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MCDA Business Brief
Insights on operations, finance, HR, and communications for growing businesses


Business Messaging: Your Business Is Always Communicating— Even When You're Not Saying Anything
Your business is communicating all the time. Not just when you publish a social media post or launch an advertising campaign. Your website communicates something. Your emails communicate something. Your sales conversations communicate something. Your customer service communicates something. Even a social media caption that took five minutes to write communicates something about your business. The question isn't whether your business is communicating. The question is whether y

Marilyn Murua


The Difference Between a Business Problem and a Symptom
A business owner notices that sales are down. The immediate question is often: “How do we fix it?” But before deciding on a solution, there's another question worth asking: “What is actually causing the problem?” That's an important distinction. A symptom is something you can see happening in the business. A business problem is the underlying issue contributing to that outcome. The difference matters because treating a symptom can sometimes improve what you see temporarily wi

Marilyn Murua


How Long Does SEO Take to Work for a Small Business?
If you've invested in SEO for your small business, there's a good chance you've asked the question: "When am I actually going to see results?" It's a fair question. SEO can be one of the most valuable long-term marketing strategies for a business, but it isn't usually an overnight solution. Unlike paid advertising, where you can launch a campaign and start generating visibility almost immediately, SEO takes time to build momentum. So, how long does SEO take to work? The short

Marilyn Murua


Content That Converts: Educating vs. Selling
In today’s digital landscape, content is no longer just a marketing tool—it is often the first and most consistent interaction a business has with its audience. Yet many organizations still grapple with a fundamental question: should content focus on educating or selling? The answer is not a simple either-or. High-performing content does both—but not at the same time, and not in the same way. Understanding the distinction, and more importantly the relationship, between educat
Mar 233 min read


Personal Branding on LinkedIn: Building Trust, Visibility, and Professional Influence
In today’s professional landscape, your reputation is no longer shaped solely by a résumé, a job title, or a company website. Increasingly, it is shaped by what people learn about you before they ever meet you—often through LinkedIn. Personal branding on LinkedIn is not about self-promotion in the loud or performative sense. At its core, it is about clarity: communicating who you are, what you do well, and what you stand for in a way that builds trust over time. When approach
Feb 183 min read
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