Christie Solomon 1/26/25 Christie Solomon 1/26/25

Define Your Ideal Customer Persona

For marketers and business owners with an innate sense of their target market and audience, pinpointing their ideal customer isn’t always straightforward. To simplify the process, they should examine their existing customer base and answer the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Christie Solomon 1/21/25 Christie Solomon 1/21/25

Trust Your Instincts

Any customer-facing role is at risk of landing a toxic client. Business leaders and marketers must evaluate prospective customers as they would prospective employees during the hiring process. They should assess the individual for cultural fit and identify undesirable personality traits and mannerisms contradicting their organization’s values and growth objectives.

Christie Solomon 10/13/24 Christie Solomon 10/13/24

Push-To-Talk

On a liveaboard scuba diving trip to the Bahamas, Captain Tim explained the standard two-way radio protocols he encouraged his crew to utilize. Radio communication etiquette has application in any professional land- or sea-based setting.

Christie Solomon 7/21/24 Christie Solomon 7/21/24

Improve Local Search Visibility with a Google Business Profile

Establishing a Google Business Profile is critical to your company website’s local search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. An up-to-date Business Profile with a steady stream of highly rated reviews delivers a boost to your website’s ranking in local search results.

Christie Solomon 3/31/24 Christie Solomon 3/31/24

Marketing to Make Your Audience Happier

Who knew that paid advertising could make us unhappy? Or that only 50% of the people surveyed trusted the advertisements they saw, read, or heard? Business owners should focus on earned and shared media as a cost-effective, long-term marketing strategy that builds trust and makes their audience happier.

Christie Solomon 9/17/23 Christie Solomon 9/17/23

When Humor is an Effective Tool in Crisis Communications

Humor can be useful in crisis communications - but only in certain situations. In the Journal of Interactive Marketing, researchers defined two types of negative events: defensible and indefensible. The researchers found that humor is only an effective tool in the context of defensible crises.

Christie Solomon 6/16/23 Christie Solomon 6/16/23

Six Reasons to Blog

Developing a quality blog, or a collection of articles that are relevant to your brand and create value for your audience, can offer an organization six opportunities to grow.

Christie Solomon 6/6/23 Christie Solomon 6/6/23

Why Outsourcing Your Marketing Makes Sense

Many agencies provide several types of marketing services, which could be as broad in scope as redefining a company’s overall marketing strategy or as narrowly focused as the review of a set of marketing analytics. Learn why outsourced marketing is a strategic advantage and how to structure an ideal partnership with a marketing agency.

Christie Solomon 5/8/23 Christie Solomon 5/8/23

Secrets to a Sustainable Website: Keep it Evergreen

Websites are ecosystems that need continual updates in order to remain relevant and convey the right messaging that supports an evolving brand. To keep a website evergreen, organizations should consistently focus on two key areas: content and design.

Christie Solomon 2/28/23 Christie Solomon 2/28/23

Communication Planning for a Crisis

Every organization needs a Crisis Leadership Team - a key component of effective risk management - made up of the organization’s most capable leaders. A crisis communications strategy is a critical component of an organization’s overall crisis management plan.

Christie Solomon 1/24/23 Christie Solomon 1/24/23

Communication is Leadership

Communication skills are essential for leaders to have in their tool kit. Consider five Cs of effective communication to ensure your messaging hits the mark and motivates your team.

Christie Solomon 1/17/23 Christie Solomon 1/17/23

Leverage User-Generated Content to Improve Brand Engagement

Incorporating user-generated content (UGC) in social media campaigns can effectively help brands build trust, increase engagement, and create a more authentic connection with their customers.

Christie Solomon 11/17/22 Christie Solomon 11/17/22

Personal Branding is a Self-Investment

Personal branding is an investment in yourself. The time, energy, and currency you put into developing your brand results in opportunities for growth - both personally and professionally. Learn four reasons why it’s worth the investment to develop a successful personal brand.

Christie Solomon 6/29/22 Christie Solomon 6/29/22

7 Tips to Improve Your Instagram Reels

Businesses and brands can leverage Instagram reels to reach their target audience in larger numbers than they may otherwise with regular picture posts. Read the latest blog for 7 pieces of advice for business owners to increase the exposure of their Instagram reels.

Christie Solomon 2/17/22 Christie Solomon 2/17/22

Proactive Crisis Management in 10 Steps

Although predicting a true crisis is nearly impossible, you can mitigate the consequences of one with a proactive, forward-looking crisis management plan. Consider these 10 steps as a checklist in your crisis management plan, which includes planning for: crisis communications, business continuity, and disaster recovery for IT systems.

Christie Solomon 1/20/22 Christie Solomon 1/20/22

Connect Your Brand to a Cause & Your Target Market

Once you identify your target audience, you must create content that resonates with them at the right time in the right social channel. (Yes, a marketer's job is tough!) Small businesses can employ low-cost, cause marketing strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition and successfully achieve a high return on investment from their marketing efforts.

Christie Solomon 9/19/21 Christie Solomon 9/19/21

Survey Results Highlight the Top 6 Challenges for Small Businesses

Small business owners often struggle with limited resources and their decisions how best to use their cash flow. Read the results of the survey we designed to evaluate the most pressing challenges - or pain points - facing small businesses.