Small Business Marketing & Branding | Steve Miller aka Kelly's Dad & Marketing Gunslinger

Creating an Unfair Advantage Over Your Competition

Did They Double Toothpaste Sales? Fact or Fiction?

 Innovation, toothpaste sales 0 Comment

There's an old myth about how a toothpaste company doubled their sales literally overnight. The problem, like so many business myths, is there's no way to prove it's true. Regardless of its veracity, we can still use it to teach a very important aspect for coming up with new ideas. Watch this week's UNCOPYABLE Business episode and hear the story and the big lesson we can all take from … [Read more...]

The only way to measure marketing ROI

 marketing ROI, return on investment, ROI 1 Comment

I'm not saying I'm completely gullible, but my smokin' hot wife, Kay, might disagree with you. I wanted there to be life on Mars and when I found what I thought was such an announcement about it, I was very excited. Kay quickly set me straight. As normal humans is we ALL have personal beliefs and perspectives about the world. And, naturally, we look for evidence to support those beliefs. The … [Read more...]

Digital Marketing Strategy Is A Farce

 digital marketing, Social media 4 Comments

That statement might be a little much, but let's set the record straight. Digital marketing is a TACTIC, not a strategy. Think about it. For most companies using digital is certainly an important arrow in your quiver, but there are much more important questions to ask before you determine digital is right tactic to use. Saying your focus is on digital marketing is no different than if you said … [Read more...]

Blast from the Past: What Killed the 8-Track?

 8-track 1 Comment

My goddaughter, Kelly (yes, it's true, my daughter AND goddaughter are both Kelly!) and her 10-year-old son, the inimitable Garrett (we all call him G-Man) are visiting this week. As a result I am not recording a new weekly UNCOPYABLE Business video. BUT I am reaching into my own Wayback Machine and bringing back a very popular video I recorded back on July 9, 2009! The title is "The End of the … [Read more...]

How Risk Reversal Can Increase Referrals

 Referrals, risk reversal 0 Comment

Two powerful tactics for generating new business through referrals and risk reversal. But if you're able to COMBINE those two, it can add even MORE results to your sales. How? Watch this week's UNCOPYABLE Business episode and find out! Are you getting these weekly videos in your email? No? SIGN UP HERE! … [Read more...]

Can Great Customer Service Still Cost You Sales?

 customer service, Sales 2 Comments

I took my Jeep in for an oil change recently and had an interesting experience that made me think. What if you delivered great customer service, but it still cost you a sale? Listen to my story and how I compare it to another service experience from many years ago. This might be something to think about in your company! Click the arrow to watch. If you haven't read my Amazon #1 best … [Read more...]

In-House Sales vs. Distributor vs. Virtual? Which to Choose?

 Sales 5 Comments

A corporate client recently asked us if there was a way to engage with existing customers instead of using distributors who seem to only be interested in taking easy orders. He's frustrated with paying commissions when he doesn't believe these outside people are actually trying to generate sales. That's a good question. I had this same issue back when I had my last real job. When I first joined … [Read more...]

I heard these two words across the room

 messaging 2 Comments

Have you ever been at a noisy party and all of sudden you heard something said that caught your attention? We all have. In my case, these two words were a really big dream I'd had for many years. And because I heard them from a conversation on the other side of the room, I achieved that dream. This story came up at dinner the other night and it reminded me of how important matching your message … [Read more...]

2 Beautiful Customer Experiences & An Ugly One

 bad customer service, customer experience 6 Comments

Last week my smoking' hot wife, Kay, and I had the need to reach out for help from three different vendors. Two were excellent examples of how to help a customer and one was a dismal failure. Besides being examples of what and what not to do, these are great reminders of how quickly your relationship and your brand can be torpedoed by both slow support response, but also insincere … [Read more...]