Buffer’s Transparent Brand

Welcome to What I'm Reading!  Here's a look at what I found interesting over the last two weeks.  Hopefully these articles will help you in your business.

Buffer’s Transparent Brand - Brand Chemistry
Buffer is one of my favorite tools and has one of my favorite blogs.  That's not why I'm sharing this.  Their openness and vulnerability have earned them raves from clients, and more importantly, dollars from new clients.  I'm not sharing this so that you can learn Buffer's backstory.  Rather, I want you to imagine your business doing the same thing and what that could do for you.

Exploring Content Funnel Stages: A Guide for Marketers - David Hicks
You need a mix of top, mid, and bottom of funnel content.  This is one of the high-level marketing concepts that I find plenty of small business owners miss in their marketing education.

How to Use TikTok’s Verified Business Account Features and Local Feed - Social Media Examiner
I'm sharing this specifically for the section on the local feed.  I think this has a ton of potential for local small businesses.

Mailchimp vs. Constant Contact: Pros, Cons, Tips for Choosing - Shopify
I've never seen a side-by-side, one versus the other breakdown of these tools in this manner.  I'm a MailChimp user but that doesn't mean that I'm anti-Constant Contact.

Treat your brand name like infrastructure - FastCompany
If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably name my photography business (Open Aperture Photography) something different.  I don't think it hurts me, but I don't think it helps either.

45 Must-Read Marketing Books (That Happen To Be Written by Women) - Content Marketing Institute
I'm not a big book reader.  Maybe you are.  If so, you could do worse than putting some of these books on your reading list.

Marketing Your Business After the Shoot: The 30-, 60-, 90-Day Visual Plan - Bob Mackowski/Open Aperture Photography
Too many businesses hire me to create photos or videos and then use them ineffectively, or worse, leave them to collect digital dust.  Here's a playbook for what to do after the shoot.

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