For entrepreneurs, believing in yourself and your business is critical to succeeding, no matter what’s going on with the economy. To punctuate that point, Staples 6^th annual National Small Business Survey found that seven out of 10 small business owners are optimistic about the future.

That doesn’t mean small business owners haven’t felt the economic squeeze over the last several years. Sixty percent of those surveyed said they changed their sales and marketing efforts as a direct result of the U.S. economy.  The survey showed that small business owners are using less traditional media (29 percent) and more viral marketing and word-of-mouth (33 percent) as compared to the previous year.

Staples asked: What could help? The answer: 52 percent of small business owners revealed they would grow their business through advertising and direct marketing if they had a larger marketing budget.  The survey found that two-thirds (66 percent) of small business owners have some type of marketing and advertising budget for 2012 that average just over $2,000.

To help small business, Staples launched the “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest that will award five small businesses up to $50,000 each in free local television advertising. Talk about a boost.

To enter, small businesses can submit a 15-second video about their company on Staples’ Facebook page.  Five small businesses will be chosen to receive 15-seconds of advertising in a 30-second Staples television ad to run in their local market.  The prize package is valued at up to $50,000 worth and includes $500 in Staples Copy and Print or Staples EasyTech™ services.  The company is giving winners a choice of either $50,000 in advertising or $40,000 in advertising plus $10,000 in cash.

“Successfully marketing your small business is the life blood of any company, but with limited budgets, entrepreneurs must be creative and resourceful,” said Rieva Lesonsky, CEO and President, Grow Biz Media/SmallBizDaily.com. “Any marketing boost that they receive from a program such as the Staples ‘Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” can make all the difference in the world, especially in the current business climate.”

The bottom line: Who can’t use an extra $50,000 to put toward their business. Good luck to everyone who’s rushing to click on that Staples’ Facebook page.

Making New Year’s Resolutions Stick

The beginning of any New Year is the time many of us get to thinking about resolutions.  Sure, it’s easy to make them. But how can resolutions become important enough to keep, and help businesses continue to grow during the year

Inspired by our firm president, 2012 has become the ‘Year of Intentions’ at Tilson PR, bridging peace, prosperity and possibility together to bring the firm and all of our clients to greatness.  Any company can focus on the following three topics to build their business, increase their bottom line and inspire everyone on their team.

Peace – This sentiment doesn’t end after the holidays.  With inner peace comes creative energy and harmony, and there’s nothing better than that when trying to inspire your team.  Pursue inner peace with people by focusing on facts and not emotions, offering encouragement to others and diminishing negative thoughts and energy.

Prosperity – Prosperity means to flourish and can be applied to wealth, health, realtionships, education and more.  Set goals in each category and strive to meet them.  Writing down goals and putting them in a visible spot helps us to keep focused on them in order to meet and surpass them.

Possibility – Perhaps the biggest motivator is the possibility of what can be achieved by setting goals, staying focused and positive, and following through.  Whether the goal is to increase Twitter followers, ramp up social media presence, sell more widgets or launch a new division of the company, anything is possible with the right attitude and of course, attainable goals.

Google the phrase “content is king” and you end up with headlines results that read like this:

“Why Content Marketing is King”

“The Golden Rule of SEO: Content is King”

“As Devices, Distribution Compete, Content Enjoys Renaissance”

“Mobile Content is King”

Each of these links leads to an article or post about the importance of quality content whether it’s for a website, a mobile device, a white paper, a brochure or any other vehicles used to communicate with your customers. Why has content been deemed so critical that it deserves a crown?

It comes down to this: Quality content is about telling a story to entertain, inform or to sway a decision. Most businesses want content that will influence customer to buy their products or services. The most successful of those businesses have found a way to tell their story in a way that it stands out from competitors.

Of course, part of that success is having a good story to tell whether it’s a major technical advancement, a pricing or quality advantage or a novel approach to solving a problem. Whatever the case, most businesses stay in business because they can tell a story that their customers are willing to buy.

Some falter because they don’t know how to tell their story well. They can own be the best, most advance widget in the world, but if no one is telling that story to their potential customer the chances of success diminish.

The answer to the question “what’s my story?” can be the beginning point to developing content that’s worthy of a crown.

So tell us, what’s your story?

The challenge for anyone writing, filming, blogging, tweeting and posting content about your business is always: Will anybody see this, read it or even care. Developing read-worthy content takes effort. But the good news is  – the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Here are five tips to get you started in creating content that can drive customers to your business and can help you grow:

1.    Write about what you know. You’re in business because you have something to offer that others are willing to pay for. Focusing your content on insights about your industry, business or customers.

2.    People (including readers, viewers, and FB friends) all appreciate value. So share information that others will find worth their time. Don’t use your communications channels frivolously to talk about what you ate for breakfast. Nothing irks readers more than you wasting their time.

3.    Focus. Focus. Focus. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Develop content on one topic at a time. Each post, each YouTube video, each blog should be about one thing, and one thing only. Also, focus on using one or two communications channels, whether it’s a podcast, blog, a regular newsletter, and build from there.

4.    Ask for feedback. Talk to your customers, employees, vendors and family members andask what they think, what can be improved, what works, what doesn’t. Do this regularly, and soon you’ll get a clear picture to help you make adjustments.

5.    Don’t be afraid to make changes. The beauty of constantly communicating with your potential customers is that you can do it again tomorrow, and try something different.

What are some of your suggestions for developing quality content?

For small businesses, using social media to communicate with customers is fast becoming an essential part of the marketing mix. Your customers and clients are on Facebook, on Twitter, using Foursquare, and now jumping on to Google Plus. It’s a great opportunity to reach them, increase your brand recognition and search engine rankings, generative traffic to your website, monitor what’s being said about your company and find new customers.

Social media marketing executed well can help grow your business. However, it doesn’t just happen. It takes time and a committed effort. Here are few do’s and don’ts:

•    Do focus your efforts on the channels that make strategic sense for your business. You don’t have to be on every social media site. Master one or two, and build from there.

•    Don’t create a Facebook fan page or Twitter account and not use them. Existing or potential customers will find you, and recognize stale content. That’s not the first impression you want to leave.

•    Do build your audience by targeting key influencers, such as bloggers with large followings and local media. Remember, it takes time to build a fan base or a following. But once you reach a critical mass, you will have an excellent channel with which to market your business.

•    Interact with your followers. Comment on their posts. Wish customers a happy birthday. Retweet their tweets. It’s supposed to be social. Build those relationships so that you’ll be able to extend them offline.

•    Do respond to comments or tweets directed at you. If a customer praises you, thank them publicly. If one of has an issue, politely address it publicly, promise a fix it and then take the conversation private. Do your best to fix the problem. When it’s resolved, complainers often become your biggest fans.

Without tapping into the potential of social media marketing, you risk being left behind as competitors jump in, learn the ropes and grow their businesses. That’s where you want to be.