Marketers are like every other group, trying to use buzzwords to make themselves sound important and knowledgeable. Using words that other people don't understand must mean that you know what you're talking about, right? As Daddy used to say, "hogwash!"

Most of marketing is common sense. At its core it's about communicating what you have to offer in a way that makes other people want it and reinforces your value – whether that's in a product, a service, or your own personal expertise.

Everybody is a marketer, though, not just business marketers! A couple of real world examples of how everyday people market:

Anyone who's ever been on a date knows they should dress nicely, be charming and interesting, and be on their best behavior. That's marketing.

A child trying to convince his parent that he needs this toy or that game is marketing heavily. One thing kids learn how to create very early on is "urgency." Sometimes it's through persuasive talk, but if all else fails they can always pull out the crying card (a tactic not recommended in business).

Have you ever taken the time to stop and think about what you're really good at? And what your employees' real strengths are? But let's not stop there. How about what you like?

It may sound like an extravagance, but these considerations are musts if you want to successfully develop your target market and service or product niche. Most businesses don't take the time to think about them, though.

It's hard enough to fit in everything you have to do just to get through the day, much less try to fit in something extra (believe me, I know this first hand). If you force yourself to take the time to explore the questions, though, you can see remarkable changes in your success. Knowing your strengths and interests will help you develop a niche that's both profitable and fulfilling.

Small businesses can learn a lot from wolves.

They hunt together as a pack and the pack members are closely related by blood, affection and mutual aid - not just some random wolves that run across each other.

When businesses work together in coordinated marketing efforts, this is called co-marketing. It's a great way for companies to stretch their marketing dollars while expanding their reach. The efforts can be as formal as a co-branded campaign or product, or as informal as contributing to each other's blogs and social media to help build content.

Most businesses already have some type of tie with other businesses, whether in a B2B client/customer relationship, or through offering services or products that are complimentary.

I struggled with whether to do this post or not.  Those who know me well know that I'm not a troublemaker or rabble-rouser; I cringe at stirring up trouble, especially for others in their jobs. As a business owner, I know how hard it is to get everything right and make the pieces all fit together. Having said that, I had an experience recently that I really do feel has a good lesson in it and have decided to share it in the spirit of learning and improving, not in attacking or flaming.

Usually companies do a better job in their traditional sales and support services than through social media, simply because people are still getting used to it.  This is a case in reverse.  It is not meant to be an indictment of the company I had the experience with, just an example of how one area can be on top of things but another drop the ball, negating gains made by the one doing a good job. [UPDATE: please read to the end for response from Justyn Howard, CEO of Sprout Social.]

Your site visitors care about one thing - how you can help them get what they want.  They don't want to read all kinds of long, boring prose about how great your company is or it's history, nor do they want to have to give you their name and email just to be able to view more information about your products or services.  Your visitors want a solution to their problem - whether they're looking to buy a product online, or whether they just want a good laugh from your joke of the day.  Don't scare them away by demanding information from them before they're ready to provide it to help themselves.

I thought the following pretty much went the way of the 90's, but recently I was researching a product and ending up on a major company's website, only to find that I couldn't even reach the product information page without encountering "let us know who your are!"  Well....NO!  I immediately left the site and returned to Google, and the company lost a sale to another site.  There are too many competitors out there for you to alienate potential customers by demanding information from them before you've earned it.