When social marketing was first introduced, we all jumped onboard just because it was thing to do. We were told it would do great things for our businesses – but we didn’t really know. It was giant experiment that brought about one of two results: Some businesses cashed in big time. Some businesses saw no or little return….
Ten years ago, our goal was to have an “Internet presence.” Why? Just because. So we put up our drab-looking, copy-heavy, hard-to-find websites with a goal of being nothing more than “present.” And we were good with that. But today, just being”present” doesn’t cut it. The Internet has evolved and so has what we expect – or should expect…
With the momentum that is starting to build in the marketplace, a number of my clients are putting “upgrade the website” on their 2011 to-do list. It’s understandable; they want to invest in marketing and building their business, and their website is an ideal place to start. But creating a website in 2011 is a…
Growing your business means having to make tough decisions: Do you hire a new salesperson? Give the receptionist a raise? Invest in a new marketing campaign? Donate to the local non-profit that keeps calling you? We are always choosing between a range of “good” options, but we can’t do it all! How do we allocate…
We spent a lot of time crafting the Anchor Advisors, Ltd. marketing message. It’s amazing how long it can take to come up with a few measly words! But they were important words. They communicate what we do at Anchor Advisors and when we were finished with the process, I was happy with the result….
When I go on a trip, I start off with a plan. Where am I going to stay? How am I going to get there? What’s the trip going to cost? I look at the plan each step of the way, maybe making a few modifications as we go along. But for the most part,…
It’s ok. We all did it. When things got tough, our mindset got pretty tactical. We weren’t thinking about taking over the world anymore – we were thinking about making it through to lunchtime. Instead of looking for where we wanted to go, we started looking for how we could survive. Before, we were building…
If your business survived 2009, good job! As business advisors whose mission is to help businesses grow, we never thought there would be a day when we would congratulate business owners for just surviving. But 2009 was tough! We’ll give you that. Some of us had to make radical changes to our businesses in 2009,…
When I talk to business owners, I often ask them how they got into their business. More times than not, they tell me they ended up in their industry almost by accident. It wasn’t because they spent time trying to find their ideal market or they knew there would be great growth opportunity … it…
Sit back and imagine yourself sitting on a beach looking into the vastness of the ocean. It seems as if the earth continues forever while you watch the sun slowly dip into the violet horizon. As you look at the beauty before you, your thoughts become clear and you forget about all of your tedious…