Small business marketing foundations (or what kept me busy in 2016)

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Small business marketing foundations (or what kept me busy in 2016)

Marketing never seems to get easier. You can be the brightest, most creative/talented crayon in the box, but if your marketing foundation is shaky, it'll be really hard to grow. If you know your product or service is pointed in the right direction, and you've stopped or restarted a few times, then this blog is intended for you. Much of what I recommend is intended to keep a business owner in a low-tech, messaging-centric marketing path. I'm going to outline marketing foundation essentials for: 

business owners whose clients depend upon them for creative thinking and insightful observations and whose business includes billable, one-on-one client coaching
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It’s not bleeding enough: why 2017 is taking me away from the things that keep me safe

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If it bleeds, it leads.

In journalism, what’s most important goes first—on the front page, in the first words of a headline, in the first sentences of a paragraph. Find what will hook the reader and then let the information fan out through the story, all the way down to the least impactful (but still relevant) information.

The last two years, after looking at pages of manuscripts, I’ve told my fair share of established and budding authors: It’s not bleeding enough. 

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The value in unpopular blogs

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The value in unpopular blogs

Have you ever published a blog that no one paid attention to?

I have.

It's one of the most disheartening experiences, especially when I feel like I'm really putting my soul and guts on the line. Two likes and one share from my aunt in Michigan later, this blogging thing can really get a gal down. Despite being a cheerleader of content marketing for the past four years, it has seemed like my own personal blogging efforts have been quite useless. Some of the people I admire most online have thousands (if not a few million) followers. If their simple two-sentence share gets 45 comments in a three-hour timeframe, why can't my bleeding-heart blog get me anywhere?

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Marketing and branding: what I'm keeping, letting go and testing for the rest of 2016

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Earlier this month I made a decision to shut down my business. For a few reasons I won't go into here, I decided to start fresh and reimagine the industries I've been working in (content marketing, inbound marketing and publishing). Rather than being responsible for the marketing of a company with a virtual team, we decided to simplify operations, disband (for lack of a less dramatic term) and come together periodically throughout the year for large projects, when opportunities arise.

This means all the marketing know-how I've acquired needs a fresh set of eyes.

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Where [BOOKS] belong in your sales funnel in 2016

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What and where you put content in your sales funnel matters. Whether you're in content marketing, inbound marketing or just regular, old-fashioned marketing, the elements that you use to court a prospective customer matter a lot. Today I want to look at a few places where I think self-publishing a book makes sense as part of a company's marketing initiatives.

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Content marketing sputtering a bit? Here's where to start

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A few years ago content marketing was the dorky new kid on the playground. It looked normal, it sounded smart, but something wasn't quite what people were expecting. As the story often goes, the early bird got the worm ...

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The Brief Story of the Internet (& Inbound and Content Marketing)

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This is the story of the Internet. The very truncated, anecdotal-but-factual story. You should keep reading this story if you’re interested in how to understand the Internet and Google and how marketing fits inside somewhere. 

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Human Marketing: A Manifesto

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I believe in usability. I believe in accessibility. I believe in transparency. I believe in meeting people where they are. I believe in acknowledging where I am. I believe in seeing my talents for what they are, my business for what it is and is not and my clients for what they can and can never be to me. I believe the most important person in my life is the person standing right in front of me.

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