http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com Often times small business owners think they know their customers want, but assumption is primary tool of choice drawing these conclusions. The best way to really know what a market thinks about something is to ask. Run the idea up the old flagpole and... http://www.articlealley.com/article_530514_15.html 07th May 2008 The title of today's article captures the single greatest small business marketing mistake I encounter - and I encounter it every single day. Small business owners often fall prey to the marketing whim of the week, chasing every new way to do direct ma... http://www.articlealley.com/article_194717_15.html 31st July 2007 One of the primary tools still used by PR professionals to garner media coverage is the press release. Now, understand the purpose of a press release is to grab the attention of an editor, not to offer a word for word story to a publication. Most professi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_177645_15.html 26th June 2007 PR is such a powerful marketing tool that I simply can't say enough about it. And yet, most small business owners don't spend the time and energy they should developing positive press about their firm. Let's look at several ideas you can begin implementin... http://www.articlealley.com/article_176814_15.html 21st June 2007 It's absolutely essential that you find a way to differentiate your business in a meaningful way. I know I talk about this all the time, but it's that important. What if you interviewed a handful of clients and asked them this question: "What's the ONE... http://www.articlealley.com/article_166018_15.html 30th May 2007 By now you've heard of the whole RSS thing and maybe you've even started using it in various ways to subscribe to blogs or offer your blog's content to others. Today I would like to take you on a little ride to show you how, without really knowing much of... http://www.articlealley.com/article_155003_3.html 03rd May 2007 Forgive what may seem like a bit of a theoretical argument today. Sometimes you have to step back and get a sense of the biggest picture in order to understand how all the simple, practical parts relate. Small business is often held together with sweat... http://www.articlealley.com/article_149419_15.html 19th April 2007 Joining referral networks or local chamber groups can be a great way to help you network and generate referrals. The most powerful way to use this strategy, however, is to grow your own. Almost any business can benefit from having a group of trusted pr... http://www.articlealley.com/article_146487_15.html 11th April 2007 Right now, in every community in America, increasing numbers of people of all ages are turning to the world wide web to find products and services right there at home. This trend, known generically as local search, presents a huge opportunity for small... http://www.articlealley.com/article_145953_3.html 09th April 2007 I get these calls from time to time. . ."Can you make me a brochure?" Many business owners have been sold on the notion that they need a tri-fold brochure or they are not in business. Forget it...everybody's got one and no one uses it. Your potential c... http://www.articlealley.com/article_145455_15.html 09th April 2007 One of the few complaints I hear from small business owners when it comes to generating business or leads by way of referral is that too many of the referrals they are offered aren't a fit for the business. The referrals are either unqualified, don't need... http://www.articlealley.com/article_144028_15.html 04th April 2007 Telemarketing has gotten a pretty bad rap and rightly so. The telephone, however, is still a great marketing tool when used to provide educational content in a lead conversion setting. Workshops and seminars have always been a powerful tool for providing ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_119824_45.html 13th January 2007 One of the most powerful, yet underutilized tools, in marketing is tracking. By that I mean some form of measuring the success and failure of marketing initiatives. For most this practice might begin and end at measuring the response rate of a direct mail... http://www.articlealley.com/article_119742_15.html 13th January 2007 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Workshops, seminars and speaking engagements of all shapes and sizes are great ways to share your expertise and build trust with a prospect audience. I've sometimes referred to speaking as the world's most efficient way t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_100606_15.html 15th November 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch One of the few complaints I hear from small business owners when it comes to generating business or leads by way of referral is that too many of the referrals they are offered aren't a fit for the business. The referrals are... http://www.articlealley.com/article_76301_15.html 25th July 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Or, more to the point of the title, question every word you use to market your business and then answer every question in your marketing. People make buying decisions in ways that we may find hard to imagine. The mental, ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_68398_15.html 29th June 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch So, you finally decided to take the blog leap. You've heard all about the marketing and search benefits so you stepped up to the plate and signed up for a TypePad, MovableType or WordPress blog software package and now you'r... http://www.articlealley.com/article_55565_3.html 21st May 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch A new internet gold rush has been taking hold with the emergence of social networking, blogging, podcasting and other web 2.0 experiments. Media companies and Internet giants have reacted promptly by acquiring many of the ne... http://www.articlealley.com/article_52769_3.html 12th May 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Here is a good rule of thumb to follow when searching for a story angle to present to the media. Ask yourself this question: Will the readers of this publication think this is interesting, entertaining, informative or useful... http://www.articlealley.com/article_52450_3.html 11th May 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Sometimes your referral marketing effort just needs the right hook or offer to get people to pay attention and participate. Draw from my top 5 referral offer starters and think of ways to creatively wrap your business around... http://www.articlealley.com/article_50090_15.html 03rd May 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Holding educational workshops has always been a very good way to build business. The problem with this strategy though is that it has become increasingly difficult to get prospects to come to workshop type events. In additio... http://www.articlealley.com/article_41771_3.html 05th April 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Much has been written lately about the subject of podcasting. Podcasting is a very powerful small business tool but, some are kept away because it all sound so technical. In this article I will attempt to simplify the sub... http://www.articlealley.com/article_40179_3.html 01st April 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch You know you have much to offer your referral partners but, they don't seem very motivated to refer you to their network. You've taken the lawyer, accountant, financial planner and insurance broker to lunch, explained you... http://www.articlealley.com/article_32814_15.html 05th March 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch So, what happens when all of your PR activity actually prompts a reporter to call for an interview? Getting the interview is only one-half of the deal. Follow the steps below, and you are more likely to turn your interview i... http://www.articlealley.com/article_28225_15.html 09th February 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch Many small business owners will find the need to accept credit card payments for products and services offered on their website. When I set up my first ecommerce website I found the information surrounding online credit c... http://www.articlealley.com/article_27058_3.html 02nd February 2006 Copyright 2006 John Jantsch While there are lots of little things that add up to getting a web site to rank high for search terms, high quality, keyword rich content and incoming links are the two most important variables. Every search engine has a ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_24448_3.html 19th January 2006 Copyright 2005 John Jantsch PR is a powerful small business marketing tool. By PR, I mean getting positive press mentions about your firm in local, trade and national publications. The reason these mentions are so powerful is because they are seen t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_18151_3.html 04th December 2005 Copyright 2005 John Jantsch Large organizations are beginning to wrestle with the reality that their markets want something more personal, more honest and real, from the companies they buy products and services from. It's obvious that small businesses ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_16797_15.html 22nd November 2005 Copyright 2005 John Jantsch Lead generation is a funny thing. It's the lifeblood of any growing business, yet many approach it in a casual manner at best. Consistently generating leads for your business takes momentum and momentum takes energy. I... http://www.articlealley.com/article_16067_15.html 17th November 2005 Copyright 2005 John Jantsch Whether you are an early technology adopter or not, there is no denying that the careful application of certain technology tools can help you more effectively automate your marketing processes. Automation allows you to co... http://www.articlealley.com/article_13425_15.html 27th October 2005 Copyright 2005 John Jantsch I got another one of those calls the other day. . ."Can you make me a brochure?" Many business owners have been sold on the notion that they need a tri-fold brochure or they are not in business. Forget it...everybody's got o... http://www.articlealley.com/article_12777_15.html 19th October 2005