You get the call you've been awaiting for months... you're going to be featured on The Today Show! Or you get the email reply you were hoping for... your product made Oprah's Favorite Things!

Take your time to celebrate, and then put together your plan of action.

We’re all used to getting a deluge of Black Friday / Cyber Monday emails. And most of them look nearly identical. They’re short, to the point, and often have colorful, flashing graphics. Which is fine... in fact, straight to the point emails often perform well - they share the discount shoppers are looking for with no dilly dallying around. But, you can reach different kinds of shoppers and add unique value when you mix up your email styles.

Here are five types of email to consider for your Black Friday Campaign this year.

Just planning to throw up a discount code? You’re likely leaving revenue on the table. Instead, optimize your Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer to add extra value and get more sales.

Online classes have been growing like kudzu for years, but 2020 has given them an extra boost. Many CPG brands are perfectly positioned to get in on the game, but only a few are taking advantage right now.

Digital brands are bringing print catalogs back to life - and getting great results.

Print catalogs are cool again. Yes, that kind of catalog – the booklet with photos of your merchandise along with descriptions – the kind that’s printed on real paper and delivered by the USPS.

Katie Mleziva is a Fortune 500 CPG veteran, expert startup coach and mastermind mentor. I was honored to join her on the Real Food Brand podcast that just went live. We recorded this in February 2020, so if you're seeing this now in April, you know we were clueless about what the current marketing scene would be. But the good news is this content is absolutely timeless - it was applicable in February, it's more important now, and it'll still be fresh next year.

Cutting costs doesn't mean you have to shut down your marketing - keep your momentum going with these three *totally free* ways to market your brand right now.

As more and more natural/healthy food startups enter the snack space, I thought it'd be interesting to look at how some of the top players on local grocery shelves are presenting their products online.

It's official: robots are now writing real ad copy for major corporations.

When J.P. Morgan Chase announced its new hire of AI firm Persado to write their ad copy, I admit I was shocked. But diving into the examples, I can see why they chose the robots.

In a surprising turn of events, the robot-written copy actually sounds more human.

Despite all the hype about eCommerce giants like Amazon, Jet.com, and numerous grocery delivery services, the fact is that the vast majority of CPG products are still purchased in brick and mortar stores.

But ecommerce sales of these items are steadily increasing - in fact online sales grew by 35% in 2018 alone.

How do you know when you’re ready to hire a copywriter? Well there aren’t any rules set in stone.

As with any service, you’re usually welcome to hire someone and pay money whether you’re ready or not.

But for best results, I’m outlining a few things you should know before you dive in and invest.

Let's look at what small local businesses and online entrepreneurs can learn from these Warby Parker-style brands.

Adweek published a terrific overview this week that pulls four big ideas that all marketers can apply. It's worth reading the full article, but I wanted to focus on my favorite one here: "They believe the brand is bigger than the product."

When you write copy for your website, who are you really talking about? If you’re just talking about:

– Your business

– What services/products you sell

– Your team

– Your history

– Your values

…then you’re missing the most important piece – your customer.