Have you ever had the experience of driving along, paying attention to something off in the horizon and next thing you know, you’ve driven to that spot?  And it wasn’t where you meant to go? The same phenomenon can happen in your business.  Most business owners I met pay a lot of attention to what their competition is doing.  We definitely need to keep an eye on the competitive  landscape.  But there’s a very fine line. The danger in keeping track of the other guys is that you lose track of your own path.  We tend to move towards what…

It’s official, I’m launching the Small Business Branding Affiliate Program! You can access all the affiliate training and tools here.  I’m also about to launch our very first product to help you with your business so if you’re wanting to find out the details of our upcoming launch than be sure to sign up as an affiliate right away. I was also asked to be on the panel over at Moms Affiliate Expo tomorrow night, but today You can hear me live at 2pm EST presenting our program there. You don’t have to be a Mom to listen in, there…

Today I figured was a good day to update you on all that is happening around our home here on the small business landscape. Since taking over the site there’s been alot of production happening behind the scenes. We’ve updated our Media Page to show you exactly where the buzz is coming from and it’s great for our advertisers to know that we are actively promoting the site. We are also looking into some pretty awesome partnerships in the near future to expand our reach even further. First on my list is to call up Entrepreneur.com to discuss some strategies…

Day in and day out we run our businesses the best we can. Like anything else in flux the edges get worn, some things just start to get old. The culture around us is in flux also. Things change and so we must adapt. Summer has come and gone for another year – so it’s time to give the brand an over-haul. Get it ready to take on a fresh new year only a few short months away. Here’s a 10 point check-list to use to give new life by PIMPING YOUR BRAND: • Pimp your brand personality. Taking an…

I’m surprised this news bite I happened to catch on local TV recently didn’t get picked up more. Recently, a lady called our local TV station, to say that a company whom she purchased from, shipped her order with shredded checks used as cushioning for the product. That on its own is absolutely not OK. To make matters worse, the shredder didn’t even do that good a job – parts of some checks were still intact. Adding insult to injury, the shredder used was one of those old style strip shredders what were about 1/4 inch wide that even a…

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re at a networking event and someone inevitably asks you….”What do you do for a living?” What do you say? If you’re like most people you have the generic answer, “I’m in the mortgage business” or “I’m an account executive” or ” I own a small business” and you hand them a business card and then you’re either off to the next person or you’re stuck in a conversation with someone that you have no idea if they have a potential want or need for you and your services. We have been programmed to…

There are many ways to deliver a marketing message. One that is often overlooked or erroneously dismissed as being too expensive is producing a video. YouTube has changed some perceptions in that arena but not so much in the marketing field. In reality, the return on the investment can be significant, even if you get a top notch professional to shoot your video. Some of the advantages are: ~ Delivers the intimacy of extended one-to-one communication. ~ Compared to TV ads, non-interruptive. ~ Allows three-dimensional views of products, show a product in use or a service provider in action. ~…

Positioning your brand is probably one of the most important aspects of branding. It is the unique strategy that will introduce your target audience to exactly what it is that differentiates your product or service from your competitors. I am working with a number of companies right now developing exactly this. It is absolutely fascinating what gems come out of discussions on positioning. At the outset, many companies are hard pressed to recognize a difference. All they see is the obvious. My strength is that I want to understand how the product or service is delivered, how is it made,…

It is inevitable. No matter what your business, online or off, technical problems are bound to happen. They will happen without (apparent) rhyme or reason, they will strike at any time – often at most inappropriate times. Yet, many small businesses fail to work out some kind of emergency support. Here’s what I’m talking about. You are launching a product, tested everything. The first few orders come in without problems but suddenly, all hell breaks lose. Your web site goes down or your order system quits. Irate emails start pouring in. You try to fix it but realize you have…

First, let’s establish this truth. We are all sales people. I don’t care if you are an engineer, a 3rd grade teacher, a social worker or a copier saleswoman. You are in sales. Every single one of us needs to sell someone on something. It might be getting your boss to agree to closing the shop early on Fridays or getting your students to study over a week’s time rather than cramming the night before. Or it could be getting a prospect to give your copier a spin for 30 days. So how do you sell? Where do you start?…