If you’re listed in the service directories offered online these days, it can be a very good thing. Google Local, for instance, is one of the smartest places to exist, and so are MerchantCircle, Yelp, and Foursquare. If you don’t exist there, you should, but if you do…
Do you have a Web site? Or did you simply list your business with them and expect that to be your online appearance?
Social media forums like Facebook and Twitter offer brilliant free marketing for small businesses when used strategically, but there are a handful of things I’ve begun to hate, I mean…er…strongly dislike when it comes to socializing on those platforms. They are, sadly, things I could have done better or understood more fully if I had made it my entire life for a set period of time. I couldn’t, and can’t, and I’ll assume that you don’t have that kind of time, either. I really do work, and because I write for my living, quiet thought is my friend. That means long hours of intense mulling over and reading (the one thing I love about Twitter, by the way – things I read and learn from what is posted there.)
Please learn from my mistakes. I committed these social media crimes knowing full well what I was doing, and thought in time these problems would rectify themselves. They haven’t. And now I’m paying the price for poor planning. [Read more…] about I’m Guilty: 6 Social Media Sins
Ever feel like this? As a business woman, I admit that I sometimes do. Every once and a while I get the feeling that I’m surrounded by perfectly running businesses and I’m just not keeping up like I should. Times like that make me want to spin on my office chair and blow spit bubbles. 
[Read more…] about Does Marketing Make You Want to Scream?
You’re not alone. While writing a press release is only half the battle, getting it picked up and read continues to haunt industry professionals everywhere. This doesn’t have to be the case, say the authors of Press Releases Designed For Effect. Not only will recognizing new dynamics re-energize your small business marketing campaign, but here at Zero To Sixty Marketing, we believe working smarter includes producing better results in less time.
[Read more…] about Hope For The Small Business Press Release
If you stop to think about it, we’re all marketers. We all have something to sell and we need to market it, whether product or service. Narrowing the focus of your newsletter to your particular niche will increase your bottom line – whether you’ve got a huge list, or not. Your email marketing list is an important feature, don’t get me wrong, but look at it this way:
Not everyone who goes into a store is looking for the same thing.
What is the strongest thing you offer, and who wants it? Your list should be divided up so your message targets the particular group who have already shown interest in a thing, or are in the category of someone who may not know that your product or service is their remedy.
[Read more…] about Great Newsletter Design Is Nothing Without Targeted Content
(PT2) We want relationships with our customers and readers to be actual relationships, and that requires two-way conversation. We want to encourage them to call, sign up, or click on a link. We want them to tell us what they thought of our products or services. If you read my earlier post on the value of influencing customer response, it’s time to start asking questions and posing statements that engage dialog.
Or you can just wait and see if your schedule fills up. (See pic for emotion that follows waiting for your schedule to fill up).
