More than a Few Words

The internet is filled with calls to action. Everywhere you go, there are brightly colored buttons commanding you to read more, get the content, watch this or buy now; all those buttons exist because they work. People respond, click or take action when commanded to do so, but some buttons work better than others.   If you’re going to design buttons for your website, keep the message short: 1-3 wor...

A wise man once said, there is nothing so constant as change. That is especially true when you are a business owner. The key to success is often identifying opportunities to pivot and being brave enough to make the change.  Tiffany Youngren, Host of the Next Up Nation Podcast  and founder of the OHM Agency joined us for a conversation about transitions. Her advice:  Just because you made one chang...

Celebrity endorsements aren’t new. I mean, they’ve been around for a really long time as far back as the 1760s, when producers of pottery in China used royal endorsements to promote their product. Hollywood stars and athletes routinely allow their images to be used in endorsements of products. And we assume that the athlete knows something about the running shoes or the celebrity chef knows someth...

People often ask me if I work with my husband.  And I politely explain that I would rather remain married, than try to navigate that challenging path.  But my guest, Paul Tompkins explains how to do both.   It boils down to a few simple strategies.  It requires patience and a willingness to put the other person ahead of you Separate work from family and not allow work to bleed into other parts of...

A few thoughts to start your blogging checklist. I am a big fan of blogging because I think it can be a very powerful part of your overall marketing. So what’s involved in a successful blog? Well, to start it needs to be filled with a steady stream of content filled with relevant keywords. That’s great for search engines, but it also needs to be well written and relevant content for your target au...

This week our guest Mark Dunsmore explains the best way to become an expert in your niche is not to try to learn everything about your industry.  You don't have to be a superpower in the industry and teach everything someone needs to know.  Instead, what it means is having more knowledge than the person who wants to learn from you, and being able to package that up in a way that enables them to pr...

If a prospective customer went to Google to look for a business like yours, what words would they use? Your website must contain those words. They tell a search engine like Google exactly what your website or page is about. That information is then stored in the search engine database so it can be presented to prospective customers when they’re looking for a product or service.   One of the most c...

When people throw around the term customer experience, what are they really talking about? They're talking about the experience that customers go through when interacting with your brand.  It is not just a single moment, but rather a series of interaction in their customer journey. The cumulative impact of these experiences defines how they feel and how they perceive the brand is delivering on the...

Every day when you leave your home, you lock the door and you take your keys. That's what you do to protect your home.    As a business owner with a website, you need to lock your website to protect that as well. To do that you need to add what's known as an SSL, a secure socket layer to make sure that your information does not fall into the wrong hands and to signal to search engines that you're...

It is human nature to be judgmental, to look at things which are different and judge them good or bad.   What is the difference between judgement and curiosity?  Actually, they're two sides of the same coin.  They occur as we recognize that something is different from how we'd like it to be or just different from what we're used to.   Judgment is what we typically do as human beings. We recognize...

In this week's Marketing Minute, we look at the art of the Meme   If you’ve been using social media for any length of time, you’ve probably seen a meme. What makes memes so popular is the fact that they give people a common topic or trend to make jokes about, creating a community feel as the meme is expanded and shared.   But what about brands? Are they invited to the party? It’s a question that e...

This week's guest Robby Slaughter discusses the pros and cons of remote work.  He shares tips on how to make  working remotely more productive without allowing it to take over your life.   Stop using the phrase wok - life balance.  Think of it as life - work balance. When you put your life first in that phrase you are making a decision to  think about the person you want to be and how you want to...

Remember when everyone thought the internet was free, you could put your message out there and suddenly traffic came to your website? It was like magic. Well, those days are gone. Today, you are competing with so many messages as you try to drive traffic to your website that you need to push your way to the top with a little bit of advertising. As you think about advertising, you need to think abo...

Ten years ago, More than a Few Words was in its infancy. We tested a lot of formats, short programs, live broadcasts, and interviews with marketing professionals. And for about a year, simply the show was comprised of  conversations between Lorraine Ball and Allison Carter.  it was the early days of social media and there was so much to talk about.  There were mistakes by larger brands like Kennet...

Today, I want to start with a simple question. Is your website ready for company? Think about when you invite guests over to your home, you take a little time to clean up, dust, polish, put things where they need to be, you make sure your refrigerator is well stocked, and you have clean plates and silverware.  Well, when you bring visitors to your website, you need to do the same thing. You need t...

Everyone wants their website to  look awesome, with interesting pictures and cool animation. Unfortunately, none of that matters if the words don't tell your story. Why?  Because while it may be impressive, people don't come for this great scrolling animation across your homepage. They come for information.  In this episode we share tips on planning and writing the all important web copy.

When you're trying to get someone's attention, get them to open your email, or click on a link from social media, you have to be able to tell them what's in it for them.  You need to use what's called a Gain Headline. To use this style of headline you have to be specific and define for your reader how they will benefit if they take the time to click or read more. And if you want them to come back,...

Some web hosting firms are definitely better than others.  While they were once your very best choice, these days we find ourselves saying No Daddy to GoDaddy. 

When someone stumbles across your content or social media or it’s dropped into their inbox, you have just a few seconds to make them care enough to click and read more. With so much information thrown at potential clients every day. Your challenge is to compete with all of those other messages and get readers to pay attention to you. While there are a lot of techniques you can use. One of the most...

Building a website is easy, but building it correctly is not.  In this episode Sam Moss of the 1Click Agency shares the five most common web design mistakes.  The biggest mistake is not including bold call to action buttons. Maybe you have a flashy website that looks great, with some really cool cool pictures, and you spent a ton of money on it.  But if it is missing a strong call to action such a...

Wouldn't it be nice if we all just got along? Well, that seems like a nice idea. But when it comes to running a business, you can't eliminate conflict completely. And quite honestly, you shouldn't.     Managed conflict helps cultivate discussion and creates opportunities to uncover new and innovative solutions. So as a business owner, one of your main jobs should be to establish an environment tha...

We are living in a visual world. And as a brand, every image you choose has to support the message you want customers to receive.  Jennifer Riley Simone of Fresh Figs Marketing joined me for a conversation about how businesses can do just that.  She suggested three simple strategies business owners should adopt:  Cohesion - There are many ways to make images cohesive.  For example you can use cons...

Why You Should Conduct Web Performance Reviews If you have employees, you're probably conducting performance reviews on a regular basis, evaluating the quality of their work, the objectives you outlined for them, and the results they delivered. But my question is, do you hold your website to the same standard? Are you conducting web performance reviews on a regular basis to determine if your websi...

In the early days of SEO, it was all about the links. It was about quantity, how many inbound links could you build for your website.  These days, the search engine algorithm is a lot more sophisticated, considering multiple factors to calculate your ranking, but a good link is still valuable. In this conversation, we chat with David Pagotto about simple link building strategies such as  leveragin...

Let's face it, everyone wants to feel special. When you walk into a coffee shop and you're greeted by name, or a waitress remembers that you like your eggs over easy before you order, you feel at home. And the next time you want a cup of coffee or an omelet, you're more likely to go back for the personal touch that makes you feel special. With so much business conducted remotely and online, someti...