Making a marketing plan for a small business does not have to be complicated or difficult. It is a series of steps that helps you define exactly what it is you’re selling, who you’re selling to, and the best way to reach those people. Too many business owners confuse marketing and advertising. Marketing is all…
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Offline marketing strategies for small businesses have lost popularity due to the vast amount of low-cost online choices. That provides an opportunity for smart small business owners to reach potential clients that other businesses miss. Everyone is so busy blasting out their messages on social media that they don’t realize their voices aren’t being heard.…
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Whether you are just starting your business or your marketing budget is tight, there are ways to market your small business effectively with little to no money. The key is to make sure those efforts are being seen by your target market—those people most likely to buy from you. For most local businesses, this means…
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I wake up to the sound of gulls jabbering. A thick, muffling fog rolled in overnight. The construction on the building in front of me hasn’t started yet. It’s much better to wake up to the sound of gulls than jackhammers. Motivating, even. It is cold again, but still warmer than a month ago. This…
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This is one of a series of posts that will be chapters in my forthcoming book, Don’t Sell Your Book. CLICK HERE to find related blog posts. In addition to the Three Day Method, there are other strategies for writing your first draft quickly and/or painlessly. In fact, there are probably as many ways to…
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I like being five hours ahead of the US east coast. I can do a day’s worth of work—or play—and still take care of business. For the most part, I don’t…but I could. I am still working out the timing on some meetings. 8:00 pm EST is 1:00 am here. Any evening meetings are not…
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The question of how much it costs to self-publish a book comes up at least three times a week in the various online writing groups that I participate in. There are so many people who want to write a book and have it published that they are easy pickings for vanity presses and scam artists.…
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How do you get a Portuguese visa? Normally, US residents who are visiting for under 90 days don’t need a visa in Portugal or most other EU countries. However, these are not normal times and the pandemic has countries closing their borders. I plan to reside in Portugal long-term which puts me in a different…
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It may be a bit telling that one of my favorite movies is a weird cult film from the ’80s: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Peter Weller with hair. Yum. Actually, it seems like everyone was in that movie: Christopher Lloyd, John Lithgow, Rosalind Cash, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum (and the…
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Albufeira: Portuguese for everything is uphill. Yesterday, I made a new rule for myself: Don’t walk downhill until I know for certain I won’t have to walk farther uphill. Some neuron in my brain fired the other night and I remembered that I was supposed to register my presence with the local authorities. I went…
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