by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Jun 3, 2019 | Branding
You and I may never meet in real life. So there are a few things you might never learn about me. The fact that I’m 6 ft. tall, for instance. Or, that I generally operate on the “piles and post-its” filing system. (But those are just surface quirks....
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Jun 2, 2019 | Branding, Creativity, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research
When you’re really hungry, it’s easy to opt for fast-food. It’s cheap and it’s quick, and it gets the job done. But a Whopper isn’t beef bourguignon. There’s about a 2-hour difference in the time it takes to create them. The Whopper...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Jun 2, 2019 | Community & Relationships, Social Media
Yes, we all know it’s about quality, not quantity. But still. It’s tempting to want to take shortcuts with building your connections on social media. After all, at some point, you DO need a critical mass to help you get traction. But when we stoop to...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Jun 1, 2019 | Marketing Budget, Working with Marketing Professionals
You’re at the crossroads. (And I totally feel your pain.) We both know there aren’t enough minutes in the day to finish up all that work on your plate. Clients are trying to track you down. And the emails and phone calls are coming in faster than you can...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Jun 1, 2019 | Branding
Most people don’t know that my parents named me Christina. I changed my name to Téa in college (I’ll share why at the end of this post). Yes, it’s my legal name. Believe me, the IRS, the DMV and every government office between Los Angeles and Portland can verify...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 31, 2019 | Branding
What I’m about to tell you might kill my business, but I have to say it: I’m done (yes, you can stick a fork in me). I’ve never wanted to build an empire — at least not one whose sole purpose was “bigger, better marketing.” And a...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 31, 2019 | Branding, Community & Relationships, Writing Tips
Your "Secret Sauce" is your personality. It's the flavor that you bring to everything you do. And it comes across in many ways -- your voice, your style and your sense of humor. When you interact with real-live human beings, your secret sauce is pretty evident. Most of the time, people can "get" who you are after just a few brief conversations.
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 31, 2019 | Branding, Case Studies, Working with Marketing Professionals, Zeus Experiment
This is a guest post by Zeus Many of you, like me, are putting in a lot of time, energy, and money into developing an online business. And yet concrete outcomes (substantial business income, successful products, etc.) sometimes seem so far away. We’re taught to...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 30, 2019 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree… Welcome to Day One of my 12 Days of Branding series. Each day — from now until Christmas* — you’ll be gifted with branding advice, case studies and more. If...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 29, 2019 | Marketing Strategies
Advice for My (Much Earlier, More Naive) Entrepreneurial Self (Note: Much of this post first appeared on the Prosperity’s Kitchen website under the title, “An Open Letter to New Entrepreneurs.” I’ve modified the text somewhat.) Hey Girl,...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 28, 2019 | eMail Marketing, Zeus Experiment
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. Is it possible for a Ph.D. in education (me) to take a half-day getting his website email up and going? (Drum roll…) Yes, it is. You’re kidding. I mean, c’mon, this should take a few minutes, right? Umm, not exactly. I know what you...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 28, 2019 | Branding, Community & Relationships, Social Media
You may not know Lady Gaga from Lady Grantham. Yet. But the odds are good that you do. Why? Because Downton Abbey is one of the most popular British sensations to hit the US (and the world) since…well, The Beatles. And it’s not just because the characters have...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 28, 2019 | Case Studies, Community & Relationships, Marketing Strategies
Just over 8 weeks ago, in preparation for our upcoming season of “Prosperity’s Kitchen,” I called for volunteers for a little experiment in gamification. You might think it’s just a buzzword, but “gamification” is one way to create...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 28, 2019 | Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Marketing Budget, Marketing Strategies
This is a guest post by Jessica Oman of Write Ahead. Did you hear the one about the entrepreneur who hired bikini-clad models to market a delicious organic barbecue sauce to moms with young kids? …Didn’t think so. This is a typical example of what...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 28, 2019 | Branding
This past weekend I attended (via simulcast) Andrea Lee‘s Lasting Lead Generation event. It was three days of fabulous teaching, coaching and delivery of actionable content. And I gotta say, she really knows her stuff! One of the first exercises she had us do...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 27, 2019 | Branding, Storytelling, Writing Tips
Your writing is tight. Authoritative. You're already speaking directly to one reader. Not using jargon. And yet...It still sounds like it could've been written by anyone in your industry. Here are 10 ways to make sure YOUR voice and personality shine through your writing.
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 27, 2019 | Book Reviews, Branding, Creativity
I recently spoke with Anita Campbell of SmallBizTrends.com and BizSugar.com and David Langton of Langton Cherubino Group — the co-authors of “Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design.” If you’d like...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 27, 2019 | Market Research, Marketing Strategies
I have news for you. I’m not Brian Clark. I don’t have his name recognition or his mad copy writing skillz. I’m also not Danielle LaPorte or Marie Forleo or even Danny Iny. Nor am I looking for World Domination. And it’s not that I don’t...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 27, 2019 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding
Nine Ladies Dancing! It’s Day 9 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today’s installment I’ve got 9 great videos for you. These are excellent examples of how you can use the strategy of...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 27, 2019 | Marketing Strategies
Everything is about relationships. (Marketing, too.) That extends to things we do after the sale. After all, it’s much easier to keep a client than to find a new one. If your client relationships aren’t as strong as you’d like them to be, it may be...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 26, 2019 | Branding, Case Studies, Marketing Strategies
As many of you noticed, we recently wrapped up the First Annual Tastiest Small Biz Brand Award campaign. The event/marketing efforts lasted nearly three months and worked to accomplish (or surpass!) several goals. These were: Help establish Word Chef authority in the...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 25, 2019 | Case Studies, eMail Marketing, Working with Marketing Professionals, Zeus Experiment
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. What if, underneath it all, your carefully planned and wished-for life was nothing more than an adventurous experiment? Would that free you or strike terror into your heart? What if you were both the guinea pig and the dude in the...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 24, 2019 | Branding, Podcasts
Nicole Fende, aka The Numbers Whisperer, interviews Tea about cooking up a killer brand. Check out the podcast on her BlogTalkRadio show: The Small Biz Finance...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 22, 2019 | Branding, Case Studies, Community & Relationships, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research
Except for my client Rebecca Joseph (aka The Rabbi Chef), your goal is probably not to be the Next Food Network Star.
But there's a whole lot that celebrity chefs can teach us about working in a crowded marketplace. The successful ones truly excel at building their brands and growing their fan base. How do they do it? Here are five of their marketing strategies that you can (and should) adopt today:
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 21, 2019 | eMail Marketing
November is National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). And, even though I won’t be working on my novel, I want to push myself to create some new writing habits. At first I thought I’d try my hand at short stories. But then I remembered my Box... I have...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 21, 2019 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding
11 Pipers Piping! It’s Day 11 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today’s installment we look at what needs to happen in order to get people talking about your brand. If you know me at all, you know that...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 21, 2019 | Book Reviews, Branding, Ideal Heroic Client, Writing Tips
I love to read (duh). And when I’m not reading supernatural romances, I’m devouring nonfiction business and self improvement titles. (Amazon loves me!) The following list encompasses some of my favorite, and most recommended titles in the field of...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 20, 2019 | Case Studies, Marketing Strategies
Last month in the Digital Dining Room, the group’s mission was to identify their main business goal for the final quarter of the year and then to develop a content strategy to support it. Here’s how we got them there: Step One: Brainstorm ideas using a...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 20, 2019 | Branding, Storytelling, Writing Tips
Did you know that your About Page is one of your website’s most important tools? For some of us, it’s probably one of THE most-visited pages on the entire site. And that’s because people want to know who they’re about to do business with. Are...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 20, 2019 | Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Marketing Budget, Marketing Strategies
Question: My corporate training business has been doing well in the local markets where we live. But how to do we get national clients and expand our business? On a small budget of course. How can we get that kind of reach to potential corporate clients without...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 19, 2019 | Marketing Strategies
This is a guest post by Michelle Nickolaisen. Launch stress is awful at the best of times, but it’s definitely not something you want to have mess with your holidays. There are a lot of factors to launching during or after the holidays without ripping your hair...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 18, 2019 | Case Studies, Community & Relationships, eMail Marketing
Last month in the Digital Dining Room, the group’s mission was to create a welcome email that would help them get to know their subscribers on a deeper level. Here’s how we got them there: Step One: Brainstorm three questions they could ask a new...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 18, 2019 | Branding
I always love when food (or in this case, drink) and marketing come together. Once you’ve read thru this infographic, share what flavor you think your blog is in a comment below… If Your Blog Were A Beer… infographic by...
by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | May 13, 2019 | Creativity, Market Research, Working with Marketing Professionals
Note: Recently, I published a post about blowing things up. That post literally got more comments than any other post I’ve ever received on this site. Clearly, I’m not the only one frustrated by the system as it exists. I’ve been getting a lot of...
