Business Owners: Make Your Brand More Valuable and Reap the Rewards

Posted by Mary Planding on Thu, Jul 11, 2013

Assuming that you're truly delivering your brand promise and doing so consistently, a more valuable brand can provide these benefits:

Read More

Tags: branding, brand promise, helping businesses grow

Branding for Small Businesses - Why You Should Care

Posted by Mary Planding on Thu, Nov 29, 2012

At the most fundamental level a brand is a promise. 

Read More

Tags: branding, helping businesses grow, small business, entrepreneurs, marketing strategies, strategic planning

How to Choose Marketing Strategies Right for Your Business, Pt. 2

Posted by Mary Planding on Mon, Nov 05, 2012

In my previous blog post: What the America’s Cup and Marketing Strategies Have in Common, we discovered that each time we change our course (tack) to reach the finish line, we lose ground and momentum. That’s because it takes time and energy to: change direction, reset the sails, fill them with wind to overcome the inertia and build up speed over the water.

Read More

Tags: helping businesses grow, small business, eCommerce, entrepreneurs, marketing strategies

What the America's Cup & Marketing Strategies Have in Common: Part 1

Posted by Mary Planding on Mon, Oct 22, 2012

Coming up with marketing strategies is relatively easy. They're a dime a dozen. Just read or watch any marketing book, article, video, etc. They're not hard to find or learn about. What's hard is choosing which marketing strategies will work well for your business.

Read More

Tags: leadership, helping businesses grow, small business, entrepreneurs, marketing strategies, strategic planning

Pete Caputa - Leading the Charge with Inbound Networking

Posted by Mary Planding on Thu, Oct 04, 2012

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Pete Caputa of HubSpot has been leading the charge on his new vision for inbound networking. This new model expands the advantages of inbound marketing to those very small business owners who are resource-strapped.

Read More

Tags: leadership, helping businesses grow, ways to grow business online, inbound networking, small business, business model, inbound marketing

How Can Inbound Marketing Help a Local Small Business Grow?

Posted by Mary Planding on Thu, Aug 30, 2012

Whenever I go to Chamber of Commerce, BNI, LeTip and other business leaders' meetings, the one question I am always asked is "What can inbound marketing do better for me? I'm a local business and all my customers are within 50 miles. I advertise in local publications and on local websites. I run radio ads and mail postcards with specials every month. What can inbound marketing do that these things can't?"

Read More

Tags: Social Media, content marketing, search marketing, helping businesses grow, lead generation, return on marketing investment, marketing funnel

Grow Your Business - Invest in Higher Education

Posted by Mary Planding on Mon, Aug 13, 2012

Did you know that in California, for every $1 the state invests in getting more students in and through college, it receives a net return on investment (ROI) of $4.50 — an ROI of 450%.

Read More

Tags: Social Media, helping businesses grow, higher education

Fostering Innovation In Your Business

Posted by Mary Planding on Mon, Apr 23, 2012

If we're not fostering innovation in our businesses, chances are we won't be in business for the long haul.

Read More

Tags: leadership, helping businesses grow, innovation, creativity

Help My Business Grow - 6 Tips to Effective Marketing Online

Posted by Mary Planding on Thu, Apr 05, 2012

Read More

Tags: analytics, Social Media, Lead conversion, helping businesses grow, ways to grow business online, lead gen, lead nurturing