About

Hi there. 

If it’s about anything, this site is about you: the small business owner looking for effective marketing strategies to help you get the word out about your small business and to do so without it costing you an arm and a leg.

I don’t know why but you found this site for a reason.

Perhaps you’re just starting your business and are looking for ideas, tips, and advice on how to market or brand yourself.

Perhaps you’ve been in business for some time and are so busy working in your business that you have little time to work on your business.

Either way, if you need advice and ideas on marketing, copywriting, branding, and social media, this site is for you.

For many small business owners, sound, practical marketing advice can be hard to come by because it's either not specific enough, or because it's priced beyond their budget.

That's where I come in.

Most of the advice on this website is free: it's yours to use and apply as you see fit.

And while I offer more in-depth, premium material for those wanting to go deeper, what I do not do is pitch myself as the latest marketing guru—because that’s not what I am and because I’m always suspicious of anyone who refer to themselves as a guru or as an expert.

You're not here to be sold to. You're here to find useful, helpful, relevant, timely information.

Here’s the back story to why do I do what I do:

As a kid, I watched for years as my dad struggled with his business marketing, not because I didn’t want to help him, just simply because
I was a kid and because I didn’t know then what I know now.

For years my dad ran his one-man construction company from home
without so much as a business card or, for the longest time, even a telephone!

He worked hard and always dealt fairly and squarely.

Although he won business through word-of-mouth, he didn’t do any marketing or advertising because he couldn't afford to and because he
didn't know who to turn to for advice.

At times, that meant he struggled more than he ought to have done.

This website is my way of helping hard-working, small business owners like my dad create more effective marketing so they can reach more people and drive more business.

In the Articles section you’ll find a number of pieces—some long,
some short—on branding, social media, copywriting, design, marketing strategy, mindset, and positioning.

Each article is an opinion-piece designed to point you in the right direction.

You might find some of the content challenging. You might find some of it helpful. You might find some of the opinions counter the thoughts of others. Take from what you read whatever is of use or value to you and feel free to disregard the rest.

Some of the articles include affiliate links. This means if you buy something from a website based on my opinion, I get a small payment or a percentage of the sale as a thank you.

If you’d like to connect via social media, feel free to use any of the links at the bottom of the page to connect via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Likewise if you’d like to get in touch via email: reach out, I won’t bite.

About me (if you really need to know)

Hello. I'm Gary Bloomer.

I'm a self-taught small business marketing specialist with a background as a graphic designer. I'm based just outside Philadelphia in the United States.

I help small business owners create more effective marketing based on the power of relationships rather than on out and out selling.

Originally from Staffordshire, England, I’m from a blue collar, working class background and I was the first member of my family to graduate from college.

I studied graphic design and visual communication at college and I have a deep-seated interest in small business marketing.

Over the years I’ve worked in private industry, in local government, in health care, in public horticulture, and in community services.

Much like you (I suspect) I've learned as I've gone along and I'm happy to share what I've discovered about marketing and business if it will help you.

Since May, 2009—and despite having no formal qualifications in marketing or business—I’ve become one of the top three contributors on the Know How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, one of the largest and most influential marketing websites on the Internet.

Home these days home is in Wilmington, Delaware: home of tax free shopping.

Feel free to explore: the best place to start is by reading one of my articles.