Effective small-business marketing relies less on direct promotion and more on delivering value. Constant ads feel self-serving and create shallow, transactional relationships. Instead, owners should educate, inform, and sometimes entertain by sharing useful expertise that solves real problems – like nutrition tips from a health coach or home-care advice from a real estate agent. This positions them as trusted authorities and builds goodwill. A suggested ratio is one direct sales post for every nine educational pieces. Thoughtful, appropriate humor – especially self-deprecating – can further strengthen emotional connection and memorability.

A small business “uncommoditizes” itself when it embraces its uniqueness and abandons “me too, but cheaper!” approaches. Your brand us unique. You have a singular personality, perspective and approach to business. You have a distinctive passion for solving problems and helping customers. You can call it your signature brand identity. No one can co-opt it. This one-of-a-kind business persona should be the starting point of all your marketing messages.

Many businesses overspend on attracting new customers while neglecting the ones they already have. When introductory discounts end and service stays poor, customers leave, fueling an expensive “churn and burn” cycle. A smarter strategy: deliver reliable service, reward loyalty, and build long-term relationships.

Creating or re-launching a website can be a herculean endeavor. But once it’s done, you can walk away, right? I have to be honest: Expect to remain engaged in your website marketing efforts. It’s not one-and-done. It’s to-do, never to-done. Pace yourself for a long-term approach so you can reap long-term rewards.

Creating or re-launching a website can be a herculean endeavor. But once it’s done, you can walk away, right? I have to be honest: Expect to remain engaged in your website marketing efforts. It’s not one-and-done. It’s to-do, never to-done. Pace yourself for a long-term approach so you can reap long-term rewards.

Today, it’s easy to design your own logo. But should you? A logo will appear on real estate ranging from business cards to billboards. It’s intended to be a standalone representation of the excellence behind your brand. Graphic design isn’t merely the discipline of putting whimsical notions into digital form. There’s science and research behind colors, shapes and fonts that introduce your business to the public. Don’t “cheap out” on your brand’s first impression.

If a small-business or nonprofit had to choose between excellent service and winsome branding, service would win every time. Cool branding and crummy service is not a sustainable combo. Fortunately, no one has to make this choice. Stellar branding complements the quality work that’s already happening, opening the door to new customers.

Despite technological advances, the most effective advertising continues to be word of mouth. Personal referrals remain golden. What’s different today is how customers share the word about your business. Harnessing the power of traditional word-of-mouth with today's technology can help you get in front of more prosects than ever.

Despite technological advances, the most effective advertising continues to be word of mouth. Personal referrals remain golden. What’s different today is how customers share the word about your business. Harnessing the power of traditional word-of-mouth with today's technology can help you get in front of more prosects than ever.

“Bang for the buck” is a phrase we’re familiar with. Small businesses and nonprofits have little margin to waste money on costly marketing experiments. In what I call Molotov marketing, free and cheap methods are used to establish a broad, budget-friendly footprint. This approach conserves resources, allows you to measure what works and to determine what you actually have time to manage.

Small businesses and nonprofits need a clear understanding of their goals before they spend money and time on marketing. They should be able to answer the question, "What does success look like?" before they start cutting checks. Sometimes reflection is in order to arrive at the answer, but it's time well spent. It's what you must know before you spend your dough.

“Small Business, Big Impact” is a practical, action-oriented guide for small businesses and nonprofits that want to do more with less. It offers straightforward advice to help business owners and nonprofits clarify their marketing goals, build their brand presence, prioritize customer needs, and embrace continual improvement.

Fascination with the latest, greatest thing and impatience with implementation are common in marketing circles. However, a commitment to methodically achieving sustainable goals is more likely to result in success.

It’s often said that you should never meet your heroes. Inevitably, when we get close enough, we find that they disappoint. But perhaps we shouldn’t place them on pedestals they were never willingly climb upon. And what if the real heroes were a lot closer than we think?

I’m not an easy audience member to win over. As a card-carrying member of Generation X, I’m always on the lookout for posers, narcissists and empty suits. But Joel Goldberg, a Royals reporter, author and speaker, caused me to (temporarily) trash my cynical paradigm with his presentation on Building Trust. How did he convert me?

This sign is the gold standard in notices about public facilities. It addresses the problem in a forthright but humorous way and redirects shoppers to an alternative method of transportation. It treats people like … well, people! So often these communiques read like terse bureaucratic notes from a cranky Nanny. Good show Network Rail!

There’s a great deal of hand wringing as well as hype about AI. Here’s what I have found works, and doesn’t, in my role as a marketer.

It’s shocking how often marketers don’t use their secret weapon. And what is that? Storytelling. But not just any story. As brand communicators we must be telling dynamic stories about how our products and services solve thorny problems for real people. No matter our industry, people’s problems are real. But instead of writing a real-life page turner, brands usually devolve into sharing indecipherable corporate gobbledygook that no one will ever read. Ready for a change?

Never blindly delegate or spend your way out of critical decisions about promoting your business.

Dr. Dan Erickson invested in life’s most valuable asset: people.