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In my relentless search for I don't know what, I found an article in the December 1, 2008 edition of Nation's Restaurant News, the trade journal of the restaurant industry, headlined: "Operators Bank On Profit And Loss Scrutiny To Stay Afloat." It made me laugh out loud. The article states that "maximizing the profit and loss statement has become a mantra for restaurant operators during the current economic downturn."

This is then presented as some sort of horrific torture imposed on the owners by a vicious economy. What is not said, but should be, is that maximizing profit shouldn't be paid attention to only after dire economic conditions occur, to be given temporary priority, only until 'things get better.' It's supposed to be what anybody responsible for operating a business does everyday. Including what's then described in the article: ferreting out and cutting wasteful spending, controlling labor and administrative costs; creating products, offers and price propositions customers really want. Any business owner complaining about having to attend to these priorities because of a recession is a moron, and any trade-journal writer taking them seriously is dumber than a sandbox.

Odds are, your business lost a lot of customers last year. There are holes in your bucket. And odds are, you can't say for sure how many you lost, who you lost, why you lost them or where they went and are now. If you do nothing different, I can send you this same fax next year too. A great way to make more money is to stop losing customers, beginning with the next one you are about to lose.

Twitter has gained popularity with 330+ million monthly users by offering them an outlet to share their thoughts, pictures and web links. Despite not being as massively popular as Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is gaining popularity among more casual crowds recently and must be taken seriously as a marketing instrument.

It is impossible to deny that Facebook is the most popular and relevant social network in the world. Over its years, Facebook created businesses, innovated internet advertising, and caused a lot (and I mean A LOT) of controversy over private data management.

Instagram is an excellent tool for businesses of all sizes to advertise products and services. Instagram offers a diverse audience to advertise to so it can definitely be worth the investment, especially for a small business! Here’s some tips on how to use Instagram for advertising.

Have you ever wanted to take your marketing to the next level?  You've already done the mailing lists, website creation, and social media marketing? Looking for a little marketing excitement? There are plenty of other things you can do to promote your business that are a little outside of the box. 

It is not easy being a business owner - you have to oversee every part of the operations, manage your employees and clients, and make decisions that can have major consequences. It is understandable that  you clearly  don't have time to micromanage your marketing output. Even worse, it can be daunting being the only one in your business' marketing department. No second opinion. No team support. You need help! Here are some indicators that your business needs a marketing agency.

Everyone loves free stuff, and so should you!

Not all social networks are created equal. Since we reviewed 3 big players (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) on the social network market in our last post, you should take a look at smaller and more specific types of social networks.

How many social media platforms are out there? A lot. All of these platforms offer amazing opportunities to marketers or tech-savvy business owners. You have a wide choice of media formats to use, various demographics to target, advertising techniques to use, special software and services to utilize.