Let me ask you a silly question... If you were throwing a dinner party, you’d want people to show up, right? But not just any people. Imagine if 50 strangers showed up - you don’t know them, they don’t know you or each other. Would the fact that your living room was...
As basic as it sounds, one of the keys to success with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software ... is to use it. Crazy, right? I know it sounds that way, but I hear statements like this all the time from business owners and sales people: We have a CRM, but no...
Peanut butter and jelly. Cheese and crackers. Customer Relationship Management and Marketing Automation. What? Okay, maybe it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but, like these favorite combinations, CRM and Marketing Automation are complementary. Playing off each...
One of the keys to success with email marketing is keeping your contact list up to date and segmented. Keeping a clean list will make sure that your are sending relevant messages and will improve your open rates. Having a clean email list is one of those things that...
Landing pages are an important, powerful, and often underutilized component of a small business marketing system. They are so important that, as Oli Gardner of UnBounce says, you should “Never start a marketing campaign without a dedicated landing page”. The term...
Marketing automation tools can be a great way for small business owners to get more done in less time. These tools are not a silver bullet. If you are considering implementing a marketing automation solution, one of the first questions to ask yourself is what will you...
Marketing automation isn’t just for large corporations anymore. Many small businesses and professional service firms are adopting automation tools to help systematize their marketing efforts. In addition to helping marketers do more with less, these tools can also be...
As a small business owner, you realize the importance of marketing but struggle to “get marketing done”. It’s time to get some help, but what should you be looking for when hiring either an employee or a consultant? For many small business owners, the first question...
We are halfway through the year already, so now is a good time to review your marketing plan. Hopefully, you review your plan on a frequent basis. If not, today is a good day to start. Reviewing your marketing metrics is an important part of reviewing and adjusting...
Like building the habit of using a marketing calendar, I believe developing good habits around asking for and following up on referrals is one of the areas where you can quickly see results from your efforts. I’ve written a lot about referral marketing on this blog,...