Your Product’s Early Adopters Might Not Be Who You Think They Are – Lessons from VeggieTales

When my sons were pre-schoolers, VeggieTales® — particularly the Silly Songs like “The Hairbrush Song,” “Song of the Cebu,” and “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” — were an integral part of our lives. So it was with great delight that I read Phil Vischer’s autobiography, Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, […]

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5 Important Tips for Choosing a Website Host

Connie Mace, blog manager for the Northwest Christian Writers Association, picked my brain about social media marketing questions that perplex writers and authors. This is Part 2 of a four-part series. Part 1: Essential Elements of a Powerful Online Presence (for Authors)   Connie Mace: Are there specific “beware of” signs when choosing a website […]

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Understand Your Customers’ Social Networking Habits (Slideshare Presentation)

Suppose from this moment on you were given the following two choices: You could never watch television again OR You could never use your smartphone again. Which would you be more willing to eliminate from your life? Axe the TV, said 64% of the 2,020 Americans interviewed for the 19th Edison/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Study. […]

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6 Tips for Author E-Newsletter Marketing

By Melissa K. Norris Guest Contributor If you’re an author your e-mail list is the most important thing you own. Because it’s the one list of contacts of potential customers you do own. If Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger crash, you’ve just lost all your contacts. To invite people to subscribe to your author e-newsletter, you […]

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Our School District Banned Flier Distribution. How Will We Survive?

When my sons were in elementary school, they brought home dozens of fliers per week that urged them to sign up for karate, junior cheerleaders, swimming lessons, crafts camp – you name it! The same set of fliers made their way out of my kids’ backpacks and into the recycling bin week after week. Our […]

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How to Grow Your Business through Giving Away Great Content (Review of ‘Launch’ and Book Giveaway Contest)

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Michael A. Stelzner doesn’t come right out and state the Golden Rule in his new book, Launch, but the Bible verse from Luke 6:31 is at the heart of every concept he teaches.

For those of us who’ve been targeted by oily marketers whose philosophy is, “Give as little unto others as possible while taking as much of their money as quickly as you can,” Stelzner’s principles are a welcome blast of fresh air.

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Blog Headline Writing Techniques: 4 Lessons Learned from ‘The Costco Connection’

Even the Big Guys struggle to write enticing headlines. The cover story of July’s issue of The Costco Connection focuses on “unconventional” Costco members. In his letter from the editor, David W. Fuller writes: “…We tried to boil down to a few words the concept of our cover story. In a full sentence, here is […]

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6 Critical Components of Your Online Marketing Plan

A novelist who writes romantic suspense has her first book deal in the works. Her primary goal is not what you’d expect. Instead of fretting about editing her manuscript, she’s focused on growing a strong brand identity. “I need a website, a blog and a Facebook page, and I need them now,” she announced to […]

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Want to Win ‘Launch’? Help Me Come Up With a Creative Giveaway Contest

I have been selected as one of 50 bloggers worldwide to review Michael A. Stelzner’s upcoming book, Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition. Part of my assignment is to think of a way to “creatively give away a copy” of the book to one of my followers. I thought I’d have […]

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8 Customer Service Lessons I Learned from ‘The Grocer’s Son’

When Antoine’s father has a stroke, Antoine – the prodigal son – reluctantly returns from life in the city to his rural French village and takes over the family store. None-too-happy to be time-warped to the past from which he’d tried to escape, the surly Antoine drives his father’s grocery van around the sparsely-populated countryside, […]

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