Now, this is a colour I can get behind – Classic Blue. This shade of blue is great when “any shade of blue will do”, which happens more often than you might think. Did you know blue is overwhelmingly the world’s favourite colour? “We associate blue … Keep reading…

If you’re feeling – like I am – that you need to get focused for the next quarter, perhaps my list of planned activities below will be helpful. Business development: Continuing to refresh and work a business plan is a top priority, but sometimes it … Keep reading…

“Yes, it’s an old marketing trick to “accidentally” make a mistake in an email campaign so you can resend an email shortly thereafter to increase the number of times people see your message.” This was the lead message in an email I received recently which … Keep reading…

This post was written by Liam Friesen, who has recently joined Daley Progress in a part-time support role. (How lucky am I to have a journalism student helping me out?) Telling yourself that you want to start writing an article is simple. The hard part … Keep reading…

This is my 600th blog post. I’m feeling the pressure to write something wise and inspirational about blogging like I did with post #500. Are you ready? Here it is… Aside from your business objectives, you actually have to like doing the work of blogging … Keep reading…

Many small business owners didn’t start their careers as small business owners. And the road each of us took to get here is quite different. But one thing is fairly common – we’re finding ways to earn a living doing work we love. Often that … Keep reading…

Did you know that a third to a half of the total time spent working on marketing implementation projects is spent communicating with clients? That communication usually takes the form of informing, consulting, decision-making and tracking action items. Depending on the scope, it may also … Keep reading…

Change is a wonderful thing – it keeps life interesting. It allows our businesses to evolve and do better. When we can plan and drive change successfully, it can be very rewarding. Then there’s the change that’s forced on us. You know, like when your … Keep reading…

Every small business owner knows what it feels like to have a “million” things to do and nowhere near enough time. We are constantly prioritizing, sometimes deliberately and sometimes less consciously. During the past month, I’ve done a heck of a lot of prioritizing. Some … Keep reading…

Email bots are coming. Now, your reaction might be “Ugh!” but mine was, “Yay!” And that’s part of the challenge. Here’s another part: they are heaven-sent for spammers. Yes, that deserves an “Ugh!” What I’m excited about are all the possibilities for improving productivity in … Keep reading…

Can you agree that’s a subject line you don’t see every day? Yet it describes something that happens frequently in small business – the mingling of ideas, processes and tools. One of the templates in my Quick and Easy Content Creation workbook is called “The … Keep reading…

We’re all familiar with unsubscribing from unwanted emails. Some make it harder than others but, since anti-spam legislation has come into effect, there’s been an improvement. Email readers are more aware of their right to unsubscribe and so marketers are getting better at giving that option. … Keep reading…

I’ve done it. You’ve done it. And they’ve done it. I’m talking about mixing up points of view when writing. And also using the right point of view for the right purposes. Grammarly has a quick little article explaining First, Second, and Third Person in case … Keep reading…

During the past two weeks, I’ve been repeatedly reminded of The Secret and its message of asking the Universe for what you want and being open to receiving what comes. Except it’s not the Universe I’ve been asking – it’s my friends (aka business colleagues). … Keep reading…

After sending out clients’ newsletters, I’m often asked by them why someone would have unsubscribed. The worry seems to be that something in that particular issue made them disconnect. This is rarely the case. I can’t tell you all the reasons people unsubscribe but I … Keep reading…

A few months ago I found a new best friend when I started working with a client who uses Trello. While the client is indeed a friend, the free Trello app is what I’m talking about here. Trello is visual like a bulletin board and, … Keep reading…

I don’t often use terms like ‘lead magnet’ and ‘sales funnel‘ on this blog. Not because they aren’t good things to have – of course, they are – but because there are lots of others writing about those topics. Here I’d rather discuss ideas for … Keep reading…

The young cashier at Walmart grinned at me and said, “Joke’s on them then.” I had just told him to keep the printer cartridge separate as my business was going to pay for that. I grinned back and said, “The joke’s on me then since … Keep reading…

Simple is powerful… and a recent tough decision reminded me of that. I’d been sitting on the fence for about 2 weeks with a marketing project half completed. I couldn’t decide whether to keep going or to stay with Plan A – and so, I … Keep reading…

I don’t need to tell you how hard it is to stay focused. And that’s why it’s so important to have goals that we can refer to that will keep us on track. Goals are sometimes quite removed from our daily activities. Once they’re determined, … Keep reading…

What if you woke up this morning to discover your domain name has… disappeared? Likely you would make this discovery because your website is down, or perhaps your email isn’t working. Or what if you are contracting for a new website and have no idea … Keep reading…

Do you, like me, cringe if someone points out something about your marketing they don’t like? Recent chats with other marketers have me realizing… I don’t get enough complaints. How are complaints useful? Disqualifying prospects: If complaints are from people who aren’t in your target … Keep reading…

You know that feeling when you’re talking to a group of people, quite passionate about the topic, and suddenly your brain resets? You have no idea what you were about to say. Total blank. Especially when it happens in front of a class or on a … Keep reading…