Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

Today I was interviewed for a local magazine that happened through someone reaching out to me.  I did not pitch this reporter, but rather he found me and thought that I would provide an interesting twist on his topic. He went out on a leap and emailed me.  This got me thinking back to yesterday [...]

It’s been months since you did extensive, search engine optimization (SEO) keyword research and added the appropriate tags to your site. Lately, you’ve been focusing on other things like landing pages, newsletters, case studies, and more.
But as you scan the Web one day, you notice that your site is not showing up in the search [...]

It is common practice to set New Year’s resolutions in our personal lives, but how often do we do it for our business? Here are 28 Small Business Marketing Resolutions for the New Year that will inspire you to write your own.

As always, I never sugar coat my blog posts, so I am not going to start today.  I promised a backstage pass to my adventure, and that is what you get all the time.
Not sure if you remember, but last spring - I unplugged! That is right, I unplugged for a week with my family.  [...]

You have worked months on preparing your new product and are ready to announce it to the press. Your press release is ready to go, complete with search engine optimization (SEO) keywords. That’s fantastic… but don’t expect a lot of publicity just from sending out your release.
Don’t get me wrong. You need to send out [...]

The best way to get 2012 off to a great start is to put some thought into your 2012 marketing plan outlining where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Here are 5 tips for preparing your 2012 marketing plan from small businesses like yours.

Last week, I wrote about Lessening Holiday Stress, so it seems only fitting that this week I discuss the upcoming New Year.
The start of the New Year is always filled with bucket lists and LONG lists of resolutions.  If you think about these two lists, they are essentially polar opposites.  One is a list of [...]

December is here.  Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are all behind us.  My inbox is jammed with sales and specials from Vista Print to Saks Fifth Avenue and everything in between.  The Holidays and the New Year are quickly approaching. Is your blood pressure rising just reading this?
The holiday season together [...]

“Melanie, I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Of course you would.
But who are you?
How many of these invitations do you receive?
Well, LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com, is a great, social-media tool for networking, staying in touch with key contacts and more. But if you just send out random invitations, you are not using [...]

Ugh! I just had a long conversation with another small business owner who was ripped off by several, search engine optimization (SEO) firms.
I hear this all the time, and it breaks my heart. As a fellow entrepreneur, I know how important it is to get value out of all the services you purchase.
How about you? [...]