Struggling to Lead Your Marketing Without a CMO?

When I started Tribute Media in 2007, I did not have the goal of building a web company that I could end up selling. I simply repurposed an old name for another company that failed and I just needed a company name to bill against. I just had one client that I was fulfilling for, so the name didn't ...

In November of 2022, ChatGPT 3.5 hit the world stage like a Mac truck. Of course, large language models had been available before then but access was fairly limited. ChatGPT 3.5 wasn't the first AI. We've had task specific AI models for many years prior to ChatGPT. In just 3 1/2 years, AI has come ...

Before starting Tribute Media, I worked as a sales manager for a local company. With my design and marketing background, the president asked me to create a brochure. I struggled because our client service was inconsistent, making it hard to write honestly.

When you consider your web presence, you may be thinking that if you build it, your clients will come. All too often I hear from clients, “I spent $10,000 on my web site and it is really pretty. Why are people not coming to my site?” There are many answers to why this might be but the easiest way ...

In October 2007, after losing a job, I founded Tribute Media with little more than grit and a friend's help. We had a shoestring budget, no dedicated marketing team, and I was learning on the fly—making mistakes that cost time and money. I was very fortunate that I had an external partner that ...

When I started my business career, I worked in customer service for a company called Eleva. Try to pronounce that. Is it uh-leev-uh, ell-uh-vuh, hell-if-I-know? My bet is that however you try to pronounce it, you’re probably wrong.

As the CEO of an SMB you're juggling everything from cash flow to team dynamics. Your website might feel like just another line item on the budget, but it's actually a core driver of your growth. Yet too many SMB leaders treat their web presence as a one-and-done project or hand it off to a junior ...

You’re the CMO. Your plate is overflowing with campaigns, metrics, and brand decisions, and your web presence is demanding attention. It’s tempting to hand off your website strategy to someone else—maybe the IT manager, your marketing team, or that graphic designer who makes everything look slick. ...

It’s a familiar story: you’re an SMB owner juggling tight budgets and big dreams. The allure of a large agency’s polished pitch can feel like a lifeline. But I’ve seen too many businesses drawn in by promises of expertise, only to face inflated costs and strategies that miss the mark. I know this ...

In 1911, the publisher, William Randolph Hearst made an offer of $50,000 to the first person who could fly a plane from LA to New York or New York to LA in under 30 days from start to finish. Calbraith “Cal” Perry Rodgers took up the challenge.

As a marketer, you’re constantly adapting to new tools and customer demands. Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t just another tech fad—it’s a game-changer for how you target audiences, craft content, and optimize campaigns. The challenge is knowing where to begin without getting overwhelmed.

Want to make your website a go-to resource that search engines love? Topic clusters are the answer. They’re a smart way to organize your content around a central theme, with a main “pillar page” diving deep into a broad topic and smaller “cluster” pages linking back to it, covering specific ...

Web accessibility isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must. It’s about fairness, ensuring everyone can use your site, and it’s the law in many places, including the U.S. Over my years, I’ve watched businesses realize that accessibility isn’t just about avoiding lawsuits; it’s about reaching more ...

As you think about web marketing, there are some key considerations for your online presence. Last week I posted about the 10 signs your website is likely underperforming. There were important tips on what to fix there but I think there is much more you should do to improve your website performance.

After building and marketing websites for nearly 20 years and working in technology, marketing, and visual design for many years before that, you can imagine that I’ve seen my share of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I’ve been working in some form of marketing or sales for almost 40 years. Yes, I’m getting old, but I’m not that old. I sold newspapers door to door when I was throwing papers for The Press Enterprise in Southern California as a young lad. But when I was 16 years old, I really got my initiation ...

Leading a web design and development team can come with all sorts of challenges. The most common challenges come from two key areas. First, the competencies required to build a website are the broadest of all in the digital marketing space. Second, most agencies don’t treat web design and ...

Let me get to the switch on that bait right off the bat. Your sales pitch is probably okay. What really sucks is your sales approach. But, that might not make you feel any better. The sales world is changing. In my opinion, the consumer isn’t really changing but, instead, the options available to ...

In my opinion, the two most perfect food options are hamburgers and pizza. In fact, I’ve worked really hard to learn how to make the best burger and the best pizza I can. I’ve worked for years to come up with the recipe I love for each part of each, from the bread to the sauces and the toppings. It ...

I think that one of the greatest failings in just about every business is forgetting who signs the front of the check. When we are employees, we forget who the employer is. When we are vendors, we forget who the client is. All too often, we fall into the trap of thinking that we certainly know ...

I’ve been in some form of marketing for the better part of my life. Yeah, I’m getting up there in years but I also started young. I sold newspapers door-to-door as a paperboy in the 80s. I ran a printing press when I was 16 in 1990. I worked for a radio station in the mid-90s. I started doing print ...