The holidays are approaching and social media doesn’t just stop because the date is November 27th or December 25th. Halloween is right around the corner and before we know it we’ll be in full holiday swing. This means several things for brands and companies. The holiday season can be an unbelievably useful marketing time. It’s also an incredibly busy time as well. How do you balance promoting your business and getting through the holidays in your personal life? Priorities –and there are a few that should top your list.

The “build it and they will come” website hype has long gone. Now experts say social media “fans and follower counts are over.”  So has social media run its course or should it still be a line item in your company’s budget? Read on for the latest discussion on social media reality for the small- to medium- business owner.

”Failure to Launch” is what you call it when adult children get stuck in familiar surroundings where they feel safe but are not progressing.  Businesses stagnate the same way. Rather than risk losing everything, we’re afraid to try anything new. By our failure to fail, we may be holding ourselves back from success.

Social Media Management is a hot service these days. Some folks swear by it. Some folks think it’s a complete waste of effort. And, of course, they’re both right. So how do you take advantage of the good things social media can do for your business without squandering your time or your marketing budget?

Okay, there are maybe a dozen reasons why you should be marketing with email, but these two are so big they trump everything. And never mind all the noise about how email marketing is an old and tired format. Fresh, innovative marketing channels are introduced regularly, and have their share of success, but if you aren’t using email, you are really missing out.

We live in a time where many people are much more likely to grab their phone before grabbing their computers. We travel everywhere with a tiny computer in our back pocket that has all the same power of the internet on a small, compact, and portable little screen. That is, until we arrive at your website (or can’t find your website at all). Here comes the frustration. We can’t find what we’re looking for, when we finally do find it we can’t click on it, etc. etc. etc.

Folks spend a huge chunk of their marketing budget on revamping their website and then eagerly await the rush of new business. Instead they get crickets. Oftentimes the lack of activity is due to a very simple and easily remedied mistake:  The website has no obvious Call-to-Action.

Vine definitely isn't a social media website like Facebook or Twitter -it's an app.  However, more and more people are diving in and using apps to create marketing campaigns that they can then turn around and promote across their more conventional social media platforms.