The Key to Your Marketing Kingdom Essential in today’s marketplace (ok, any marketplace, anywhere, ever) is that your consumer must know, like and trust you in order to buy from you. No trust, no leap of faith, no purchase. Social media marketing, publicity and content marketing can all be great assets to you and your business. The more you see something, the more familiar you feel with it. People can

How to Use Your Lemonade Stand Experience to Succeed in Business Lemonade stands have been teaching kids about how to run a business for generations. Remember the old Peanuts cartoon where Lucy dispenses advice instead of drinks for five cents, and then Snoopy undercuts her for two cents? Even if your neighborhood was less competitive growing up, your first experience with being an entrepreneur probably made a lasting impression. Some

DO YOU KNOW YOUR MARKETING ACRONYMS? Marketers at every level enjoy bandying about a few trendy acronyms to explain their work. Here are some of our favorites: Baby Marketer CTA, CTR, CMS YA Marketer TOFU, MOFU, BOFU Mature Marketer ICP Boomer Marketing Boss Whitepaper And here’s what they all stand for – CTA – Call to ActionCTR – Click Through Rate  =  clicks ÷ impressions = CTR.CMS – Content Management

Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Known. 5 Easy SEO Strategies to Use in Your Marketing and PR Campaigns There is nothing worse in business than doing great work and having no one see it. Businesses that can’t be found today are doomed to fail tomorrow. Search engine optimization helps your content rank higher in search engine results and makes it more visible online.  All hail the mighty force of Google.

WHY IMAGINARY PEOPLE DON’T BUY Marketing works well when it’s targeted, but you need know who you are selling to. For that to happen every business needs to know their customer avatar. But what is that exactly? Customer Avatar An avatar is a representation of a person who is real and has real problems that you can solve. You need to work out where this person lives, what they want,

ARE YOU THE PROBLEM WITH YOUR MARKETING? In marketing you need commitment, consistency and a plan. At Black Ink PR we are dedicated to helping small and medium businesses that need to outsource their marketing. We’re like a CMO for those who don’t have full time staff, the resources or can’t manage it themselves. But no matter who is doing your marketing, you still need to show up and participate in some

7 STEPS TO EFFECTIVE MARKETING Marketing your business goes beyond presenting a product or service to the public for purchase. Consumers today are not content to buy what you market just because you tell them to. They research on their own, on their own time, before making the purchase decision. Here are some tips to help you create and execute an effective marketing plan. 1. Research your market Still to

Reputation Marketing will help take your business to the next level! Good reputation marketing means money for the rest of your life. You should never underestimate the cost of a poor reputation. If you don’t have a good reputation now, you might as well be out of business. A good reputation in today’s business world is more than your mom in high school saying don’t wear your skirt too short.

MARKETING LESSONS FROM PT BARNUM   “Without promotion something terrible happens. Nothing!” declared Phineas Taylor Barnum, 19th century entertainer, businessman and circus king. And he was right. When he passed away in 1891 at the age of 80, he was so well known, he was given more column inches than any other celebrity who had lived before him. So how did the man known as “the Shakespeare of Advertising” make

LESSONS FROM KATHY GRIFFIN: FORGET KNOCKING ON DOORS, WHERE’S YOUR SIDE WINDOW?   It took the comedian Kathy Griffin a long time to find success. She knocked on hundreds of showbiz doors until in her own words, she found ‘the side window’ and phenomenal success followed. Until then, no matter how hard she tried, as a square peg in a round hole who didn’t fit the regular stand-up comedy mold