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Unless your marketing dollars grow on trees, a big part of your job as a marketing professional is about validating your budget to your superiors - especially in an economy such as this one.

As budgets tighten, some businesses are looking at ways to cut back on marketing. A better idea is to look at how to make your marketing work better. If you can find a more efficient approach, you may be able to trim your marketing budget.

When most people think about building their company's brand they think about investing in marketing and advertising strategies. Typically the focus is on brand awareness and brand perception. That's a good start.

Uncovering newsworthy story ideas is what sets your PR efforts on fire. But it's not always easy to recognize the newsworthy events going on in your world when you live and breathe them every day!

Everywhere you turn these days, you hear dire warnings about the economy. If you advertise, your ad reps are warning you to resist the impulse to cut back on your advertising until the economy improves.

There's been a powerful shift in control over the past eight years or so. Marketers used to be in control. They would shape advertising campaigns to influence how consumers viewed their products or services.

It's all about communicating the right message to the right person in the right place at the right time.

Most marketers think their budget is too small - whether it's $50,000 or $50 million. No matter how much you have to spend on marketing, you need to make sure every cent counts.