Category: Content Marketing

How to Perk Up Your Social Media Efforts

10/14/2018

Are you posting more but getting less from your efforts? As a small business marketer or owner, you only have so much time and resources. Explore the eight questions below to see how you can increase your social media impact.

Eight Questions you should ask

1) What is your goal for your Social Media efforts?
Take a step back (or grab a cup of coffee) and remember why you started doing social media in the first place.
What did you want to accomplish? For example, a new healthcare practice might be trying to grow awareness and interest. An established service business may be more interested in engaging existing customers for referrals and repeat business.
Your goals could include:

Building awareness
Generating Leads
Converting more leads to sales
Quickly responding to customer questions
Engaging existing customers
Creating upsell opportunities

Tip: It is better to focus on one or two goals and do them very well than to dilute your efforts by trying to do too much.

2) Do you know how well you are doing?
If you already have metrics in place, review how well you’ve done so far and make the needed adjustments. If not, here are a few example measures that might be helpful:

3) Are you reaching the right people?
The businesses that experience the most success with social media have a clearly defined target market. Think about who your ideal customers are and what would interest them. For example, a gift shop surveyed their customers and found that they were interested in the locations where the products are made. The shop began posting fun facts, short videos of landmarks, interesting places and the people they met on their buying trips. The result - likes and sharing increased.

The key is to build followers that are truly interested in your product or brand. It helps to have someone in mind and feel like you are talking to them when creating posts.

4) Do you have a content plan?
Don’t have a content strategy or plan? Planning your themes, channels and posts for the next six months is well worth the time.
Planning and gathering ideas and images in one place will save time when creating posts. In addition, checking the month to month calendar will make sure you don’t miss important seasonal or holiday activities. There are many fun but little known holidays and it’s hard to keep track of them unless you have it on your plan.
In addition to regular holidays, there are lesser known, specialized, and sometimes even wacky days. For example, the fourth Saturday in October is Make a Difference Day. Seems like a great day to celebrate if your organization does good work for the community.

If your plan feels overwhelming, check to see how your channels are working for you.
Which channels are the best fit for both your ideal customer and your business?
Maybe you need to try a new channel to better connect -- and delete those that aren't working. If you haven’t posted on Instagram or Twitter in three months, think about why and determine whether you should continue.

You do not have to be everywhere. Formulate a plan and use what works best for you and your business.

5) Have you offered to guest post?
This is a way to get your name/brand out and extend your reach to people beyond your normal circle. It is also a way to set up "backlinks" that help with search engine optimization.
It's a popular tactic, but it takes work. Before you ask for the opportunity to post on someone’s blog, do your research to make your addition relevant, advantageous and complementary to the blog host's businesses. And be prepared to follow through on the opportunity if they agree.

6)Are you engaging?
Are you asking questions? See what types of questions your target market responds to. Facebook has made it harder for business pages, but engagement still is key to extending your reach and having more people see your posts.
Listen -- if you get comments, reward them with a reply!
Keep experimenting to see what works best. Monitor which posts and topics get the most shares and likes and use them as a model to create more like them.

7) Can you create “Evergreen” content?
Evergreen content is not tied to trends and can be reused or repurposed on multiple channels.
Examples of evergreen content include:

Answers to frequently asked questions from your customers or followers
Industry tips, "how to" explanations or advice (like back to school tips or how to change a tire)
Explanations of common industry concepts that may be confusing for readers (customer success vs customer service)
Here is an example from our blog

8) Can you add a fun factor?
Show that your company or brand is made of real people. Tell stories, show what’s behind the scenes and seek to connect on an emotional level. One way to do this is by describing any unusual traditions, people or company celebrations.

Does your company participate or have events that benefit the community? Show how you and/or your employees help make a difference. (Then you can celebrate Make a Difference Day!)
Do you have a fun side? It’s okay to show the lighter aspects of your brand. The days of perfect video are over – you can show outtakes, improvisations and mistakes as well as achievements.

In conclusion, building a social media presence or brand takes time and effort. Through a focused, consistent and discipline approach, social media can be a valuable tool in your marketing toolbox that drives your business towards success. If after giving social media a good try you find that it's not paying dividends, your business might be better served by focusing your marketing resources on more effective tactics. Don't feel bad -- there are many ways to market your business and you can still use social media in support of your other efforts.

If you need help determining which marketing tactics work best for your business, please contact us for a consultation to see how we can assist you.

Thanks for reading!

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How to Generate Ideas

3/6/2018

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Need more ideas for your business? Try these tips.

Change is rapid, constant and challenging to keep ahead of – products and marketing strategies that worked last year may not be as effective this year.

Implementing the same strategies as in the past may keep your business treading water, but new ideas are needed now more then ever for you to compete and engage with your preferred customers.

The need for creative ideas can span a wide range of possibilities and topics. Depending on your business type, market dynamics, target customers or stage in the product life cycle, your challenges may include ideas for new names, taglines, products, services, promotions, content or social media posts.

Whatever your objective, following the tips outlined below can help you generate that golden nugget you are looking for!

1) Clearly define the problem, challenge or objective – write a single sentence which states what it is you are trying to get ideas around. This may sound basic, but getting clarity can help spark ideas.

For example, if you were looking for new products you might start with why. Has your current product line stopped growing due to a gap in the offering or a feature it is lacking? Maybe you have received feedback indicating a characteristic of your offering is either unattractive or even annoys your customers? This allows you to focus on how you can address these known challenges.

“Simple can be harder than complex:
You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.
But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
– Steve Jobs

2) Set a timer – generate as many ideas as you can in short bursts of time. We’re talking 10 – 15 minutes here.
If you’ve eve been in one of those meetings that go on and on, did you notice as time goes on creative productivity decreases? The timer also gives you a constraint, which research has shown helps with creativity.

Try to do a couple of these sessions without evaluating or reiterating things from previous sessions.
You can do this on a screen, paper, on a white board or a flip chart, whichever makes you feel most creative.

Here is how it may play out - if you are trying to generate a new name for your business, start with a clear idea of what you want the business to be.
Then, on a flip chart, write down all the words you can think of that describe or relate to this concept. Once you have your initial list, search to see if there are additional words or ideas from brands you admire even if they are unrelated.
Then have fun making combinations of the words on your list and see how they sound.
For example, let’s say you’re designing a logo and branding for a holistic medical practice. You think of successful companies that have branding that emulates some of your practice's characteristics. Apple’s success in branding pops into your mind. That gives you the idea of fruit -- and maybe an unique image of a person combined with a super fruit like apricot or pineapple . . . remember at this point, there are no bad ideas, record them all without judging.

“Ideas come from everything”
- Alfred Hitchcock

3) Be patient -- If ideas don’t flow, walk away. Work on something else, get a cup of coffee, or go for a walk outside. Getting away can help relax and free your mind, letting your subconscious mind have a turn to work on the challenge.

"The air is full of ideas. They are knocking you in the head all the time. You only have to know what you want, then forget it, and go about your business. Suddenly, the idea will come through. It was there all the time." - Henry Ford

4) Observe and Gather -- You have heard of hunter-gatherer. The creative you is now an Observer-Gatherer!
Keep your eyes open and notice things around you. Whenever a lightning bolt idea hits you – no matter what the topic – gather it up and save it. Useful techniques for this are to use Evernote, One Note, send yourself an email, or go retro and carry a little notebook. Do whatever works best for you - but do it – after just one month you will be surprised at the number of really cool ideas and original thoughts you will have collected!

Great ideas can be like shooting stars –
capture them when you get them – jot them down –
and review them at a later date.

5) Bring others into the mix -- if you work with the team or have trusted friends, colleagues or advisers, share your ideas with them and get their reactions. Often, people that aren’t directly involved with the challenge can raise good questions and contribute novel ideas.

Tip: Create an evaluation free zone (or times) to share and discuss ideas. When you are trying to get good ideas, there are no bad ideas. An outlandish or crazy thought might not be so crazy with a few tweaks.

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
- John Steinbeck

6) Finally, if you work with a team, conduct a structured brainstorming session. This can be a very effective process in generating creative solutions. There are process parameters and session ground rules that should be followed – if done correctly it is amazing what your team will come up with! Here are a few guidelines to get you started:

Invite open-minded, energetic positive people.
Don't allow criticism or editing of ideas; encourage participants to:

Build on each other’s ideas
Combine elements in novel ways
Bring in ideas from other situations or industries that are totally unrelated
Stand the idea on its head –try reversing or turning the idea upside down
Add humor – it stimulates creativity!

“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”
- David Ogilvy

Author’s note: I love brainstorming and idea generation. As a marketing professional with a background in team dynamics, I’ve lead many brainstorming sessions to generate new product concepts and solve persistent or sticky problems. It works, it’s fun and truly more minds are better than one when it comes to creative problem solving.
I hope these tips will be helpful for you.
Please comment or send me additional thoughts or experiences -- and thanks for reading!
Nancy

Great idea generation usually results in more ideas than can be used. The next step is prioritizing and selecting ideas. If you need help with that, read our next blog or contact us to see how we can help your business grow.

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When You Need More Leads

10/6/2017

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Need more leads?
If the answer is yes, you are in good company. According to a recent report 63% of business leaders named generating traffic and leads as one of their top challenges.

So how do you generate more leads?
Successful companies use a combination of tactics that best fit their market and objectives ( see the list below).
Since prospective customers might not be ready to buy immediately, they also design a follow up system to nurture the leads. There are many tactics to choose from including advertising, mailings, social media and events.

Which tactics will work best for you?

Puppies are great (I love puppies) !

But even with these cuties on your side, you will get the best results when you start your lead generation efforts with a solid process like the one outlined below:

For example, Sally Forth Products is new retail business that creates high-end, customized products for individuals. They’ve gotten great feedback from current customers, but this type product is only reordered once a year. Looking at their overhead and other costs, they realize that need to double their customer base by 50% by the end of the year to break-even.

Sally Forth's current customers are in a high-income demographic and women drive the majority of purchase decisions. They have found that customers can be segmented by the way they approach the purchase decision.
1) Nina Needitnow -- has an immediate need for the product, knows the style she wants and the sales cycle is short. This type of customer needs a minimum of nurturing but needs polite, personal, responsive service.
2) Greta Gather -- is thinking and planning. She may love the concept, but may consider it for over a year before deciding.

The team at Sally Forth Products decide they to promote awareness and attract more "Ninas". Both target customer types tend to to to the same sources for information, so they chose tactics to suit each buying cycle.

Sally Forth Products is currently running traditional and search engine advertising, experiencing varying levels of success. To address the immediate needs of "Ninas" they added the phone number in their search engine ads, then streamlined the contact process and trained the team to answer the phone in a friendly, professional manner by the first or second ring.
They've also decided to compliment the ads they are running with a digital campaign to nurture "Gretas". They're developing two downloadable pieces of content to gather the emails of interested individuals and a series of emails to follow up the download. To deliver this content, they are beefing up their social media presence and plan to promote posts to their targeted audience.

Sally Forth Products put their plan into action; they logged the source of all new customer calls and are eliminating ads that did not generate customer interest. Their email list has tripled with some of the "Gretas" converting earlier than expected in the cycle.

Lead generation is important to building your business and following these steps will help you get better results.

If we can help you determine the tactics that will fit your business situation, please contact us.

Thanks for reading !

Nancy

Need ideas? Get the 14 Tips to Build and Grow Your List today!

14 Tips to Build Your Email List

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Do you Really need a New Website?

4/17/2017

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Once again someone has asked when you are going to get a new website. You're definitely not excited about spending the time and resources it would take to get it done.

Do you really need to do it? It's an important decision – in this digital age, your website is a critical part of your business’s success. It’s often the first—and in some cases the only—interaction customers have with your business.

Answering these questions might make your decision easier ...

Is your site:

A great representative of your brand?
Fast loading and easy to navigate?
Mobile friendly?
Attracting needed traffic?

Why are these important?

1) A great representative of your brand? Because first impressions are important -- you should evaluate if the site makes the impression you'd like. Has your target market changed since you launched your site? If you’re not sure, try asking recent customers or prospects what they think of your site.

2) Fast loading and easy to navigate? As companies grow, they often add pages to their websites. Adding pages that way can create a site that is difficult to navigate. Customers may become frustrated if loading is too slow or it takes too many clicks to get to their information. You can check if this is a problem with Google's free analysis.

3) Mobile friendly – Mobile is becoming increasingly important. Over half of internet traffic now comes from a mobile device. If you love your site, it may be possible to transfer the content to a template that looks good on both a PC and mobile phone (responsive design) at a lower cost and effort than building a new site.

4) Attracting needed traffic? Your website might be fine, but you can generate a higher ROI by enhancing the digital strategy that drives traffic to the site. A digital strategy can include complementary components, like SEO organic traffic, Adwords and / or Bing Ads for paid traffic, content marketing and social media.

Thanks for reading!

Broad Reach Marketing provides practical, effective solutions to connect with your customers.
If you’d like to discuss any of these points or find out more, contact us !

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Seven Steps to Get More from Your Social Media Efforts

2/28/2017

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Social Media - it's everywhere!

Both large and small organizations use social media. Large companies are most visible and usually use multiple channels, but small businesses are active as well – in fact, over 41% of small businesses use Facebook to support their marketing efforts.

And no wonder -- social media can be used for both outgoing and inbound communications. Organizations can listen and monitor for customer service and public relations feedback as well as communicate and engage their target market.

But you may have noticed that some organizations get more out of their efforts than others. Their audience likes, shares and comments more often, resulting in greater awareness and better connections.

What are the keys to these successful social media programs?

1) Specific Goals
First, these organizations are not just "doing" social media. They start with objectives that are aligned with organizational goals and values. Social media is often used to support specific objectives, like growing awareness for a new offering, communicating brand and organizational values, or supporting recruitment.

2) Audience Knowledge
The program is built on knowledge of the target customer and what interests them.

Who they are – demographics, interests
Where they gather information
Who influences them

Using this knowledge assists your social media program in creating content that offers your audience value, which leads us to #3.

3) Offers Value
Social media should include information and topics of interest to engage. Posting information that is entertaining, or that customers might not find elsewhere (like exclusive notices of sales or coupons), and encouraging interaction is key. These organizations think of social media as a conversation with their followers rather than a sales announcement tool. With social media, you have to earn your following, so any sales messages have to be subtle and sprinkled through the other messages – less than 20% of the content.

4) Prioritized Tactics
Successful social media programs take time and consistent effort to build a following. To maximize resources, efforts are focused on channels that appeal most to the target market and fit the organization’s content. They try to be where the potential market is, but don’t try to be everywhere! Better to excel at two channels than have a scattered presence on five.

For example, a business that generates visual content and markets to primarily female consumers (like a florist or wedding venue) might focus on Pinterest and Instagram as primary channels. They might also post their pictures on Facebook, as it is still a great way to communicate with consumers, but due to changes in the algorithms, it's challenging to grow a Facebook page without a budget for ads.

5) Team Effort and Coordination
Coordination helps get the best out of social media. For small business as well as larger ones, a designated team and coordinated calendar are essential. Planning consistent messaging across platforms, knowing in advance of events and other initiatives, leveraging the following on one channel to point to content on another, and having a reliable source of fresh content are benefits of a well-coordinated team.

6) Clear Guidelines
Many industries have regulations and restrictions on what can be made public. In addition, it is a good idea to have ground rules that employees may refer to when posting or re-posting/retweeting information about the organization.

7) Measurements, Analysis and Adjustments
Success social media efforts are tracked and measured so they can be continually improved. Simple measures like shares, likes, retweets and comments can indicate engagement. A growing number of followers can indicate awareness. Depending on the goals, there are other measures as well:

If you’re tweeting a link to a white paper or ebook, you can measure how many views to the landing page as in addition to the number of downloads.
If your organization is sponsoring an event and offers discount tickets or a special code on social media, a goal can be set for a number of link clicks and redemptions.

Great social media programs have their finger on the pulse of the audience and stakeholders. Feedback collected from customers and employees is used to refine the content and can be valuable to marketing and business growth decisions.

Thanks for reading! How does your organization run their social media programs? What have you found that works best?

If you have questions or would like to explore team-based social media marketing, please contact us.

Image credit: John Atkinson's Cartoons

Broad Reach Marketing helps professional practices and local businesses engage and retain customers with practical, effective branding, strategy and promotions.
We love to help good ideas and organizations grow!

Other articles you may find interesting:

How to Make it Easier for Patients to Find Your Practice

4 Tips for Protecting your Online Reputation

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Have you heard about ...?

9/1/2016

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Would you like your business to be the subject of positive conversation?

Many Business success stories start just that way -- by word of mouth – or as it is referred to now -- WOMM (word of mouth marketing).

Today, along with traditional verbal interchange, social media is also a prevalent means for communication. So when discussing WOMM from a marketing perspective – lets look at what we are trying to achieve:

The objective of word of mouth marketing is to motivate people to communicate about your business in a positive manner to others.

But what actually is considered word-of-mouth marketing? Traditionally, it was a verbal exchange of positive information about your business between people on the phone, face to face, or maybe in a letter. Now with the rise of social media, word of mouth marketing has more tools to amplify it. But the principles stay the same:

Someone is motivated to say something nice about a product, brand or business.

Statistics show that person-to-person WOMM is by far the most effective form of marketing you can create:

92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than any other form of advertising.
70% of consumers read online customer reviews when considering a brand.
Depending on the product, 20% to 50% of purchases are the result of a word-of-mouth recommendation.

So can everyone use WOMM ? What are the keys?

Have a WOW factor
The best WOMM features a “WOW” factor -- something that provides customers with such an wonderful story, product or service that they can’t help but share their experience with friends, family, co-workers (and maybe even the person behind them in the check out line).

Keys to the WOW factor:
Be Relevant and Authentic
Coconut Bliss This little company seized on a need that was not being filled for a distinct consumer segment – an organic dairy-free alternative dessert. They developed this unique product and started by encouraging WOM - they held tasting parties and demonstrations to generate awareness and interest, and encouraged their fans to petition stores to carry their products.

Do something exceptionally well
A prime example of this is a focus on delighting customers. When consumers have an exceptional experience with an organization, they tend to talk about it – just like they like to complain when they’ve been frustrated. Companies like Zappos, Amazon and others have grown successfully through making customer satisfaction a priority ingrained in their culture.
Alternatively, offer an unexpected extra gift with an order, or are willing to go the extra mile .

Have a mission beyond profit:
The first thing I heard about Tom’s shoes or Warby Parker was about the non-profit work they support – not comfort, fit or product performance! These, and other B corporations have stories people feel good about sharing.

Make it easy and rewarding for your customers to talk about you:
Even where there’s a great story for word of mouth sharing, people are busy, so make it easy to refer or share. The rewards don’t have to be large, but should be relevant to your target market.

Thanks for reading,
Nancy

For help in leveraging word of mouth marketing, give us a call.
If you’re not sure if you have a WOW factor, you may be interested in next week's post.

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Are You Leveraging The “Super Six” Tools to Create Engaging Social Media Posts?

7/11/2016

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Are you getting frustrated with your organization’s social media efforts? …. Perhaps you’re just not getting the followers or engagement you expected ?

Try these super six tips:

1. First of all, insert questions and quizzes where you can. There is definitely something intriguing about taking a quiz or voicing an opinion. Make it short and to the point. Incorporating an instant feedback mechanism for the participants will also engage readers.

A great way to generate questions is to take a few minutes and think about:

What comments or feedback have customers have mentioned recently
Customer perceptions you are curious about
What customers may value most
Big news items related to your business
Or something that’s just amusing related to the services or products you offer

Examples:

"Do you have any problems scheduling appointments?” and follow up with something like: “Which would make it more convenient for you to visit us?

A) Expanding our hours to late once or twice a week
B) Remaining open between noon and one
C) Offering hours on the weekends

“What would you most likely use a personal drone for?”

A) Spying on your neighbor
B) Chasing squirrels out of your yard
C) Checking out the drive thru line at your favorite fast food joint
D) Monitoring your son / daughter when they are sitting outside on the drive after a date

2. Post FAQs, facts and educational tips. Leverage any frequently asked questions, tips or facts about your products or services by sharing them in short, ‘snackable’ posts.
To make this easier, keep a running list of facts or questions as they come up so you can reference them easily. Educational tips are engaging to current and potential customers and can show your expertise or concern for the customer. Offer informational insights specific to your industry, business products or services with links to more detailed information.

Examples:

Educational Tip - “This new toothbrush will help your kids brush the right way from the start.” Check out our weekly newsletter for more tips on getting your kids to brush. (You can link this to your newsletter sign up)
Health Fact – In hot hot weather, your body needs more water. Be sure to drink plenty of water during the day, especially if you are outdoors.

3. Just like in the theaters, people enjoy behind the scenes glimpses, vignettes and outtakes.
It feels like your getting a sneak peak at privileged information while also learning a little about how things are done. This is a great opportunity to use live video -- add a little humor and you can’t miss!

Example:
Do you have a big event coming up? Either trade show, company picnic or public service project - share behind the scenes pictures / videos that tell the story about your preparations while creating interest in the event. (Remember to link to the event landing page, hashtag and/or website description for more information.)

4. Quotes, GIFs and Memes can be fun and are likely to be shared over and over. GIFs are bits of visual content that can add humor or help convey thoughts and feelings. (I couldn't resist this one with both puppies and babies!)

If you're technically oriented, you can make your own GIF, but you can also find ones you can download on the web. This HubSpot blog has a great list of sites where you can find GIFs to use.
Memes are a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. The majority of modern memes are captioned photos that are intended to be funny. The world of memes (which rhymes with 'teams') is noteworthy for two reasons: it is a worldwide social phenomenon, and memes behave like an infectious cold virus, traveling from person to person quickly through social media. Often, they are parodies of popular sayings or ads. If you want to create one yourself, start with a photo and use the Google+ image edit feature or a photo-editing app like Canva.

Since memes can be copied and shared without their original content, you can get additional visibility by including your website in one of the lower corners.

5. Fan or Customer shout-outs and recognition! Recognize and reward loyal customers and fans who are active on your social media pages. Brief shout-outs of thanks, appreciation or recognition every now and then can increase customer and fan involvement - it shows your appreciation.
Use this technique with care -- if you are not sure if your customer would like to be identified, ask first.

Examples:

Thanks to Tim for posting pics from his cookout this weekend where he had us cater our specialty bar-be-que!
Special Thanks to Reta and Bob – our new customers that we worked with on their home painting project!
Special Thanks to Georgette for her referrals – stop by and get your thank-you gift, Georgette!!

6. Host or share a holiday! Are there holidays that relate to your business? Search holiday listings (example – www. holidayinsights.com) and then figure out a creative angle to tie it in to your business. Create your own custom holiday twelve month listing and then include it on your content calendar to share with your community.

Examples:
It's National Classic Rock Week! What are you doing to celebrate? Have a beer with us!
March is National Crafts month - check out this bluebird house you can make in two hours.
How sweet it is -- June is National Candy month, stop in for a treat.
Other months of note: November is National Novel Writing and Aviation History month.

For the best results, start by defining your marketing objectives before developing your social media content strategy. Outline the social media channels and general topics which best fit your target market -- then build your content plan. Doing this up-front work will help you efficiently push out your messaging in a timely, consistent and effective manner.

Leverage the “Super Six” and have fun with it! If you enjoy developing your messaging then there is a better chance at catching your customers, potential customers, and fans interest to build an engaged community!!

For help with social media strategy, please contact us.

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Marketing Tips for growing businesses

How to Perk Up Your Social Media Efforts

Eight Questions you should ask

How to Generate Ideas

When You Need More Leads

Do you Really need a New Website?

Seven Steps to Get More from Your Social Media Efforts

Have you heard about ...?

Are You Leveraging The “Super Six” Tools to Create Engaging Social Media Posts?

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​Eight Questions you should ask

About our Blog:

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Eight Questions you should ask