Writing
Industry averages are important benchmarks used to help your small business make comparisons of key metrics to other businesses in your vertical. If you don’t understand industry averages for your business, it’s time to get educated on the numbers. An...
To get at the truth of how customers view your products or services, learn to ask the next question. As a newspaper reporter with no formal training, the most challenging part of my job initially was accosting people for interviews....
Part of earning and keeping the attention of your audience is having them trust that you won’t waste their time with verbosity. If you’re looking to write tighter, allowing your brand to keep the attention of your audience, spend less...
Many small business owners don’t think branding is essential to their success. They think of branding as something big companies do. They assume that their customers know who they are based on what they sell or the services they provide....
The story of how I learned that going viral is overrated is as painful as it is vivid in mind years after the incident. It begins with a Midwestern friend and fellow angler who was enjoying a comfortable retirement until...
I learned to appreciate the priority of proofing and editing my work the hard way: by making a careless error in a popular local newspaper. Dot Barrett seems like an easy enough name to remember, but thanks to my carelessness...
A popular refrain goes, “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.” The saying is as true in life as it is in business. The statement is also true for content strategy, for it is talked about more often...
In college, I studied Disruptive Innovation, the theory pioneered by legendary Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen to describe how new entrants to a sector initially thrive to meet the under-served parts of the market but quickly move upstream upon...
Who needs a beginner’s guide to public speaking? The ability to effectively and succinctly communicate an idea is a moat for any marketer or small business owner. What’s more, becoming an effective public speaker enhances the profile and appeal of...