Marketing Strategies
How to Keep Bears from Eating Your Business
If you’ve ever been camping in bear country, you know the drill. Lock up your food. Keep your trash safely stowed. And for cryin-out-loud, don’t feed the bears! When it comes to your business, it’s also a wise idea to safeguard something...
Case Study: Creating an About Page that Works
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...
Doctor Who’s Favorite (Marketing) Dish: Fish Fingers and Custard!
“New mouth, New rules!” — The Doctor Worried that your marketing sounds a lot like everyone else’s? It happens. To the best of us! Usually because we’re too insecure to throw away those sales page blueprints and email templates and create...
How to Get 5-Star Referrals From Your Peers and Colleagues
Most of the advice out there about referrals is related to your customers (i.e., getting them to send you new ones.) In short, make them happy and they’ll want to tell their friends about you. But you can also get some fabulous referrals from your peers and...
Add Your Secret Sauce: Five Ways to Add Your Personality to Your Website or Blog
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.
Just Say No to “Fast Food” Marketing: 10 Tips for Healthy Marketing on a Budget
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...
Expressing Brand Values: 3 Case Studies
…Three French Hens! It’s Day 3 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 give you three examples of small business brands with solid core values that know how to walk the...
Create a Truly Memorable Brand Story: 8 Tips to Help You Get the Most Impact
8 Maids a-Milking It’s Day 8 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 unexpected ways to build an impactful and memorable brand. You’ve heard the phrase, “Milking...
Boost Awareness by Piggybacking on a Bigger Brand
Earlier this week, I talked with Abe and Rick of Ruzuku.com — an online platform created to make it “ridiculously easy” to teach better classes on the web. Ruzuku first came onto my radar when Abe posted this question on my “It’s All...
The PB&J Guide to Building a Tasty Brand
Peanut Butter and Jelly. Two simple, timelessly appealing ingredients. Like most of us, you probably became a fan in childhood. Of the PB&J, I mean. I know it was the only thing my little brother would eat. Period. White bread, creamy peanut butter and grape jelly...
How Well Do You Tell Your Brand’s Story?
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...
How To Write Fun and Engaging Survey Questions
This is a guest post by Josh Pigford Did you know that online surveys don’t have to be boring? Gathering feedback is a necessary part of running a business, but the process doesn’t necessarily have to be dull. Instead, surveys can be fun, engaging...
Needs and Desires: How to Use a Focus Group to Uncover the Good Stuff
Stuck in research land again? Trying to get inside the mind of your Ideal Client? Maybe you’ve heard about this thing called a “focus group” and you thought, Yeah, that’s what we need to do! Mmmm. Perhaps. A focus group can be helpful. It can...
The Essential Guide to a Basic Business Plan (or, How to Avoid ‘The Tactic Trap’)
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...
The Goldlilocks Zone: How Many Times Should You Share Your Offer?
Julia leaned back in her chair and watched her laptop power-up. Coffee. It was 5:42 in the morning. And coffee was about the only coherent thought she could muster. She opened her Google calendar. What time is that appointment again? She had a 10:30 call with a...
Case Study: Using Email Marketing to Deepen Relationships
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...
We’re All Guinea Pigs Now: Life and Business as Continual Experiments
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...
What I Wish I’d Known Then about Starting a Business…
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,...
Case Study: Create a Content Strategy to Support Your Launch
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...
Is Your Ideal Client Trying to Tell You Something?
Last month in the Digital Dining Room we focused on Market Research. Specifically, how the heck do you find out what your Ideal Client is ready and willing to pay for? Because there’s a difference between them needing and wanting something. Traditional business...
The Great Email Experiment (or, Why Your Inbox is the Best Social Media Channel to Grow Your Biz)
Last month, a couple of folks I know (yep…Carney folks!) were lamenting the fact that there seemed to be an unusual number of people unsubscribing — or, worse! complaining about SPAM — every time they sent an email to their lists. Feelings of panic,...
Features vs. Benefits: The Stories that Produce Sales
The $64,000 question is: Do your customers want to buy what you're selling? If you've done your homework (i.e., market research), and you know without a doubt that your product or service is something people need and/or want, yet you still fail to generate sales, then there's something missing in your marketing messages. In short, you're not "speaking" your customer's language (either online or in person).
Quirky Much? How Your Oddities, Flaws and Peculiar Habits Help Build a Stronger Brand
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....
(Infographic) If Your Blog Were a Beer, What Kind Would it Be?
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...
No, You’re NOT Stupid (Or, How to Keep Your Brain from Melting When Things Don’t Work)
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...
Collaborate in the (Online) Kitchen and Yield Exponential Results
Have you ever tried to do something big? No, I mean, massively huge -- something even a little audacious? If you haven't, you're missing out on one of the best adventure of your life. But if you have, then you know you can't really pull off something enormous without the help of other people. Which is why my Entrepreneur's Manifesto calls you to "Collaborate in the Kitchen. Here's a story about one woman who is doing just that...
Marketing: It’s Not What You Think (and, Why Knowing the Truth Matters)
During our mentoring wrap-up call last week, I asked Zeus for some feedback. I wanted to know what I might’ve done better or differently during our time together — something that could’ve possibly made a bigger difference to him and his marketing...
What’s on Your Marketing Plate?
Eating healthy can sometimes be a tricky thing. Especially if you've got a sweet tooth. Or a penchant for all-things-fried. When we don't make good choices, we end up feeling pretty miserable. And not just because we can't see our feet any longer. It really sucks when your bottom line won't fit into your favorite jeans! The same is true for your marketing. Your website (and the other channels you use to promote yourself) need to have just the right balance of ingredients in order to keep a healthy number of customers and prospects at your table.
When You Just Need to Get ‘Er Done! Employees vs. Independent Contractors
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...
Collaborations: 12 Ways to Build Your Brand
12 Drummers Drumming! Wow! It’s the last day 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 how to use collaborations to build a strong brand. When you think of drummers drumming, what...
Has Your Brand Reached its Expiration Date?
(Or, does it just need a little freshening up?) When we start our ventures (if we do things right), we create branding that eventually accomplishes the goal of telling our story in a way that is unique, compelling and builds community. Both the visual and written...![[Infographic] Solopreneurs: How We Market Online – 2012 Survey Results](https://storybistro.com/wp-content/uploads/food-growth.jpg)
[Infographic] Solopreneurs: How We Market Online – 2012 Survey Results
What We’re Doing, What’s Working and What’s Not Created from survey data collected from nearly 1,200 respondents during June 2012. A full length research report is also available. For more, click here. Embed this Infographic <a...
Table Talk Q&A: How Do I Pick the Best Marketing Strategies for My Business (and Avoid Wasting Time/Money)?
Question: There are SO many resources, opportunities for learning, mentors, etc., how can I efficiently choose the marketing technique(s) that will most likely align with my business plans, goals and industry? How do I best allocate my limited resources (time/$) to...
5 Goldenly Creative Ways to Tell Your Brand Story
Five Go~lden Rings! It’s Day 5 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 5 creative examples of how to tell your brand story. One of the easiest places to tell your story is the...
Small Biz Finance Forum: Interview with Nicole Fende
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...
Color Your Life Happy: Interview with Flora Brown, PhD
Spent an enjoyable Monday morning chatting with Flora Brown of Color Your Life Happy on BlogTalkRadio. Listen to this 30 minute interview and learn my 9 step process for creating your Secret Sauce so you can spice up your small...
On Rattlesnakes, Marketing and Building a Business
Rattlesnakes have a bit of a reputation. You might even call it a “brand.” Their collective brand includes stories that usually end in life and death scenarios. Very much a “handle with care” kind of item, right? So if I offered you the chance...
Return on Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring and More (an Interview with the Author)
Mark Schaefer stopped in at the Word Café last week and we had a chance to talk recently about his new book, Return on Influence. Here are the highlights: Q: How did you decide to write this book? I have to be honest…I’ve been watching this whole Klout...
Your Signature Dish: How to Create a Product or Service that Sizzles AND Satisfies
Noise. Bloat. Overcrowded marketplaces. Saturated industries. I won’t kid you. It’s an uphill battle to create the right offer — a product or service — that stands head-and-shoulders above those of your competitors. And that battle? It’s...
How to Stand Out, Stand Up, and Help Change the Business World
Do you look the same as your competitors? SOUND the same? You might find this hard to believe, but even with my branding background, I’ve had a blind spot about HOW to stand out from the crowd. Differentiation — that fancy word for your Unique Value...
Am I Doing My Marketing Right?
I’m currently conducting a 13-week teaching/gamification experiment called “Prosperity’s Kitchen.” It’s an online class for solopreneurs to learn the ins and outs of marketing themselves in the digital world. The twist? It’s...
Table Talk Q&A: How Do I Expand My Local Business to the National Level?
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...
What Small Biz Owners Can Learn from Superbowl Ads (Besides How to Waste Ungodly Amounts of Money)
I must confess: beyond the pleasures that come with watching a slew of manly men in tight pants run around and get sweaty, I’m not really a fan of football. I watch to support Mr. Perfect’s interests and because (let’s face it) he’s holding the...
How to Launch During the Holidays without Crying in Your Wine
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...
10 Ways to Spice Up Your Writing and Let YOUR Voice Shine Through
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.
Solopreneurs and Online Marketing: How Do You Compare to Your Peers?
Do you make your money independently? As a solo professional, freelancer or “solopreneur?” If the answer is yes, please read on… Wearing all the hats AND looking good while you do it isn’t as easy most people think. Your marketing hat might be...
NaNoWriMo: Postcards and Love Letters from the Chef
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...
Why Marketing Plans and Content Strategies Help Create Real Sales
You’ve got a product or service and you want people to buy it, right? First things first. Have you done your homework (e.g., written a plan)? Does your plan include a content strategy? If you’re like 90% of those I talk to, the answer is no. And guess...
How I Grew Site Traffic by 60% in Three Months: A Peek into the Small Biz Branding Contest
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...
7 Ways to Use Facebook to Find and Research Your Target Market
Back in the day, if you wanted to really understand your customers, you’d need to pay dearly for the information. Market Research firms around the world still command a pretty penny for conducting statistically valid research projects for the big corporations...
Brainfluence: An Interview with the Author
Roger Dooley, the author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing, stopped by the Word Cafe for a quick chat about his new book. Here are the highlights: TS: How did you get started with neuromarketing, Roger? RD: Practically my...
My Big Why: On Motives, Mentors, and Defining Moments
Every hero has one: an origin story. Bruce Wayne watched a mugger brutally kill his parents when he was just a child. Peter Parker found his inner hero after a radioactive spider bit him. Buffy discovered she was “The Chosen One” and learned to leverage her slayer...
No More Marketing: Why I’m Done
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...
Must-Have Kitchen Tool: The (Sales) Funnel
When I meet with a potential client, one of the questions I usually ask is, "What does your sales funnel look like?" The blank stares and nervous coughing I get in response would almost be funny. Except when I try to ask it another way, and I can still hear crickets. "Okay, then tell me about your sales process -- how do you get and nurture your leads?"
5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick
When I was still a youngster (in the days before the Internet was considered a valid way to get your message out), I spent my nights and weekends at the UC Davis Extension learning the "official" rules of "Product-Price-Place-Promotion." One of my first professors (I think his name was Mr. Aguilar) had a strange attachment to the term "pasta marketing." He must've used this term at least twice in every class. His point was that lots of people do their marketing like they cook their pasta: they throw it against the wall to see if it's done. If it sticks, they think it's good. And if doesn't, well...you go back to the drawing board.
Deep Fried Kool-Aid: a Marketing Parable
There's a guy in San Diego named Charlie who likes to fry things. Weird things that most people would never think of. Stuff like Klondike bars, Girl Scout cookies, and Pop Tarts.
Strut Your Stuff: 9 Examples of Edutainment 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...
Closing the Deal: Building a Business that Generates Income
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...
True Confessions: I’m Afraid You’ll Find Out I’m a Marketing Fraud
There, I said it. One of my deepest fears laid out for the whole world to see: I’m not really who you think I am. Mostly — like 99% of the time — I’m actually pretty confident. I know that I know my stuff. But every now and then something...
Solopreneurs and Online Marketing: What’s Working, What’s Failing
Just last month, we wrapped up a survey here on the topic of Solopreneurs and their online marketing practices. The goal? To find out exactly what folks are doing, what’s working for them and what’s failing. To establish some benchmarks — not...
#Follow Friday Much? My Love-Hate Relationship with Fan Base-Building Tactics
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...
The Remarkable Purple Carrot: A Marketing Parable
Here in the West, purple carrots aren't a commonly found in your local produce departments. In fact, you'll probably have to go out of your way, by searching for them at the fringes: places like your farmer's market or a specialty grocer. There's a little vegetable stand near my house where I can find maybe 3 or 4 at any given time (mostly because there's a woman who comes in every morning and buys nearly all of them for herself). The shop owner literally can't keep enough of these guys on hand. In short, these guys are special. Remarkable even. And they're almost certainly a topic of conversation when served to dinner guests. They're so special, they make the chef look special, too.
Wordalicious: How to Choose the Tastiest Words to Tell Your Story
“Words, are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are our most potent forms of enchantment. Rich with the power to hurt or heal.” — Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Yes, words have a great deal of power. Here’s a short...
Your Secret Sauce: 9 Steps to Create an Addicting Brand
If you’ve been a freelancer or a small business owner for even a few months, I’m sure you’ve heard the advice, “Differentiate, or die.” The experts are like a dog with a bone: “Nail down your USP, if you want to succeed,” they say....
10 Quantum Leap Actions to Create a Stand-Out Brand
Ten Lords a-Leaping… It’s Day 10 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 give you ten quantum leap actions from ten “Lords” of branding on how to create a stand-out...
Turbo-Boost Your Brand using Social Media (+ 4 Unique Ways to be Human)
Four Calling Birds… It’s Day 4 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’ve got an awesome case study on how to do things that work, plus I give you four new ways to...
Build Your Brand and Your Business Without Cash (A True Story!)
When I first started my consulting practice I used a combination of just three funding sources: savings, credit cards and a little thing called barter. Bartering can be great fun — especially when you find someone who has what you need and who needs what you...
Biggest Business Lesson of the Year: Be (Gasp!) Human
Earlier this month, I talked about the Bears (and how to keep them from eating your business). That post sort of explains the comeback to small biz ownership I made last year. But it’s not the whole story. Nope. See, this is the anniversary of something pretty...
Real-life Brands Find Clarity and Their Secret Sauce
“Clarity is power.” (author unknown) Over the years, the one challenge most of my consulting clients have in common is still the same: a struggle to define themselves. Sound familiar? Most of them know what their business is about and what they have to...
Bigger Bang for your Marketing Bucks (and grocery dollars)
A guest post by Nicole Fende, the Numbers Whisperer™ We’re going to start by talking groceries. Don’t worry, I’ll sneak in the finance. Since Tea is the Chef, groceries seem appropriate. When you go to the grocery store you may be like me, and have a list. Big shout...
Spinning Your Plates: How to Find Balance and Order
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. For those of you just tuning in, this is the latest in a series of posts for The Zeus Experiment, whereby I chronicle my learning curve and ups and downs in developing my own successful online business. Tea Silvestre is my mentor in...
From Guest Post to Published Author: An Interview with Beth Hayden of “Pinfluence”
Beth and I met last year in a guest blogging class taught by Jon Morrow, and it wasn’t long before we’d hit it off. We’ve even managed to meet up in person a few times, and it’s always an energizing exchange when we get the chance to talk. This...
The Gamified Tribe: A Case Study
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...
Wordification: Cook Up a Creative Title, Brand or Product Name
You’ve seen other people do it. Stephen Colbert used to do it all the time. George Bush (Jr) is probably still doing it. Both of them got pretty famous for their efforts (although, for different reasons). That word they create is sometimes called a portmanteau,...
Vision and Mission: Your Two Brand Messengers
Two turtle doves… It’s Day 2 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed Day 1, you can find it here. In today’s installment we talk about two important foundations for any brand: The Vision and Mission. If you could wave your magic wand and create a...
Your Brand and the Marketing Rule of 7
Seven Swans a-Swiming! It’s Day 7 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’ll dive into the Marketing Rule of 7. Never heard of it? Read on! Let’s start off today with a visualization...
30 Must Reads: My Best Marketing Reading List
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...
The Baconomics of Branding (or, How to Bring Home More by Being Different)
True story: Mr. Perfect and I are moving in together in 3 weeks. Sure. It’s just across town. But the headaches are still the same: find just the right place; do gobs of paperwork; make tons of phone calls to various utilities; simultaneously pack-sell-or-trash...
Passion and Purpose: Why They’re Both Crucial to Your Brand
We branding folk talk a lot about passion and purpose. In fact they’re two key elements you must figure out if you want to make sure your business has a fighting chance for success. Why? Because Passion is what gets your motor running. It sparks and fuels your...
