Twitter and Facebook ads, content marketing, search engine optimization – with so many evolving options to consider, it’s easy to get caught up in the details and lose focus on the bigger picture. Are you sabotaging your business because you aren’t properly prepared to make marketing decisions?

Hootsuite recently launched a new feature they are referring to as "Suggestions".   This new feature gives users the ability to get a weeks worth of content suggestions tailored to each specific social media account that users have tied in to their Hootsuite account.  It was advertised within Hootsuite as a new feature designed to save time and to find the best articles possible to share at the best times possible.  Those of us who have been poking around with it here or there over the past few weeks have learned that the Suggestions' beta period is now closing.  The new rules following that beta period are that users can share 10 articles per week or upgrade their accounts for unlimited shares.  So, is it worth upgrading to unlimited?  And, what has my experience with Suggestions been?

Every entrepreneur workshop lately wants to show you how to make your own website for free. As web-building professionals, usually “them’s fightin’ words.” But truthfully, a free website-builder may be appropriate as long as the entrepreneur knows what to expect.

Say it isn’t so! You’re talking to a dedicated “googler” over here. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about Pinterest being the new Google and at first I rolled my eyes and said a sarcastic OKAY, but now that I’ve sat back and thought about it a bit … I’m guilty of searching on Pinterest too. This can be a pretty positive shift for those who are marketing (or should be marketing) on Pinterest. With its power in search growing, this can translate into serious dollars for Pinterest marketers.

Have you been reading an article on a website and after a rather clever, profound, or newsworthy sentence, you see a link to "Tweet this?" If so, you may have run into a clicktotweet link. Would you like to do this yourself? We walk through the steps for you.

We've all seen them -cringeworthy posts on social media that we wish we could take back for the other person.  I've had severe secondhand embarrassment for someone who posted a questionable status or photo on social media.  Selfie on a toilet anyone?  A completely insensitive joke with a hashtag #toosoon?  Now let's translate that to brands on social media.  Brands are not immune to social media faux pas.  There are a few safe bets when it comes to social media don'ts.

Do you have a social media presence? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.? Do you also have a blog, newsletter, or email campaign of some sort? These should all tie in to each other! When you are promoting you, you need to be thorough. Make yourself overly available to your customers and clients. Do you want to lose business because someone couldn’t figure out how to connect with you on Facebook or how to get discounts that you might only give out with a newsletter subscription? I don’t think so. It’s incredibly important that you are accessible to your clients and customers and that you make being able to connect with you a no brainer to accomplish.