The internet is filled with phoneys, and charlatans claiming to be well-versed in the dark arts of repairing companies and brands. A few searches and clicks will bring you to the door step of companies that claim to specialize in generating content that will make your business look better. Similar in nature to “article spinning”, which we’ve written about before, it should be avoided at all costs. While there are many methods and services that will provide small business owner.... read more

Over the last year, the online marketing community has been abuzz with talk about using negative press to boost one's rankings in search engines like Google. It all started with a New York Times story about a man whose horrible customer service skills and illegal actions had supposedly boosted his rankings in the search engines. The general proposition was that links are good for search engine rankings, and making people extremely angry is one way to get them to link to your site. The issue a.... read more

So you've decided to look in to creating a website for your business. You've looked at various options, met with multiple designers, and been quoted a whole range of prices. Chances are, the expense is likely to be one of the considerations you will take in to account when selecting your firm. This is understandable. That being said, one thing I tend to hear a lot when speaking with perspective clients is, 'We had a designer, but he was extremely cheap, and well, I finally figured out you get wh.... read more

Downy screwed up! If something is going well with your product line, you don't have to change it. Downy recently changed their "original" fabric softener only to find that customers are upset with the change. What's worse, instead of just making a new product to test the market with, they replaced the original. I think they could have learned from other brands like Pepsi and Coke, that you just don't mess with the original that loyal customers are used to. I would call Downy the the ma.... read more

I love the "free" services that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter bring to the table...but "free" doesn't mean you don't pay a price. Some companies (including our own) have turned to social media as a real means to market our services. It's a way to extend your brand and informally communicate with an audience. If you depend on communicating with your audience with one of these tools and suddenly it's not there for you - you're out of luck. As I logged into Twitter today after researching some re.... read more

Honestly, when looking for a smart phone, it's always been about the operating system, storage space and speed. The features for which buyers are looking, may be highlighted as ports, screen resolution and the like, but when was the last time Adobe Flash 10 was the main feature of the phone? Well since the iPhone, iTouch and iPad have been really phenomonal successes, a slight debacle on their part that has allowed marketers behind Google's Android-based phones to gain an edge, is the lack of A.... read more

Gap certainly learned a hard lesson this week when consumers revolted against their newly redesigned logo, causing the popular retail chain to pull the re-design less than a week after its debut. What hapened to the Gap is not an isolated incident. The actual product and packaging aside, the logo is the thing that will shape the consumer's attitude and perception toward you as a business. More than ever before, consumerism is all about choices. When a consumer commits to a specific brand, they .... read more

I'll just put it out there: I am addicted to my iPhone. Directions? Done. Finding restaurants in my general vacinity? No problem. Transforming in to a private island in addition to a jet that will fly me there? Well... not quite... but if you're a smartphone user, you know how valuable this device has become. I wasn't always an iPhone user, but the only thing I could say once I succumed to temptation and purchased my first iPhone (3G S, thank you very much!) was, 'Why didn't I do this so.... read more