In today's fast-paced and competitive business world, any edge you have over your competitors in sales or service can make the difference in whether you gain or lose a sale. Automated touch-tone customer help systems used to be the norm, but times are changing.

Branding is one of those difficult-to-define words like “justice” or “equality.” It means something different to just about everyone, so much so that some people begin to wonder if it means anything at all. Well, it does mean something, and it's actually pretty important.

Some of the most important activities in any business are brand building and maintenance. This is particularly true for startups. Content marketing is an effective way to build and maintain your brand image, and to market at the same time. But there’s more to content marketing than meets the eye.

Whether you're writing print advertising copy, creating a commercial web page, or something in between, the bulk of your time and energy should be spent creating a good headline. You may think that’s an exaggeration, but it's not.

Market leadership isn’t necessarily about being big. It’s about defining a niche and owning it, or creating a market that didn’t previously exist. Apple is a classic example of this: they have never had a dominant share of the personal computer market, but their leadership in their niche is undisputed.

Companies increasingly cite user experience as a primary pillar to their growth and success models. But like any core competency, implementation involves much more than adding a phase gate to the product-design flowchart.

If there’s one tool that has leveled the business marketing playing field over the past 20 years, it’s the business website. Virtually every business has one, and they’re used with varying degrees of effectiveness.

These days, many companies are building their brands through Agile Content Marketing.

Content Marketing gets a lot of well-deserved buzz, as one of the most effective ways to magnetize customers and generate leads. Content Marketing develops branding, based on content that speaks to the target audience.