We did it. We have officially made it to the 12-year mark in our business. Yeah sure 12 years isn’t one of those milestones people talk about – it’s usually 10 or 15 years. But since we never did a 10-year anniversary post, we are doing it now.

12 years means a lot of challenges. And with every year we became more resilient overcoming issues that do many business in.

Throughout our many years, I can say this one thing applies to every business out there: there is no single strategy that can lead you to success. But hard work, …

Many marketing concepts and principles we utilize today are from long before the internet was ever around (although there is a debate regarding this matter). What’s important to note, if you are of the old concepts and principles camp, is that those same concepts must be redefined and then applied into our current online marketing strategies. Khalid recently wrote a post about the AIDA model, which is a 1920’s marketing concept. The post demonstrates that old marketing concepts still hold, however, its important to adapt the concepts of pre-online marketing and sales to our ever-changing online arena.

It’s always assumed that having the correct value proposition should be a no brainer. Afterall, what could be so difficult about crafting a 10-word statement that sets you apart from the rest of the competition? But it’s a challenging exercise. How many businesses stick out in your mind with the level of desire you have for the company (products or services they offer); and the exclusivity of what they have to offer?

A quick refresher: What exactly is a value proposition: Value Proposition is the promise of value you deliver by defining the problem you solve and clarifying why you are better than the alternatives. …

Did you know that it costs five times as much to attract a new customer, than to keep an existing one? The first rule of any business is to retain customers and build a loyal relationship with them, and thereby avoid customer acquisition costs. It’s a well-established fact that 44% of companies have a greater focus on customer acquisition vs. 18% that focus on retention. Also, it’s true that only 40% of companies and 30% of agencies have an equal focus on acquisition and retention. Check out our infographic, ‘Customer Acquisition Vs. Retention Costs – Statistics And Trends’ for more …

Considering how crucial they are to ecommerce and lead gen efforts, PPC ads continue to be grossly underestimated and misused.

Unless your SEO is good enough to get you onto the first page of search results, PPC ads are your ticket to putting your company and/or products in front of potential customers at the precise moment they’re looking for you.

Their importance is such that we can’t cover all of the dynamics here. But you can get a good start by breaking them down into three basic elements:

1. The Keyword

Contrary to their primary role in SEO, the main …

Last week, as part of the “Conversion Optimization Tactics in Action” blog post, we made note of how Simply BBQ used customer reviews and customer-generated content.

First, the site features excerpts from customer testimonials throughout. The excerpts are also compiled in a series of testimonials pages, four in all, with entries from a cross-section of Simply BBQ’s customers, including large multinational corporations, local businesses, municipalities and private individuals.

Simply BBQ then shows some innovation in a feature that allows their customers to “Like This Menu” with a total of “likes” listed beside each menu item.

Finally, Simply BBQ offers the …