Your marketing strategy is the engine driving your business growth. With now’s the time to ensure your efforts are firing on all cylinders. I’ve worked with businesses that assumed their campaigns were solid, only to discover misaligned messaging or untapped opportunities costing them leads. Asking ...

Your website’s ranking on Google can feel like a moving target. You invest in SEO, but Google’s algorithm keeps evolving, leaving you guessing what works. I’ve seen businesses struggle to align with Google’s priorities, often missing the mark on user experience. Google emphasizes technical ...

You’ve created something valuable—maybe an ebook, a quiz, or an event—and now you need to get it in front of your audience. An inbound marketing campaign can make that happen, pulling people in with strategic, user-focused tactics. I’ve built campaigns that turned small offers into big wins, and ...

For years, I’ve been a scoutmaster, teaching youth how to build fires more times than I can count. A fire needs three elements: fuel, heat, and oxygen. As simple as it sounds, it’s trickier than you’d think. Too little heat? You need more oxygen. Wet fuel? Crank up the heat. Starting a forest fire ...

What is a SWOT analysis? It is a fundamental concept in a start-up company and directly affects the marketing plan and demographics being targeted. SWOT is simply the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to your specific business.

When building a new website, one of the most important aspects to consider is the hero banner. A hero banner is a large, prominently placed image or video that appears at the top of a website's homepage. It is the first thing that visitors see when they arrive at your site, and it plays a crucial ...

A few years ago, I attended a technical conference where vendors showcased their products at booths. On the last morning, the show was noticeably quiet. As I approached one vendor’s booth, I remarked, “Pretty quiet this morning, isn’t it?”

Deciding to outsource your business’s marketing can feel daunting. Entrusting an external agency with your brand is a big step, especially for small businesses with limited budgets. You can’t all run campaigns like Coca-Cola, Sony, or Starbucks, but there’s plenty to learn from these giants to ...

If you are looking for a way to test the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, A/B testing (or split testing) is the way to go. A/B testing can be used with emails, web pages, calls-to-action (CTAs), etc. Essentially, you take one copy of a marketing material, and you tweak it enough to create ...

Years ago I worked in the office equipment industry. The companies I worked for sold copiers and printers to businesses, organization, etc. During my tenure at my last copier company, HP rolled out a new copier line. They simply relabeled a line from Konica Minolta. Our company decided to pick up ...

When it is time to present something to an audience, do you find yourself teaching them or preaching to them? It is very hard, sometimes, to draw the distinction, but here is a little unasked for advice.

For as long as business owners have had a location to hang their sign, they’ve worked to attract more customers. Many businesses, even seasoned marketers, rely on a checklist of tactics they believe will drive sales. But tactics alone won’t cut it—you need a strategic approach.

Years ago, in a different life, I was a sales manager in a different industry. I had ten sales associates working for me in outside sales. We won some and we lost some. Whether we won a deal or lost a deal, I would ask my sales rep to debrief. I wanted to know how it all worked out. I was always ...

In 2016, at Tribute Media, we tested, and then made official, Office Free Friday. It's was a very cool thing for us, as a company, because it provided us some much-needed focus time each week where our customers expect us to be a little less available.

Over the last 15 years, I've worked with a lot of different marketing agencies. I've had the opportunity to work with agencies as a customer, partner, advisor, employee, and leader. I've been immersed in the life of an agency. Through this, I have also had the opportunity to help businesses of all ...

Since consumers have been using search engines to find what they need online, marketers have tried to find ways to improve their clients’ position in those search engines. These search engine optimizers come with a wide variety of tactics.

At 12 years old, I started a paper route. It wasn't in folding and throwing papers that I found my "riches." It was selling subscriptions. The Press-Enterprise, out of Riverside, California, would have someone come and pick up a bunch of 12-14 year olds and we'd go to all the new neighborhoods to ...

Now, before you think I'm evil and are ready to tar and feather me, I hate labor laws like FLSA and child labor restrictions from a worker's perspective.