Hey. Take five minutes (it took me three), drop by this site and give $10 or so to send 300 autistic kids to summer camp. Think about it. Two lattes worth of cash and you can send 300 kids to summer camp. We’ve raised about 1/3 of the money required in the first 20 minutes. Want to be part of a case study in charitable giving via the social  Read More →

Getting a journalist to write about your business is an excellent way to promote your brand for free. But most small businesses aren’t making it easy for journalists to write about them. View article …  Read More →

Sending press releases via email can save you lots of time and money. With just the click of a mouse, your press release can be on its way to dozens of editors. But before you hit SEND, make sure you aren’t committing one of these press release mistakes, sure to get your release sent straight to the recycle bin. View article …  Read More →

Recently, I discovered a list of secret menu items that two dozen popular chain restaurants serve only to those in the know. No joke–I devoured it! From wet fries at Arby’s (hot fries in cheese sauce) to the Suicide Burger at Burger King (four patties, four cheese slices) to Fatburger’s Hypocrite (a veggie burger topped with bacon), secret menu items make regular customers feel special. (Who knew Chili’s will actually... 

Share Word of Mouth Versus Key Influencers This content from: Duct Tape Marketing This post is a special Make a Referral Week guest post featuring education on the subject of referrals and word of mouth marketing and making 1000 referrals to 1000 small businesses – check it out at Make a Referral Week 2010 This summary of an article from the December issue of the Journal of Advertising Research (good luck finding the issue online because... 

Share The Soft White Underbelly of Referral Marketing This content from: Duct Tape Marketing This post is a special Make a Referral Week guest post featuring education on the subject of referrals and word of mouth marketing and making 1000 referrals to 1000 small businesses – check it out at Make a Referral Week 2010 Not that I want to be a wet blanket during referral week, but sometimes there’s room for reminders when things are not... 

On the web, you have about two seconds to engage any given visitor, so getting right to the point is crucial. One way to accomplish this is to skip the excess footage at the beginning of an embedded YouTube video to start with the most relevant “scene.” Here’s how it’s done: Pull up the video in YouTube and pause it at the point where you want it to begin playing on your site. Below the video, note the minutes and seconds... 

This year, Americans are predicted to spend almost twice as much on food for their pets in 2010 as they do on vet bills! So it’s no wonder that many entrepreneurs are turning their passion for their furry friends into “dog bakery” or “pet bakery” business opportunities. Here are some tips to get you started and navigate the laws that govern the pet food production business …  Read More →

Small business owners must try to strike a balance between taking a macro view of their companies while still minding the small, but not unimportant, details that keep things humming.  Read More →

Are you going to be in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest? So will I. So will Justin Levy and Colin Bower from New Marketing Labs . While we’re there, I’m definitely up for business meetings with people interested in talking about upcoming projects. I don’t like making set time meetings at the event, because things are a whirlwind. That said, when we get it narrowed down to a day, we can usually do okay on getting a meeting... 

Honestly, has there ever been a better time to be an entrepreneur? I can remember when trying to start a business was a costly undertaking. The newfangled laser copier I bought when I started my first business–script-typing–cost $1,200, if you can imagine. Now, they about give them away if you join a bank. This week for Wednesday Web Resources, I’m chockablock with free online tools for getting your business up and rolling.... 

Share Build Your Brand So People Will Refer You This content from: Duct Tape Marketing This post is a special Make a Referral Week guest post featuring education on the subject of referrals and word of mouth marketing and making 1000 referrals to 1000 small businesses – check it out at Make a Referral Week 2010 As part of John Jantsch’s Referral Week, I’d like to focus on personal branding, as a way to become someone that people want... 

Share 5 Ways to Make Your Business Easier to Recommend This content from: Duct Tape Marketing This post is a special Make a Referral Week guest post featuring education on the subject of referrals and word of mouth marketing and making 1000 referrals to 1000 small businesses – check it out at Make a Referral Week 2010 If I were to ask you what the secret was to getting someone to recommend and refer your business, what would you say? Perhaps... 

We are half way through Make A Referral Week , how are you doing so far? Personally, I need to step it up a little. I’ve made a couple of referrals, including connecting two people that I would like to do business with but haven’t yet. Sometimes, our biggest obstacle to getting referrals is getting in the habit of asking for them. I think the same goes for giving them- we have to remember to ask. So here is a quick tip to help you start... 

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