Whether you're a multinational corporation or a hobbyist making a few dollars off your blog, your brand -- the name, logo, slogan, etc. that identifies you -- can make a big difference in your current profits and future possibilities.

A recent Mashable article quotes Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University, saying:...
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I usually wait to write my blog posts till the day they're published. But the subject matter for this one has me motivated, so I'm writing it Saturday, and scheduling it for Monday.

But before you praise me for beating procrastination, I should point out that I've been putting off two important tasks for about...
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With all the millions of blogs in the world, how do you get people to subscribe to yours? Over at Copyblogger, Carol Tice offered this answer:

Every writer has a secret weapon only they can use. Know what it is?

...

There is only one you.

...

Only you have your memories, experiences, ideas, and...
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Ray Edwards is at it again, posting assertions that I just can't leave without comment:

Realistic is not where the money is.

Realistic does not change the world; it does not shake up the status quo; realistic does not create legacy.

Ray's right, of course. But the thought needs to be expanded on a little....
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Have you ever heard the fable of the blind guru? I don't know how you could have missed it. It's been bouncing around for at least 5...um, minutes...in my head.

Here's how it goes:

Once upon a time, there was a blind man in a small village.

One morning, he walked out his front door,...
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Last week, Ray Edwards posted an interesting assertion about truth in marketing -- I'm trying to decide whether to find it disturbing:

Myths are stories that teach us something about our best selves, that inspire us to reach for something better, or that caution us against grave error.

...

Marketing, in its pure and noble...
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Tomorrow is election day around here. Which party is the most successful at convincing people to vote could determine who's in control of the country for the next few years. Last week, I read a report about techniques used to get people out to vote, and it got me thinking about marketing.

In the run...
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There are two types of messages you can send to your list: "follow-ups" that are sent to each subscriber in a scheduled sequence, and "broadcasts" that go to the entire list at once. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses.

Follow-Up Messages

Follow-ups are ideal for sending a coordinated sequence of messages designed to turn...
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There are four ways to make more money from your website:

Increase the amount of targeted traffic coming to your site.

Convert more of your traffic to paying customers.

Increase your revenue per paying customer.

Decrease your costs.

Let's work through the list backwards.

Decrease your costs

In some ways, this is the least i...
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Some websites stink -- bad colors, bad design, bad content, etc. But that's not what I'm talking about today. I mean it literally, what does your website smell like?

I'm also not talking about some newfangled device you connect to your computer's USB port that outputs fragrances specified by a website's CSS (that's "cascading smell...
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