaunt to Lexington, Virginia’s Red Hen restaurant? If not, here’s the skinny: In June, the White House press secretary was asked to leave the restaurant because Red Hen co-owner Stephanie Wilkinson didn’t agree...
Should You “Kickstart” Your Small Business With Kickstarter?
It’s a common problem for business owners across the globe: You have a big idea and a small budget. You’ve probably spent a ton of time thinking of solutions to this issue, ranging from the traditional (bank loans, business partners, investors) to the non-traditional (panhandling, bank robbing, begging your friends and family for money until they finally pay you to go away). But what if...
5 Professional Development Sources for Small Business Owners
Small business owners are a diverse lot. Some of you have a fancy business degree from a fancier university; others haven’t seen the inside of a classroom since shortly after prom. That’s the cool thing about owning a small business -- there are no prerequisite courses to take. Anyone with a great product or service and some startup capital can make a go of it....
Online Reviews: Your Small Business Needs Them!
Imagine you just moved to a new city. You’d love for someone to recommend the best restaurant, the most dependable babysitter or the most reliable mechanic – but you don’t know a single soul here. Where do you turn? Google, of course, or whatever your preferred search engine may be. You’ll patronize the restaurant, book the babysitter and hire the mechanic to fix your brakes...
11 Classic Fails in Social Media Marketing
Social media: Done correctly, it’s a fantastic marketing tool for your small business. However, when done the wrong way, you can sully your brand and send customers packing. That’s why it’s important to have a very clear idea of what “doing it wrong” looks like. The following 11 brands clearly did not do social media correctly. Check out these cringe-worthy, real-life posts, and you’ll gain...
Will YouTube Work for Your Small Business Marketing?
YouTube. To some, it’s a video sharing site that your kids use to watch videos of other kids playing games, making slime or “unboxing” their recent Amazon deliveries. But does it have a place in small business marketing? Is it a useful addition to your overall strategy? In short, is the time and effort you put in to making a video and sharing it with...