One of the greatest opportunities to get media coverage - for any size company - is when a national story occurs. When that national story is a tragedy or disaster, however, companies must walk a fine line with their publicity-grabbing intentions so as to not be seen taking advantage or profiting off the disaster. HoundDogs, a Tennessee-based clothing retailer that sells a variety of licensed gear...

We all love presents, right? Of course. Think about the times you’ve received a gift from a vendor. It probably made you smile, and you likely felt it was pretty thoughtful (unless you got fruitcake. Then you might have felt confused). Now think what you did after you got the gift. Did you buy from that company again? I bet you did. Now flip that around. By giving gifts to your clients and custo...

As a marketing consultant to small and mid-sized companies nationwide, I spend a great deal of time talking to business owners about the importance of marketing and communications, and the tremendous value these functions can deliver for their enterprises – but only when orchestrated strategically and effectively. As part of these discussions, I often ask if a dedicated marketing plan is in plac...

Everyone writes and blogs about trends and predictions for the coming year, so we’ll join the crowd. John Arnold wrote about 10 online marketing trends for 2010 on Entrepreneur.com. We’d like to list them here and debate whether or not we agree with his assessment to “test, invest or rest” the tactics. Many we agree on but there are a few we disagree with so here’s ou...

Is your small business a franchise, or are you interested in running a franchise? If so then you don’t want to miss the #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, from 8-9 pm ET. Join the first #smbiz chat of the new year for a special session focused on running a franchise. Joel Libava, The Franchise King, will be our special guest answering all kinds of questions that pertain to operati...

Here’s an example of a company creating a completely out-of-the-box idea by mixing in a little creativity, a little timeliness and a whole lotta controversy resulting in some incredible publicity. Too bad some thought the ingredients proved only to result in bad taste rather than a successful publicity stunt for small business. A Georgia funeral home received a lot of publicity this week wit...