» small business marketing

Jun

Three Budget-Friendly Summer Marketing Ideas for Your New Hampshire Business

By: Heather Clifford Category: Marketing Tags: New Hampshire farmers markets, New Hampshire parades, small business marketing, summer promotions

1) Join the parade! Small-town parades are a fun part of life in New Hampshire. And with some “floats” consisting of little more than a decorated trailer, everyone can join in!

Jan

Do You Know Your Target Audience as Well as the Tourism Folks in Jerome, Arizona Do?

By: Heather Clifford Category: Marketing Tags: Jerome Arizona, Jerome ghost tours, small business demographics, small business marketing, target audience

Some places advertise their sunsets or beaches. Others promote their hiking trails. Or local wineries. Or ski slopes. Or great shopping and nightlife. The historic (and, some say, haunted) mining town of Jerome, Arizona welcomes visitors with the announcement, “ROAD OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR.” What a great example of knowing your target audience!

Jan

Paul Rand and the Perfect Small-Business Logo

By: Heather Clifford Category: Design, Marketing Tags: Art for Water, Carolyn Davidson, Fields of Ambrosia, International Business Machines, logo concept, Paul Rand, Rindge Rec Department, small business logo, small business marketing

Should your logo sell you and your product or service? Or should it identify who you are? 20th-century graphic design pioneer Paul Rand insisted that a logo’s purpose is not to sell. Its purpose is to identify. Picture the IBM logo. Would you have any idea what “IBM” stands for if you didn’t already know what it stands for? Rand …

Feb

Why You NEED to Start Sending Out Postcards

By: Heather Clifford Category: Marketing Tags: postcard design, small business mailings, small business marketing

I wrote recently about “How NOT to Design a Postcard.” Today I’m giving you four good reasons to start using these marketing tools now. 1) Postcards are a cost-effective use of your marketing dollars. Newspaper ads and radio ads are beyond the budget of many small-business owners. But almost any business can afford postcards – which offer a big impact …

Jan

3 Things to Change About Your Attitude Towards Marketing in 2015

By: Heather Clifford Category: Marketing Tags: follow-up mailing, small business marketing, word-of-mouth advertising

Skip the resolutions list this year. Many small-business owners would grow their companies more in 2015 – and find greater work-life balance to boot – by making a few small attitude changes about marketing. Which one of these sentences have you found yourself saying in the last year?

Oct

How NOT to Design a Postcard

By: Heather Clifford Category: Design, Marketing Tags: graphic design mistakes, postcard mailings, professional postcard design, small business marketing

Thanks to today’s software and online options, it’s pretty easy for anyone to design and print postcards on their own. Yet the process can still be filled with pitfalls for those without a graphic design background. Below are some of the most common errors – any of which just screams “amateur hour.” And that’s an especially big problem if you’re …