Just as in the offline world, there is a right way and a wrong way to network online. In this episode, I share a story about a business owner who used (or, I should say attempted to use) LinkedIn the WRONG way for networking, and then give two examples of how to use LinkedIn the RIGHT way.

The Verruckt water slide, the tallest water slide in the world, opened last week in Kansas City. The event received extensive coverage in national media, including multiple stories on NBC nightly news. Learn how you can create buzz and excitement about YOUR business in today's episode.

As a Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, I teach people that the definition of marketing is convincing a member of your target market–someone who has a need for your products or services–to know, like, and trust your business. Many things that wouldn’t usually be considered “marketing” actually are considered marketing when this definition is applied, and one of those things is saying thank-you to your customers. In today's episode, I discuss how you can grow your business simply by thanking your customers.

I recently had a small business owner in my group coaching program who was resistant to the idea of email marketing. She’s from a small, tight-knit community and knows many of her customers personally, and she was afraid that she would damage those relationships by sending emails “pestering” those people to “buy her stuff”. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a business owner express this sentiment to me, so I want to take some time in today’s post and debunk this idea once and forever. The truth is, not only do your customers want to hear from you, it’s actually bad customer service not to keep in touch with them!

Whenever I visit a trade show, I see many businesses making big mistakes in their vendor booths that make it more difficult for them to get leads. In order to keep you from making the same mistakes they do, today I thought I’d share five “best practices” to help you get more customers from trade shows, fairs, conferences, or any other situation involving the typical “vendor booth” scenario.

All too often, small business owners have a marketing plan akin to throwing darts at the wall and hoping something sticks. I recreated this experience in the form of a game, which I used as a conversation starter at my vendor booth at a small business expo. In this episode, I describe how the game helped business owners see the futility of this "dart-board" approach to marketing.

I was recently in a consultation with a small business owner–a local florist–and we were discussing how creating educational content for her business would help generate leads and customers. We were discussing how creating how-to videos, ebooks, and free workshops about creating great floral arrangements would help people get to know, like, and trust her. It was at that point in the conversation that she made this comment: “Kevin, if I create all of that content you’re suggesting, I’m going to give away all my secrets!”

In this episode, I discuss why this is not only a very good idea, but also essential to a successful marketing strategy.

I recently taught a small business marketing workshop for my local chamber of commerce, and in addition to the chamber it was sponsored by several local businesses. In return for helping promote and finance the event, the sponsors got their name and logo displayed on all promotional materials, and they were also allowed to distribute flyers or brochures to all the attendees. In addition, every sponsor was invited to send a representative to the workshop who was allowed to give a 2-minute commercial for their business to the 25-30 attendees.

Interestingly, only half the sponsors took advantage of the opportunity to distribute promotional materials and give a commercial for their business. I believe that the reason is that many businesses actually don’t understand the purpose of sponsorships or how to take full advantage of them, so in today’s episode I would like to discuss how to get more from your sponsorships.

When it comes to designing your small business website, you need to "think like a retailer". When a retail store is built, the layout is designed by psychologists to take advantage of the way that people think and act when they shop in a retail store. Their goal is to get people to spend more money while they're in the store. In today's episode, I teach you how to take advantage of the way that people think and act when they use the internet, so that you can get more leads from your website.

One very easy way to generate know, like and trust among prospective customers is making sure that when someone calls your business, they have a good experience on the phone. In this episode, I share some tips on how to increase the likelihood that this will happen.