By now, most of us have heard the news: Facebook is working on a dislike button. While we don’t have all the details, speculation about what that kind of button will mean is running rampant. On one end, people are worried that having a dislike button will turn Facebook into a cyber bullying feeding frenzy. On the other hand, people are excited to be able to convey empathy on posts that might not be sharing good news. Then there is also the whole dynamic of how this might impact online marketing. In my opinion, Facebook has nothing but the best of intentions here and it’s really going to be up to the people to determine how this is executed.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but if it’s not helping to convert visitors to clients, your picture’s not worth much at all. Read on for how to make the graphic images on your website work for you instead of against you.

If you’re new to the game, or heck –even if you’ve been around awhile, you probably have heard phrases like content marketing or SEO being thrown around all over the place. Also, if you’re anything like me, you’ve spent a lot of time blindly shaking your head going, “Sure, yeah, SEO super important. Oh, yeah, content marketing is where it’s at right now…” All the while feeling like you’re speaking in tongues. So, let’s break it down. What IS the difference between SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing? What do each of these things mean?

I know what you’re thinking. Great. Another business tip, trick, or tool that I “should be” doing already. As much as it may seem like there can’t possibly be another brick you should be adding to your pack, there is. Newsletters have been around for forever and there’s a reason for that. They work. If you don’t have a newsletter for your company, I think it’s time to reconsider.

We’re all talking and reading about social media and you may be wondering how much of the discussion is simply hype. You’ll hear strong opinions both ways, but the bottom line is:  How is YOUR bottom line doing?

We always push the importance of content marketing to businesses. Having articles and relevant content on your areas of expertise that you can link back to your website is a great asset. While we’re working hard to churn out new and relevant content on a weekly basis, it’s easy to overlook the great content that we’ve already produced. If you’re writing a blog (weekly, monthly, yearly, whatever) and/or publishing content online, your previous articles are still a great resource for your marketing campaign!

When you are so overwhelmed by the daily tasks of running a business, any sort of marketing activity feels like a reason to celebrate! But if you’re going to put in the effort, you want to really make it count. Here are three ways to tweak your marketing to get your organization noticed.

Well, for the first time since 2010 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has updated its FAQ page for endorsement requirements. For those who are unfamiliar, the FTC is the agency that enforces U.S. truth-in-advertising laws. 90% of you still probably don’t know what I’m talking about since it seems like social media marketers aren’t exactly away that there are certain regulations on posting. Whether you know or not though, there is an agency that enforces these laws and they are becoming more specific when it comes to posting and running contest or promotions on social media. Essentially the FTC’s point stays that any material relationships between brand and endorser on social media must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed and they are diving in further by providing a detailed guideline on social media issues that have come to light in the last few years.

Regardless of whether you’re running a company or a not-for-profit, doing business “like we always do” is a sure recipe for stagnation or outright failure.  It may seem easier to fall back on old habits, but here are five ways you are derailing your own success.