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OK WHAT NEXT? | Small Business Marketing

Chris Lam, Helping Humans Help Humans

Read my awesome marketing newsletter for small business owners in less than 5 minutes, every week.

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Learn How Boolean Searches Make Searches More Targeted

Hello Reader, So I'm watching a TikTok about a young person sharing how you may want to search for a job, if you're looking for a job. She's spelling out quotes and ANDs. This is what's called a Boolean search. (Pronounced "boo-lee-en.") This type of search is how you make your Google searches more helpful, too. Let's go back to LinkedIn because while you may be an entrepreneur, your network might not be. Plus you may want to consider this as you hire more staff or influencers or creators....

7 days ago • 3 min read

Hello Reader, Happy Greenwashing Month! I mean, Earth Month. Katie Robert of Trust Insights wrote an article about the 5 Ps of marketing. I think we should take it on for micro and small business owners. Think of them as your compass. In my personal life, I try to answer this question: "Does it serve me? Will it take away time from my family?" For business, you can ask these questions to kick off your marketing planning. Purpose Start with 'why.' (This is a Simon Sinek book, btw.) Why does...

13 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, Today I had two small businesses reach out and ask me about their websites. I ran through a quick review for each and the same problems existed - even for these two radically different small businesses. Here are some common problems I see and why you should stop doing these: Auto-played videos - I see we are starting off with murder. Just stop. It's annoyed everyone in 1998, it still annoys everyone in 2024. It makes me (a potential customer) close the tab and move on to something...

20 days ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader, Now that we've got two football teams traveling to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, ... Do not use the words "Super Bowl." GETTY Ever since I started work in social media (2008), I've had to look this stuff up or ask my colleagues if they looked it up already. You are not allowed to use "Super Bowl" - it is trademarked by the NFL. You can use it in a conversation, but social media? No, it's marketing and only the NFL has the rights for that. It is fine to use the term SUPER BOWL® in...

3 months ago • 2 min read

What's up, Reader, How many of you still wear underwear that's 10 years old or older? This is the year you trash your old underwear: ... with the stretched out elastic, holey boxers, your old underwear you wear during your period, and the underwear that is uncomfortable but you kept it because they looked cute. I looked at my underwear drawer and oh boy do I have some old ass underwear. Like, over 12 years old. BEFORE MY CHILD WAS BORN. Old underwear is like the old files in your computer or...

3 months ago • 3 min read

Hello Reader, I've been seeing those videos of women running to grab a red Stanley Cup (Quencher) at Target. I bought mine in June 2022 after I saw influencers and podcasters Megan and Wendy tout it. I thought, "It's huge and it fits my cup holder in my car. Perfect!" For me, that was a pain point - my favroite awesome Hydroflasks didn't fit my car's cup holders. They'd roll from the seat to the floor and roll all day while I'm driving. My Stanley Cup solved this issue. My other pain point...

3 months ago • 3 min read

Hello Reader, I've completed my triple check of The Holidays Calendar!! I clocked my time throughout 2023 to see how long it took me to double-check and last week, triple check my calendar of holidays: 12 hours. I tried to find the best and legitimate resources for each holiday. Some holidays changed dates completely on me, and some sources had dates that were a couple days apart. This calendar is for anyone who has to do their own content planning for the year. I didn't want you to reinvent...

3 months ago • 2 min read

Hello Reader, I'm still working on refreshing my 2024 Holidays Calendar for gCal. If you haven't subscribed, go here. For those of you who already subscribed to 2023, I'm going to leave the link the same. In the meantime, here are my predictions for 2024. Small, local businesses will activate creators and work with influencers Small budgets welcome. Local businesses that thought they had to pony up $1,000 for an influencer to vlog about their product or service will realize they can do this...

4 months ago • 2 min read

Hello Reader, It's only the first week of December, and I'm already wishing it was December 26. I find the holiday frenzy pretty stressful, even though I know it happens every year. How about you? I especially despise Daylight Saving Time and that the sun is down by 5pm. These next few newsletters will be easy peasy to-dos. You don't need a complex marketing task at the end of the year. So today, it's going a reminder task. When you first subscribed to this newsletter, I sent out a 3-email...

4 months ago • 1 min read

Hello Reader, If you’re feeling the pressure of expectations, I just want to let you know that you’re not alone. In my personal life, and even this newsletter, there are expectations. Go to Thanksgiving at <insert a relative's home or your home>. Send out a ton of emails to promote Black Friday. To be honest, I don’t want to do either one of those things. 🤣 I wish you good health and keeping your cool with questionable family members. Let's keep it easy today. Here is a roundup of programs,...

5 months ago • 2 min read
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