We are all guilty of writing cliche instagram captions. I do it all the time. It’s hard when you’re trying to think of something visually creative to post, you often have no energy left over for the caption so you result to writing something like “mood” or “Last night’s sunset was 🔥”.  Don’t do that.

I often forget that the average small business owner doesn’t live and breathe or even care remotely about marketing as much as I do. So I put together a basic list broken down by category with some general marketing terms you’ll hear myself and most other marketers reference at some point or another.

When it comes to how to manage Yelp reviews, you have two choices. You can leverage Yelp to improve your business, or you can let “outspoken” customers get the best of you. Learn how to best manage your Yelp presence in this post.

We all go to our doctor to get regular check-ups (well, most of us do), but how often do we worry about the health of our business websites? A “healthy” website means it is working in the best way possible for you and your brand. At the same time, it’s vital your site is well received. Performing a simple website audit keeps your site current and user-friendly. It also allows for a clear, actionable list to improve SEO and super-charge your digital marketing.

If you haven’t though about your marketing plan for next year, now is as good a time as ever to start! Start with the basics outlined in this blog post.

(And don’t forget to join my webinar Dec. 13th when I walk you through all of the steps outlined in this post.)

What did the locksmith think marketing objectives and SEO have in common?

Keywords!

OK, I know what you’re thinking.

But, all jokes aside. I’m tired of seeing so many small business owners break their leg falling off the bandwagon when trying to boost sales online without clearly established marketing objectives.

Are you making emails that make money? You can be! Email marketing is a very low-hanging-fruit marketing tactic for increasing your bottom line. When done right, it can be the biggest driver in sales for your business or service at the lowest coast. In fact, “For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI.”

Most of us are beyond the days of trying to determine whether we need social media and are instead working on how to best implement a social media strategy that's effective in time that we don't have. We all know we need it, we know we can't just "wing it," but we all still struggle with finding the time to do it.

When it comes to marketing, there are typically two places I suggest people start. Before you implement ANY marketing tactics, you should first review these brand guideline questions to ask yourself and second, create buyer personas.

When we're talking about inbound marketing, customer delight may be one of the most important pillars if not the most important. If many of you are asking yourselves, 'What is customer delight? You're not alone.