Every month we like to share good business advice with you, make you laugh and show you what we’ve been enjoying this past month. So here are our Loves, Learns and Laughs for December 2016.

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Loves
2016 has been an interesting year to say the least. It’s had it’s ups and downs (ahem, Chipotle, Samsung, Britain), but we like to focus on the positives around here! So we’re looking back to find our favorite 2016 experiences!

  Moira - Moving from Maine to Colorado
  Keely - Whirlwind trip to Scandinavia
  Audrey - All of the weddings!
  Mary - Photo opportunities with her brother
  Allie - Telluride Bluegrass Festival
  Clayton - 4th of July in Steamboat

We also love launching websites! It’s so exciting to see our hard work live, working and making our clients look dapper. Here are a few websites we recently finished.

When it comes to attracting customers to your business it is no longer as simple as pointing out why you are better than your competitors. You need to gain the trust of potential customers before they become customers -- enter inbound marketing.

Inbound marketing is the promotion of your company through blogs, podcasts, newsletters, social media marketing and other forms of content.

Allow us to introduce you to a few of inbound marketing’s characteristics:

Inbound marketing gives before it takes
This may seem backwards to you, but trust us. If you’re an accountant, offer accounting advice on your blog, if you are a baker, share some free recipes. This type of content establishes you as an expert and is what people are searching for. Focus your content on keyboards you are targeting to attract the correct audience. Think of this as pulling people towards your company as opposed to pushing your company on them.

Inbound marketing pays attention
Buyers go through a buying cycle: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase and repurchase. When implementing an inbound marketing plan, nurture prospects through each stage of the buying cycle. When someone comes to read a blog, they are likely in the awareness stage, when they have abandoned their cart they are in the consideration stage. By using tools such as Google analytics you can keep an eye on where your prospects are. Then, create a series of additional blogs and email automations so you can keep in touch with your prospects at every step helping guide their decision.
Inbound marketing gives hugs
Instead of whacking prospects over the head with why your product or service is better than the others, take them under your wing and teach them. Tutorials, free trials and fun instruction videos all help potential customers get to know you and your product or service. Helping them feel comfortable makes it easier to take the leap and purchase from you.
Inbound marketing tells the truth
There are no scams here, at least not if you’re doing it correctly. There are some “transactions” along the way with inbound marketing. Offers such as “submit your email address for a free ebook” are common, but it’s important to be up-front about your intentions so prospects don’t feel scammed.
Inbound marketing is persistent
This isn’t a get rich quick scheme. This is a process and will require work. You can’t simply post a how-to blog and have customers knocking down your door. As you implement your inbound marketing plan you will build and email list, follow up with prospects and continue to share your expertise. The good news? One successful blog post can bring in prospects for years.
Like what you see? Let us get you set up with some inbound marketing, schedule a consultation today!

According to data from Facebook, the number of videos posted per person in the U.S. has increased 94% in the past year! Video has been aggressively pushing out other forms of content for the past several years and Facebook and Instagram have edited their algorithms to favor video content. So how do small businesses keep up?

We recently did a bit of experimenting to shoot video on the cheap and were able put together a video kit for under $50! Here’s what we came up with:

Shoot quality video with your iPhone for under $50:

Wide angle lens
There are a variety of lenses you can buy to attach to your phone. We went with AUKEY’s Ora iPhone Lens. We were SHOCKED by the difference this made (you can see in the pictures below). This took our shoot from amateur to semi-pro. BONUS: with this lens you can take off the wide angle and use it as a macro for all those pictures of grass and flowers you want to take just for fun.  

You’ve likely seen the posts in your Facebook feed. Maybe you’ve found them inspiring, maybe you find them annoying. Regardless, the success of the Facebook page Humans of New York is not something to be ignored. Let’s take a look at what can be learned from the page.

Here are 3 things small business owners can learn from Humans of New York: