Today’s post comes with a story.  On a cold rush hour morning, a good looking  man, dressed in jeans and a baseball cap walked into a train station, carrying a violin case.

He opened the case, dropped a few dollars in to encourage others to do the same.  Over the next 45 minutes, he earned less than $35 for his performance.  Most people simply walked by, barely stopping to listen to the classical violin piece, played flawlessly by the young man.

Who was he?  Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most renowned musicians.  As part of a social experiment, arranged by a writer from the Washington Post, he played for 45 minutes to see what would happen.  The results are depressing.  More than 1,000 people walked by missing a chance to hear this amazing musician perform.  Depressing not just because they missed a once in a life time chance to hear Joshua Bell, but because their behavior is very typical of how we live our lives.  We get so focused on the end game, we miss so much along the way.

So the lesson for today, is not strictly business. Take a few minutes to listen to the music, explore something new, you and your business will be better for it.

And if you are looking for something wonderful to distract you this weekend, check out my husband’s opening at the Indianapolis Art Center, if you are here in Indy.

When I was the brand manager for Bryant, I had a significantly smaller budget then my Carrier counterpart, so I learned to do more with less.

Those same techniques serve me well today as a small business consultant, helping my clients find creative ways to reach their customers. Charlie Cook from the Marketing Insider has written a good post on the topic. Yes he is promoting his book, but his advice is solid:

Give something away for free

Use publicity to attract attention

Use eMail appropriately are all solid pieces of advices.

Remember, when it comes to marketing, it is not how much money you spend, but how well you spend it that makes the difference.

Looking for more specifics check out Promotions on a Shoestring on September 23rd at Rainmaker University.

Five years ago, I received an email from a small business owner just like me.  I knew  his company was really just him, but I was impressed, by the polished professional look of his email.  I was intrigued and signed up for a free trial of Constant Contact.

My first emails received rave reviews, and enjoyed a 70% open rate.   That was then… Today an estimated 60 billion+ emails are sent daily.   And my open rate isn’t as good.

While many of the 60 billion emails are SPAM selling male enhancement products,  dates with underage girls and self study medical transcription programs,  many are from legitimate small businesses, just like you carrying simple marketing messages. Unfortunately, most  will never be opened or read.

Does that mean email is dead? No it still works, if you use it selectively, build your list slowly as you meet people, and with opt-in functions on your website.   A concentrated list, makes it easier to write laser-focused marketing messages for clients and prospects.  Don’t worry about writing for everyone.

Write regularly, share information, not just advertising and you will see interest in your email grow. keep the content short, and link to your site and other relevant sites for the balance of the information,

Tony Brown had some other suggestions on how to use email effectively.

The future is calling. Pick up! There are 3.2 billion cellular connections worldwide, and with the iPhone’s launch last year, the concept of browsing the Web from a mobile phone has gone mainstream.

Marketers are abuzz about the trend. How exactly do I advertise from a mobile phone? The most common type of mobile ad is a display banner served on a Web page called up on a cell phone’s screen.

Read full article

Marketing is essential for every business, without it your company will go no where. Developing a marketing strategy is a fairly straight forward process that involves three basic steps.

• Creating a marketing strategy
• Implementing it
• Testing it and improving

These same steps apply to your on-line marketing. I found this article on Seeds of Growth which offers practical wals to apply these steps to your on-line activites.

Are you wasting your precious small business marketing resources and robbing your business of it’s best chance for survival and prosperity? Are you guilty of the following small business marketing mistakes? Read the full article to find out if you are proven guilty!

Are you wasting your precious small business marketing resources and robbing your business of it’s best chance for survival and prosperity? Are you guilty of the following small business marketing mistakes? Read the full article to find out if you are proven guilty!

In the past 5 years the world has changed and many small businesses are only just now starting to catch on. Customers these days automatically start their search with Google, rather than the Yellow Pages.

Are you small business owner without a website? Read article to find out why this aspect of your small business is crucial.

Do you need help building your first website?  Then Roundpeg can help

Indianapolis, Ind. – Roundpeg, Indy’s leading small business marketing announced today the launch of its new web site, still located at www.roundpeg.biz. The new site, offers visitors a simplified navigation structure highlighting Roundpeg’s core expertise in small business.  Built on a WordPress platform, the site offers an interactive user experience for “live visitors” and easily categorized content to improve visibility to search engines. 

“After six years the web site update was long overdue” said Lorraine Ball, founder of Roundpeg. “The company has changed tremendously since we launched our original site.” MORE INFO

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. May 9, 2008 – Roundpeg, an Indianapolis based small business marketing firm, announced the addition of two interns. Annalise Corman and Emily Felts joined the company May 5th as public relations and marketing interns respectively. Both will work part-time through the summer.

More Info