Ready for the holidays? Well you can get ready quick with these small business and top ADS-approved Christmas gifts for under $100 (with few exceptions). Everything from stocking stuffers to fun ideas for the hardest person to buy for. Gifts for the ladies, babies, gentlemen, drone-enthusiasts, wine lovers and more. We even included our top […]

Accidental Entrepreneurship. That’s exactly what I think of when I consider where I was one year ago today. I never thought I would even think of doing this until I was 40 (although, ironically, I’m not so far from that now!). In my 20s, I often thought to myself that by the time I’m 40 […]

ABOUT HURRICANE DONATIONS: If you’re going to send donations for any of the hurricane relief efforts,  please DON’T send unuseful things like coats, sweaters, lingerie, soiled undergarments and prom dresses. Emptying your drawers and sending them to TX does not help, it HINDERS. Scroll through to the bottom of this article to find out the […]

Yes, leopard – and apparently any kind of animal print – is a neutral. The colors – tans, browns, blacks – are all neutrals. Zebra is a neutral. Snakeskin. Also, curvy girls can wear stripes, patterns can be mixed and – above all – positively everything must be tailored according to ADS Style Chat expert Morgan […]

As entrepreneurs, everyone wants exposure for their business. Why? Because good exposure positively increases brand awareness. PR is a great way to do that “for free” so to speak – unlike traditional advertising which costs (print, digital, outdoor advertising on billboards, radio and TV commercials, etc.). Note: PR technically isn’t always “free” as many of […]

I decided to do Facebook Live because I want some of my clients to do it for their own businesses. However, I never have my clients do something that I’ve never done myself before and I wanted to be able to take all the hits of the lessons learned to be able to pass on […]

If you’re in the process of designing a logo right now (or if you will be faced with the challenge of getting one designed soon), you already feel the immense pressure of it all. That logo will represent the embodiment of everything your brand is or will become in the future – so you’re going […]

Recently, The Future of Everything asked marketing thought leader and The ADS Agency founder Andrea D. Smith for her thoughts on the future of marketing. The Future of Everything features industry experts from a variety of industries who have an interesting perspective, unique insights, and a strong opinion. This month, they asked CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and executives who […]

Something amazing is happening here in Atlanta right now – specifically for children and our communities. If you have any interest whatsoever in the betterment of our children (and therefore the present and future state of our communities), I highly suggest you dig into this. I am so thoroughly impressed with a new initiative United […]

It took me 45 minutes this morning to properly follow up with 14 contacts I spoke with at a networking event last night. That’s about 3-ish minutes per contact – including time to briefly look up their website, see what their social media looks like (if they have it) and google them on LinkedIn. This […]