I was asked yesterday by someone developing their first product, "What is the difference between brand and logo, aren't they the same thing?" Well, this is a topic I have a strong opinion about. My simple answer is "Brand is what Logos aspire to be."

The Most Popular Digital Tool Used By Marketers? It's Email!

In the age of everything digital and a variety of online tools to use, Email is still the most popular digital tool used by marketers. According to a March 2012 online survey of US marketing professionals, 78 percent of respondents said they use email marketing, followed by 58% using a social media presence. YouTube video was 33 percent, and on the low end, printable web coupons came in at 15 percent.

Many companies overlook the importance of the About page on their website. When analytics may indicate that it's one of the most highly visited pages, it's critical that this page works to your advantage and you're not losing sales opportunities. Here are some guidelines to follow:

While companies of every category encourage people to click their Facebook Like buttons, the accountability questions continue to surface: "How much does liking a company influence a purchasing decision and increase loyalty to the business?"

The best way to determine if there's a relationship between fans who've actually liked and purchased is to directly ask your customers and clients, "Have you liked us on Facebook? Did that influence your purchasing decision?"

1. Focus On Selling High Profit Products And Services

Don't be deceived by success in percentages. Focus on selling products and services that have a high profit return in dollars, as opposed to a profit return in percentages.

There are just four powerful ways to increase your sales. Not 400, not 40... just four. If you focus on the tactics most applicable to your business, then your sales and profits will increase.

The baseball movie Moneyball, based on Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, details the issues facing the Oakland A's - a major league baseball team that has a low budget and at the same time needs to field a championship level team in order to remain competitive and profitable.

It's a situation that many businesses in every single category face today: how do you compete against those companies that have larger budgets allocated for advertising and for recruiting the best talent?