The bigger they are… Competing with a dominant brand

The launch of the new Windows 7 phone into the Smartphone market that is dominated by iPhone, pits two of the world’s biggest brands, Microsoft and Apple, into direct competition. Microsoft is the proverbial David to Apple’s Goliath in this situation, and represents a struggle that small businesses face every day when they attempt to launch into an already competitive market – how do we compete with the dominant brand?

How to have a merry, multi-channel Christmas!

With Christmas now a mere 12 weeks down the road, this could be the last chance for retailers to make adequate plans for everyone’s favourite annual shop-fest.

But what does Christmas mean to your business? Are you set up to capitalise on all the available opportunities? Are you even aware of what those opportunities are – particularly from a digital or multi-channel perspective?

With all of the above in mind, here’s my early Christmas present to you, in the form of my ‘5 top tips for multi-channel festive domination’ in the run up to Christmas 2010.

Nigel Botterill’s top Twitter tips

Nigel Botterill, the UK entrepreneur and marketing expert who has established five million pound businesses, including the UK’s leading franchise company, Thebestof, and has been responsible for setting up over 2000 people in business since 2004 shares some of his top Twitter tips to help you and your business maximise the platform.

Marketing on a Budget: Shock & Awe

Getting your business exposure is key to healthy sales and steady growth. However, for an SME or start-up with a limited budget, decent coverage is hard to come by. That said, there are a number of ways to successfully market your business on a tight budget, and through this series of columns I aim to highlight the myriad effective yet budget-conscious ways to raise your business’ profile and, ultimately, boost sales.