Power to the Small Business | Branding / Marketing Plans & Ideas / Social Media / Customer Experience Design / Digital Marketing

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Holly Kolman. Holly is passionate about the coming mobile revolution. She tracks it, writes about it, and advises on it on her blog: Mobienthusiast. Are you prepared for the coming mobile revolution? You should prepare because it gets closer with each passing month and each new iPhone sold. The good news is you can prepare rather easily and Holly's going to tell us how. What you are getting in this episode is short, concise, and yet so important to reaching your customers in the future. There are very few opportunities to be the first in the game, this is one of those opportunities. The opportunity is called the mobile web. The Mobile Web vs. The Desktop Web: More than 270 million smart phones will be sold worldwide next year. Smart phones are those web-enabled mobile phones like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Moto Q. As the use of smart phones rise, so will the use of the mobile web. That's a great opportunity for the small business, but it's also a challenge. Websites display differently on mobile devices than they do on your desktop or laptop screen. The desktop web is a long, graphic-rich, application intensive experience. That won't work on a mobile device because that website will take forever to load. And it will look like a jumbled mess on the mobile screen when it does load. But what to do? Holly thinks you should develop a mobile website as a companion to your existing site. Holly Kolman shares with us some basic tips on mobile web design. Learn what you need to be doing right now to prepare for the mobile revolution.

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Holly Kolman. Holly is passionate about the coming mobile revolution. She tracks it, writes about it, and advises on it on her blog: Mobienthusiast. Are you prepared for the coming mobile revolution? You should prepare because it gets closer with each passing month and each new iPhone sold. The good news is you can prepare rather easily and Holly's going to tell us how. What you are getting in this episode is short, concise, and yet so important to reaching your customers in the future. There are very few opportunities to be the first in the game, this is one of those opportunities. The opportunity is called the mobile web. The Mobile Web vs. The Desktop Web: More than 270 million smart phones will be sold worldwide next year. Smart phones are those web-enabled mobile phones like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Moto Q. As the use of smart phones rise, so will the use of the mobile web. That's a great opportunity for the small business, but it's also a challenge. Websites display differently on mobile devices than they do on your desktop or laptop screen. The desktop web is a long, graphic-rich, application intensive experience. That won't work on a mobile device because that website will take forever to load. And it will look like a jumbled mess on the mobile screen when it does load. But what to do? Holly thinks you should develop a mobile website as a companion to your existing site. Holly Kolman shares with us some basic tips on mobile web design. Learn what you need to be doing right now to prepare for the mobile revolution.

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Jim Morris. Jim creates compelling, evocative advertising. He also writes a weekly column for the Advertising for Peanuts blog. His specialty is creating taglines. His most famous tagline is for Flintstones Children's Vitamins: We Are Flintstones Kids, Ten Million Strong . . . And Growing. Jim has created taglines for both large and small companies. I asked Jim about the importance of having a tagline. He believes that a good tagline is the single-most powerful, condensed, compact expression of your brand that you can have. Taglines are show their value when you need to get your brand in front of people and connect with them in little space and time. The tagline is the first articulation of your brand. However, taglines are not explanations and they shouldn't tell a long story. It needs to encapsulate the feeling you want people to have about you. For that reason, you should take great care in creating one. The key is having a clear sense of what your brand is. Listen to the podcast to hear the do's and don'ts of tagline creation. Then go to the blog to see more show notes and comment on the episode: TheMarketingSpot.blogspot.com

On this episode of Power to the Small Business, we welcome Jim Morris. Jim creates compelling, evocative advertising. He also writes a weekly column for the Advertising for Peanuts blog. His specialty is creating taglines. His most famous tagline is for Flintstones Children's Vitamins: We Are Flintstones Kids, Ten Million Strong . . . And Growing. Jim has created taglines for both large and small companies. I asked Jim about the importance of having a tagline. He believes that a good tagline is the single-most powerful, condensed, compact expression of your brand that you can have. Taglines are show their value when you need to get your brand in front of people and connect with them in little space and time. The tagline is the first articulation of your brand. However, taglines are not explanations and they shouldn't tell a long story. It needs to encapsulate the feeling you want people to have about you. For that reason, you should take great care in creating one. The key is having a clear sense of what your brand is. Listen to the podcast to hear the do's and don'ts of tagline creation. Then go to the blog to see more show notes and comment on the episode: TheMarketingSpot.blogspot.com

One of the most pervasive, misused marketing techniques is building artificial communities. That's because many online businesses fancy themselves the next Facebook, Twitter, or the early years of AOL. What results is a steady stream of friend requests to a constant deluge of new web communities. It's really impossible to keep up. And it's not very effective. The new wave of community builders doesn't really understand what building a community is all about. Marketers don't help by presenting community as the magic marketing tool. But good news; we found two local business owners that have built successful communities. These communities are not about friend requests, they're about enhancing the customer experience. On Episode 13 of Power to the Small Business, we talk to two entrepreneurs who have built successful communities. Eric Brown is Founder of Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, Michigan and he uses both online and offline elements to build a hip community of young adults in his eclectic brand of apartments. Gina Ford is owner of The Grape Wine Bistro in Waco, Texas and has built her community the old-fashioned way: through customer involvement and without the internet.

One of the most pervasive, misused marketing techniques is building artificial communities. That's because many online businesses fancy themselves the next Facebook, Twitter, or the early years of AOL. What results is a steady stream of friend requests to a constant deluge of new web communities. It's really impossible to keep up. And it's not very effective. The new wave of community builders doesn't really understand what building a community is all about. Marketers don't help by presenting community as the magic marketing tool. But good news; we found two local business owners that have built successful communities. These communities are not about friend requests, they're about enhancing the customer experience. On Episode 13 of Power to the Small Business, we talk to two entrepreneurs who have built successful communities. Eric Brown is Founder of Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak, Michigan and he uses both online and offline elements to build a hip community of young adults in his eclectic brand of apartments. Gina Ford is owner of The Grape Wine Bistro in Waco, Texas and has built her community the old-fashioned way: through customer involvement and without the internet.

Howard Schultz rode in on his white horse in January to reclaim his throne as CEO of Starbucks. It wasn't just the media anointing Schultz, Howard put himself front and center and promised to return Starbucks to its glory. In his first Transformation Agenda Communication, Schultz listed as one of his priorities: "Re-igniting our emotional attachment with our customers by restoring the connection our customers have with you, our coffee, our brand, and our stores." The fact that Schultz called his communication a "Transformation Agenda" hinted of big things to come. Naturally, most people expected a transformation, including me. We are now four months into the transformation and it is difficult to see the re-ignition of emotional attachment that Schultz promised. Granted, Schultz didn't promise immediate results. Instead, he said it was a 12-18 month timetable. But exactly where is Stabucks positioned on Howard's transformation time line? Becky Carroll of Customers Rock! and I have teamed up to reExperience Starbucks and blog about the transformation. Becky joins us for episode 12 of Power to the Small Business to discuss the Starbucks transformation status.

Howard Schultz rode in on his white horse in January to reclaim his throne as CEO of Starbucks. It wasn't just the media anointing Schultz, Howard put himself front and center and promised to return Starbucks to its glory. In his first Transformation Agenda Communication, Schultz listed as one of his priorities: "Re-igniting our emotional attachment with our customers by restoring the connection our customers have with you, our coffee, our brand, and our stores." The fact that Schultz called his communication a "Transformation Agenda" hinted of big things to come. Naturally, most people expected a transformation, including me. We are now four months into the transformation and it is difficult to see the re-ignition of emotional attachment that Schultz promised. Granted, Schultz didn't promise immediate results. Instead, he said it was a 12-18 month timetable. But exactly where is Stabucks positioned on Howard's transformation time line? Becky Carroll of Customers Rock! and I have teamed up to reExperience Starbucks and blog about the transformation. Becky joins us for episode 12 of Power to the Small Business to discuss the Starbucks transformation status.

Dan Roam, Author of The Back of the Napkin How much would you pay to become creative and innovative? You may only need to pay $16.47. That's the Amazon price of Dan Roam's new book: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Roam contends that any problem can be solved with what he calls "visual thinking," a simple system of drawing. Don't like your drawing ability? That's ok, because Roam says it's not artistic ability that matters. It's time to open your mind to new possibilities and opportunities with visual thinking.

Dan Roam, Author of The Back of the Napkin How much would you pay to become creative and innovative? You may only need to pay $16.47. That's the Amazon price of Dan Roam's new book: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Roam contends that any problem can be solved with what he calls "visual thinking," a simple system of drawing. Don't like your drawing ability? That's ok, because Roam says it's not artistic ability that matters. It's time to open your mind to new possibilities and opportunities with visual thinking.