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The Small Business Marketing Trap

Most small business owners judge their website content relative to how close it sounds to the way they would have said it themselves. That standard makes no sense for businesses trying to get found by AI search engines. AI search rewards two things above almost everything else: how recently a business published and how consistently it publishes. In this story, a jewelry store analogy offers the clearest way to understand this vital concept in our rapidly changing marketing landscape.
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First Things First: There's an Order to Profitability

The building blocks of profitability are clear and they even have a required sequence to them. But without knowledge of the building blocks - or awareness that these building blocks even exist! - your marketing can underperform for years (or decades).
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Principles of Graphic Design

Most small business owners are doing a lot of graphic designs themselves. But without understanding graphic design principles what you save in time and fees will cost you in results. This 36-minute video will help you understand the basic principles of graphic design. Whether you are doing your own graphics or working with a graphic designer understanding these concepts will most certainly improve your marketing efforts.
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Radical Inclusiveness - the Competitive Edge

In a business climate where competitiveness and innovation are everything equality and diversity in the workforce are important keys to success.
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Outstanding Customer Service is a Culture Thing

The question of how to deliver the outstanding customer service consumers expect is easy to answer but harder to implement.
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    Reflections
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    Ethics

    Why Are We Still Fighting About Lab Grown Diamonds?

    The jewelry industry continues to take polarized positions on lab-grown diamonds.
    Merchandising

    The Real Real Thing

    Gone are the days when a company could build a brand around things like good service, fast shipping, low prices, high quality, or good selection. Those things are now the minimum standard necessary to compete.
    Marketing

    Curiosity Saved the Cat

    The jewelry industry needs a massive injection of curiosity if it is going to create a profitable new reality.
    Retail

    You're Selling to Feelings, Not Reason

    Consumers - female and male - buy based on emotion, not logic. No matter how many facts and statistics they cite, they ultimately buy based on how you made them feel.
    Branding

    Your (Character) Slip is Showing

    The most powerful thing a small business owner can do is be an effective leader, and ensure his entire organization conveys a strong message of character and integrity to his business community
    Leadership

    What Can You Do Today? OODA Loops!

    Today, Andrea shares the concept of OODA Loops, and gives some practical advice for how you can spend meaningful time working ON your business.
    Management

    I Had This Wrong for 20 Years: Profit is Not a Purpose

    Had I stopped to think deeply about it, I would have realized much sooner that profit and a higher purpose are not mutually exclusive.
    Management

    Surviving Tough Times: Part I

    The Jewelry Design Professionals’ Network (JDPN) invited Andrea Hill to prepare two presentations for their members and students, to help them manage their careers and business during the Covid-19 crisis.

    Tell Better Stories

    It's not enough to sell a product or a service any more. You must also be able to tell the story. The Pip Storytelling Deck is a tool we use at the Werx Brands to construct and tell better stories. You can be a master story-teller too!

    Order Yours Today
    Management

    Don't Let This Industrial Revolution Pass You By

    Do you have enough information to analyze your business from product to price to timing to turns?
    Management

    Everything You Know About Luxury Has Changed

    Millennials are changing everything we know about luxury. Here are 5 key areas your luxury business must master to stay relevant.
    Management

    What's "Fair" Anyway?

    The definition of fair means to be free of favor to any side. But in business we really do favor some things.
    Management

    Ego and Humility: Seeking the Right Balance for Business Success

    While a healthy ego is essential to any business success, it is the ability to balance ego and humility that leads to the most influential leaders.
    Management

    Put Your Pain Under the Microscope

    If you are experiencing a persistent pain in your business, don’t let it slide.
    Management

    Breakfast Lunch and Gratitude

    Focusing on weakness or even mediocrity at the expense of rewarding strength will lower the average performance of your organization.
    Management

    The Secret to Small Business Success

    There are several business skills you must cultivate to ensure the survival and profitability of your company.
    Management

    Are You Writing Your Own Obituary?

    The bottom line is that the jewelry industry is going to be fine. But retailers and small manufacturers need to ask of themselves a few vital questions.
    Management

    Diddy or The Donald? What Should One Expect from an Employer (and what should we expect of ourselves?)

    We all owe ourselves and all our present and future employees something very important – a commitment to excellence and continuing knowledge development in our chosen fields of endeavor.
    Management

    All of the Responsibility, None of the Authority

    Here are some of the key structures that are absolutely necessary when converting to a more team-based organization.

    Video

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    jewelry industry, marketing

    jewelry industry, marketing

    branding, selling

    ethics, personal development

    marketing, management

    Strategy

    Branding

    I suspect the fear of being afraid is the most destructive fear of all.

    Hmm . . . my favorite new term-of-the-week: Ratlicker
    "A person who refuses to wear a mask, or take any of the basic precautions to help society prevent an air born illness during an epidemic. ( In reference to the bubonic plague being spread by rats. )"

    "The tricky thing about hope is to not confuse it with optimism." Rebecca Solnit

    Maybe the reason its so hard to remain in quarantine is that it's hard to outrun sadness when you're forced to be still.

    At the end of the day, we all have to fight our demons alone. And I think that's the source of loneliness. If you spend your whole life insisting there are no demons to fight or hiding your demons or determined to fight them in private, you end up existentially alone.

    Taking a knee ... Long the choice of peaceful, PRAYERFUL resistance.

    Society and Culture

    Follow Social Articles

    Reflection 2017: Big Themes from Individual Choices

    Profile the Future

    And Now for an African-American First Lady

    My Granddaughter's Heroes

    Who Gets to Marry Whom? According to Which Religion?

    What? No Garden?

    When Politics Becomes Religion, We All Lose

    It's Risky Business Speaking for God

    Let God Worry About It

    What On Earth Do We Do Now?