John Jantsch recently wrote another great blog post on the power of being DIFFERENT! Check out what he means by the “Sameness Test”!

Back a few months ago, we wrote a similar blog post on MarketingTwins.com - check it out here!

And whaddaya know, but I got a Google News Alerts (a great tool that you oughta be using!!) about “Duct Tape Marketing” and I found a real nice article from Mike Freeman titled, well, you guessed it …  “What’s the Difference?”
There’s a reason why we repurpose archived blog posts or include all these links to external articles on the same topic?  It’s because the message can’t get out strong enough! This is one of small business’ weakest areas - we want to compete head-to-head, but we end up looking like everyone else because we’re afraid if we’re too different, then we might miss out on marketing to someone. Somewhere in there is some bad logic!

Speaking of standing out in the crowd - when someone is Googling a solution to their problem, wouldn’t you like to stand out and show up in the Top 10 Google search engine listings? Or would you be content with blending in with #24 and #36. (HINT: consumers don’t typically go that far into the search results looking for you!!) Click over on the sidebar on the button labeled “GET TOP SEARCH RESULTS” - you’ll go to the website of our trusted friend and fellow Duct Tape Marketing coach, Ken Partain. Ken is an expert at search engine optimization and has plans of all levels for any size small or mid-size business. Want to get top search results? Who doesn’t!! Ken is also conducting a FREE workshop over in Dallas tonight (Wed, 8/27) - go to his website to check out where and when and how to register. You might even receive a FREE website analysis on-the-spot!

I’m leaving tomorrow for a 3-week adventure in French-speaking Africa! More on that when I return - stay tuned though - I’ve got a number of blog posts sitting in queue and Donny will publish them every few days (he might do some of his own, too).

À Bientôt!

-Randy

REGISTER FOR THE SEPT 9th DOUBLE TAKE LIVE BROADCAST!

Tell us your favorite Olympic moment from Beijing. If you don’t see yours listed, select OTHER and then make a comment and give us your personal vote.

If you own a small business today, wouldn’t you like to get your website ranked in the TOP SEARCH RESULTS? I hope your answer is “YES!” Savvy online shoppers and prospects have little use for listings that show up on page 2, 3 or page 5 of their online search. They primarily look for the Top 10 or so businesses listed! When your prospects are looking for you, where do you show up?

Here’s today’s questions for you:

1. Do you know how to optimize your website for top search engine ranking?

2. What is Social Media Marketing and what does it have to do with Search Engine Optimization?

3. How do I use Twitter for business?

4. How do you ensure your prospects CHOOSE YOU when they are ready to buy?

5. Is getting TOP SEARCH RESULTS all there is to great marketing? If not (and the answer is NO), then how do you integrate intentional SEO elements into an overall marketing strategy?

Ken Partain is a good friend and colleague and is YOUR answer to your SEO needs! He is a fellow Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coach and in that infamous trio of DTM coaches in the DFW Metroplex (Ken’s in Dallas - Sandra’s in Arlington - and I am Fort Worth’s only DTM Coach). Ken has recently launched a brand new SEO site that will be YOUR resource for understanding the power of Search Engine Optimization! The answers to all the questions I just listed can be seen on Ken’s site - he’s a genius! Ken has helped clients all over the country in systematically raising their search engine rankings - and for most people, we know that means GREATER PROFIT and MORE CLIENTS!

Do you need some of that?

Go to Ken’s site from the promotional link (Get Top Search Results) over in the right sidebar under “Marketing Resources!” Be sure and tell Ken you saw this on MarketingTwins.com - if he gets enough business for all you guys, maybe he’ll buy me lunch!

* * * ATTENTION * * *

If you live in the DFW area, you will be interested in a FREE workshop Ken is presenting at the end of this month, Aug 27. Do y’all realize how amazing this is - an SEO expert in our area giving away FREE marketing and SEO advice! Here’s what Ken says about the event:

During this event you will learn:

• How to be found online
• What local search is and why it matters to you
• How people find you online
• The four major factors that determine your search engine ranking
• How to build relationships that matter - online and off
• How to build powerful incoming links to your website
• How you can dominate the search results for your primary keyword phrases

The first 45 minutes will include the presentation mentioned above. The following 45 minutes will be a site clinic where you can have your website evaluated live and in person and learn the most effective techniques for improving your search engine ranking.

Folks - it doesn’t get much better than this! A FREE SEO workshop - in this area - where someone will give you a FREE evaluation of your website in person on the spot! You can’t afford to miss this!! To learn more, go here and register for the event!

-Randy

FYI: We like our current TOP SEARCH RESULT: if you Google “small business marketing fort worth” - guess who shows up several times? That has taken alot of work from the Marketing Twins and feels good! Now if it were just that easy to stay in the top … more work ahead!

What a great week to learn from some great thought leaders!

ARE YOU REGISTERED YET FOR THESE EVENTS?

TO REGISTER FOR COVEY’S INTERVIEW WITH John Jantsch TODAY:

Go to the Duct Tape Marketing Webinar Registration Page HERE!

TO REGISTER FOR LYTLE’S INTERVIEW THE MARKETING TWINS on Thursday:

GO HERE!

UPDATE - Monday at 7pm:

Sometimes when you want to share something, it’s often easier to draw from the good ideas of others. I always tell our clients that when blogging, you are not necessarily trying to create the most unique, most clever, most amazing blog post every single time. Rather, you are simply trying to engage in the online community. And as in any community, who enjoys the guy who likes to act like he’s got the very best, most unique ideas every time? No one … we all prefer conversation and community.

As in all social media, consider yourself sitting around at the coffee shop or even your family’s dining room table and exchanging ideas. At times, you really do have an opinion or thought that has never been voiced before and is worth hearing (so that others can share your idea with others who can share it with others, etc…). But most often, we simply are sharing what we’ve heard from others. There’s nothing weak about that as long as you participate authentically in the community with correct attribution (not trying to claim every great idea as your own).

One of the greatest tools in my arsenal is my Bloglines. If you are not familiar, try on this definition: “a web-based news aggregator for browsing weblogs and other news feeds via syndicated feeds utilizing technologies such as RSS.” In simple terms it is your bulletin board that is automatically fed updates on a variety of blogs and websites that YOU are interested in hearing about. In the old days, you would click on your “Favorites” and peruse all your favorite blogs only to find out “nothing new there.” But with RSS feeds, you can subscribe and be alerted when new posts have been made. It’s been around for years, but I have only started using it within the past 12 months. It’s transformed how I stay in touch, radically improved my efficiency when I am reviewing 70 different “favorite” blogs (yes, 70 and growing!), and opened up an easy portal of information that I can then repurpose on my blog or share with clients.

When my identical twin brother and I are interested in going out to lunch, it’s rare that we don’t end up at a Chinese food buffet. We love the choices and variety and I love to get something different each time. I look at my Bloglines in the same way when wanting to hear a variety of ideas. So when from time to time, I simply open up my Bloglines and look through the buffet of choices! Ideas are everywhere and it’s hard to choose, but there are some that just stand out. Today, I share these few with you:

**

If social media hasn’t caught on with you yet, read Adrianne’s blog over at Tornado Marketing. I think she lays out pretty well some good reasons (ROI!!)

**

David over at Marketing Integrity shows why he took up blogging. If you’re wondering why you should blog, see what David has to say.

**

Are you out of ideas for blogging today? Need a jolt in the creative department of your brain? Chris Brogan offers 50 blog post ideas for anyone marketing their company.

**

Copyblogger gives all of us bloggers a dose of reality: why saying “content is king” is NOT the way to drive traffic to your site! Find out what will do the trick (some great nuggets of information for everyone blogging and wondering why their Google Analytics is not smokin’!!)

**

Austin creatives over at the Church of the Customer blog share this video for you to marvel at people’s ability to amazing things with video. Funny stuff!

-Randy

Here’s an interesting article … what are your thoughts?  It raises an issue that’s been wrestled about in churches for years.  As Marketing Twins who are all about doing GREATER THINGS, we believe in giving back.   Not sure if I’ll ever win the lottery (guess I have to play more than once a year to increase my chances!) but if I did, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate in giving back to my local church or to local charities who could benefit.  But how would I react if they rejected my donation?  How would you? 

Let’s dialouge … shall we? 

Donny Vaughn - guest blogger

The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative

p.s.  Don’t forget that ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, we will be interviewing Dr. Rick Lytle from ACU’s College of Business.  Register to get the FREE CALL-IN INFORMATION:  www.1429creative.com/doubletake

I was at a local restaurant recently. As in many retail establishments, they offered a comment card for me to give my opinion. They questions were pretty typical (“how was our service?” , “how was the quality of our food” , “was our facility clean”, etc…). But one question stuck out to me. I had not seen this question asked in this way on other cards:

“Compared to __________________ restaurant, our restaurant is:

__ Not as good __ About the same __ Much Better

Our lives are full of choices and as consumers, we make a thousand choices a day. But as small business owners, we often want people to rate us (I’m a strong advocate for promoting online reviews through sites like InsiderPages, Yahoo Local, Yelp, etc…). But do we allow our customers the right to tell us that COMPARED TO OUR COMPETITION, HOW DO WE MEASURE UP?

I think this is a strong statement from the management of this restaurant that they know that their clients shop around and eat at other eateries. They are not so arrogant or naive to think customers are 100% loyal. So in allowing their clients to rate them in comparison to their competition, not only do they get a window into what consumers prefer at various establishments, they communicate trust and reality. We’re not just islands where people come to us because there is no choice. We live in a fast and furious culture where consumers are picky and they most definitely compare us to our competitors. How novel it is to ASK your clients how you stand up against the others. You might try asking!

Don’t forget 2 upcoming FREE events:

Monday, Aug 18 - Stephen MR Covey - Coaching Excellence Series - FREE CALL - ENROLL at Duct Tape Marketing site

Thursday, Aug 21 - Dr. Rick Lytle (ACU College of Business Adminsitration Dean) Talks with The Marketing Twins about Faith and Leadership in the marketplace! REGISTER FOR THIS FREE CALL - CLICK HERE!
 -Randy

The Marketing Twins are launching a new series of conference calls called “DOUBLE TAKE LIVE BROADCAST.” We are scheduling one or two FREE conference calls each month with special guests who will talk about their business or organization and the role that faith plays in their lives. We anticipate it being an encouraging time for people who dwell in the marketplace to find strength to persevere and be a bright light of faith. Whether you are an entrepreneur, own your own business, work in a cubicle, or somewhere in between, please dial in to this FREE 45 minute conference call. You can dial in from your home, your office, or even on the road.

Our first call is Thursday, August 21, 2008 at NOON (CST). We are so thrilled that our first guest is Dr. Richard S. Lytle, Dean of the College of Business Administration at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. His topic is “Building a Distinctive Brand of Leadership with Power to Change What Really Matters.” This is going to be great! Dr. Lytle is a good friend and has been a mentor to the Marketing Twins since we were Marketing majors at ACU (we get to claim that we were in his very first marketing class at ACU!) Dr. Lytle leads COBA with intense Christian convictions and strong academic excellence and has been a favorite of COBA graduates for 18 years! We are blessed that he is taking a few minutes out of his busy schedule to share a word of encouragement for YOU. Won’t you join in and dial in from wherever you are? It’s FREE and only 45 minutes!

You’ll enjoy listening to what Dr. Lytle has to say about FAITH LEADERSHIP in the marketplace. Dial in and listen to Dr. Lytle share important principles important to anyone living out their faith day in and day out in the marketplace!

The call is FREE! Join us on Thursday, August 21 at Noon for the first DOUBLE TAKE LIVE BROADCAST!

You must register in order to obtain the dial-in # and passcode: REGISTER HERE

Randy & Donny Vaughn
The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative

Today’s a special celebration!  

John Jantsch does a nice job on his blog explaining viral videos (I even made a comment in which I offer some of my own opinion as to the elements that make great viral marketing stuff …feel free to add to it over at John’s blog). You can also go to our site’s FREE REPORT page and download another helpful resource on viral marketing. Viral marketing are those images or videos that get passed around through emails, blogs, Facebook messages, Twitter, etc…and millions of people watch it. For examples and a good post from a while back, go here.Speaking of millions, John McCain gets a rebuttal from Paris (and she’s nabbing 1.8 million hits already at the time of this writing).

While not as many hits as Paris (yet), I’m a bigger fan of these guys! Talk about funny!

You got any good viral stuff worth sharing?

-Randy

If you missed it, local North Texas hero Melissa Lawson won NBC’s “Nashville Star” last night - she’s 32-year old mother of 5 boys and lives in Arlington. Congratulations on a great success story! And it’s always the full story that makes it an inspirational story!

————————-

And don’t miss the upcoming MARKETING COACHING EXCELLENCE series with Stephen M.R. Covey - son of the well-known author of “7 Steps to Highly Effective People” - it’s a FREE call. Check back FRIDAY for details on how to register!

————————-

At 1429, we offer a ONE-on-ONE marketing audit. This audit provides you up to a 2-hour assessment of your marketing strategy and materials in order to establish a comprehensive marketing strategy. By the end of our time together, we will help you see clearly a path of strategic marketing solutions for your business or organization! *** In 2009, this popular marketing audit will go to $350, so contact us soon to schedule this 2-hour assessment. We have only 4 timeslots available each month - we only have one time remaining in August and 2 slots left in late September. Schedule yours before the price increase in 2009! Save $150 if you schedule your ONE-on-ONE in 2008!

————————-

Finally, as John Jantsch typically does, we are introduced to “How To Use Twitter for Business.” John creates this FREE eBook and you can go his blog and download it. It’s very simple to understand and I think you can get some pretty good ideas there.

By the way, if you are Twittering and want to follow the Marketing Twins, go over to the right sidebar and see “Get Connected” - Donny’s Twitter handle is “donny1429” and I am “MarketingTwins”. Follow us and maybe we’ll follow you (for you non-Twitters, this probably sounds like bizarre stalking language but it’s really pretty cool - get in the game!)

How have you used Twitter? Is it working for you? Please share any ideas so that others (including myself) can learn how to use this powerful social networking tool.

-Randy

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Monday, August 18th, Noon (CST)
The Marketing Twins are offering a FREE marketing coaching program, sponsored by Duct Tape Marketing, Monday, August 18th, Noon (CDT). Randy is Fort Worth’s only Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coach. This FREE conference call is an interview between John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing and Stephen M.R. Covey, the son of Dr. Stephen R. Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey is the author of The Speed of Trust. Covey will speak on the importance of leadership, trust and authenticity between you and your customers.

We will be sending out another announcement as the date gets closer on how to register but go ahead and mark your calendars now to reserve the time in your busy day.

If you missed it, learn more about doing GREATER THINGS by linking over to our latest blog posts on how small businesses can be involved in charitable giving. (PART I and PART II)

Did you miss the article about the politician who let’s his supporters make their own campaign signs, giving them the opportunity to tell the world why they are voting for him? There’s application for small business. Are we willing to let other people be our advocates - do we trust them enough to speak on our behalf? Gone are the days of tightly controlled messages. In the open source world of the internet, we must embrace the idea that the world is already talking - but are they talking about you?

Want to do GREATER THINGS today? Help an orphanage in Africa by August 15th!

This is a continuation of our series on giving, stewardship and charitable giving (go to Part 1 here).

Today, we want to highlight some of the organizations with whom we work. You can read more about these organizations at our stewardship and charitable giving page on our website.

At the end of each quarter, The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative give a portion of our quarterly sales to one of the 3 charities listed below.

Christ’s Haven for Children (Keller, TX)
Christ’s Haven for Children provides a warm, loving, Christian environment in which children in need of basic care can grow physically, emotionally, and spiritually to become productive citizens in society. The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative offered a monetary donation at the end of 1Q08. To accompany the financial gift, we offered the organization 5 hours of FREE marketing support that they can use whenever they need it.

Our Father’s Children - Royal Family Kids Camp (Hurst, TX)

The mission of of OFC is “reaching out to abused and neglected children - bringing hope to the future, one child at a time.”  Under the umbrella of OFC is a unique opportunity for kids who are desperate for HOPE!  The week-long camps called “Royal Family Kids Camps” are wonderful opportunities to touch the lives of kids who have been ravaged by horrific environments.  Donny, the other Marketing Twin, has been involved in RKFC for a decade - he has participated in the camps each summer for a majority of those years.  Last month, Donny and I took a day away and spent the afternoon assisting the camp throw huge birthday party for all these kids - for most of them, it was the only birthday party they had ever experienced!  Dancing, cake, swimming, bounce houses, rock climbing walls - it was a blast, and even more fun to see the faces of the kids light up when they got their special gift box with their name on it!  These are unique and important occasions and we are eager to continue supporting Our Father’s Children and RKFC!

Village of Hope Orphanage
(Benin, West Africa)

For almost a decade, my wife and I were training for and serving as missionaries in Benin, West Africa.  In addition to making a number of great lifelong friends (on another post, I’ll have to share about how we adopted our 4th child from Benin), we became good friends with a local orphanage and its director.  They are a local organization with little or no outside support - they are a private institution that needs help!  When you visit the Village of Hope (the kids called it “Villope”!), you hear the heart-wrenching stories of kids who have been sent to the orphanage because their parents have HIV or have died of AIDS.  And a number of the kids have been rescued from child trafficking efforts to take the kids into enslavement of the cocoa fields in other parts of West Africa.

My wife and I will be returning to Benin to visit in late August.  We will be visiting many friends but will also spend some time at the Village of Hope.  We have launched a campaign to raise $3000 to assist the orphanage with money to feed two meals a day to the 75+ kids and help them enclose their kitchen.  Right now the kitchen is a traditional outdoor African kitchen nestled under a thin sheet of rusty tin near a mango tree.  While functional for most African families, to feed 75 people in these conditions (especially during the rainy season) is an overwhelming challenge.  We have set up a website where you can view pictures of the kids at the orphanage.  Please consider as well joining us in reaching our goal of $3,000.  We are over half-way there because of the generosity of friends and clients of ours!  You can donate online at www.BeninKids.com.

We are thankful that you have allowed us to share some of what’s important to us.  These are the greater things that we all need to be doing (you choose what causes resonate the most with you).  It’s more than just about profits, making money and building bigger businesses.  Those are the means by which you can impact your local community and the world.

At the end of the day it feels good to give back. It feels good knowing we make a difference in the life of a child.
We use our resources to positively impact our world. And to us…
that’s doing GREATER THINGS!

-Randy

PS - Would you seriously consider a small online donation ($25) to support the Village of Hope in West Africa?  The children would be so grateful.

PART 1 of 2:

Does your organization or small business give to charity? Do you have a special cause that is important to you? An LA times article points that charitable giving is “on a roll” in small business. But are you participating?

There are a number of reasons to give charitably. First of all, I think we can assume that most people and small businesses who give charitably do so out of genuine concern and care. Sure, there are those who do it for exploitation or egotistical reasons. If you are a Kingdom business, you know the dilemma - do you give charitably and even share your vision with others, or do you wrestle with letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Mt 6:3 from the Bible)?

David Frey, in a recent post on his website, says this:

Many savvy small businesses are affiliating themselves with charities to market their businesses. Not only is it a primary means for developing a powerful network but also it helps others in the process. People like to associate themselves with businesses that support causes, which help disadvantaged people in a meaningful way.

At 1429 Creative, the Marketing Twins refer to our stewardship vision as doing “GREATER THINGS”. On our stewardship page on our company’s site, we like to encourage small businesses to do such things in a variety of ways:

• Sharing your success to impact your community and the world.
• Rallying your team behind a passion greater than your organization itself.
• Differentiating your organization by focusing on selfless acts of community service.
• Generously giving back of your resources so others can move forward.

If you are genuine in your concern for the charities or causes that you support, I don’t think you need to worry about your customers thinking you are arrogantly bragging. We live in a generous nation (maybe not generous enough, but still, we’re by-and-large a giving culture when we see real needs). I believe when you act responsibly with what you have received, your customers and prospective customers will appreciate your willingness to use your resources to benefit others. Just don’t give to that end: don’t give to impress. Give out of your heart and a generous spirit and you will receive the proper recognition as a secondary benefit (the first benefit comes from giving and helping others). Tax deductions are another side benefit, but I would implore you to make sure that’s not your primary reason. You will not receive the true benefit and blessing of your giving if that is your primary motivation. Your generosity won’t inspire anyone and your customers will see right through it (authenticity speaks volumes!). Give to give. Give to participate more responsibly in your local community and the world. Doing GREATER THINGS is not equivalent to GETTING TAX DEDUCTIONS.

Stay tuned in a couple of days and I will outline what the Marketing Twins are doing at 1429 Creative in the way of GREATER THINGS.

Give generously,

-Randy

* In the comments, let’s hear YOUR practical ideas on giving. What are YOU doing in your corporate giving? Is your small business or organization giving to a certain cause? Remember, it’s not always about money. You could be giving your TIME as well to various projects. This is not boasting; it is an opportunity to learn how to give better. Please offer a link to any sites that you think speak positively to small businesses about giving.

1429 Creative is a faith-based creative team in Fort Worth, Texas.

Are you a Do-It-Yourself kind of person? In your business or organization, do you like to have your hands in all areas of business (accounting, payroll, benefits, taxes, banking, etc…)? Are you the DIY type who feels capable of handling these things? Some of us are, some are not. And even if we WANT to do so, sometimes we simply lack the time to do it ourselves. Or we must admit that sometimes our expertise is just short of being effective with our time, so we’d be better off outsourcing or paying someone else to do it for us.

As marketing coaches, we enjoy helping people on all points on the spectrum. Some just need the right tools and a little training. Others want to outsource their marketing completely. But the majority would like to have full control yet enjoy the opportunity to learn how to do it themselves and do it in the most effective way possible. They just need to be able to go somewhere to find the right tools, the right plans and even obtain a little counsel from someone trained to help. (isn’t this how we approach our runs to the local home improvement store?)

Well good news! There is a systematic approach and it really is the only marketing approach that makes sense. You have payroll systems, a clear plan for your employees’ benefits, and you have probably sought out the counsel of CPA in developing a systematic way to budget and pay your taxes. Most small business owners outsource these functions not because they CAN’T do them themselves. With all the tools out there nowadays, small business owners are equipped to be DIY’ers! But the Do-It-Yourself approach says that you have time for all these functions and the expertise to do them right. If you don’t have the time for paying taxes or lack the know-how to properly prepare them, do you just float along without assistance or plan, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best??? Mostly likely not unless you’d love an audit.

A marketing colleague of mine and fellow Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coach is quoted in a recent press release:

“We have found that many small business owners are spending way too much of their time doing things that are not part of their expertise,” said Troy Braithwaite. “If they are not experts in marketing and accounting, then it is not cost effective for them to be doing these things. Many small business owners don’t realize how valuable their time is and how affordable and effective it is to have marketing and accounting experts on their team.”

Troy is right. There is a systematic approach that works. It’s practical for any business. It’s simple to use and flexible. And it’s affordable. As Fort Worth’s only Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach, how can I help make you more effective?

-Randy

1429 Creative is a faith-based creative team in Fort Worth, Texas. 

OK, I finally get to use this picture. It’s kind of cheesy, but when you are at an exclusive training event with only 15 other licensed Duct Tape Marketing coaches, you’ve got to have your picture taken with a marketing guru! John Jantsch is the founder of Duct Tape Marketing. When we started our company and wanted to coach and train people in their marketing efforts, I could have re-invented the wheel. But when I read John’s DTM book, I thought “this is perfect for small businesses wanting to implement a systematic approach to marketing!” Like a good roll of duct tape, this system is practical, affordable and simple to use. And like John says about it in comparison to the favorite resource in everyone’s tool chest (duct tape), “it works every time you use it!” (somewhere out from the flat landscape of West Texas, my Dad is shouting “Amen!!” - man, that man knows how to use duct tape on everything!)

Don’t stretch the duct tape analogy so far you lose the meaning. I met a guy once who said, “well, isn’t duct tape just a temporary fix?” And another said, “but I don’t like to use duct tape, I prefer silicon glue.” OK - enough! The idea is NOT to focus so much on stretching the metaphor to apply in every situation. It’s designed as a way to make the brand memorable and to relate the systematic marketing approach to something alot of people use already in their everyday lives. If you read Seth Godin’s book, “The Purple Cow”, you’ll hear him refer to the purple cow a few times in the beginning. It helps grab your attention and make you want to ask more about it. But Seth talks about what the image of a purple cow represents, and that’s standing out as remarkable! After the first chapter, he rarely even mentions cows of any color! But it makes a point! John’s book and any of the Duct Tape Marketing resources do not consistently reference duct tape or perpetuate some sort of cheesy toolbox metaphor. The name goes only so far and gets you to see that just like duct tape is simple, practical and affordable (and really works in almost every situation!), this systematic approach will do the same (it’s simple to employ, practical and not just theory, and it’s affordable for small businesses)!

For more on Duct Tape Marketing, go to the official DTM site or to John’s blog. You’ll learn alot! There’s alot of similar marketing approaches out there, but if you were to GOOGLE “what is the best marketing system for small business?” - I think you’ll find that Duct Tape Marketing is one of the world’s most popular solutions for small business owners (see Google results here if you don’t want to type it in yourself). John also writes a regular feature article for Entrepreneur.com as well.

I am Fort Worth’s only Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach. I am one of only 3 in the entire DFW area, so if you are looking for someone to help coach you through the world’s most practical small business marketing system, contact me! Along with Donny, we are a faith-based creative team working with small businesses, non-profits, churches, startups, independent business owners - anyone who is trying to communicate to people about their product, service and message. The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative offer a variety of training courses (some FREE and some low-fee) and can tailor make a coaching program designed around your budget and your needs!

We offer a FREE 30 minute consultation if you’d like to hear more about how we can help you develop a stronger and more effective marketing strategy for your organization. One of our favorite experiences is to sit down with clients who want to have us help them assess their past and current marketing initiatives (or lack thereof), and help guide them to a plan of marketing priorities that will bring them greater web exposure, more substantial leads, and relieve them of the constant hit-or-miss marketing strategy so often employed by small businesses. Especially if you are a Kingdom-minded business and want to do GREATER THINGS with what you’ve been given, please contact us to find out how we can help you do GREATER THINGS!

***

SPECIAL OFFER: If you contact The Marketing Twins by July 31 for your FREE marketing consultation, we will then give you 20% off any coaching program you decide is best for you! You can get a $600 coaching program for only $480 (special arrangements can be made to spread out the payments to help you manage your cash flow!) Or our more extensive STAR program (usually $1500 that covers 8-10 weeks and a host of amenities) could only cost you $1200! Once you have completed a coaching program tailor-made just for your business or organization, you’ll have the understanding of how to have a more systematic marketing approach for your marketing efforts!

***

TO CONTACT US: Go here!

- Randy, Fort Worth’s only Licensed and Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach

PS - This week at MarketingTwins.com, we’re gonna spend sometime highlighting our GREATER THINGS initiatives. We hope you don’t consider it braggadocious - we feel we have a stewardship responsibility with what we have been given. We will also hopefully have time to not just tell about what we are doing to give back, but highlight other businesses and organizations who have similar ideas about giving back to the community and to our world. We hope to use these posts as a way to inspire you to do GREATER THINGS and to show you how you can help us do GREATER THINGS!

PS 2 - Don’t forget the special offer: contact us by July 31 for your FREE marketing consultation and you’ll save HUNDREDS of dollars (20%) on any coaching program you decide will benefit most your marketing strategy!

PS 3 - How ‘bout something FREE today? Go to our FREE REPORTS page and download any number of FREE resources on a variety of marketing topics to help you in marketing your business or organization. They are absolutely FREE to download! Also, for FREE, would you sign up for our NEWSLETTER so you can receive additional marketing tips, news about upcoming workshops, and other critical marketing tools that will inspire you to do GREATER THINGS!
1429 Creative is a faith-based creative team in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Donny here - guest blogging for the day. Allow us to step back and have a good laugh at some funny church signs.

Not sure if this is a real sign but it made me laugh

Not quite the “invitation song” I would be looking for

Church 2.0?

If you are a church, non-profit or a small business and are struggling with trying to determine how your marketing can help you reach new members, new donors or new clients, contact us and let us help you.

We are Marketing Coaches and we are ready to help you with your marketing challenges. Got a lot of great marketing ideas but need help implementing them? We can help! Don’t have any marketing ideas and you’re in need of some inspiration? We can help there too!

At 1429 Creative, the Marketing Twins offer great coaching solutions for your marketing problems. Randy is the only Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach in Ft. Worth, Texas and one of only 3 in the entire DFW area!! To know more about Duct Tape Marketing, go here.

Lastly, check our our website or blog to sign up for a FREE REPORT on 7 Steps to Marketing Success!

Have a great day - now go out and do GREATER THINGS!

-Donny & Randy, The Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative

1429 Creative is a faith-based creative team in Fort Worth, Texas. 

The Marketing Coaching Series, offered by the Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative in conjunction with Duct Tape Marketing, begins in 30 minutes - at 12 NOON CST!

Have you enrolled yet? If you haven’t enrolled, email me right now and I’ll give you the call-in number - you may email me at:

randy [a t] 1429creative [ d o t] com

This is going to be a great call - David Meerman Scott is on the cutting edge of using online marketing tools to enhance your marketing strategies (blogging, social media applications, electronic news releases, etc…) If this is an area with which you are unfamiliar, or see the potential but haven’t really launched anything online, call in to this FREE CONFERENCE CALL. It’ll probably last about an hour.

-Randy

In preparation for tomorrow’s Duct Tape Marketing FREE Coaching Conference Call (see details in previous post), if you have any specific question for David Meerman Scott about PR and Marketing Online, leave it in the comments. As an Authorized DUCT TAPE MARKETING Coach, I can try and submit any of your questions directly to John Jantsch who will be facilitating the interview with DMS. John is the founder and creator of Duct Tape Marketing.

So what question(s) do you have for David Meerman Scott? Leave them in the comments section. Again, BE SURE AND ENROLL so you can obtain the call-in information. Just click down below to the previous post about enrolling.

-Randy

On this Wednesday, July 16 at NOON (CST), the Marketing Twins at 1429 Creative are offering a FREE marketing coaching program sponsored by Duct Tape Marketing. This FREE conference call is an interview between John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, and David Meerman Scott.