We can come up with all kinds of reasons why things don’t work.

We can take in a ton of information, learn as much as we can and grab hold of all the tools we can find.

And none of it will matter.

Because we aren’t committed.

We have a toe in the water.

A foothold here and another one here.

I am just as guilty of it as you are.

It’s all about fear.

Marketing tries to help people deal with this fear.  Do this and you will be ok.  Buy this and everything will be alright.  Go here and forget about everything.  And that’s not a bad thing if it helps people get over the hump in the short term.

But you and I have a business to run.

And we know how marketing works.

300 your business.

Get committed to doing one simple thing into that will make a difference for your small business.  Whether its making 10 cold calls a day or asking for daily referrals or partnering with a talented colleague, make it happen.

Be a pro.

Be a Spartan.

And watch what happens.

Let’s say you’re a small business owner and you procrastinate.  A lot.  Well, you’re in luck.  There is still time to get in on the American Express Small Business Saturday campaign.  To get started, go here and sign up.

Believe it or not, here are a lot of people out there who would rather buy from you than an impersonal, packed full of crazies box store.  Take a few minutes and take advantage of this promotion but be realistic.  This is about American Express pushing their brand more than anything else.  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some ways you can’t smartly take advantage of it for yourself.

Know that American Express does NOT limit the promotion to businesses that accept its card and that it does offer special bonuses like a $25 statement credit for card holders who shop at participating stores today.

Also, there are some cool free tools you can get that are perfect for the holiday season like $100 in free LinkedIn ads and the exposure you get from participating in a campaign “liked” by more that 2.4 million Facebook users.  Go to the page here.

Start by liking that page.  Then click on For Your Biz on the left navigational menu.  The free Facebook ads are gone but you can still get free in-store signs, digital marketing materials and LinkedIn ads to use AFTER the holiday weekend.  If you post an in-store sign, email a picture of it to AmEx at socialmedia@open.com to potentially have it posted on that Facebook page.

To get the digital marketing materials, click on the Get E-Marketing button (who says e-marketing anymore? AmEx that’s who), then the Print Yourself button and download the .ZIP file.  Warning: it’s not intuitive at all.  Your marketing materials are contained in the print materials package.

AmEx either thinks you’re an idiot or lazy because they have put together an email message, Facebook posts and tweets for you to send out about the event.  There are links to create a Facebook Business page using the Small Business Saturday page creation wizard if you are still living under a rock and don’t yet have a page on Facebook.

Good luck!

If marketing types can’t convince you, then this article today from SearchEngineWatch.com should.

This is a marketing blog, so I will assume you know who Guy Kawasaki is.  For anyone who doesn’t, Guy is the founder of Alltop.com and Garage Technology Ventures, has written nine books including The Art of the Start, Reality Check, Rules for Revolutionaries and  How to Drive Your Competition Crazy.  He was the chief evangelist at Apple and got his MBA from UCLA after attending Stanford as an undergrad.

Enchantment is a sort of cross between Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and basically anything written by Malcolm Gladwell.

I have to admit that when I received my copy (full disclosure –  this blog is listed on the Alltop site and I was lucky enough to get a free review copy of this book), I was skeptical.

OK that sounds corny and infomercial-like but the subject matter just seemed played out to me.

But Guy’s approach turned it into a unique and valuable read.  He tackles everything from how to use technology (push and pull) to launching, being likable, even dressing and  swearing properly (no effing joke).

Enchantment is a treasure chest of tactics.  Gladwell may tell you what and why but Guy tells you how and he backs it up with research.  At first you think it will be all fluffy the cat but it gets dog deep into details. You get the sense that Influence by Robert Cialdini, was a motivator for Guy and it would make sense as Cialdini was his marketing professor at Stanford.

One of the cool things I like about the book is that there is a test at the end.  A test? Yes, a test.  Who the hell puts a test in a book?  Someone who really really wants you to understand his core concepts.   I liked that.  Again, at first I thought it was geez this is silly but then I got caught up in the challenge and found it a clever way to create lifelong learning teachable moment.

It’s a 200 page book broken down into 12 chapters and every chapter ends with a boxed out section of someone’s personal story which relates back to the chapter subject.  So in Chapter 6, for example, How to Overcome Resistance, you have the story of Richard Fawl, CEO of WatchParty in Austin, Texas and how his resistance to using sticky notes as a planning tool was overcome.  It’s another nice little touch that Guy used to drive home the point that it was a tactical book – one to be used not just shelved.

I don’t recommend every book I read or every one that comes as a free review copy.  But this one I highly recommend. The book is approachable, charming and likable, just like its author.  It’s a good book by a good Guy.

Sit back this weekend for 18 minutes and take this in. It will change how you see your business.