Web site templates tank when it comes to search engines, according to a Washington, D.C.-based search marketing guru. Why? Duplicate content and image-based design.

BlackBerrys, iPhones and other smartphones are driving an increase in on-the-go Internet use. That’s part of the reason that local search visibility is so crucial to your business.

A woman on a talk radio show admitted to stealing sugar packets from her local Starbucks. But she expressed no shame. Indeed, she felt the theft was justified by the outrageous prices Starbucks charges for a cup of coffee, calling her pilfering a “condiment subsidy.”

Did the entire first decade of the 21st century pass without your company getting serious about online marketing? If your organization doesn’t have an online strategy to speak of—no web site or a skimpy one, no social-media strategy, no e-mail list, no e-newsletter—you can still catch up. Marketing expert Seth Godin recommends venturing forward with these strategies:

I am obsessed with not wasting time and being as productive as I can. After all, my income is directly linked to my ability to produce quality work at a rapid rate.

My theory has long been that the replacement of the telephone and face-to-face meetings by e-mail has increased the average American’s writing skills considerably, especially in business. But journalist Janet Malcolm thinks just the opposite is true.

You can manipulate statistics to prove just about any point you want to make in your copy.

Every day, 61 million local searches are conducted online. Clearly, if your business isn’t visible in search results, you’re losing out to competitors that are visible.There are many ways to make your business search friendly. But one of the quickest, easiest and free ways to boost your search visibility is by making smart use of “tags.”

A radio commercial for a financial services firm talked about how their investment advisors could help ensure financial security for “older senior citizen folks.”

Use social media tools to capture innovative ideas directly from customers. Example: Men’s clothing company Bonobos ran a “Tweet4Trunks” campaign via Twitter. For 30 days, the company asked followers one question per day about strategy and new products ...

A TV commercial for Zone Pilates said the product is “277% more effective.” This begs the question: 277% more effective than what?

It seems to me that large corporations have a decided edge in optimizing their Web sites for search engines over small business in general and solo practitioners in particular.

If you’ve never had an official marketing plan, 2010 is the year to get one! The key to growing your business in a tighter market is to create a solid marketing plan and put it into action month by month. But how do you put a good plan into action given the constraints on your time and budget? Start by answering these six effort-focusing, money-saving questions:

The business editor of our local daily newspaper e-mailed me about a story on marketing during a recession. Economists are divided as to whether we are officially in a recession, but most agree the economy is in a troubled state, to put it mildly. My advice was that, during a recession, companies should be more flexible and accommodating in matters of price, terms, delivery, service, and sales.

Many members of the new generation of online marketers — bloggers, SEO specialists, social networkers, viral video producers — loudly and frequently proclaim that old-fashioned advertising … derisively referred to as “disruption marketing” … is dead.

Lord Kelvin, inventor of the Kelvin temperature scale, once said, “When you can measure something in numbers, then you know something about it.” Nowhere does his lesson have more meaning than in advertising.

My late friend, the accomplished Michigan ad man James Alexander, once told me: “I can work with a client who is ignorant. I can work with a client who is arrogant. But I cannot work with one who is both.”

One of my greatest pleasures is to read trade journals, newsletters, and business magazines at home or during lunch (like many of you, I don’t have time to read them during working hours). But according to an article in BtoB (3/10/08, p. 28), I may soon be denied that privilege, as magazines discontinue their print editions and make their content available on the Web only.

Decades ago, there was a terrific restaurant in NYC with no waiters: the Horn & Hardart Automat. All the food was displayed behind glass windows. To order, you inserted your bills and coins in a slot, pushed a button, removed your sandwich or pie, and put it on your tray — no waiting, no being ignored by busy wait staff, no tipping.

In the old days, sales reps for drug companies were invariably middle-aged men, known in the trade as “detail men.” The average detail man wore a downtrodden appearance and demeanor, no doubt from years of shabby treatment by the M.D.s who were his prospects — and treated him as a second-class citizen.

“False bonding” refers to advertising that seeks to create a bond with the prospect, but does so in an illogical or insincere — and therefore ineffective — way. A good example is the recent radio spot for Geico offering homeowner’s insurance to people who rent.

In an article in DM News, Tom Rapses, a creative director, divides marketing into two separate categories.

An article in Circulation Management (5/08, p. 12) states: “Your subscribers should be complaining about their subscription price. If they’re not, then you’re not charging enough.”

Think for a second: Has the money you’ve spent on marketing grown your business this year? If not, it’s time to make changes in your 2010 marketing plans. No matter what type of marketing you use—e-mail, direct mail, ads, Internet, word-of-mouth—here are five simple changes guaranteed to boost results and revenue:

The June 2008 issue of Fast Company features a cover story on ad agency Crispin Porter and the much-talked-about Apple campaign “PC vs. Mac.” On the cover is a photo of the agency’s creative honcho, Alex Bogusky, doing his best to look smug, self-assured, and ultra-cool.