How To Have Good Ideas

Posted on 27. Aug, 2010 by David in Strategy

John Cleese shares his wisdom on writing, creativity, getting in the zone, and interruptions. Find your blind spot..it’s hard!

Read the directions…but don’t follow them!

Posted on 04. Aug, 2010 by David in Strategy

Some wonderful advice for all of us. (Thanks Zach!)

Learn How To Improve Local Search Rankings

Posted on 22. Jul, 2010 by David in Strategy

When you’re trying to attract local traffic it can be hard to know where to start.

If you’re doing embroidery in Fairlawn NJ your site isn’t in the top ten when someone Googles: Embroidery, Fairlawn NJ….then you’re missing out on sales.

So let’s see what you can do to get yourself a decent search ranking…check out the Econsultancy for some hints on how to improve your local rank.

Best Marketing Advice I’ve Read In A While

Posted on 12. Jul, 2010 by David in Strategy

From http://econsultancy.com/


I’ve summarized the 7 below…read the full thing here.


1. Keep your eye on the ball – Draw up a chart of each step a customer needs to take to create a sale and ask yourself if the small tasks you’re working on facilitate this. If they don’t, then they aren’t relevant.


2. Market to your customers, not to yourself – There’s no need for the hard sell.


3. Stop learning about it – Limit your research to specifics and realise that you can’t fit the entire internet in your head. Make sure you know everything about your own product first.


4. Diversify – Build yourself an online safety net.


5. Build relationships – Don’t just say hello and then never speak to someone again.


6. Find a niche – Find niches and exploit them.


7. Don’t be a tease – Space promotions across no more than two weeks.

Social Media Is Communication Not Broadcast

Posted on 04. Jul, 2010 by David in Strategy

Social media is a chance for you to engage in a dialog with your customers.   Stop bothering them with interruption marketing and start talking with them about how you can help grow business.

Read more here.

The Spectrum of Online Friendship

Posted on 14. Jun, 2010 by David in Strategy

This is an interesting way to look at online friendships….BTW- Click on the image to make it bigger so you can read it.

Most distributor websites have no traffic.

Posted on 02. Jun, 2010 by David in Strategy

Here’s an interesting graph.  Apparently there are over 10,000 distributors who use a Logomall website…and collectively they get less traffic that 4imprint.com or Branders.com.

This means that the average distributor has ONLY 10 people per month visit  their website.

Just for fun try and find out how many people are visiting your website each month.  If you have more that 10 visitors per month then you’re above average! Amazing, right?

If you’d like to have more than 10 visitors per month visit your website then come join Buttonwood and we’ll help you grow your business using the internet!  If you’re satisfied with only 10 people visiting your website then that just means more customers for the rest of us!

SEO for Small Business

Posted on 24. May, 2010 by David in Strategy

I’m often asked for my opinion and advice on search engine optimization (SEO).

This article from Small Business Search Marketing does an excellent job of explaining how a Small Business should approach an SEO consultant.

Here’s the summary…

  • You have to invest either time or money.
  • You usually get what you pay for; if you invest only a little time or a little money, you can expect little success.
  • There are no shortcuts to true, long-lasting SEO success.
  • Nothing matters more than ROI.
  • If you spend your money wisely on SEO, it should bring back returns that are substantially higher than the costs.

One of our 2010 projects here at Buttonwood is to apply the power of Search Engine Marketing to help our clients.  Now you can let Buttonwood worry about setting the correct value of the “rel“ attribute to “canonical“ (?!?!) and you can stay focused on selling promotional products. Stay tuned for more updates over the summer and stay away from shady SEO consultants who promise you fame and glory for $500!

Media File = Yellow Pages

Posted on 26. Apr, 2010 by David in Strategy

I read a blog post last week about how the Media File was flying off the shelves…Huh? Who still uses the Media File?  I can see needing a few here and there but I’m surprised that they’re “flying off the shelves”!

In an era where Sears and Whole Earth stopped printing their giant catalogs why are we as an industry still giving out a giant book filled with pictures?  It’s not environmentally friendly, it’s not very easy to use, it’s heavy and it takes up a lot of room.

As an industry we need to be sensitive to the amount of waste we create or we’re going to get replaced by a medium that is friendlier to the planet.

Less paper and more online is a great way to start going to market in a more sustainable way! Marketing online is less expensive, less polluting and less messy.

Now that’s a GREAT way to stand out from the competition!

The Best Way To Give Advice

Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by David in Strategy

…is to offer information!

Lifehacker.com (one of my favorite blogs BTW) has some good advice for giving advice. This come from a recent psychology study which states:

For one thing, when someone makes a recommendation for or against a particular option, a decision maker may feel like they have lost a bit of their independence in making a choice. Recommendations about how to go about making the choice may also make a decision maker feel a loss of independence. When the advice comes in the form of information, though, the decision maker still feels like they have some autonomy.

So the next time you feel like giving advice remember that information is more powerful that instruction!

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