Speaking the Language

If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign land, you know how important it is to “speak the language”.  When I was in college, I spent a winter term in Japan where I not only didn’t speak the language – but I couldn’t even attempt to read the signs that surrounded me.  Fortunately or maybe foolishly, […]

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Build a brand like a pro

Unique Branding

“What”s a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect.” – Al Ries Branding is perhaps one of the most overused and misunderstood phrases of the last 50 years. At its essence – branding is the term we use to encapsulate how your business is perceived in the marketplace. Every […]

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Is it a hobby or a business?

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.  A few months ago I obviously had some kind of break with reality because I decided that I wanted to grow my own tomatoes.  This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to grow vegetables – and it won’t be my […]

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Branding in less than 3 minutes a day

Everywhere you turn, you’ll get advice on using social media to “brand” your business.  The gurus and experts talk about branding like it’s something you can “do” to your business – like slapping a fresh coat of paint on a wall.  If only branding were that simple. Branding is what consumers DO to your business […]

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How the social media explosion is like the Zombie Apocalypse

AMC’s The Walking Dead is a television show which follows County Sheriff Rick Grimes who was shot on duty, went into a coma and woke up weeks later in an empty hospital. He discovers that the world he once knew is gone, ravaged by a virus which causes the dead to walk – and attempt […]

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Social Media and Quantum Mechanics

Social media marketing has more in common with quantum mechanics than with more “traditional” methods of marketing which poses a significant problem for both CMO’s and business owners who desperately want social media marketing to be all about lead generation and sales. Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of the behavior and interactions […]

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Faking it doesn’t mean you’ll make it

If you’re a small business owner – this post is for you.  In classic catch 22 fashion though –  if you’re a small business owner – chances are you’re not reading this blog even though it is written especially for you.  Instead – you’re busy running your business – oblivious to what’s happening online. You […]

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Your Brand – Your Business – in the Face of Disaster

Yesterday- a disaster decimated this and many other websites across the web.  Websites whose sites were hosted on servers at the Colo4.com data center found themselves without a web presence for about 8 hours yesterday – from about noon – 8 ET in the US. When a data center experiences an epic fail moment like […]

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2 Simple Steps to a Solid Social Media Strategy

Facebook vs G+

The landscape of social media is shifting quickly – but it’s the touted “tools” we’re using to share which are changing – not our need to learn and share what we’ve learned. No matter who the current “social media mega star” is of the moment – all social media products tend to follow a predictable […]

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Why use Groupon when you can blog for your small business?

If you’ve considered using a Daily Deals site to promote your small business – read on and see why blogging might be a more sustainable – and more affordable alternative to growing your customer base. As a”recovering” advertising account executive – I see Groupon and other daily deal sites differently than most people do.  In […]

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