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Looking to maximize your time as an entrepreneur? Don't get bogged down in mundane time wasters! These essential automation tools will make you more efficient and effective.

Now considered the single biggest sales event of the year, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail extravaganza offers a tremendous opportunity to make some money, while flexing your marketing muscles. Looking to build a buzz around the weekend? Here's how to do it...

In 2017, retail ecommerce sales in Canada climbed an astonishing 30%, driven by events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. This list of 2018's ecommerce trends will help you take your ecommerce game to new heights.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday come around just once a year. Make sure your business is ready by following these tips.

Once viewed as merely the start of the bustling Holiday period, Black Friday has grown to become a retail behemoth, prompting dedicated shoppers to camp out in pursuit of door crasher deals. If your business has yet to realise the opportunities available on this weekend, now is the time to start getting ready for the upcoming year.

Interested in finding out the future of content marketing? We've dusted off our crystal balls to make some educated guesses.

In his famous Ted Talk, bestselling author Simon Sinek explains his belief that successful brands all have one thing in common – they understand what their “why” is. This knowledge enables these brands to effortlessly communicate with and sell to their target market. Take Apple for example. Their advertisements don’t just tell you what their product is. Instead, they carefully explain why it is you need this item in your life. So successful have they been at evangelizing their own products that it’s even spawned the term (and book on the subject)  “The Cult of Mac.” Explaining to your audience what the “why” is behind your products is key to creating content that will separate you from the pack. Finding Your Why? No matter what industry your business is in, it operates on three simple levels: What you do – the products you sell, services you offer or jobs you do. How you do it – the things that differentiate you from the competition. Why you do it – the reason you get out of bed in the morning and why anyone should care. Above, you’ll see a diagram known as “The Golden Circle.” It places why deliberately at the centre. Your why has nothing directly to do with what you do, or how you do it. Instead, it has a ripple effect that informs the way you go about your business as a whole. Think of your why as the purpose of your business. It’s what inspires you to do what you do every day, but it also inspires others to take action and buy your products. One of the easiest ways to drill down and find the “why” behind your brand is to create a “Why Statement.” This concise statement, usually one line in length, will communicate to others succinctly what your why is. Constructing a Why Statement Simply put, a why statement is a sentence that clearly expresses your unique contribution and impact. It’s your brand’s philosophical elevator pitch. Your why statement should be: Simple and clear Actionable Focused on the difference you’ll make, and Delivered in affirmative language that resonates with you Your why statement shouldn’t need any qualifiers. It should be applicable to everything you do, personally and professionally – without any separation. We’ll lean on our friend Simon Sinek once more to deliver his thoughts on what constitutes a why statement: “It’s a statement of your value at work as much as it is the reason your friends love you. We don’t have a professional WHY and personal WHY. We are who we are wherever we are. Your contribution is not a product or a service. It’s the thing around which everything you do— the decisions you make, the tasks you perform, the products you sell— aligns to bring about the impact you envision.” How to Incorporate “Why” Into Your Content Making your why central to your business is just the start. It should also form the core of your content marketing efforts. Whether it’s a blog, an email or even a social media post, your why should be at the heart of your thinking. Take this blog for example. There are two distinct ways we could tempt you to click on it. Example 1: Take a look at our new blog “How to Write Content That Separates You From The Pack.” We dig into the how, what and most importantly the WHY of writing memorable content. Example 2: For marketers, content has never played a more important role in advertising. As more and more businesses sharpen up their content strategy, don’t get left behind as we explain how your “WHY” is key to writing content that separates you from the pack. In example two, I’ve attempted to dig into why we’re going to the effort to write this blog. The all-important why is that content has never played a bigger role in marketing, yet many businesses are getting left behind by not paying attention to its importance. Which example would prompt you to click on the blog? Taking the time to effectively communicate the value of your content (the WHY), sparks interest among potential customers and encourages them to read on. Once you’ve achieved this, you can seal the deal with the “how” and the “what”. Need help devising a content strategy for your brand? Reach out, we'll be delighted to help! Thank you to our GD Commerce Partners: Create Your Business Website Using Shopify Harness the Power of Drip CRM Software Set up Subscription Boxes, Recurring Orders and Payments Easily Using Bold Partners Boost Your Business Bookkeeping with Bench Learn How to Master Website SEO Using Mangools

Content marketing is a relatively new phenomenon, so we’re all learning together. That being said, there are still some basic rules to follow to ensure you aren’t pushing potential customers away.

Ever since the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) biz got off the ground, content has rapidly grown in importance to become the single most important aspect of any marketing strategy.