Michael DeVault

When you decide to start a small business, you’ll most likely think at least a little about where you’ll advertise your new venture. What you might not consider is how you’ll convey to graphic designers, advertising copywriters, and website designers how to talk about your brand, the colors you want to use, and the dimensions…

Some time after filing your LLC and before your grand opening, you’ll start advertising your business. Advertising can mean posting pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google or broadcasting commercials on television or radio. So many kinds of small business advertising exist, and it’s nearly impossible to list them all. At the same time, you’re probably wondering…

Choosing brand colors is an essential step in creating your brand’s identity. Think about this: Hospitals and banks often employ blue, but beauty shops use pinks and pastels. To select the right brand colors, you’ll need to express your brand’s personality. Once you can do that, take a moment to consider the meanings behind the…

First, a question: What is the very first impression the vast majority of potential customers will have of your business? Chances are you said, “My logo.” And it’s true. The best brand logos make powerful first impressions and cement those brands in the minds of the people who might eventually buy whatever the business is…

Whenever I’m tasked with launching a new small business or helping an existing business increase sales, I sit down with the owner to develop a small business marketing plan. You might be surprised how many small businesses overlook the importance of creating a marketing plan, opting instead to thrust blindly into one advertising medium or…

When entrepreneurs start a new company, one of the first things they’ll have to consider is the kinds of advertising they’ll need to employ. Issues you might consider include how much you should spend, competitor advertising, and where to spend it. Small business advertising statistics can provide guidance and inspiration. Crafting a strategy to get…

Over the years, I’ve consulted with well-recognized global brands and mom-and-pop startups. One of the questions I always ask is, “Who is your core customer?” Every time, the business has an answer. Almost every time, that answer is wrong. How do we discover this? I compile vast amounts of information and examine it to identify…

One of the most important—but least understood—aspects of branding is the role color plays in a customer’s impression of your brand. In marketing, we call this brand color psychology. While this may sound like buzzy marketing speak, it’s actually rooted in science. The nature of color isn’t limited to just logos and a color palette…

Choosing the right web hosting provider for your small business is an important part of creating and maintaining your small business website. A good web host should be budget-friendly, feature-rich, and most of all, offer the support you need when you need it. To help you choose the right provider, we examined more than 30…

Small business websites require web hosting—space on a computer server somewhere that visitors access when they enter your domain name or click on a Google link. Not all hosting is the same, though, as we show in this head-to-head match-up between DreamHost vs Squarespace. DreamHost is great for building WordPress websites, but for those who…

If you’re building a WordPress website, you’re going to need hosting from a web hosting provider that supports WordPress. Two of the most popular WordPress hosting providers are DreamHost and WP Engine. Both hosts specialize in WordPress websites, and they have a number of WordPress-specific features that make them a good fit. But there are…

Choosing a web host for your small business website can be confusing because hosting provider plans are so similar. To help you compare popular choices GoDaddy and DreamHost, we’ve taken a deep dive into the plans, features, and costs of each provider. Here’s a quick overview of when to use GoDaddy vs DreamHost: : You…