Does your company have a flexible, scalable, groundbreaking, industry standard, or cutting edge product coming out? Well, while that's great and all, every other company has that exact same kind of product description for their new products. 

Let me ask you something. If you go to a bar, and decide you are in the mood for a nice, quality vodka, which would you choose? Grey Goose or Ketel One?

In the world of business and economics, there is the Pareto Principle – it describes that 20% of our actions contributes to 80% of our results. Generally speaking, this applies in the marketing industry too! Small marketing tasks and fixes can definitely make a big difference or build up to create a greater impact.

When I meet with prospects and discuss the need for a content strategy, they either...

·         Admit they don't know what I'm talking about 

·         Glaze over, nod and agree (though I know we are not on the same page)

·         Or say they've tried content marketing, but in reality they have not or have not done it well, to say the least

While the marketing world is all abuzz about content marketing, it is very difficult to put together a well thought-out, custom designed, highly effective strategy.  Before I jump into how to create an effective content marketing strategy, let's first start with the definition.

If you thought email marketing was dead, think again. To show the modern value of email marketing ,Adestra completed a study measuring consumer opinions and behavior when it comes to email. The researchers surveyed more than 1,200 respondents, from teenagers to Baby Boomers and asked how they interacted with, and think about, the email messages they receive.

Here are just a few important facts taken from this study:

• 43% of consumers give a real email address when they come to a website that asks for an email before continuing
• 80% of consumers (across all demos) actually unsubscribe from emails they no longer wish to receive
• 59% of consumers leave an email unread if they plan to read it later, 33% flag it

It goes without saying that spammy emails are not going to get read, they will be blocked and you will not have a successful campaign.

Buying lists are unreliable and legally you can't email people who have not willingly given you their email address.  

Here is what your need to do to ensure a successful email marketing campaign.

Landing pages are one of the most important elements of a lead generation campaign. In fact, according to MarketingSherpa’s research, landing pages are effective for 94% of B2B and B2C companies. So why are so few companies using them?

A landing Page is a single page within your website where you can direct visitors to one particular offer without the distractions of everything else on your website. Visitors are on a landing page for one and only purpose: to complete the lead capture form.

How do you respond to a week that goes completely opposite as planned?  In business we know that having processes in place is what makes for efficient operations, but what about when those operations don't work?

My week has been anything but normal and this disruption may be just what my businesses needed.  When you hear the term disruption, do you think of a disturbance that interrupts an event, activity, or process?  Or do you think of it as Clayton Christensen has defined: a disruption that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market, displacing the established?

What I have found is that these can be two-sides of the same coin.  I realize that saying both definitions of 'disruption' work together is a bit like saying we should make lemonade out of the lemons we've been dealt.

Here's how I made something positive out of a week that went off the typical process.

We all know that having a website is vital to any business.  It is your digital storefront, greeter and initial explanation of your businesses products or services.

While websites can be optimized for better lead generation, what do you do for customers who are not coming directly to your website?  Here are three marketing tools that will help you gain more leads.

Google Analytics can be a very effective tool for entrepreneurs if you know how to use it correctly. Not only does it inform you of your sites digital traffic flow and about new incoming traffic; it also helps raise revenue for your apps or online business sites.  Amazing right?