By Samantha Matz Halloween is right around the corner, and it is an excellent opportunity to market your company. As an SMB owner, you may have a minimal marketing budget, so you must seize inexpensive ways to get the word about your brand, products and services. With holidays like this, you can promote your business in a fun way and interact with the community and potential customers. In the process, you attract new customers and garner more sales! Here are five quick and simple ideas to help you create a marketing strategy for Halloween: Host a Pumpkin Carving Contest Carving [...]

By Samantha Matz Although technology is everchanging, PPC (Pay Per Click) ads such as Google AdWords and Facebook Ads remain one of the most effective ways to move the needle on sales almost immediately. Whether you want to drive traffic to a landing page or have customers make calls directly – online ads work! They work even better if you know how to write compelling ad copy. Here are three quick tips to consider: Include Emotional Sparks in your Ad The best advertising connects with the potential customer on an emotional level. It can be something that makes them laugh, [...]

By Annie Urban After the past two years, getting involved with positive charitable organizations is more critical than ever for small businesses. Consumers’ loyalty goes beyond product satisfaction – consumers want to support companies that support the causes they care about. Time-challenged business owners can support social causes as a brand through an Instagram campaign. Here’s how: Be Authentic If you’re going to spend the time publicly aligning your brand with a specific social cause, it is crucial that you actually support that cause and believe in the work being done. When you believe in a cause and care about [...]

TLC Marketing Consultants announced today that it had received three new certifications from Kansas City, MO - Small Local Business Enterprise, Women Business Enterprise and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. A Small Local Business Enterprise certification is given to a business that meets specific criteria and is owned and operated by one or more persons. The Women Business Enterprise certification is given to an independent company that is at least 51% owned and managed by one or more women. A Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification has the purpose of providing assistance and services to minority, disadvantaged and women-owned business enterprises to increase their [...]

By Annie Urban Building a consistent online presence may seem intimidating and time-consuming for small business owners with everyday time demands to handle daily operations. And even if time allows, many owners become frustrated trying to stay on top of new trends emerging on a virtually weekly basis, ever-increasing social platforms and the wide variety of content out there in the "social world." One way to dial down the stress level of managing your social media if you can't afford to hire someone to do it, whether in-house or using a social media marketing agency, is to use a scheduling [...]

By Annie Urban Humor is an effective tool in the world of marketing. Laughter is one of the best medicines, and in today’s society, people often look to social media to get their daily dose of it. So why not add some humor to your social plans? Before you get started, make sure you decide what is appropriate and inappropriate for your company; all businesses have a line, but that line’s location varies. For instance, a dog groomer has far more latitude in marketing than a medical oncologist might; cancer just isn’t funny. Here are some reasons why humor is [...]

By Clare McNeeley Good customer service is a big piece of the sales equation. According to a Wunderman study, 79% of customers will buy from brands they believe care about their customers. For SMB owners, putting a strong focus on customer service is essential to growth. Here are some quick tips to help you along the way. Name to name basis Talk to your customer as you would friend – conversationally – which builds trust. Customers do not want to hear a script about a product. Asking your customer’s name and using it also builds familiarity and goodwill. Relate to [...]

By Clare McNeeley Are you struggling to grow Followers on your SMB’s social media? Or, maybe you aren’t seeing the engagement you want with your posts. Perhaps you have people unfollowing you with frequency. Growing successful media channels takes time, strategy and passion. That said, there are a handful of simple things to avoid as you get started. Do not post about politics. This is a sure way to lose followers. As divided as our country currently is in this area, there is a pretty good chance of offending roughly half of your customers with any political post. Remember, your [...]

By Clare McNeeley Finding a great salesperson is not an easy task today. Some people maintain great salespersons are born, not developed. The truth may lie somewhere in between. So how do you go about recruiting and hiring that one in a million salesperson? Here are a few quick ideas to help you on your way. Connecting with your customers is a critical piece of the puzzle. You want to hire someone who can genuinely connect with your customers. People buy from people they like, respect, and trust to solve their pain points. A candidate may have an impressive sales [...]