Business Tips

Have you become a spammer and didn’t even realize it? Are you inflicting cruel punishment on your friends and clients? Internet tools have made it even easier to send out even more info. For some, the old habit of sending out information to large numbers of people to see if you get a little bit… read more Does your writing pass the DIGS test?

“So how much money did you spend on advertising last year?”, I asked a client. My client showed me the overall dollar number. I whistled and said, “That’s a big chunk of change”. “Yes”, she replied. “We keep it as a percentage of overall revenues.” “Ok”, I said, “so which marketing vehicles produced the best… read more What’s working? A small advertising change that will save you LOTS of money in 2013

SEO has changed in the last 2 years. Google’s algorithms have changed. Social media has changed. What has not changed is the selling of solutions that used to work, but no longer do. People are still flogging them. Take guaranteeing a first page result on Google. I know you don’t want to hear this (everyone… read more If someone guarantees you first page results on Google, run!

Years ago I met with a business owner looking for a web designer. Durham Ontario tends to be slower to embrace new ideas than say Toronto. So I was surprised and happy to hear that this owner was excited about Facebook and it’s business applications. But then he said he believed that Facebook was going… read more Facebook does NOT replace your Website

Great writing is about sharing stories or information that are personal, practical and timely for your audience. I typically ask myself if I received this information, would I give a sh#%@ or DIGS which stands for Do I Give a Share? In this new online world, it’s hard to know if anyone is reading and… read more Attention Social Writers: Do I Give A Sh#%@

After over 10 years in business, you learn lessons and accumulate knowledge. Here are a few key lessons I personally learned along the way. Enjoy! 1. Revenue is great, but it’s what you keep that is more important. 2. Cash flow, cash flow, cash flow. Did I mention cash flow? 3. No sales, no business… read more 10 lessons I learned running a small business

I have a confession to make. My firm wasted a lot of money on ineffective adversing last year and it’s my fault. I didn’t realize quickly enough that old media buying habits weren’t working as effectively as they used to. We are fond of the saying “in God I trust, all others show me data.”… read more We wasted money on advertising last year. Did you?

Visitors judge you based on your website. Visitors include future employees, prospects, media and customers. It’s your window to the world. Does it truly reflect your business? A website’s visual look is important. However, like a book it’s the content that makes it a best seller. Is your content best-seller worthy? There’s only one face… read more 5 Important Questions to Ask Yourself About Your B2B Website

Recently I was answering questions about various web design topics and the subject of writing for blogs came up. One participant mentioned how, as a writer, she no longer takes criticism personally and is able to write more freely. That’s an important skill to have especially in this online world. People can smell BS. They… read more Time to make it personal & practical

An important heads up. In a recent post Google Product Manager Christian Oestlien asked for businesses to hold off using regular profiles to connect with Google+. He asks for our patience while they build a business experience that should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses. As a web design company living… read more Important: Google to Businesses: Don’t Create Google+ Profiles