Why Content Marketing Is King
When it comes to marketing strategies, content marketing has just been crowned king, far surpassing search engine marketing, public relations and even print, television and radio advertising as the preferred marketing tool for today's business-to-business entrepreneur.
Late this summer, HiveFire, a Cambridge, Mass.-based internet marketing software solutions company, surveyed nearly 400 marketing professionals about the state of the business-to-business, or B2B, market, and discovered that marketers are retreating from traditional marketing tactics such as search marketing and have made content marketing the most-used tactic in their brand-enhancing tool box. Fact is, according to HiveFire's
B2B Marketing Trends Survey Report, twice as many B2B marketers now employ content marketing as they do print, TV and radio advertising, according to the survey.
So what exactly is content marketing? It's the creation and publication of original content -- including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos -- for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand's visibility, and putting the company's subject matter expertise on display. HiveFire's researchers found that an impressive 82 percent of B2B marketers now employ content marketing as a strategy in their marketing programs. Coming in at a distant second place is search engine marketing at 70 percent, followed by events at 68 percent, public relations at 64 percent and print/TV/radio advertising at 32 percent.
Seventy-eight percent of respondents said driving sales and leads was the top marketing goal of their organization, followed by boosting brand awareness and establishing or maintaining thought leadership (both at 35 percent). Another 28 percent said their primary goal was to increase web traffic and 24 percent said it was to improve search results.
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Three Questions to Answer Before You Write a Business Plan
I was at a small-business fair recently and had a ground-level conversation with a woman right at the very beginning of a business plan. As we talked, I realized she was struggling with three vital questions she had to answer before she could get into the rest of the plan. I told her to think hard about the following before going further.
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American Software & Computers Announces a New Lease Program for CreditStar Credit Finance Management Software for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.
(ALBUQUERQUE, NM) American Software is making it easier for small and medium-sized retail businesses to start their own financing departments. Leasing CreditStar software is an easy way to get started in financing and considerably increase profits in your company without increasing sales. Company President Richard Hadad says, "Many companies are anxious to get started in financing and with our low cost leasing program, it's easy and inexpensive to add CreditStar to their business. They already have the personnel, a desk and a computer. One person can easily manage up to 2000 accounts. By leasing, it's easy and inexpensive to add CreditStar to their business.
Hadad says CreditStar has been developed with small and medium-sized businesses in mind. With CreditStar, flexible finance plans such as "90 days same as cash" or "no interest for 2 years" are simple to set up for your customers. Available add-ons for CreditStar are: Letter and Contract Writing, Default Interest Up-Rate, and Credit Bureau Data Reporting.
About American Software & Computers: Since 1986, American Software & Computers, headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been totally committed to its flagship product, CreditStar. The company's experienced staff is dedicated to its continual development and improvement as a state-of-the-art consumer credit financing software. Contact: Richard Hadad at 1-800-617-8271 or www.CreditStarSoftware.com . Mention MainStreetChamber for special pricing.
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10 Secrets of Successful Leaders
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” But, becoming a great leader isn’t easy. Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces.
Leadership is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs tend to overlook, according leadership coach John C. Maxwell, whose books include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 1998) and Developing the Leader Within You (Thomas Nelson, 1993).
“You work hard to develop your product or service. You fight to solve your financial issues. You go out and promote your business and sell your product. But you don't think enough about leading your own people and finding the best staff,” Maxwell says.
It turns out, the skills and talents necessary to guide your team in the right direction can be simple, and anyone with the determination can develop them. Here’s a list of 10 tips drawn from the secrets of successful leaders.
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