Discussions

Join the #BBSMBchat About #SMBInfluencer Awards

by Ivana Taylor July 22, 2011
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On Monday July 25, 2011 between 7:00pm and 8:00pm ET there’s going to be a Tweet Chat about the SMBInfluencer Awards. What are the SMBInlfuencer Awards? The small business space has become increasingly crowded and overwhelming.  Even if you troll around the small business internet space, it’s unbelievably easy to be confused about who is [...]

An Easy Way to Connect Personally With Customers

by Ivana Taylor September 3, 2010
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One of my DIYMarketer tips is to send a handwritten note.  That’s a great idea, but it can get overwhelming if you want to be consistent and treat every customer as if they were the only one you have — pretty special. In response to that tip, I got a wonderful story from Melanie Ellsworth. [...]

Find Your Competitive Advantage #1 – The Introduction

by Ivana Taylor August 30, 2009

This week’s book review on Small Business Trends is on “Creating Competitive Advantage” by Jaynie L. Smith.   You can see a summary of the book review as a feature video as well.  It’s one thing to read the book, get the principles and think that it’s a great idea, it’s quite another to sit [...]

Mid-Year Marketing and Social Media Trends

by Ivana Taylor August 3, 2009

Why do we only talk about trends at the end of one year and the beginning of the next?  At the rate of market and technology changes we’re living through, we should at least reflect on what’s trending somewhere in the middle of the year – when we can actually make some judgements on what [...]

Word of Mouth Marketing Made Easy

by Ivana Taylor July 27, 2009

In today’s tweet chat we’re talking about word-of-mouth marketing.  It’s fantastic when the stars align and word-of-mouth comes naturally, but you don’t have to wait for that magical chemistry to get word of mouth to work for you.

Tweet Chat: Referrals, Networking and New Business

by Ivana Taylor July 20, 2009

I’ve been having so many “social media” conversations over the last year.  It seems that a lot of small business owners are looking for ways to make this a part of their strategy, but they’re just not sure how. In this particular conversation, we were talking about working a structured referral strategy.  What I mean [...]

Tweet Chat: How Can You Use Promotional Items Build Your Brand and Your Business

by Ivana Taylor July 13, 2009

I’ve been working with some clients recently on trade show and event marketing strategies.  I have to admit that it’s been a while since I’ve ordered pens and mouse-pads for shows – but I have to think that there HAS to be something better out there than the traditional pens and sticky notes!  Don’t YOU? [...]

How Are You Managing Projects and Relationships Online?

by Ivana Taylor July 6, 2009

About fifteen years ago Meg Wheatley came out with a book called “Leadership and the New Science.” In it, she likened the upcoming trend in organizational structure to the shapes studied in quantum physics.  When you looked at them up close, they looked chaotic and without structure.  But when computer models worked out the algorithms [...]

Tweet Chat: Mobile Marketing for Small Business

by Ivana Taylor June 18, 2009

Online Event Registration – Powered by www.eventbrite.com Do you have customers that are virtually impossible to reach?  CEOs, doctors, lawyers — anyone who hides behind a virtual steel curtain of gatekeepers? Well – have I got a marketing tool for YOU — MOBILE MARKETING!  Mobile — as in cell phones, PDA’s, iPhones, Blackberry’s — yeah [...]

Tweet Chat: What’s the Relationship Between Social Media and PR?

by Ivana Taylor June 8, 2009

I’ve had this question in my mind for quite a while; What is the relationship between social media and PR?  I’ve always felt unskilled at PR, yet social media excites me.  And as I looked at which kinds of people were picking up on social media and how firms were using it – I noticed [...]