In a recent training session I was hosting, one of the delegates talked about her experience with a car dealership. She said that she had bought her car through the dealership and was very happy with the service she got.

Small businesses stand to benefit immensely by having a website of their own. The website becomes their biggest promoter, and an online presence can be the best marketing tool for their products and services.

Twenty years ago, we used to say that if a customer had a bad experience with a company, they would tell ten people.

I read it too – the story that appeared in the Herald on Sunday that says some of us can’t stomach unaddressed mail. Apparently each year mailboxes receive the equivalent in unaddressed mail to the weight of a year-old baby.

Hopefully your brand stands for quality, reliability and trust. Why should someone buy your product or service if they cannot rely upon or trust you?

Sometimes a business appears that just wins you over right away. For me that business is Book Depository. Have you heard of it?

PR and marketing are both used to improve profits, but they choose different roads to reach their destination. While marketing is comfortably understood, public relations is often overlooked among small business marketing ideas because of confusion about what it is and how it contributes to business success.

Does a seller (or buyer) really care how many properties a real estate agent has sold this year, or what the value of the properties they sold is.

There’s a lot of talk about using online social media platforms to grow your business by connecting directly with consumers. But should we be using these tools for B2B (Business to Business) marketing?

In the summer of 2008, I did not have a care in the world. I was working remotely from a small island in the Mediterranean, for my families telecommunication business, located in the suburbs of NYC.

Here are a list of vital questions you should be asking yourself before you appoint a marketing company to help your business:

So you’ve just mailed out your last DM campaign hoping to cajoule those guys (also known as prosects) one more time. Problem is you’re spending more from less budget to get less response.

Small businesses (19 or fewer employees) comprise 99% of New Zealand businesses and Dr. Kate Lewis (Research Associate of the NZ Centre for SME Research) predicts that the proportion of women business entrepreneurs is growing.

The most important marketing tactic ever devised is also the simplest. And it wasn’t invented by marketing people, but by business owners and sales people looking to grow their business the best, fastest, least expensive way possible.

It’s interesting that we all know that the best sort of business to get is Word of Mouth. You are automatically trusted. However, it is often the case in New Zealand, that we don’t like to refer people on, or give names to others in business.

As an Expo exhibitor and visitor, it often surprises me how little thought seems to be put into preparation of the stand, and how unprepared the sales team can be who are on the stand.

In the UK, Mothercare holds the enviable position of being a brand synonymous with new mums as the number one destination for all things baby and toddler-related.

Now is the Winter of our discontent” proclaimed Richard III in his opening speeach of the Shakespeare play but what do you think? Are you looking at a winter of content or discontent for your business?

Giapo, in support of World Malaria Day decided to donate all revenue earned between 3pm and 4pm on the 25th of April 2010 to UNICEF NZ.

Would you let an untrained builder renovate your home? What about a plumber on your bathroom?