The Internet runs rampant with Business Review opportunities. Every site on which you can list your business online offers users the convenience of adding a review, regardless of whether you have paid a fee to list your business or have chosen their free listing option. And while the universal need for positive reviews has generated [...]

Google AdWords have scared me for years. The expectation that costs would be astronomical, especially for a small business, have kept me on the sidelines. While I’ve spent an entire lifetime managing marketing for a wide variety of professionals and entrepreneurs, Google has only been around for the past decade or so. But in that [...]

The doorbell rings. It’s 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. At the door is the mailman with a registered letter. In my experience, this is usually bad news. But I have to admit, this one took me completely by surprise. Let me explain. About six months ago, our local paper had printed a story about a writing [...]

On a recent Wednesday night, I had 173 Facebook ‘like’ votes on my website. On the following Thursday morning that number had inexplicably dropped to 151. I watch my website’s ‘like’ vote tally on a daily basis. Having only had that button on my website for fewer than six months, it gives me hope that [...]

It used to be 15 minutes of fame. Today, it’s down to our two cents’ worth. That’s what we’re all about. We’re a culture seeking recognition, any way we can get it. Whether we use Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Constant Comment – we’re all vying for attention, a little spot in the limelight, if only [...]

Fed up with his webmaster and an ongoing list of SEO excuses, a new prospective client asked me advice on what to do about his lack of presence in Google search results. A little research was in order. Using the usual terms for his industry, I found him nowhere on Google, just as he had [...]

If you sell products online, you’ve no doubt wondered about eBay and Amazon. Is it worth it to set up shop on either of these sites, given the steep commissions they charge? I’ve been managing my client’s e-commerce on Amazon for the past five years and on eBay for the past three. Both sites sell [...]

After 37 years of marketing experience, I can tell you one thing, there are certain words that clients do not like to hear. I call them the dirty words of marketing because when they appear on an invoice, clients don’t like it one bit. One of these words is “design” or, heaven forbid, “graphic design.” [...]

As we all know, e-mail marketing ranks as one of the best values in business promotion. It’s hard to beat its cost which, in some cases, can be free and it intrigues many as something with which to experiment. Unfortunately, without knowledge of a few essential safeguards, the whole effort can easily be an exercise [...]

What’s in a name? When it came to my own, it seemed not much. I am not a celebrity and my name is not exactly one which has any particular significance other than being unusual. At least, that’s what I thought until someone or something hijacked it to use it as their own author name [...]

A couple of years ago, one of my clients asked me to come up with some advertising concepts for his custom publishing services. I remember telling him his customers wouldn’t know what ‘custom publishing’ is. Fast forward to last week’s call from the same client telling me the national organization for custom publishing just changed [...]

Google has me in its grip. With every new day, I am subjected to some new persecution for which there seems to be no escape. As some of you may know from previous articles I have written on the subject, for months I have been pursuing how to get those golden stars to appear next [...]

There must be something wrong with me. The whole world is gaga over social media. But I just don’t get it. And neither do my clients. I understand the concept and the value in today’s world of search rankings. But you’ve lost me on how it benefits me as a person or as a business. [...]

“Time is money.” That’s what a client said to me recently in regard to my charges for which he was expressing compassion. He has since been ousted by his board of directors, losing his annual $425,000 salary and his purpose in life: saving a pharmaceutical company from bankruptcy. While I am sorry for his hardship, [...]

I’m seeing stars before my eyes. Right on the Google SERPs! Golden 5-star ratings on certain search results have me in a tizzy. You’d think I’d be content to know that those star ratings belong only on rating sites. Never. Why can’t my website be a rated site as well, I wonder? Voilà. My newest [...]