Over a Decade's Worth of Small Business Marketing Tips From Mike Capuzzi

The past month has been a blur with attendance and exhibiting at several events for Infotail (the marketing and sales automation company I co-founded in late 2014). In preparation for these events, I created a number of unique and powerful marketing pieces which I plan to share with you over the coming weeks. I shared the David Ogilvy-inspired ad I…

An Ode to David Ogilvy & Marketing Contest If you’ve read any of my past online articles or newsletter issues, you know I am a fan of the classic copywriters and ad-men of the 20th century. Gentlemen like John Caples, Vic Schwab, Eugene Schwartz and David Ogilvy, which is why when I needed inspiration for a recent print advertisement I…

For the bricks and mortar business owner who relies on customers (or clients/students/patients) to walk through his or her business front door to buy products or services, properly designed follow-up marketing techniques and campaigns are critically important for these important reasons: They differentiate your business from your competition. They delight prospects and customers. When automated, they happen without you having…

I recently finished an interesting book and wanted to pass it along to other business owners as a suggested read. The book is titled “Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald’s” and it’s the autobiography of Ray Kroc, the entrepreneurial legend who brought McDonald’s to the world. Published in 1977, seven years before Ray died, Grinding It Out is an…

NO business is immune to it and I guarantee everybody reading these words is guilty of either inadequate, or worse, no follow-up marketing. Like a leaky bucket, poor follow-up marketing is draining your business of additional sales, profits and customer goodwill. Over the years I’ve consulted with hundreds of business owners and every single one of them had follow-up marketing…

Being on the lookout (e.g. having your marketing radar always set to ON) for smart marketing you can modify and use in your own business is a worthy use of your time and attention.   If you’ve been reading my article posts over these past several years, you know I am constantly advising business owners to be on the lookout for…

I cannot help myself, but I love talking to entrepreneurs and business owners. It tends to drive my kids nuts, especially when we’re at a new restaurant or store, but I cannot help myself. I find these conversations quite interesting and as you would expect from me, I usually start to asking the owner various marketing questions. Unfortunately, many times…

In the past, I’ve shown several advertisements for the Jitterbug cell phone because their ads typically follow good direct response marketing laws and design techniques and this recent ad is no different. This ad in particular, does two very smart things, which both represent powerful strategies for you and your business and rather than just share them, I want to…

I will make a professional disclaimer right from the start – critiquing 99% of the direct mail that lands on my desk is like fishing out of a barrel – there’s really no challenge to it, because most of the direct mail being sent is so bad. So the purpose of this article is not to illustrate my direct mail…

I’m pleased to announce the addition of an exclusive Dan Kennedy newsletter, that is near and dear to my marketing heart, to the already impressive list of member benefits for my brand new High Impact Marketing Club! The newsletter is one I have been a subscriber to since 2009 and it’s Dan Kennedy’s LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER copywriting newsletter. In…

The other night on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump assigned a task to the contestants to “develop a viral video” for the 83 year old Chock full o’ Nuts coffee company. As soon as I heard the task, I said to my wife “That’s a ridiculous assignment” and then, much to her viewing dismay, I went into a mini rant…