Marketing

By Anissa Starnes, Director, National Organizations for Constant Contact

In the six years that I have been with Constant Contact I have presented to over 30,000 small business and nonprofits that have attended my seminars.  One recurring theme that I hear over and over from those in attendance is “I want to do email marketing and social media but I just don’t know what to write about.”  Have you ever felt that way?  If so, you are not alone.

I will let you in on a little secret. You don’t have to be the one that writes it! You just have to be able to recognize good content and share it. Most of us read a lot of information daily.  Some of it comes from social sites, newspapers, magazines, industry periodicals and even other people’s email newsletters.  The trick is when you read something that gets your own attention then ask yourself “would my audience get value from this if I shared it?”

If the answer is yes, then you have found good content.  Of course, you always want to give credit where credit is due and site the original source when sharing.  Good content is everywhere you just have to be on the lookout for it and it doesn’t have to be original to you. That makes it a lot easier, doesn’t it?

Here is a link to a blog post with some really great tips on content marketing:
blogs.constantcontact.com/content-marketing-help.

LSBDC drops old suit and goes red, white and blue

You’re not part of the team until you put the uniform on, and you’re not part of the family unless you share the name. The Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC) took note and dropped its old colors to join the America’s Small Business Development Center (America’s SBDC) network theme of red, white and blue, as part of a rebranding effort that was completed in May, 2015.

The rebranding was designed to connect closely with the national network, but the LSBDC mission remains the same – to provide comprehensive, high-quality assistance to small businesses, and to business entrepreneurs.

“Our new brand serves as a visual representation of the strong connection that we have with our national network of SBDCs across the country,” said Rande Kessler, LSBDC State Director.

The LSBDC worked with several Louisiana-based small businesses including Branded Company of Louisiana, LLC, to develop its print and digital collateral; NMD, Inc. & eMerge enhanced its web and social media presence; and Elephant Quilt Productions developed a series of training tutorials.  (more…)

The summer’s winding down and parents everywhere are on the hunt for the best deals on back-to-school shopping. You know what that means: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are right around the corner. Back-to-school is the perfect time for small businesses to get a jump-start on their holiday marketing – especially when 15% of consumers start their holiday shopping as early as July.

Here are some ways you can get an A+ on your back-to-school marketing:

Don’t miss the first day of school. As you’re reading this, your customers have already started shopping. In fact, according to Google Trends, “search interest started trending up a week earlier than last year and a whole three weeks earlier than 2013.” Make sure your online properties – your website, Google My Business listing, and social media profiles – are updated to showcase what you have to offer.

Do your homework. Remember when you had to do summer reading homework to prepare for the first day of school? As a small business owner, your summer assignment is to study what your customers are searching for on Google Trends. This will help you stock and advertise your products accordingly – and even help you get ahead of the curve for the holiday season. For example, according to Google Shopping Data search results, combat boots are out and Disney Vans are in.  (more…)