Last Christmas, I did a video blog featuring four terrible and hilarious ideas for Christmas gifts.  These were products that were so bad that if their creators tried to hire me as a marketing consultant, I'd probably have to turn them down.  The products included things like glow-in-the-dark toilet paper and a watermelon cooler (complete with wheels and a handle). 

This year, I'm asking you, my listeners and viewers, to submit products you find that fall into this "terrible and hilarious" category.  The person who submits the best (or should I say, worst) product will be declared the winner, and will get a lifetime membership in my marketing catalyst group coaching program.  The entries will be judged on the following criteria: number of uses (the fewer the better), possible frequency of use (the less frequent the better), size (the larger and more difficult to store the better), and cost (the more expensive, the better). 

Submit your entries by posting them to the RMC Facebook page, sending an email to [email protected], or filling out the form at redpointmarketingconsultants.com/marketingminute.

One sure way to increase your sales is by directly tying your product or service to a pain point that your target audience has.  In today's episode, I give you a few suggestions as to how you can go about doing that, and why you should--in this particular case--try to cause your potential customers to experience a bit of pain and discomfort. 

http://www.feedastarvingcrowd.com -- Robert Coorey, my special guest on today's show, teaches us how to get people to attend live events we put on to promote our businesses.  In addition to being the author of the best-selling book Feed a Starving Crowd, Robert once nearly broke the world record for webinar attendance...so, when it comes to event marketing, Robert knows his stuff!  Visit his website to download a free copy of his book and learn more about his business.

Everything related to your business says something about who you are--at that includes your social media profiles.  When your business doesn't maintain your socail media profiles and update them on a regular basis, not only are they not helping you...they're actually hurting you, by giving the impression that you don't finish what you started.  In today's episode, I discuss what I call the "social media ghost town" effect and how you can avoid it.

Publishing educational content about your business has never been more important than it is today.  In today's episode, I tell you how to make 2015 the year that you finally get that content produced by creating a publishing calendar.

WWYCD--That's short for "What Would Your Customer Do?"  That's the question you should ask yourself every time you make a marketing-related decision about your business.  That includes things like how you price your products, what incentives you use to motivate your customers to give you referrals, to what types of educational content you produce.  In today's episode, I give some examples of how to use this question in your decision-making process--and how getting the answer wrong can hurt you. 

Sometimes, being a small business owner can be a thankless and lonely job.  I think it's important, every now an then, to take a step back and remember why it is that we do what we do.  So, on this eve of Thanksgiving 2014, I thought I'd list a few of the things that I'm thankful for when it comes to owning a business:

Perhaps some things on my list will also be things on your list, or perhaps reading my list will prompt you to think of some reasons of your own.  In the case of the latter, please share what you're thankful for by leaving a comment on this blog post.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week on the show, I talked about the importance of allowing people to "try out" your business before making a purchase.  Today, I talk about the next step in the marketing hourglass--"buy".  I give you three tips about how you can make sure the first financial transaction someone has with your business goes smoothly. 

The holiday season is upon us, and for many businesses this is a very busy and very important time of the year.  For retailers the implications are obvious, and you should have completed your fourth-quarter marketing plan months ago.  However, if you own a service-based business, there are ways that you can leverage this season to get new customers also.  In today's episode, I give you three suggestions for how you can go about doing this, while helping some people in need at the same time. 

This week in the mail, I got a copy of my local Yellow Pages directory.  As usual, it's full of examples of really terrible small business advertising and marketing, most of which is probably not doing anything at all to generate leads for the businesses who are paying for it.  In today's episode, I go on a little bit of a rant about the Yellow Pages and what mistakes businesses make when advertising in that directory.