I wanted to give a special thanks to Minden Press Herald, and reporter Melissa Harris who conducted an awesome interview. They really went out of their way to feature me and my company on the second page of their newspaper, which I know is one of the most viewed sections of the paper.

The cover took up about half of the top layer of the page, which had a picture of me smiling like I just hit the lotto. Over all, I loved it and it’s just the start of many things to happen for “CMG.”

My goal for this interview was all about introducing myself to the public, so that people will know there is someone out there willing to help when it comes to marketing. Our city of Minden needs this more than ever compared to the research that I have done on other cities.

We need to get more creative in having websites for every business that has products or services. If you don’t have a website that gives your business a platform online where people can learn more about your company, then you’re in trouble.

What you will read in this article is that I replied that I’m not trying to gain clients by pitching my services. I’m just trying to educate people on what’s working for other small businesses around the country and world.

I talked to hundreds if not thousands of marketers, bloggers, and business owners who are doing things outside of the box to grow their businesses. So, it’s mind boggling to see us here in Minden not doing what we have to do to keep up with the changing trends.

This interview will be one of just many things that I’m looking to accomplish in this coming year of 2014. Yeah, I’m looking to do more newspaper interviews in the surrounding major cities such as Shreveport and Bossier City. Not to mention, that other small cities surrounding the Minden area are on my radar also.

My goal is to educate and tell people about all of the knowledge that I have when it comes to growing a business the smart way, versus just throwing money at this advertising thing just to see what will stick.

I have realized that the small businesses who think smarter, and take advantage of online marketing such as local marketing, seo marketing, email marketing, QR Codes, and text marketing are the ones who dominate their local market.

These are the people that I’m trying to reach, and Minden Press Herald gave me that opportunity to spread the word about something most businesses don’t even know about.

I hope this article gets businesses to start thinking about coming up with new ways to market. Me setting you up on a marketing plan is extremely easy to do if those businesses want to grow starting today.

No, you don’t have to spend more money on advertising until you see what road you must take. Advertising in the newspaper still works if you know how to relay your message. Some small businesses will tell you fast that it does work, because they just can’t see the return it’s giving them.

For those businesses in Minden who want to advertise in the Minden Press Herald, I would say give me a ring first so that I can show you exactly how to place your ads so that people will take action. Because what you need to realize as a business owner, is that you want people to take action versus always selling to them.

So, I did this interview not to sell but to educate in hopes of someone taking action in our city or the surrounding area. To end this off, I would love to say that this year will be a good one for writing my first book, which will be completed this spring and can be found on Amazon.

Plus, I have a local marketing podcast I’m working on, which will be on ITunes so stay tuned for that.

Once again, I would like to thank Minden Press Herald and Melissa Harris for all their help, and for putting together an awesome article.