Greg Head says, “What’s the difference between the confident entrepreneurs who lead growing businesses and owners who can’t get out of survival mode?  It all comes down to this:  All successful businesses have a clear marketing strategy that makes everything they do more effective. Unfortunately, many busy small business owners get so caught up in tactical daily marketing execution like building a website, sending email, tweeting, advertising, optimizing a landing page, blogging and so on, that they are not taking the time to work on the decisions that’ll improve the performance... [...]

Barry Levine says, “LeadPages, whose purpose in life has been to capture leads at “points of signup” like opt-in forms or landing pages, is now reorienting itself toward a new goal: becoming the “command center” of marketing tools. The Minneapolis-based company released on Tuesday a new product, Center, that is intended to act as the manager of leads. Until midnight on New Year’s Eve, LeadPages is accepting early adopters of Center at a lifetime, half-off discounted price of $399 annually. After that, the product will be sold at full price when it is made available in late February. Center... [...]

Richard Smith says, “If you are a business owner, having good social media exposure will always come in handy. Be it Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, social presence is certainly a better determinant of our reach as an entrepreneur. The best strategy, however, would be the manner in which technology mixes with social media, for getting the required bouts of online traction. Facebook has been pretty active in this regard and added a new string to its bow by adding live streaming to its ever-expanding list of features. Initially rolled out for celebrities, this service is now available to commoners... [...]

Sandra Guy says, “Gap garners the lead for fastest-loading mobile site in Catchpoint Systems survey of its Top 50 e-commerce desktop and mobile websites. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. gave its online shoppers the gift of speed this holiday season. That’s according to a just-released survey from website monitoring firm Catchpoint Systems, which measured the load time and availability on both mobile and desktop of the top 50 online retailers in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide from 23 locations across the U.S. at five-minute intervals. Web-page load time is the time it takes for... [...]

Matt McGee says, “SEO (search engine optimization) has come a long way. After experiencing the “wrath of Google” years ago, some marketers have exited the SEO game and opted instead to use paid traffic to generate their leads and prospects. However, when done correctly (and ethically), there is no match for the longevity, consistency and quality of the lead flow you’ll experience from SEO. Today, I want to offer you an insider’s view of how to do this well. All of my businesses are built entirely on organic SEO, and if I were to stop doing everything today, they would continue... [...]

Carly Okyle says, “All of us are glued to our cell phones — and for marketers, that means big opportunity. As mobile continues to become a more significant part of advertising budgets, it’s an important area to watch. Here are several predictions and trends to take into consideration as you invest in mobile advertising, as told by those on the ground floor. 1. Content marketing will improve the mobile marketing experience. “With the rise of ad blockers, marketers are starting to think about how they can improve the whole advertising experience for users, especially those on... [...]

SBT team says, “Back in 2013, we wrote about whether or not a cache plugin will help your SEO, and almost three years later it seems that the WordPress W3 total cache plugin may have a monopoly on the different plugins out there. It’s still the most popular, but unfortunately the idea of a cache plugin in general hasn’t grown in popularity much over the last three years. It’s still incredibly important to a good online strategy for any business, so consider why the W3 total cache is a good choice and why it really matters in the first place below. 3 Benefits of the W3 Total Cache Plugin... [...]

Matt McGee says, “A 2015 study by Smart Insights showed that 50 percent of businesses doing digital marketing had no form of digital marketing plan or strategy. They were doing digital marketing, yet there were no clearly defined objectives or goals. Does this seem a little crazy to you? In our experience helping businesses large and small, we’ve also found that most businesses don’t have a digital marketing plan (or a marketing plan of any kind, in many cases). Unfortunately, smaller local businesses are often the worst offenders here. Micro budgets require a solid ROI, but cutting... [...]

Matt Mansfield says, “Back in 2011, Goggle introduced the “Zero Moment of Truth” (ZMOT), the exact moment that a consumer, whether a business (B2B) or individual (B2C) goes online to find the product or service that will fulfill their need. ZMOT is all about being present in the time and that a customer needs you. Google contends that your brand, or at least its content, needs to be there at the ZMOT (via search or on social media) or you will lose the sale to a competitor: “How many of those times do you show up? How many times do they choose you, and why? Most importantly, how many... [...]

Lisa Cozad says, “Hiring a PR agency to manage your company’s public image can be a difficult decision. Perhaps you are a small business owner who needs a “leg up” in getting the word out about your brand, or you’ve recently experienced some bad coverage and need someone to aid in crisis management. A PR firm can help shape the voice of your company and, more importantly, the public’s opinion of your product or service. Finding the right PR firm, however, can be challenging as there are countless firms out there—many of which may not be the right fit for your particular business.... [...]