I read an article today that argued that a CRM package "can help you manage the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns allowing you to measure your cost per lead, a key metric that determines the effectiveness of your marketing dollars."I believe that...
I was talking to a small business owner today about referral marketing when I commented that he had gotten good at asking for referrals often, but he didn't ask for them early enough. To have a successful referral marketing system, you need to expect referrals. One...
This is another fear that I hear from small business owners who are considering whether or not they should blog. This is perfectly understandable - no one wants to have their dirty laundry hung out in the front yard for everyone to see. However, when you do make a...
A common fear I hear expressed by small business owners who are thinking about starting a blog is that the number of comments that will be left on their blog will require an inordinate amount of time to manage and maintain. In my experience, both with my own blog and...
During the past 2 weeks when I have been talking to folks about using blogs as a marketing tool, I have hearing a lot of misconceptions about blogging in the small business arena. I'd like to address some of the more common misconceptions that I run into in my next...
In yesterday's edition of his e-mail newsletter Alertbox, Jakob Nielsen argues that you should spend your time writing in-depth articles rather than making blog posts. His article contains charts and statistical data that seem to argue that the more posts you write,...
It seems like I have been having a lot of conversations around the subject of how to get more referrals lately. Small business owners love referral marketing because it is cheap and effective. The main cost is time spent seeking and following up with prospects....
Many small business owners fall into the trap of believing that the only way to improve their revenue is to use advertising to drive more traffic to their business. The model looks something like this – Traffic x Conversion Rate x Average Sale = Revenue. The...
Marketing Sherpa has an interesting article on their website (Open Access until June 12th) titled How To Collect Higher Impact Testimonials From Consulting Clients: 7 Practical Tips. My favorite tip on the list is Tip #4 - Ask clients to describe how you helped them...
Lately, I have been reading and hearing a lot of comments about how advertising, particularly print advertising, doesn't work for small businesses. Since advertising is often equated with marketing in small business, I also hear "marketing doesn't work for my...