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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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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