The title says it all! Sooner or later you will have a catastrophic failure of everything electronic. Your computer, your web server, your website, your smart phone, whatever. Trust me on this one! The only thing you can do is keep recent backups so you have some recourse when disaster happens.

Today, I want to focus on your website. First, don’t count on your web hosting company to keep backups for you. They may, or they may not, but it is really YOUR responsibility to have a recent backup of your site. And best yet, have one that you keep off site, say, on your computer.

You have to admit it—autumn is a great season. The weather's nice, the changing colors of the leaves are mesmerizing, and your inner child is nudging you to look at back-to-school supplies and Halloween costumes because there might be something “cool.”

Try to muster up that childlike enthusiasm for your fall marketing plan! Take advantage of all that the season has to offer, and it should be a breeze:

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Summer marketing slump. These are words no marketer wants to hear, but during the summer months it’s an unfortunate reality many marketers face. The weather is warm, and those who aren’t on vacation are thinking about it. There are a hundred and one different activities your potential customers can be doing— hiking, biking, swimming, picnicking— pretty much anything other than concentrating on what you’re trying to sell them.

Summer may have its own challenges for marketers, but a slump doesn’t have to be inevitable. Here are some ways you can avoid it:

In a previous article, we talked about business-oriented podcasts and recommended several that may be worth your time. If you found the content worthwhile, why not take the next step? That’s right, start doing your own.

There are several great reasons for doing so. It’s a chance to give back to the business community by sharing your knowledge and expertise. In addition, it helps gets your name out there and can lead to networking opportunities and a chance to bring in new clients.    

As a business owner, you know just having information at your fingertips isn’t enough. It’s the right information at the right time that makes the difference. There are all sorts of ways to get this information— books, seminar and blogs just to name a few.

One of the ways you may not have considered is podcasts. If you’re not familiar with podcasts, they’re live streamed discussions on a variety of topics, usually with a moderator and one or more topical experts.

It’s hard to escape social media these days, especially when you have a business to promote. No matter where you go or who you talk to, you’re reminded how important it is. That couple a little ways down from you while you’re lounging on the beach? Yep, they’re online and they’re potential customers. Are you using all the tools at your disposal to reach them?

One of those relatively new tools is Facebook Live. You’ve heard of Facebook, of course, and you already know how important it can be to your social media efforts. You probably also know that just posting isn’t enough.

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Publishing new blog posts but not getting the attention and traffic you need?

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“Everyone is not YOUR customer.”      ~  Seth Godin

That little nugget of wisdom is worth writing down and then pinning up where you'll see it. It makes things so much easier when you discover who your ideal customers and clients are, because then you only have to market to them. Your marketing will become less generic and more personal when you know who it is you're “speaking to.”

Do you wish you could leverage the great content you write for your blog and get more traffic and engagement? Statistics show that the majority of people need to hear or read something multiple times before they engage.

We found this new-ish tool that increases social engagement and blog traffic by posting automated campaigns on your social platforms over an entire year.

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Independence Day has a lot going for it. There’s red, white and blue, Old Glory, fireworks… maybe a barbeque with family and friends or a concert under the stars. It’s also the only major holiday in the U.S. between the end of May and Labor Day at the start of September, so why not make it the centerpiece of your summer marketing? After all, your customers have shed their winter blues and everyone wants to get out and have fun. Show some patriotic spirit, put the focus on fun consumer experiences and it’s hard to go wrong.

Most entrepreneurs are autodidacts. That puts the responsibility for our education about our skills, expertise, and industry squarely on our own shoulders.

Going to business school could be interesting although, truth be told, I think I have a business school’s worth of business books on my office shelf right now. No, I haven’t read them all yet but I have a new plan.

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One of our colleagues, a member of the Mastermind group we belong to, lives a very busy life, arguably busier than most. He’s a successful serial entrepreneur, most recently a Digital Marketing director for another agency, father of five, and reinventing himself after some health challenges. So when he recommended this productivity app, I listened.

It’s free, easy to use, and perfect for me. It’s called Pocket and it allows me to archive anything online that I want to read, watch, or listen to… later.