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I meet lots of people networking. Many of them are small business owners such as:

• Lawyers
  
• Realtors 
  
• Dentists 
• Spa Owners 
• Accountants 
  
• Insurance Agents...

and more, of course. Many times, when I speak to small business owners about "marketing," they have an idea in mind of what "marketing" is...  

They might think social media marketing. Or their go-to idea might be website design. Perhaps they are starting a new business, in this case "marketing" to them means a logo, business cards…

Marketing is full of acronyms. Sometimes they can be helpful. But to a business owner who is focused on running their business, they can be annoying.

Rule number one in public speaking is know your audience. This applies to conversations too. 

And even though I've worked in some form of marketing for 20 years, I still find myself needing to brush up at times. Especially since marketing is a huge topic that involves all different kinds of marketing. Not to mention, sometimes advertising is also…

I hear it all the time, "What will I get if I spend that on marketing?" People who invest money in marketing, want to get a return on their investment and that's understandable. But in order to do that you have to be able to answer certain questions...

One of those is, what’s your CLV or customer lifetime value? Knowing the answer to this question helps you as the business leader make informed decisions about your marketing budgets, customer acquisition strategies and overall business growth.

It’s one thing to gain the customers you want to build your business.

And another thing to know what you need to plan for with churn and customer retention. 

Acquiring new customers is the lifeblood of any business. And the “new” is what most people tend to think of when it comes to marketing. But as I've written about before, marketing is the process that keeps your business going (sustaining it) and expanding (revenue growth). 

That’s why knowing your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is so c…

As the end of the year rolled around, I knew I was headed for a change. And I noticed that the people in my network, didn't quite understand it. 

Even after I told them the news that I now had a full suite of marketing services backing me, they still introduced me as a video creator. My next thought was, why would they know (and remember)? After all, everyone has a lot on their mind about their own business and life.

So, I saw a need for an awareness campaign.

But what could I do, as a small …

In case you didn't know, my family's business has an e-commerce store in conjunction with our physical location in Naples, Florida. It's called Nature's Garden of Naples and we offer holistic products like vitamin supplements, water and air filtration machines and more. 

It's no surprise then, I want to do all I can to make it successful and now that includes learning more about e-commerce! 

So I asked myself recently, what does a comprehensive e-commerce marketing strategy look like for us ne…

Email marketing is more than just sending e-newsletters. It can be the linchpin in your overall marketing strategy. As a marketing tool, email marketing stands out because you have an opportunity to build a personal connection which helps customer retention. And as I've already covered, customer retention is a marketing strategy. Plus, it can be an indispensable tool for all businesses, no matter the size or type of business you have.   

Here are a few reasons why email marketing is so effectiv…

If you're like me, you network a lot. But if you rely on referrals alone to build business, it's risky. That is, unless you implement a system. Because it's one thing to ask for a referral and it's another to systematize the ask! 

To gain from the potential of word-of-mouth, small business owners need to implement a systematic approach to actively cultivate positive customer experiences.

So what are some practical ways to systematize word-of-mouth as a marketing strategy? Here are 8 ideas to …

There's a lot of talk about economic downturn lately. And it's understandable with groceries and gas rising, we know that many people are experiencing tough times. In such an environment, it's common to hear business leaders say, "Hey, we need to tighten budgets and cut expenses." Unfortunately, one area that often faces the chopping block is marketing. But this short-term solution can have some rather big, detrimental consequences for businesses.   

In this article I set out to explain why dis…

Did you know that 68% of business is lost due to apathy after the sale? When I read that I thought - "YES! Finally, vindication that all that customer relationship management (CRM) work is very much worth it." I've always been a big advocate for ongoing customer communication. Maybe it's because that is a role I held in my various marketing roles in the past. 

So much effort (and money) is focused on gaining new customers in marketing. Yet many take for granted this valuable continuing conversa…