Scotty Spielman

How to defend your brand

Without a doubt, we live in some peculiar times. As business owners, we are constantly building up, perfecting and defending our brand. It’s difficult enough to respond to critics, competition and any of the unusual slings and arrows hurled at your business every day. What do you do when you have to defend your brand... Read More

How to stay ahead of your competitors on social media

Social media is just like your business: you have to get ahead to stay ahead. With so many people taking advantage of social media in 2018, you have to be smarter and faster than your competition in order to stand out, lure in new customers and keep your current audience engaged. Fortunately, that’s not all... Read More

Facebook improves analytics features

Facebook announced recently, that it was updating its analytics features to make it easier for you to understand who is interacting with your business and how often. Journeys From Facebook Analytics will enable you to you to gain a deeper understanding of where and how people interact with your business across channels and devices. “Journeys... Read More

How to give your website a spring tune up

The ice, snow, sleet, hail, frost and other assorted winter ills are grudgingly giving way and soon the world will be born anew. As you’re taking stock of the changes that are going on in the world and thinking of attracting new customers just now emerging from the long hibernation of winter, it’s a good... Read More

Facebook pushes for ‘safe, civil’ advertising

We live in an increasingly divisive world. You can’t turn on the television, open a newspaper or listen to the radio without hearing one group of people yelling at or complaining about another. The Internet, particularly most social media channels, can be a combination of all of the above, bringing news, entertainment, culture and politics into... Read More

Five content marketing myths

Content marketing can be effective if you do it properly. Just like many other forms of advertising, publishing any content to a targeted online audience can be a hit-or-miss proposition. There are plenty of theories on what works and what doesn’t—and plenty of companies out there willing to charge you an arm and a leg... Read More

Google speed update: is your site fast enough?

We have long talked about how important it is to have a mobile-friendly web site for your business. Consumers are more and more embracing mobile technology. Now more than 80 percent of consumers own a smart phone and the majority of them use it to search for goods and services they need. This summer, not... Read More

How KFC used humor to respond to a PR crisis–and won the day

For business owners, there’s nothing worse that running out of the one thing your customers are seeking from you. An oil change shop running out of oil, a tire shop running out of tires (all of them) or a chicken restaurant running out of chicken. That’s exactly what happened recently, when a change in suppliers... Read More

Facebook scraps ‘Explore’ feature

Not every new idea is a good idea. Facebook announced this week that it was pulling the plug on one of the experiments it initiated and tested in some locations last year: the explore feed. “We constantly try out new features, design changes and ranking updates to understand how we can make Facebook better for... Read More

Top blog sharing tools

A blog is still a great way to spread the word about your business, share your knowledge with a potential customer base and provide evergreen content for your social media channels. There are several apps out there that will help you share your blogs in different ways, allowing you to reach new people and expand... Read More

SEO hits and myths

If you’re relying on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to draw customers to your business web site, chances are you’re using outdated information. The SEO world is constantly changing, for one thing, and it’s difficult for even experts in the field to keep up with it. Also, if you’re continuing to avoid putting money into your... Read More

Stop searching: Google Adwords is your best bet

The advertising world has changed dramatically in the recent years and Google AdWords is one of the digital marketing options that is fueling this change. Google commands 77 percent of search engine traffic, followed by Bing—which gets only 7 percent of search engine traffic. That’s why spending your advertising dollars on Google AdWords is a... Read More

Not a director? No problem! Videos made easy

In the days of decreasing organic reach, video might be your ace in the hole. Videos tend to get more engagement and will therefore make it into more of your customers’ newsfeeds than other, more static content. That’s increasingly important after the so-called ‘Facebook Zero’ announcement, in which the social media giant explained that content... Read More

Facebook’s latest algorithm change: what to worry about

It seems like every few months, we have to write about another change in the Facebook newsfeed algorithm that will reduce the organic reach for your business page. That’s probably because, every few months, we have to write another post about the algorithm change—it happens that frequently. Last year, the change resulted in yet another... Read More

Facebook launches privacy campaign

You may have noticed something different when you signed into or launched your Facebook page this month. Most users saw a notification about their privacy settings and a reminder that users own and can delete their own information. It reads like this: “You own the information you share on Facebook. This means you decide what... Read More

Social media predictions for 2018

The New Year will bring challenges to business owners, and the continued digital marketing revolution will be there to help—or hurt. Just like last year, we expect plenty of changes to impact your business’ social media channels. Here are some of the top trends we’re predicting: Shrinkage. You probably noticed last year that the number... Read More

2017: a year in change

When it comes to social media, 2017 was a year of change. Even if your business only dabbles in a few of the social media platforms available for businesses, it’s probably that you saw some changes throughout the year—both good and bad. Here’s a breakdown of what happened in social media during a year that... Read More

How to repurpose your blog content

It can be difficult to continually come up with new content for your social media feeds, but if you maintain a blog you’re already ahead of the game. In addition to showing off your expertise, your blog can also provide plenty of content for you to mine from. It’s easy to repurpose your blog into... Read More

Holiday marketing tips for small businesses

The holidays are all but upon us, but there’s still time to put together a quick holiday marketing campaign or, barring that, at least increase your visibility during the busy shopping season. Here are some quick ideas of things you can do to capitalize on the season of capitalism. A good old-fashioned gift guide. Any... Read More

Four easy ways to perfect your pictures

Good graphics can make your post and a bad picture can break it. Most small business owners don’t have a regular photographer or the ability to hire one and, let’s face it, stock photos will only get you so far. Don’t worry, though. There are plenty of ways to fix your photos, even if they... Read More