ONE: Frankly it takes a lot of work to stay on top of my brand. If only I could just push a button like the Staples “Easy Button” ( which I have on my desk). I hate that I can’t! TWO: I hate having to remind businesses that their brand is more than their logo. I have every design shop and ad specialty shop to blame for the mis-information I guess. (I could be painting with big a brush too) THREE: I hate companies who don’t realize that branding is a top down initiative. Without the captain on board, who’s…

If you’re a small business owner, an affiliate marketing program is a fantastic opportunity to make a lot of money without having to have a lot of capital or overhead costs.  And if you have a web page, affiliate marketing is a great way to make quick cash without adding a lot of extra work. But just because you find a popular webpage to promote your product or the right product to promote on your page, doesn’t mean it’s going to work.  In affiliate marketing, it’s all about the link.  The kind of link you use and what you link…

Your brand is probably your company’s most valuable asset. It is what provides you the opportunity to make money based on strong relationships. Your brand makes advocates out of customers which means that they in effect become salespeople for you. Being an advocate for a brand, makes it a pleasure to recommend that company to your network of contacts. Paying close attention to the environment in which your brand exists will reward you at times when you find your brand in a bad place or subject to sloppy practices. Because your brand is essentially your reputation, it is therefore, dire…

As we all get more Internet and mobile phone-centric, you see more and more software built to either promote or add value to a service or product. For example: Nationwide Insurance created an iPhone app for their customers to help them make the task of filing a claim easier. There is Revver who created an official plugin WordPress to make it easier for their users to display videos and earn money. Pizza Hut has an iPhone app that includes a game, ability to order food and receive coupons. And there are countless Facebook apps created by big name companies. I…

I’m A Graduate! But I Don’t Have My Certificate Yet 😉 Update: You can read here my latest blog post about the program, with a fun picture of Yaro & I when he came to Vancouver, BC. I started Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Program and am now a Graduate! 🙂 The good thing about the Blog Mastermind Program is that it’s a program that is handy to refer back to here and there. No I didn’t follow every single step, but I will. When I feel I’ve given the program all I’ve got, I will report back on every single success…

People buy for a number of reasons.  We buy because we like the personality behind a product or company.  We buy because the product or service taps into an emotional need and we buy because experts tell us to – credibility and authority. Customer testimonials can help tap into all of these buying behaviors and they’re much more effective than sales copy because they’re coming from an outside, presumably unbiased, source.  Testimonials are worth their weight in gold!  Here’s how and where to use them to their fullest. Website real estate. One of the popular locations to place your most…

For the last year I’ve been operating a ghostwriting business, I hired ghostwriters to provide content for my clients. The business got very busy VERY fast. It turned out that I was spending 90% of my time working on requests, editing content, and getting things back to the client. Having to deal with being in and out of the hospital, the stress of it all made my decision pretty easy to let go of the ghostwriting business. I have a GEM here at Small Business Branding and I’d rather work hard at bringing valuable content and ideas to the readers…

Sitting in my office here in Leamington, Ontario Canada ( just 30 miles ‘south’ of Detroit, Michigan – sounds odd I know), I reflect on how the web has changed the way I do business and in return strengthened my brand. Ten years ago, my market was essentially within a 2 1/2 hour drive of here – North America’s industrial heartland. I marketed traditionally which is to say totally offline except the token brochure website. Those efforts brought me a comfortable living. Today, I market myself 90% online and use networking strategies both on and off-line. My market is now…

Today I was Inspired by Yaro Starak’s recent Birthday Milestone Blog Post  “How To Become Comfortable With Yourself.” It’s great to see the journey Yaro has taken and how we can incorporate positive things into our lives to develop and unlock our potential. You are capable of doing amazing things, of achieving all of your hopes, dreams and goals and living the life you want to live.  You were born with this ability.  So what happened?  Life happened. Along the way, you picked up a few limiting beliefs, behaviors and some negative thoughts.  It happens to everyone.  The good news…

Blogging is a great way to grow your business. It adds credibility to your business, helps brand you and your business and creates the kind of community and authenticity prospects are craving. People no longer care to do business with a nameless faceless entity; they want to know who they’re doing business with and what they’re about. A blog helps you accomplish this, thus building your awareness and customer base. Here are a few tips and strategies to use blogging to grow your business. #1 Blogging is a fine balance of information and entertainment – People do want to get…