The Bacon Podcast with Brian Basilico | CURE Your Sales & Marketing with Ideas That Make It SIZZLE!: Recent Episodes
Brian Basilico: Author • Speaker • Online Strategist | BaconPodcast.com
The Bacon Podcast is part coaching that explains and educates you on various marketing tools, and expert interviews with successful people who share their knowledge and experience around their area of expertise!
I have always been driven by three principles in life and business. Although I have not always been 100% successful in adhering to them, I have noticed that I am 1000 times happier and more successful when I do.
- First, life is about motion, emotion, promotion, commotion, and finally, ethical motivation! “When you stop learning, you stop earning.” I have loved learning from others, and I believe that when you teach others, you learn twice as much, twice as fast!
- Second, it’s advice from Kenny Rogers. “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, And know when to run.”All that motion, emotion, promotion, commotion, and ethical motivation will never change the cards you are dealt.
- Third, it’s part biblical and for the Byrds: “To everything (turn, turn, turn) / There is a season (turn, turn, turn) / And a time for every purpose under heaven.”
2014 was my turn to start a podcast, and 2024 (now 2025) is my turn to explore better ways to serve you… my people, fans, and audience!
This time of year, the two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s, always seem like a blur. It’s hard to remember what day today is, especially when both holidays fall in the middle of a week. Business generally grinds to a halt with people and companies taking vacations.
TV is filled with retrospectives of the past year. It’s mind-blowing when you realize all of the events that have happened in the last 365 days.
It’s also a time to look forward and try to plan how you would like your next year to play out. In this new technologically charged business environment, it’s almost impossible to predict. Larger companies with more people and resources are more capable of directing their futures than small companies, but none of us have crystal balls. All we can do is try to adapt to what’s next.
In this podcast, I would like to give you some insights into what I see coming for business and technology in the coming year.
One of the world’s great mysteries is the Bermuda Triangle. When it comes to any social media platform, people, features, and more are like the Bermuda Triangle. One second, they are there, and the next, they are gone.
If you feel like your content is being swallowed up by LinkedIn’s Bermuda Triangle (algorithms), I am here to offer you hope. The two things I have mentioned are to connect with as many relational contacts, and initiate engagement with them as much as possible.
As I have said in past posts, email is the only tool you can use to control who sees your content. In reality, spam blockers and bad data can hinder that, but the message gets delivered. As a basic free system, social media is controlled by AI to determine who sees your content and when they see it, making it seem and feel like it just swallows it up.
We have officially transitioned from the information economy to the attention economy.
The Information Economy has significantly transformed B2B business, driving a shift towards data-driven decision-making and digital transactions. In this paradigm, companies leverage information and communication technologies (ICT) to streamline business.
The Attention Economy has profoundly impacted B2B business, transforming companies’ engagement with clients and prospects. In this new paradigm, marketers face the challenge of capturing and retaining the scarce attention of decision-makers amidst an overwhelming flood of information.
The main difference between the email inbox and the postal inbox is often looked at as cost. It can cost pennies to send to either. Email costs a fraction of a cent to send, while it costs 50¢ to 70¢ to send a postcard. Email tends to have a 20-40% deliverability. But, if you have the correct mailing address for somebody’s postal box, you have a 90% or greater deliverability, which is 2-4 times more successful than email.
We are seeing an increase in companies scrubbing their client data. What I mean is that they are looking at their CRM or accounting data and copying and filtering in spreadsheets (by the way, my company does that for them).
The art of getting personal is going to become more of a norm than being part of the “AI Machine.” Automation is great at some things but not at developing relationships.
In 1979, AT&T employed a marketing campaign aimed to soften AT&T’s image and promote long-distance calling as an essential part of everyday American life. It focused on “selling emotion” by emphasizing the human desire to connect with others. Phone numbers were designated to a person, an address, and even a desk when PBX systems were implemented at companies.
With the advent of computers and now AI, talking to a human is damn near impossible, especially if they don’t have your number in their contact system in their phone or VOIP system.
What has been lost in all of this transition to technology is the “Art of the Phone Call.”
That makes every connection on social media and every conversation a valuable asset in your business arsenal. As I said before, it costs more to have human-to-human contact, but that is something that no internet form, chatbot, or automated voice tree hell will ever give you.
The main thing is to find a way to get people to share information. Reaching out and touching someone digitally has become more complicated and time-consuming than it has been in the past. This is why the 10-10-10 method is so effective.
“Time Warp” is one of the most recognizable songs from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It was created as a time filler for the stage play but has exploded in popularity and become a central part of audience participation during film screenings and live performances.
When the movie came out in 1975, things were very different. People read newspapers, listened to the radio, and watched TV to get the news. Newspapers were themselves a Time Warp. The news was generally a day old, printed at night, and delivered by morning.
Social media started out as a way for communities and news organizations to reach their audiences again. In its heyday, Twitter let you (the user) choose or restrict who and what you wanted to follow. Facebook and Instagram let you choose who you see and follow.
The time warp happens when the algorithms feed you old information. Looking closely at your feed, you will see posts from hours, days, months, and years ago. Even though news and sports have been about what’s happening now, posts show me things that have happened before!
This is part one of a series. Over the next few weeks, I will show you some tools and techniques that you can use to overcome these challenges. While social media is still a valid and attractive tool for business, you will want to use it with your eyes wide open. Their goal is to extract money for attention. Your goal is to use that attention to make money. Profit is the motive in both cases, but you must make more than you spend to see a profit.
Have you seen the price of eggs? I have not, but I hear it’s high. It is a battle cry for those who go to the grocery store and see that their cart has less, yet they are paying more.
My wife loves carrot cake. Recently, there was a recall of carrots. I wonder if that is why I am paying $6 for one slice instead of an entire cake.
We all are looking for that one thing: to get people’s attention and keep them engaged long enough to learn something and maybe even change their point of view.
I am trying to convey the idea (the one thing) that complex problems rarely have simple messages or solutions. Audiences are looking for that one easy thing that will rock their world and make them wealthy and successful.
Times change, people change, businesses change, and AI will accelerate this change. What has not changed is that “Businesses do not do business with other businesses… People do business with people!”
But have you seen the price of eggs lately?
Back in the 1960s, the TV program was called The Twilight Zone. It was an anthology series that explored fantasy, science fiction, horror, and psychological thriller elements.
In today’s complicated new marketing and media world, it can feel like we are living in a Twilight Zone.
Marketing is about getting people to become aware and engaged and building trust. If you work in a vacuum, then your messages are delivered more organically to the recipient. But when you try to use a delivery platform like a social media or search platform, your message has additives of other content surrounding it and the timing as to how and when it’s delivered.
We are in the part of the business year that is like another Twilight Zone. It’s the two months between Halloween and New Year’s Day.
If you are in the consumer market, you are primed for people to be in a good mood and spend a lot of money on themselves and gifts for others. If you are in the business-to-business market, you are trying to finish the year strong while the people you sell to are winding down.
No one can predict what 2025 will be like for business. AI will continue to grow in power and popularity, but how will your clients and audience use and adapt to it?
If you watch broadcast TV, I am sure you are happy the election is over and all we have to watch now are pharmaceutical and Christmas commercials.
One of the interesting things I heard in post-election analysis was that a billion dollars was spent on TV ads. At the same time, the most decisive information was distributed via free-to-access websites and apps. This was described as paywall and non-paywall media. I never really thought about that but it makes sense.
It becomes a matter of trust. Voters trusted without needing journalistic and regulatory confirmation that the information was accurate or even true. That works for elections, but you cannot take trust that lightly in business.
Like a human body, trust is a complex system with some essential parts, needs, and truths. It has a brain, digestive system, lungs, and a heart.
The body is a system, and the brain, the stomach, the lungs, and the heart all need each other for the body to function and survive.
Trust in business is the same thing. It takes thinking, seeing, and feeling to ensure your business relationships are built on respect and trust. They need to be fed with consistent quality information, thought leadership, and a dash of advice. You must constantly breathe new life into relationships while expelling the negative. It also takes heart to feel and empathize with how a relationship is mutually beneficial and not merely transactional.
AI has been part of our culture for a long time. Think about the movies that have predicted where we are now.
Although this is Hollywood and entertainment, we have realized most of this already:
- 2001 = Self-Driving Vehicles
- Matrix = VR Games and Headsets
- Her = ChatGPT, Siri, Alexa, and more impressive versions coming soon
The biggest thing holding AI back or impeding it’s progress is it knowing who it’s talking to. Personalization will need to go way beyond what information is available on the Internet. What it will need (and what you want to do with your marketing) is called Hyper-Personalization.
The problem with data is that it constantly changes. A real-life example is trying to do something very old-school: sending US Mail to customers. Chances are, you have a database or CRM where the records are old.
In no way, shape, or form am I saying that digital marketing (social and email) wastes time and money? I can tell you that human-to-human interaction will increase interactions with your digital presence.
Humans are complex, fickle, and emotionally charged beings. It takes just being there as another human being to build that trust again and again, as needed.
I have a problem. “Hi… my name is Brian… and I am addicted to tabs.”
I normally have four Chrome browser windows open with 20 to 30 tabs open in each—that’s over 100 tabs.
As you age, things slow down (I can’t run or jog as fast), and I believe your brain gets full. My memory is still sharp, but I have to admit that there are many more ideas, facts, and concepts that I had to remember before the lightning-fast, internet-based information overtook reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica.
- AI is an excellent tool for quick research or jogging your memory.
- AI is an excellent tool for defining ideas and concepts and exploring new ways to build or clarify supporting content.
- AI is an excellent tool to bounce your content off of, like a writing partner who gets you. But it’s ultimately up to you to make it sound and feel like you wrote it.
My main point is “You be You!” You have to define your voice, style, and process. No matter what you write, AI can be a great tool, but it does not replace the need to integrate your style and personality. Remember, AI uses other people’s content to help you make points, but your thought leadership is an active tool that AI has not mastered… YET!
I recently came up with a Billion-Dollar Idea. I am sharing it with you, so please don’t share it with anyone else. It’s going to make me rich, and I would not want anyone to copy or steal it.
I created an app that will stop delivering snail mail, emails, texts, radio, and TV commercials once you have voted in an election. The only problem I have not been able to work out is that it does not work if your spouse or partner has not voted yet.
Political marketing is about how a candidate or a party will affect you, your family, and your life. Business marketing is about getting attention and then getting people to make a choice (buy or vote for) and take action (buy or vote). What I mean by vote is to choose to interact with or at least not block or unfollow.
Automation and AI in marketing help collect, analyze, and utilize data faster, better, and maybe cheaper. This is the allure, but it lacks the emotion necessary to develop a relationship. That takes people.
Sometimes, your most powerful tool is pen and paper or a note-taker app. Capturing that information and transferring it to your CRM or ERP will give you data that will become useful for AI or even a word cloud app to gauge the pulse of business today.
Back in the day (circa 2013), I spent a lot of time networking. I attended up to 20 events per month. It has slowed down since, but I have always found some value in networking.
That all changed in 2020.
The pandemic shut down in-person events and everything went virtual via Zoom. While it decimated some groups, others thrived due to the ability to network with others not within driving distance.
In 2022, in-person events were coming back, but people were reevaluating the time and costs of local networking.
I have always said, “Relationships are the currency of business.” I also tend to view business relationships as a way to help my clients and contacts make more money. By focusing on business and not just sales, you create relationships that were not built around the transfer of cash but the cooperative transfer of wisdom, insight, and quality connections.
It’s incredible how fast things change. Do you remember that slogan? “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby.”
That phrase was used in an advertising campaign for Virginia Slims, a brand of cigarettes marketed specifically to women. The slogan was introduced in 1968, and cigarette ads were banned in 1971. It lasted only three years but was so successful that it’s still remembered and used today in cultural references.
In the first four years of the 2020s, technology has not changed much except that it has become cheaper, faster, and more powerful. But when it comes to marketing, the game has completely changed.
Today, I want to discuss the three things we must pay the most attention to and how you can increase your ability to break through the marketing morass and noise.
Some of you may remember the Toys R Us ad “I Don’t Want to Grow Up,” which touted play and toys. I still have that feeling today. I love toys. AI is a toy that helped me come up with this post. Computers are fun because they help us do so many things: become organized, be better communicators and more analytical thinkers.
I believe that thinking of marketing as play with data, computers, and tools can help us focus on the fun and not the function. And be careful not to choke on your marketing efforts.
I confess that I try to simplify things down to binary choices: good and evil, easy and hard, the boogeyman and Superman. But I think that in our ever-polarized world, there is becoming a blurred line between truth and opinion.
When it comes to marketing, I tend to think of Google and Search as the boogeyman and content marketing as Superman. Yet, like energy, they are a symbiotic and correlated existence that exists and has to function to help businesses market to their audiences and prospects.
I believe you have to think like a superhero like Superman to overcome the erosion in website traffic. I know companies are hoping to find a superhero to help them overcome the challenges of getting their content in front of the new and right set of eyes to help them maintain and grow their business. I believe that you have to be either the actual superhero or at least the sidekick like Batman’s Robin.
I believe that superheroes are not just fictional characters like Batman or Superman. I know that they are more like you and me. We are heroes if we learn and grow from our experiences and use them to help others better their lives.
A question often asked is whether it was easier to reach your buying audience in the past or today. My answer is both. Less choice meant you had less to learn but took a more significant risk. With more choices, you have more to learn and often have to use more marketing platforms to reach the same audience, but you run the risk that multiple could fail simultaneously.
The one thing that has never changed is the audience. What you were selling in the past and what you are selling today may have changed, but people are still people. People may have changed where and what they are paying attention to, but little has changed in what attracts and motivates them to act regarding ads and messages.
It may seem that AI is making email and websites less relevant, but due to the evolving landscape in search and answers of AI, I am here to tell you that I find them more important than ever before.
I wish I had a crystal ball to help predict what next new technology will help make your business more successful, but alas I don’t.
As I hinted early on, the one thing that does not change is people. They may change what tools they use or how they consume content, but they are still people. They have needs, biases, and emotions that can be directed and affected by what and how you communicate to them.
There is a debate about whether and when AI content will be as good or better than human-generated content.
I believe that it will always be a mix of both.
Two TruthsThe two lists above (the binary choices and 3 options) were generated by AI. I rearranged and edited them to my liking so they fit better with the concepts I am trying to get across today. Although there are people in marketing who will use AI to generate content and post that as humans, I believe that both are needed, necessary, and can co-exist in marketing to help create awareness, educate, and generate sales.
- Artificial Intelligence compiles content that was primarily generated by humans, so it is both computer and human content.
- You can use AI to rewrite your human-generated content and use your personality and experience to enhance and add your signature to it.
- You can use AI to generate ideas and concepts that you can use within your personally written content.
If someone is an expert in websites or social media, they will argue that they are more important. Then, people who work in the AI world will say that AI is faster and more cost-efficient than the human version of content creation.
One of my all-time favorite jokes is about babies…
“How many babies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”“None – they neither have the cognitive or motor skills to perform such a task!”You could imagine a baby holding a lightbulb and trying to insert it into a lamp or socket. But if you wanted to see it, you could log into an AI image generator to create one.
AI opens some interesting conundrums about the use of images. Who owns the copyright? What if you use a well-known person? Can you be sued?
Images are assets. These assets can be bought and sold. What once was a free image that you picked up from free image sites like Pixabay or Pexels can be sold to a paid-for library. Those libraries can use tools like Google Lens or a metadata search to find that specific image.
At this point, I feel safe creating images with Firefly because I have a paid account with Adobe for their creative suite and their Stock Images (two different accounts). I would not be as confident using anything I am not paying for. Even if you win the battle, you are spending your time trying to ward off what I consider an attack.
If you manage your own or other business websites, I imagine you are using Google Analytics or another data manager to explore the traffic to your website.
Generally, you measure how much traffic you get, how long people stay, and which pages or posts get the most traffic. Another key indicator is where the traffic is coming from. This includes organic search (Google searches), direct (typing or clicking a URL), referral (link from another website), organic social (multiple social media sites), and something called unassigned (catch-all for all others).
I have seen customers and clients who pay attention to numbers that have little to no connection to reality. What I mean is, how can you tell when a human is really getting to your website and spending quality time?
Google considers engagement as someone spending at least ten seconds on a page or post. Considering that is what most people need to read a headline, look at a picture, and decide if this is for them, that’s a pretty low bar.
Most content is posted once, and then forgotten. That assumes that it was only right for the audience who was following your business at the time it was posted.
What you have is an asset. That asset can be reposted to social media more often than once. It could be posted 10-15 times and seen by a different set of eyes each time.
That’s what happens when I repost my Baconisms. I post the same 30+ image sayings every month. I see random comments and likes each month that I have not seen before.
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”– Charles M. Schulz
In this episode, we will explore how to increase views on your content by the right audience… at the RIGHT times!
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I could easily take my old blogs and ask AI to rewrite them to reflect today’s business environment better. That would certainly be faster than my two-finger typing, re-working sections, and asking a VA to proof and post, but would it or could it be more successful or effective?
Most businesses will ebb and flow between profit and deficit, and you sometimes have to cut expenses to offset a deficit of profits.
When it comes to marketing, outcomes are profits and content creation and distribution are part of the expense. As long as those outcomes lead to financial profits, marketing goes from being an expense to an investment.
Businesses have a longer and more chartable P.A.T.H. to purchase. They go from Awareness to Engagement to Inquiry to Purchase. By chartable P.A.T.H., I mean there are data points you can track and measurably follow from send to sale.
I was listening to a podcast interview with comedian Mike Birbiglia. I was not familiar with him, but I found his take on comedy interesting.
He believes that comedians have a one-on-one relationship with their audiences. Social media and podcasts can help to create a more intimate relationship with fans. Some influencers lose that connection because they become an outsized version of themselves. They get lost in the audience’s abyss and lose the connection with individuals. They become unapproachable.
I find the same thing with marketing. We tend to lose sight of that one-on-one relationship and get lost in the abyss of the avatar.
A comedian is selling entertainment with jokes. You, on the other hand, are selling profits or solutions through hardware, software, and services.
As a sales and marketing organization, you need to craft a story around your products and services that will resonate with individual buyers.
Getting potential customers to know, like, and trust you is a journey. Each has a unique place in the Customer Journey.
I want to do something a little different today. I want to share with you my why. If you can figure out your why, I believe you are halfway to success. Simon Sinek tells us to start with why. But I believe that why is not all-encompassing and as simple as finding one why on your way to the top.
I believe there are a series of whys. Why are you in or running a business? Why are you in the niche or market that you serve? Why do you offer the specific products or services you sell?
The other thing I have found is that, over time, your why can change and evolve as you change and evolve.
I believe that understanding the “why” questions and how others may perceive you is not only useful but critical in business. It can help you get a peek into how clients, prospects, and vendors may perceive you before you start to interact. Then, the rest is up to you to collect data from interactions.
How do you define success? Success is not measured like temperature with a static scale or counting system. It is an abstract system that is different for every person and business.
With today’s Attention Economy, you may think that likes and clicks are the most important metric. But I am here to tell you that profits are the main thing to measure in business. Profits come from sales.
In this Attention Economy, companies are trying different tools and techniques to stand out. You have two invaluable assets that others don’t have: relationships with your current and past customers and their contact information. In other words, you already have their attention!
Creating USP messages and thought leadership content that is focused on those who already know you is faster, cheaper, and better than trying to snag the attention of people who don’t already know, like, and trust you.
AI is machine learning. It’s great for repetitive tasks. It collects knowledge and synthesizes it into useful compilations. AI machine learning can be predictable.
“I” learning is what we do when we interact with people. It’s as unpredictable as an amateur golf swing. Interacting with humans requires empathy, psychology, self-awareness, and patience. It is time-consuming and can have different results on different days.
Interacting with people is how we do business. People do business with people, and although AI can help, it cannot replace human-to-human interaction.
In the world of generating leads, social networks, and business in the post-pandemic economy, it’s not just connections that matter. It’s who you are connecting with and who they have in their networks that matter. It’s your job to stay connected and keep you, your business, and your content and concepts top of mind with them. Active connections create relationships, businesses, and referrals.
In business, we need to embrace systems to align people with processes. Companies spend time and money on systems to speed up or simplify processes. The one thing that stands in the way of business systems being effective is people.
You are working with a group of people with different life experiences, goals, and beliefs. As much as we try, we can’t dig deep into each individual and try to align them based on their unique perspective, so we try to find a middle ground with the expectation of varying degrees of adaptation.
We then create documents and training to help the alignment process. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) help us to set expectations, give instructions, and align expectations. Then, just like a kindergarten recital, you have some who fidget, adlib, or move to the beat of their own drum.
With marketing, we often utilize systems and SOPs to reach our current, past, and prospective customers. We would all love it if one system (law, scripture, or proclamation) reached all three audiences because it would simplify and reduce time and expense.
Yet, when you define success as a sale, it’s one person with a team of decision-makers that you ultimately must convince to buy from you rather than your competition.
Businesses, especially ones that have well-established systems and methodologies, tend to ebb and flow. It’s pretty common for a business to slow in the dog days of summer and pick up in the fall, but I hear frustrations from some and jubilation from others.
I was conversing with a client about how business has changed since COVID-19 (2021-2022). Before that time, you could meet people in person at networking events, conferences, and more. Marketing and connection emails were being sent and opened (albeit at a 20-30% open rate). Phone calls were being received and returned. In most ways, it was not easy, but it was feasible to create leads through standard means that have worked for years.
More recently, ads and content have flooded Google and social media. That worked well for a while, but Google Search is being replaced with AI and greater ad competition (and cost).
Organic marketing starts with gathering data about your current customer base and reaching them with thought leadership content that focuses on what is top of mind with them. Then, you can find out what topics or slants on solutions are available and focus on them briefly.
I can guarantee you one thing: Doing more of the same or spending more money on the problem will probably not create a solution.
I had the opportunity to travel to the South Carolina Coast for my son’s wedding. However, I dreaded the idea that renting a house or condo was the only way to stay on Edisto Island. I had visions of Florida or Myrtle Beach, where the coast has huge hotels and condos.
When it comes to marketing a B2b business online, it’s more like Edisto than Myrtle Beach. Edisto is trying to reach a niche audience that is harder to find and communicate with. Yet, it can only serve a limited number of customers. They would love more sales, but scaling takes time and resources.
When it comes to using LinkedIn to grow sales, many thoughts, techniques, and tools are being pushed, sold, and pontificated on. The problem is that LinkedIn users are not on the platform to be sold. They are there to build networks, learn new things, and, frankly, find opportunities (like jobs).
When I was a kid, I did not have to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow! But it was before you could buy calculators and computers in the dollar store.
I am trying to remember any algebra, trig, or calculus that I actually use today. Much of it was based on formulas and principles. I know it’s used in science and computing, but I’m in sales, marketing, and advertising.
Most of the math I do today is primarily in accounting and spreadsheets. There is a bit of geometry involved in creating art in Photoshop. Art and music use geometry, math, and formulas.
Business is about math. Income minus expenses equals profits. Advertising is not any different. You want to spend as little as possible to increase sales to make more profit.
Let’s look at relationship marketing as MATH. Or better yet, and an acronym. MATH = Meet Audiences (with)Targeted Help.
To sum up, MATH is HARD. But if you want to add more customers and multiply your profits, you should subtract some old processes and then divide and conquer to help the right people at the right time.
“If a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.”– Francis Bacon
.In this episode… We will discuss how MATH = Meet Audiences (with)Targeted Help and could help lead to future success.
Growing old means having another day to learn, live, love, and grow. If you choose to continue to learn every day, you acquire wisdom. That wisdom may or may not help you become more successful, but I find that to stay relevant in business, you have to continue to follow trends and learn from experts who may be both younger and older than you!
When it comes to marketing, I think we need a team of specialists to help us deal with what ails our business pain. Often, what is diagnosed as a lack of traffic to a website is actually caused by a process associated with the end goal… producing more sales.
One issue with healthcare is you see a bunch of doctors. They take notes and fill them into a database. Then, the other doctors can read the notes and do their best to interpret the meaning behind the entries. Rarely do they ever get on the phone or an online meeting to collaborate. Each acts like an informed silo.
Marketing (like healthcare) may become disconnected and even redundant if you work with multiple individuals (or only one or two). Just as sales rely on good marketing, your website visitors rely on quality information that is easy to find and navigate. Finally, you want to capture as much data about who is visiting and where they are going as possible.
One big difference between Chicago and Raleigh is traffic. Chicago has basic north-south east-west routes and a lake that stops you from going east at one point. Raleigh has roads that can go east-west-north-south within a few miles, and you cannot live without a GPS. Also, Chicago has many 8-12 lane roads while Raleigh has 2-6 at most points. Yet, it takes almost twice the time to go the same distance in Chicago as it does here in Raleigh.
I like to think of Chicago traffic as consumer traffic on the internet. It takes a fairly direct route from searching for a product or service to getting people to that exit ramp (right before the shopping cart). It’s a 12-lane road that gives consumers fairly direct choices based on price or website authority (think Amazon).
I like to think of Raleigh traffic as business-to-business traffic on the internet. There are fewer lanes and roads. It’s more scenic because most B2b sales don’t go directly from search to shopping cart. It’s harder to get Google to serve up your content because chances are your company is smaller and has less authority than, say, a big Fortune 500 that offers what you do on a bigger scale to a larger audience.
You have to find out where your prospects are and give them a free GPS to end up and interact with your website.
Back in 1997, Deep Blue (an IBM computer) defeated Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion at the time, in a six-game match with a final score of 3.5-2.5 in favor of Deep Blue.
Almost 20 years later, in 2016, Google’s AlphaGo program achieved a similar victory by defeating Lee Sedol, one of the world’s top professional Go players, in a five-game match with a final score of 4-1.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been around for decades, yet they were not accessible to you and me. Now that they are, they’re predicted to change marketing (and life in general) forever. Experts, insiders, and reporters expect good and bad from AI. Some predict Skynet from the Terminator movies, while others expect it to cure cancer. Ockham’s razor would predict that it’s probably something in the middle.
Companies and their leaders are telling us that they are working to make your experience better and part of the greater good of humanity.
Search is supposed to provide the best answer to your search prompt, and social media is supposed to serve the content you want to see. In reality, it’s more about profits than principles.
Search is optimized to get you to click ads—that’s how Google makes over 75% of its revenue. Facebook feeds your friendships and shows posts meant to stir the pot and keep you engaged. Facebook makes over 95% of its profits from ad sales.
Ockham’s razor would show us that trying to find and win customers through search and social media would benefit the platform more than you. It’s like a casino with all that noise of winners on its machines, but the odds have been programmed to make the casino much more money than it’s paying out!
When it comes to marketing, we have been using AI since the beginnings of Google and Facebook. Both are run through algorithms.
I have always been entertained and enamored by magic tricks. When people see one performed, they usually have one of two reactions: amazement or curiosity. The amazement is, “How did they do that?” and the curiosity is, “How did they do that?” Some people will look forward to the next one, while others are distracted by trying to figure out the sleight of hand.
At every turn, your data is being collected, and how that data is used, sold, and utilized is still like a magic trick. The only way to truly opt out of everything is to simply stop using computers.
Yet, we are seeing success not in creating more content but in creating better content that is served to the right people. The right people are people who have been on your website in the past or are finding you for the first time.
Artificial intelligence scrubs the web and provides generic answers that combine multiple sources with articles that have been posted in the past. Quality content includes your own personal perspective and experiences with a topic, combined with the knowledge of the audience you are trying to reach (specifically, your current and prospective customers).
Do you remember life before Beepers, CB Radios, and Fax Machines? All three gained momentum and popularity in the ’70s and ’80s and peaked in the ’90s. However, all three fell victim to mobile phones.
Beepers became text messaging, faxes became email, and CB radios became Nextel phones and then standard mobile phones.
Artificial Intelligence is about to completely disrupt how your business is found on the internet, making it harder for small—and midsized businesses to stand out and be found. It will affect consumer businesses more than B2b businesses, but it will continue to get harder, not easier.
But there is good news. You can still take action to make sure you and your business are actively seen by companies that need what you sell.
I think creating a symbiotic relationship between your sales and marketing teams and between your sales and marketing data makes sense. You may need to hire (internal or external) to help manage the data and the sales relationships and create reports to help your company’s sales and marketing teams identify trends and opportunities, and maybe avoid missteps.
As Artificial Intelligence begins to overtake the marketing world, I think it’s a good idea to get nostalgic about marketing and see how we can infuse it with a modern-day perspective.
When you get down to the core of marketing, it’s about people. Marketing is creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society. At its core, it’s about getting people to buy something. Consumer marketing is often self-serve. People select and buy products and services based on marketing alone. A sales team and process usually facilitate a sale in the business-to-business world.
Business-to-business marketing is more about enhancing human-to-human relationships that lead to sales. It’s more like a door-to-door salesman selling vacuums than an Amazon drone delivering one before your current vacuum breaks.
Organic Marketing is often defined as content creation and distribution versus paid advertising to attract leads. It’s a digital marketing strategy that generates traffic to your website, builds brand awareness, and attracts potential customers. B2b Organic Marketing means the ultimate goal is to connect those potential customers with your sales team and process.
In sports (and in business), two factors affect success. The physical and the mental are two parts of the whole, yet one is easier to evaluate to predict success… especially in football.
In business, we tend to focus more on the mental than the physical of the people we work with. This is why artificial intelligence is both an opportunity and a detriment.
AI has the benefit of agility and speed with decision-making. It also has a bit more consistency and predictability than humans. If you take a robot with adequate physical abilities and supercharge it with AI, it can score wins in a more frequent and predictable model.
The scary part is that it learns from the past and tries to predict the future. When AI makes decisions based on an unforeseen circumstance, it will either shut down or fail. It may learn from mistakes but often lacks the emotion or empathy to evaluate its decisions from a moral or personal perspective.
Golf, football, baseball, and other sports are generally described as a game of inches. Golf is about the six inches between your ears.
Even if you have mastered the physical skills, your mind can keep you guessing. The question is, what data are you paying attention to, and how fast can you make an educated decision?
I find that capturing, processing, and utilizing data is key to success… in sports and in business.
I was just in Chicago at the American Marketing Association’s Leadership Conference, where 400 people from around North America, representing 50+ chapters, came to learn and grow with and from each other.
Conferences are great for networking, learning, and getting out of the routine work rut, but they are also very peoply. Sometimes, too peoply.
Like social media and audio amplifiers, my brain has a self-preservation technique of shutting down when I spend too much time with people.
As a salesperson, peopling is your job. The barrier is that you are reaching out to people you probably don’t know and trying to converse at a noisy dinner table.
Promoting your brand is not 100% about what you sell. It’s about you as a person and how business and the personal interconnect. LinkedIn is one of your best platforms for sharing and caring if you are in the business-to-business sales world.
Growing up in New York, Yogi Bera was one of my favorite characters. He was a good player but even more of a philosopher (well, sort of).
Some of his most famous “Deep Yogi Thoughts” include:
- “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
- “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
- “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
- “You can observe a lot by watching.”
- “Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.”
- “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”
- “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
Baseball is a sport. It’s not quite as life-or-death as a gladiator in a Roman coliseum, but some people feel like it is (especially in the payoffs). But it’s certainly not war, or is it?
Speaking of war, Donald Rumsfeld had a Yogi Bera moment during a press conference in 2002. Rumsfeld was the U.S. Secretary of Defense in the period right after 9/11 when our leaders were contemplating attacking Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction.
The direct quote was, “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know, we don’t know.”
While that quote may be a bit confusing, the underlying concepts of “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” have been used in various fields like project management, risk assessment, and strategic planning for decades. I would like to look at it from the perspective of marketing in today’s multigenerational, AI-infused digital online marketing world!
When you think of unicorns, I am sure the first thing that comes to mind is a mythical and colorful horse with a single horn. Although there are no living, breathing unicorns that I have ever seen, I know unicorns are REAL!
Real unicorns in business refer to an elite privately funded startup that has crossed the $1 billion valuation mark, usually in the technology field.
When you think of business leads, I am sure the first thing that comes to mind is a real-life person who needs and wants to buy what you are selling. Although there are living, breathing people who buy what you sell, I am proposing to you that most business leads are NOT REAL!
A business sales lead is a person or organization that potentially needs what you sell (products, services, or a mix of both). You can define leads as cold, warm, and hot.
I understand that business needs leads to create new sales, but I propose that you have options other than buying names or researching people who are cold leads that require your sales team to spend hours and thousands of dollars trying to qualify and pursue them as prospects.
Chances are, you are not selling to unicorns. Believe it or not, you can buy Pixie Dust on Amazon. Either way, the road to our business-to-business realities always begin and end with people. Happy customers and great relationships lead to referrals, which are often sprinkled with the Pixie Dust of trust!
One of the most recognized sounds computer lovers remember is the dial-up connection and AOL’s announcement that says, “You’ve Got Mail!” It was like a sugar high whenever you heard that sound. Nowadays, most of us feel like we have the stabbing pain of a cavity when we hear our Outlook or Gmail inbox notification saying, “You’ve Got Mail!”
What changed?
The biggest difference is that many (if not most) of the emails we get today have one goal: to sell us something. Some of that is subtle, like email lists we have signed up for, while others are just blatant phishing, which is a random solution (or at least they say so) in search of a problem.
It’s hard to have the time and resources to optimize data, but that is one of the single activities that can impact email marketing success.
All too often, we import names and emails into email programs and lists because it’s easy. What’s a bit harder is collecting more detailed information and tagging contacts along their lifecycle on your email list.
I hate to break it to you, but people don’t want your newsletter. Newsletters are about you, and they are interested in what benefits them. Yet companies create emails with five or twenty stories (some or all with links).
The real challenge is finding and creating content relative to your audience when you send it. It is so important to create fresh, specific, and timely content.
The best way to prime your business for the AI revolution is to learn how it works for you and your company in the current business environment and then adapt as the tools become smarter and more accessible (and affordable).
Let’s face it. We are living in a world that is overwhelmed with information.
- 380 new websites are created every minute, and over 500,000 new websites are added every day
- 7 million blog posts are published across the internet daily
- 300 BILLION emails are sent per day (85% spam)
- 720,000 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube (30,000 days’ worth of video content) per day
- AI-generated content creation will double those numbers in less than a year
Getting your messages in front of any audience is getting harder and harder, let alone the perfect audience who might care about what you do or sell.
Okay… Take a deep breath. It’s not all doom and gloom. All of that information is only a problem if you are trying to outperform companies with deeper pockets and more cutting-edge resources.
You can totally zig while your competition zags. While most businesses are hunting for new clients in the internet marketing space, you can grow your business better and faster using relationship marketing principles. These principles are based on psychology, sociology, and human-to-human principles that date back to the beginning of time.
Let’s dive into five myths and remedies that may help you achieve your desired outcomes while spending less money and making more in the long run.
Mulch is made by shredding trees. Finer shredding improves the soil over time. As organic mulches decompose, they can add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, enhancing its quality.
Mulch is not only decorative but also functional. It helps plants by regulating soil temperature, retaining water, and preventing weeds and erosion—all from recycled trees.
I think of creating content as an ecosystem, just like a tree. It starts with an idea or a seed of thought. It grows and builds roots in your business marketing. Then, it provides nutrients to help feed itself and your business.
Running a business is hard. The bigger the business, the more complex it is. You have to manage issues like people, finance, supply and demand, sales, marketing, and what I consider the most challenging part… finding customers and keeping them happy.
Like a tree turns CO² into oxygen, you can turn lessons into relationships. This means converting those lessons into strategic marketing ideas that facilitate sales.
Reinvention is based on results. It requires critical listening and critical thinking to understand the subtleties. You can hear how the bass drum and bass guitar build a foundation while the strings on the chorus lift the message to a different level. It has to become a habit of consuming fuel that drives you forward to success.
You may not think about it, but we are surrounded by messages and ads all day long. In today’s digital age, the average person encounters between 6,000 and 10,000 ads daily. We are bombarded with billboards, snail mail, radio, and TV, not to mention all the social media content, spam emails, and robocalls.
All of that noise has one goal: to get you to spend or give your money to them. The never-ending battle for your attention and dollars is waged relentlessly daily. This works because we are personally tied to our beliefs, egos, and needs. We all want to be right, liked, and sustained without being taken advantage of. We face a lot of noise that is trying to persuade us. We tend to pay attention to what we find relevant.
If you think about it, each change in our economy has created new opportunities while the status quo has deteriorated before our eyes. People who refused to reinvent themselves and their businesses fell by the wayside, while others saw their fortunes explode.
Revolution is based on promises. Promises are like music that we have already heard. You may have an emotional connection, but the next song forms a new connection once the song ends. It’s a sugar high that peaks and falls.
Reinvention is based on results. It requires critical listening and critical thinking to understand the subtleties. You can hear how the bass drum and bass guitar build a foundation while the strings on the chorus lift the message to a different level. It has to become a habit of consuming fuel that drives you forward to success.
If you have been involved in online marketing in any way over the last 10+ years, you have been fed a steady diet of more. More followers equals more sales. More hits to your website equals more sales. More social media engagement leads to more sales.
Almost nobody would argue that more sales are bad, but people have conflated more with better. I am here to say that better is worth more.
In the world of relationship marketing, sales begin at connection. A connection can come in the form of a follow, a friend request, a connection request, a message, a website form submission, or whatever each platform uses to start, generate, and maintain conversations and relational connections.
The main goal is to stay top of mind and maintain a connection so people will see your content, consume it, and hopefully learn something, and then engage in a relationship at the time of their choosing. That is the promise of social media. They do this for free, so people will pay for advertising to do just that!
Trust has to be planted and grown. It is a seed planted through a personal relationship. It needs to grow roots and be nurtured through light and water to produce fruit. Trust must be watered by honesty, warmed and fed through the light of integrity, and rooted in consistency. Strong roots and branches provide shade and shelter in the stormy weather of doubt.
It would be great if there were a way to measure trust. You can calculate the number of people who know or connect with you. You can measure likes by the number of people who interact with your social posts or open your emails. However, trust can only be seen when a transaction happens.
There are five stages to go from like to trust: Connection, Caution, Consistency, Courage, and Commitment.
No tool, system, or software program can automate trust. You may think that sending emails, keeping people in the loop, and sending them direct messages may help, and they do. But the only way to maintain and nurture trust is through human-to-human interaction.
Going from Know to Trust requires a stepping stone, and that’s called a Like. You can try to jump over that stone, but it leads to a transactional two-step. You may make a sale, but it will not build a relationship.
Relationships are key in the B2b world because businesses need to be reminded that you are there to serve them when needed and that they can continue to trust you.
Like is a connection. Online a connection is a follow, friend request, or whatever a social platform says its phrase is defined as a positive affinity, rapport, or fondness with someone in a digital sense.
In the literal sense, like means you have something in common. For example, I like dogs, golf, music, humor, motivation, family, and business. The more you have in common with certain people, the more they will like you.
So, it is the activity that gets someone who knows you to know you better. It’s about informing without dividing. It’s about making them feel something. It’s about forming a bond around subjects that matter to both of you. The goal is to stay in touch and be top of mind. The goal is not just to sell something.
There are three final points that I believe need to be addressed.
Know is a beautiful word. People ask, “You know what?” They text IYKYK (meaning if you know, you know). Know can also be a derivative of knowledge.
Know is a two-way street when it comes to marketing. You want people to know about you and your business. You may also want to know who knows about you and your business.
Knowing who knows what is almost like the old Abbott and Costello bit, “Who’s on first.” Or, what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Just because someone becomes aware of your business or gets to know you exist does not guarantee that they will remember you a week, month, or year from now.
That means that you have to remind them that you are there and that you are still relevant.
As I mentioned, there are three kinds of marketing: awareness, education, and sales. Awareness is about being top of mind. With awareness marketing, your goal isn’t to inform, educate, or convince. It’s about raising your hand and saying, “HEY… we’re still here!”
The concept of “Know – Like – Trust” has been around for a while. It is commonly attributed to author Bob Burg (Endless Referrals and The Go-Giver).
Another person attributed to the concept is sales trainer Michael Goldstein, who talked about buyers needing to experience “confidence, affinity, and empathy” before making purchases.
No matter who originated it or how you phrase it, it’s undoubtedly a foundational process to making a sale. When I say process, it’s one foot in front of the other sequence. Yet many business people try to hop over the like part and go from know to trust.
Know, Like, and Trust has three distinct phases when it comes to marketing to build relationships.
One of the critical principles that muddies the water when it comes to business-to-business relationship marketing is the concept that your business is trying to appeal to the largest audience possible.
In business, sales are the KPI that drive everything from employee compensation, innovation budgets, and, in some cases, investor and shareholder enthusiasm.
The concepts of Know, Like, and Trust are intertwined, yet each has its own purpose, process, and performance metrics. One last key thing to remember is that marketing people are part of your sales team, and salespeople are part of your marketing team.
Networking has been around for a long time in business. Some of the names you may recognize (Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller) were prolific advocates of networking.As we know it today, networking started taking hold in the 1970s. More formal groups like BNI (Business Networking International) started in 1984.Tradeshows, associations, and even chambers of commerce are all forms of networking.One of the best philosophies I have ever learned about networking is that business is not B2B (business to business); it’s H2h (human to human).Humans are complex beings. They have emotions, biases, experiences, expectations, fears, hopes, and random acts of kindness or stupidity (depending on the planet's alignment and inspiration from higher powers). In face-to-face networking, we get a tiny glimpse into the complexity of a person's overall being.Think of networking as a relationship bank! You have to make deposits to create interest. Every quality network you can tap into creates a foundational asset that can and will help grow your sphere of influence.
One of the foundations that's stuck with me through the years is, “Businesses do not do business with other businesses. People do business with people.” There has never been a corporation that has ever paid cash or written a check. People do that. Yes, companies try to put you on autopilot by making you subscribe to things, but it still takes a human to enter the data and make the initial purchase.What had been the Horatio Alger dream of the Nineteenth Century, starting in the mail room and ultimately owning the bank or factory, now had even more scope. How many loyal workers dreamed of climbing the corporate ladder to become CEO of a multinational corporation?Part of the evolution of business is about teaching ourselves how to really network. There are many options, from associations to chambers of commerce to people who do informal and semi-formal free and paid events.Those events lead to people suggesting other networking opportunities. That could expand your Golden Rolodex even further, but how do you find value in networking?
What’s your image?Top view on pan with fried egg with baconBabies are cute, puppies are cute, and bacon is not cute, but I bet your mouth watered a little bit.What if someone recently lost a baby? Maybe they are a cat person? What if they are an animal rights activist or vegan? Then, those first statements could not be any farther from the response you had hoped for.Brands, like cute, are in the eye of the beholder, but as a business, our brand is our image.Branding is complicated. It’s more than your logo, your corporate fonts and colors, and how you advertise to your perfect customers. It encompasses everything from the stock images you choose to how you answer the phone (or not) to what platforms you choose to distribute your content.Speaking of content, your content comprises text, images, and media (audio/video).It’s Not About You, it’s about people choosing you.So, what does BACON (Building Authentic Connections Online Networking) mean or look like to you and your business? I can assure you it is different for almost everyone, but all have some things in common.For B2b businesses, this means investing time in nurturing a long-term relationship. This may mean providing them with information in the form of articles or even providing them with connections that may turn into leads and sales for them first.
You can’t control change; it controls you.Chances are, you are in one of two camps:1) Those who embrace technology or2) Those who are overwhelmed with all the change.Now, you may still be a damn the torpedos, I am going to use my printed Franklin planner and Palm Pilot Blueberry thingy kind of person, but I want to try and help you understand what change matters and what may not when it comes to you and your business.My goal here is to help you better understand how to embrace the benefits of these changes. Heck, you can always hire an assistant to deal with all those technology changes that keep coming at you like stars in a hyperdrive Star Wars scene.It’s Not About You, it’s about people choosing you.I’m going to let you in on a little secret: In today’s reality, it’s not you choosing the customer, advocate, or power partner, they choose you!What you have to do is find a way to become distinctive, memorable, and top-of-mind. This is the power of social networking and social media, getting you to that top-of-mind position and helping you stay there. You just have to learn how to leverage the tools in a way that creates and enhances relationships.
I've spent more than forty-five years in business. During that time, business has experienced many changes, innovations, breakthroughs, revolutions, and upheavals. I’ve had the chance to see the birth and evolution of the personal computer, and I worked at the company that pioneered the cell phone. Then I watched the “brick” phone transform into a computer that fits in your pocket. I’ve watched and evolved with the growth of the internet. I’ve experienced the world before browsers, email, websites, Google, Facebook, and YouTube, and watched in awe as these new technologies emerged to create a complete paradigm shift in how we conduct business.In this new and revised version of the book, I will do my best to give you better context about your type of business. Let me start by defining two major categories that transcend most all marketing subcategories."It takes ten thousand hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more proficient you are the more valuable you’ll be."- Malcolm GladwellTo learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at B2bInteractiveMarketing.com
It’s been 10 years since I wrote my first and still my favorite book. I was faced with the challenge of deciding if I wanted to write a new book or update the original.This is the beginning of that journey...What follows is the prologue form the new bookSections Include:So here we are!The Birth of B2bThe TeacherThe Birth of this BookFast Forward 10 Years10,000 HoursRelationships that are fundamentally built on trust are what have been motivating us to change, take chances, learn, stay alive, and become better human beings!It takes ten thousand hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more proficient you are the more valuable you’ll be.To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at B2bInteractiveMarketing.com- Malcolm Gladwell
Here are the top five New Year's sayings or cliches:1. Out with the Old, In with the New2. New Year, New You3. Another Chance for Us to Get It Right4. See You Next Year5. A Frest StartNow, I don't want to become a Captain Buzzkill or minimize the significance of what the New Year may mean to you. We should all be proud that we survived to make another trip around the sun. We should enjoy all of those yearly retrospectives of what happened last year and revel in what lies ahead. After all, “Hope springs eternal.”But one of my favorite cliches goes like this, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift… so be open to the present!'Let's explore some old and new that we can embrace in the present as we look ahead.“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves”.– Bill Vaughan.In this episode... We will discuss how what's old should become your NEW go to marketing ideas..
Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives.Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills.Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home.Ask Yourself:Just how good is my “crystal ball?” Is that going to get better or worse?How much do I need to be thinking about the future?How important are each of the timeframes to making decisions that impact our business?Action Plan:Build and frequently update a document to collect insights that impact the four timeframes.Hold “crystal ball” conversations with customers, vendors, partners, and industry leaders.Talk with people of all generations to get their thoughts and insights, to understand what they identify with, and what they feel is important.Look for changes in the way people think and make decisions. Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
When I was a kid, I did not have to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow! But it was before you could buy calculators and computers in the dollar store.I am trying to remember any algebra, trig, or calculus that I actually use today. Much of it was based on formulas and principles. I know it's used in science and computing, but I'm in sales, marketing, and advertising.Most of the math I do today is primarily in accounting and spreadsheets. There is a bit of geometry involved in creating art in Photoshop. Art and music use geometry, math, and formulas.Business is about math. Income minus expenses equals profits. Advertising is not any different. You want to spend as little as possible to increase sales to make more profit.Let's look at relationship marketing as MATH. Or better yet, and an acronym. MATH = Meet Audiences (with)Targeted Help.To sum up, MATH is HARD. But if you want to add more customers and multiply your profits, you should subtract some old processes and then divide and conquer to help the right people at the right time.“If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.”– Francis Bacon.In this episode... We will discuss how MATH = Meet Audiences (with)Targeted Help and could help lead to future success.
Ely Delaney is an Automated Systems Strategist and the co-founder of Purple Knight Marketing, an education company designed to help entrepreneurs go from surviving to thriving in any economy.He’s an Amazon bestseller with his two books “Marketing Tidbits” and “Networking Tidbits”With a passion for connecting people, his best selling training course “Networking Like A Rockstar” has over 1350 students registered globally. Ely helps speakers, authors, and coaches automate their follow up to grow their business without having to have an MBA from MIT.He’s the guy to help you build a 24/7 automated system and turn you into a Follow-Up Rockstar! Connect with Ely - Click Here
This is the time of the year when there tends to be a heightened sense of humanity, spirituality, and morality in the air.Business slows down, and we start to think about something more than ourselves while being thrown into the mix of chaos, hustle, and short emotional fuses.Now, I don't want to go all holier than thou on you because I am as flawed of a human as anyone else, but it's good to take a breath and inventory how we may be different people in different circumstances.If you search Google (it has to be true because it's on the internet), an article states, “While 94.6% of people say they think other people act differently online, only 57.1% say their online personality is the same as their in-person personality. While we see how others act differently online than in person, we don't (or can't) see it in ourselves as much.”Relationship marketing is different from a marketing relationship. Relationships come first. That does not mean you must become besties or even like each other. But you do have to create respect.That means it's best to do unto others and ask for permission before digging deeper. That requires a relationship, and relationships are foundationally about trust.“There's a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out of their way to hurt others, will end up broke and alone.”– Sylvester Stallone.In this episode... We will discuss how to use empathy with B2b marketing, which could help lead to future success.
Mike has more than 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and his ability to understand and connect with an audience is the hallmark of his career. The approach he shares is what taught him how to understand an audience and deliver his message in a way they will not forget. Mike spent 13 years in the agency world as a client services specialist before joining Hasbro Toys and Games on the global marketing team, where he developed marketing and retail programs for brands like Transformers, Tonka Trucks, and Jurassic World. In 2015, he became the face of the Hasbro Gaming franchise, with the charge to establish the personality, attitude, and style of the Hasbro Gaming portfolio by creating a message the audience won’t soon forget. Mike has engaged his practice with audiences in the US, Hong Kong, India, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK, and every one of these audiences remembers him for not just what he says, but how he connects with them. After over 20 years of real-world experience, Mike is thrilled to share his experience with you, and to show you how to get your audience to say…“TELL ME MORE!”Learn More About Mike And His Company - Click Here
At the beginning of 2023, businesses were facing the possibility of rising inflation, a recession, and workforce shortages. Then, the tech business community added some spicy Artificial Intelligence into the chaos soup.While the Bitcoin Bros were trying to pass themselves off as ChatGPT prompt writing gurus (making $100K or more), sales teams were tasked with using AI tools to identify prospects.2023 was an unhealthy serving of fear mixed with technology, creating a cold-call gazpacho that pushed prospects away from the table. All of us were being inundated with offers to connect, followed by a relentless flow of sales pitches.I can tell you one thing that changed. People are tired of talking on and with computers. While companies scrambled to integrate AI into everything, people craved personal, face-to-face, human interaction.Although we all want and need new business, that is only a portion of what effective marketing needs to focus on. I call them the Four Pillars of Profits or the Four Horsemen of the A-profit-lypse (a play on words with Apocalypse).Each of these deserves a different strategy and different context.Paying clientsPast clientsProspectsPartners“We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.”– Alfred Newman.In this episode... We will discuss two groups of four parts of B2b marketing... that could help lead to future success.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Dennis Yu’s mission is to create a million jobs.CEO of BlitzMetrics, a digital marketing company that partners with schools to train young adults. We offer courses, implementation, and consulting.My personal mission centers around mentorship from my experience with helping people from all walks of life grow their expertise in digital marketing, sharing his insights from managing campaigns for enterprise clients like The Golden State Warriors, Nike, and Rosetta Stone.I help digital agencies grow, serving doctors and real estate agents as fractional CTO.I'm an internationally recognized lecturer in digital marketing and have spoken over 730 times in 17 countries, spanning 5 continents.Featured in: The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, National Public Radio, TechCrunch, Fox News, CNN, CBS Evening News and co-authored “Facebook Nation” – a textbook taught in over 700 colleges and universities. Visit Dennis's Website
To some of you, 2023 was a cakewalk compared to 2021 and 2022. To others, this was the most challenging year ever. Either way, I agree with you!Whether it was good or bad, you probably grew personally, fiscally, and/or physically. Every day, running a business is a challenge. Yet, throughout the year, situations, circumstances, and outcomes tend to blur.Chances are you need a video recorder for your memories and emotions to replay what you learned or felt accurately. Time tends to blur or color our feelings and perceptions.I have the added bonus of doing a weekly blog post and newsletter to capture and share what I learned and felt each week.What follows are the most popular of those based on your feedback. I was able to determine those based on the most read and the most time spent reading them.I hope you enjoy revisiting them as much as I did writing this year in review. I Lost It All… And Why I’m Happy About It!FOMO to ROI in 5 Easy QuestionsWhat do Your Leads… LEAD to?Falling for the Forest from the Trees"He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”– Confucius.In this episode... We will discuss revisiting some past podcasts... that could help lead to future success.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Dr. Heidi Thorne, MBA/DBA, is a business speaker and author with over 25 years of combined experience in sales and advertising, including over 15 years as editor and advertising director of a trade newspaper covering the plumbing and mechanical contracting trades. In addition to two advanced business degrees (MBA/DBA), Heidi also has five years of experience teaching at the college level. Her business, Thorne Communications LLC, was also a promotional products distributor for 17 years.Heidi has been an active blogger since 2010, and is the author of several business print books, eBooks, and audio books on small business and self publishing. Her goal is to help authors avoid embarrassing and expensive mistakes when self publishing.As a professional business speaker, Heidi has done presentations on sales, social media, and self publishing with many business associations and chambers of commerce. She now hosts a regular audio and video podcast, The Heidi Thorne Show, where she discusses self publishing news and views. Heidi has also been a guest on many podcasts and educational webinars over the years. As well, she shares her knowledge and experience through her online courses on Udemy.
I have failed.When I wrote my book, It's Not About You, It's About Bacon, I thought I would finally find fantastic success. I had dreams of speaking worldwide, pontificating about the virtues of Relationship Marketing. In short, I thought I was going to be rich and famous.Then it hit me, that's what Relationship Marketing is all about—helping others achieve success without caring about fame and fortune. Just quietly but actively making a difference.Although my brand as a Relationship Marketer never reached the heights I dreamed of, it is still alive and kicking. Its audience is smaller yet more potent than I imagined.My business brand still lingers as an expert, trainer, and influencer, but it has dwindled to a whisper. So, I have been re-positioning my business brand as a company, different from a typical agency that offers on-demand, high-quality services and continues learning techniques that make the most of current data and trends. All of that is based on helping companies do the same through Relationship Marketing."My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."– Abraham Lincoln.In this episode... We will discuss how failing is learning and how to turn the pieces into future success.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
I'm originally from Ohio, and lived there for 12 years. Grew up Catholic (I'm a recovering Catholic now) and played every sport known to man when I was a little kid. Became a Steelers fan back then. Steel Curtain and all that. Got in a lot of trouble in school too. (No surprise to those of you that know me). At 12, we moved to a little 'burb outside Philadelphia where I was one of three gentiles in the entire town. I had an entire drawer of Yamikas. That was great...they were warm on my head and velour.In between 10th and 11th grade my parents decided it would be a great idea to move down to a little redneck town in Florida called Spring Hill, which I hated for every second I was down there. (Well, except for you Renee...you rocked.) In fact, I think my bags were packed on stage as I accepted my high school diploma.I bolted back to Philly and had stops in Newark DE, Long Beach Island NJ, and Palm Beach FL, where I graduated from music school. I then finished up undergrad at Temple University in Philly and studied communication, and this new thing called the "Internet". (It was 1994).I became a web designer, and worked that field for 15 years. I still do design and development, but only if you hold a gun to my head. In 1997 I moved to Boulder Colorado, and have lived there and in Denver for almost 13 years, until 2012 when I moved to San Diego. After a few brief stints working for other people, I found myself to be truly unemployable around 2005, and have been on the entrepreneurial track ever since.From 2004-2008, my parents would fall ill, and basically "level" me in all aspects of my life. Emotionally, financially, etc...They both passed away in 2007, just 7 months apart.I tried to "muddle" through 2008, and didn't have much success. But I decided to take actual time to mourn, so in 2009, thanks to my wonderful friend Melanie, I went to Europe to spread their ashes everywhere I could. You see, I had a "dream" as an adult to surprise my parents with a trip to Europe, so this was my best substitution. So, I got a little Italian Parmesan Cheese shaker, and I ventured off into the wild blue yonder. And they are everywhere. In the Sistene Chapel, the Beaches of Normandy, Notre Dame...you name it, they're there.I arrived back in the States, healed, broke, and happier than I'd been in years. But I knew that I no longer wanted to trade a dollar for an hour, so I went looking for something else. That's when network marketing and internet marketing found me. It's been 4 years since I found that world, and the transformation it's made in my life has been nothing but profound. I've met amazing people in the network marketing, internet marketing, life coaching, and entrepreneurship world. Every single day I learn from them and they impact me.In August 2013, I started a Podcast called The Solopreneur Hour - Job Security for the Unemployable. It's aim is to show the other unemployable people of the world the correct path to business success on their own terms. It's been an amazing ride. I'd love if you'd have a listen: http://solohour.com
It's that time of the year when business starts to wind down, and people are looking forward to the holidays.Not in the marketing business. This is the busiest part of the year, prepping our clients for new business in 2024. We're tweaking our brands and checking it twice, revamping websites, and optimizing systems with the latest tech.Since people are more aware of those transactional tactics, there has been increased interest in open, non-transactional, authentic, cooperative conversations. The key to making that happen is trust. Building trust is a process, and that is what our clients continue to learn and implement actively.It gives me hope that our clients will succeed by focusing on 50 to 150 quality business relationships while their competition focuses on the masses.What follows are three key things that I am truly thankful for this holiday season and why I am filled with hope for a successful new year."For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, and debate. ”– Margaret Heffernan.In this episode... We will discuss how human empathy and interaction will make a resurgence in the coming year when marketing to people.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Bill Guertin (pronounced like "13") is a positive voice for change and is the leader of the “7 Voices” Movement, whose purpose is to hear, recognize, and minimize the effects of the negative Voices inside people’s heads and to implement simple strategies to make positivity a life-choice every day. As a sales trainer, he's worked with the ticket sales departments of over 100 professional sports teams throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico, and he serves as Chief Learning Officer of ISBI 360, a virtual training network specifically for executives in sports and entertainment.Bill has over 30 years’ experience in sales and leadership, including 20 years in broadcast media as a sales rep, sales manager, and General Manager of radio properties in the Midwest.When he is not working, Bill spends quality time with his wife, Sherri, their three grown boys, and their families who enjoy Sundays together watching the Chicago Bears. He serves as a Board member of the Baylor University Center for Sports Strategy and Sales and volunteers for the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.Learn More About Bill - Click Here
I've heard it said that to succeed in business, you must master business tools. Some businesses make do with what they can afford, while others highly invest in cutting-edge technologies.With the advent of AI, companies hope that data can be gathered, processed, analyzed, and implemented faster and at a lower expense by a computer instead of people.At some point (unless you sell via a computer and e-commerce), people need to communicate with people to generate and close sales.So then, does it make sense to try to master people and then tools?Relationship Marketing may mean something different to you, but it's about creating conversations for me. The content you create and distribute should generate conversations between current, past, and prospective customers."Assumptions are the termites of relationships."- Henry (the Fonz) Winkler.In this episode... We will discuss what relationship marketing is and how to master tools and people.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Chip’s first experience with the tech sector started in 1994 after downloading the first Netscape browser (now Firefox) and led him to join his first startup a year later. He’s worked for and advised high-growth ventures and Fortune 500 companies in online media, internet infrastructure, PCs (Dell & Lenovo), and most recently, Fintech & Gov Tech SaaS companies, in addition to serving as CEO for a US commercial 3D printing manufacturer.In 2014, Chip started Flywheel Advisors, helping early and mid-stage companies (Consumer and B2B) to identify and drive sustainable growth and scale by leveraging customer feedback and insights.Lastly, a fun fact: Chip was the first to place a keyword ad buy in 1997 (Yahoo!)Learn More About Chip - Click Here
Dog daycares have to vet their potential customers before they can become customers.First, they are required to have the right vaccinations to prevent doggie flu, kennel cough, and more. Next, they have to pass a temperament test. They put your dog in the play area with one to two other dogs that have been singled out because they play well and understand the boundaries of play. If your dog passes, then they can join a large group and are monitored to make sure they are not too timid or aggressive.Is that something you could or should do with your business?Adding people to your email list is a way of vetting if they are real people and possible prospects. If you email weekly (52 times or more per year) versus once a month (12 times per year), you can see if the email bounces or the contact unsubscribes.In this dog-eat-dog world (hopefully figuratively, not literally) it makes sense to invest time in people who have invested time in you and your website!"Get in the habit of vetting your research as you go – particularly research conducted online. Verify facts from multiple reputable sources before you record them.”– Gayle Lynds.In this episode... We will discuss how to vet your prospects who visit your website to increase sales faster..Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Brynne Tillman is the LinkedIn Whisperer and CEO of Social Sales Link. For over a decade she has been teaching Entrepreneurs, sales teams and business leaders how to leverage LinkedIn for social selling. As a former sales trainer and personal producer, Brynne adopted all of the traditional sales techniques and adapted them to the new digital world. She guides professionals to establish a thought leader and subject matter expert brand, find and engage the right targeted market, and leverage clients and networking partners for warm introductions into qualified buyers.
If you are on LinkedIn, I am sure you have fallen victim to the connect and pitch. Chances are they got your name using Sales Navigator, a tool like ZoomInfo, or by looking at their connections and simply reaching out to their connections.You know how it works. Someone connects with you and says, “I am not trying to sell you anything”, and then keeps messaging you to act like they wanna be your friend.I had one guy the other day (who is a fitness coach) hit me up with a list of seventeen fitness challenges in the guise of doing research. You know where that will go if you take the bait. I replied, “Nice pitch to find out how to sell to the pain, Marketing 101! Good Luck!” to which he replied, “I am not trying to sell you anything!” Sure bro, SURE!Blog posts like this are perfect content to share in an email or social media. That generally comes in a short form teaser. The hope is that people click back to read the full article. That article should have a call to action in the form of a banner ad or popup to get them to give you their information if and when they are interested.That is how a contact marketing system works. It funnels real leads that have an interest in your products and service. That also gives your sales team mostly qualified leads to start and build better sales relationships. Which I am sure they will find more pleasant and productive than making cold calls all day!"I have always said that everyone is in sales. Maybe you don't hold the title of salesperson,but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales.”– Zig Ziglar.In this episode... We will discuss how what's a lead and why it should matter to your sales.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
In Memorial ofOn October 21st, 2023. Mark SA Smith passed on. He was a friend and an inspiration to me and this podcast. He was an educator and entrepreneur who gave his knowledge and time to help others.Fly on Friend______________________Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, a software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
The phrase, “can't see the forest for the trees,” means that someone is so focused on small details or individual parts of a situation that they fail to see or understand the larger picture or the overall context. In other words, it suggests that a person is too preoccupied with minor, irrelevant, or unimportant aspects of a situation and, as a result, misses the broader and more critical perspective.But in the case of marketing, you want people to see your tree in the forest of cold calls, unwanted direct outreach messages, and random targeted pixel ads.Content marketing is a strategic approach that can share the unique attributes of your products, services, competitive advantages, and people.It has two components. First, you have to create that unique content. It has to be written in a way that attracts and interests your intended audience. Secondly, you have to market. That means distributing it in a way that people take notice.The main goal of content marketing is to create sales. B2B sales take time and trust. In most cases, it takes multiple visits to your website, to generate enough interest to want to have a conversation with your company or sales team.“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”– Albert Camus.In this episode... We will discuss how content marketing is like noticing a colorful tree in a first of green.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Michelle’s primary focus is helping leaders and employees achieve high-performance and measurable results that encompass engagement, productivity, well-trained individuals and effective teams. Michelle brings a vigorous customer-focused approach with client engagements. She is accomplished with diverse and multi-cultural audiences and is a certified Personified Leadership facilitator. Michelle’s body of work spans the following practice areas: Instructional Design, Facilitation, Executive Coaching and Performance Consulting Learn More About Michelle and Instructional Design- Click Here
We live in a complex world of chaos. The difference today is that the amount and speed of data we have access to and consume, in the form of audio, video, text, and voice, can be overwhelming. We often tend to self-sanitize by consuming stories and narratives that affirm our worldview and values. That leads to compartmentalized communication.So what can we do? We can start by listening to and understanding people who agree and disagree with our worldview. We need to invest in getting to know and relate to people in a more analog form.There is no turning back. Digital communications are here to stay. But just like we have seen a resurgence in vinyl record stores and sales, there is a time, place, and desire for a mix of analog and digital business communications.Some of the bias and comfort level is generational. I am sure you have seen sales teams that range from Gen Z to Boomers. Younger generations have grown up only knowing digital technologies while boomers started out 100% analog.Being a Chief Relationship Optimizer, I embrace technology and its repeatable and time-saving benefits. I also embrace the power of sitting down for a coffee, meeting for a meal, and attending networking events and conferences to enhance interpersonal relationships.“We live in a digital world, but we're fairly analog creatures.”– Omar Ahmad.In this episode... We will discuss the differences between analog and digital communication styles, and how they can and should coexist!.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Ultimate Catalyst for personal transformation. Creator of the ultimate life formula. Author of 13 books and “your ultimate life“ podcast. 30-year executive experience in the energy industry. Survived a near-death experience and committed to those ending addiction to average.Coming through decades of depression, addictions, life-threatening illness and a near-death experience, Kellan has become the ultimate catalyst to help motivated people melt barriers, move mountains and mobilize superpowers to achieve their true desires. As a coach and keynote speaker, Kellan’s masterful approach helps people get past old stories, change beliefs and create a life context to reach even goals that seemed impossible.Learn More About Kellan & His Books - Click Here
We recently watched a documentary about the Webb Space Telescope. If you are unfamiliar, the Hubble Space Telescope increased the range we could see into space versus land-based observatories. It has circled the earth at 360 miles up since 1990. The Webb Space Telescope was conceived in 1996 and launched on December 25, 2021. It orbits the sun at over 1 million miles and has a 5-layer sun shield to increase its ability to see deeper into space.Okay, I am sure at this point you are saying “Cool. But what does this have to do with marketing my business?” Well, I'm glad you asked!I believe that good business marketing has three legs like a stool: current, past, and future customers. Look at these three as different audiences, who get and respond to different messages, and what and how you can measure with different expectations.Our current customers are our present. Past customers show us an evolution of our business that we can use to predict what motivates and excites future customers.It all comes down to tagging and segmenting people and businesses, and developing distribution messages that promote quality business relationships.The main goal of a business card is to be remembered and have your interaction continued and acted upon. So why not make it as easy and actionable as possible?“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”– Steve Jobs.In this episode... We will discuss how segmenting your marketing can use your past to build new business in the future!Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Jon Ferrara is a CRM and Relationship Management entrepreneur and noted speaker about Social Media's effects on Sales and Marketing. He has re-imagined CRM by building a Simply Smarter Social Sales and Marketing platform, his most recent venture Nimble.com. It is the first CRM that works for you by building and updating contact data for you, then works with you, everywhere you work. Ferrara is best known as the co-founder of GoldMine Software Corp, one of the early pioneers in the Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software categories for Small to Medium sized Businesses (SMBs).
The business card's origin can be traced back to around the time of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock. Visiting Cards were used in the 17th century. Although they were standardized in size to fit in business card holders and Rolodexes, people have been trying to improve on them or make them stand out with odd shapes, creating a book from them, and even going 100% digital.But, just as live viruses remain and evolve over time, business cards are still the go-to tool for exchanging information at in-person meetings.Just as people predicted that social media made websites irrelevant, the DEATH of the business card has been highly exaggerated!The 2″ x 3 ½” paper-based card is still king. They fit in your pocket, are easy to hand over and store, and have more than enough space to get your brand and your contact information across.You can try one of those digital cards that you can tap on a cell phone. It creates your contact information in their device, but I bet you less than 50% of recipients could find it on their phone, and less than 10% would ever use it.The main goal of a business card is to be remembered and have your interaction continued and acted upon. So why not make it as easy and actionable as possible?“Innovation is the calling card of the future.”– Anna Eshoo.In this episode... We will discuss how to improve and maximize the use of business cards in your business!Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level.Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand.With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
I think I can safely say that you don't go into business to lose money… unless you intentionally do so for a tax write-off.Yet making money is not as easy as it's often characterized. It takes a great idea mixed with execution. It takes hard work mixed with luck. And, it takes money mixed with convincing people to give you more.A CRO is something I just made up, but it's what I have found that gives SMBs a competitive advantage.While other marketers focus on website hits, SEO, lead generation, and TikTok videos, CROs focus on business relationships and use creative content and methods to optimize how those activities affect sales.Marketing is about people. It's about the relationships you have with customers, prospects, and vendors.That means A CRO should integrate people and technology to collect and utilize data pulled from and by your current staff, to optimize communications with people who already interact with your company.That is one of the best ways to predict how prospects will view, consume, and act on the marketing content you produce and distribute.In this podcast, I will explore how to implement A CMO marketing plan and philosophy, on an SMB marketing budget!“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Stephen Covey.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Perry Marshall is one of the most expensive business strategists in the world. He is endorsed in FORBES and INC Magazine. He’s guided clients like FanDuel and InfusionSoft from startup to hundreds of millions of dollars.He founded the $10 million Evolution 2.0 Prize, with judges from Harvard, Oxford and MIT. Launched at the Royal Society in London, it’s the world’s largest science research award.NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs uses his 80/20 Curve as a productivity tool. His reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review.His Google book laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry, and Ultimate Guide to Google Ads is the world’s best selling book on internet advertising.Marketing maverick Dan Kennedy says, “If you don’t know who Perry Marshall is — unforgivable. Perry’s an honest man in a field rife with charlatans.”He’s consulted in over 300 industries. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and lives in Chicago Check out Perry's - COVID-19 IMPACT FACTOR™ - CLICK HERE
I was excited and honored to be the keynote speaker at a national conference where the words… CRAP, SH!T, and POOP are in every presenter's speech and are spoken openly and frequently in almost every conversation had with attendees.It was the 2023 APAWS National Conference in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. APAWS is the Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists (or maybe better known as Professional Pooper Scoopers).There is ‘Big Money' to be made in poop (especially dog poop).When I mentioned to friends and colleagues in Raleigh that I'd be speaking to pooper scoopers, they had no idea that was a thing. First, they did not know that people paid for a scooping service, and second that it could become a profitable business.My presentation was titled, “Turning your CRM into an ATM”. Most scoopers use programs like Sweep & Go or SOHO to run their businesses. Although these capture data, it's not a CRM.I explained they are like a Swiss Army knife. Great when you need them, but not the right tool for every job.On the closing day of the conference, I was the only speaker. The first day's presentation laid the groundwork (pun-intender) for my wheelhouse, “Optimizing Business to Business Marketing”.My final edict to them was to go home and do something.We all have had a post-conference high of excitement and best intentions, only to go home and act like a bowling ball that rolls down the gutter groove back into what we have always done.In this podcast, I will explore what I showed these business owners about how to use LinkedIn to expand (and even 10x) their businesses,.Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Pam Didner is a marketing consultant, writer, speaker, podcaster, and author of 3 books: Global Content Marketing, Effective Sales Enablement, and the Modern AI Marketer. She has given future trends, content marketing and sales enablement presentations and workshops in the US, Europe, South America and Asia. Her forte is to create successful global marketing plans that meet local marketing and sales team’s needs. She is strategic in nature and tactical in execution. She also specializes in sales, marketing and internal/external communications consulting, keynote presentations, corporate training and planning sessions. Her clients include Intel, 3M, Sunstar, Cisco, TE Connectivity, Southwest Airlines to name just a few. She shares marketing thoughts at pamdidner.com.
Learn More About Pam - Click Here
I have had multiple people ask me about using AI in marketing. They had this perception that I would show them how it works so they could replace my services with this Golden Ticket of marketing that has a psychological or hypnotical effect to magically convert the internet to an ATM.
I would be happy to show them what it is and how it works, but I think they would be very disappointed with the results.
AI goes back in time to grab knowledge produced by humans to tries to predict what is relevant today.
To prove my point, I asked ChatGPT, “What will be the 5 most important marketing concepts in January 2024?”
It said…
“I don’t have access to information beyond my last knowledge update in September 2021, so I can’t provide specific marketing concepts that will be important in January 2024.”
So if your clients are concerned with the rising prices, staffing issues, and AI taking over their jobs today, ChatGPT is writing in the context of remote work, pandemic, and supply chain disruption perspectives.
“I often tell my students not to be misled by the name ‘artificial intelligence’ – there is nothing artificial about it. AI is made by humans, intended to behave by humans, and, ultimately, to impact humans’ lives and human society.”– Fei-Fei Li
In this episode, we will explore how Ai really works and weather or not it may work for you and your business!
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Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.
He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!
Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.
With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.
Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
If you manage your own or other business websites, I imagine you are using Google Analytics or another data manager to explore the traffic to your website.
Generally, you measure how much traffic you get, how long people stay, and which pages or posts get the most traffic. Another key indicator is where the traffic is coming from. This includes organic search (Google searches), direct (typing or clicking a URL), referral (link from another website), organic social (multiple social media sites), and something called unassigned (catch-all for all others).
I have seen customers and clients who pay attention to numbers that have little to no connection to reality. What I mean is, how can you tell when a human is really getting to your website and spending quality time?
Google considers engagement as someone spending at least ten seconds on a page or post. Considering that is what most people need to read a headline, look at a picture, and decide if this is for them, that’s a pretty low bar.
Most content is posted once, and then forgotten. That assumes that it was only right for the audience who was following your business at the time it was posted.
What you have is an asset. That asset can be reposted to social media more often than once. It could be posted 10-15 times and seen by a different set of eyes each time.
That’s what happens when I repost my Baconisms. I post the same 30+ image sayings every month. I see random comments and likes each month that I have not seen before.
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”– Charles M. Schulz
In this episode, we will explore how to increase views on your content by the right audience… at the RIGHT times!
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John Faisandier – speaker, author, trainer, counsellor, educator, entrepreneur Volunteer teaching in Tonga, Catholic priesthood, psychodrama training lay the foundation for compassionate Emotional Intelligence Expert John Faisandier. His work in a drug and alcohol treatment hospital and over 20 years as an entrepreneur and corporate trainer give him a unique perspective on managing emotions in business and personal life. John has taught thousands of people in many parts of the world and he willingly shares these secrets with you and your listeners. About John: Early Entrepreneur • Grew up in a working class family of nine • Worked a range of jobs throughout his childhood • Meet many adults and developed a keen interest in people • Aged 18 volunteer teacher in Tonga immersed in family & village life First vocation • Eight years cloistered seminary training for Catholic priesthood • Eleven year ministry in teaching, parish work, and chaplaincy to a primary school, hospital, prison and university. • Short stint as chaplain with US Airforce in Antarctica • Completed degrees in anthropology, theology and adult education Transition • Experiential psychodrama training ignited his journey to wholeness, healing and intimacy. • After 19 years of celibate religious life stepped out into the world in search of real connection and deeper love • He soon met his future wife and they now have one adult son. Second vocation • Race relations educator in government agency • Psychodramatist in a drug and alcohol treatment hospital • Trainer in psychodrama • Business owner, corporate trainer and conference speaker • Co-founder of training academy in Bangladesh • Property investor and manager • Volunteer in migrant communities • Author of acclaimed book Thriving Under Fire • Lifelong learner, husband of 27 years, proud father of grown son, cook, hiker, skier and general nice guy.
Learn More About John's Training - CLICK HERE
I'm currently listening to an audiobook Marketing 5.0 by Philip Kotler. It's part of a series that I have been following (3.0, 4.0). 5.0 explores marketing in the post-pandemic world. 4.0 was the explosion of virtual technologies caused by remote work, social distancing, and more. Kotler believes our new Digital World has evolved with traditional marketing techniques taking giant leaps in technology and adaptation. In Marketing 5.0, he says that our new marketing paradigm includes human-mimicking technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, natural language processing, robotics, sensors, virtual reality, and blockchain. It has also evolved IOT (the Internet of Things). The book also includes chapters on Prosperity Polarization, the Digital Divide, and Generational Marketing. This solidified my belief that Marketing 5.0 and the IOT are just a mix of new tools, technology, and techniques to reach a complex IOP (Internet of People). I think it's time to do a reality check. When it comes to B2b marketing, I believe that relationships are the key to success. One of my Baconisms is "Businesses do not do business with other Businesses... People do business with People!" You simply can't outsource or automate relationships, but you can track and manage them. It's easy to capture basic data, but compiling quality, current, and relative data is needed to help nurture budding or existing relationships. You may find that some AI tools can be useful or helpful to your unique business and situations but, as Philip Kotler said in 'Marketing 5.0', it takes people and a solid marketing strategy to make any system ultimately work for you.
“Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.” – Alan Kay
In this episode, we will explore 6 mini-systems we use to integrate AI & humans with Marketing .
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When the marketplace was still fixated on the peculiarities of Millennials, Kathleen migrated to what’s NEXT- Generation Z. Used to working with young athletes, she turned to teens to build WeRGenZ from the grassroots up. Today she helps brands understand the future through today’s youth and amplifying voices of the generation. She’s a much sought-after public speaker, and consultant wowing audiences with insights derived from her original research and thousands of members of the WeRGenZ Teen Think Tank.
Speaking of communications, I've had a few Zoom meetings this week that stood out and I wanted to share. I understand that recapping Zoom meetings may not be the most exciting thing you read all week, but bear with me. There is a point I am trying to make (that I hope will pay off your time investment). I am speaking next month at the APAWS annual convention. Yes, there is an association of businesses that pick up dog poop. I'll let you insert your own jokes here, but it's serious business. I had a Zoom meeting with my original pooper scooper who is now a national sales rep for a national scooping franchising business. We were comparing notes since we are both speaking at the conference and did not want to overlap or contradict content. I had another Zoom call with a past client who has remained a good friend and even became a podcast guest. She works for a national company whose Chicago office hired me to improve their marketing with Linkedin Training. I have no idea whether I can convince the scoopers to invest in B2b marketing or my clients to spend $5000 a month for leads. I do however know that your marketing expense becomes an investment only when you can track the marketing dollars that you spend, and discover the path that turns those activities into increased sales dollars.
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
In this episode, we will explore how investing in marketing is good for new business.
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Bogdan Rosu created and taught the world's first Personal Development through Martial Arts program for 6 years. In that time he helped hundreds of individuals unlock the power of their mindset, become more confident, and achieve more success. Today he works with high-performing entrepreneurs and helps them unlock their inner leader and live from a state of true happiness and peace which allows them to consistently achieve the impossible.
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Is your marketing working for or against you? In any case, you are the judge. I recently took a college course on "The Art of Debate." It was by A Wake Forest Professor named Dr. Jarrod Atchinson. It contains over 24 half-hour lectures and digs deep into the history, purpose, and strategy of debate. In any debate, there is an argument or topic that will have an affirmative side and an opposing side. It has three parts:
Warrant - The change of the status quo that you are debating based on the claim and the grounds Grounds - Evidence or Facts that supports the claim Claim - An argument position
I think that marketing is much like a debate. There is one key point to be argued, "How do we increase sales?" It has a warrant "We need to change the status quo." It requires us to research to provide evidence (grounds) to support our claims (selling points). In the case of B2b marketers, the audience is a culmination of two different perspectives...prospects and current clients. The status quo for current clients may be, "How, when, or how often do we need to upgrade, or repair our products, services, and equipment." The status quo for prospects may be, "How, when, or how often do we need to change vendors or suppliers."
“For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.” – Margaret Heffernan
In this episode, we will explore how learning how to debate can improve your marketing and your business.
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Austin Armstrong is a lifelong digital marketer, public speaker, host of the TikTok podcast BusinessTok, CEO of Socialty Pro, an organic SEO & Vertical Video marketing agency, and CEO of Syllaby, a brand new marketing tool that helps business owners create a social media content strategy in minutes. Austin has posted over 2500 videos on TikTok, tripling his own business’s revenue and thousands more across his clients’ accounts. Austin has leveraged his success on TikTok to gain millions of followers across every social media platform. He loves sharing the strategies that have worked for him to empower you.
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I grew up with wires, LOTS OF WIRES. Being a musician and an audio-video and computer geek, I still have bins filled with wires. I don't know about you, but I still find wired connections more reliable. Wireless can be affected by distance and environmental factors. Also, wireless signals can be intercepted or hacked. Just like technology, business needs connections to work. It's always a mix of one-to-many and one-to-one connections. You need both. As with most technology, you need and want the reliability of a direct or wired connection to ensure quality, and as a failsafe when wireless becomes unstable or unavailable. Since WI-FI is a one-to-many connection technology, I think you can equate it with both social media and online advertising. Don't get me wrong. I am not averse to ads or social media. In fact, we use both for my business and my client's businesses. We have had incredible results finding and communicating with clients and prospects using LinkedIn Ads. The difference is in the way LinkedIn targets job descriptions and industries. In my last article, I discussed how we focus on 68 core repetitive sales. Targeting the right people and creating traffic back to our website's content is the key to maximizing and fixing business-to-business marketing issues.
“Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.” – Paul J. Meyer
In this episode, we will explore how broad-brand connections can help or hinder your business.
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Matthew Brennan is a freelance copywriter specializing in high-quality blog and website content, as well as landing pages, sales letters, and other marketing materials. He translates complex industry concepts into a formula that resonates with your business audience. Matt has worked with small and medium-sized businesses across a variety of industries. He's also had work published in Huffington Post, ProBlogger, Chicago Parent, the Chicago Sun-Times, and several other websites, newspapers, and publications. Matthew is the author of Write Right - Sell Now, and The Virus and Us, a Letter from Father to Son in the Midst of the Covid-19 Crisis.
Check out Matt's New Ebook - "The Virus And Us" - CLICK HERE
I started my podcast back on November 1st, 2014. I am about to cross the 1000-episode barrier. Next year will be 10 years. Although some of those episodes are “Best Of” repeats, I have done a monocast (solo episode) and expert interviews for over 450 weeks. Over that time, the business climate and the podcast have evolved but my podcast has always had a core purpose. Meet interesting people, ask questions, and learn something. Currently, I interview experts who have an interesting take on sales or marketing. To help them provide more value to our listeners, I ask them 5 questions in a 20-minute interview format.
What is the perceived problem (your customers have)? What is the REAL problem (your customers have)? What is your solution? What are the steps (Customers need to take)? What is the Outcome (a success story)?
Could you answer those questions for your business? I am certain that your marketing and sales success could depend on it! You can reverse engineer the marketing process by asking yourself these five questions I ask my expert guests:
“Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
In this episode, we will ask those questions and show you how your marketing could create greater ROI.
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Author and International Speaker, Ridgely Goldsborough, believes in solving problems and taking complex topics, and making sense out of them. He started his first business at 16 and since graduating from Law School has founded 45 companies. Ridgely is the founder of Mind Types and The Customer Conversion Formula, a cutting program to attract ideal clients using brain biology and limbic messaging. He has written 19 books, hosted his own television show, and created dozens of online programs on success and prosperity. He is a frequent speaker at top internet marketing conferences, a facilitator for high-level CEO masterminds, and is devoted to helping others reach their highest potential.
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A salesman and a marketing guy walk into a bar…
This really happened. Well, the bar was at a country club. I had the pleasure of spending a Fore-Hour Nature Meeting with Larry Long Jr 🎤 where we spent hours trying to hit a little white ball into a hole. If you're wondering, sales beat marketing. This is not only true with that golf round, but I think it's also part of the small to mid-sized business culture. After all, sales are directly tied to income, and marketing is there to support sales. However, marketing can be a second-class citizen and viewed as an expense. But I want to make the case that marketing can be an income-generating activity when approached as a sales support system. Why do many B2b businesses falter with marketing? It is because sales have a greater business impact, and marketing becomes an afterthought rather than an integral business system. The issue here is business-to-consumer marketing focuses on transactional relationships, while business-to-business focuses on more synergistic long-term relationships.
“The first step in exceeding your customer's expectations is to know those expectations.” – Roy H. Williams
In this episode, we will explore the holes (which all begin with “A”) that happen when you try to use business-to-consumer tactics for B2b marketing.
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Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level. Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand. With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
I have mentioned before, I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and his podcast "Revisionist History". His last book "The Bomber Mafia" was about the race to use strategic bombing to end World War II. This was before the "Manhattan Project" which yielded the first atomic bomb that was built and used to change the course of history. The book discusses the desire to "Drop a bomb in a pickle barrel" with precision targeting. The problem was its theory was not practical with weather, and other factors. The only thing that worked was using napalm to firebomb Tokyo at low altitudes, and then drop the two BIG ones! You may or may not view business marketing as a war, but it does have a lot in common. It takes strategy, research, and recognizance missions to identify targets. It demands clear vision and boots-on-the-ground intelligence to get to the right person, with the right message, at the right time. We have weapons that act like laser-guided knowledge bombs or weapons of mass distraction. Your marketing content is the ammunition you need to convert business intelligence into sales. You can actively create content that targets the wants, needs, and desires of your budding relationships. Social media is forever changing. It gets noisy out there. B2b marketing is different from business-to-consumer marketing. Relationships and data should be at the forefront of your efforts. "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." - Sun Tzu In this episode, we will discuss how your content is like Knowledge Bombs... How they land depends on how you aim them.
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Alain Hunkins helps high achieving people become high achieving leaders. Over his 20+ year career, Alain has worked with over 2,000 groups of leaders in 25 countries. He’s worked with 42 of the Fortune 100 companies. In addition to being a leadership speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach, Alain is the author of CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders which was published by Wiley in March of this year. The book was endorsed by leadership luminaries Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and Marshall Goldsmith. Alain serves on the Academic Board of Advisors of the New Delhi Institute of Management and is a faculty member of Duke Corporate Education. Alain’s writing has been featured in Fast Company, Inc., Chief Executive, Chief Learning Officer, and Business Insider. He's a regular leadership strategy contributing writer for Forbes.
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Win-win partnership strategy concept. Businessman draw win-win scheme with handshake partnership agreement. Have you ever watched the movie “A Christmas Story”? There is a scene where Ralphie is helping his dad change a tire for the first time. He was holding the lug nuts in the hubcap, and his dad's hand hits the hubcap, sending the hardware flying through the air, glistening in the lights of the passing cars and into a snowbank. Then, Ralphie releases an F-Bomb. All my passwords were gone. Instead of deleting the subcategory, I trashed the whole database. I had that Ralphie (Oh Fudge) moment when I realized what I did. After the initial panic, I took a deep breath and said, “Now what?” When I thought about it, it was a blessing. Okay, let me reiterate that I do not recommend that you do that to yourself. It was sheer terror at first, but then I found the silver linings and embraced the positives. Starting over is never easy, but in the long run, the effort could be worth the investment in time. I think the lesson here is passwords or contact information are only useful if they are part of personal connections with whom they are being collected and saved. “Data are just summaries of thousands of stories – tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.” — Chip and Dan Heath In this episode, we will discuss how your managing your passwords... can help build better business relationships.
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Steve Hoffman (Captain Hoff) is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, a global innovation hub for entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Hoffman is also a venture investor, founder of three venture-backed and two bootstrapped startups, and author of several award-winning books. These include “Make Elephants Fly” (Hachette), “Surviving a Startup” (HarperCollins), and “The Five Forces” (BenBella). In addition, Hoffman served on the Board of Governors of the New Media Council, was the founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, and was a founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group.
Learn More About Steven and his Books - Click Here
In my last post, I talked about how segmenting your audience can help your business communications but how it can often look like a junk drawer. I also stated that I was in search of answers. So, I wanted to follow up and share with you what I have learned and discovered. It may have taken you years to get your list in the shape it's in, and we all tend to look at updating your contacts as unproductive and tedious work. I can assure you that there is a lot of dead weight that hinders you from maximizing communications. If you have segmented your lists before, it kind of creates a box. It makes it easy to add new contacts to the box yet hinders adding new segments. You may find yourself adding to different sources at different times. New clients may get into your accounting system but not into your CRM. Prospects may be found in your email list but not be updated in your CRM. The last phase of this is action. How can you use these segments to deliver more targeted and purposeful information to smaller groups? Is there value in sending emails to your vendors? Could you survey nonprofits for ideas? What else can you think of that may benefit your business and your network as a whole? Think of it as using your inspiration and creativity, to encourage, engage, and initiate better business relationships! “One of the core organizing principles of my life is that success comes through a delicate balance between making things happen and letting things happen.” – Robin S. Sharma In this episode, we will discuss how your contacts can be better tagged and segmented to help improve communications engagement and build better business relationships.
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
We all have one. Some of us have multiple. You may even have one in every room of your house. It's the junk drawer. True Story: I was looking for a piece of wood in my garage to prop up my desk for a project. It was not until I took and posted the image for this post, that I saw the perfect piece (gray on the right) in my junk drawer. I think we all have two kinds of junk drawers. One where we place things we actually use all the time but don't want to leave on the table or counter. The second is the one where we put stuff we think you will need one day, and ultimately forget where it is or that we even have it somewhere. Business data (especially in marketing) is part of the lifeblood of business. Yet it is often neglected and lacks organization. It can be organized like a junk drawer or a workbench that is accessed when you need a tool. Email - The collection of email addresses we get from our online forms, accounting data, and CRM. Social Media - Connections can often be exported using a CRM. I use Nimble's LinkedIn Prospector often for this purpose. CRM - These can often be imported and exported from your online forms, accounting data, tradeshows, and other business interactions. Segmenting success is in the eye of the beholder. You want to segment to make it useful to each branch of your tree. If accounting can find clients, and sales can find prospects that's great, but further segmenting should have a purpose, not just a label. You want to make it visible and useful as with your primary junk drawer. It will always have some things that you don't use often, but when you need them, they're accessible. "Good leaders organize and align people around what the team needs to do. Great leaders motivate and inspire people with why they're doing it. That's purpose. And that's the key to achieving something truly transformational." - Marillyn Hewson In this episode, we will discuss how your data can be treated like a junk drawer, and how you can work with it and your staff to make it more useful and relevent.
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Gavin Zuchlinski is the founder of Be Family, an app to help parents take care of all of the work involved in running their families. Before starting Be Family, Gavin previously founded Acuity Scheduling which he scaled to support more than 50,000 businesses and handle millions of bookings worldwide. He sold Acuity to Squarespace in 2019 as part of Squarespace’s first acquisition, and later became VP Product there overseeing Scheduling, Platform, and Marketing Tools. Now along with growing Be Family, he enjoys spending time with his family of 3 boys and trying to start a home vineyard.
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Last week I attended a CMO panel discussion sponsored by the AMA Triangle. It included CMOs from SAS, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and a couple of other independent medium to small-business CMOs. One of those people stood out to me. His name is Frank Pollock and he's currently the CMO of a couple of start-ups, but he also teaches business at Duke University. One particular line that he said is "The Devil is in the Data." Now, I've heard the phrase the devil is in the details, so does that mean that the details in the data are the devil? Things that make you go "Hmmm"? You may or may not be aware of the fact that Google is changing the way it does analytics. UA is going away on July 1, and GA4 is replacing it. The key thing that you have to remember is, that it is just data. As long as it's being collected, you can learn and grow with it. Also, if you wanted to, you could basically just start out by replicating what you're used to and then get more sophisticated over time. But sooner or later, you're gonna have to have a discussion about what data is important to you and your business, how you want to format it, and what can you do with those results. “I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.” – Steven Wright In this episode, we will discuss why you need to convert to GA4 and how to start thinking about what data you collect and what's important to your business.
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Luis Help Businesses Engage Prospects And Build An Army Of Loyal Customers Using Automated systems that increase engagement and create a constant flood of sales. Engage with your Leads, Increase Sales Conversions and Manage your Leads Effectively. At Sales Studios, we have a proven structured system to drive your audience to view your offers. A system that strengthens branding and positioning as we provide you with a custom strategy along with a set of strong follow-ups that will continue to nurture your leads while providing them with a unique and personalized experience. This translates to more engagement and therefore more sales. We use a combination of multiple touchpoints to get leads and customers engaged, creating a feeling of omnipresence when communicating with them. For that, we combine emails, SMS, ringless voicemail and Facebook custom audience (ads). This is the ultimate way to get your leads attention and get them to take immediate action.
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Magician hand conjuring sparks on black background - copy space with magic Back in 2015, I talked about my concept of the Marketing Trifecta. I will explain what that is in a bit, but there has been a lot of buzz over the last 8 years about new tools that will revolutionize marketing. I have seen so many of them try and fail, come and go, or slowly find their lane. But none of them have really revolutionized marketing like they promised to do when they hit the marketing scene. Which ones have you tried? As I said, I coined the term “The Marketing Trifecta” in my book “The Bacon System” back in 2015. Although at the time I was working with solopreneurs and small businesses, it had limited success. Once I started to apply the concept to larger business-to-business customers, it took off. AND… it's continued to stand the test of time. It starts by getting people to your website to consume the great content you create. That being said, you have to consistently create great content that people actually WANT to consume. To get people back to your website, you have to distribute digestible bites to get in front of as many eyes (and ears) as possible. "Once you figure out what respect tastes like, it tastes better than attention. But you have to get there.” – Pink In this episode, we will discuss my Marketing Trifecta... and how it can work for your business!
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Lisa has over 20 years of experience as a transformational leader, award-winning speaker, and expert in the fields of human behavior, leadership, and personal development. She also trained in the “Winners Mindset” with Bob Reese, the former head trainer for the NY Jets, and helped a professional golfer win Golfer of the Year! Lisa was V.P. of Business Development for an innovative start-up company using virtual reality to help clients with pain reduction, memory loss, and stress reduction. As a Certified Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), she helps entrepreneurs and high performers from where they are to where they want to be much faster than conventional coaches. Lisa is also trained as a Why Coach, helping people discover their Why, based on Simon Sinek’s, “Know Your Why”. Lisa not only helps individuals discover their Why, but she also helps people discover the Why of their business and how to use it in your branding.
Learn More About Lisa and Her Business - Click Here
Networking is a tool for meeting people. It can be performed online, or in person. It has real costs of time and often some money. There are so many free and paid options. You can find lots of free-flowing or slightly structured meetings. You can also find highly targeted ones that are totally structured like a BNI or Vistage. Finally, there are those one-on-one meetings like I had with Chip and Sarah. I also do at least 2-3 get-to-know-you Zoom calls each week. All of those have one cost that is either overlooked or avoided. TIME! How much does it take to acquire a new customer? It's a very findable number if you add up all the tools and expenses you pay for. Often overlooked is the staff or C-level time to network, have a one-on-one meeting, and talk with referrals. We tend to lump the time we spend on networking, relationship building, and meetings in general as the Cost of Goods Sold. It's generally recorded as salary but rarely tracked as a system. Documenting interactions and meeting with your team to discuss that can do more than create business, it can help you all get the pulse of the current business climate and the community at large. “Technology is a compulsive and addictive way to live. Verbal communication cannot be lost because of a lack of skill. The ability to listen and learn is key to mastering the art of communication. If you don't use your verbal skills and networking, it will disappear rapidly. Use technology wisely.” – Rick Pitino In this episode, we will discuss how networking can be tracked as an ROI in your business!
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.
He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!
Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.
With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.
Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
“People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits”Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here
I got hacked. Well, my credit card did.
I was balancing my books when I noticed two charges from GoDaddy India on a credit card with a $25,000 limit. I use GoDaddy for domain names, but not in India so that was a BIG RED FLAG!
Immediately, I called the credit card company and they closed that card and are sending me a new card with a new account number.
The problem is that 90% of my monthly bills are paid on that card. So now I have to watch and manage to pay my monthly bills with different cards this month and then update all of them with the new number when I get the new card.
Attention is power. There is power in attaining someone’s attention. If you really think about it, you can use money and knowledge to get in front of people, but you don’t control their attention. They do. Also, money and AI can buy you attention. But even if you buy ads (no matter how targeted) there is still an AI engine deciding for you who sees what you’re paying for and when.
Knowledge is power. You can look intelligent with Artificial Intelligence. If you really think about it, you control your intelligence through learning, but you don’t control Artificial Intelligence. It’s managed in the form of a computer, an app, or a browser.
Money is power. Buying ads or sponsoring posts can boost or enhance your ability to get your content in front of people who may not already buy from you. Ultimately, it’s up to them to pay attention or not.
If Money is Power, Knowledge is Power, and Attention is Power, how can you use all three to optimize your knowledge to gain attention?
“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.”– Jose Ortega y GassetIn this episode, we will discuss how AI and your Quickbooks (or CRM) can help you reach your perfect audience with your creative content!
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Hank is an author, speaker, podcast host and Sr. Manager of Client Solutions at iContact, a Ziff Davis company. With a passion for all things digital and social, combined with more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing, he has been dubbed the Digital Marketing Infotainer because he makes marketing fun and successful.
Questions for Hank? - Click Here
I have to brag a bit… I won Board Member of the Quarter for the AMA Triangle. Back in January, I was recruited to join as the VP of Communications, and by April I was recognized as a winner!
I simply got the pulse of who the players were and what they needed. You have a unique pulse on your business and the industry(s) you serve. Your salespeople have boots on the ground, ears to the audience, and fingers on the pulse of what your clients and prospects are feeling fearful of or excited about.
Success is in the eye of the beholder. All too often with online and digital marketing, it’s measured in eyeballs and engagement. While both are exciting and a boost to the ego, in my world all that matters is action and conversations.
The keys to success are knowing your audience, creating quality creative content, and consistently delivering value to your audience.
It’s never a set-it-and-forget-it activity. I know things can always be improved by constant learning, and developing your teams, tactics, and targets.
“For me, honestly, it’s not about individual accomplishments, individual award. It’s about what I’ve got to do and how I can contribute to the team.”– Sheryl SwoopesIn this episode, we will discuss how Rightsourcing, and consistent content creation and distribution can help boost sales!
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Colton led the development of the Interview & Interrogation (I&I) training for the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) which is recognized as breaking the mold for interviewing training and bringing science into the art of interviewing. This was done in conjunction with the U.S. Intelligence Community but transfers perfectly into cutting-edge training and fact-finding systems for almost any organization. While with the HIG, Colton taught the HIG I&I courses to thousands of members of the U.S. Intelligence Community as well as developing training programs for some of the U.S.’s premier law enforcement agencies and many of our foreign partners.
Through his 22 year career as an FBI Special Agent, Colton conducted thousands of interviews and led a variety of specialty teams in high-pressure, high-stakes settings domestically and internationally, including in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Colton brings a wealth of knowledge and experience relating to counterterrorism, counterintelligence, criminal matters, and the business world to every group he works with.
Colton is passionate about interviewing and about using the most recent science to work with your teams to help them become the absolute best they can be at their craft. Colton is a certified coach and brings a coaching ethos to working with your teams to fulfill their best potential. Colton has an M.A. from the University of Chicago and undergraduate degree from University of California, Davis.
Contact Colton at https://www.pyxisacademy.com/
It’s been years since I mowed my own lawn. Why? I have been blessed enough to afford to pay people to pick up dog poop and mow my lawn.
Common business logic tells us to focus on what’s important. If you make $50 per hour and you can pay someone $40 to mow your lawn, you are $10 ahead if it takes you an hour to do it yourself.
Do you view marketing as a chore? I like to think of it as an investment. Yes, you can buy tools (or rent them in the form of a subscription), but they require some time and some learning to get them to pay for themselves.
Outsourcing usually means that all parts of a system are handled by a vendor. I doubt anyone could find a landscaping company to trim and blow after we cut the lawn.
Rightsourcing your marketing (or sales) means that you only pay for people you need at the time you need them. This systemization only works when you and your sales team are actively involved by sharing your ideas and experiences.
“Outsourcing is inevitable, and I don’t think it’s necessarily treating people like things.”– Stephen CoveyIn this episode, we will discuss how Outsourcing vs Rightsourcing, and how it can help you grow your sales!
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Keith founded Publio to help clients transition from traditional marketing toward an ROI-based content publishing model to promote brands, build audiences, grow a sales pipeline, and optimize SEO performance to generate qualified leads. He has 25+ years of experience helping CEOs and agencies develop content strategies, marketing plans, and budgets, managing marketing operations, and producing media to attract customers. His work on go-to-market and demand-generation campaigns has yielded tens of thousands of leads, put hundreds of millions of dollars into sales pipelines and employers, and raised millions in startup capital. This experience led Keith to develop the “Publisher’s M.O.™” methodology Publio employs and teaches in client engagements and operations, a framework outlined in his 2019 book The New Content Culture: Think Like a Publisher to Grow Your Business.
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Just like Family Style is big, and Tapas is small, content can be served up the same way. There are two common trains of thought when it comes to creating and serving up content.
Content served up Family Style ranges from 2000 to 3500 words. There is usually a lot of detail, facts, examples, and more. The point is to make your case while providing as much supporting content to help you really drive your point(s) home.
Content served up as Tapas ranges from 750 to 1500 words. These tend to be small, quippy, and easy to digest. The idea here is to present thoughts with the goal of leaving them wanting more (or sampling another dish).
Whether your content is short or long, your intro is the hook. You want to make that first bite as unique and tasty as possible to get people to savor your ideas.
“The average human attention span was 12 seconds in 2000 and 8 seconds in 2013. A drop of 33%. The scary part is that the attention span of a goldfish was 9 seconds, almost 13% more than us humans. That’s why it’s getting tougher by the day to get people to turn the page. Maybe we writers ought to try writing for goldfish!”– Ashwin SanghiIn this episode, we will discuss how to serve up your content and the two kinds of hooks you can use to get people commenting and sharing!
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Larry Long Jr is the Founder and CEO of LLJR Enterprises, which focuses on business & sales motivation, inspiration, and most importantly, transformation through speaking, coaching & training programs. He is the host of the weekly, ‘Midweek Midday Motivational Minute’ and Author of ‘JOLT!’.
As a former college athlete (He played baseball for University of Maryland… Go Terps!), Larry is extremely passionate about coaching, and helping professionals and leaders take their game to the ‘next level’.
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It’s been years since I have been a conference attendee. The latest conference I attended was the 2023 Leadership Summit for chapter leaders of the AMA (American Marketing Association). What I learned at this conference is that not all chapters are the same. They are cohesive to the AMA brand, yet with diversity and individuality.
How can you communicate all the features and benefits of membership to multiple groups, with multiple needs and wants, and not bore everyone in the process?
How do you differentiate between enticing new members, while engaging current members with very limited time, budgets, and (more importantly) attention spans?
If you want to inspire and attract newbies, do a webinar or presentation on AI, and you will get the largest possible audience. But if you want to attract influencers, you have to be prepared to talk with a small, and very focused audience.
If you think about engaging those different audiences, influencers need to be inspired. And, it takes influencers to inspire newbies.
“Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.”– Robert FrostIn this episode, we will discuss how segmentation can help you communicate with different audiences with different agendas, while still using the same messaging!
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I have 30+ years of experience as a catalyst for leaders who want to grow in self-awareness, harness their innate talents, and enhance their performance to create a meaningful impact in their life and work. I especially enjoy working with multi-generational leaders because we need great leaders in every generation converging to make a difference.
My introduction to professional coaching came at the height of my career leading a nonprofit for 20+ years. I realized I had plateaued personally and professionally in the midst of the demands and pressure of work. This realization was a game-changer that propelled me to grow and develop. Completing a Masters in Leadership and a Professional Coaching Certification (PCC) from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) fueled the convergence of my passion, purpose, and talents to become a professional coach.
My clients are CEOs, VP’s, Directors, emerging leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners from a variety of industries and organizations including Deloitte, Transloc (Ford), Johnson and Johnson Eye Care, and municipalities like the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Learn More About Jim - Click Here
I have a problem. Well, it’s more of an annoyance. We have RING cameras on the front and back of our house. In order to see the widest possible views, they had to be placed up high.
The more the cameras are accessed when a delivery comes or when the dog and I are in the backyard playing ball, the faster the battery drains.
They take 4-6 hours to recharge so it’s a hassle. So, I jumped on Amazon and bought solar recharging panels. To work effectively, these have to be positioned to have the most visibility of the sun per day.
Content is like a battery. It powers your business but needs to be recharged. Some businesses power it monthly, but it becomes more powerful when energized daily or weekly. The more the content is viewed, the less current and interesting it becomes. In other words, the faster the content battery needs recharging.
Just like exposing the batteries to the sun supercharges them, getting your content in the light (of computer and cell phone screens), supercharges your messaging by getting it in front of more eyeballs!
All of this is to stay top of mind, stay relevant, and hopefully start conversations.
“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.”– Stephen HawkingIn this episode, we will discuss how Daily and weekly content, shared through social media and email, can supercharge your audience!
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Garrett Moon is the CEO and Co-Founder at CoSchedule, the web’s most popular marketing calendar and the fastest growing startup in North Dakota. Ranked as the best business tool built by a startup on Entrepreneur.com, CoSchedule helps more than 9,000 marketing teams stay organized in more 100 countries around the world. In 2016, CoSchedule was named one of the top five startups in Tech. Co’s Startup of the Year Competition.
As a thought leader, Garrett is the author of “The 10x Marketing Formula” and has been blogging and speaking about content marketing, social media marketing, and startup business for more than eight years. He’s been featured on sites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, AdWeek, and Content Marketing Institute.
Get a FREE Trial of CoScheduleContent Marketing isn’t living up to it’s promises. For the past several years, content marketing has been all the rage. There are current success stories seemingly everywhere. Like I imagine so many of you have experienced, we adopted content marketing with high hopes here at CoSchedule. When we started up, we needed the traffic… we needed the success story to be our story… but we weren’t getting it. Instead, we found quality + consistent content wasn’t—and couldn’t—be the promised driver of ROI. It just wasn’t enough.
Since then, we’ve honed the 10x Marketing Formula to grow from zero customers to 9,000+, zero email subscribers to 250,000+, and pageviews from zero to 1.5 million every single month. And we did it all in less than four years.
Get a copy of Garretts New Book “10X Marketing Formula
Do you own a lathe? If you do, chances are woodworking is your hobby or business.
Do you own a 3D printer? If you do, chances are you are in the manufacturing or design fields.
I don’t own either, but owning a 3D printer would be cool and give me status. But, I don’t know the first thing about using it or how to make it pay for itself.
Tools in the hands of an expert speed up results. Tools in the hands of a tinkerer can lead to wasted time or just be dangerous.
One place you are certainly an expert is in how your business helps others solve problems. You understand your client’s needs, wants, and issues. I am sure that you could talk about this for hours in ways that would certainly resonate with your clients and prospects.
One way is to ask questions. If you add a call to action (think, banner ad) that says “Got Questions? Click Here!” you can be sure that at least some of the page visitors will take you up on that.
So, if you want to stand out from your competition and get the attention of your audience, you have to know how to translate your knowledge into content that resonates with them in a way that piques their interest in your topic.
“Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.”
– Robert FrostIn this episode, we will discuss how mastering your topic, title, and then tools can help your messages rise above the rest!
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Mark S. Babbitt is President of WorqIQ, a community and change management consultancy that helps organizations understand leadership’s impact on culture and the company’s collective level of Workplace Intelligence (WQ).
Mark is also CEO and Founder of YouTern. This career-focused community enables college students, recent graduates, and young professionals to find their first or next internship or job with the right organizational culture for them.
Mark co-authored A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive and is co-author of the upcoming (September 28, 2021 | Matt Holt and BenBella Books) Good Comes First: How Today’s Leaders Create an Uncompromising Company Culture That Doesn’t Suck.
Followers also find Mark’s advice in Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, and many other publications. An in-demand speaker, Mark was named one of Inc. Magazines’ Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
S. Chris Edmonds helps leaders create and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He is a speaker, author, and executive consultant who is the founder of The Purposeful Culture Group. He’s one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Top Leadership Speakers and was a featured presenter at South by Southwest 2015.
Chris is the author of the Amazon best seller The Culture Engine and is co-author of the upcoming title, Good Comes First. Chris’ blog, podcasts, and videos are at DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com. Chris’ short, rich Culture Leadership Charge video episodes can be found on YouTube.
Learn more about Mark & Chris and their Book - Click Here
There is a famous saying, “What gets measured gets managed”, or “What gets measured, gets done”. It’s often attributed to Peter Drucker (but his organizations said it was not him initially).
But when it comes to measurement… what happens when you are measuring the wrong things? Does that lead to doing the wrong things and inaccurate data?
Humans will tend to engage anywhere between 30 seconds to 30 minutes on your website. What you want to measure is that engagement.
What you want to measure first is what are the engagers engaging with. That can be found by looking at what pages are getting around 1-3 minutes of time on that page. Keep in mind that bots can drop that to below 1 minute if they are the majority of the hits, so don’t immediately throw out data as says 1 minute or less.
One way is to ask questions. If you add a call to action (think, banner ad) that says “Got Questions? Click Here!” you can be sure that at least some of the page visitors will take you up on that.
Another way is to predictively answer questions. We do this with a Decision Tree. This (like the banner ad) gets people to click through. The difference, is they are not forced to give info to get answers.
This provides intelligence into their website visits and activity which can be analyzed and utilized by management and/or salespeople.
“Action is the real measure of intelligence.”– Napoleon HillIn this episode, we will discuss how to increase engagement by getting people to search and answer their own questions!
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Avish Bhama is the founder and CEO of Sonia Automation, a technology company that builds A.I. to automate client facing workflows. Prior to Sonia, Avish co-founded Vaurum, a bitcoin exchange, and Mirror, a fintech startup. Avish began his career as a derivatives trader and worked at Apple on their foreign exchange team. He resides in New York and SF, where Sonia has offices, and enjoys reading, hiking, and helping early-stage founders.
Learn More About Sonia - CLICK HERE
Have you ever been in an endless loop or Mobius strip conversation with a toddler? You know… the endless circle of WHY?
When a toddler keeps asking “WHY?” in response to everything they hear or see, it’s called the “why stage” or “why phase”.
If you get frustrated, you can try to end the loop by saying, “Because I said so… THAT’S WHY!”
WHY can be both a question AND an answer!
Simon Sinek explores the word WHY in such an exciting way in his book “START WITH WHY: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action”.
I suggest you ask yourself, “WHY do I want or need more sales?”, “HOW can I entice people to do more of what is already working?” “WHAT do I need to do to entice people to do more of what is already working?” and “WHY would that convince them to make a purchase?”
If you noticed, Simon Sinek starts with WHY, HOW, and WHAT. This is the power of three. So let’s explore WHY three choices help you increase the chances that your ideas and messaging will be engaged.
Ultimately, your WHY is going to be different than almost any other business. That means your HOW and WHAT are also going to be different than most other businesses.
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”– Henry Ford
In this episode, we will discuss WHY presenting your marketing with three choices can be the best way to increase engagment!.
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Cloris Kylie, Marketing MBA, helps you build authority and attract the right clients online and offline. She shows you how to leverage connections with influencers and leaders of marketing platforms so that you can grow a magnificent business that produces positive impact and growing revenue.
A sought-after speaker, trainer, and author, Cloris has been featured on network television, and on top-ranked podcasts and YouTube shows, including the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs, “Entrepreneur On Fire.” Cloris’s articles have been published on websites with millions of followers, such as TinyBuddha, MindBodyGreen, and Addicted2Success.
Starting from scratch, Cloris has grown a large network of influencers, who have played an essential role in the growth of her coaching and consulting business.
She has interviewed best-selling authors and world-class entrepreneurs such as Chris Brogan, Dorie Clark, Neil Patel, Mel Abraham, and Serena, Saje and Skye Dyer, the 3 daughters of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.
Cloris’s unique background in industrial engineering and marketing allows her to design efficient and effective solutions for her clients, but Cloris knows you need more than tactics to succeed. That’s why she also empowers you to, as she says, “Reveal your magnificence.”
Learn More About Cloris - Click Here
I am always amazed that 80 tons of people, luggage, metal, and fuel, lifts you up in the air and flies you 1000 miles in about 2 hours, and it’s almost 1000 times safer than driving in a car.
On top of that, most people don’t give a second thought about how complex our air travel system is. During the last year, we saw how planes that could not take off caused delays, cancellations, and even a collapse of certain airlines’ systems.
If not having the right airplane at the right gate at the right time can cause chaos, imagine how not having the right person, at the right web page, at the right time could affect your business systems.
A B2b business usually has a very niche audience of specialists in search of a solution to their problem. You want to help your website visitors land at the right gate. That way they can make their connecting flight (talking with your sales staff) or reach their destination (buying from your company).
So the question to ask yourself is, “Do I need more traffic or do I need to have better conversations?”
Website creators often look at a website as a linear experience. You arrive at the entrance (home page), read the departures board (menu), then navigate to your gate (pages or blog). I like to think of your website as a non-linear tool.
If people have questions, they walk up to the gate staff and ask questions.
Your website can also accomplish this by using links and banners (on pages, blog posts, and below videos), to point people to more information.
“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”– Friedrich Nietzsche
In this episode, we will discuss how to get travelers at your website to their gate (destination) faster!.
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Bob Kastl is the son of a Military Attorney and Judge, so he grew up in many places including: Texas, Alaska, Alabama, New Mexico, Virginia and Panama. He majored in Mass Communications at James Madison University, and, while in school, served as the Assistant Program Director at WMRA, Public Radio for the Shenandoah Valley.
After college, he took a job as an Advertising Sales Executive at the alternative newsweekly, Creative Loafing, in Charlotte. Eight months after his hire, Bob was promoted to the role of Sales Manager. He served in that role for five years, eventually being promoted to Associate Publisher. He left Loafing in 1997 to work at The Charlotte Observer, eventually returning to launch a weekly edition of Creative Loafing in Sarasota Florida in 1999.
After a stint out of the media advertising world, he returned in 2008, and joined AT&T, the publisher of the local Yellow Pages and yellowpages.com for Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Goldsboro, and several other markets. He joined WUNC in 2018, and was promoted to the Corporate Sales Manager job in August of 2019.
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The first thing that happens when you get to a restaurant is you are guided to your table and handed a menu. Menus are generally organized into appetizers, meals, and desserts.
Could you imagine if the menu included articles about how each meal is prepared, where the ingredients were sourced from, and what cooking ware is used to prepare your meal?
Your website is like a menu for visitors. It is generally categorized based on how your visitors want to eat, but all too often they try too hard to over-explain the options. That’s what the wait staff is for. Wait-staff serves as the primary interaction point between your customers and your business.
Your website visitors may come to your website with a goal, a problem, or a question.
If all they want is to get to know your business (products and services) it’s the brochure they are looking for.
If they are looking to make a purchase, they may want to know the price and availability, That’s when the store model (similar to Amazon) makes the most sense.
If they are researching their issues and possible solutions, they will be looking for your card catalog with the Dewey Decimal System (search box) and expect your website to act like ChatGPT (with detailed expert responses).
All too often, you will find small business websites that try to incorporate all three modalities to reach the broadest audience. But sometimes, “If you make the choose, they get confused!”
“As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.”– Buddy Hackett
In this episode, we will discuss how to get visitors to your website to strike up profitable sales conversations.
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Steve Hoffman (Captain Hoff) is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, a global innovation hub for entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors, with over 50 partners in 22 countries.
Hoffman is also a venture investor, founder of three venture-backed and two bootstrapped startups, and author of several award-winning books. These include “Make Elephants Fly” (Hachette), “Surviving a Startup” (HarperCollins), and “The Five Forces” (BenBella).
In addition, Hoffman served on the Board of Governors of the New Media Council, was the founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, and was a founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group.
Learn More About Steven and his Books - Click Here
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How often do you find yourself getting ads for something that you just searched for? It can be both creepy and annoying.
I went to a local golf shop to have some clubs regripped. While I was waiting I was shown an area where they will evaluate your swing and give you a mini-lesson. I booked it and came back a couple of weeks later. What I learned is that my ball flight is good but my swing speed is slow. Swing speed = distance.
So you are probably asking yourself, “What does golf have to do with marketing?” Well, I believe that to better your game, you have to master the system. or SYS-TEM
- SYS stands for “Sell Your Salesperson”
- TEM stands for “Timely Emotional Messages”
Building a SYS-TEM means creating a synchronized marketing system. Trying just to implement a simple fix or change is not going to do the trick.
You have to master all parts of a golf swing to make solid contact. The same goes for marketing. The goal is to make solid contact, and that makes it easier to get the ball in the hole (make a sale).
“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball where it lies.”— Bobby Jones
In this episode, we will discuss how you can build a SYS-TEM around your marketing.
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VICTORIA SONG is the Leadership Advisor to successful founders and CEOs of the fastest growing technology companies in Silicon Valley and celebrities with power, platform, and influence.
Victoria began her career as a venture capitalist investing in technology startups, where she got to see first-hand what the most successful entrepreneurs did differently to win.
She was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her investment success. After studying economics at Yale University and leadership at Harvard Business School, she received her most valuable learnings from over 24 of the best coaches, therapists, and alternative healers in the world who teach lessons not available in even the most exclusive universities.
Learn More About Victoria - Click Here
If you want to build a successful business, you have to stay top of mind, provide value, and continue to learn, grow and change. What follows are three experiences I had in the last week or so that will help me make that point!
My friend and associate, Chuck Hester, has a habit that I not only follow but support. While I post a quote of the day in the morning, and a caption contest at night on Facebook, he does the same with a dad joke of the day!
My business coach (Marla Tabaka) and I had an awesome conversation about my progress and how I crushed my vision board (the dad part is coming). If you are not familiar with a vision board, Marla convinced me to buy a pin board, hang it on my wall, and fill it with pictures of what I want to achieve. I searched and found a big check (with a big number to make me debt free), a golfer, a for sale sign on my home, a new home, and pictures of my perfect customers.
Some people you meet online are Zoom-worthy, while others are coffee worthy. Coffee-worthy means I have to take a shower, get in my car, and meet them for coffee. I had such a Coffee-worthy meeting with a new friend and business associate Chip Royce. The main reason for the meeting was to help each other see our respective businesses through a fresh set of eyes.
Your life, business, and money tree need nurturing, care, and sustenance to keep growing. Maybe you want to try a vision board. Maybe search for a coach, mentor, or friend to help you see things from different perspectives. It may be a coffee, a beer or glass of wine, a round of golf, or just a walk, but seek out others for whom you can provide value, and whom you can find value with.
“Life is about perspective and how you look at something… ultimately, you have to zoom out.”– Whitney Wolfe Herd
In this episode, we will discuss how to gain a new perspective on yourself and your vision (board).
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Erika Andresen, CBCP, JD, MPA, is a recovering lawyer after nearly two decades of experience in both the corporate finance world and the military. Erika became a subject matter expert on national security and disaster preparedness and response while advising different commands on their authorities and during high-risk situations in Afghanistan. Her work with actual disasters led her to attain a Master of Public Affairs.
Erika left active duty in 2020 and has since started EaaS Consulting, LLC, with the goal of keeping businesses in business. To that end, she authored How to Not Kill Your Business: Grow Your Business in Any Environment, Navigate Volatility, and Successfully Recover When Things Go Wrong, a conversational introduction to business continuity enjoyed by CBCP practitioners and business owners alike. Erika is also a professor of emergency management for the MPA program at the University of Texas at El Paso. She has been quoted in articles for Forbes, Dark Reading, and MoneyGeek on the issues of business continuity and disaster preparedness.
After a career of working in actual disasters and high-risk situations where things changed every day and the consequences were actual life and death, Erika saw that business owners needed similar services to survive but did not know where to start. If you are a business that wants to stay alive and grow with security, Erika’s mission is to get you there!
Learn More About Chip - Click Here
was listening to “The Square and the Tower”, subtitled “Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook” by Niall Ferguson. It argues that most organizations are hierarchical. “It’s about emperors, presidents, prime ministers, and field marshals. It’s about states, armies, and corporations. It’s about orders from on high.” Networks have nodes and have always been with us. From our family, and founding fathers to Facebook, it’s about whom you know and whom they know that forms your network.
Most of us would think that if we can get the ear or heart of the CEO, King, or Owner, we can reach underlings with our messages. But this book talks about Thomas Cromwell who was the principal secretary to King Henry VIII. Cromwell had access to over 20,000 letters belonging to the dynasty, hence he had access, knowledge, and insight that few could have prior to the invention of the printing press.
The purpose of that peer-to-peer networking meeting is about who needs what. Not about, “does what I sell, meet their needs”, or “whom do they know who needs what I sell?” It’s 100% about whom I know, that’s a quality connection, who can help them solve a problem.
So back to my theory that maintaining fewer connections with quality networkers is much more fruitful than riding the coattails of those influencers with the most connections.
“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”– Saint Augustine
In this episode, we will discuss the difference between hierarchical and node networking.
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In this final part of the series, I wanted to show how and why following traditional marketing thinking can hamper your success in B2b marketing.
B2b marketing differs from consumer marketing because it’s more relational than transactional, and it often takes longer to go from awareness to trust. That means that there are more steps, and more interaction required. It also means that it requires more patience, which is rewarded with bigger paydays.
With that said here are some things we have learned over the last few years (through actual client experience):
- People spend 15-20 minutes per week on LinkedIn
- People hit a brick wall after 35 minutes on webinars & meetings
- Gif posts are more effective than short video posts
What that tells us is that people in business are too busy to read long posts. It’s short, to-the-point content like images and gifs that get the most clicks. Once people click, they continue to want short, quick engagement or actions to take.
Once you get people on your website, the holy grail is always getting their contact information. But what if they are not willing or ready to? That is where a Decision Tree help.
“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers”
– PlatoIn this episode, we will explore… how to keep your customers engaged in your content, and track their buyer’s journey!.
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In part 1 of this series, I hinted that in this post I was going to outline a system we are working on that helps capture data from visitors in a way that traditional methods are either missing or lacking. I decided that before I devolve the system, I should add a little context as to why it’s so important and needed. So, this will now be a 3 part series.
I also mentioned, your website is kind of like a mousetrap. It has food for thought and attracts creatures who sneak in and out. You may be able to see them scurry, but it’s hard to trap them (meaning their data).
The goal is not to just capture information and badger people, but to follow their journey, to understand their needs and wants better, and how they go about using your website to investigate answers to their questions.
All businesses have one main goal, to make a sale. In the B2b world, that generally requires interpersonal communication (a conversation between a salesperson and a prospect). All of those tactics can generate leads, data, and sales, but there is a caveat. It all assumes that someone sees your stuff at the exact time they are deciding to buy. I believe that the best method to really achieve that is through relationship building.
Understanding the path that websites, email, and social have taken will help you better understand how to integrate all of those into your overall marketing plan
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”
– ConfuciusIn this episode, we will explore… a little history of the web, search, email, social & more!.
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Julie Migliacci has over 17 years of high-touch customer service and event planning under her belt. There isn’t an event type she hasn’t planned before, from large celebrity fundraisers, virtual conferences and premier cooking shows. She is always up for a new challenge and creating unique experiences for clients and their guests. Hailing from France, Julie has lived in 4 countries and considers herself a global citizen. She currently resides in Boston, MA and is always looking for an opportunity to jump on a plane to do something new. If left on a deserted island, Julie would bring her sourdough starter (named Steve) and her cats.
Lastly, a fun fact: Chip was the first to place a keyword ad buy in 1997 (Yahoo!)
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In our last house, we had a small problem. Mice!
If you think about it, your business is like my garage. Specifically your website. It has food for thought and attracts creatures who sneak in and out. You may be able to see them scurry, but it’s hard to trap them (and you certainly don’t want to kill them off). You want to be able to capture them (or at least capture their data).
The ultimate goal is to get people to exchange their contact info for quality content like an ebook, training videos, and such. You will only get a small number of website visitors who are willing to do that. It may take two, three, or more visits to your website before they are willing to engage in that way. It makes sense to try and track use with cookies, so when they scurry into your form or email, you have the opportunity to trace their path (understand how they got there in the first place).
Unlike the mice in our garage, you don’t want to get rid of them, you want to create conversations that keep them coming back. But you still have to feed them and track their path, or journey to your cheese while keeping your content safe and inviting!
P.S. With those mice, I used peanut butter which lasted longer and was stickier
“Maybe stories are just data with a soul.”
– Brene BrownIn this episode, we will explore… How to attract and capture your website’s users’ attention… and data!.
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I luckily learned a lesson back in the 1980s when I worked at AT&T. During a performance review, my supervisor said, “Son, you are an expense. I can hire two people for what you are asking for and I would do better with that than with you alone. So the answer is NO!” Let me repeat that… “YOU ARE AN EXPENSE”
I realized that if I did not make a change, no one would do it for me. I needed to leverage my time, and leverage the time of others in a way that was successful, repeatable, and valuable to clients in a way that they would want to invest in and integrate my solution into their business.
I started with writers (people who could do it better than me) and started to build systems around them. Next, I found people who could manage websites, create emails and social posts, and topped it off with a project manager who had extensive corporate experience. I can bring people into some consistency of repeatable projects with room for them to learn and grow with other clients.
This model allowed me to bring in an expert at just the right time to complete a task and then let them focus on other customers they were working with. The key was a level of expertise, that could work the client’s ebbs and flows of needs and wants. It allows them to access an incredible pool of talent who bring creativity and innovative solutions to keep them at the forefront of trends.
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
– AnonymousIn this episode, we will explore… how to look at what you do as an invaluable resource to your clients or bosses, and not just as an expense.
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Let’s face it… Procrastination and Perfection have a purpose, but they pause progress. Progress is perpetuated by the processes you put in place. But all too often, we can put progress in purgatory by procrastinating or perfecting our processes. Do you know what phrase causes consternation constantly? “That’s not how we do it here!”
I view a process as a series of steps that takes a phase of a project from concept to completion. The better you can define the steps, the more you can control the process.
I view systems as a series of processes, done in a particular order, that turns that series of processes into a project.
Stuff happens. When a ladder is missing a rung or step, it does not mean you can’t keep climbing, but it often requires some improvisation.
A good marketing system has two pieces that work in concert. First is content creation and the other is content distribution.
“Purgatory is hell, with hope.”– Tyler Childers
In this episode, we will explore… how processes and steps can create a good system, and how “This is not how it’s done here” puts progress in purgatory!
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Chip’s first experience with the tech sector started in 1994 after downloading the first Netscape browser (now Firefox) and led him to join his first startup a year later. He’s worked for and advised high-growth ventures and Fortune 500 companies in online media, internet infrastructure, PCs (Dell & Lenovo), and most recently, Fintech & Gov Tech SaaS companies, in addition to serving as CEO for a US commercial 3D printing manufacturer.
In 2014, Chip started Flywheel Advisors, helping early and mid-stage companies (Consumer and B2B) to identify and drive sustainable growth and scale by leveraging customer feedback and insights.
Lastly, a fun fact: Chip was the first to place a keyword ad buy in 1997 (Yahoo!)
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When I say “Whiff” what do you think of? Are you imagining a baseball, moving at 100 mph, dropping out of the strike zone as the batter takes a swing at strike three? Or are you thinking of waking up, and catching the smell of BACON wafting throughout your living space?
Have you heard the term “WIIFM”? I have said that people tune into two different radio stations… “WIIAM” and “WIIFM”. WIIAM stand for “What is interesting ABOUT ME”, and WIIFM stands for “What’s In It FOR ME”.
Many marketers use WIIAM or FOMO (fear of missing out) as a motivator to get people to pay attention to their posts and emails. You see it all the time.
The attraction action you want them to take is to reach out, on their terms, when they are ready. That means it could take multiple interactions with your content. It can take days, weeks, months, or years. You can never predict if and when that day will come.
“It is not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.”— Patricia Fripp
In this episode, we will explore… What is WIIFM, WIIAM, FOMO, and the meaning of BACON?
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Having worked with many non-profits in the past, the biggest hurdle they have to overcome is resources. If they want in for free, someone has to dedicate or donate the time. Otherwise, they have to find someone they can afford and pay for that to be implemented.
That is what I call the Strategy vs. Plan Conundrum. A strategy without a plan has no action. A plan without a strategy has no purpose (or measurable outcomes). You need both to succeed.
As I stated before, a plan without a strategy or a strategy without a plan is often doomed to fail. But even if both are honed to perfection, you need resources to execute it all. As I said, non-profits are often cash-strapped, which is why they rely on volunteers or donations to survive. That’s the same with for-profit businesses.
The death of a great strategy, and plan… is often waiting until all the pieces are in place before you begin to execute. So you have to roll up your sleeves and get to it while finding people to take over and carry the ball farther and faster than you can.
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”
– Pablo PicassoIn this episode, we will explore how a strategy needs a plan and a plan needs a strategy… and how to successfully bring them together!
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We all know the ebb and flow of resolutions. We set a simple or lofty goal to achieve, only to find that we slip up a day, week, or month later. That gives us permission to try again next year!
Each year we kind of reinvent by making resolutions. We aim to reinvent ourselves by exercising, eating better, losing weight, or saving money. Yet reinvention has slightly different meanings:
- To invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists.
- To remake or make over, as in a different form.
- To bring back; revive.
So when we try again, we revive a resolution. When we remake, we reconstruct our lives into a different form. When we invent again, we give ourselves permission to keep trying until we are happy with the results.
Learning leads to reinvention. If you commit to trying and failing you are on the right track.
I wish you a happy, healthy, and successful 2023. May your reinventions (and resolutions) lead to bigger and better things for you, your family, and your business!
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston ChurchillIn this episode, we will explore how you can reinvent resolutions by looking at your business in a different way!
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Pam Didner is a marketing consultant, writer, speaker, podcaster, and author of 3 books: Global Content Marketing, Effective Sales Enablement, and the Modern AI Marketer. She has given future trends, content marketing and sales enablement presentations and workshops in the US, Europe, South America and Asia. Her forte is to create successful global marketing plans that meet local marketing and sales team’s needs. She is strategic in nature and tactical in execution. She also specializes in sales, marketing and internal/external communications consulting, keynote presentations, corporate training and planning sessions. Her clients include Intel, 3M, Sunstar, Cisco, TE Connectivity, Southwest Airlines to name just a few. She shares marketing thoughts at pamdidner.com.
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Tis The Season…
for holiday parties. There are cookies everywhere. There are cookie exchanges because you can’t get enough. You can’t eat all your own cookies (well I guess you could if you tried hard enough).
Marketing is a lot like cookies. It can be unique and tasty, or it can be just junk food. It all depends on the recipe and the artist mixing it up and baking it. If you think about it, you eat marketing cookies every day in your browser.
In B2b marketing, your content is your cookies. Some businesses try to use browser cookies and other ad techniques to attract buyers, but with B2b marketing, you will find that the websites customers visit (like LinkedIn) don’t use consumer-style cookies in their advertising. So, you have to use a great recipe, and quality ingredients to attract people’s eyes and hearts.
In this episode, we will explore how you can create content, in small bite-sized morsels, that will keep people coming back for MORE!
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Stan is a Forbes Contributor, TEDx Speaker, IBM Futurist, Certified Speaking Professional, and best-selling author of the Goldfish Series. He is an Instructor for the ANA School of Marketing and Rutgers Business School.
A show-and-tell speaker, Stan empowers audiences to take action that delivers bottom-line impact. He strives to change the paradigm of marketing by encouraging audiences to focus on experiences as the ultimate competitive differentiator. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.
A masterful storyteller who quickly connects with audiences, Stan has delivered keynotes and workshops for Fortune 100 brands including IBM, Target, and more. He works directly with you to customize content that matches your audience and your goals to create a memorable and meaningful experience every time. Count on Stan to show up early, arrive prepared, and disrupt the all-work-and-no-play methodology with his sharp wit and trademark showmanship. He makes it his mission to exceed expectations and inspire audiences in ways they just can’t help but talk about — and won’t soon forget.
Find Stan’s keynotes and workshops at StanPhelpsSpeaks.com.
Learn More About Stan - Click Here
Tis The Season…
The end of the year is always interesting. It’s a time to reflect on the past, while we look toward the future, and many of us are giving and getting presents! having moved to a new city, many of our presents are coming and going via Secret Santa Trucks (White = FedEx, Brown = UPS, and Blue = Amazon).
It’s kinda like a gift exchange. If someone sends you a gift, generally we feel obligated to send them one of equal or greater value in exchange.
Another thing that happens this time of year is meetings and parties. In the course of a couple of days, I met a marketing person who was looking for some guidance, and a professional expert who speaks around the world on B2b marketing. The newbie was exploring a strategy to use Instagram and TikTok to build a brand, while the pro said she works in the “Boring World” of B2b marketing.
What follows is a list of four ways I have seen marketers, experts, and agencies try to use flashy and trendy consumer tactics.
In this episode, we will explore how consumer tactics are generally bright and shiny, but often lack the ability to generate B2b Sales!
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Do you remember the good old days?
Go back to before 2007 and remember what your world was like. You may have been a PC or a Mac (you surely remember those commercials). Moore’s Law is the philosophy that says “a given technology will double its power about every two years.” That makes sense if you look at just the memory in an iPhone. In 14 years (2007 to 2021) memory has exponentially grown (2/4/8/16/32/64/128 gig), and so has the power of processing chips.
Call me Captain Obvious, but all that technology can become numbing to what its intent was and still is, a tool to help us become more productive and do business better!
That same device that has all that technology also possesses the tools we need to maximize this opportunity. I want to focus today on five FREE things that you can do with your phone (and/or a laptop or desktop computer) that will help you thrive in your relationship challenges in 2023.
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Meetings
- Maps
- Camera
In this episode, we will explore how to look at these basic programs we all have, but most of us don’t utilize them. The main goal should be to use them to build Better Business Relationships!
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits"
Learn More About Mark - Click Here
Golf is a fairly simple game. You hit a little white (or colored in my case) ball from a tee to a cup in the grass. It's meant to be done in 3, 4, or 5 touches of the ball. Many people think it's a competitive sport, but in reality, I have found that it's you and your skill set versus the golf course. So you are probably asking yourself, "Hey... This is a Marketing and Sales blog, what does golf have to do with my business?" Well, I have been in business for over 40 years (50 if you count when I made Christmas wreaths and sold them in my neighborhood as a kid). I have almost 10,000-15,000 hours (or 4 times my golf rounds) of experience in business. I have also done business with all kinds, types, and skilled people (from complete duffers to near-pro level). Now, I can categorize them into 5 basic types:
Good & Fast Good & Slow Bad & Fast Bad & Slow Playing From The Wrong Tees
In this episode, we will explore how golf and business have the same goal... getting the ball in the hole (Score) with as little effort as possible!
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Writer Jennifer Capler - The DM Woman Life & Leadership | Empowering Effective Leaders | Leadership Researcher & Speaker | Published Researcher & Author | Doctor of Management | Certified NLP Master Coach & Trainer
Photographer John Tulipano - JLT Photography Helping business professionals, create professional images, through quality photographic services
Audio Brian Basilico - B2b Interactive Marketing HEY B2b Businesses - Bridge the Gap between your Marketing & Sales - Relationship Marketing is what is working to SPARK SALES Growth with EXPLOSIVE Content that POWERS your Brand and DRIVES your Sales ENGINE!
Video Andrew Schones - Both/And Pictures Storyteller--Video Producer--Photographer--Founder of Both/And Pictures
Social Media Svetlana Lane - Amadeus Virtual Solutions Expert VA® ♦︎ Websites, Branding, and Social Media Management for Authors, Bloggers, Coaches, and Musicians ♦︎ "Your Virtual Stage Manager" ♦︎ svetlana@amadeusvirtual.com
Data Brenda Christopher - Excel Your Business Creative Solutionist & Strategy Consultant | I help identify blind spots in your business & streamline your operations
Every year, around the 3rd to 4th week of November, until the 1st week of January, business starts to slow down (unless you are in retail). We start to reflect on the previous months of the year. It's also a time to look forward to what's next. I can tell you as you get older the time compresses and seems to pass faster. That's why I get so upset when they start pushing Pumpkin Spiced EVERYTHING in August, Christmas stuff for sale in September, and Black Friday sales in October!! Trust me, I get that it's all about business and extending seasons to increase revenues, but seriously, can we just pause a bit and give thanks on Thanksgiving? Hey, if you are into that I am not here to judge. I am all good with you being you... but I digress! "I am thankful for YOU!" Thanks to my wife, dog (Layla), family, friends, readers, commenters, guests, clients, prospects, vendors (new and old), golfing buddies, musician friends, neighbors, and all the people in my social and business networks (all 10,000+ of you). The last year was filled with love, encouragement, faith, truth, and frequent reality checks! You bring purpose, pleasure, and occasional pushes, prognostication, and purposeful profanity that keep me moving forward! In this episode, we will explore What I'm Thankful for over the past year and hopefully prompt you to do the same!
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I am the CEO and Founder of Web Collaborative, a full-service digital creative agency. We pride ourselves on producing high-quality work that authentically communicates the value and story of our clients. In short, staying true to their “Digital DNA” so that they are successful for the long haul. Our vision is to empower and inform my clients to make better digital investments in an age of disruption. Our mission is to unleash the untapped potential of companies, organizations, and communities through inspired ideation and creativity. Our goal is to equip them with the tools to adapt to the digital age, and to build a future-proof ecosystem of people, products, and processes. I am a board member of KEDO, Inc. This is a nonprofit organization that "Builds Schools and Futures in War-Torn Countries". It is a charity whose work is based in Liberia, West Africa, and has built a school serving 80+ school-age children and currently is in the progress of completing a health clinic to help mitigate the ongoing health crisis in the nation. In particular, dealing with the 5th highest maternal mortality rate in the world. I am also a board member of Chester County Futures. They are a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive academic support, mentorship, and scholarship opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth, it promotes academic success, higher education, and personal development.
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Consumers are fickle. How do I know? I am one. Consumers change loyalties in an instant, while B2b customers are more complex. Switching brands or companies is easy for B2c. Not so much for B2b. One of the Baconisms I post every month is, "When you contact a prospect... you are a salesperson. When a prospect contacts you... you are the expert!" All too often, a business sales team will focus on finding more leads. Sometimes they focus on nurturing prospects. I think the main point is you are dealing with people. All people are consumers so it makes sense to treat them that way, but unless they are surfing Amazon at work, they will act and react differently when it comes to business. A person isn't who they are during the last conversation you had with them - they're who they've been throughout your whole relationship. - Rainer Maria Rilke In this episode, we will explore How B2c and B2b marketing and sales are so different!.
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Jon is a SaaS entrepreneur and a CRM pioneer. He’s mostly known for founding one of the first CRMs, GoldMine. After selling his first company and retiring for 10 years, he decided to get back in the business because he saw that contact management was broken with no CRMs offering business owners an entire view into the relationships with their customers. He founded Nimble, an easy-to-use CRM that works for you everywhere you work. Jon often speaks about social media’s effects on sales and marketing, and growing businesses by utilizing community building, PR, guerilla marketing, and influencer marketing.
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I have no idea how old you are, but I am this old… Do you remember TV Magic Cards? Marshall Brodine was a famous magician (and he was the clown Wizzo on the Bozo Circus Show) who lived in Geneva, Illinois (close to where we lived in Aurora). I was enamored with those cards and remembered the commercials on TV. I eventually convinced my parents to drop $2 and buy me a set. It has been said (by a very wise marketer) that, “98.67% of statistics are made up to benefit the statistician, and 63.2% are made up on the spot.” I have seen fads come and go. QR Codes were going to replace print marketing. Apps were going to replace websites. CDs were going to replace Vinyl. In 2021, vinyl sales topped CDs in the US for the first time in 30 years. In 2022 that gap has grown with vinyl sales growing and CDs in a rapid decline. In business (as in magic), always keep your eyes on the hands of the performer and not what they want you to focus on (that's the distraction). That way, their sleight of hand will not end up with your pocket getting picked! “We must be careful not to confuse data with the abstractions we use to analyze them.” – William James. In this episode, we will explore how marketers and platforms are using tricks to get you to redefine success to their definition.
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Xenia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Planable, a content review and marketing collaboration platform used by over 5,000 teams behind brands such as Hyundai, Christian Louboutin, Viber, and United Nations. Prior to launching Planable, at 20 y.o. she built a digital marketing agency and led social for clients such as Coca-Cola. Xenia has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and she spoke on the Innovation Stage at Cannes Lions in 2018. Xenia graduated Tim Draper's startup academy in Silicon Valley and took Planable through the Techstars London accelerator in 2017. She has also published a book – The Manifesto on Content Marketing Teams, and has launched her own podcast – People of Marketing.
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I want you to imagine that you have just ingested some poison. After the initial shock of realizing the impending doom, you hear the doorbell ring. At that very moment, an antidote salesman is standing at the door and says, “I have what you need. I can give you the recipe for free or you can buy the vile for $1,000,000.” What would you do? What could you do? There is a difference between consumer and business-to-business marketing. In the consumer world, you can sell the symptoms and the consumer will buy an over-the-counter remedy. If it works (or they think it does) they may buy it again. In B2b marketing, the goal should be to get the patient to talk with a doctor (your sales team) who can diagnose and prescribe a treatment. If there is no cure needed, you have won trust and that goes a long way in building referrals and future sales.
“One man's poison ivy is another man's spinach” – George Ade
In this episode, we will explore if your sales and marketing are more of poison in search of an antidote or an antidote in search of a poison..
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Umar Hameed is an expert in changing individual behavior and improving team dynamics. He uses techniques and tools from the world of Applied Neuroscience and NLP to make individuals and organizations more successful. Umar helps sales professionals break through their limitations so they do an extra 20 transactions this year. I help team leaders become better leaders so they help their team members become more driven and tenacious. This is what sets Umar apart from other sales consultants and trainers: * Over 40+ years of experience as a successful business and sales consultant * Over 25+ years experience in changing human behavior using Neuroscience, NLP and Hypnosis * International Keynote speaker at conferences in 16 countries
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Consistency can be defined as conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness. When it comes to sales and marketing, consistency is a moving target. Technology and the business environment continue to evolve. You can adapt and help to provide consistently, or consistently improve results. If you follow me on social media (especially Facebook), you know that I do a motivational quote every morning (called Deep Bacon Thoughts), and a caption contest at night. I use an app and post a motivational quote that aligns with events in my life or the world at large. People often like those, but occasionally they strike a nerve with some people. Sometimes it's the funny bone (with a quippy reply), while others disagree with the sentiment. My goal is never to tell people what to think, but I will reply back with insight or the purpose of posting.
"Give 100% of Yourself... 100% of the Time... Expect Nothing in Return... and Watch What Happens!" - Al Ritter
I know this sounds counterintuitive and conflicts with my point about researching people to limit the Connect and Pitches. It does not mean becoming a sucker or being willy-nilly with your time. It means, when you make a commitment, do so with consistency, and purpose. In this episode, we will discuss how consistency is the key to success.
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits"
Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here
You have undoubtedly heard the saying that "You can't teach an old dog, new tricks?" It is true that younger minds are more open to new concepts and more pliable. But that does not mean that older minds have to be ridged. As a matter of fact, minds are amazing things. The more you stimulate them, the more they change. It's never too late to grow yourself. While many people may stop learning because they feel they are so set in their ways, you don't have or need to. You are never too old to pick up a guitar and join a band, learn email marketing, or cook the "Best Burger Ever.' Now I am excited to learn how to make the Best Chicken and Best Pork Chops Ever (and so much more that I have never tried before.) One final thought... It was not just the grill or I that succeeded. It was the system. If you hear somebody say that they have perfected something and you can too, be wary of the fact that their skills, learning styles, and life lessons may not be the same as yours. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ― Henry Ford In this episode, we will discuss how lifelong learning is a prerequisite to succes.
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Stan is a Forbes Contributor, TEDx Speaker, IBM Futurist, Certified Speaking Professional, and best-selling author of the Goldfish Series. He is an Instructor for the ANA School of Marketing and Rutgers Business School.
A show-and-tell speaker, Stan empowers audiences to take action that delivers bottom-line impact. He strives to change the paradigm of marketing by encouraging audiences to focus on experiences as the ultimate competitive differentiator. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results. A masterful storyteller who quickly connects with audiences, Stan has delivered keynotes and workshops for Fortune 100 brands including IBM, Target, and more. He works directly with you to customize content that matches your audience and your goals to create a memorable and meaningful experience every time. Count on Stan to show up early, arrive prepared, and disrupt the all-work-and-no-play methodology with his sharp wit and trademark showmanship. He makes it his mission to exceed expectations and inspire audiences in ways they just can’t help but talk about — and won’t soon forget. Find Stan’s keynotes and workshops at StanPhelpsSpeaks.com.
Learn More About Stan - Click Here
Sitcoms and dramas often have two or three storylines that follow their own formulas, but then meet at the end to form a cohesive plot or storyline. But, if one of those threads ventures off to fat from the other, the show as a whole can becoming become confusing and disjointed. I've mentioned Home Depot a few times over the last few blogs. I have placed a handful of orders for different things. At first, I thought that the process has been consistent, but a couple of the last ones broke from the formula has become confusing and disjointed. What I have come to realize is that Home Depot online stocks some things. While other products (like a grill) are drop-shipped for a vendor or manufacturer, While others ((like closet organizers or blinds) and done through other subcontractors and vendors. Each has its own ecosystem and ultimately has different communication methods. That may be profitable for them, but it's confusing and inefficient for their customers. It made me realize that we may have that in our businesses. In order to build confidence and consistency, every method of communication should be universal. In other words, if you are like my business, clients communicate the way that they like to communicate, so I have to manage multiple systems. I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better. I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself. - Elon Musk In this episode, we will discuss how your customer service is your brand, and how you can avoid becoming confusing and disjointed!
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Neil is a Certified Business Performance Advisor with Insperity. He is an HR professional for small businesses, specializing in employee engagement, loyalty, and retention. His business services include recruiting, hiring, onboarding, payroll, benefits, training and development, performance reviews, performance management, risk and liability management. Graduated in 2011 with two Bachelor's degrees in Physics and Economics, from Illinois State University. Neil resides in Elgin, IL with his wife and two daughters at 4 and 1 years of age.
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Have you ever eaten an "Impossible Burger"? They do a pretty good job of making plants taste like meat, but why do they call it Impossible? Because meat has heme. Heme is the molecule that gives blood its red color and helps carry oxygen in living organisms. Unlike other plant-based burgers and meats, it was thought to be impossible to make it look and taste like real meat. So no matter your carnivore or vegan status, you could be fooled that the burger you are eating is meat. in business, we have all been fed a lot of "Impossible" meals. You often see ads or hear sales pitches that promise results that should satisfy our business sales hunger. It's not a lie if it only works for some businesses. It's a half-truth. We have all been fed these meals when it comes to sales and marketing. Today I want to explore some of those "Impossible" half-truths that often hamper our success when marketing our businesses online. These include:
Cookie Cutter Competition Your Website Is A Bro (sure) Traffic Trumps Trust Ads Add Profits Social Media Sells
Spending End Of Year Budgets - Many corporate clients have annual budgets. When I worked in corporate, we had to spend the rest of our budget before the end of the year. If we did not use it all, it often would lower our budget in the coming year. Do your clients have money that has to be spent before the year ends? New Year Positioning - New years mean new beginnings. Often businesses like to promote new products or services to kick off a new year. Does anything you provide clients offer them a way to help position them as new or innovative to start out a new year?
So how can you maximize your opportunities to stay top of mind and help your clients achieve their end-of-year or end-of-quarter goals? You can nudge them along by providing them with marketing that promotes ideas while reminding them of the time crunch.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Winston Churchill
In this episode, we will discuss how to avoid falling for those sales & marketing half-truths. It's not "Impossible" to tase success for yourself!
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Xenia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Planable, a content review and marketing collaboration platform used by over 5,000 teams behind brands such as Hyundai, Christian Louboutin, Viber, and United Nations. Prior to launching Planable, at 20 y.o. she built a digital marketing agency and led social for clients such as Coca-Cola. Xenia has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and she spoke on the Innovation Stage at Cannes Lions in 2018. Xenia graduated Tim Draper's startup academy in Silicon Valley and took Planable through the Techstars London accelerator in 2017. She has also published a book – The Manifesto on Content Marketing Teams, and has launched her own podcast – People of Marketing.
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We just crossed the autumnal equinox. In layman's terms - Summer is over (at least on the calendar.) Summer from a personal level is one of the most active times of the year. We have longer days and better weather. Chances are you spend almost more time outside and take more days off than at any other time of the year (unless you live in the hot and humid zones). When it comes to business, chances are your customers are doing the same. At least in my business, September is when business starts to rev back up again, and by October, it's in full throttle as we lean into the holiday season and end of the year. it's a good idea to start planning how you can market to milestones that your customer may be facing in the next three months.
End of Years Sales Numbers - The first three quarters are over and the last quarter can make or break a year. Sales require inventory, distribution, and execution. Does your product or service directly support your client end of year sales? Spending End Of Year Budgets - Many corporate clients have annual budgets. When I worked in corporate, we had to spend the rest of our budget before the end of the year. If we did not use it all, it often would lower our budget in the coming year. Do your clients have money that has to be spent before the year ends? New Year Positioning - New years mean new beginnings. Often businesses like to promote new products or services to kick off a new year. Does anything you provide clients offer them a way to help position them as new or innovative to start out a new year?
So how can you maximize your opportunities to stay top of mind and help your clients achieve their end-of-year or end-of-quarter goals? You can nudge them along by providing them with marketing that promotes ideas while reminding them of the time crunch.
"Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress." - Charles Kettering
In this episode, we will discuss how to use your new or existing content marketing to help nudge your clients and props[ects to doing more end-of-year business with you!
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Lou Bortone is known as The Video Godfather. We’re not exactly sure why and, frankly, we’re a little afraid to ask. What we do know is that Lou Bortone has been a pioneer and thought leader in the video space since the launch of YouTube in 2005. He’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs and companies create and leverage online video to build their brands and dramatically grow their revenues.
Prior to his industry leading work in online video marketing, Lou spent over 20 years as a marketing executive in the television and entertainment industries, including stints as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television and Senior Vice President of Marketing for Fox Family Worldwide in Los Angeles.
Lou is a popular speaker, author, and ghostwriter of six business books. He’s also the author of“Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video.” You can learn more about Lou at LouBortone.com.
Yesterday, I when to the Digital Summit in Raleigh, where I helped out with the AMA Triangle booth (American Marketing Association - Raleigh chapter). It was a great day filled with meeting new people, and I found some time to catch a few partial sessions. One of the sessions talked about your brand and asked the question, "Has your Brand Voice evolved with your ever-changing business?" Many business people are in search of a simple answer to complex problems. Although it can be simple sometimes, I have found that complex problems often have complex solutions. In other words, it can be a series or system of simple solutions bundled together to solve complex problems. So how do you explain that so people get how your solution is simple for them and solves their complex problems? I suggest you do three things.
Use Empathy - If you can help your reader, listener, or watcher feel like you understand their problem, then you become an ally versus an adversary (just trying to sell them another failed solution.) Use Simplicity & Brevity - If you can boil down the complex to a simple concept people feel like the solution is easy! Use Your Own Voice - DEmpathy, simplicity, and brevity need for you to have "been there, done that." That means that you have personal experience with their problem.
Do you remember the TV show "Name That Tune"? People could guess a song based on clues and only a few notes (often 1-3.)
"That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs
In this episode, we will discuss how to evolve your brand voice to adapt to the ever-changing business environment, and name that tune in 1 note!
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Brian Searcy is the President of The Paratus Group. His vision for The Paratus Group is to “Redefine How Safety is Learned” to make Schools, Churches and the Workplace and our Communities as safe as possible. His unique experience and expertise, with the help of The Paratus Group Team, have revolutionized how situational awareness is trained and learned allowing the opportunity for every single member of our communities, the true first responders, to be “Prepared to Survive”. Following a decorated senior leadership career in the USAF as a commander and combat veteran, Brian transitioned into executive roles as a business entrepreneur, writer, publisher and public speaker. He co-founded The Paratus Group in 2019 with the objective of using his decades-tested and proven leadership and training experience to solve a need for relevant, effective, trustworthy principles, training methodologies and programs to allow for the learning of situational awareness. The situational awareness mindset and behaviors that are developed allows critical decisions to be made in the the complex dynamics of the home, schools, the workplace and our communities to make us all safer.
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When it comes to exceeding expectations, you have to first set them, then exceed them. If you set expectations too high, you can often disappoint. If you set them too low, people tend to misinterpret them. Finding that middle ground, and exceeding expectations require someone who believes in your capabilities, and is overjoyed with the results. So how can we use these examples to help us exceed expectations with our businesses and our customers?
Set Realistic Deadlines – It's easier to underpromise and overdeliver than it is to make excuses and soothe frayed nerves. Over Communicate – Regular updates (even scheduled ones) help manage expectations. Deliver Quality – IF you are more worried about the check than the results, you will miss the Mark!
“Surround yourself with the best people and then get out of their way. Give them a chance to exceed your expectations and they usually will.” — Anne Sweeney
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Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has guided the creation of "people solutions" for 100s of companies while guiding the creation of three millionaires and countless 6-figure income professionals. During the past 29 years, she has become an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, author, and keynote speaker. Her newest book, "Hire Amazing Employees: How to Increase Retention, Revenues, and Results!" guides small businesses, family businesses, and hiring managers to improve their hiring decisions.
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It's been over 22 years since we built and bought our last home. Over that time, technology was whizzing along while our home and appliances lived in the early years of the 20th century. This was pre... Amazon, Google, Facebook, iPhone and so much more. Change is hard and wonderful at the same time. There is so much new to learn and discover, but it can be irritating to try to get your coffee warmed up without consulting a book. You have to be patient and just slog through it. One appliance, function, and manual at a time. I have talked about assembling furniture for my office. Some of the instructions had text so small, that I had to take pictures with my cell phone camera and blow them up to read what it was telling me to do. Others had a page-by-page, step-by-step system that included numbered bags of parts needed for each phase of the construction. I had to deal with a mix of manufacturers and their instruction manuals. When it comes to your business, do you have instructions that you give your customers or clients? I am rethinking how I disburse instructions to them. How can I make what I do repetitively, be more like that office furniture that had the step-by-step pictures and parts in a corresponding numbered pack? In this episode, I discuss how you can help your customers by creating instructions to tasks you have them do and hopefully ones that make it an easy step-by-step approach!
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Colton led the development of the Interview & Interrogation (I&I) training for the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) which is recognized as breaking the mold for interviewing training and bringing science into the art of interviewing. This was done in conjunction with the U.S. Intelligence Community but transfers perfectly into cutting-edge training and fact-finding systems for almost any organization. While with the HIG, Colton taught the HIG I&I courses to thousands of members of the U.S. Intelligence Community as well as developing training programs for some of the U.S.’s premier law enforcement agencies and many of our foreign partners. Through his 22 year career as an FBI Special Agent, Colton conducted thousands of interviews and led a variety of specialty teams in high-pressure, high-stakes settings domestically and internationally, including in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. Colton brings a wealth of knowledge and experience relating to counterterrorism, counterintelligence, criminal matters, and the business world to every group he works with. Colton is passionate about interviewing and about using the most recent science to work with your teams to help them become the absolute best they can be at their craft. Colton is a certified coach and brings a coaching ethos to working with your teams to fulfill their best potential. Colton has an M.A. from the University of Chicago and undergraduate degree from University of California, Davis. Contact Colton at https://www.pyxisacademy.com/
There are many benefits to creating and maintaining a virtual workforce. There is also one big drawback. You have no one in your office to help you carry and assemble office furniture. No matter how small the piece of furniture, accessory, or even wall hanging, you have to follow the directions and allocate the time to do it right, and/or correct the mistakes along the way. I have to admit I was jealous that the home furniture was delivered whole, assembled, and moved into place by a crew. My office furniture had to be assembled. Granted, the TV stand cost as much as all the desks and additional storage (four pieces). But it took 10 minutes to install and another hour to get the tech working. The office took over 20 hours just to get ready to start getting the technology in place and working. In your business, are you doing it all yourself to save money, or because that is all you can get delivered? Sometimes, it is worth more to have the done-for-you service. This will give you more time to focus on yourself and your business. Too often we look for a cost-effective solution, but the cheap comes out expensive (especially with time). PLUS... just put one nail or screw in wrong, and that low-cost option shows it's just pressed board, with fake wood laminate. In this episode, I how you need to weigh the cost of goods and services versus the cost of your time!!
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Dan McPherson, International Speaker, Business and Personal Development Coach, and CEO of Leaders Must Lead, is on a mission to help Creatives and Entrepreneurs create and grow profit and understand that Dreams ARE Real. With more than 25 years of experience in corporate roles leading teams of up to 2000 and responsible for more than $150M in revenue, Dan is a recognized expert in leadership, sales, and business strategy. Through his Dreams ARE Real Podcast, Foundations of Success Training, and powerful 1-1 coaching, Dan helps entrepreneurs around the world from musicians and artists to chiropractors, coaches, retailers, and beyond experience success and accomplish their goals.
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I have been told that people who have almost died have a new perspective on life. Once you almost lose your life, you stop taking life (especially getting up each day) for granted. I begin each new day with a routine. I post a positive quote (Called ‘Deep Bacon Thoughts )' on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It's my way of sharing my appreciation with my friends and followers for being there for me. It encourages me as well. The other day I posted a quote that said “No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch.” It's all about stringing together a series of wins... one step at a time! So how are you stinging together wins in your life and business? Just remember... "No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch." That starts by putting one foot in front of the other to keep moving forward. Even if you hit a bump in the road (or Greenway) that causes you to take one step forward and two steps back, keep trying to string together those wins! It's the line that powers your life, business, and lights up all the world to see! “Imagination has a great deal to do with winning.” – Mike Krzyzewski In this episode, I hope to inspire you with a string of wins. It's all about putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward!
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Blanca Cobb is an internationally recognized body language expert who’s been featured on national television shows such as the Steve Harvey Show, TODAY Show, Megyn Kelly TODAY, Dr. Oz, Dr. Drew, CNN, Face the Truth, The Doctors to a name a few as well as publications around the world such as Cosmopolitan, Us Weekly, Elite Daily, Business Insider, Elle, Daily Mail among others. Blanca shares her expertise weekly on a CBS affiliate, WFMY News 2, in North Carolina. When it comes to corporate America, Blanca’s in the relationship business. Her approach to sales is the relationship dynamics between sales professionals and their clients. It’s what isn’t said, but seen that can either drive or stall the sales process. Don’t let the small screen of the virtual world fool you, nonverbal communication is equally important on video calls and on camera when you’re making videos to promote yourself, your products, services and company. Fun fact about Blanca: She created a national holiday, “National Body Language Day” that’s celebrated the first Friday of every October.
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I was a control freak, and would normally work 12 to 16 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week to do it all myself. I was successful at it, but at a cost. That cost was having a life. As I walked Layla (my dog) and ran on the Greenway by our apartment in North Carolina, I saw this one red straw sitting on the pavement, day after day after day! Surely it had to bother them as much as it did for me? But alas, it just sat there for almost four weeks. The bottom line is that if you want a change, you have to take personal responsibility for the activity, decision, and process. When it came to my control freak ways, I thought people would respect my work ethic and results, but in the end, It really did not matter what others thought. I was holding myself back and it took an outsider (my coach) to get my life back in sync and shock me into reality and rhythm again. Now I can see that we all need a device (like my Apple Watch) that tells you when you have an issue and to take personal responsibility. “Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.” – John Lennon In this episode, I will discuss how life events can help teach you how to become more successful, but sometimes, you need a little outside perspective.
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Chuck Hester is a nationally renowned LinkedIn trainer and speaker who helps clients get the most out of LinkedIn. He also teaches others how to communicate effectively both in their personal life and career. Chuck has addressed audiences throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Australia. He has created and presented online courses for Content Marketing Institute and been a guest on more than 50 podcasts. He is also the host of Conversations with Chuck Hester, a weekly podcast live on LinkedIn.
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One thing I can assure you about marketing your business is that it's a neverending treadmill of change. When it comes to website technology, there is not a lot of earth-shaking change happening. WordPress is still the #1 platform for building dynamic websites. Google is still the #1 search engine, and the cell phone is still about 1/2 of the traffic viewing a website. Depending if you are B2b or B2c that can change, but not so dramatically that you have to change everything. In the case of consumer websites, e-commerce is king. Their websites have to make finding, saving, and buying items the most important function that a website can provide. In the business-to-business space, it's different. More often than not, your end goal is human-to-human interaction. That means, you want to create as many opportunities to capture, names, have people fill out forms, and maybe even just email or call your company or individuals within it. I think a modern B2b website needs to hit the viewer over the head with a problem-solution model that gets the visitor to say “Hey? That's Me!” And then as quickly as possible, get them to initiate contact. Anything viewed as a sales pitch will be met with hesitation at best, and a click away from your website at worst. I believe that you have to identify their problem, tell them they are not alone, and get them to take action. The goal should be to have the deeper dive be on the phone or a Zoom call and not simply reading more website copy. “Perhaps all human interaction is about wanting and getting.” – David Mitchell In this episode, I will discuss how websites have pretty much remained the same, but how people are using them has evolved... It's time for websites, content, and navigation to catch up!
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Frank Agin (http://frankagin.com) is president of AmSpirit Business Connection, an organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful through networking. He is also the host of the Networking Rx podcast, a weekly short-form podcast with insights and interviews related to better business relationships. And he narrates the Networking Rx Minute, a micro podcast with daily ideas and inspiration. Finally, Frank is the author of several books, including Foundational Networking: Creating Know, Like & Trust For A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success.
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I love my morning walks with my dog, Layla. Especially here in North Carolina. She gets to sniff, do her business, meet other dogs and people, and have the occasional stare-down battle with bunnies along the way. I get some exercise and inspiration. I have talked before about how I use Blinkist (15-minute Cliffs Notes audio versions of books). I usually get to listen to three full books per walk. I get inspired, not only by new ideas for business, bet even the topics for my blogs and podcasts. This is no exception. The one thing I have learned about walking a dog is that it's their time and not yours. You have to let them sniff, run, and explore within reason. I have found that I am less anxious when I have information that feeds me while I let Layla be a dog. We both get what we want, and she and I are both satisfied and content in the end. Connecting your customers and prospects with your sales team is kind of the same thing. They both get what they want and generally on their own terms. Both end up being satisfied and content in the end. “Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.” – Earl Wilson In this episode, I will discuss how people strive to innovate, but often forget that human-to-human interaction is the key to increasing sales. Sometimes, technology alone is just not enough to increase sales.
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Hi. I’m Warren Whitlock. My mission is to help brands improve the results of their digital marketing. I started creating content for marketing when “new media” meant we could combine multiple slide projectors for a presentation. By the time I went online in 1981, I’d learned to push for better technology whenever it allowed us to achieve our objectives. Throughout my career, I have created new strategies to use influence and persuasion to help people get what they want. I set hard sales goals and measured performance but never forget that people hate to be sold, but love to buy. I have been an entrepreneur in the computer, publishing, and media, I look for collaborations where brands can share resources, extend their reach and give customers an experience they will want to share with others. I am currently partnering with IBM Futurists and a few brands and startups along with keynotes where I can engage executives transforming their organizations for an abundant future. Contact Warren at: http://WarrenWhitlock.com Warren Whitlock is an advisor, best-selling author, digital marketing influencer and Alchemist. He helps businesses grow exponentially by defining a brand strategy framed to tell a business's story to customers who will come with a desire to buy exactly what you sell.
You may (or may not agree with the statement of concept... Marketing & Advertising are different. Advertising is about creating brand awareness. Marketing is about human interaction, behavior, and relationships. If you are a fan of my content, you know I love acronyms and this is no exception. The L-O-V-E I am talking about here today is about showing interest, patience, and consistency in getting to know your clients or prospects and their level of desire to solve their business problems, either today or in the future. Learning to Listen, Observe, Validate, and Evolve, will help you nurture the business relationship much more productively and profitably in the long run. It is much better than most sales training that promotes Listing (features and benefits), Objections (and overcoming them), Value (pushing your strengths), and Execute (closing the sale). "Go show your customers and prospects some L-O-V-E!" In this episode, I will discuss consumer and business-to-business advertising and marketing differ, and how you can show your customers and prospects a little L-O-V-E.
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Marla Tabaka is an internationally known small business strategist, national radio show host, and leading Inc.com author. Her integrative approach to coaching combines mindset management and strategic planning, resulting in multi-million dollar businesses for many of her small business clients. After a career of 22-years as an Emmy Award-winning producer at NBC Television, Tabaka worked as a creative consultant for large and mid-sized corporations, established and sold a retail business, and then founded her business coaching practice in 2003. Early in her coaching career, she achieved the status of a leading coach with the American Express sponsored “Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence” program where she led dozens of female business owners to successful 7 and 8 figure business results. In 2015 she co-founded EmpruV Business Value Builders with ABC’s Shark Tank’s original Shark and founder of As Seen on TV, Kevin Harrington. The two co-host the nationally broadcasted Big Pitch Radio Show and Tabaka holds an Advisory Board position at the award-winning DRTV consultancy, Shark Finds with Kevin Harrington. In addition to her articles at Inc.com, you’ll find Tabaka’s work featured in major business publications such as American Express Open, Fox Business News, TIME Business, NAWBO SmartBrief, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and The Business Intelligence Report.
Michelle Filicicchia’s primary focus is helping leaders and employees achieve high-performance and measurable results that encompass engagement, productivity, well-trained individuals and effective teams. Michelle brings a vigorous customer-focused approach with client engagements. She is accomplished with diverse and multi-cultural audiences and is a certified Personified Leadership facilitator. Michelle’s body of work spans the following practice areas: Instructional Design, Facilitation, Executive Coaching and Performance Consulting
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The brain loves to store and process sequences. We tend to rank success by the probability that a sequence will end in a positive or negative result. This is due to our limbic brains and the fight or flight response.
A person standing against a wall has a better chance of survival than a person in an open field when it comes to defending himself against a Saber-Tooth Tiger. If a door has a push sign on it, there is a 999:1 chance that if you push on the door it will open. If you cold call 1000 random businesses, you have a 999:1 chance that it will go to voicemail, just ring forever, or you will be hung up on (before you can hang up with them.)
There really is no way to just bypass the normal course of B2b business to make a sale. Even if you do, the chances of that becoming a long and established business relationship are small. Think of yourself as that Saber-Tooth Tiger who just caught its prey. All is well until a bigger and stronger tiger wrestles that lunch away for itself and you are left hungry, searching for your next meal. It will be much harder for that lone tiger to take the meal when you are surrounded by friends (people at the company where you have established long-term relationships and a history of success). “No one cares what YOU want, they only care about themselves.” ― Art Sobczak In this episode, I will discuss how people are trying to sell me what I don't want or need and how their tactics will not yield positive results for my, or your B2b business!
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Hank is an author, speaker, podcast host and Sr. Manager of Client Solutions at iContact, a Ziff Davis company. With a passion for all things digital and social, combined with more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing, he has been dubbed the Digital Marketing Infotainer because he makes marketing fun and successful.
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Everything has new technology. Washing machines don't have agitators (I guess they are less angry now), fridges have Bluetooth (who talks to it?), and mattresses have memory foam (I am not sure I want my mattress to remember what I do while sleeping?). I have a lot to learn. and I am asking local friends and acquaintances for recommendations. Our closing date (which we were told was September/October) is now set for August 16th! Luckily, almost everything we looked at and want has no supply chain issues and 6 weeks is enough lead time. The major point I wanted to get across, is that quality customer service still matters. If you are selling B2b, it's all about relationships, experience, knowledge, empathy, and communication. I can and want to strive to be like (salespeople) Dan, Melanie, and Linda. They understood that information and education are golden and that spending the time to explain the hows, whys, and what ifs of new technological advances can benefit our lives and our new home! “Sometimes what is in front of you and what you are seeing isn’t really so. It can, in fact, be quite deceptive.” ― Ella Frank In this episode, I will talk about shopping and Holiday Sales don't always lead to the best fit and the best value. Also how that philosophy can apply to your B2b sales organization!
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Bill is skilled in Sales, Data Center, Management, Business Development, and Marketing. - More Coming Soon
Learn More About Bill and Confluence LLC - CLICK HERE
I have had more than one person question, "Why would you leave an area, where you have 22 or 40 years of connections to start over?".I have asked myself that question a few times. The only answer I could give was, "It was time!" The key thing I am looking for is to find the connectors who can help me find places to plug in and prove my value before I start looking under rocks for new business. In the B2b world, networking relationships can take years to bear fruit. I have to bear in mind that I have plenty of time to forge ahead into the abyss and abundance of new and unknown relationships. We have all heard the analogy of the cobbler whose kids have holes in their shoes. As an author, speaker, and relationship marketer, I have to act as if I'm somebody outside myself, watching me practice what I preach. That can be really hard with all the excitement of NEW... New places, New people, and New things (like food) to experience. "Self-awareness is the ability to take an honest look at your life without any attachment to it being right or wrong, good or bad." - Debbie Ford In this episode, I will talk about how I am experiencing things through a new set of eyes, and how I need to introduce myself through a new set of "I"s!
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DC Glenn was born in Chicago, Illinois, and Steve Gibson was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Both moved to Denver, Colorado, as young children. They met at Manual High School in 1982, where both pursued their musical interests. Gibson played drums in the jazz band and attended audio engineering classes at an early college education program, while Glenn sang as a tenor in Manual High School's Bolt Vibrations Chorus. In August 1992, Tag Team recorded "Whoomp! (There It Is)". At that time, Glenn was working as the main DJ at a gentlemen's club in Atlanta called Magic City which would later become recognized as a hub of Atlanta Hip-Hop and rap music. Glenn played the track in the club on the same day it was mixed. "Whoomp!" received the biggest crowd response he had ever seen as a DJ. In the following months, people requested it so often that it became clear the song had the potential to become a hit. The single was shopped to and rejected by multiple record labels because executives were unfamiliar with Southern Bass and were unsure if the sound would sell well around the country. Glenn instead borrowed $2,500 from his parents to press 800 records. The singles quickly sold out in Atlanta on word of mouth alone. Tag Team got back together and performed at the San Francisco 49ers Halftime Show, Super Bowl Live by Verizon Wireless, and the 2019 Hammer House Party Tour. Tag Team's role in the popularization of Atlanta's version of Miami bass, Southern bass, contributed to the rise of Atlanta as a home for unique alternatives to the established "East Coast/West Coast" hip-hop identities. Around the end of 2020, Tag Team appeared in a GEICO commercial parodying "Whoomp!" with an ice cream scenario and the substituted lyric "Scoop!". Watch The Video
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Do you know that Rolling Stones song? “You Can't Always Get What You Want?” It goes on to say, “But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.” I think that “Want” is a term that talks about the future. I WANT (desire to obtain) a cool new computer and desk in our new home in North Carolina. But since we have to live in an apartment for 3 months, I NEED a desk and my old computer stuff to work and conduct business. In the website business game, there are two types of traffic. Paid (lots of traffic, but expensive and many headaches) or Earning it (getting people to follow your Big White Truck to safety) with content you place in the road! “Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.” – Buddha In this episode, I will talk about how wants and needs can be different, especially when it comes to website (and highway) traffic!
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J V Crum III is known for his LIVE On-Camera Trainings where he creates a Breakthrough for business coaches and consultants by helping them find $50,000 or more in hidden revenues and develop steps to put it in their bank account. Named by Inc Magazine as one of the Top 13 Business Shows to listen to in 2017, JV is host of the syndicated radio show and podcast, Conscious Millionaire, and the best-selling author of “Conscious Millionaire: Grow Your Business by Making a Difference.” JV holds multiple certifications in NLP and has graduate degrees in three areas: law, business and psychology (JD, MBA, MS).
We're about to make the 1000-mile journey from our old home to a new apartment. We had to find short-term living arrangements while our new home is still being built. Our Realtor and Home Stager, both said it won't sell. "Nobody wants pianos anymore." New homes don't have formal dining rooms." "Your bedroom furniture was in style 20 years ago and it's too big." "People don't have rooms big enough for that old entertainment center." "Those old Klipsch speakers are too big for anyone or any room except yours." "Nobody needs an office desk as big and expansive as yours... computers have gotten smaller." It made us worry, that we would have to pay to donate and have hauled away. In marketing, the most common goal I see or hear is to increase sales. To achieve that, we tend to implement multi strategies concurrently that evolve with feedback loops. With larger B2b businesses, there are three key parts that have to work concurrently and evolve as we proceed. I am happy to report that everything is sold and out of the house. Imagine how if you did the same for your business, how much easier your business sales could become? It takes, time, and commitment to build KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST... but when you truly need that to become an asset in your lives. IT CAN! “The Difference Between A Successful Person And Others Is Not A Lack Of Strength, Not A Lack Of Knowledge, But Rather A Lack Of Will.” – Vince Lombardi In this episode, I will show you how social media engagement... can help translate into unexpected and unbelievable sales!
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It is generally agreed upon that entrepreneurship is the engine that drives an economy upwards and is primarily responsible for its growth.Entrepreneurs create jobs, bring better and more affordable products and services to the marketplace, resulting in greater societal health, overall wealth and a vastly improved standard of living. And, while we treasure the entrepreneur, one needs not start their own business in order to be one. One can be entrepreneurial within a company setting (often called “intrapreneurs”) and can lead from anywhere they happen to be positioned.
I think that a goal is an admirable thing to have. Maybe you have heard the saying that "A goal without a deadline, is just a dream!". I'd like to add that "A goal without a plan, is just a Goal!" We often associate having a plan to achieve a goal or goals, but I am going to inject my logic here. A plan tends to be rigid with steps, milestones, and measurables. We tend to be blind to details that are right in front of us that may compromise, or be contradictory to our goals. In marketing, the most common goal I see or hear is to increase sales. To achieve that, we tend to implement multi strategies concurrently that evolve with feedback loops. With larger B2b businesses, there are three key parts that have to work concurrently and evolve as we proceed. “Strategy is not really a solo sport - even If you're the CEO." - Max McKeown In this episode, I will define goals, plans, and strategies... and how they can help you grow sales!
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits"
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You never realize how much STUFF you have until you have to move it. We all have closets, drawers, and other hiding places that keep our stuff organized and out of sight, Simply go to any closet or dresser and lay out all the stuff on the floor and you will see what I mean. Now imagine doing that for every closet, dresser, and shelf or bin in your home or office? What do you think is easier? Could you convince 10 people to spend $1,000 per month? Or could you sell 1000 people to spend $10 a month? Most people believe that it's easier to get people to spend $10 per month, but did you notice I said convince 10 versus sell 1000? It's so much easier to maintain an authentic, profitable relationship with a smaller and more focused audience than trying to please 1000 differing personalities, situations, and needs. “But when we really delve into the reasons for why we can’t let something go, there are only two: an attachment to the past or a fear for the future.” ― Marie Kondo In this episode, I will discuss how when Less is More... 10 can be more powerful than 1000!
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits"
Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here
Most of us have fallen victim to the allure of FREE stuff. I had a freezer full of big bags and boxes of frozen food from going to Sam's Club and being a victim of the FREE sample person standing in the aisle. When you offer something FREE, you generally appeal to a person's consumer mindset. People will often seek free stuff or advice when they don't have the budget to pay for someone to complete a task for them. In Business... free is never FREE! Time is money. Keep in mind that the average CEO knows that 1 hour of their time is worth $500 for every $1,000,000 of value that they bring to their business. If you want to get their attention, then you have to provide value. "I think money is a wonderful thing because it enables you to do things. It enables you to invest in ideas that don't have a short-term payback" - Steve Jobs In this episode, I will discuss the difference between the consumer and business mindset, and the difference between FREE and INVEST!
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Dr. Jim Barry is the author of Social Content Marketing for Entrepreneurs, a textbook used in the instruction of MBA courses. He has served as Professor of Marketing at NSU since August, 2004 where he teaches courses in social media marketing, consumer behavior, and integrated marketing communication. He won the 2019 President’s Distinguished Faculty Award and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi earlier this year. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, Jim completed an MBA in Marketing at DePaul University. He then received his doctorate from NSU. Jim’s publications have appeared in many leading marketing journals primarily about social media marketing, content marketing, humor, storytelling, cross-cultural relational marketing and emerging markets. He serves on the editorial review boards of top journals like the European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. He joined NSU after a 25-year career in executive marketing positions with AT&T Bell Labs, Gould Electronics, GE Aerospace, BFGoodrich Aerospace, Rockwell Collins and two start-up firms. His primary responsibilities as a director of marketing and strategic planner included mergers and acquisitions, business development and global marketing development for high tech electronics firms. He and his wife, Claudia, reside in Delray Beach where they serve as pastors for Trinity Church International and facilitate a number of classes on biblical world views.
Read the Thought Leadership Social Marketing Research Report - CLICK HERE
Did you know that the American bee is actually digital? Yup... It's a U.S.B. So is it a conspiracy theory, or a bad dad joke? Perspective is reality in the mind of the beholder! Some people think that marketing has some secret formula that someone knows that others don't. That's why you hear that word so much in marketing. Just because something is a secret, does not mean that it's true, or that it universally applies to all. So let me tell you a secret... the secret to success is unique to you and your situation, circumstances, and definition of success. There is a song by Joe Jackson called "You can't get what you want, till you know what you want." But people often attribute an activity or a theory, or a strategy to success without defining what they actually mean by success. "The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen." - Frank Lloyd Wright In this episode, I will share The 3 B's that I use to make sure I am in complete alignment with my perfect customers!
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Vlad Calus is the co-founder @ Planable, the command center of social media collaboration for marketing teams, digital agencies, and freelancers to collaborate with their teammates & clients on the content calendar in the most visual way. Planable is used by more than 5000 brands worldwide, including Mini, BMW, Volkswagen, SkyTeam, Wendy’s and many others.
Vlad founded two non-profits at the age of 16, then dropped out of college, moved to another country with two 2 his friends, built Planable (Techstars London ’17) at 19 y.o and became an honoree Forbes 30 Under 30 at 22 y.o. And he’s been featured as a guest writer & marketer by multiple publications including Social Media Examiner, Entrepreneur, WeRSM, Freshdesk, Subsign, Digital Agency Network and many others.
What do my best clients have in common? That question can be answered by looking at the Pareto Principle. 80% of my best clients come from referrals. and 80% of my income comes from 20% of all my clients. So 80% of the income comes from my best clients who were all referrals. Each one of those people who referred me was not a recently past client, but people with who I invested tin o build the Know, Like, & Trust. It took time, and often years, to get to the point where they felt comfortable enough to put their reputation on the line to give my name to those best clients. "Our rewards in life will always be in exact proportion to the amount of consideration we show toward others." --Earl Nightingale In this episode, I will share how questions my clients asked me lately... can wall be answered with three simple words - Know, Like, & Trust!
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Founder of Crystal for the past 4 years, a personality platform that offers free assessments and industry-leading psychometric predictions.
Focused on helping people communicate effectively, resolve conflict, manage stress, influence others, and make better decisions in their professional lives.
Always looking for software engineers and talented people-people to join the Crystal team. Email me if you're interested: drew@crystalknows.com
Started multiple businesses before then, including an event software company (Attend.com), a pizza box advertising agency, and a bed bug extermination company. Private pilot, songwriter, runner, and local diner aficionado.
Good professional speakers and good marketers know that the most effective way to get people to remember what you said and to take action is to KEEP IT SIMPLE! Even if you have a very complex topic, it’s easier to digest in smaller chunks of three.
We all tend to store information in our brains less like a computer, and more like a sequence of things.
There have been many famous threes in our lives. Think of the Three Musketeers, Three Little Pigs, Three Act Plays, Cheaper, Better, Faster (pick two), Three Strikes, and the Trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Ghost.)
Three is a prime number, but more importantly, it’s easy for our minds to process, and remember. We often can remember three points, three steps, or three easy pieces. Even our existence as humans is built around threes…
- Time: Past, Present, and Future
- Consciousness: Mind, Body, Soul,’
- Work: “Blood, Sweat, and Tears,
- Play: “Sex, and Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll.” ( I know this is the fourth… buy hey… “I’m A Musician!”)
It’s all about having deeper, relationship KNOW-LIKE-TRUST conversations with your current or past customers and prospects… “HEY? That’s another three!”
“Never use four words when three will do.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg In this episode, I will share how marketing and sales are easier to master when you use the power of three. In 3 segments of three minutes, I will teach you three core concepts.
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Good professional speakers and good marketers know that the most effective way to get people to remember what you said and to take action is to KEEP IT SIMPLE! Even if you have a very complex topic, it's easier to digest in smaller chunks of three. We all tend to store information in our brains less like a computer, and more like a sequence of things. There have been many famous threes in our lives. Think of the Three Musketeers, Three Little Pigs, Three Act Plays, Cheaper, Better, Faster (pick two), Three Strikes, and the Trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Ghost.) Three is a prime number, but more importantly, it's easy for our minds to process, and remember. We often can remember three points, three steps, or three easy pieces. Even our existence as humans is built around threes...
Time: Past, Present, and Future Consciousness: Mind, Body, Soul,’ Work: “Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Play: "Sex, and Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll." ( I know this is the fourth... buy hey... "I'm A Musician!")
It's all about having deeper, relationship KNOW-LIKE-TRUST conversations with your current or past customers and prospects… “HEY? That's another three!” "Never use four words when three will do." - Ruth Bader Ginsburg In this episode, I will share how marketing and sales are easier to master when you use the power of three. In 3 segments of three minutes, I will teach you three core concepts.
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Brent Keltner, Ph.D. is the author of the April 2022 book The Revenue Acceleration Playbook: Creating an Authentic Buyer Journey Across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success published by Page Two Books and distributed by Macmillan. He is the founder and President of Winalytics LLC, a go-to-market and revenue acceleration consultancy. Winalytics helps clients reach their top growth potential by shifting from a product-driven to a value-driven go-to-market strategy by aligning sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams around buyer-defined value.
Learn More About Brent's Book - Click Here
Brent Keltner, Ph.D. is the author of the April 2022 book The Revenue Acceleration Playbook: Creating an Authentic Buyer Journey Across Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success published by Page Two Books and distributed by Macmillan. He is the founder and President of Winalytics LLC, a go-to-market and revenue acceleration consultancy. Winalytics helps clients reach their top growth potential by shifting from a product-driven to a value-driven go-to-market strategy by aligning sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams around buyer-defined value.
Learn More About Brent's Book - Click Here
I hate the process of making sales soI hired a sales coach to help me overcome my fears. I was filled with the guilt of asking people for money. Also, I lacked the self-confidence to ask what my hourly time was really worth to my clients so I always underpriced and undersold what I was doing for my clients.
No amount of marketing can make a sale if the sales process is broken. Similarly, sales need to be supported by a cohesive marketing story throughout the buyer’s journey. both have to be aligned for sales to grow and gain more of those “certificates of appreciation”.
I have to say that my greatest sales success was convincing my wife to sell our house and build a new house in another state.
“Powerful and sustained change requires constant communication, not only throughout the rollout but after the major elements of the plan are in place. The more kinds of communication employed, the more effective they are.” – DeAnne Aguirre In this episode, I will share how marketing and sales are intertwined in a dance, and how the buyer’s journey can lead you to a soft landing and repeat business.
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I hate the process of making sales soI hired a sales coach to help me overcome my fears. I was filled with the guilt of asking people for money. Also, I lacked the self-confidence to ask what my hourly time was really worth to my clients so I always underpriced and undersold what I was doing for my clients. No amount of marketing can make a sale if the sales process is broken. Similarly, sales need to be supported by a cohesive marketing story throughout the buyer's journey. both have to be aligned for sales to grow and gain more of those "certificates of appreciation". I have to say that my greatest sales success was convincing my wife to sell our house and build a new house in another state. "Powerful and sustained change requires constant communication, not only throughout the rollout but after the major elements of the plan are in place. The more kinds of communication employed, the more effective they are." – DeAnne Aguirre In this episode, I will share how marketing and sales are intertwined in a dance, and how the buyer's journey can lead you to a soft landing and repeat business.
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British author, piano player, international racing driver, and business coach Jonny Cooper is the founder of www.JonnyHatesMarketing.com Since growing a business to 8-figures and exiting, Jonny’s been supporting coaches, trainers, therapists, and consultants who are serious about building their thriving practice, changing the world, and enjoying a life of effortless abundance. His Client Attraction Blueprint programme is filled with eager students every month and he’s closing in on his mission to impact the lives of 1,000,000 professionals by 2025. Jonny’s Three Pillars of Effortless Marketing provides a template for universal success and growth to any aspiring coaches and therapists, and he’s passionate about increasing the average income across the profession. He’s also the voice behind the legendary Jonny Hates Marketing Facebook Group. Also, he really, really does hate marketing.
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I don't want to get all religious on you. As a matter of fact, I have often studied the science of religions, tribes, politics, and many facets of how and why we adopt belief systems that shape our lives. I was asked by my friend and podcast guest Ben Thomas if I wanted to be a musician in the band for the Easter service at church. Since this would probably be our last Easter in Chicago, it was a resounding yes. I have been playing guitar and singing in worship bands since 1997. This was my 25th year and, somehow I felt that timing was not just random. Before we started rehearsal we all stood in a circle and had a chance to tell stories of what we were doing since the last time we all played live together (over 3 years ago.) When it was my turn, I told everyone we were moving and this was prompted by 3 signs from God that told me it was time to move. First was the story of 2019 when I almost died from Sepsis. The second was the 2020 disruption and changes of the almost 40-month plague. The Third was August 25 at 9 pm CDT. That was the day our house was struck by lightning. You may see three very disconnected events, but it was clear to me that these were related... "DAMN? Is God trying to send me a message?" "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” - Socrates In this episode, I will share with you the lessons I learned from those 3 major events and how they can help guide you through dealing with change and disruption.
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Tim Ash is an acknowledged authority on evolutionary psychology and digital marketing. He is a sought-after international keynote speaker, executive marketing advisor, and the bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain and Landing Page Optimization. Tim has been mentioned by Forbes as a Top-10 Online Marketing Expert, and by Entrepreneur Magazine as an Online Marketing Influencer To Watch. For nineteen years he was the co-founder and CEO of SiteTuners – a digital optimization agency. Tim helped to create over 1.2 billion dollars in value for companies like Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Facebook, American Express, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Intuit, Humana, Siemens, and Cisco.
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Last week I had the pleasure and honor of being a paid speaker at a live conference. It was the first one I was able to do in the last 3 years. When you are presenting to an audience (as a paid speaker) you have two people that you have to serve. The conference organizer (customer number one), and each person in the audience (customer number two through to the total number of attendees.) When you are presenting to an audience (as a paid speaker) you have two people that you have to serve. The conference organizer (customer number one), and each person in the audience (customer number two through to the total number of attendees.) It's not much different than what I do for my business customers. I have to make the company I work for look good and make them relatable to their customers. Then secondly, I have to generate interest and understand the perspective of their clients. You may think that if you only make your client happy your job is done, but real results from marketing come from making their audience happy. “If you don't know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will.” – Harvey Diamond. In this episode, I will show you how I used scheduling, networking, and some extra work to meet or exceed the expectations of the conference organizer... and their audience... at the same time!
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Mike has more than 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and his ability to understand and connect with an audience is the hallmark of his career. The approach he shares is what taught him how to understand an audience and deliver his message in a way they will not forget. Mike spent 13 years in the agency world as a client services specialist before joining Hasbro Toys and Games on the global marketing team, where he developed marketing and retail programs for brands like Transformers, Tonka Trucks, and Jurassic World. In 2015, he became the face of the Hasbro Gaming franchise, with the charge to establish the personality, attitude, and style of the Hasbro Gaming portfolio by creating a message the audience won’t soon forget. Mike has engaged his practice with audiences in the US, Hong Kong, India, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK, and every one of these audiences remembers him for not just what he says, but how he connects with them. After over 20 years of real-world experience, Mike is thrilled to share his experience with you, and to show you how to get your audience to say… “TELL ME MORE!”
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It's been a long journey to get ready to sell a house and buy another. I have been in the Chicagoland area for almost 50 years. Over that period I have moved at least a dozen times. But, you never really move far for your network. You know what grocery stores have what. You know what restaurants have great food. You have friends that may be miles away but are always ready to meet halfway to have a beer or a meal. But when you move to a different state, it's a whole new ballgame. Most B2b sales are VERY relational. It usually involves your company or even your job. People have to really get to know, like, and trust each other to want to bet on a big purchase that could change the course of their business. That means you have to invest more than just money... you have to invest time to really get to know a person, their company, and their solution. “Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.” — Lee Iacocca In this episode, I will discuss different types of networking including free and paid for local networking, business associations, and masterminds.
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Henry founded Kaskov Valuations, Inc. (KVi) with the mission of providing the right business valuation and financial consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses. Since 2008, he has gained extensive experience performing business valuations for succession and transition planning, mergers & acquisitions, estate and gift tax planning and reporting, ESOPs, marital and corporate dissolution and disputes, commercial economic damages and general financial consulting for clients across the U.S. and around the world. Henry has been designated as an expert witness for dozens of litigation matters related to shareholder and partner disputes, divorce, breach of contract, intellectual property theft and infringement, and other legal matters. He has extensive experience and expertise in preparing objective and defensible opinions of lost business value, lost profits, lost royalty benefits, and other economic damages. Additionally, Henry has extensive experience performing financial and forensic analysis, economic and industry research, market compensation studies, fairness opinions, royalty rate and licensing analysis for intellectual property, patents, brands, logos and trademarks, and complex financial modeling.
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I don't know if you have access to Apple TV+, but if you have not watched the movie "Coda", I can highly recommend it. Coda is a movie about a deaf family in the fishing town of Glouster Massachusetts. The youngest is a girl who can hear and finds her passion is singing, while she is the voice who signs (American Sign Language) for her family when people are speaking. She is channeling speaking to her deaf family and visa-versa. When it comes to marketing, channels are often thought of as platforms. Platforms are like all of those streaming services. They are channels that people watch. Most are free, but a few people pay for it monthly. Just like we watch TV and movies on Apple TV+, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, people are watching their email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, Google, and more for content to educate and inform them. "That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs In this episode, I will discuss how segmenting your content and creating industry-specific channels can figuratively NOT fall on deaf ears.
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Andrea knows that great businesses are built on strong teams. That's why she founded AHA! Recruiting Experts, a company dedicated to helping leaders attract and retain the best people for their companies so they can focus solely on what really matters--growing their business. Andrea is a businesswoman with over three decades of experience. She's managed hundreds of employees and knows first-hand the everyday challenges of motivating a team, exceeding customer expectations, and meeting business and revenue goals. As a business owner, she struggled with high turnover and lack of good candidates. After some research into hiring best practices from around the world - including a lot of trial and error - she perfected a hiring process that gets results. Now Andrea is using her experience to help companies recruit, hire, and onboard new team members successfully without wasting time or money on poor hires that don't work out. Andrea is passionate about her work and enjoys helping others achieve their goals. About Her Book Do you have the right team? Are you scaling your business? Hiring is the single most important decision you'll make in your business. Andrea Hoffer's new book, Hire Higher, contains a guide that will help ensure that it pays off and brings new opportunities with it - but only if done right! Get ready for Hire Higher, where she shares her years of experience helping businesses find great employees now or down the line. The ebook is free on Amazon until Friday if you want to grab a copy.
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They say, “Good things come in threes!” But who are ‘They' and what's good about them? Here are just a few…
Primary Colors Branches of Government Stooges
I could go on for days, but good things in business also come in threes…
The Marketing Trifecta The C-Level Superteam Your Brain
In order for your business to achieve, grow, and scale, you can't achieve real success by adding, or changing marketing alone. If that was the case, I probably would not need to show companies how? I would be enjoying a massage, on my private yacht, parked next to my private island in the Caribean. I wish… so let's get back to reality! "Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." – Thomas Edison In this episode, I will discuss how the combo of sales, marketing, and analytics along with sales, marketing, and accounting create two power threes to speed up your success!
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Steve Hoffman (Captain Hoff) is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, a global innovation hub for entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Hoffman is also a venture investor, founder of three venture-backed and two bootstrapped startups, and author of several award-winning books. These include “Make Elephants Fly” (Hachette), “Surviving a Startup” (HarperCollins), and “The Five Forces” (BenBella). In addition, Hoffman served on the Board of Governors of the New Media Council, was the founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, and was a founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group.
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In business, people are often looking for that one guy or company with superpowers to solve their critical issues. They are looking for Superman (or Superwoman) when what they really need is the Justice League. The Justice League is brought together to solve big problems and combines the superpowers of multiple men and women to keep the world safe. It's what I have found working with business. Marketing alone cannot solve business and sales issues. It takes a concerted effort of a cohesive team of superheroes. You may already have parts of your Justice League on staff or in place, but I will explore this further in another post about how to turn on your Bat Signal, and call them to action. Each has its own superpowers, but when you combine them, they will give you the best chance to scale and grow your business. “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Superman In this episode, I will discuss why finding a Superman (or Superwoman) is great... but forming a Justice League is important to business success with sales and marketing!
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Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children. Brian is also the director of the National Youth Science Camp and the licensee and lead organizer of TEDxMarshallU.
Visit Brian Kinghorn's Website
I don't know about you, but the past two years have been a challenge for everyone, and we are no different. It's not only made working from home more acceptable but an embraced lifestyle. People are transitioning from living to work to working to live. Now, I know this is a business blog so I won't bore you with all the details but bear with me. It's already shown me that running a business teaches you lessons that can be used to help in day-to-day life. Also, life lessons can help you run a business better. What does buying and selling a home, and running a business have in common? They both are fraught with emotional decisions. One thing is clear. Both require purpose, people, performance, product, and process to be successful. "Success in business and in life... requires purpose, people, performance, product, and process to be truly successful." In this episode, I will discuss how buying and selling a home has direct correlations with owning and running a business!
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Chris Martinez is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and the Founder of DUDE Agency, a company specializing in helping digital marketing agencies with their people, processes, and education so they can take on more projects and scale profitably. An entrepreneur from a young age, Chris has been running his digital agency since 2015. Discovering the advantages of hiring web design and development professionals in Tijuana, Mexico, he quickly scaled and then started to help other agency owners grow at previously unimaginable rates. Today, DUDE works with digital agencies all over the US and Canada, providing them the perfect outsourcing solution for digital agencies. Having earned his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of California, Chris dedicated his career to creating new technology jobs in Latin America and Asia. Passionate about creating win-win scenarios, Chris’ company helps digital agencies to scale through his unique process of hiring and selecting talent as they provide staff with cutting edge skills to agencies based in the US and Canada. In 2021, DUDE won a Gold Stevie Award from the American Business Association for Minority-Owned Business of the Year and a Silver Stevie Award for Most-Innovative Companies Under 100 Employees. Chris is also a sought-after speaker who spoke at events such as the prestigious Traffic and Conversion Summit in 2021. Passionate about giving back, for the last nine years, Chris has been mentoring a young man who lost his mom to breast cancer at age thirteen. A talented soccer player and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, Chris works toward excellence, philanthropy and balance in all aspects of his life. Originally from Torrence, California, today Chris lives in Tijuana, Mexico with his wife and two dogs. "People Stay or Leave... Because of Leadership"
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Past Bacon Podcast Guest Ryan Weiss, gave a presentation and workshop last week to a larger audience. The constant them and the biggest takeaway was that your processes have to align your purpose, people, and processes to achieve success. All three of them are intertwined in a way that has to work for you, your employees or contractors, and your clients or prospects. Marketing has always been a function to drive sales, but there is a difference between business-to-business and consumer marketing. Consumers don't need or want a relationship with toilet paper, furniture, or their cars. Although you do see more and more people speaking in their cars than ever before? I would love to hear some of the conversations, but I wouldn't want to get that personal with a motor, wires, and aluminum! "Just as your car runs smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals and values are in balance." – Brian Traceyt In this episode, I will discuss how process, people, & purpose helps to engage your sales team to have more and better sales conversations!
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Tiffany Prince, founder of Prince Performance LLC, is experienced in providing coaching, workshops and consulting around leadership, performance, change management and building high-performing teams for leaders at all levels of organizations that are facing challenges due to technology transformations, skill gaps within employees, globalization and building inclusive workplaces. Tiffany obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in Global Business Management, from Pepperdine University. She has served in multiple board member roles for the Association of Talent Development (ATD) including the President of the Metro DC Chapter, VP of Membership of ATD Chicagoland and recently served as a National Advisor for Chapters for ATD. She is serving on the Business Intelligence Council of Chief Learning Officer. She is the author of, “Top of the Mountain Leadership- The Future of Performance and Productivity in a Technology Changing World”. "People Stay or Leave... Because of Leadership"
Learn More About Tiffanys' Book - Click Here
How do you people feel about your CRM? Is it a Bankers' Box in the basement, or is it a loved and actively used tool? CRMs are often thought of as managing data, but in the middle of Customer & Management is RELATIONSHIP! You have humans in your sales team who are building and maintaining relationships with other humans (prospects, customers, and past customers). Relationships take time, commitment, and data. if you capture little things along the way like someone's birthday (wish them a happy birthday), favorite things (food, sports, music, hobbies), or simply what they reveal during small talk, you have data that can be retrieved and used to nurture a prospect into profit. It all begins with how you set up, train, and nurture your people and data capture systems to maximize relationships. “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” - Marcel Proust In this episode, I will discuss how to engage your sales team to capture better data into your CRM and how that can better business relationships!
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling. "People will be propelled by Purpose over Profits"
Want to Chat with Mark? - Click Here
It's hard to believe that two years ago we went from a kind of normal to total chaos in our businesses. We were mostly all chugging along, filled with hope for a new year, and BOOM. One thing has become clear. The change was becoming a constant accelerating fact of life. Some of us (a small few) were prepared, some were adaptive, and some just crumbled under the pressure. During the flurry of change, one thing became undeniably clear. People needed to feel valued, heard, and comforted. Business and sports have often been referred to as battles and wars. British political philosopher Herbert Spence often talked about "survival of the fittest" and a battle between the "haves" and "have nots." A soldiers' motivation to enlist is not as much about a desire to kill, as it is about a need to belong. Your staff are people first and workers second. They have all been transformed by the recent events, and desire to belong, but that is fed by their search for a greater purpose. That is where empathy comes in. "Empathy is the ability to sense other people's emotions, and the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling." In this episode I will discuss how empathy with your sales team can model that behavior with you customers to creat longer and better business relationships!
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Mark S. Babbitt is President of WorqIQ, a community and change management consultancy that helps organizations understand leadership's impact on culture and the company's collective level of Workplace Intelligence (WQ). Mark is also CEO and Founder of YouTern. This career-focused community enables college students, recent graduates, and young professionals to find their first or next internship or job with the right organizational culture for them.
Mark co-authored A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive and is co-author of the upcoming (September 28, 2021 | Matt Holt and BenBella Books) Good Comes First: How Today's Leaders Create an Uncompromising Company Culture That Doesn't Suck. Followers also find Mark's advice in Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, and many other publications. An in-demand speaker, Mark was named one of Inc. Magazines' Top 100 Leadership Speakers. S. Chris Edmonds helps leaders create and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He is a speaker, author, and executive consultant who is the founder of The Purposeful Culture Group. He's one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Top Leadership Speakers and was a featured presenter at South by Southwest 2015. Chris is the author of the Amazon best seller The Culture Engine and is co-author of the upcoming title, Good Comes First. Chris' blog, podcasts, and videos are at DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com. Chris’ short, rich Culture Leadership Charge video episodes can be found on YouTube.
Learn more about Mark & Chris and their Book - Click Here
Mark S. Babbitt is President of WorqIQ, a community and change management consultancy that helps organizations understand leadershipâs impact on culture and the companyâs collective level of Workplace Intelligence (WQ).
Mark is also CEO and Founder of YouTern. This career-focused community enables college students, recent graduates, and young professionals to find their first or next internship or job with the right organizational culture for them.
Mark co-authored A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive and is co-author of the upcoming (September 28, 2021 | Matt Holt and BenBella Books) Good Comes First: How Todayâs Leaders Create an Uncompromising Company Culture That Doesnât Suck.
Followers also find Markâs advice in Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, and many other publications. An in-demand speaker, Mark was named one of Inc. Magazinesâ Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
S. Chris Edmonds helps leaders create and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He is a speaker, author, and executive consultant who is the founder of The Purposeful Culture Group. Heâs one of Inc. Magazineâs 100 Top Leadership Speakers and was a featured presenter at South by Southwest 2015.
Chris is the author of the Amazon best seller The Culture Engine and is co-author of the upcoming title, Good Comes First. Chrisâ blog, podcasts, and videos are at DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com. Chrisâ short, rich Culture Leadership Charge video episodes can be found on YouTube.
Learn more about Mark & Chris and their Book - Click Here
Of the many distractions, we have in our business lives, I am guessing that social media is not one that you would rate as useful. Believe me, I get it. With over 100 emails a day, phone calls, and app notifications, LinkedIn is the social media network for business, but add to that, the people who think it's a shooting gallery for leads with automation, spammy connections, and just blatant content that is a veiled sales pitch (and not even done well), and you have a mess. How can you stand out for all of the noise And get people to want to pay attention to your messages? In this episode, I will discuss how creating a LinkedIn Newsletter can help Turbo-Charge your Marketing & Sales R.A.C.E.!
Relative Awareness content & Consistency... builds Engagement (R.A.C.E.)
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With the proper knowledge and coaching combined with an inspiring vision, I believe anyone -- person, team or organization -- can dramatically improve their performance. I help companies understand the art-of-the-possible to sell more products and services, to more customers, more often, and with greater profitability. I do this by leveraging digital, big data and analytics to create future-proofed experiences and offers that integrate the business and IT. My passion is to build the compelling brands, offers and integrated operating models including digital cores that deliver more human-centric, engaging and efficient customer and employee experiences. I’ve worked with global leadership teams as an operating line executive and as a strategy consultant. I have led teams that have implemented global digital transformations, developed a new first-in-kind 800-store retail chain in the UK called Sainsbury's Local, created the strategy for UBS to become the number one wealth management brand in the world, and identified new product opportunities in apparel and beverages. I also have made plenty of mistakes: my goal is for others to benefit from the lessons I have learned. My career also includes creating and sharing thought-leadership in numerous publications (e.g., Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Property 360, Pharma Executive, AdAge) and global conferences (e.g., keynote speaker at IBM Think, Nielsen Consumer360, The Economist Marketing Summit, World Bank IFC Leadership Summits, corporate meetings). In 360 feedback co-workers consistently note my bold thinking, exceptional teamwork, deep commitment to coaching and mentoring, extensive business knowledge, and energetic leadership. I have an MBA from Harvard.
Learn more about Tom's YouTube Channel - Click Here
Your story and unique answers to your client's questions are the basic fuel to your sales engine. That engine needs a fuel pump and a turbo boost… Let me explain. A well-designed eBook also fuels your marketing system. Ebooks can be broken into asset parts that will navigate people back to your website, which will turbo boost your business. Each part or chapter can create more awareness by becoming a new and consistently familiar part of your marketing communications system. Can you imagine what happens when your salespeople connect with your current and past clients? In this episode, I will discuss how to utilize your sales team's connections to Turbo-Charge your Marketing & Sales R.A.C.E.!
Combine consistent content creation and distribution on social media and email with a complete data capture and follow-up sales system. You now have a foundation that helps turn:
Relevance into Relationships
Awareness into Authority
Consistency into Commitment
Engagement into Execution
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Ryan Weiss is a Christian, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, and Friend to many. He is passionate about engaging with business leaders who are interested in influencing the world in a positive way and has over 20 years of success leading teams, programs, and operations to drive business results and profitability. He is an accomplished executive leader with an entrepreneurial spirit backed by a proven ability to deliver superior business results across industries, with a strong appreciation for diverse cultures gained through extensive international work experience in more than 20 countries. He has held a variety of positions as a global executive with a large consumer product and industrial adhesive company and includes a wide variety of functions, including technical, business development, continuous improvement, and two expat assignments. He has worked directly with customers in both manufacturing and service industries, including Chemicals, Finance, Technology, Packaging, Food, Diapers, Branding, Graphic Design, and Landscaping. Ryan has also spent time managing large-scale operations for major multinational organizations. He has trained thousands of people globally in continuous improvement, while keenly observing processes, cultures, and behaviors.This broad experience has allowed him to establish a common set of themes that work across all organizations!
Learn more about Ryan & His Book - Click Here
The average person will give you 8 seconds (the attention span of a goldfish) of online attention before moving on or taking action. (Time.com) So, every interaction you can create with them on social media, email, in-person, Zoom meetings, or phone calls, should be as relevant and targeted as possible. A GREAT marketing system integrates driving traffic back to your website, capturing data, and then using that data to create new content to compel them to continue to engage with your story and your sales team. It’s not as simple as creating an eBook and sending it via email. The cocktail sauce (or fish food) is creating a system behind your eBook to get your audience to re-engage with your story while attracting new prospects to take action and join in on the conversations. Relationships are the Currency of Business In this episode, I will discuss how to optimize action when people visit your website and how to get them to visit more often! People who visit your website Have the attention span of a Goldfish (8 Seconds)
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Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
What we all want are more sales. The simple truth is… If you can make it easier for your sales team to be successful, you and your business will thrive! What became crystal clear throughout all of the recent chaos was that human interaction and relationships can be fragile, and have become more important than ever before. Relationship Marketing builds upon the long-term success of your business. By maintaining connections and having conversations with your current and past customers, you easily create more opportunities for your sales team. It’s simply more profitable than shorter-term goals like customer acquisition and one-time sales. The purpose of Relationship Marketing is to create strong, and often emotional connections between your clients and prospects, and your staff and salespeople (and ultimately with your company and brand.) Relationships are the Currency of Business In this episode, I will discuss how Relationship Marketing, and nurturing prospects, can help you navigate the current choppy business waters. Are you trying to generate new leads... Or are you nurturing prospects who already know you?
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Umar Hameed is an expert in changing individual behavior and improving team dynamics. He uses techniques and tools from the world of Applied Neuroscience and NLP to make individuals and organizations more successful. Umar helps sales professionals break through their limitations so they do an extra 20 transactions this year. I help team leaders become better leaders so they help their team members become more driven and tenacious. This is what sets Umar apart from other sales consultants and trainers: * Over 40+ years of experience as a successful business and sales consultant * Over 25+ years experience in changing human behavior using Neuroscience, NLP and Hypnosis * International Keynote speaker at conferences in 16 countries
Learn More About Umar's Services - Click Here
Over the last few years, we have all faced unprecedented challenges. We’ve all been rocked by things out of our control, like a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, remote work, supply chain shortages, and more. Then, take into account that our customers probably faced those same issues as well, and we all had a recipe for disaster looking back at us. Some marketing and sales gurus were preying on fear by promoting that they had secret access to the EASY Button which will generate more sales. Companies were hoping that their bright shiny object would entrance leads to only pay attention to their business. Then, needy customers would beg, and pay anything for YOU to solve THEIR problems. Don’t you wish it was that simple? In this episode, I will debunk some myths, and hopefully, help you avoid what I call B.S.O.S. (Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.). What did the successful businesses do differently to prosper during those challenges?
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Luis Help Businesses Engage Prospects And Build An Army Of Loyal Customers Using Automated systems that increase engagement and create a constant flood of sales. Engage with your Leads, Increase Sales Conversions and Manage your Leads Effectively. At Sales Studios, we have a proven structured system to drive your audience to view your offers. A system that strengthens branding and positioning as we provide you with a custom strategy along with a set of strong follow-ups that will continue to nurture your leads while providing them with a unique and personalized experience. This translates to more engagement and therefore more sales. We use a combination of multiple touchpoints to get leads and customers engaged, creating a feeling of omnipresence when communicating with them. For that, we combine emails, SMS, ringless voicemail and Facebook custom audience (ads). This is the ultimate way to get your leads attention and get them to take immediate action.
Learn More About Luis's Services - Click Here
Thought Leadership Marketing or Branding as Concept I don't know about you, but I think the hardest thing to do as a marketer is to market myself and my own business. When it comes to doing it for yourself, it's a little bit more of a challenge. It's kind of hard to see the forest from the trees or, kind of like the cobbler whose kids have holes in their shoes. I decided to create an ebook about doing eBooks. What I started out to do was create something that could explain the system that I've been using for my clients. It is intended to give people the opportunity to read about it, but also to experience it. In this episode, I will share my journey to create an ebook to show how your story and sharing it via a system, can help your increase awareness and your sales. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. - Author: Margaret Fuller
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Thought Leadership Marketing or Branding as Concept I don't know about you, but I think the hardest thing to do as a marketer is to market myself and my own business. When it comes to doing it for yourself, it's a little bit more of a challenge. It's kind of hard to see the forest from the trees or, kind of like the cobbler whose kids have holes in their shoes. I decided to create an ebook about doing eBooks. What I started out to do was create something that could explain the system that I've been using for my clients. It is intended to give people the opportunity to read about it, but also to experience it. In this episode, I will share my journey to create an ebook to show how your story and sharing it via a system, can help your increase awareness and your sales. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. - Author: Margaret Fuller
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Bogdan Rosu created and taught the world's first Personal Development through Martial Arts program for 6 years. In that time he helped hundreds of individuals unlock the power of their mindset, become more confident, and achieve more success. Today he works with high-performing entrepreneurs and helps them unlock their inner leader and live from a state of true happiness and peace which allows them to consistently achieve the impossible.
Learn More About Bogdan's Podcast - Click Here
Happy New Year! It's that time of the year where we think about making changes. What's on your list... joining a gym, dieting, quitting something? The New Year is just a milestone, but it is a good time (between holidays) to clean stuff up, and remove clutter in your business life! But before you start adding things, now is a great time to think about subtraction. Think about cutting some stuff out before adding some new things like:
Online groups? Email Lists? Subscriptions?
This episode will explore some ideas I have used to remove some things to make room for more success in the coming year! So knowledge grows by subtraction much more than by addition - given that what we know today might turn out to be wrong but what we know to be wrong cannot turn out to be right, at least not easily. - Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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Lisa has over 20 years of experience as a transformational leader, award-winning speaker, and expert in the fields of human behavior, leadership, and personal development. She also trained in the “Winners Mindset” with Bob Reese, the former head trainer for the NY Jets, and helped a professional golfer win Golfer of the Year! Lisa was V.P. of Business Development for an innovative start-up company using virtual reality to help clients with pain reduction, memory loss, and stress reduction. As a Certified Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), she helps entrepreneurs and high performers from where they are to where they want to be much faster than conventional coaches. Lisa is also trained as a Why Coach, helping people discover their Why, based on Simon Sinek’s, “Know Your Why”. Lisa not only helps individuals discover their Why, but she also helps people discover the Why of their business and how to use it in your branding.
Learn More About Lisa and Her Business - Click Here
It's that time of the year when we tend to look back and plan ahead. But you may want to stop and be mindful of the moment and find Joy!
What brings you joy in your business? Can you make your workspace more joy-filled? Are your current clients bringing you joy? Can you do something joyful in your personal life that can help bring joy to your work life?
This episode will explore some ideas I have used to bring joy to my life... and I hope it can bring some joy to yours! Yesterday is history Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it 'The Present' – Eleanor Roosevelt
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Writer Jennifer Capler - The DM Woman Life & Leadership | Empowering Effective Leaders | Leadership Researcher & Speaker | Published Researcher & Author | Doctor of Management | Certified NLP Master Coach & Trainer
Photographer John Tulipano - JLT Photography Helping business professionals, create professional images, through quality photographic services
Audio Brian Basilico - B2b Interactive Marketing HEY B2b Businesses - Bridge the Gap between your Marketing & Sales - Relationship Marketing is what is working to SPARK SALES Growth with EXPLOSIVE Content that POWERS your Brand and DRIVES your Sales ENGINE!
Video Andrew Schones - Both/And Pictures Storyteller--Video Producer--Photographer--Founder of Both/And Pictures
Social Media Svetlana Lane - Amadeus Virtual Solutions Expert VA® ♦︎ Websites, Branding, and Social Media Management for Authors, Bloggers, Coaches, and Musicians ♦︎ "Your Virtual Stage Manager" ♦︎ svetlana@amadeusvirtual.com
Data Brenda Christopher - Excel Your Business Creative Solutionist & Strategy Consultant | I help identify blind spots in your business & streamline your operations
Recently, we watched this documentary film where acclaimed French artist JR confronts prejudice and uplifts communities through larger-than-life art. He uses photography, and prints large murals and pastes them on buildings and landscapes. His art is stunning and visionary We are painting our home after 20 years. Our contractor John Monaghan is an artist. He paints over the old Faux paint, sees the flaws in the walls, patches them, paints the patch, and then finishes the 2nd coat. I said to him... "Did you know you are an artist? Your medium is a monochrome color, and your canvas is drywall, wood, and more!" He said, "I never really thought about it that way, but you are RIGHT!" Based on that conversation, I have started to understand that when I work with my contractors or myself to create content, I could look at each as them as a form of ART creation:
Print & Text Graphics & Photography Audio Video Social Media Data
This episode will explore how to view even the most simple communication method as a form of art creation... You ARE an artist!!
Content = Art? How are you using your creativity to paint like an artist... to get your messages seen, heard, consumed, and measured?
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Author and International Speaker, Ridgely Goldsborough, believes in solving problems and taking complex topics, and making sense out of them. He started his first business at 16 and since graduating from Law School has founded 45 companies. Ridgely is the founder of Mind Types and The Customer Conversion Formula, a cutting program to attract ideal clients using brain biology and limbic messaging. He has written 19 books, hosted his own television show, and created dozens of online programs on success and prosperity. He is a frequent speaker at top internet marketing conferences, a facilitator for high-level CEO masterminds, and is devoted to helping others reach their highest potential.
Learn More About Ridgely And His Free Offer - Click Here
I don't know about you, but I feel like I have to use the FORCE to fight off the number of people who reach out cold, asking me if I could use more leads? I find it ironic that they don't know me enough to reach out and get to know me, yet they think they can know who a good lead would be like for me and my company? I view leads as cold calls and who has time for that? I prefer prospects, where we have something in common and have a real reason to have a conversation. It's all about the RACE acronym I mentioned in a previous podcast and blog.
R - Relevancy A - Awareness C - Consistency E - Engagement
This episode will explore the difference between leads and prospects, and how you can create a system around getting to know each other and having real conversations about common goals!
Leads = Cold Calls? Prospects = Conversations! Those are people who engage with your business with a purpose... and are way less work than chasing leads!
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Mike has more than 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and his ability to understand and connect with an audience is the hallmark of his career. The approach he shares is what taught him how to understand an audience and deliver his message in a way they will not forget. Mike spent 13 years in the agency world as a client services specialist before joining Hasbro Toys and Games on the global marketing team, where he developed marketing and retail programs for brands like Transformers, Tonka Trucks, and Jurassic World. In 2015, he became the face of the Hasbro Gaming franchise, with the charge to establish the personality, attitude, and style of the Hasbro Gaming portfolio by creating a message the audience won’t soon forget. Mike has engaged his practice with audiences in the US, Hong Kong, India, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK, and every one of these audiences remembers him for not just what he says, but how he connects with them. After over 20 years of real-world experience, Mike is thrilled to share his experience with you, and to show you how to get your audience to say… “TELL ME MORE!”
Learn More About Mike And His Company - Click Here
I learned a lesson while teaching LinkedIn to a companies sales team. I could teach tools, tactics, and tips, but I could not help them to look past the process to create progress. That was up to the sales manager, who had to create accountability for them all. What I didn't realize at the time is that we had to run two separate races for marketing and sales...
Relevance leads to Relationships Authority leads to Authenticity Consistency leads to Commitment Engagement leads to Execution
As you start to build a bridge between marketing and sales, you have to make sure you keep leveling up with your marketing by:
Consistent Content Delivery Compelling Content Delivery Contextual Content Delivery
This episode will explore how you can will the sales RACE by learning to use your marketing to build quality business relationships that start with awareness and create conversations!
Marketing and sales need to be intertwined! How could your business benefit by creating conversations with your TRIBE?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
It's that time of year again to give thanks and send holiday gifts and cards. The problem is, when we do that in social media or email, our sincerity gets diluted by every other person or company doing the same thing at the same time. What would happen if you had a system to do that helped you reach out to only 10 people at a time every day? That is what my 10-10-10 system is about. All you have to do is identify your top 150 connections for the current month (your TRIBE), and reach out to 10 of them per workday. That gives your top connections one touch per month which will keep you and your business top of mind by:
Sending them a personalized message Communicating the way they like to be communicated to Giving your sincere regards and time to do more if they ask for it
This episode will teach you the 10 most powerful words in business, besides Thank You!
Relationships are key to success in business! How could your business benefit by being more accessible to your TRIBE?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
I recently did something I have not done in over 5 years. I hopped on a plane and went to Raleigh North Carolina to meet a bunch of people I have not yet met in person. The last few years have been filled with new connections online and through Zoom, but face-to-face meetings have been rare. It's one thing to meet online, but it often takes Know, Like, & Trust to a new level when you meet in person. Most people have networks of close connections (your TRIBE) of around 150 people. Each of them probably knows 10 people (over 1,500 total) who can help you and visa versa. From there, you can amplify your reach to over 15,000 people (again amplifying by 10) simply by:
Exploring your TRIBE's connections Ask who they want to meet and reciprocate Encourage your team to connect with current and past customers online
This episode will explore How your 150 closest contacts can help amplify your messages to over 15,000 people which can create Relationship Marketing success!
Have you maximized your network? Learn how building Know, Like, & Trust through Relationships can create success!
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
The Law Offices of Jacqueline Lentini, LLC is certified by the State of Illinois Central Management Services as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE), a part of the diversity compliance opportunities within the State. For more information, please see Diversity Compliance: https://www2.illinois.gov/cms/business/sell2/bep/Pages/default.aspx. Jacqueline Lentini focuses her practice on immigration law and compliance, handling all matters of employment-based immigration case management, including Labor Certification (PERM), H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, L-1 Blanket, E-1/E-2, TN, B-1, J-1 and I-140 (EB-1, EB-2, EB-3). She counsels clients on consular processing and Client Adjustment interviews, and has filed Adjustment of Status applications, including Advance Parole and Employment Authorization. Previously, Ms. Lentini gained extensive experience in immigration matters with other Chicago area law firms. Prior to that, she was an Immigration Specialist for World Relief, for which she obtained Board of Immigration Appeals accreditation, filed VAWA petitions, Adjustment of Status and Citizenship applications, and maintains continued involvement at World Relief sponsored Naturalization workshops. Prior to her law degree, Ms. Lentini was employed by the University of Houston and Purdue University as a F-1 and J-1 Student Counselor serving thousands of international students. She possesses over twenty-three years of combined experience with immigration issues as both an attorney and foreign student advisor. She enjoys working with universities, faculty, staff, and students and has over half a dozen public and private Midwestern university clients she serves on an ongoing basis. Ms. Lentini is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”), the Illinois State Bar Association (“ISBA”), and the Kane County Bar Association’s Immigration Committee. Ms. Lentini currently serves on the AILA Customs and Border Patrol Liaison Committee (2018-2021), served on the Midwest Regional Conference Planning Committee (2016-2018), and AILA’s National Long Distance Learning Committee (2014-2016). She is a contributing author to the Illinois Chamber Employee Handbook on an ongoing basis. Previously, she was on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Immigration and International Law Committee from 2002-2003. She writes many immigration related law articles in local bar journals and speaks regularly to audiences regarding immigration issues in a variety of industries, including universities, entrepreneurs and manufacturing companies. Ms. Lentini obtained her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, earned a Master of Arts in Italian Studies from Brown University, and a B.A. in International Relations cum laude from Boston University. She is fluent in Italian.
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It was not too long ago that we had to get in our cars and go to store-to-store to find what we needed and the best deal. Amazon now does that for you and delivers it in a day or two. Since we are consumers at heart, we all tend to have a consumer bias when it comes to marketing, but B2b sales and marketing are different altogether. It takes an understanding and perspective that matches what our clients and prospects need to make informed and profitable business decisions I have had multiple customers come to me and ask how they could use consumer tactics with a B2b audience, but I tried to guide them down a better path for success. B2b Marketing for better sales is NOT:
For Easy Lead Generation For Shameless Self Promotion For Ecommerce Amplification
This episode will explore some client journeys about how their consumer bias in marketing led them to miss some of the tactics they should have used to get bigger and better B2b sales results!
With AI, biased data will produce biased outcomes. With B2b marketing, we sometimes get in the way of our own success!
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Jeff Ward has covered Illinois politics as a journalist for 11 years. He knows how to frame a message and he knows how to win a campaign.
As a prize-winning former eight-year Sun-Times suburban opinion columnist and the former six-year co-host of the well-regarded Ward & Jones Radio Show, Jeff has seen it all! He’s parlayed that experience into a successful campaign managing practice, writing a popular, insightful political blog and authoring ‘So You Wanna Win a Local Election’
Through a broad base of business, political and personal experience, Forward Communication helps public and private sector entities and individuals effectively communicate through an appropriately framed and targeted message.
Our campaign clients include Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, Elgin City Councilman Corey Dixon, Kane County Coroner candidate Tao Martinez, Geneva Alderman Richard Marks, Batavia Mayoral candidate Jason Stoops and Kane County Chairman Chris Lauzen.
Jeff’s private sector experience includes 20 years of business/database consulting for major clients like Wrigley Gum, Philips Electronics, Motorola, SBC, Morton Salt, USG and AT&T. This extensive Fortune 500 background provided Jeff with the statistical and database foundation to determine exactly who your audience or constituency really is.
After all, the best message falls completely flat if it isn’t properly targeted.
Jeff also designed, invented, manufactured and marketed the Lapinator Portable Insulated Laptop Desk which received great reviews from trusted sources like The Wall Street Journal, CNET, Gizmodo, The Gadgeteer and PC Magazine. And a campaign is nothing more that “inventing” or “re-inventing” the candidate.
Jeff lives in Geneva, Illinois, with his wife, two sons and two dogs.
When I walk my dog, I am using a bunch of AI (Artificial Intelligence) from my fitness tracker to taking pictures, to posting to social, and even voice recognition. We hardly even think about AI in just about everything; our phones, vehicles, TVs, appliances, and so much more these days. It certainly makes life easier and gets things done faster, but it's not great for other things we do like Sales & Marketing AI is great at problem-solving and task management but lacks in certain key areas needed to serve and communicate with people (who we market and sell to):
Agility Leadership Creativity Empathy
This episode will explore Why today's AI may not be all we need to grow our businesses, and why people and relationships are still the keys to success!
Have you ever heard of the "Bystander at the Switch" dilemma? It's why empathy is such a challenge for AI, yet a secret tool to success!
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Dennis Yu’s mission is to create a million jobs. CEO of BlitzMetrics, a digital marketing company that partners with schools to train young adults. We offer courses, implementation, and consulting. My personal mission centers around mentorship from my experience with helping people from all walks of life grow their expertise in digital marketing, sharing his insights from managing campaigns for enterprise clients like The Golden State Warriors, Nike, and Rosetta Stone. I help digital agencies grow, serving doctors and real estate agents as fractional CTO. I'm an internationally recognized lecturer in digital marketing and have spoken over 730 times in 17 countries, spanning 5 continents. Featured in: The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, National Public Radio, TechCrunch, Fox News, CNN, CBS Evening News and co-authored “Facebook Nation” – a textbook taught in over 700 colleges and universities.
Visit Dennis's Website
When I was a kid, I remember the feeling of getting a new lunchbox. I was proud to carry my favorite superhero or cartoon character with me to the lunchroom... it was the status symbol of the time (when you were 8 years old). I was listening to a podcast and learned about Bento Boxes. They are a Japanese way of packing healthy meals where each food has its own compartment and each part of the meal stays fresh. It got me thinking about marketing and how we can compartmentalize messages in the same fashion using ebooks to deliver complex concepts (a full healthy meal) in small (easy to consume) portions. You can break down the ideas into stand-alone chapters, then deliver them in many ways:
Blogs Videos Graphics Emails Social Media
This episode will explore how you can take a complex topic and segment it into multiple portions that serve your audience a healthy meal... yet leave them wanting more!
Breaking a complex topic into digestible bites, helps your audience sample all that you have to offer!
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children. Brian is also the director of the National Youth Science Camp and the licensee and lead organizer of TEDxMarshallU.
Visit Brian Kinghorn's Website
Advertising is about awareness and getting the right people to take action when a topic resonates with them. Social Media is about having a platform that encourages engagement. Many conflate social media with advertising, which can happen, but advertising is all about creating awareness. What really matters with social media is staying top of mind to get people to have conversations with people in your business. What does your business focus on and how do you measure success?:
Advertising is about awareness Social Media is about engagement Results are about getting people to take action
In this episode, will explore how to define your results around what matters to B2b businesses, conversations and sales!
There is no "I" in team, but there is in TIME (If that's what you are selling - results matter!)
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Victoria Montgomery Brown is the co-founder and founding CEO of Big Think the knowledge company that gets people smarter, faster through the wisdom of the world's leading thinkers and do-ers. Victoria launched Big Think in 2007 and was CEO until its acquisition in late 2020. Victoria is the author of Digital Goddess, the unfiltered lessons of a female entrepreneur, " published by HarperCollins Leadership.
Learn more about Victoria & Big Think - Click Here
Did you know that elephants don't really like peanuts? In the 1990s, elephants were used in circuses and zoos that allowed people to feed them. The circuses and zoos would sell peanut bags for people to feed elephants. But, peanut-loving elephants are a myth. Elephants don't eat peanuts in the wild. They are not even part of a typical diet for captive elephants. But what's easier to remember? The number 70247, or an elephant eating peanut butter? As humans, we tend to remember visuals and stories easier than numbers, but when you think of a 747 with an 02 on the tail, it's easier to remember a number like 70247. That's what an ebook can do for your business. It can help your prospects have the memory of an elephant (not a myth) and remember you and your products and services. Ebooks are memorable because:
They use visuals to enhance the text They can organize information into digestible bites it creates a system and an asset that can help keep you top of mind
In this episode, we will examine how an ebook can be used to help you attract and stay top of mind with your perfect audience.
What do you call a peanut butter elephant on a plane? (Listen to the podcast for the answer!)
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
After co-authoring the award-winning book The Corporate Startup, Dan founded the consultancy company Outcome. At Outcome, Dan is helping large companies transform to be able to grow for the future while running their today's core businesses. In this capacity, he worked with blue-chip companies around the world, most notably John Deere, Bayer, DNB, Indonesian Telekom, and DNV. In 2020 he was featured on Thinkers50 Radar List of management thinkers to watch. Currently, Dan is writing a second book aimed at helping companies measure innovation; Innovation Accounting will be available in bookstores in September 2021.
Learn more about Dan and his Book - Click Here
When Facebook (and other social media platforms0 go down, your business can suffer if you rely on it to help spread your messages. Facebook (and other social media platforms) have come under scrutiny about how their algorithms can slant what people see to create more income through ads for them, without concern about how it affects people and society as a whole. That does not mean you should avoid it, just understand how to maximize the experience for YOUR audience. Critical Race Theory has a negative connotation and can invoke ire in audiences, but I want to discuss a different kind of Critical R.A.C.E. Theory that can actually invoke awe and inspiration with your audiences. These four concepts can help your audience know, like, and trust you and your business:
R - Relevance A - Authority C - Commitment E - Execution
This episode explores how by using the R.A.C.E. formula with your content marketing... Can WIN hearts and minds!
Is social media creating more or less interaction for you lately?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. Babbitt is President of WorqIQ, a community and change management consultancy that helps organizations understand leadership's impact on culture and the company's collective level of Workplace Intelligence (WQ). Mark is also CEO and Founder of YouTern. This career-focused community enables college students, recent graduates, and young professionals to find their first or next internship or job with the right organizational culture for them.
Mark co-authored A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive and is co-author of the upcoming (September 28, 2021 | Matt Holt and BenBella Books) Good Comes First: How Today's Leaders Create an Uncompromising Company Culture That Doesn't Suck. Followers also find Mark's advice in Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, and many other publications. An in-demand speaker, Mark was named one of Inc. Magazines' Top 100 Leadership Speakers. S. Chris Edmonds helps leaders create and sustain purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He is a speaker, author, and executive consultant who is the founder of The Purposeful Culture Group. He's one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Top Leadership Speakers and was a featured presenter at South by Southwest 2015. Chris is the author of the Amazon best seller The Culture Engine and is co-author of the upcoming title, Good Comes First. Chris' blog, podcasts, and videos are at DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com. Chris’ short, rich Culture Leadership Charge video episodes can be found on YouTube.
Learn more about Mark & Chris and their Book - Click Here
When you see everyone doing the same thing, human nature is to follow the crowd. Just because everyone is doing it, does that mean it's right for your business or your customers? Have you ever seen a kids' soccer game? All the kids follow the ball around the field until something happens. But what's the goal? In Business... the ultimate is profit. To achieve that you should work backward from that goal:
Solve Your Customers Needs And Offer More Value Nurture Existing Relationships Nurture NEW Relationships Engage Prospects Attract New Business
This episode explores how by being prepared at the goal, you will score more... and the team that scores the most points... WINS!
Are getting MORE or LESS cold calls and online people pitching you lately?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Phil Gerbyshak is a Sales trainer, a social media pioneer and a techno whiz kid who got his start delivering email by hand in the Navy.
He’s the host of the show Conversations with Phil and is the co-host of the longest running social media marketing talk show #SocialChatter with Christian Karasiewicz.
When he’s not doing live video you can find Phil training salespeople how to sell more by creating more valuable relationships with their prospects and customers by injecting the sales process with social media and technology.
When disruption strikes, businesses try to manage by finding new leads to sell to, but is that the best way to deal with it?. When disruption strikes, we tend to get bust, and if you are too busy to market, then you have a compounded problem. You have probably spent years trying to grow your client base and they are relying on you to be open, honest, and communicate the truth. Your business and their business is depending on it! You have to define the kind of leads you get and the ones you really need:
General Leads - Breathing and a Wallet Good Leads - Uses What You Sell Great Leads - Needs What You Sell Excellent Leads - Needs What You Sell NOW! Exceptional Leads - Is Recommended To Use Your Business - NOW!
This episode explores how you can use marketing to help your business weather the storm that disruption can create in your business!.
Are engaging MORE or LESS with current and past clients?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
In an upcoming expert interview, Marks S A Smith tells us that "A Ready To Sell Business is a GREAT Business". What he means is, if you increase the sales by improving the processes, your business should be more profitable and better suited for suitors. If your marketing messaging is better, it will help you attract better employees and clients. It's all bout having messaging that promotes, your culture and quality product and service offerings. The is also the added benefit of increasing sales by:
Update Your Messaging Finding Better Talent Inticing New Clients
This episode shares a few ideas on how to increase the value of your company whether or not you are considering putting your business up for sale!.
Are your SALES increasing in Value with your current marketing system?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level. Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand. With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
There is a secret in the banking industry - Savings accounts with restrictions make people save more... 80% more. There are two things that work, setting a minimum total or a set amount of time before the saver can make a withdrawal. Those are known as CDs or commitment devices. There are many reasons why companies keep searching for that magic pill that will increase sales. What eludes them is combining the three main components of a successful B2b marketing system. There is a secret formula that I have discovered that all but guarantees great ROI S=(MxR)/a, but require two key things:
Investment Patience
This episode shows you the magic formula that, when executed with those two keys, can make your savings (or any) bank account grow.
Are you seeing great INTEREST from your current marketing system?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Like most of us, David Priemer never thought he'd end up in sales! He started his career tinkering with test tubes and differential equations as an award-winning research scientist before spending the next 20 years leading top-performing sales teams at high-growth technology companies including Salesforce, where he was the Vice President of Commercial Sales and creator of the Sales Leadership Academy program. Today, as the Founder and Chief Sales Scientist of Cerebral Selling, David's unique science and empathy-based approaches to driving revenue and talent growth have been published in the Harvard Business Review as well as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. magazines. Often referred to as the "Sales Professor", David is also the author of the Bestselling book, Sell The Way You Buy, and an Adjunct Professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. David holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Atmospheric Science from York University and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto. When he's not thinking about Sales, David loves to cook, write, and spend quality family time with his wife and three daughters.
Learn More about David and His Book - Click Here
George Carlin once said, "Electricity is really just organized lightning". We think of lighting as a brilliant idea, but it's also a type of interface cable for computers? But when the kind from the sky hits your business... You may need both! Well, that happened last week and it was a direct hit on our house. Although there was no fire, there was plenty of damage to my business and its equipment! The lightning came through the cable model and toasted anything with an ethernet cable. This is a cautionary tale be being proactive, planning for disaster recovery, and reactive to a potential bigger diaster:
Backing Up Data Getting Insurance Ramping back Up For Business
This episode talks about what happened and the week-long path to get business back up and running as fast as possible.
Is your Marketing System living up to your expectations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level. Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand. With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
A lot has changed since 2001 when I started my business. Technology has been on a roll with the inventions of HDTV, camera phones, flash drives, and Bluetooth! Who could have imagined the invention of the iPod and iPhone, Kindle, and the Blackberry? Now add in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. A lot of stuff ended up in my basement. It was a graveyard of old tech and the boxes they came with. Not to mention old gear (dead and alive) and tons of tapes, and paper records... It was a mess! To start the process I have decided to play a game of T.A.G.:
T = Take With A = Allocate (Donate or Sell) G = Garbage (or Recycle)
This episode will take a trip down memory lane, while we look forward and just imagine what's next?!
Is your Marketing System living up to your expectations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level. Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand. With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
Website designer working with the new computer interface as design concept Don't you just hate all the junk mail you get ( and have to delete) every day? You never signed up for that list? You have no interest in that product or service because it has NOTHING to do with YOUR business? So why would you want to do that to others? If it does not work then why would people keep doing it? RIGHT? But do you want others to have a negative opinion about your company or brand? In the B2b world - Sales can take 3-12 months so it makes sense to employ all three types:
Advertising is is a system to create attention and awareness Marketing is a system to define brand features & benefits Relationship Marketing is a system to create sales conversations
This episode will help you better define how each of those methods and strategies can work as an ecosystem that can help you do more of what you are intending... Make More Sales!
Is your Marketing System living up to your expectations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Chris Voss has been a CEO and Serial Entrepreneur for over 31 years, building and managing a multitude of corporations in differing fields of industry. He's a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Influencer, Top Retweeted influencer by other social media influencers, Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, Photographer, Travel Blogger, Seen on Forbes, CNN, Huff Po, Alltop, etc.
I am not sure if you have ever been inside a casino, but it's noisy with lots of flashing lights. Those are usually the sights and sounds of slot machines all around you. Slots are a simple and very popular game where acasino pull of an arm (better know as One-Armed-Bandits), or the push of a button, spins the wheels inside the machine. If the symbols align in the right combination, YOU WIN. The odds are stacked against you since the casino normally takes 5-10% of every penny pumped into a machine. Businesses marketing can sometimes feel like a gamble since you often can't control the outcomes, but with a little of the right help setting up your systems, you can align:
Your Marketing Systems Your Sales Teams The Relationships Being Nurtured Through It
This episode will explore how understanding your platforms, analytics, and content can be assembled into a manageable system that can produce better and more predictable results. Turning your marketing into less of a gamble!
Is your Marketing System living up to your expectations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Founder of BusinessSuccess.com and Host of the popular Business Success Cafe, Cathy Demers is not a “wanna be” when it comes to proven business success. In fact, she co-founded a company with a tiny $10K investment and turned it into a company worth over 20 million dollars!
She's amassed over 25 years in business development, with companies such as Microsoft and IBM, she successfully took her own company public while serving as President and CEO.
Cathy is a sought-after expert and has presented keynotes and courses for organizations worldwide including the Women Presidents’ Organization, Wired Women, and Novice to Advanced Marketing Systems to name just a few.
Known for her direct, but friendly and supportive, style as well as her business savvy and her “let’s get ‘er done” approach, Cathy combines the wisdom that comes from her vast business experience with her unique talent for helping business owners get clear…stay focused…take inspired action…and get fantastic results!
Did you know that Sears started as an entrepreneur who resold a batch of watches to railroad employees? He parlayed that into one of the biggest mail-order companies in the world. It was the Amazon of its time! Joseph Pulitzer funded the building of the Statue Of Liberty through citizen donations raised through his newspaper? He raised over $100,000 (3 Million in today's money) based on the Go-Fund-Me concept! Businesses constantly try to incorporate consumer-based marketing methodologies in their B2b businesses, and wonder what they are doing wrong? Some key differences that will help you understand the differences:
Consumer Sales & Marketing Are Transactional B2b Sales & Marketing Are Relational Business Sales Cycles Are Generally 3-6 Months Consumer Sales Decisions Are Made Between 13-19 Seconds
This episode will explore some key concepts that will help you get your ars around the ideas and strategy needed to make your sales teams more successful (through B2b marketing concepts)!
What are some of your business tools and integrations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
David Garfinkel is author of "Breakthrough Copywriting" and known among insiders as "The World's Greatest Copywriting Coach." He's worked with direct-marketing-oriented business owners in dozens of industries, and is currently a copywriting consultant to the largest direct-response-driven business in America, Agora Financial. He's also host of the Copywriters Podcast, and a big fan of bacon for breakfast. David is also a podcaster with his weekly show - The Copywriter's Podcast - CLICK HERE
Check Out David's Book - "Breakthrough Copywriting" - CLICK HERE
It's enticing to find a Swiss Army Knife or suite of tools to manage our business and sales. Often we want to find an integration of a CRM, Email Marketing, Social Media, Project Manager, and more! I have taken a different approach. I have found the right single tool for my needs and find a way to integrate them so they can share and manage my data as a system. There is no perfect solution for everyone, but one thing I can tell you with confidence: If a tool does not get used or has incomplete data, it is doing you and your business NO GOOD no matter what the cost! Every Tool Needs 3 Things
A Purpose A Project & Patience
In this episode, we look at how All-In-One business software solutions often fall flat in delivering what you need to be successful!
What are some of your business tools and integrations?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Deb Krier is a LinkedIn Strategist, social media advisor, and professional speaker. For more than 10 years, she has work with professionals to optimize their use of LinkedIn. As the founder of Wise Women Communications, a full-service marketing agency, she sees LinkedIn as a vital marketing tool for professionals at any level. Throughout her career, Deb has worked with corporations and nonprofit organizations developing and maximizing their marketing and public relations efforts. But, senior executives often don’t see themselves as something that needs marketed. Drawing on her experience in working for small businesses, one of the largest corporations in the world, the nonprofit realm and as an entrepreneur, she demonstrates how LinkedIn is a strategic tool that enables everyone to improve their business, whether large or small, and create an impressive personal brand. With more than 20 years of experience, Deb has a Master’s Degree in Marketing as well as a Master’s Degree in Communication Management. She has the experience and knowledge to help busy executives make an impact with their LinkedIn Profiles.
Many people think of LinkedIn as just another social media platform. I prefer to treat it as a Relationship Marketing tool that has one goal - let my perfect customers understand why I am here and how I can help them solve their problems. I teach a LinkedIn Course called TRIBE. It is based on optimizing your 150 top connections and engaging with them on a regular basis. If you have a team (of let's say) 10 people, then if they all work for the same playbook, your messages and content can be experienced by over 1500 people every time you share. That is assuming that everyone is on board with your program. Making this system works relies on having your entire team have a cohesive presence on LinkedIn by making sure they all work on the same page with:
Professional Profiles Quality Connections Engaging Content
In this episode, we will cover a proven system behind making your business-to-business marketing MORE RELATIONAL and SUCCESSFUL!
How have you created a Relationship Marketing focus in your business?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Today, Scott is a full-on Digital Nomad, having structured his life so that he can grow his business while on a camel in Morocco, a beach in Greece, trekking around Machu Picchu or walking up a pyramid in Cancun. Video course Producer with over 150 courses produced and 415,000 enrollees. An internationally renowned speaker on Business, Reverse Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Blogging, Podcasting, Copywriting, and SEO. Working with NGOs and Non-Profits to help them get their messages out into the wider community. He is presently in Colombia with plans to be in South America for most of 2021.
Learn More About Scott And His Company - Click Here
I was talking with a neighbor while walking my dog Layla. I was trying to explain what relationship marketing is and how social media plays into the mix. He felt that social media was censoring some materials? I tried to explain to him that social networks may censor some content but most of the time it's simply filtering content to show you only what you are engaged with or interested in. Relationship Marketing is about creating a connection between your salespeople and your current, past, and prospective perfect customers. That means that someone has to create the content, someone has to share it, and someone has to monitor and engage with those who are engaging with the content. The who goal for all of this is to create conversations that ultimately lead to a sale. In order to amplify your messages, you need to have a system in place that helps your staff show up to your audience as:
Visible Resourceful Accessible
In this episode, we will cover the WHY, WHAT, and HOW behind making your business-to-business marketing MORE RELATIONAL!
How have you created a Relationship Marketing focus in your business?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Daniel Giordano works with global businesses with expertise in online lead generation, business development, and a knack for finding hidden revenue streams. But over 20 years ago, he started with no internet marketing experience, no website, no list AND his first child was on the way. Daniel was driven to success by his passion for being THAT Dad and Husband, who is engaged and involved with his family. To do this, he decided to create a business that he could run from home and choose his own hours. He applied his knowledge of acquiring leads and turning them into paying clients to build multiple successful businesses for himself and his partners. Today, leveraging his experience and knowledge of lead generation, online business systems, and personal development, Daniel assists other entrepreneurs worldwide to transform their lives and business to share their valuable messages while impacting the world. He has generated over a hundred million dollars in sales in a wide variety of industries: business/personal development, real estate, investment, credit management, product development, direct sales, and coaching. This book will give you the top 10 ways to accelerate your business. Daniel lives in South Florida with his wife, Marides, four children, a chocolate lab, a collie/beagle mix, two birds, and an assortment of strange pets.
Learn More About Daniel And His Company - Click Here
In the Post-Pandemic Pivot, companies and entrepreneurs are finding it harder to attract high-quality talent. Many people have left the workforce for the Gig Economy or the Creator Economy. Some companies are having to adapt their culture to meet the changing demand of a hybrid or totally remote workforce. In order to attract good people, you will have to learn how to market your culture to meet their needs and desires of possibility, flexibility, and purpose. You have to help them envision a future that includes working for you! There are three basic concepts that can help you position your company as a great place to build a work-life around:
Share Your Culture Celebrate Employees Embrace Innovation
In this episode, we will explore some Key Concepts that will help you market your business in a way that will help you attract the Best of the BEST!!
How have you created your own Post-Pandemic Pivot?
Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
Mike has more than 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, and his ability to understand and connect with an audience is the hallmark of his career. The approach he shares is what taught him how to understand an audience and deliver his message in a way they will not forget. Mike spent 13 years in the agency world as a client services specialist before joining Hasbro Toys and Games on the global marketing team, where he developed marketing and retail programs for brands like Transformers, Tonka Trucks, and Jurassic World. In 2015, he became the face of the Hasbro Gaming franchise, with the charge to establish the personality, attitude, and style of the Hasbro Gaming portfolio by creating a message the audience won’t soon forget. Mike has engaged his practice with audiences in the US, Hong Kong, India, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK, and every one of these audiences remembers him for not just what he says, but how he connects with them. After over 20 years of real-world experience, Mike is thrilled to share his experience with you, and to show you how to get your audience to say… “TELL ME MORE!”
Learn More About Mike And His Company - Click Here
I saw this post on Facebook the other day, and it asked a question, and it made me think. The question was, “What great advice would you tell your younger self if you could?” So, I decided to do a podcast about it, because I did ask myself that question, and here's what I came up with. There are three core things that I wanted to say.
You're Not A Superman You're Not An Island You Need To Invest In Learning
In this episode, I will share some semi-random yet organized thoughts about what I would tell myself!
What advice would you give your younger self?
Want To Invest In Yourself? - Click Here
My name is Penney Fox. I’m a Small Business Productivity Coach. If you own a small business and are wondering how to grow your customer base with social media, I can help. I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but there’s a difference between what they’ll tell you and what I’ll show you. While most social media consultants will give you all this advice from the social media experts, I’ll show you how to make that advice fit into your busy day. Even better, I’ll show you how to do it without adding hours to your workday.
Learn More About Penny and Her Creativity Box - Click Here
Back when I was playing in a band, you had to learn how to read your audience. We would choose songs based on how they reacted to previous ones:
1st Set - Songs To Set The Mood 2nd Set - Play More Of What They Liked 3rd Set - Save the Best For Last
You had to learn to adapt to the taste of the people who were in front of you. If you had a rigid set or song list, you stood the chance of losing your audience quickly (which means less money for the venue and dimmed your chances of being invited back). The same thing goes for creating content for internet marketing. It means you have to present your topic to multiple audiences and learn to gather feedback to improve it so it resonates with your perfect avatar audience. In this episode, we will explore how you can re-tool your content and what steps you should take to create a hit that converts fans into groupies!
Watch The Presentation Video - Click Here
Jill Holtz is co-founder of Mykidstime.com, an information website for parents, that has grown from a local West of Ireland listings directory to a global website, and a trusted online brand for parents. They have grown a large and engaged community through a targeted content and engagement strategy across their channels, website, email, and social media. Last year the company launched a new insights service further connecting parents with brands, called ParentsandBrands.com, running tailored insights panels on their online private platform. Jill enjoys all things digital and social, having personally overseen the growth of the MyKidsTime Facebook community (currently 590k fans) and Pinterest community (7M monthly views).
Learn More About Jill and Her Business - Click Here
There have been a lot of people associated with the terms KNOW, LIKE, & TRUST! It has been attributed to Mark Twain, Stephen Covey, and past Bacon Podcast Guests Bob Burg and Chris Brogan. But what does it mean in terms of you, your business, and your network? I a previous podcast, I mention Dunbar's number and building your TRIBE. People tend to focus way too much on prospecting and finding new customers when they have all they need to be successful in their possession already? There are some key lessons to be learned here:
KNOW - Is about making connections LIKE - Is about people who you engage with TRUST - Is about generating business
In this episode, we will explore how you can't outsource Relationships and Trust Building, but you can effectively and profitably build your business from your core TRIBE of 150 connections!
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Xenia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Planable, a content review and marketing collaboration platform used by over 5,000 teams behind brands such as Hyundai, Christian Louboutin, Viber, and United Nations. Prior to launching Planable, at 20 y.o. she built a digital marketing agency and led social for clients such as Coca-Cola. Xenia has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and she spoke on the Innovation Stage at Cannes Lions in 2018. Xenia graduated Tim Draper's startup academy in Silicon Valley and took Planable through the Techstars London accelerator in 2017. She has also published a book – The Manifesto on Content Marketing Teams, and has launched her own podcast – People of Marketing.
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What do running a business and running a 5K have in common? They both can feel like being on a treadmill, especially without having some Goals. I found some inspiration from a book I found on Blinkist by Haruki Murakami - "What I talk about When I talk about Running". Haruki went from being an owner of a jazz club in Tokyo (slowly killing himself) to a prolific and award-winning writer. He started to take his health seriously at age 35 and took up running for inspiration. Although running a race is a community event, you have to focus on your own goals and overcome your own limitations. In the sea of people at the starting line, you have no idea about the stories and goals of each individual. There are some key lessons to be learned here:
Running For Health - What goals motivate you in your business? Running For Mental Health - Do you take time to appreciate where you have been and how far you have come? Running For Networking - How does what you do in business support others? Donation? Education? Just being an ear? Running For A Cause - Giving back just feels good!
In this episode, we will explore how you can help others while achieving your own success goals!.
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Kymberli is an author, speaker, executive coach, and professional trainer. Currently, she serves as the president-elect for NSA-Austin. In addition to her love for speaking, she teaches executive transition courses for the USAF. Kymberli is an Air Force Academy graduate. She has jumped out of planes, soloed in a plane, and purchased 36 F-15E fighter jets when she was in the Air Force. In Feb. of 2020, Kymberli released her book: I Need To Know You: How to Meet Ordinary, Extraordinary People and Improve Your Life, which is about a challenge she took to meet 100 people in 100 days. Kymberli is still in touch with 67 of those individuals 2 years later and now speaks on relationship building, which is key in our professional and personal lives. Kymberli has been blessed with the opportunity to have lived in so many wonderful places as far north and east as Maine, as far south as Texas, and also as far west as Hawaii and Okinawa, Japan. She has had the privilege to have met wonderful people everywhere and understands the importance and power of building solid-mutually beneficial relationships. What if the next person crossing your path today is the exact person you need to know tomorrow? Truth is we need each other. We were not created to live life alone. So why does it often seem so difficult to connect? In social and professional settings, Kymberli has always felt the need to make friends. Frequently she’s contemplated the question, “How do I form new yet meaningful relationships?” Kymberli has discovered the key to accomplishing this challenge. While completing a challenge to meet 100 people in 100 days, Kymberli learned how to be intentional about meeting and connecting with people, and her life has never been the same. I Need To Know You gives practical and applicable tips and “how-to” examples that will help you improve your personal and professional connections. It’s time to get started cultivating the relationships that will enrich your future. As you read this book, you will learn the fundamentals of growing your network at any time, keys to networking and relationship building, techniques for having exceptional and memorable conversations, approaches for uncovering opportunities to give and receive help, and ideas for meeting people. Building a vibrant network takes time. Learn how to meet ordinary, extraordinary people, and improve your life—starting today!
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What's the difference between being an influencer and a good networker? Common wisdom says that you should try to build a huge following on LinkedIn (30,00 people) or a huge email list. If you can achieve that, the numbers will be in your favor to make more sales... but are they? Dunbar's number states that the average human can only maintain 150 active relationships. This is based on the fact that the human brain can only maintain an emotional connection with people whose faces they recognize. That means that you should focus on building a tribe around that 150. That can help you make better and more profitable connections with those who Know, Like, and Trust you! There are some key lessons to be learned here:
The tribe is a part of our primal brain! We spend 60% of our time with our 5 closest friends Companies and studies show that 150 is the perfect business team size Cold Calling is not the same as Tribe Building!
In this episode, we will explore how you can build your tribe of 150 and maximize your business in the process.
Learn More About Blinkist - Click Here
Frank Agin (http://frankagin.com) is president of AmSpirit Business Connection, an organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to become successful through networking. He is also the host of the Networking Rx podcast, a weekly short-form podcast with insights and interviews related to better business relationships. And he narrates the Networking Rx Minute, a micro podcast with daily ideas and inspiration. Finally, Frank is the author of several books, including Foundational Networking: Creating Know, Like & Trust For A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success.
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I find that Facebook is becoming less and less of a platform where I think we can try to do business. It has not only become very divisive but their model of Community Standards is over-policed in some ways and under scrubbed in others. Their goal is to create a friendly environment for all, but a simple motivational, historical quote I shared two years ago... landed me in Facebook jail with no recourse for the third time. This not only affected my personal accounts but also my pages and access to my client's pages that I manage. There are some key lessons to be learned here:
Free Speech is never FREE! Social Media vs Social Networking Facebook for Business Facebook Groups
In this episode, I will share my thoughts from my time in Social Media Purgatory and a 3rd round in Facebook Jail! And it's not a pretty sight!
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VICTORIA SONG is the Leadership Advisor to successful founders and CEOs of the fastest growing technology companies in Silicon Valley and celebrities with power, platform, and influence. Victoria began her career as a venture capitalist investing in technology startups, where she got to see first-hand what the most successful entrepreneurs did differently to win. She was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her investment success. After studying economics at Yale University and leadership at Harvard Business School, she received her most valuable learnings from over 24 of the best coaches, therapists, and alternative healers in the world who teach lessons not available in even the most exclusive universities.
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How do you eat an elephant? The traditional answer is - One bite at a time! But I consider you do it with SHAG. Eating an elephant is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). SHAg is a Small Hairy Audacious Goal. Taking BHAGs and breaking them into SHAGs, helps you achieve your goals in smaller chunks. But even the small goals can be audacious and hairy. Big small steps leads to fantastic results. I recently set a goal to scale my business. This is a BHAG. In order to achieve it, I had to break that down into SHAGs, and even break those down further.
Scale My Business - BHAG Manage Multiple Projects - SHAG Simplify Communications - SHAG Hire a Project Manager - SHAG
In this episode, I will break down the steps behind creating a system that will help me eat that BHAG Elephant of a goal! (P.S. No elephants or any other animals were harmed in the making of this podcast)
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“The Last Law of Attraction Book You’ll Ever Need To Read” offers readers a never-before-seen understanding of the topic — that no other “LOA” book has ever been able to do — by going the extra mile of finally addressing WHY people who get excited about trying it still can’t manage to get in the habit of using these methods for just five minutes a day. The book has enjoyed continued success, including over 1,000 five-star rave reviews, #1 Best Seller status in multiple categories on Amazon, and a growing YouTube channel devoted to it.
Learn More About Andrew - Click Here
Literary theorist Christopher Booker adheres to the school of thought that there are 7 basic plots to all stories including movies, play, sitcoms, and more. They all tend to cycle the viewer through a range of emotions. But in our daily business marketing, we don't have the time or attention span to develop a plot or characters. So you can take an abbreviated mix of emotions to lead people through a journey, and get them to take action. You first have to know your audience, and what narratives, they may have in their minds that you need to avoid, or overcome in making your case in the marketing process. I contend that there are three basic mini-plots that we can use to get our points across in an emotionally efficient way:
Happy, Happy, Happy? Happy, Sad, Happy? Sad, Happy, Sad?
In this episode, we will look at how you can control the narrative, without being too manipulative!
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I've been on every side of innovation: discovering, creating, building, operating, partnering, and exiting. I'm vetted in public companies, a serial entrepreneur, an advisor and partner for venture, and a fund builder and operator. My 40 years of experience includes business and technical leadership in public companies, start-ups, and turnarounds. I have also worked in venture, management consulting, and counseling. I most enjoy collaborative and complex technology and the integration of innovation, talent, and commercialization. I have worked with 11 fortune 200 CEOs on business unit strategy, growth and divestiture. I have worked with 450+ smaller firms and startups. If you are asking me to serve a board or advisory role, my broadest experience is in high-growth microcap (<$300M) private business units. I have been a principal or founder of 34 startups. collaborated on 760+ inventions, and have set 230 juggling world records. I have lived in USA, Uruguay, Bangladesh, Ecuador, and India. I have worked in USA, Canada, Netherlands, UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and France.
Learn More About David - Click Here
At one point, I thought it would be a good idea to try day trading... BOY was I wrong? I did not understand the basic concepts of how good stock purchases take targeted research. There are some key factors like Earnings Growth Trends, Price Earning Ratio, and Long Term Stability (which to this day I could not pick out of a stock trade line-up). Those are just a few of the KPIs professionals use to evaluate potential winners and losers. What I do understand is that we can use research to help us connect with great potential clients. All we have to know is our marketing KPI's that help us determine winner customers for our businesses.? Today we will discuss:
Determine Your Goals Keep Your Eyes Open Market To Companies Then People Know Their Story Review Their Marketing Diversified Portfolio
In this episode, I promise I will NOT give you any stock advice... but I will give you some insider information on marketing.
Learn More About Blinkist - Click Here
Tim Ash is an acknowledged authority on evolutionary psychology and digital marketing. He is a sought-after international keynote speaker, executive marketing advisor, and the bestselling author of Unleash Your Primal Brain and Landing Page Optimization. Tim has been mentioned by Forbes as a Top-10 Online Marketing Expert, and by Entrepreneur Magazine as an Online Marketing Influencer To Watch. For nineteen years he was the co-founder and CEO of SiteTuners – a digital optimization agency. Tim helped to create over 1.2 billion dollars in value for companies like Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Facebook, American Express, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Intuit, Humana, Siemens, and Cisco.
Learn More About Tim and his Book - Click Here
I had a meeting with someone on Lunchlub named Holly. She works at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Media. We discussed how they are changing their methodologies to an email newsletter, educational content, and even Podcast to communicate with patients, doctors, and staff. It makes me think of how the communication industry has changed with newspapers and magazines all having an online model. They now have to compete with headlines that act as clickbait to get readers' attention. Speaking of clickbait, there are several techniques that are being used in social media to get the engagement that are unfair vanity metrics to trick the algorithms. Also, do you know the difference between real and vanity metrics in your business? Today we will discuss:
Vanity Fair - The news and information industry Unfair vanity - Clickbait techniques that bear little fruit Vanity Metrics - What really matters in business
In this episode, we will look at how you are what you eat, and your mind is also about what you feed it to grow your business.
Learn More About Lunchclub - Click Here
DC Glenn was born in Chicago, Illinois, and Steve Gibson was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Both moved to Denver, Colorado, as young children. They met at Manual High School in 1982, where both pursued their musical interests. Gibson played drums in the jazz band and attended audio engineering classes at an early college education program, while Glenn sang as a tenor in Manual High School's Bolt Vibrations Chorus. In August 1992, Tag Team recorded "Whoomp! (There It Is)". At that time, Glenn was working as the main DJ at a gentlemen's club in Atlanta called Magic City which would later become recognized as a hub of Atlanta Hip-Hop and rap music. Glenn played the track in the club on the same day it was mixed. "Whoomp!" received the biggest crowd response he had ever seen as a DJ. In the following months, people requested it so often that it became clear the song had the potential to become a hit. The single was shopped to and rejected by multiple record labels because executives were unfamiliar with Southern Bass and were unsure if the sound would sell well around the country. Glenn instead borrowed $2,500 from his parents to press 800 records. The singles quickly sold out in Atlanta on word of mouth alone. Tag Team got back together and performed at the San Francisco 49ers Halftime Show, Super Bowl Live by Verizon Wireless, and the 2019 Hammer House Party Tour. Tag Team's role in the popularization of Atlanta's version of Miami bass, Southern bass, contributed to the rise of Atlanta as a home for unique alternatives to the established "East Coast/West Coast" hip-hop identities. Around the end of 2020, Tag Team appeared in a GEICO commercial parodying "Whoomp!" with an ice cream scenario and the substituted lyric "Scoop!". Watch The Video
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Jon is a SaaS entrepreneur and a CRM pioneer. He’s mostly known for founding one of the first CRMs, GoldMine. After selling his first company and retiring for 10 years, he decided to get back in the business because he saw that contact management was broken with no CRMs offering business owners an entire view into the relationships with their customers. He founded Nimble, an easy-to-use CRM that works for you everywhere you work. Jon often speaks about social media’s effects on sales and marketing, and growing businesses by utilizing community building, PR, guerilla marketing, and influencer marketing.
Learn More About Jon & Nimble - Click Here
Lucifer is the world-renowned GREED coach and business consultant and also known as Coyote, Dracula, Beelzebub (he prefers Bubba), and the Prince of Darkness, He does not disclose clients, but you would recognize many of them from ancient mythology and current news headlines. He is proud of his book, "The 7 Deadly Sins For Successful Grifters" which eluded the New York Times Best Seller List. He is a mythological and religious figure associated with the planet Venus. He was also honored to have another planet named after him. Pluto, which was classified as a planet in 1930 before being stripped of that celestial honor in 2006, was named after the Roman god of the underworld—thanks to the suggestion of an 11-year-old English schoolgirl named Venetia Burney. Having fallen from heaven, Lucifer (aka Satan), now resides in Hades Creek, Washington.
Learn More About Lucifer's Life History - Click Here
Ultimate Catalyst for personal transformation. Creator of the ultimate life formula. Author of 13 books and “your ultimate life“ podcast. 30-year executive experience in the energy industry. Survived a near-death experience and committed to those ending addiction to average. Coming through decades of depression, addictions, life-threatening illness and a near-death experience, Kellan has become the ultimate catalyst to help motivated people melt barriers, move mountains and mobilize superpowers to achieve their true desires. As a coach and keynote speaker, Kellan’s masterful approach helps people get past old stories, change beliefs and create a life context to reach even goals that seemed impossible.
Learn More About Kellan & His Books - Click Here
Gambling can be a fun personal activity but has perils when it comes to business. But all too often, businesses use advertising as a way to attract customers without realizing the full concept that they may be gambling with their profits. Slot machines are the most common casino game played because they are easy and make fun sounds (especially when you win). Scratch-off lottery tickets are readily available and can often seem like easy money. Did you know that the basic odds on a slot machine and a scratch-off are very different? If you put $100 into both, chances are you will leave the slot machine with $90 and only $50 with the scratch-off. Gambling on advertising in business usually takes one or all of these forms:
Print Mailings or Ads Facebook Ads Google Ads
In this episode, we will explore the fun and games of gambling with advertising and how you can improve your odds with content marketing!
Dan McPherson, International Speaker, Business and Personal Development Coach, and CEO of Leaders Must Lead, is on a mission to help Creatives and Entrepreneurs create and grow profit and understand that Dreams ARE Real. With more than 25 years of experience in corporate roles leading teams of up to 2000 and responsible for more than $150M in revenue, Dan is a recognized expert in leadership, sales, and business strategy. Through his Dreams ARE Real Podcast, Foundations of Success Training, and powerful 1-1 coaching, Dan helps entrepreneurs around the world from musicians and artists to chiropractors, coaches, retailers, and beyond experience success and accomplish their goals.
Learn More About Dan & His Company - Click Here
Philosophy, Philanthropy, and Propaganda all have different meanings to different people. Some are positive and some are negative. But they all can have an impact on the effectiveness of your marketing messages. If you want to connect with humans you have to meet them where they are at. You have to provide some sort of value to get them to consistently want to invest time in you and your messages. You have to connect with them on a deeper and more emotional level, especially in today's propaganda-filled world of misinformation and half or outright false narratives. Let's look at how your messages can affect your audience in three ways:
Philosophy - What Does It Mean Philanthropy - What Does It Mean To Others Propaganda - What Does It Mean To My Cause
In this episode, we will explore how your messages can become a gift to those who engage with them, and hopefully get them to take some action?
As co-founder/CEO, my superpower is that I actually give a damn. I care about increasing opportunities for our students. In my free time, I love to watch or play basketball! Internalyze is an online education platform that trains and empowers minority students to succeed in sales. We teach our students the necessary sales and emotional intelligence skills to earn them entry-level sales roles. Internalyze trains and empowers underserved communities to succeed in high-demand industries while placing them at our partner companies.
Learn More About David & His Company - Click Here
During the last year and the world of working from home, I was blown away at all of the networking groups I was able to find online. Some of them had upwards of 100 people at a Zoom meeting. Networking has been a tool that I have used for years, but it's taught me lessons about which groups constitute great and profitable networking, and which are just wish marketing. Most people we network with will never buy from us, but how do they rank in your world as referral or power partners?. I have broken down networking and the people we become through it in three ways:
The Maven - Network to share connections The Cohortionist - Networking to find vendors The Connector - Networking to power partners in your industry
In this episode, we will explore how you can network better in ways that can enhance and help you scale your business faster!
British author, piano player, international racing driver, and business coach Jonny Cooper is the founder of www.JonnyHatesMarketing.com Since growing a business to 8-figures and exiting, Jonny’s been supporting coaches, trainers, therapists, and consultants who are serious about building their thriving practice, changing the world, and enjoying a life of effortless abundance. His Client Attraction Blueprint programme is filled with eager students every month and he’s closing in on his mission to impact the lives of 1,000,000 professionals by 2025. Jonny’s Three Pillars of Effortless Marketing provides a template for universal success and growth to any aspiring coaches and therapists, and he’s passionate about increasing the average income across the profession. He’s also the voice behind the legendary Jonny Hates Marketing Facebook Group. Also, he really, really does hate marketing.
Learn More About Jonny & His Facebook Group - Click Here
Who knew eating could be so complex? Today we have many choices. Fast food, or restaurant delivery, grocery shopping, or grocery delivery. Each has its advantages, but FRESH takes more time. If you want to deliver FRESH Content, you may need to consume great content and blend it together with your own creativity. When you eat a taco, you would not eat the tortilla, meat, lettuce, cheese, and salsa (or whatever ingredients you like) in order? You would blend them together to enjoy the mix of textures & flavors. In his book "Accidental Creative" Todd Henry outlines how FRESH Creativity has 5 parts:
Focus - What Has Your Attention? Relationships - Engaging Others Energy - Where you Choose to Focus Stimuli - What You Pay Attention To Hours - Time
In this episode, how you can keep things FRESH with creativity, by being a consumer first, and a chef (cooking up ideas) second!!
Blanca Cobb is an internationally recognized body language expert who’s been featured on national television shows such as the Steve Harvey Show, TODAY Show, Megyn Kelly TODAY, Dr. Oz, Dr. Drew, CNN, Face the Truth, The Doctors to a name a few as well as publications around the world such as Cosmopolitan, Us Weekly, Elite Daily, Business Insider, Elle, Daily Mail among others. Blanca shares her expertise weekly on a CBS affiliate, WFMY News 2, in North Carolina. When it comes to corporate America, Blanca’s in the relationship business. Her approach to sales is the relationship dynamics between sales professionals and their clients. It’s what isn’t said, but seen that can either drive or stall the sales process. Don’t let the small screen of the virtual world fool you, nonverbal communication is equally important on video calls and on camera when you’re making videos to promote yourself, your products, services and company. Fun fact about Blanca: She created a national holiday, “National Body Language Day” that’s celebrated the first Friday of every October.
Learn More About Blonca & Her Book - Click Here
SSUCv3H4sIAAAAAAAEAJ2QywrDIBBF94X+g7jOwtakTfsroYuJSpCaCD5SSsi/10cE1905584d5852PiGER7CS4SfaYhVqqZS3zoCTegmYNAcXXDptJKgII9uTgq0D562wccSBGDgxhd4MD3/5Z8g1KkISgyNIGDcVs35MrKC9+duZH68SBSaxsG9auApihBKQgwy5Fb8/Tpi5jrZKLnRVg+dSVylXzUBFA60ms3BQPVcuHg4UN7xQ0nd3Qttbf21J96Bd2Hn/AUAJq/eYAQAA It's 2021 Tax time for corporations. Also, we are all about to get some economic stimulus in our bank account soon? Those are assets and liabilities. I want to focus on your content assets. This is the content that you have created and shared that can be reused, reshared, and recycled as new content. Too often, we create content, and set it and forget it. You can and should be digging into your old content and sharing it since you never know who it will resonate with and when. There are three key ways people create and share content:
Spray & Pray Churn & Burn Hatch & Batch
In this episode, we will explore how you can make those assets more valuable to your business, but especially your audience!
Tommy Mello is the founder of A1 Garage Doors, a $40 million-plus home service business with over 200 employees in 9 states. He shares what he's learned at HomeServiceExpert.com to help fellow entrepreneurs scale their businesses. It takes a lot of guts and glory to go from $50k in debt to owning a $40 million dollar home service business. That's my story and I'm proud of what my team and I have accomplished. As any entrepreneur, I started by doing everything myself from sales, marketing, accounting, and hiring. Today at A1 Garage Door Service we are getting ready to cross the 40 million dollar mark. A1 operates in over 10 states with over 250 employees and growing. I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge with other entrepreneurs so that they can grow their businesses just like I did.
Learn More About Tommy & His Book - Click Here
There has been a lot of chatter about Cancel Culture lately. I am ALL FOR IT (but in a different sort of way). I am talking about you taking the time to cancel things that annoy you by disrupting your business flow or eating up unnecessary time. Some of which you have control over by subscribing to and others to which you are subscribed without your asking or permission. I want to focus on three key areas:
Media or Service Subscriptions? Meetings and Networking? Notifications From Social Media?
In this episode, we will explore how you may not be able to stop all robocalls or emails from annoying you, but you can control some of the time and expense that could be a detriment to your business!
Sassy is a word she likes to use to describe herself, but really words like driven, focused, and direct are closer to the flavor of cupcake that she is. Robin started SCP AGENCY in a time when no one knew this was a business. In 2013 they would ask…“Like, do people really pay you to do that?” Of course, they do! They don’t want to learn this crap; it changes faster than Cher changes costumes between sets. After snagging a business degree, Robin discovered marketing, automotive and public speaking, so now she gets to show off SCP Agency results while affecting change and driving ROI. In her spare time, you will find Robin sitting in a coffee shop “thinking”, yes, you heard that right, thinking. Social media and automotive can have several plot twists in a year and staying ahead of them takes time to clear the noise and just think. Being a woman in the automotive industry can be a challenge, and take some pretty tough skin, but Robin has mastered the art of cussing like a sailor and negotiating like a sales manager, but mostly she just brings to the table the ability to make dealerships look like social media rockstars.
Learn More About Robin and Her Business - Click Here
It's hard to believe that's it's been a year that most of us have been on lockdown due to the pandemic. It has been tough on some and we all need a way to stay upbeat and redefine our purpose. There is a Japanese word, Ikigai, that means "a reason for being". The word refers to having a direction or purpose in life, that which makes one's life worthwhile, and towards satisfaction and a sense of reason. To find that purpose, it has a convergence of four key things:
What Do You Love? What Are Your Good At? What The World Needs? What You Can Be Paid For?
In this episode, we will explore how to find your Ikigai (and not be an Icky Guy or Gal) and how that can help you get through not only the tough times but bring new meaning and purpose to your life!
Chuck Hester is a nationally renowned LinkedIn trainer and speaker who helps clients get the most out of LinkedIn. He also teaches others how to communicate effectively both in their personal life and career. Chuck has addressed audiences throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Australia. He has created and presented online courses for Content Marketing Institute and been a guest on more than 50 podcasts. He is also the host of Conversations with Chuck Hester, a weekly podcast live on LinkedIn.
Learn More Pay It Forward Tuesdays - Click Here
It's easy to have a full email inbox. As a business owner, you don't want to be part of somebody's full inbox, meaning your email lays unread and ultimately in the trash bin. That means you have to make your emails "Must Read" just like "Must See TV". Email newsletters are the biggest culprit of the land of unread emails. Too often they contain multiple stories, trying to appeal to a wide audience, but often when you miss the mark."If you make them choose, you often confuse." To stand out you have to have compelling information, that people want to read, and that is easy to consume. To do this, you must accomplish three things:
Keep It Short Make It Simple Have A Purpose
In this episode, we will explore what gets emails red and acted upon, and how you can make your email marketing more effective!
Like most of us, David Priemer never thought he'd end up in sales! He started his career tinkering with test tubes and differential equations as an award-winning research scientist before spending the next 20 years leading top-performing sales teams at high-growth technology companies including Salesforce, where he was the Vice President of Commercial Sales and creator of the Sales Leadership Academy program. Today, as the Founder and Chief Sales Scientist of Cerebral Selling, David's unique science and empathy-based approaches to driving revenue and talent growth have been published in the Harvard Business Review as well as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. magazines. Often referred to as the "Sales Professor", David is also the author of the Bestselling book, Sell The Way You Buy, and an Adjunct Professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. David holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Atmospheric Science from York University and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto. When he's not thinking about Sales, David loves to cook, write, and spend quality family time with his wife and three daughters.
Learn More about David and His Book - Click Here
Did you know that the average person spends 2.5 days (60 hours) per year searching for lost items? My guess is that is even longer if you include your digital assets (emails, password, computer files, and more). If you are a solopreneur, that can easily add up to over $6000 (at $100 per hour) in lost billable time per year. If you have a team of 20 people, that could add up to over $10,000 per month in lost billable time or just simple waste! There are four things or groups that I'd like to discuss today:
Email Passwords Paperwork Desk Clutter
In this episode, how with a few small tweaks, your can reclaim dozens of hours and thousands of dollars of lost billable time per year!
Hi. I’m Warren Whitlock. My mission is to help brands improve the results of their digital marketing. I started creating content for marketing when “new media” meant we could combine multiple slide projectors for a presentation. By the time I went online in 1981, I’d learned to push for better technology whenever it allowed us to achieve our objectives. Throughout my career, I have created new strategies to use influence and persuasion to help people get what they want. I set hard sales goals and measured performance but never forget that people hate to be sold, but love to buy. I have been an entrepreneur in the computer, publishing, and media, I look for collaborations where brands can share resources, extend their reach and give customers an experience they will want to share with others. I am currently partnering with IBM Futurists and a few brands and startups along with keynotes where I can engage executives transforming their organizations for an abundant future. Contact Warren at: http://WarrenWhitlock.com Warren Whitlock is an advisor, best-selling author, digital marketing influencer and Alchemist. He helps businesses grow exponentially by defining a brand strategy framed to tell a business's story to customers who will come with a desire to buy exactly what you sell.
Black Magic Ball with answer Outlook not so good There is a big difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy. A Crystal Ball, the Magic 8-Ball, and Zoltar are all fun, but in the end, it's entertainment and not sound business. A marketing strategy refers to a business's overall game plan. Business strategists help determine targets for their organizations. A strategist will work with sales, marketing. CEO, CIO, CMO, and all who need to have a say in the process. A good and complete marketing strategy embodies a company's value proposition, brand, customer demographics, and other past, current, and trending business intelligence elements. Success with strategy tends to have three main components:
Based On Data TrendsTend To Lag Be Flexible & Agile
In this episode, we will look at how to define your goals, look at assets, and plan the work to work the plan!
Connie Regan Green Connie Ragen Green is a former classroom teacher and real estate appraiser who left it all behind to come online in 2006. As an author of more than twenty books, publisher, international speaker, and entrepreneur she serves others by helping new entrepreneurs to build their own lucrative online businesses. Connie is also active with several non-profits including Rotary International, the Boys & Girls Club, Zonta, and SEE International.
Learn More about Connie's & Ellen's New Book - Click Here
Ellen Finkelstein Ellen Finkelstein is a recognized expert, speaker, trainer, and best-selling author on PowerPoint, presentation skills, and AutoCAD. Her articles have appeared in numerous magazines, newsletters, and blogs. She is a PowerPoint MVP (Most Valuable Professional), a Microsoft award for experts in its product who contribute to the user community, one of only 14 in the United States. Her website offers a huge assortment of tips, techniques, tutorials, and articles on these topics. You can register for her newsletters below.
To Access The Speaker Resources - Click Here
According to a recent study by MIT, second-born children, particularly boys, tend to be the troublemaker or the “black sheep” in the family compared to their older siblings. The youngest children are spoiled and are believed to be unafraid to do risky things. In business, it pays to be the problem child. They tend to disrupt the norms and help to solve problems that keep clients and prospects up at night. They tend to do three things well when it comes to problem-solving:
Solve It Better Solve It Faster Solve It Cheaper
In this episode, we will look at how making good trouble can help you and your clients make more money in business!
Craig Lowder, author of Smooth Selling Forever, is a sales-effectiveness expert with a thirty-year track record of helping owners of small and mid-size companies achieve their sales goals. He is the president of MainSpring Sales Group, which assists businesses in need of a strategic sales leader on a part-time contract or project basis to develop and execute a sales strategy, develop sales process and performance management systems, and ensure sales execution. Craig has worked with over sixty companies and increased first-year annual sales from 21 to 142 percent. He speaks extensively on the topics “Smooth Selling Forever”. “Your Sales Should Run Like Clockwork” and “Is Virtual Selling Really New & Is It Here To Stay?” for many groups and associations such as Vistage International, the world’s largest CEO peer-to-peer association, and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA). Craig has also been featured at Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) group events.
Learn More about Craig and His Book - Click Here
I often hear from companies after I explain my process, "We like what you have to say... but we are just going to hire a marketing person." I ask in return "Which one?" They often don't understand that marketing is a team sport. It takes multiple people with multiple skills such as SEO, Web, Email, Social Media, Ads Expert, Google Manager, Writer, Designer, System Integrator, Strategist, and more. In the book the E-Myth Revisited, the author talks about how a successful business requires three core members, a Technician, Manager, and Entrepreneur. Marketing is not much different. Although it needs many or all of the above technicians, it still is and should be a team effort that aligns with your sales efforts. The three main roles in the marketing for sales process include:
Strategist Manager Technician
In this episode, we will discuss how each of these people fit into a complete and successful marketing system.
Alain Hunkins helps high achieving people become high achieving leaders. Over his 20+ year career, Alain has worked with over 2,000 groups of leaders in 25 countries. He’s worked with 42 of the Fortune 100 companies. In addition to being a leadership speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach, Alain is the author of CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders which was published by Wiley in March of this year. The book was endorsed by leadership luminaries Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and Marshall Goldsmith. Alain serves on the Academic Board of Advisors of the New Delhi Institute of Management and is a faculty member of Duke Corporate Education. Alain’s writing has been featured in Fast Company, Inc., Chief Executive, Chief Learning Officer, and Business Insider. He's a regular leadership strategy contributing writer for Forbes.
Learn More about Alain - Click Here
We have all heard that "Time is Money", but in some cases "Time Costs Money". In business, it often makes send to find tools that make your life easier, less complex, or helps you speed up processes. This episode is pretty straight forward. I have spent months before the new year researching tools that could help me become more efficient. These tools are all ones that I have tried and paid for (in some cases). I only recommend tools that I actually use in my business so I can spend more time on my business (which is build around helping clients make more money). Here are the 5 tools I will discuss:
Active Campaign - Email Marketing Blinkist - Audio Books in 15 Minutes LunchClub - High-Quality One-On-One Networking ClubHouse - Audio Networking App With Heavy Hitters Remarkable 2 - Digital Paper Pad
It's hard to get into too much detail in 10 minutes, but I hope you get the just of why I chose them and how I use them to make more time in my business and improve my life!
Eleanor Haglund is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School and Founder and CEO of Aspire 360, a network of startup CEOs that support each other's growth. After studying Creative Writing, Psychology and Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, she founded two startups: one in the e-book publishing space and the other in the pharmaceutical space. She was an inaugural member of the Innovation Scholars Program in Project Olympus and has participated in two accelerator programs (Health Wildcatters and eLab NYC). She has won awards in several startup competitions, including the McGinnis Competition, the CMU Venture Challenge and Hack-a- Startup. In college, she volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician, responding to medical emergencies in the Pittsburgh area as a Crew Chief. She is also an avid reader and writer of two novels.
Learn More about Eleanor and Aspire 360 - Click Here
The word “YES” alone is a very positive word but, a lot of times the word yes has an addendum to it such as yes and, or yes but. Today I want to help you know when you should be letting go of your buts when it comes to the word ‘YES'. While “Yes… But” is where people are trying to whittle away at the information to narrow it down, “Yes… And” adds to the situation and adds value. If you're using the “Yes.. And” then you're probably adding value to your relationships. If you're using the yes but you're basically trying to figure out how to convince a person by overcoming their objections. This especially come into play:
In Social Media Connections Online Networking Meetings Even Wishing A Happy Birthday...
In this episode, we will explore how and when to add value to your relationships by using "AND" and when to avoid sticking your "BUTs" out!
Hi. I’m Warren Whitlock. My mission is to help brands improve the results of their digital marketing. I started creating content for marketing when “new media” meant we could combine multiple slide projectors for a presentation. By the time I went online in 1981, I’d learned to push for better technology whenever it allowed us to achieve our objectives. Throughout my career, I have created new strategies to use influence and persuasion to help people get what they want. I set hard sales goals and measured performance but never forget that people hate to be sold, but love to buy. I have been an entrepreneur in the computer, publishing, and media, I look for collaborations where brands can share resources, extend their reach and give customers an experience they will want to share with others. I am currently partnering with IBM Futurists and a few brands and startups along with keynotes where I can engage executives transforming their organizations for an abundant future. Contact Warren at: http://WarrenWhitlock.com Warren Whitlock is an advisor, best-selling author, digital marketing influencer and Alchemist. He helps businesses grow exponentially by defining a brand strategy framed to tell a business's story to customers who will come with a desire to buy exactly what you sell.
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay Welcome back to the new reality of 2021. Although we are just getting off the ground (business-wise), there are many business and marketing experts that are trying to suggest that now is the time to hustle. Not to pick on anyone's philosophy, some will tell you that time is a limited resource that you can't get back, but you can always make more money? I beg to differ and say that is a business mirage. You can replenish money, but most of us have limited resources. What I am suggesting is you treat both as a limited resource that needs to be managed, and optimized to help you reach for the stars. There are many things you CAN do time and money... but what you really CAN'T do is:
Automate Relationships Outsource Relationships Skip Interactions
In this episode, We will dig deeper into how to maximize how you CAN turn time into money... and money into time!
Coach A.M. Williams is a Results Coach who specializes in helping experts transform their expertise into high leveraged offers. He is the owner of A.M. Williams Coaching Co., LLC and has personally coached and trained numerous executives, lawyers, doctors, recording artists, and other coaches and consultants over the past 10 years from a bed-bound state. Having been diagnosed with incomplete paraplegia (extreme weakness in legs), Coach A.M. has discovered the gift of challenges and has mastered the art of transforming adversity into one’s greatest advantage. He also is one of the Best-Selling authors of the book “Resilience: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks”. His Yes,Go! radio show on BSRNradio.com is syndicated across 300 radio stations and reaches international listeners across the UK and North America each month. Coach A.M.’s magnificent obsession is helping high performing professionals and entrepreneurs use leverage to create the life they want. For more info on Coach A.M. Williams, go to www.coachamwilliams.com
Learn more about A.M. Williams - Click Here
Photo by Simon Zhu on Unsplash Every year I have a new year tradition. I take the day on January 1st to put away last year's files and make new file folders for the coming year for both personal and business. It helps me hit the ground running. Now is a good time to get other things organized as well. You don't have to be all high tech or spend a lot of money to do this, but it will take some time and planning to do it. I am suggesting you look at 5 key things that you can organize now, and I suggest that you try to make this a habit throughout the year as well:
Calendar Address Book Telephone Paper Snail Mail
In this episode, we will explore these basic business tools, and how you can optimize, organize, and prep your business to rock it in the coming year!
Marla Tabaka is an internationally known small business strategist, national radio show host, and leading Inc.com author. Her integrative approach to coaching combines mindset management and strategic planning, resulting in multi-million dollar businesses for many of her small business clients. After a career of 22-years as an Emmy Award-winning producer at NBC Television, Tabaka worked as a creative consultant for large and mid-sized corporations, established and sold a retail business, and then founded her business coaching practice in 2003. Early in her coaching career, she achieved the status of a leading coach with the American Express sponsored “Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence” program where she led dozens of female business owners to successful 7 and 8 figure business results. In 2015 she co-founded EmpruV Business Value Builders with ABC’s Shark Tank’s original Shark and founder of As Seen on TV, Kevin Harrington. The two co-host the nationally broadcasted Big Pitch Radio Show and Tabaka holds an Advisory Board position at the award-winning DRTV consultancy, Shark Finds with Kevin Harrington. In addition to her articles at Inc.com, you’ll find Tabaka’s work featured in major business publications such as American Express Open, Fox Business News, TIME Business, NAWBO SmartBrief, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and The Business Intelligence Report.
Michelle Filicicchia’s primary focus is helping leaders and employees achieve high-performance and measurable results that encompass engagement, productivity, well-trained individuals and effective teams. Michelle brings a vigorous customer-focused approach with client engagements. She is accomplished with diverse and multi-cultural audiences and is a certified Personified Leadership facilitator. Michelle’s body of work spans the following practice areas: Instructional Design, Facilitation, Executive Coaching and Performance Consulting
Learn more about Marla Tabaka - Click Here Learn more about Michelle Filicicchia - Click Here
Photo by Jan Baborák on Unsplash A friend, mentor, and frequent podcast guest expert, Marla Takaka (see Episodes 171, 395, 531, and the upcoming episode 633) asked a question on Facebook. "Do you have or use a word to theme your year? What is your choice this year?". My word for the year is "Signify" which I visualize as a lighthouse on a rocky coast. How can I utilize this to help increase the value that I provide you (my audience and customers), and what does this mean in it's purest form:
Be an indication of - Take Intentional Action Be a symbol of - Lead By Example Be of importance - Provide MORE Value
In this episode, explore how you might be able to not only pick your word for the year, how to visualize it, but how you can use it to light up your business in the coming year!
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed. He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast! Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare, and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles. With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, salespeople, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers. Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Learn more about Mark & Bija Co - Click Here
If you stream TV and have Netflix, then you may have seen the mini-series "The Queens Gambit". It a story about how an orphan girl became the queen of chess in the 1960s. In the series, Beth learns to play chess and at night while lying in bed, she would play out the moves in her mind on the ceiling. This is a form of creative visualization and mindset. The same type of mindset can be used to play out moves in your business for the coming year, but it will take a deliberate effort to turn change into a positive habit. There are 5 basic concepts that require your will power to make them a part of your daily, weekly, and monthly success routines until they become habitually automatic:
Meditation Purging Scheduling Follow-Up Theme Your Year
In this episode, explore how these habits can help you own the chessboard know and your marketplace, and make the moves necessary to say "Checkmate!"
Chelsea Martin is Co-Owner of Noms Bake Shop, the industry expert in the art of convenient corporate gifting that leaves a lasting impression. In the noisy world of gift-giving, Noms Bak Shop makes you the hero, providing a solution to gifting by cutting through the clutter and delivering a premium twist on traditional baked goods in a highly personalized way that's easy to order. Chelsea and the Noms team specialize in making sure you and your company make a lasting impression on past, current and future clients with premium customizable packaging and delicious cookies that will actually be enjoyed. Chelsea lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband trevor and their two dogs. Prior to founding Noms, she attended Arizona State University and University of Southern California. Chelsea has extensive experience in marketing, real estate and is passionate about helping companies retain, and grow their customer and client base.
Learn more about Chelsea and Noms Bake Shop - Click Here
If you have multiple parts of your business (wholesale, retail, and online), it makes sense to have multiple websites to serve each of your different audiences. I have this podcast site, one for my books (NotAboutU.com), one for my speaking business (BrianBasilico.com), one for my LinkedIn Consulting (LI4Sales.com), and others. Building each website is done with the help from a series of experts, (graphics, web developers, hosting companies, security programmers, integration, web content writers, blog content writers, and more). It's rare and often a mistake to try to find an all in one solution. You don't necessarily want your architect building your electrical or plumbing systems. A website is really a series of systems. It's the same when you are building a house and it can take a group of experts to build it properly:
Foundation Framing Exterior & Landscaping Electrical Plumbing Heating and Cooling Security
In this episode, we will talk about how all of the parts of building a house are best done by bringing together a team of people who have the knowledge and experience to build it to last and be beautiful at the same time
Brian Searcy is the President of The Paratus Group. His vision for The Paratus Group is to “Redefine How Safety is Learned” to make Schools, Churches and the Workplace and our Communities as safe as possible. His unique experience and expertise, with the help of The Paratus Group Team, have revolutionized how situational awareness is trained and learned allowing the opportunity for every single member of our communities, the true first responders, to be “Prepared to Survive”. Following a decorated senior leadership career in the USAF as a commander and combat veteran, Brian transitioned into executive roles as a business entrepreneur, writer, publisher and public speaker. He co-founded The Paratus Group in 2019 with the objective of using his decades-tested and proven leadership and training experience to solve a need for relevant, effective, trustworthy principles, training methodologies and programs to allow for the learning of situational awareness. The situational awareness mindset and behaviors that are developed allows critical decisions to be made in the the complex dynamics of the home, schools, the workplace and our communities to make us all safer.
Learn More About Brian and The Paratus Group - Click Here
People who know me know that I like acronyms. BACON is an acronym for Building Authentic Connections Online Marketing. Politics is a touchy subject, but it's been interesting how messages have evolved over the years to maximize the medium of the day (radio, TV, social media). The one key factor has been collecting and utilizing data, but the way that data is updated and verified is very old school. The real way to maximize it is door-to-door and face-to-face. That is hard for us to do right now, but you don't want to start the year out behind the curve. This is not the time of the year to be just planning. You have to be working hard to get your messages out to your audiences now. Marketing Your A.S.S. Off is a process that contains three main sections:
Awareness System Strategy
In this episode, we will discuss why starting in January of next year... is gonna be too late to start Marketing You A.S.S.Off!
Bill Guertin (pronounced like "13") is a positive voice for change and is the leader of the “7 Voices” Movement, whose purpose is to hear, recognize, and minimize the effects of the negative Voices inside people’s heads and to implement simple strategies to make positivity a life-choice every day. As a sales trainer, he's worked with the ticket sales departments of over 100 professional sports teams throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico, and he serves as Chief Learning Officer of ISBI 360, a virtual training network specifically for executives in sports and entertainment. Bill has over 30 years’ experience in sales and leadership, including 20 years in broadcast media as a sales rep, sales manager, and General Manager of radio properties in the Midwest. When he is not working, Bill spends quality time with his wife, Sherri, their three grown boys, and their families who enjoy Sundays together watching the Chicago Bears. He serves as a Board member of the Baylor University Center for Sports Strategy and Sales and volunteers for the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Learn More About Bill & His Book - Click Here
In 1970, John Lennon released a son "Instant Karma". In our 'want it now' world I am here to tell you that it's not how this works. Sometimes, you can do all the right things but still, suffer. I have a friend (Alma Harrell) whom when you would ask how she was, always said, "Too Blessed to be Stressed!" Sometimes you have to take a step back and realize what you can be grateful for. People think of Amazon as being in the products and services business, but I think it's in the convenience business. It causes me to question, "Do we really know what business we are really in?:
People Business? Improvement Business? Results Business!
In this episode, we will dig into how all the good things we do for others, can and will come back to bless us, within its own sweet timeframe!
Rick Lochner is the President of RPC Leadership Associates, Inc. where he helps Business Owners Make Leadership a Way of Life. A Certified Veteran-Owned Business, he helps clients align their businesses to enjoy sustainable success on their terms. Rick is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has over 30 years of leadership experience across the Military, Corporate, Entrepreneurial, Academic and Non-Profit organizations. Rick is the author of several books including, "The Missing Piece for Entrepreneurs" and “I’m Still Sayin’…More Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life”. An accomplished public speaker, his popular leadership workshops and keynotes range from Understanding Generational Diversity, Effective Communications and Time Management to Effective Personal Leadership and Being Adaptable in a Dynamic Business Environment.
Learn More About Rick & His Books - Click Here
Although it started out as a graphic, what I found myself doing was making a case for Case Studies. Case Studies are often conflated with White Papers. A white paper talks about the implementation of a solution, while a case study provides actual examples of how a solution fixes a problem. A Case Study is not a press release or advertising. It's also NOT ABOUT YOU! It's about the client or customer and their story. It should also follow the example of a Hero's Journey script. While those have 12 parts, a Case Study should focus on three parts:
Problem? Solution? Results!
In this episode, we will explore how to create a great Case Study that can help more people know how you can become the best solution to THEIR problem (if they have a similar one)!
Known as the Academic Entrepreneur, Dr. Cheryl is a unique and dynamic speaker who intensely connects with her audience, having one foot in academia and one foot in the business and entrepreneurial space. Her goal is to offer the audience pearls of wisdom today they can use tomorrow in their personal and professional lives. It is not enough to know; the expectation is for participants to take action and do. Join Dr. Cheryl on her journey to connect these dots to provide inspiration, knowledge, and counsel to move forward effectively. Known globally for her writings on leadership and failure, as well as critical and refractive thinking she has been published more than 49 times with 25 writing awards. As an accomplished university professor, speaker, & consultant, she is an international best-selling author, and top quoted publishing professional on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. She took the stage as a TEDx Speaker in *Farningdale2020, October 10, 2020.
Learn More About Dr. Cheryl- Click Here
Who could have predicted what 2020 would be a tumultuous year? Every year has a degree of ebbs and flows, but this year was unique. What did you learn from the challenges that were presented? How can you take what you learned and apply it looking forward to 2021? There are three key lessons I believe challenged us all this past year:
Was your business ready for the change? Did your relationships in business get challenged by beliefs? What did you learn about yourself?
In this episode, we will discuss what this year and it's challenges can do to help us prepare for maybe some new and big challenges still to come in the next few months and years!
Michelle’s primary focus is helping leaders and employees achieve high-performance and measurable results that encompass engagement, productivity, well-trained individuals and effective teams. Michelle brings a vigorous customer-focused approach with client engagements. She is accomplished with diverse and multi-cultural audiences and is a certified Personified Leadership facilitator. Michelle’s body of work spans the following practice areas: Instructional Design, Facilitation, Executive Coaching and Performance Consulting
Learn More About Michelle and Instructional Design- Click Here
Did you know that people are voting for your social media posts? People vote on your posts with likes, comments, and shares, but social media platforms have a form of voter suppression with their algorithms. The more that people engage with your content, the more the algorithms reward you. There are some key things that you can do to get out the vote for your info:
Challenge Perceptions Start With A Question Find the Emotion Use Mental Images Measure The Result or Outcome
In this episode, we will discuss how you can create more engagement and win the election of selection with your marketing content!
Karolyn dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
Click To Learn More!
Karolyn Vreeland Blume was born many years ago in New York City. She started her professional life as a lawyer with a successful general practice including litigation, real estate, divorce, business and estates. As a lawyer, Karolyn encountered many diverse situations involving a wide variety of issues and people. She represented Fortune 500 corporations, mom and pop businesses, and everything in between. She has vast experience navigating the treacherous waters of local, state and federal governments, as well as representing neglected and abused children. She helped spouses separate with integrity while maintaining a stable environment for their children. In her estate business she offered her clients compassion and understanding as well as excellent legal representation. She is empathetic, compassionate and gives of her expertise beyond expectation.
After 25 years, she decided there had to be a better way to resolve disputes than beating each other up in a courtroom. For Karolyn, that better way was mediation. She founded Conflict Resolution Services (www.CRSMediation.com), which is a full service mediation, facilitation and arbitration firm. With over 300 hours of training – both receiving and presenting – she has helped hundreds of people and businesses resolve conflicts peacefully and amicably. She handled a wide range of cases in the areas of business matters, divorce, elder issues, family disputes, real estate, medical malpractice and class actions for individuals and businesses.
Karolyn is a known and respected international speaker, consultant, coach, facilitator, mentor and teacher, whose presentations are filled with valuable information and engaging humor. She is an expert problem solver and gifted strategist.
She served as an adjunct faculty member for Penn State University, Muhlenberg College, and Cedar Crest College. She moderated a live, call-in program for PBS television, and is active in many non-profit and charitable organizations. She is a Founding Member of Mediators Beyond Borders International, and is listed in Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who of American Women. She is the author of Eat the Elephant: Overcoming Overwhelm. Podcast Transcription Brian Basilico: Welcome, everybody and I got a question for you; I can totally relate to this: are you overwhelmed? I get overwhelmed a lot because there are so many things going on between podcast, and emails, and videos, and courses and all these other stuff and I get crazily overwhelmed, but I got an expert that's going to help us bring us back to a moment of the zen. Karolyn Blume, how are you doing today?
Karolyn Blume: Good, Brian. How are you?
Brian: I'm doing awesome.
When I first read your bio and your book, I looked at it and I said, “Oh, she's into law and meditation. No wonder why she could bring us back to a moment of zen.” But I got that wrong, didn't I?
Karolyn: Yes, it's law and mediation and there's a very little zen about the law.
Brian: Amen for that. So, how did you go from a lawyer and doing mediation to writing a book about “eating elephants?” » Expand To View More - Click Here Karolyn: Well, I guess I'm kind of a slow learner and it took me 25 years to realize that practicing law and litigating was no way to resolve disputes. Bashing each other around the courtroom and being antagonistic and hostile all the time is just not a good way to live. So, that lead me to mediation, which is a much more sane way to resolve disputes. You sit down, you can control your destiny, control the outcome, you're not depended upon people that you don't even k...
The fall in Chicago is what I call 50 Shades of Gray... because it's cloudy and drab almost every day. I miss the sunshine and the puffy white clouds already! But I want to talk about a different kind of cloud that can help you improve your marketing results... wordclouds. There are two websites a recommend WordClouds.com and TagCrowd.com. Each of these have different features and offers different views of your text. These can help you visualize your web pages, blogs, and more. What words are sticking out to you? Will they resonate with your intended audiences? There are five key questions you should ask yourself:
Who Do I Serve? (Who Is This Message For) What Problem Do They Have? Why Is It A Problem? How Can You (or they) Solve It? What Is The Result or Outcome?
In this episode, I will offer you some ideas on how you can use wordclouds to improve your marketing messages to connect better with your target audiences!
Marc dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button] Marc Mawhinney is on a mission to help coaches build stronger businesses! He has a passion for entrepreneurship, having started a number of businesses in his life and growing one to 100 employees. After becoming a coach, he saw the struggles that coaches face while trying to build their businesses, and decided to do something about it! He launched “Natural Born Coaches”, a daily podcast where he interviews successful coaches to share their advice and works with coaches with his 1:1, group, and online programs. Marc frequently makes media appearances and is a contributor for Entrepreneur.com. You can learn more about him at NaturalBornCoaches.com!
WARNING: This is part story, part lesson, part RANT! It's bad enough that we have to put up with robocalls, political ads, and polls, and just random hang-ups, but when a real salesperson calls and just won't take no for an answer, it's hard not to be angry and rude. I understand that people have a job to do, but I have learned over the years that closing a sale is more about listening than just talking. That was not the case with one call (actually multiple and a LinkedIn message from the same person today. There are three points I took away from this experience:
Herd Immunity is not the same as Heard Immunity Trust Takes Time (and has to be earned) There is a difference between Relationships and Real-lationships
In this episode, I hope you find some golden nuggets of what NOT TO DO when cold calling. I think the big lesson is that sales are a process, not just an activity!
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.
He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, a software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!
Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.
With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.
Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
Training our new dog Layla (who is 11 months) is a challenge. Luckily, she responds to food, or better yet - Treats! We have multiple treats for different training activities. We have one for when she goes on her walks, one for when she goes potty outside, and one type when she gets to get in her crate to go to sleep at night. The one thing I hate is certain kinds of packaging. Some of the treats have the zip lock style closure, which often takes precision to close and open. One of her bags has a velcro style that makes it so much easier. In this episode, we are going to talk about the parallels of training your audience to react to your marketing treats. There are three things that you can do to ensure that your treats are fresh and lead to a close (as in sales):
Frequency - Making sure you have enough to train them Consistency - Getting them to expect your messages at certain times Connectivity - Amplify your reach by making sure that your sales staff is involved
In this episode, we will explain why your marketing messages matter and how they can lead to building a bridge to better sales. It all has to do with training your audience to behave in a predictable way that helps your investments in relationships pay off with more sales!
Matt dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
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My Name is Matt Bacak. Snagged this from World Internet Summit bio page: As you may already know... one of Matt Bacak's last products holds the all-time gravity record on Clickbank ... 2,086.87 Gravity (and no one has come close to beating it yet), plus he's been creating some of the best converting & biggest game changing offers since 2001. He's been marketing online since 1999 He put up his first optin page in 2001 He has mailed up to 4.1 million emails a day for over a year He split-tests everyday & he buys solo ads every day too. He co-runs the List-building club with over 13,000 members. His lists are growing by up-to 10,978 subscribers a DAY! ... And just recently had the most affiliates ever signed up for a JV Giveaway launch... 2,656.
If we took a way-back machine to December 2019, you probably never would have guessed that you would be networking almost 100% online? Zoom has been a savior and a bain for many, but here we are living in a virtual networking world. One-on-ones are one of the best ways to grow your business, but they are often misunderstood and often end with no real plan or outcome. The best way to conduct one-on-one meetings is to sell nothing. You want to help create a relationship that can help your network gain referrals. Malcolm explains his theory about three types of influencers who become the creators and spreaders of virility - a Salesperson, a Connector, or a Maven. In Part one I will discuss my system to optimize your time and have more efficient and effective meetings through planing and well-defined outcomes. In Part 2, I will discuss some of the tools I use to make one-on-ones easier and convenient.
Zoom Acuity LinkedIn Nimble Crystal Evernote
In this episode, we will explore my simple one-on-one plan, and then all these tools that you can have for under $85 a month. If you follow these steps, you should be able to make at least 10 times that while you grow your business!
Gina dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
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Gina Gaudio-Graves is the founder and CEO of The Abundance Group, LLC, the parent company of Directions University. She is the Dean & Founder of Directions University.
Online, most people know her as “The JV Queen“, a title she earned by organizing some of the most successful product launches on the internet, for some of the internet’s biggest names such as Shawn Casey, Willie Crawford, Russel Brunson, David Garfinkel, Henry Gold, Holly Cotter, and many others.
Gina’s JV’s would bring in millions in a short period of time (often in less than a week!), but a year later, profits from the promotion would be long gone, and Gina’s client would be left wondering where the next dollars were coming from. This usually meant creating yet another new product, and a new product launch.
In his book, "The Tipping Point", Malcolm Gladwell discusses how viruses spread. We are not only talking about the medical kind, but the ones that influence people and culture. Viruses usually start small and grow slowly, but there becomes a tipping point where it srats to gain momentum to the point where it's hard to contain and control. It's often through some sort of influencer who amplifies the effects. Malcolm explains his theory about three types of influencers who become the creators and spreaders of virility - a Salesperson, a Connector, or a Maven. Each of these help messages to become sticky and expand their reach like a tinder fire in a dry forest.
Salespeople influence through persuasion Connectors influence through people Mavens influence through information and ideas
In this episode, we will explore how to find and leverage influencers from within your own network who can help you spread the good word about your business!
MICHAEL HAUGE works with people who want to change more lives and make more money, by telling compelling stories. He has been one of Hollywood’s top consultants and story experts since 1985, and has worked with countless writers and filmmakers, as well as every major studio, on projects starring (among many others) Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Reese Witherspoon.
Applying those same powerful story principles, Michael now coaches independent consultants, speakers, marketers, entrepreneurs and business leaders, and has presented seminars, lectures, and keynotes in person and online to more than 80,000 participants worldwide.
Michael is the bestselling author of Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read, as well as the 20th Anniversary Edition of his classic book Writing Screenplays That Sell. His latest book, Storytelling Made Easy: Persuade and Transform Your Audiences, Buyers and Clients – Simply, Quickly and Profitably, has just been released in digital, audio and print formats.
According to Will Smith, “No one is better than Michael Hauge at finding what is most authentic in every moment of a story.” [button link="http://www.storymastery.com/6steps" window="yes"]Get Michael's Free Offer - Chart Of Six Step Success Stories - Click Here[/button] [button link="http://www.storymastery.com/shop/books/storytelling-made-easy-persuade-transform-audiences-buyers-clients-simply-quickly-profitably/" window="yes"]Get Michael's New Book - Storytelling Made Easy - Click Here[/button]
Networking has changed and so have our businesses. If you are like me, we spend a lot of time on Zoom. I am here to tell you Zoom Fatigue is REAL! Meeting online increases our cognitive load because several of its features take up a lot of conscious capacity... and add caring for a puppy or a child into that? Some of the new people I am meeting are wanting me to introduce people to them that are in my network or LinkedIn contact, so they can try to sell them. That can be a bad idea and burn bridges and trust fast! We all need new business, but I am suggesting that you start with your own contacts first. There are four key groups that you should be marketing to right now.
Customers - What new offerings may serve them better? Past Customers - What's different in their jobs where you may help? Prospects - Do they understand what you do and the value of it for them? Vendors - How can you help them sell you by selling more of their services?
In this episode, we will explore how to effectively network and market to your own network first and how that can help you and others you network with!
Kelly dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
Click To Learn More! How Do I Decide What To Focus On Next? Tied for second place are questions like…
Where should I spend my time and money? What activities actually make money? How soon after one project gets under way, can I add another? How do I know if a project is really working? What’s my Target Market? What’s my Unique Selling Proposition? How do I overcome Shiny Object Syndrome? What is Entrepreneurial ADD and why do people keep saying I have it?
There are the questions asked by solopreneurs who sense they lack focus. They ask them because deep down they crave a better sense of direction! Podcast Transcription Brian Basilico: I don't know about you, guys, but I have a problem, and my problem is that I get distracted really easy. I call it, “Squirrel!” Our guest today is really, really good at helping you with that. Her name is Kelly McCausey. Kelly is going to help us learn about Bright Shiny Object Syndrome. Kelly, how are you doing today?
Kelly McCausey: I'm great. How are you?
Brian: I'm awesome. So, tell us who you are and how did you get to going from being a high school drop out to a solopreneur coach? There's got to be something in the middle there. » Expand To View More - Click Here Kelly: There's a lot in the middle and it's all exciting to me. Being a high school drop out meant I had trouble with money pretty much from the get-go. Being hard to employ hard to promote, hard to credit, I felt like I always startled with money, never had enough and that pretty much describes the first 25 years of my life. But there was a point where someone suggested that I could make some extra money providing a service, doing some desktop publishing. I created a website to offer those services and no one hired me to desktop publish, but lots have wanted me to build them a website. Just like that.
That brought me into the world of working home moms. My web host was Working Home Moms, my clients were work-at-home moms and as I would work on their websites, I would see all the different ways that they were making money and it made me very curious. [inaudible] but I had a community at the time, internet-based moms and it was a busy forum where I would sign lots of clients and outside became friends and ended up actually creating a membership site together that was launched in 2004. It completely changed my life because I went from being broke, under-employed to making a really exciting income just by shepherding a community and helping them find the information they needed to be successful.
Brian: Awesome. Now that you're doing this stuff, let's talk about “bright shiny objects.” What are bright shiny objects in business and believe me, I understand. But explain to my audience, what do you mean by bright shiny objects?
Kelly: In the internet marketing world and business in general, I'm sure Bright Shiny Object Syndrome is an issue, but in the internet marketing world, it's an epidemic of massive proportions.
How many mailing lists are you on, Brian? How many people are you subscribed to?
Brian: Too many to mention. I'm going to guess there's probably about 25 or 30.
Kelly: Then how many Facebook pages have you liked? How many podcasts have you subscribed to?
Brian: Too many?
Kelly: The input is huge and constant. I just comes in waves – information and offers and they're all so sparkly, they're all so shiny and new. I know when I was first starting to make money on the internet, I knew how to do something, I knew how to create a graphic and sell it, how to create a website and sell it,
Our last dog (Buddy Guy) never really would destroy his toys. Our new dog Layla is a completely different animal. She believes her purpose in live to find and spit the stuffing out of every toy you give her. She works the toy to find the string she can pull that will unlock the treasure that she considers success... find and pull out all the stuffing, and then move onto the next toy. Customers can be the same. We need to understand that they have a past that affects their current decisions (a common thread), and they may work with us to achieve their goals. Once they obtain that success, what's next?. Your goal is to provide the right service or products at the right time. Their goal is to solve a problem or create a result. How can you find a common thread that holds that relationship together?
What is the string? - Can you empathize? What is the stuffing? - What's the prize or success? What is the next toy? - If there a time to move on?
In this episode, we will discuss how to pull that common thread that holds together the business relationship, and what happens when you (and more importantly your clients) reach the end goal!
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.
He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!
Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.
With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.
Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
On a past podcast, I discussed the crazy idea we had of trying to adopt a dog and the lessons learned through the process. Well, a week ago we left downtown Chicago with a new 11-month-old puppy named Layla in the back of my SUV. We have adopted 5 rescue dogs over the last few years ranging from 3 to 11 years old. They were fairly well trained, housebroken, and generally good dogs. Adopting a puppy is a whole different ballgame. I get to walk her 3-4 times a day, so I started listening to audiobooks again and pondering business. I have gained quite a few new clients over the last couple of months and that has some parallels with adopting and training a new and energetic puppy. In both cases, you are trying to learn, working together to develop a beneficial relationship, mutual understanding, and hopefully all for the greater good. It's work and invigorating at the same time, but they do have some commonalities:
You Have to Build Trust You Have to Learn From Each Other It Helps To Have Treats Watch Like A Hawk Each Day Is a New Adventure
In this episode, we will learn while we teach. Puppies can be cute yet a lot of work. Beginning and maintaining new client relationships can be kind of the same!!
Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach and an award-winning executive coach and keynote speaker. During the past 28 years, she’s guided the creation of 3 millionaires and countless 6-figure business professionals. As an author, she’s published six books. The most recent ones are: “The Secret to Selling Yourself Anytime, Anywhere: Start Bragging!” (CareerBragging.com) and “It’s Time to Brag! Business Edition” (BizSavvyBrag.com) Every week she posts blogs on strategic business and leadership management concerns. (You can read them by visiting her website: http://seibco.com/articles/) Jeannette has a B.A. in Personnel Administration and M.A. in Communications from Michigan State University.
Learn More About Jeanette's Book - Click Here
Do you remember using a Rolodex? It was a device that was round or a slotted platform that contained index cards with sorted contact information in alphabetical tabs. We used to keep all our important business contacts on those for quick access. Although you may not have one of those on your desk anymore like the old one? You still have one on your desk in the form of a phone or desktop computer. You still want to keep track of four main groups: clients, prospects, vendors, and referrals. They contain the business relationships and human to human capital that is unique to you. Yet many people have no organized way to maintain and utilize those relationships in a proactive way that can help you promote and grow your business organically (without advertising. There are five basic steps to building and maintaining a system that will keep those relationships fresh and at your fingertips:
Clean Up Your Contacts - Slim down and organize your CRM Get Out and Network - Find new groups and meet new people Have Some One-On-Ones - Look for people that would be a good fit for your business or a connections business Take Good Notes and Get Them In Your CRM - Use LinkedIn Or Google To Research Stay In Touch and Refer when Possible and it makes sense
In this episode, we will discuss how and why you need to build a Golden Rolodex and how it can be an integral part of growing your business!
Brent Basham is an occasional podcaster, dad of three, co-founder of Poddit. In 2014 Brent had an epiphany. As a father and tech enthusiast, he realized we were standing at a very unique point in history. We were the last digital immigrants charged with raising the first digital natives. But with everything changing so fast, there was no road map to follow. So he did what anyone would do in his position... he grabbed a co-host and started a podcast. Digital Dads lasted nearly three years and left a lasting impact on both him and his listeners. After the show ended, Brent realized the challenge of guest discovery, connection, and coordination had yet to be solved. Or at least not in the way he envisioned. So with a background in technology, he set out to create a better solution. As co-founder Brent is now working to help make Poddit the best way to connect for podcast interviews. Podcasters Finding the right guests for your show is tough. It takes a lot of time and effort and sucks the fun right out of it. But the quality of your show depends on getting amazing interviews. Poddit makes it easy to find the perfect guest for your next interview. Join now to connect with amazing new people and raise your show to the next level. Expert Guests You have something unique to share, but where to share it? Podcast interviews are a powerful way to cut through the noise and get noticed. Poddit helps you leverage podcasts to reach excited new fans waiting to hear from you. Join now and connect with the perfect shows to help amplify your voice in a crowded market.
Learn More About Brent & Poddit - Click Here
Every marketing communications should have a common goal: to create a human-to-human conversation. It could happen online, on the phone, or in person, but that should be the purpose. Sometimes we make that process to complex upfront. Have your methods and systems changed with the changes in the ways we are doing business today? You want to make it simple to start a conversation. The less information you ask for when starting a conversation, the more likely people are to complete it and actually get the ball rolling. When you make people fill out too much information, people will tend to give up before the process is complete. You can always break your process into phases to help promote your desired response:
Tailor Expectations To The Interest Ask For Less Information To Start Build Your Process In Phases Ask For Feedback Take Action
In this episode, we will discuss how a simple dog adoption turned into a fiasco that could have been handled better in a way that would have saved time, relationships, and maybe sanity!
Ely Delaney is an Automated Systems Strategist and the co-founder of Purple Knight Marketing, an education company designed to help entrepreneurs go from surviving to thriving in any economy. He’s an Amazon bestseller with his two books “Marketing Tidbits” and “Networking Tidbits” With a passion for connecting people, his best selling training course “Networking Like A Rockstar” has over 1350 students registered globally. Ely helps speakers, authors, and coaches automate their follow up to grow their business without having to have an MBA from MIT. He’s the guy to help you build a 24/7 automated system and turn you into a Follow-Up Rockstar!
Connect with Ely - Click Here
In music, there are two kinds of feedback - Good and Bad. Bad feedback is that high pitched squeal you hear when a microphone gets too close to a speaker. Good feedback is the kind where you control (think of the opening guitar note in the song "I Feel Fine" by the Beatles). A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input for future operations. In marketing, we need to create feedback loops to help us find the right messages that resonate with our perfect audiences. There are four parts to a marketing feedback loop:
Action - Write or Create Something Evidence - Engagement Relevance - Measure Response Consequence - Change or Update Something
In this episode, we will discuss how you can use feedback loops to find the right messages that will resonate with your perfect audience. You can create a great feedback loop by asking the right questions, gathering the responses, dig deeper, and take action!
One business coach has forged his approach to helping entrepreneurs and business executives by using a monumental personal failure and eventual redemption to help get others where they need to go to find their personal success and fulfillment. At just 18 years old, Miha Matlievski, a Slovenian high school dropout, dreamed of becoming a successful entrepreneur. And he pursued it with a passion, putting in 12 years of hard work that resulted in four successful businesses and a personal net worth of $15M. But in December 2009, an unexpected call from his bank, which had decided to foreclose on his real estate investments, brought his world crashing down around him. That one negative event instigated an avalanche of ruin for him and his businesses, resulting in his four, once-successful companies going bankrupt.
Embracing that previous failure, Miha began to climb out of his rut and take charge of his own life once again. In 2014, he created a new startup, generating eight figures in less than a year. Many publications in Slovenia approached him and his story went viral.
Since Miha’s “resurrection,” he has been known as The Fail Coach. In that capacity, he helps entrepreneurs around the world embrace and have a healthy relationship with failure with the goal of reaching a higher level of success.
clients, making it easier for them to trust you.
Check Out Miha's Offering - CLICK HERE
Writing a book is a challenge. It was five months ago to the day that I started the process, and it IS a process. To do it right, it takes a team of designers, editors, proofreaders, and friends. It's easy to procrastinate and watch your time get consumed by perfectionism. Each of those ebbs and flows throughout any project. What makes it all work together is having a plan of attack and a system in place to move step-by-step throughout the journey. We all face setbacks and fallbacks, and disruptions that can derail us while we aim to complete any task:
Good Is the enemy of great Perfection is the enemy of done Done is the enemy of procrastination
In this episode, I will outline the 12 steps I used to complete the book and we will look at some of the excuses and challenges. When it comes to achieving your goals, procrastination and perfectionism need to be overcome to get your jobs, projects, and tasks DONE!
Nancy is a networking and social confidence coach with a background in contract law, dispute resolution, and NLP. She helps her clients build and re-build social and professional networks after major life changes like professional advancement, relocation, and (self)discovery. Nancy is an avid dahlia grower, photographer, and master sourdough bread maker. She also enjoys hiking, kayaking, and horseback riding. She lives in Memphis, TN with her husband, a chemical engineer, and 2 perfect terriers.
Favorite quote: "It IS who you know."
Check Out Nancy's Podcast - "Friends On Hand" - Click Here
Great marketing communication systems can work, but most of them only work when you feed the right message, to the right audience, at the right time. Some industries such as health and finance have limitations and restrictions due to compliance and regulations. It's like going to a knife fight with both hands tied behind your back. But you probably have an easier time of it. Your goal should be to get people's attention to make them interested enough to continue engaging with your content and hopefully take action to contact or buy from you. There are a few different techniques you can use to stand out from the crowd:
Create a disruptive message Ask a deep and probing question Use a magical metaphor
In this episode, we will do more than put perfume or lipstick on a pig... we will serve you up some content marketing BACON. I might even call you stupid and hopefully, you will like it?
Brad Banyas is an entrepreneur, executive and technology advocate with over 22 years of experience in the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry. Brad started his career in software sales in 1991. He then started, and subsequently sold, Output Solutions Inc.
Brad is currently the CEO of Outsource Management, Inc. (OMI) which he founded in 1999. OMI is the go-to resource for emerging mid-size companies that embrace CRM, Marketing Automation and Sales enablement platforms to grow and dominate their niche.
In 2016 Brad Banyas along with Paul Sciandra, Ravi Devulapalli and Thomas E. Orton co-founded 366 Degrees a Relationship Marketing and Sales Automation Platform.
Brad lives in Cumming Georgia with is wife of 27 years Brandy and his three sons, Connor, Cason, Michael and daughter Madeline.
Affiliate Product Info - Links and Description: 366 Degrees www.366.io- The Relationship Marketing + Sales Automation Platform for Small to Midsize Enterprises that manages the execution and delivery of communications across email, landing pages and social connections. The service combines the strength of other platforms such as Nimble CRM, Salesforce, Vidyard video by connecting and automating key engagements around sales, marketing and customer communications to provide a unified view of engagement.
In today's uncertain environment, there are many opportunities for people to take advantage of you and your business. Fake calls are on the rise. Scam and spam snail mail and email are more prevalent than ever. What can you do to protect yourself? There are many scams out there. Some are just simple while others are more ominous and complex. We can all be easily taken advantage of if we are not paying attention or some alarm bells are missed:
Keep an eye on your accounting - especially if you have a business debit card Keep an eye out for fake awards or fake bills you may get in the mail or in emails Pay attention to your recurring charges - especially those that happen annually
In this episode, I will share how I have been a victim of identity theft and what I did about it. I'll also outline some simple steps that you can use to protect your accounts, and your business from paying for things you don't need, use, or want!
"Chief Impossibility Officer" Joe M. Turner is the founder and principal speaker and performer at Turner Magic & Keynotes, providing world-class corporate entertainment and insightful keynotes for clients across the United States and worldwide. A summa cum laude graduate of Mississippi State University, Joe’s corporate experience is primarily in the area of change management and human performance. He was a manager in Accenture’s global change management consulting practice and later served as Vice President of Associate Development for Bank of America. As a speaker and entertainer, Joe leverages the impact of the illusion arts to captivate, communicate, and connect audiences and ideas. He has won numerous awards as a performer and speaker in the United States and abroad. He performs around the world, from the Hollywood Magic Castle to the London Palladium, as well as on Crystal Cruises. He has been seen on Good Morning America, Nightline, CNN Headline News, and countless other broadcasts both locally and internationally. He and his wife have a daughter and a son, and reside near Atlanta, Georgia.
Learn More About Joe - Click Here
Seth Godin said in his daily blog email "If it’s not helping you take action to make things better, what’s it for?" When it comes to the content you create, what's the action you expect people to take? In another blog email, he said, “That story in your head? It’s invented. It has to be.” and “If we find our story isn’t helping us, if it’s inaccurate or distracting or enervating, we can work to change it.”. The same goes for your clients. I often get the same three questions from my larger coaching clients:
“How do I know that what I am paying for is working?” “I feel like we are doing the right things, but what am I missing?” "What one thing should I be putting money into today?”
In this episode, we will explore how the stories we tell ourselves and the stories our customers tell themselves, can help you find the secrets to success We will also discuss how People are complex but business is easy?
An Entrepreneur of 15 years, Kerry is the Publisher of Pageant Platform Magazine and the Host of Pageant Platform Podcast. Kerry is a sought-after Speaker on topics such as Leveraging your Publicity to Close More Deals, Bodies Don’t Lie-Body Language Basics, The Significance of Color in Wardrobe and the Psychology Behind It, The Network Game - Making Networking “Work” for Your Business, and Follow-up Tips for $uccess. She is the Author of Pitch like a Bitch, Top 10 tips to Pitch like a Pro (Dec 2018) she is also the Creator of the Create your own Media series for Podcasting, Publishing and Publicity. Kerry has an extensive background in Sales, Networking, Recruiting, and Training. She is a former Model who specialized in Trade Show and Print work, and an experienced judge on the beauty pageant circuit. Kerry has interviewed celebrities such as Co-Host of Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran, Authors Larry Winget, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Former Miss West Virginia and QVC Talk Show host, Kim Parrish, and many more successful business entrepreneurs. She is a sought-after guest for many media outlets.
Visit Kerrys' Website
QUESTION? Is your marketing more like a vending machine or a restaurant? A vending machine is simple. People put money in and get something (generally overpriced) out. Restaurants are more complex. People will research them, make reservations, and they are not just buying food… they are buying an experience. We rarely are aware of all the little systems that make having a satisfying meal a relatively easy, and consistent experience possible.
Restaurant Management System Food Procurement System Seating System Food Preparation System Food Serving System Customer Service System Clean-Up System
In this episode, we will explore how your content marketing should be more like a restaurant with a system of systems and less like a vending machine, hoping that passers-by will trade money for snacks!
Michael graduated from Virginia Tech and went there on a wrestling scholarship and received a degree in Child Development and a minor in Organic Chemistry. Currently a Sales Executive for my family business. Recently married to Rachel who is from Long Island, NY. We have a Pitbull named Ziggy. I am a sneakerhead, compete in Olympic weightlifting, and a lover of all sports. My favorite thing about my job is networking with amazing people!
Follow Michael On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
We are living in a noisy world. We are living at gigabit speed. We are living in a world of rapid change. We face so much information being thrown at us that it can become mind-bending and often deafening. When it comes to communication, there are two common acronyms for FEAR
False Evidence Appearing Real
and
Face Everything and Rise
The first one has a very negative connotation. The second has a positive spin. When it comes to marketing, both methods of messaging are considered tools and have their uses, but I have to ask you, do you want your business and brand to be associated with the negative or the positive version? I want to offer you an alternative... a message of HOPE
Help Other People Excel
Effective relationship marketing helps you and the people in your business build customer loyalty and long-term engagement as opposed to short-term activities like customer acquisition. In this episode, we will explore more about how FEAR and HOPE affect your messages. Both have their place in marketing, but you must choose the right one for the right audience at the right time!
Nancy L. Kazdan, Founder & CEO, Market Share International is widely regarded by her clients as the leader in advising, coaching and training people from professional services organizations, financial institutions and technology firms in strategic marketing skills, presentation skills, conversational selling techniques and sales process reengineering. She helps her clients to dissect and improve every aspect of their verbal, electronic and written communication. She is known to rapidly increase measurable bottom line results with individuals and teams by shortening the sales communication supply chain. Select clients include Aconex Technology, Ernst & Young, Colliers Jardine, Deutsche Asset Management, Russell Investment Group and Credit Suisse. Nancy leverages extensive institutional and alternative investment and organizational experience building, enabling, leading, managing and increasing sales team effectiveness. Rapidly achieving quantifiable bottom line results. Client revenue highlights:
coached International Private Equity Business Development Manager to target a new market resulting in new business of $20M in six months advised 17 startups to present their value proposition, strategy and accomplishments to raise capital with investors architected 300% increase in Request for Proposal (RFP) wins in six months exceeded $1B Assets Under Management (AUM) with wholesalers/inside sales teams project Managed a turnaround for a European Investment Bank resulting in $39.8M increase in sales in six (6) weeks increased sales of $390M credit opportunities fund in eight (8) weeks developed customized sales processes, increased sales by $140M over seven (7) months
U.S. born and Silicon Valley raised, Nancy received her BS from the University of California, East Bay. She has certifications in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching and Sales Behavioral Preference Assessments, post-graduate courses in Organizational Development, Transformational Leadership and Strategic Market Management. She has been a guest lecturer in Sydney, Australia at the Graduate School of Management and worked internationally in Jakarta, Hong Kong and Singapore. She is frequently called upon as a presenter, panelist and mentor for industry forums and conferences by Bloomberg, Investment Management Institute, Thomson Reuters Financial and the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Visit Nancys' Website
No matter what size business you have or are working in, it should have a LinkedIn Business page. Whether you are a solopreneur or a corporate CEO, you need to make sure that you have a cohesive message across all areas of any social media platform. Companies will often set them up, .but either ignore them or post so infrequently that no one pays attention to them. There are some very common unintentional mistakes that many companies make. By not utilizing Business pages to their fullest extent, you may be missing out on analytics and people who could be great prospects, or even miss opportunities to convert them into clients. The 5 most common mistakes that I often see businesses make are:
It Starts At The Top Incomplete Profiles Company Ties Hanging "Chads" Identify & Engage
In this episode, we will explore these 5 common problems and why they should matter to you... no matter how big or small your business is!
Andrew left a management career at Pepsi-Cola in California to teach finance in Thailand and has not stopped teaching since. In 1993, he found his life calling as a financial analyst, a job for which he was eventually voted #1 in Thailand. In the second half of his 20-year career in investment banking, Andrew was the head of research leading teams of financial analysts. During that time, he co-founded CoffeeWORKS in 1995, Thailand’s leading B2B coffee roaster, and served as president of CFA Society Thailand. Andrew now runs A. Stotz Investment Research, which provides research and research tools for institutions and high-net-worth investors; and helps CEOs make their companies financially world-class.
Check Out Andrew's Financial Course - CLICK HERE
Use The Coupon Code: BACON for 30% off!
There is a difference between in-person or face-to-face networking and online networking. When you meet in person, you usually have the attention of more than one person at a time. Online it's much more of a one-on-one relationship at a time. There is also a difference between social media and social networking. Social media is more about advertising, while social networking is more about building and growing relationships. H2h or Human to Human is at the core of relationship marketing. When people fill out a form on your website, that is just the beginning of the relationship process. You have to be willing to reach out to that person to continue the process by reaching out. Many businesses are focused on the ROI (return on investment) with online communications. I am suggesting that you focus on the Ror or Return on Relationship first. By focusing on the person first it can increase your chances of turning people into profits. This happens through:
Recommendations Referrals Advocates Education Listening
In this episode, we will explore the connections between H2h and Ror, and how you can and should be leveraging your online connections and relationships!
Mark S. Babbitt is President of WorqIQ, a community and change management consultancy that helps organizations understand leadership’s impact on culture and their collective level of Workplace Intelligence (WQ). Mark is also CEO and Founder of YouTern, a career site that enables college students and young professionals to find their first or next internship or job in the right organization for them. Mark co-authored the best-seller A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive. His next book, Good Comes First: How Companies Can Create an Uncompromising Company Culture in a Confrontational World comes out later in 2020. Mark’s written words can also be found in Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes, Harvard Business Review and many other publications. An in-demand speaker, Mark was named one of Inc. Magazines Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
Connect With Mark on LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
I've been working on my new book “Toilet Paper Math”. Last week I talked about the three "P"s of Thought Leadership and I would be remiss if I did not interject some potty humor. That's why I am calling this a Pu-Pu Platter of content. A Pu-Pu Platter is a selection of Chinese food that lets you sample before you order the main course. You can do the same thing with your content. No matter how big or small, you can grab pieces that create appetizers. Then people can sample to get a taste of what you are presenting.You can create a content ecosystem by sampling parts of your blogs, webinars podcasts, video, presentation, and more, and creating bite-sized chunks that attract people to your main course. I will give you some great ideas about how you can incorporate and sample all of these: The Pu-Pu Platter
Live Presentations or Classes Webinars Video Audio & Podcasts Ebooks Blogs Infographics Awareness Graphics
In this episode, we dig into the sampler and how you can use each type of content to create marketing appetizers to attract your perfect customer to the main course... SALES!.
Dr. Jim Barry is the author of Social Content Marketing for Entrepreneurs, a textbook used in the instruction of MBA courses. He has served as Professor of Marketing at NSU since August, 2004 where he teaches courses in social media marketing, consumer behavior, and integrated marketing communication. He won the 2019 President’s Distinguished Faculty Award and was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi earlier this year. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, Jim completed an MBA in Marketing at DePaul University. He then received his doctorate from NSU. Jim’s publications have appeared in many leading marketing journals primarily about social media marketing, content marketing, humor, storytelling, cross-cultural relational marketing and emerging markets. He serves on the editorial review boards of top journals like the European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. He joined NSU after a 25-year career in executive marketing positions with AT&T Bell Labs, Gould Electronics, GE Aerospace, BFGoodrich Aerospace, Rockwell Collins and two start-up firms. His primary responsibilities as a director of marketing and strategic planner included mergers and acquisitions, business development and global marketing development for high tech electronics firms. He and his wife, Claudia, reside in Delray Beach where they serve as pastors for Trinity Church International and facilitate a number of classes on biblical world views.
Read the Thought Leadership Social Marketing Research Report - CLICK HERE
When people say that they want to be found on social media, that can mean many things. You can be fun, entertaining, controversial, or just a standard user and observer. To make social media REALLY work for your business you have to be able to position yourself as a Thought Leader or someone whose views on a subject are taken to be authoritative and influential. You really can't advertise or simply post your way to success. You have to earn trust and that takes time. You also have to have to pick a lane and a communication style. There are also three characteristics that all thought leaders possess... Purpose, Passion, and a Plan! Purpose
Mission - Why Bother? Vision - What Will Happen Value - What Will Users Get?
Passion In this article - CLICK HERE - Jim Barry explains 8 different thought leadership styles that you can gravitate to with consistency and authenticity. Plan How are you going to communicate those ideas? What should you do daily, weekly, monthly? In this episode, we will explore all of those above parts and how you can create the Purpose, Passion, and Plan to become a thought leader in your industry.
Are you an entrepreneur on a mission to make an impact and build a highly profitable business? Stay tuned! Named by Inc Magazine as one of the Top 13 Business Shows, JV Crum III hosts the Conscious Millionaire Podcast and Radio Network with over 12 Million Listeners and over 2,000 episodes heard in 190 countries. JV is a #1 best-selling author, speaker, mindset and strategy coach, and serial-entrepreneur who made his First Million at age 25. Help me welcome, JV Crum III…
Get JVs Empowerment Audio - CLICK HERE
With business in flux, people are moving. They may be changing jobs either by choice or by economic conditions. Just last year, the average job tenure lasted 3-5 years but that may change more rapidly in the coming months and years. Contacts within companies you've been doing business with could be here today and gone tomorrow. In some cases, that may affect your sales as well. An easy way to stay on top of this is by simply sending an email. If it bounces, you know that a person has moved on or been replaced. How can you keep track of them in a quickly changing landscape? You have to find a way to stay in touch and periodically reach out to them to keep your lines of communication open for possible new opportunities. LinkedIn is a great tool to do that:
People often use personal email
It has tools to communicate outside of email
They may be more willing to chat outside of a new company email
In this episode, we will discuss how you can use some simple tools and methods to help you follow the bouncing customers and be ready for new business opportunities when they arise.
Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark’s authored many books including his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Here is what is happening today in business:
You can now work from anywhere (most people in the service business)?
Your customers may have a new job (now or soon)?
You need to stay in contact with them!
Use the 10-10-10 strategy.
Is your competition ready to serve that customer?
Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since I started writing my first book. At that time I created a website to promote it. Since then I have added 3 more books but never really looked at the website as a whole. Although the principles of the materials in the books has not changed much, the way I need to frame them to entice a new audience has. The messages I was presenting had become stale and disconnected from the present. There has been a lot of change over the years and lately, change has gone into hyperdrive. We have less and less time to get attention in this short attention span theater. Our culture has drastically changed over the last 4 years, and more recently our circumstances have changed in the last 4 months! Marketing through a step-by-step process creates a system that is consistent, actionable, and measurable:
Know Your Avatar (Your Perfect Customer)
Make Your Listener Or Reader The Hero Of your Story
Show Empathy (People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care)
In this episode, we will dig deeper into steps you can take to make sure you are taking aim, and hitting that moving target of your audience's attention!
Jeffrey is a leading business expert, cited in Forbes, SUCCESS, Mashable, Marketing Week and Chief Executive, among many others. He shares his executive insight and commentary on television networks like Bloomberg, MSNBC, Fox Business, and C-Suite TV. Hayzlett is a former Bloomberg contributing editor and primetime host, and has appeared as a guest celebrity judge on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump for three seasons. He is a turnaround architect of the highest order, a maverick marketer and C-Suite executive who delivers scalable campaigns, embraces traditional modes of customer engagement, and possesses a remarkable cachet of mentorship, corporate governance, and brand building.
I love puzzles. My favorite is a word puzzle where you have to take jumbled letters and create the right word based on a clue. Marketing and sales are justifiably interconnected. There are a series of dots that you should be connecting. Each of those dots is a step that leads from one predefined specific marketing activity to another and ultimately to closed sales. Just like with kids 'Connect The Dots' puzzles, each dot has to be done in the right order in order to create a clear picture. The same goes for your marketing activity. Each has a purpose and should be done in order. Marketing through a step-by-step process creates a system that is consistent, actionable, and measurable:
Measurable Steps
Creating Real In-Person Conversations
Create A Measurable Percentage Of Income Through Sales
In this episode, we will discuss each of these processes can have a long-lasting and measurable effect on generating new and sustainable sales!
Struggle with creating content? Jeff Herring provides tools, templates, software, and strategies to make content creation easy! No experience necessary. Jeff Herring AKA The Content Marketing Guy is an internet marketer specializing in article marketing, teaching internet marketers, authors, speakers and self-employed professionals to write and market articles for more prospects, publicity and profits, and to create multiple streams of income with their content. Jeff began as a marriage and family therapist, with a thriving practice for over 25 years… He began writing a weekly syndicated column and found that he became the “Therapist in the Paper” and grew his private therapy practice into a thriving business, with people and groups on his waiting list and filling the practices of his colleagues with the overflow. Afterlife happened and Jeff found himself divorced, his children have moved away from Florida to Georgia so Jeff moved to Georgia as soon as possible and in addition to some long-distance therapy clients, he began teaching other people how to quickly and easily create content to promote their businesses. When the internet took off, he found the same type of articles from his syndicated column worked wonders for bringing targeted traffic to his (and his client’s) websites. And the Content Marketing Guy was born… Jeff’s students and clients discover how to write more articles in less time, get their information in front of more eyes in as many consumable forms as possible, create a massive web presence, build a highly qualified and highly responsive list, and create multiple information products to build their information empire with their content. When Jeff turned his content marketing expertise on the internet, he created a flood of traffic to his web sites that he could not stop if he wanted to, and he doesn’t want to. He is perhaps the most prolific Content Marketing expert in the world, practicing what he preaches with well over 1.5 Million article views online. See some of Jeff Herring’s articles here.
WATCH Medium Training Webinar Replay - CLICK HERE Get Jeffs' 21 Fresh Content Ideas - CLICK HERE
Not so long ago, business, as usual, has come to an abrupt halt. In some cases, it has changed in scope and feel, while others have had a complete shutdown. Many people are scrambling to figure out how to grow or rebuild their businesses, but I would like to offer you some hope. Now is a great time to use the 100/0 Principle. This has proven it's worth in my business for years and I know it can work for you also. "Give 100% Of Yourself… 100% Of The Time… Expect Nothing In Return… And Watch What Happens?" - Al Ritter My friend Al Ritter outlined four key steps that you could and should use to make the most of this relationship-building philosophy:
What Can You Do? Expect Nothing In Return Don't Personalize The Outcome Be Persistent
In this episode, we will discuss how you can use the 100/0 Principle to start building great relationships today... that can help build great business opportunities for the future!
Get Als' Book - The 100/0 Principle - CLICK HERE
Nancy L. Kazdan, Founder & CEO, Market Share International is widely regarded by her clients as the leader in advising, coaching and training people from professional services organizations, financial institutions and technology firms in strategic marketing skills, presentation skills, conversational selling techniques and sales process reengineering. She helps her clients to dissect and improve every aspect of their verbal, electronic and written communication. She is known to rapidly increase measurable bottom line results with individuals and teams by shortening the sales communication supply chain. Select clients include Aconex Technology, Ernst & Young, Colliers Jardine, Deutsche Asset Management, Russell Investment Group and Credit Suisse. Nancy leverages extensive institutional and alternative investment and organizational experience building, enabling, leading, managing and increasing sales team effectiveness. Rapidly achieving quantifiable bottom line results. Client revenue highlights:
coached International Private Equity Business Development Manager to target a new market resulting in new business of $20M in six months advised 17 startups to present their value proposition, strategy and accomplishments to raise capital with investors architected 300% increase in Request for Proposal (RFP) wins in six months exceeded $1B Assets Under Management (AUM) with wholesalers/inside sales teams project Managed a turnaround for a European Investment Bank resulting in $39.8M increase in sales in six (6) weeks increased sales of $390M credit opportunities fund in eight (8) weeks developed customized sales processes, increased sales by $140M over seven (7) months
U.S. born and Silicon Valley raised, Nancy received her BS from the University of California, East Bay. She has certifications in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching and Sales Behavioral Preference Assessments, post-graduate courses in Organizational Development, Transformational Leadership and Strategic Market Management. She has been a guest lecturer in Sydney, Australia at the Graduate School of Management and worked internationally in Jakarta, Hong Kong and Singapore. She is frequently called upon as a presenter, panelist and mentor for industry forums and conferences by Bloomberg, Investment Management Institute, Thomson Reuters Financial and the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Visit Nancys' Website
I have to admit it, I have become bored lately. It's not from a lack of work to do? It was because the work I was accomplishing was becoming redundant. Have you ever heard the acronym F.O.C.U.S? It stands for Follow One Course Until Successful. Sometimes you have to take a break or create a diversion and switch gears. This past weekend I was so bored that I actually organized our Tupperware drawer, but that did nothing for my business. Then I found a way to get single projects done and then combine them into a system that will help me promote to new businesses moving forward:
Awareness Graphics Checklists Videos
In this episode, we will look at how you can break the monotony by taking it one project at a time and help you stay focused to achieve success by accomplishing a productive goal!
Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children. Brian is also the director of the National Youth Science Camp and the licensee and lead organizer of TEDxMarshallU.
Visit Brian Kinghorn's Website
If you have listened to this podcast for a while you probably know that I love golf. The good news in Illinois is that they are opening up golf courses soon, but there are still a lot of questions that have to be answered about how?. During the course of any given week, people ask me a lot of questions, but I have been less than vigilant about capturing those. I created a simple fix for that. I created a worksheet that I keep on my desk and I try to capture the top 5 questions I get asked. By having that sheet on my desk, it keeps reminding me to capture those questions, and then write down brief answers to them. What that has done is given me great content ideas that I can share in my weekly or daily blogs, podcasts, and social posts. Here is the list of questions that I was asked just this last week:
Should I mention that virus? What platforms are hot right now? How do I stay motivated? How often should I post content? Are podcasts good for marketing?
In this episode, I will answer these questions for you and we will explore you can capture the top questions your clients are asking you. As a BONUS, I will give you a FREE worksheet to capture great questions - Click below!.
Download My Free Question & Answer Worksheet - Click Here!
I grew up an entrepreneur and inventor, learning to use technology to help build the next "big" thing. When I was younger, that was a water cooled computer and then a car computer. Later that was starting a business where I helped entrepreneurs and businesses build the technology and software they needed to run their business—it was a blast to help other businesses achieve their dreams. After 20 years building tech for 75+ startups and companies such as Apple and United Healthcare—I sold the software company I built from scratch (to millions in ARR and a team of 25), and then set out to coach others with the same successful strategies. Now I’ve built a framework, a toolbox and tools to help build and scale tech companies. I do this by helping them achieve business results, increase their value to customers and to shareholders. I use the tools I’ve developed to align their tech architecture, people and processes.
Check out Stephens' Company SPG Labs - CLICK HERE
Happy spring! Spring is here - Trees are blooming, noses are running and I am jogging. As I run through my neighborhood, there is a park that I can see through the trees, but as the treas begin to bud it's getting harder to see it every day. As business people, we can often get bogged down in the details. In other words “Can't see the forest for the trees”. The same thing happens when trying to create content for our businesses. If you are not a professional writer, you may have a hard time coming up with, and finishing the content you want to create to help to market to your customers. My suggestion today is it may be a good idea to hire some help. A good writer can help you create great content by:
A Fresh Set Of Eyes And Ears The Q&A? Word Smithing Turning Your Ideas Into Stories Proofreading
In this episode, we will look at how hiring help can not only create more consistent and better content, but can give you mor time to enjoy the outdoors.
Email me at AskBrian@b2b-im.com, and I will send You my Time Management Course - Free!
Matthew Brennan is a freelance copywriter specializing in high-quality blog and website content, as well as landing pages, sales letters, and other marketing materials. He translates complex industry concepts into a formula that resonates with your business audience. Matt has worked with small and medium-sized businesses across a variety of industries. He's also had work published in Huffington Post, ProBlogger, Chicago Parent, the Chicago Sun-Times, and several other websites, newspapers, and publications. Matthew is the author of Write Right - Sell Now, and The Virus and Us, a Letter from Father to Son in the Midst of the Covid-19 Crisis.
Check out Matt's New Ebook - "The Virus And Us" - CLICK HERE
During this time of crisis, you are either identified as a an essential or non-essential business. But you have an essential part of your business and that is your website. It's like a bank (which is an essential business. You don't put money in a bank to make money of it (with interest rates currently below 1%). You use it to protect your assets. I consider the content that you create as an asset and it need protection. If the only content creation you do is posting on social media, then you are not insured (like the FDIC insures deposits in a bank). At anytime, your social media account can be turned off and you losse all control of your audience and your assets. You want to protect it by controlling your website, hosting and domain. Here are the five things you have to do to help makimize your deposits in your bank...
Your Website Is Your Bank Own It Insure It Invest In It Be a Philanthropist
In this episode, we will discuss how your website is like a bank. Make sure your not just an ATM but you have a TELLER window to build relationships.
Email me at AskBrian@b2b-im.com, and I will send You my Time Management Course - Free!
Perry Marshall is one of the most expensive business strategists in the world. He is endorsed in FORBES and INC Magazine. He’s guided clients like FanDuel and InfusionSoft from startup to hundreds of millions of dollars. He founded the $10 million Evolution 2.0 Prize, with judges from Harvard, Oxford and MIT. Launched at the Royal Society in London, it’s the world’s largest science research award. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs uses his 80/20 Curve as a productivity tool. His reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review. His Google book laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry, and Ultimate Guide to Google Ads is the world’s best selling book on internet advertising. Marketing maverick Dan Kennedy says, “If you don’t know who Perry Marshall is — unforgivable. Perry’s an honest man in a field rife with charlatans.”
He’s consulted in over 300 industries. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and lives in Chicago
Check out Perry's - COVID-19 IMPACT FACTOR™ - CLICK HERE
I hope you are staying healthy & safe?
Have you ever been on a flight where the oxygen masks have dropped? In the pre-flight briefing, they often say, “Although the bag may not inflate, rest assured oxygen is flowing. Secure your own mask before assisting others.”
At times like these, it can be startling, upsetting, and make you and those around you uneasy. I just want you to know that This is not normal but… It's OK!
You may be just fine or a complete wreck, but It's OK. Many of us have had their daily lives and routines changed in drastic ways. Some of this may be direct or indirect change (through other in our lives or networks). It's not normal but... It's OK...
Not To Be As Prodcutive As Usual To Be Lonely, or Sad, or Angry To Be Yourself, While inventing A New You
In this episode, we will discuss some ideas that I hope will help you get through these trying times, as well as some ideas that you can maybe use to help others cope. This is not normal but... It's OK!
Email me at AskBrian@b2b-im.com, and I will send You my Time Management Course - Free!
Cam Russo is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and an established freelance writer, blogger, author, and content strategist. When he's not doing writing or other blog-related things, he can usually be found reading, snowboarding, playing soccer or basketball, petting dogs, traveling, or writing about a variety of topics that he finds interesting. Cam's primary focus is the digital marketing niche and he loves blogging and building websites! "When I’m not doing writing or blog-related things, you can usually find me reading, snowboarding, playing soccer or basketball, petting dogs, traveling, or wondering feverishly if I remembered to turn the coffee maker off before I left the house."
Check out Cam's Blog & Website - CLICK HERE
Last week on social media (Facebook) I posted this quote... "If we view ourselves as besieged victims who need to go into hiding, then we cultivate fear and hoarding. If we view ourselves as a community working hard to protect the most vulnerable among us, then we will cultivate courage and helping." - Mindset matters! If you watch or read the news, play around on social media, you will see a wide range of messages ranging from uplifting to downright disturbing. My goal is to help you stay positive. While your at that, you can help others keep positive, but it may take a little work. You want to be consistant, and you have to monitor how people perceive your messages. You can do this by doing these three things...
Pick A Lane Keep It Light Be The Helper
In this episode, we will explore some ideas on how you can help to keep yourself looking at the glass as half-full, as opposed to half-empty, or at least you will be happy that you at least have a glass!
Email me at AskBrian@b2b-im.com, and I will send You my Time Management Course - Free!
Brian Kurtz has had two careers.The first spanned 34 years as a force behind Boardroom Inc., an iconic publisher and direct marketer. During that time, he was mentored by, and worked with, a who’s who of marketing legends (who he owes everything to). And more specifically, he worked side-by-side with the most prolific copywriters who have ever lived. His second career, which he is five years into as the Founder of Titans Marketing, is a direct marketing educational and coaching company where he has also continued working with the best-of-the-best. Titans Marketing is known for two (soon to be three) mastermind groups, an array of classic books and swipe files Brian has re-published and created…and he is the author of two books himself. His most recent book is Overdeliver: Build a Business for a Lifetime Playing the Long Game in Direct Response Marketing. It is his opus (but not a memoir). His first book, The Advertising Solution, profiles six legends of advertising and copywriting including Gene Schwartz and Gary Halbert. As a business-to-consumer marketer at Boardroom, Brian was responsible for selling over a billion dollars’ worth of products “$39 at a time” to millions. As a business-to-business marketer with Titans Marketing, he has sold over $5 million worth of products (and services) to thousands, enabling them to spread the gospel about direct marketing to millions. During both careers, he has been a serial direct marketer, with a foundation in the eternal truths and fundamentals of direct response…while being committed to “overdelivering” over almost four decades.
Check out Brian's Book - Overdeliver - CLICK HERE Learn More About Brian & Titans Marketing - Click Here
We are a week or so into a major change in our business work environments. Many workers have been sent home to either work there, or wait for the business climates to change. During this time of home confinement (in many states) you have an opportunity to be either bored or busy. If you are one of the unlucky ones who's businesses has been temporarily closed, you may be bored. Here are three thinks you can do to keep the work flow happening:
Organize Contacts and Clean Up Lists Update Your Website Reach Out To Current Or Potential Customers
Maybe you business serves one of the sectors that are getting slammed with new business (medial, logistics, food production)? Chances are you are facing new challenges like:
Time Management Project Management Content & Contact Management
Either way... In this episode, we will explore some ideas on how you can maximize this time to keep your business in tip-top shape, while you wait to see what the new normal looks like on the other side?
Don't Panic... PIVOT! - Webinar Replay - Click Here!
Payman Taei is the founder of Visme, an all-in-one visual communication platform empowering everyone to create and share beautiful interactive presentations, infographics, reports and other forms of engaging content with no design skills. Affiliate Product Info - Links and Description: Visme is a leading do-it-yourself design platform that allows anyone to translate information into captivating and easy-to-understand visual content in the form of interactive presentations, infographics, visual reports, and everything in-between. Founded in 2013 and completely bootstrapped from the ground up, Visme has grown into a healthy and stable brand in visual communication with over 4.5 million users from more than 100 countries worldwide and trusted by leading brands and organizations including IBM, WorldBank, HP, ManTech and General Dynamics.
Try A Free Version of Visme - CLICK HERE
When I ran my business in the 1990's I was faced with a disaster that took me by surprise and almost shut my business down. Our recording studio was flooded with raw sewage and it took months to recover from. We did what we could do to keep the doors open and get by, but it took effort and foresight. We have all lived through some horrific recent recent crises like 9-11, hurricanes, and other natural and financial disasters. Although this is nothing to take lightly, you can still take some measures to help ensure you make it through the storm. We have to take time and think of ways to not only deal with a crisis, but pivot to make sure we can do our best to keep things as normal as possible. It's not easy, and will take some collective man (and woman) power, brain power, and intestinal fortitude to find ways that we can make the most of a bad situation. I have found that it takes three key things that we should try do to make sure that we don't just roll up onto a ball and and wither. You have to do your best to...
Adapt
Innovate
Communicate
In this episode, we will explore what you can do to ride out the storm of change. Take a deep breath, don't panic, and we will get through this!
Get Your Free Version of Zoom - Online Meeting Program
Chris Brogan is CEO of Owner Media Group , providing skills for the modern entrepreneur. He is also a highly sought after professional speaker and the New York Times bestselling author of nine books and counting. His latest is called Find Your Writing Voice.
Chris has spoken for or consulted with the biggest brands you know, including Disney, Coke, Google, GM, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker, Titleist, Scotts, Humana Health, Cisco, Sony USA, and many more. He’s appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, interviewed Richard Branson for a cover story for Success magazine, and once even presented to a Princess. People like Paulo Coelho, Harvey Mackay, and Steven Pressfield enjoy sharing their projects and best ideas with Chris, because they know he’ll share them with you. Tony Robbins had Chris on his Internet Money Masters series. Forbes listed Chris as one of the Must Follow Marketing Minds of 2014, plus listed his website as one of the 100 best websites for entrepreneurs. Statsocial rated Chris the #3 power influencer online.
Most importantly, Chris provides education and tools to help you make your life and your business thrive, by teaching you which actions will get you what you want. Through books, speeches, courses, and workshops, Chris is dedicated to helping you grow your capabilities and connections and to getting you to that next level of success, no matter where you are in the process right now. Chris also offers limited personal coaching, and offers limited consulting to businesses.
Chris lives in northern Massachusetts. His better half is Jacqueline Carly. Between the two of them, they have three kids, and love to explore many challenging and exciting hobbies and pastimes.
One of the most basic marketing tools is face-to-face networking. Getting out of your office and meeting new people is a sure fire way to increase business opportunities and learn new things. Networking can happen online as well. That is the power of social media. You can enhance the power of face-to-face networking, or emulate it in the digital world. One of the unwritten rules of networking is you are there to listen twice as much as your talk. If possible, you are looking to help others make beneficial connections and pay it forward. You may never get any direct business out of that exchange, but you never know when being top of mind can lead to a positive outcome for you and your business in the form of a referral. But you should never go into networking expecting anything in return. Sometimes people are not aware of that unwritten rule and are just there to connect and pitch you. Here are 5 ways that it can that a great networking meeting can ultimately turn into a Pitch Fest...
The Get To Know You Pitch
The Work Together Pitch
The We Are Looking For Partners Pitch
The I Need What You Sell Pitch
The Can I Buy You Lunch Pitch
In this episode, we will explore what to do and how to deal with some of those over pitchy overtures, and keep you interested in continuing to embrace the power of networking!.
Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Here are the 5 Lies CEOs tell themselves:
I don’t need a business plan?
I don’t need a marketing plan?
I just need to motivate my sales guys?
I don’t have time to work on a strategy?
I don’t have the time to work on my leadership skills?
Bonus - The Seven Critical Executive Skills
Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
Have you ever had a dream or a great idea at night, said to yourself "I have to remember this?", and then wake up only to remember that you wanted to remember something, and just forgot what it was? I think we all have done that while sleeping, walking the dog, networking, or just walking around the house. I am going to suggest you get yourself a Dream Catcher. Dream Catchers can be digital (like an Apple Watch or Phone), or as simple as a pad or pen. The big idea here is to train yourself to capture those ideas so you can incubate them, work with them, and hopefully turn them into great customer focused content. I often simply open an audio app and start speaking random ideas, and then get them transcribed. Not only do you have to capture them, but you have to actively work on those dreams. I have created a system that I have perfected and works for me...
Use YOUR Idea Catcher Research And Add To The Notes Capture, Enhance & Organize Rewrite It & Rewrite It Again Get a Second Set OF Eyes On It
In this episode, we will explore how to capture those random thoughts and start to convert them from raw materials into great content, that hopefully will make those dreams come true.
Over a decade leading global SaaS businesses, Andrew has tried just about everything to generate growth with marketing. Some of which has work; most of which hasn’t. But through identifying new products, pivoting to adjacent markets, changing monetization models, spending big on above the line marketing, doubling down on search engine marketing and more, Andrew has developed a repeatable approach to marketing that he calls “creatively analytic.”
As CMO of Evernote, Andrew has created an organization using this approach that delivers just the right message at just the right time through owned and earned media. Since joining Evernote, he’s driven the company past 200M registered users, more than 5B notes and double paying users; all leading to cash flow positive.
Change happens. Change is inevitable. Change is a process. It's a lot of things, but often never easy. Especially when it involves multiple people, with multiple objectives, and multiple points of view. When you are working with a diverse group of people that you are trying to convince to change things, you have to see things from multiple perspectives. Some people find change easy, while others see it as hard. Some embrace change while other restist. Some have no attachment to the status quo, while others will hold onto it like a fence post in a tornado? To encourage change you have to see it from each person's perspective and how it effects and affects them...
Change Starts With Why Change = WIIFM Change Is Different In The Eye Of The Beholder
In this episode, we will explore how change creates disruption and how disruption facilitates change. Learn how to be adaptable, flexible, and how failure leads to success.
Mark S. A. Smith designs and implements customer acquisition systems that find and recruit customers for disruptive products. He speaks at entrepreneurial events delivering pragmatic ideas to grow and succeed.
He is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, and business owner who works with leaders who must develop the best way to bring in the right customers, fast!
Mark wrote 13 books and sales guides targeting government, educational, healthcare and the private sector, including three with Guerrilla Marketing author, Jay Conrad Levinson. He has authored more than 400 magazine articles.
With his engineering, sales, and business background, he can teach information in a way that customers, sales people, and management understand so that they can clearly communicate with their customers.
Creates powerful and innovative sales channel tools, combining product knowledge with proven sales skills. Creates custom white papers and books to sell technology to top management. Delivered thousands of speeches on selling.
Mark dropped additional nuggets of sales and marketing goodness in the EXTENDED Interview. Be sure to click here to access all of our great extended interviews, transcripts and more within our Insider's Club. You can try it for the entire month for only $1.00! [button link="http://baconpodcast.com/dollar-special/"]READ MORE >[/button]
I saw this video online where a math (multiplication) was done the traditional way (how I learned) and the NEW way (putting numbers in a table and working it in phases). The old way took 20 seconds where the new way took over 3 minutes? New math is everywhere, especially at the grocery store in the toilet paper isle. Can you explain to me how 18 rolls of toilet paper today equals 72 old rolls, or 30 equals 120, or 24 equals 96? It just does not make sense? But that's how some people treat marketing these days. They try to make you feel like you are getting more for your money... but more WHAT? Some of these techniques include...
SEM (Search Engine Marketing or Online Ads) SEO (Search Engine Optimization or Keyword Ranking) Email Marketing (Collecting Names and Broadcasting Sales Messages)
In this episode, we will learn a lot about the history of toilet paper, and how toilet paper math does not always equate to better value and returns on investment for your business!
Ellen Huxtable is a business coach, author, and speaker. Her company, Advantage Business Concepts, helps clients get past the speed bumps of business. Ellen offers consultative services, team facilitation, and peer forum opportunities. She is the author of "From Corporate to Consultant," "Power Networking for Job Seekers," "Power Networking for Small Businesses," and “Turbo-charge & Transform!” a workbook for transformative business innovation. Ellen is an instructor for Waubonsee Community College and hosts a business program on BATV public access television. She serves on the Fermilab Community Advisory Board and the Board of Directors for the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. Ellen holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.
Learn More About Ellen's Masterminds & Networking - CLICK HERE
Yup you read that right. Out of nowhere... I got sick but had no idea how really sick I was. One of my neighbors saw me being loaded into an ambulance, and posted it to a neighborhood Facebook Group. I was embarrassed, worried about my business brand. What if people saw me as weak, what if clients panicked and started to leave, what would happen to my life? I did my best to keep my business brand flowing, while avoiding posting about my personal situation. This episode thought me three things.
My personal and business brands are more intertwined than I have ever thought. Social media is not all bad, and divisive You reap what you sow and people remember your true character!
In this episode I will share a very personal journey about my trip to the ER, ICU, and REDEMPTION! I hope you find this powerful, eye opening and a positive experience that can help you in life and in business.
Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children.
Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children.
Roman Prokopchuk is a first-generation immigrant from Lviv, Ukraine. He came to the United States with 6 other family members to a 2 bedroom apartment from Ukraine, which was still under the Soviet Union at the time. Roman went to college to study criminal justice and interned with the Secret Service. When the 2008 recession happened, he was unable to find a job in the field. He searched for months and was presented with an opportunity to learn SEO. He took that opportunity and ran with it and branched out to other digital marketing disciplines. 600+ clients later, 3 previous director roles, and Fortune 500 experience culminated with him founding Nova Zora Digital in 2012. Roman is also a podcast host and since 2018 he and his wife have fostered 14 kids in their home.
Learn More About Roman - CLICK HERE Learn More About Romans Podcast Digital Savage Experience - CLICK HERE
Collecting names is great. Having a big email list is preferred, but sometimes less is more. As you collect names what follows is more important than the original contact. Can you build a know like and trust with the person behind the email? Sometimes, it takes a little finess and personal touch to create engagement, and get to that all elusive business relationship. This can ofthen be done with three tools and 3 little steps. Here are the steps I suggest....
Give people multiple things to download (help them choose what) Use an email drip sequence to build the Know, Like, and Trust Consider using the same process in social media (in exchange for the email drip
In this episode, I will lay out three easy and short emails or content that I use to guage interest, build trust, and get to that elusive phone call or online meeting..
Hi. I’m Warren Whitlock. My mission is to help brands improve the results of their digital marketing. I started creating content for marketing when “new media” meant we could combine multiple slide projectors for a presentation. By the time I went online in 1981, I’d learned to push for better technology whenever it allowed us to achieve our objectives. Throughout my career, I have created new strategies to use influence and persuasion to help people get what they want. I set hard sales goals and measured performance but never forget that people hate to be sold, but love to buy. I have been an entrepreneur in the computer, publishing, and media, I look for collaborations where brands can share resources, extend their reach and give customers an experience they will want to share with others. I am currently partnering with IBM Futurists and a few brands and startups along with keynotes where I can engage executives transforming their organizations for an abundant future. Contact Warren at: http://WarrenWhitlock.com Warren Whitlock is an advisor, best-selling author, digital marketing influencer and Alchemist. He helps businesses grow exponentially by defining a brand strategy framed to tell a business's story to customers who will come with a desire to buy exactly what you sell.
Nothing warms my cockles like a good batch of data. Especially when it comes to helping me to better connect with clients and potential customers. Data is everywhere nowadays, but capturing it, harnessing it and using for the good of your business is a challenge. Our websites are the best place to collect and measure data since we own it and can control what we see and how we process it. Social media may give you some analytics, but it's not as accurate as you think (the tend to slant it to get you to buy more advertising). The three thinks you can do with user data collected on your website....
The Form Capture Best Practices Integrating Into Email Marketing Getting Data Into Your CRM
In this episode, I will cover some ideas about you can capture data, use it to benefit your B2b business and why it should be part of your overall Marketing Plan.
Mark James is an accomplished business improvement advisor with over 40 years of experience in workplace performance, distribution channel effectiveness, marketing and measurement. As the founder and President of Performance Advisors Group, Inc., he helps growing and mature B2B companies achieve consistently positive customer experiences, sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Mark has successfully helped manufacturers and service companies in diverse industries, including construction machinery, automotive aftermarket, energy, healthcare and financial services. Furthermore, he utilizes a consulting/service business model that saves clients 15-75%. With thousands of hours invested in developing and delivering solutions that improve workplace performance, channel effectiveness and marketing results, Mark knows how to:
Find and fix causes of low performance or trust Eliminate confusion and gridlock Communicate what’s important Manage change
Sample client results include:
$250 million top-line revenue growth, at a 60:1 ROI 72% - 169% incremental revenue from markets experiencing down economic conditions One-year 20% revenue increase from highly targeted marketing $18 million profit increase from dealer service improvements
Mark holds a B.S. Finance Degree from the University of Illinois and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Dayton. And, is also Marketing Performance Measurement certified by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of Family Counseling Service in Aurora, Illinois which provides behavioral healthcare for individuals and families, life skills mentoring for children and young adults and continuing education for behavioral health professionals. Mark also serves on the board of the University of Illinois’ West Suburban (Chicago) Alumni Group.
Learn More About Bill and Confluence LLC - CLICK HERE
I get quite a few (at least one per day) direct messages on LinkedIn or Facebook. They range for what's the meaning of life (just kidding) to very detailed business questions that generally can easily be answered in a text. I never want to be rude or dismissive, and I do my best to answer... but not too much! I also get asked to lunch a lot as well. "Hey can I buy you a Burrito so I can pick your Brian brain so I don't have to pay you a $1000 to compete with you?" The three most common questions i get go something like this....
What should I charge others to do what you do? How can I get more traffic to my website for free? Do you know someone (implied cheaper than you) who can fix my India or Philippines made website? They don't communicate fast enough!
In this episode, I will explain that each of those really has a different question being asked, and how you can answer but leave them wanting more. Prompting them to ask more questions that can lead to new business.
Bill is skilled in Sales, Data Center, Management, Business Development, and Marketing. - More Coming Soon
Learn More About Bill and Confluence LLC - CLICK HERE
Rumor has it that celebrating more birthdays leads to a longer life. Every year I hake my birthday off (not to celebrate myself, but to celebrate that who acknowledge that day). I tend to get over 1000 personal birthday wishes that I respond to one at a time.Yes it takes hours, but I have found there is benefits to engaging with those who interact with me on my birthday. I kind of think how people to birthday wishes come in three flavors....
Care Level One - A Full personalized reply Care Level Two - A copied and pasted reply or an emoji Care Level Three - A blanket thank you at the end of the day or the day after
In this episode, we will explore how engaging with people on your special days not only increases engagement in the future, but it can also lead to new business sometimes! (Oh... and Happy Birthday to you - whenever that is)
Karen has the vision and experience to help your company, identify what is holding it back from realizing its true potential, to help you strategize and implement the change and processes that produce the measurable results you desire. She has helped companies in multiple industries and service sectors throughout her career. Karen is a sought after change agent that companies have come to rely on to break up the procedural and cultural logjams. It’s based on her unique ability to see opportunities where others see roadblocks, and her ability to communicate in a clear and concise way where plans almost write themselves. Karen is also an accomplished speaker and a published writer. Over the years Karen has lectured at numerous national and international symposiums and conferences. Her areas of focus include: Creating Fully Engaged Employees, Building Great Leaders, Driving Business Results, and Women in Leadership.
Learn More About Karen - CLICK HERE
Starting next year I am writing a new book. It does not have a title yet, but the overall theme is You are not in the sales business… you are in the TRUST business! In the consumer world, there is a certain mindset that is more advertising based than relationship based. You are not just competing for the attention of your perfect customer, but you are also competing for their hearts and minds. Trust has to be earned. So the content you share, and even the platforms on which you share it, can have a lasting effect on earning and maintaining the trust of your current and future clients! Here 5 ways you can instill Trust....
Give Free Value Up Front Money Back Guarantee Case Studies Testimonials Referrals
In this episode, we will explore why building trust is so much more important in Business to Business marketing - Happy New Year! (Here's to a great 2020)
Marla Tabaka is an internationally known small business strategist, national radio show host, and leading Inc.com author. Her integrative approach to coaching combines mindset management and strategic planning, resulting in multi-million dollar businesses for many of her small business clients. After a career of 22-years as an Emmy Award-winning producer at NBC Television, Tabaka worked as a creative consultant for large and mid-sized corporations, established and sold a retail business, and then founded her business coaching practice in 2003. Early in her coaching career she achieved the status of leading coach with the American Express sponsored “Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence” program where she led dozens of female business owners to successful 7 and 8 figure business results. In 2015 she co-founded EmpruV Business Value Builders with ABC’s Shark Tank’s original Shark and founder of As Seen on TV, Kevin Harrington. The two co-host the nationally broadcasted Big Pitch Radio Show and Tabaka holds an Advisory Board position at the award-winning DRTV consultancy, Shark Finds with Kevin Harrington. In addition to her articles at Inc.com, you’ll find Tabaka’s work featured in major business publications such as American Express Open, Fox Business News, TIME Business, NAWBO SmartBrief, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and The Business Intelligence Report.
Learn More About Marla and EFT Tapping - CLICK HERE
During the holidays, chances are you are spending time with family and friends. You have an opportunity... to create memory assets. There are many opportunities to capture moments, textures, images, video, and audio that can be used throughout the year and into the future. Phones today often have better technology than video and photo equipment in your closets. It makes sense to grab your tripod (or buy one) and your cell phone holder (or buy one), and use it to to capture memory assets that can be used in may different ways. Here is just a few ideas....
Interview a relative interview yourself (or spouse) for your kids Turn pictures in to books or wall art Or turn pictures into birthday gifts
In this episode, we will explore many ideas and give you some tips on how your can capture you holiday spirit and share it for years to come. - Happy Holidays!
Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home. Ask Yourself:
Just how good is my “crystal ball?” Is that going to get better or worse? How much do I need to be thinking about the future? How important are each of the timeframes to making decisions that impact our business?
Action Plan:
Build and frequently update a document to collect insights that impact the four timeframes. Hold “crystal ball” conversations with customers, vendors, partners, and industry leaders. Talk with people of all generations to get their thoughts and insights, to understand what they identify with, and what they feel is important. Look for changes in the way people think and make decisions.
Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
As part of my Foresight 2020 series (looking back to forge ahead to make next year the best year ever), I wanted to explore how and why I think email marketing is going to be bigger and better than ever next year). Looking into my "Zoltar" crystal ball, I can see that social media will become less and less of a marketing tool because it's a media that you can't control. The platforms decide what shows up in peoples news feed, how often and who gets to see it of not. That will make it harder and harder as they scheme how to squeeze more money out of it's users (us getting if for free are the product being sold). It's time to heighten and freshen up your email game for 2020...
Collecting The RIGHT Names (and emails) Segmenting Audience Creating and Sharing Fresh Content Keeping It Short and Sweet And Being More Consistent
In this episode, I will discuss how a Peloton Commercial and Limu The Emu helps you see how to build on controversy to get attention on social while building a captive audience that REALLY WANTS to hear, see, and read your messages!
Andy Crestodina is a co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, an award-winning 40-person digital agency in Chicago. Over the past 20 years, Andy has provided digital marketing advice to 1000+ businesses. He speaks at national marketing conferences, writes for big marketing blogs and hosts a little marketing podcast. Andy has written hundreds of articles on content strategy, search engine optimization, influencer marketing, conversion and Analytics.
Top 10 Online Marketing Experts to Watch, Forbes Top 50 Marketing Influencer, Entrepreneur Magazine Top 25 Content Marketers, Express Writers/Buzzsumo Top 100 Digital Marketers, Brand 24 Top 10 Social Media Influencers to Watch, Social Media Explorer Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers to Follow, Outbrain
He is also the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.
Learn More About Andy & Orbit Media - CLICK HERE
It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. At this time at the end of the year, it's kind of that undefined space between the past and the future. It can become kind of a business Twilight Zone? Many say that hindsight is 2020 but I think that FORESIGHT is 2020 (meaning looking ahead to next year). Now is the time start planing and getting your house in order. In this episode what I mean by your house is your website. Here is a few questions I suggest you ask yourself:
What Is Your Main Focus (Has that changed?) What Is Your Value Proposition? What Do You Want People To Do? Is You Home (page) In Order? Are Your Other Pages Doing Their Jobs? Is Your Call To Action Clear and Working For Your Business?
In this episode, we will be looking at your website, and you can help keep your business, and your customers, out of the Twilight Zone...
Pam Jordan has worked with small businesses for over 15 years as a MBA Business Accountant and Fractional CFO. Also known as The Profit Finder, she has helped start-ups to multi-million dollar companies improve their profits, manage their cash flow and reach their financial goals. Stan Padgett has been a business trial lawyer for over 30 years. He has helped companies grow, get out of messes, and sell. His passion is helping small businesses succeed and for business owners to have the freedom they deserve.
Learn More About Pam & Stan's Enrich Your Elephant Program - CLICK HERE Pam & Stan's Enrich Your Elephant Website - CLICK HERE
It's sad around here 😢 because our beloved Buddy Guy (100 lb - 10-12 year old) black Labrador has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. BG (as he was affectionally know) was beloved on social media. He was not a celebrity like Grumpy Cat or a TV star like LiMu Emu (and Doug), he was just a rescue animal from the Chicago pound. He did have a life well lived like almost dying playing ball 5 years ago, checking his P-Mail daily, and posing next to the American flag on Holidays. He also had a degenerative spine condition that affected his hind legs to the point where he could not walk on his own. People would love to check in on his treatments and progress but more importantly,.. they loved him and his story. When he past, I post it on social media and the outpouring of love was overwhelming. What I noticed was the difference between those posts and most that I do and see on social media...
Sympathy - feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune or understanding between people; common feeling
Empathy - the ability to understand and share the feelings of another
In this episode, we will discuss what I have learned and how it can help you to create stories and post to social media (especially groups) in a way that create empathy (which can generate the most heartfelt engagement). R.I.P. Buddy Guy - (Watch his memorial video - Click here)
Avish Bhama is the founder and CEO of Sonia Automation, a technology company that builds A.I. to automate client facing workflows. Prior to Sonia, Avish co-founded Vaurum, a bitcoin exchange, and Mirror, a fintech startup. Avish began his career as a derivatives trader and worked at Apple on their foreign exchange team. He resides in New York and SF, where Sonia has offices, and enjoys reading, hiking, and helping early-stage founders.
Learn More About Sonia - CLICK HERE
It's The Holidays Season. Thanksgiving is the day we give thanks for the bounty in our lives. Has your business had a bountiful harvest this year? All too often we get too busy to step back and give thanks to those who support us. Black Friday is traditionally the first shopping day of the holiday season. It's meant to be a great day to get deals on gifts. But it's be hijacked to become a way for everyone to hock their wares and offer a discount (gifts for yourself?). So how can you stand out from the crowd and really give thanks? Here are five easy tips...
Thanksgiving Cards Give A Review Send A Personalized Gift Gift A Bonus Just Call Them!
In this podcast, we will discuss how you can make a difference while standing out as someone who really appreciate those who support you and your business. Finally, THANKS for being a Bacon Podcast Listener!
John Faisandier – speaker, author, trainer, counsellor, educator, entrepreneur Volunteer teaching in Tonga, Catholic priesthood, psychodrama training lay the foundation for compassionate Emotional Intelligence Expert John Faisandier. His work in a drug and alcohol treatment hospital and over 20 years as an entrepreneur and corporate trainer give him a unique perspective on managing emotions in business and personal life. John has taught thousands of people in many parts of the world and he willingly shares these secrets with you and your listeners. About John: Early Entrepreneur • Grew up in a working class family of nine • Worked a range of jobs throughout his childhood • Meet many adults and developed a keen interest in people • Aged 18 volunteer teacher in Tonga immersed in family & village life First vocation • Eight years cloistered seminary training for Catholic priesthood • Eleven year ministry in teaching, parish work, and chaplaincy to a primary school, hospital, prison and university. • Short stint as chaplain with US Airforce in Antarctica • Completed degrees in anthropology, theology and adult education Transition • Experiential psychodrama training ignited his journey to wholeness, healing and intimacy. • After 19 years of celibate religious life stepped out into the world in search of real connection and deeper love • He soon met his future wife and they now have one adult son. Second vocation • Race relations educator in government agency • Psychodramatist in a drug and alcohol treatment hospital • Trainer in psychodrama • Business owner, corporate trainer and conference speaker • Co-founder of training academy in Bangladesh • Property investor and manager • Volunteer in migrant communities • Author of acclaimed book Thriving Under Fire • Lifelong learner, husband of 27 years, proud father of grown son, cook, hiker, skier and general nice guy.
Learn More About John's Training - CLICK HERE
Social media has truly become more media, and less social. All platforms are based on selling something (mostly ads), and they tilt the scales in their favor. Business pages in Facebook are lucky to get 1-2% of their likes (fans) to see any post without boosting or paid advertising. Even LinkedIn is starting to clamp down on links to outside websites (which is the vast majority of the links being shared by users). So how can you beat the system? You really can't but you can belly up to the social media table and place bets (in the form of advertising). There are a few things you want to make sure you do in the process...
Have A Plan Understand Your Audience Choose People or Money Measure The Results Tweak The Strategy
In this podcast, we will dig into doing something that you may not want to do, but may be in your best business interest if you plan to use social media to generate sales.
Author and International Speaker, Ridgely Goldsborough, believes in solving problems and taking complex and challenging topics and making sense out of them. He started his first business at 16 and since graduating from Law School in 1987 has founded 43 companies. Ridgely is the founder of Mind Types, a cutting program based on limbic messaging and gamification that develops inspired cultures through playing games. In addition, he is the co-author of Wealth Kryptonite, a revolutionary new approach to wealth accumulation that focuses on the relationship with each individual and their Avatar to money. Ridgely’s has written 17 books, hosted his own television show and created dozens of audio and video programs on success and prosperity. He is a frequent speaker at top internet marketing conferences and a facilitator and trainer for high-level CEO masterminds. Ridgely received his B.A. in Spanish from the University of Virginia, his J.D. from Whittier College School of Law, his Masters Writing Certificate from UCLA and is currently enrolled in a Masters Program for Value Creating Education and Global Citizenship at DePaul University. He actively practiced law in California for 12 years before turning his attention to building companies. He does all of his work in both English and Spanish.
Learn More About Ridgely's Mind Types - CLICK HERE
What you want Baby, I got it What you need Do you know I got it? All I'm askin’ Is for a little respect That song was a theme song for a generation of women, but today we all could use a little more R.E.S.P.E.C.T. with our content marketing. RESPECT is defined as a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements (and I certainly offer up my RESPECT to Aretha Franklin - The Queen Of Soul!). But the kind of respect I am talking about here is an acronym and formula...
R - Research E - Experience S - Sympathy P - Purpose E - Education C - Context T - Take-Aways
In this episode, we will explore how to earn respect with your content marketing and give a little bit... Sock It To Me!
Todd Cochrane, CEO of RawVoice/Blubrry, wrote the book on podcasting. Well, at least the first one: “Podcasting: The Do-It-Yourself Guide.” The founder of the People’s Choice Podcast Awards and the Tech Podcast Network, he’s also credited with introducing the first advertisers into podcasting, GoDaddy. Cochrane was inducted into the inaugural class of the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015. But perhaps his biggest influence on podcasting is Blubrry Podcasting and its parent company RawVoice, which offers a directory of more than 750,000 shows, the No. 1 plugin for WordPress and much more. A United States Navy Veteran who served 25 years and retired with the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer, Cochrane resides in Quincy, Michigan, having spent the majority of the past 20+ years in Honolulu, Hawaii, with his family.
Unlike other PR firms, Hank always gives personal attention to his clients. Accounts are never delegated to assistants or apprentices. Hank is available for calls and questions before, during, and after implementation of PR campaigns.
Learn More About Hank's PR Class - CLICK HERE
I received a message on LinkedIn from a connection who just read one of my books. He wanted to thank me for the insights of the content by taking me to lunch. I said my plate was full, but made time for a phone call. He talked about having to make a deposit when it comes to relationships, in order to be able to make a withdrawal.
Since my wife works at a bank, that spoke to me!
Banks make money off your money. They take your deposits and charge interest, and then pay you back a portion of that as a dividend. That is the same with using content. You deposit it, and people invest time in it, and hopefully it pays dividends. Trust is the dividend you get only when you...
Spend As Much Time On People As Posts You Have To Deposit Before You Can Withdraw Trust Is The Interest On Your Efforts
In this podcast we will discuss how to grow your business through relationship marketing and by investing in others... to reap the largest rewards!
Does your to-do list get longer every day? Are you swamped by the urgent but unimportant tasks that don’t move you toward your strategic initiatives? Would you like to delegate tasks but been burned by poor performance or untimely output of your subordinates?
Then keep listening because you'll discover how Executives Delegate Without Losing Control. My guest is back for the 13th time to share his incisive insights, pragmatic principles, and entertaining examples. He's a business growth strategist who works with executives to predictably grow their organization through upgraded strategy skills and faster deal making methods. He leads the Executive Strategy Summit, a two day event that busts through the business barriers facing entrepreneurs by teaching you how to think and act like an executive. You've got to check out his past appearances on this show, because each is loaded with solid gold, money making, bacon frying tactics you can use today. Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives. Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills. Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home.
Contact Mark On LinkedIn - CLICK HERE
There is a lot you can learn from history. In two different movies I've recently watched ("The Darkest Hour" and "Dunkirk"). I saw the depths of the human condition and formed a clearer understanding and perspective of the people from Great Britain and their struggles at the early stages of World War II. These were both exceptional movies that showed how ordinary people can do extraordinary things!
To find and be in your Zone Of Genius, you have to first understand what that is and what that is not?. We do this by understanding what makes you thrive, and what sucks the energy out of you...
Know Your Strengths Know Your Weaknesses Take Council Ask For Help Be Alive & Thrive
In this podcast we will not only cover this but also delve into the book "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks and his four zones that lead to your Zone Of Genius!
Hank Eder is a PR/Marketing pro with decades of experience, from newspaper reporter/editor to PR & advertising agencies. Currently, he runs a small PR/Marketing business mostly online, at hankeder.com, with clients local to the Asheville, NC area and "virtual clients" in other parts of the country. His course, Self-Propelled Marketing Academy, is helping small business owners become their own publicity experts and gain local media exposure.
Unlike other PR firms, Hank always gives personal attention to his clients. Accounts are never delegated to assistants or apprentices. Hank is available for calls and questions before, during, and after implementation of PR campaigns.
Learn More About Hank's PR Class - CLICK HERE
Recently in the news, there was a discovery in Egypt of a new batch of Mummies. Each of them are 2000 plus year old people who each share a story, but have unique stories of their own. You old content is like a mummy (buried in your blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or whatever?).It can be unearthed again, cleaned up and put on display for all the world to see with a new sense of amazement.
All you have to do is give it a touch up, or a complete rewrite (depending on how old it is and out of date SOME of the content or links may be). You can do this is 5 easy steps...
Read It Copy It Edit It Fresh Coat OF Paint Use It
In this podcast we will explore how you can reuse and restore your gently used content and turn it into a shiny new way to market and attract new and current customers!
Ben has spent most of the past 15 years of his life being a dual-career music pastor and indie-folk singer/songwriter. A few years ago his world view seemed to be expanding beyond the boxes that “church” could contain. So, in order to creatively explore beyond the walls of his past, he moved from Illinois to California and began the next chapter of his career. Ben’s unique and human approach have taken shape in some innovative ways, including Guided Concert experiences, album art / music Coaster Downloads, and Mantrasongs. Ben is constantly exploring more innovative ways to engage our culture in a manner that allows them to breathe and arrive in the here and now. THE WAY UP The Way Up is his 5th full length studio album, and marks the first of this new chapter of his artistry. It documents the past several years of internal shifts for him... the breakdown of the “up-and-to-the-right” thinking that dominates our culture, his own spiritual de-and re-construction, and the awakening to the connectivity of all things.It’s easily the most personal batch of song she’s ever written, born out of fear and failure and loss and joy. He took the time necessary to let the songs grow, evolve and marinate.And, the interesting contrasts and textures that have emerged: light/dark, acoustic/electronic, up/down make for a dynamic and highly personal listening experience.
Learn More About Ben And His Music - CLICK HERE
We live a society that equates time with money. Time is a resource that can be sold, but that make it a commodity. It can be negotiated and people can always buy your time from somebody for less (even if what you do may or may not have more value).
What would or could happen to your business if you stopped equating money to time, and started trading money for value?.
Although value is in the eye of the beholder (the business or consumer), it's also can be quantified by creating a different vision that does not rely on hours for dollars. I can be envisioned as...
Outcomes Return on an Investment Time or Money Saved or Gained
In this podcast we will explore how you can start to build your business(and ultimately your client's satisfaction) by changing the perception of what you are selling and how it can have a higher perceived value than commoditized time!
Yifat Cohen is the architect behind generating a quarter of a million dollar ($250,000) in just 10 days with live shows. A Growth Hacker specializing in community building, gamifying live engagements and cultivating brand evangelists. Yifat is that Geek Google flies around to its many offices around the world, freelance style, to speak about products they’ve let HER and a select few others both test and train for way before everybody else.
She’s that Geek who makes you a quarter of a million dollars in just 10 days. That scores 80% retention on an hour and a half hangout. (Indeed) That gets you 2,740 views in 3 minutes flat. Over 30,000 clicks in just two weeks… And more than quadruple the comments and shares of Gary Vaynerchuk and Guy Kawasaki combined!
Yifat understands that you don't want more leads, you want more conversions. By applying her Viral Connectivity system, Yifat helps multimillion dollar companies with over 50,000 contacts in their database add an additional 10%-20% profit to their bottomline without paying for new leads. The Viral Connectivity system amplifies the customer experience by getting you face to face with known names in your industry and leveraging their audience and reputation, while at the same time boosting your brand, your authority and your sales, all with minimum time investment and no learning curves.
Learn More About Yifat And Her Company - CLICK HERE
I always say that "Relationships Are The Currency Of Business!", and this is the foundation of how and why marketing works. It takes time to lead people through a journey from awareness to big ticket clients, Some people claim they can circumvent steps and you can just go from one to the other, but I have not found that to be true? Trust has to be earned, especially when expecting people to be willing to risk their jobs or their business on your and your products and services.They need to be nurtured and brought through a series of steps that builds awareness, confidence, trust, and ultimately joining forces through...
What IS Social Media? The Marketing Trifecta The Ponzi Scheme (Really it's a sales funnel)
In this episode, we will discuss how all of these integrate into a system that helps you build multiple streams of income, while building towards larger long term clients! All of this, over some BACON, and eggs!
Scott Hodge is the Lead Pastor of The Orchard Community, an eclectic spiritual community of artists, innovators, dreamers and thinkers helping people become who they’ve been created them to be. Scott is also the founder of Society 57, a 7-day a week social space set to open this October in beautiful downtown Aurora, Illinois. Society 57 will feature an innovative and speciality coffeehouse, a beautiful river front event space and more. Learn more about Scott, The Orchard and Society 57 here: Scott Hodge @scotthodge (IG & Twitter) http://facebook.com/scotthodge
Check Out The Orchard Community Church - CLICK HERE Check Out Society 57 in Aurora IL - CLICK HERE
Most businesses are busy trying to create customers for life. But in some cases, It makes more sense to make you and your services become obsolete to customers. This is especially true if you are in the coaching, medical, or legal fields! Customers come to you with a problem, and it's your job to fix it. You are not trying to lose the customer, but you may have a beginning, middle and end to what you provide. They may need your training wheels, but at some point they will have to roll down the road all by themselves! It does not mean that they won't come back or refer you because of your awesomeness, but sometimes, clients can feel hesitant to purchase. They need to know what to expect and it's your job to explain...
They Don’t Need You For Life How-To Understand The Immediate Value Clearly Communicate Realistic Expectations
In this episode, we will discuss that you may be able to sell more by convincing the client to take off the training wheels and you are ready, willing and able to set them in motion on their own!
Pat Helmers is an international business consultant and technology startup coach. He is the author of the Selling With Confidence sales system and host of the award winning Sales Babble sales podcast. Pat has been in the tech world his entire professional career. Pat started his career as a software engineer for Bell Laboratories. It was there he became an inventor in GSM wireless technologies, earning two patents. He leveraged his expertise and became a trainer for emerging software Object Oriented methodologies, training 1000s of engineers in the USA and Europe. He was promoted and managed various training groups and a technology adoption organization promoting technology transfer. He then entered the software start-up arena, pursuing a career in business development for software startups, enrolling and selling early adopters on new technologies. Eventually Pat was promoted to the Vice President of Sales for an enterprise SaaS start-up, building from scratch an inside and outside sales team that generated 8 figure revenues. Still having the start-up bug, Pat created the Sales Babble brand with the Sales Babble Podcast. Sales Babble was created to stop the babble on the myth that you must be pushy to be successful in sales. He believes anyone can become skilled in sales if they adopt an attitude of “helping” clients and adding “value” to their lives and businesses. From the sales podcast sprung his consulting and coaching practice as well as authoring the Selling With Confidence sales system. Today Pat is an business consultant focusing on technology startups and podcast production services. Pat enjoys golf, bicycling, history, and world travel. He is an avid father, husband and loyal friend.
Listen To The Ssles Babble Podcast - CLICK HERE
Have you ever been to a website or email and said to yourself, "Man... they really like themselves"? Companies and brands are so busy trying to convince you that they are the best option for you, they just "We-We" all over themselves.
You have to put your customer's feeling and needs ahead of your when it comes to content marketing. You have to make the customer the hero is part of role of successful content marketing...
WIIAM vs WIIFM Tap Into An Emotion Do You REALLY Care? Been There... Done That Get Them To Say "YES!"
In this episode, we will discuss how and why you need to help the customer imagine themselves as the hero and the winner by reading, listening, or watching your content!
Janis Pettit is a best selling author, speaker, and serial entrepreneur. After some years working as a New York stage and TV actor/singer, and cable business talk show host, she built 4 businesses from start-up to success. Since 2002 she’s helped hundreds of entrepreneurs, small company CEO’s, experts and consultants worldwide to be seen, be heard and build a bold, lucrative business that makes an impact and adds thousands in revenues.
Visit Janis's Website - The 10X Zone - CLICK HERE
One of the inherent problems with social media is other people just don't get it...
Social: of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society
Media: a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression
Nowhere in those two definitions does it say connecting with someone online and immediately jumping on messenger to sell them something from someone they don't know, and probably something they don't want or would ever need.
Yet that's what happens all the time. It's called "Connect & Pitch". And, that one of the major reasons people don't like or spend much time on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
In this podcast we will examine two bacon knowledge bombs I often share with my presentations.
When you contact a prospect… You are a Salesperson. When a prospect contacts you… You are THE Expert!
I would rather spend 10 minutes with 10 people who already know me… than 10 seconds with 10,000 people who don’t!
The goal is to get people to know, like, and trust you. Not so you can sell them something, but they call you when they need something and they view you as the expert!
Brian E. Kinghorn, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundations at Marshall University. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kinghorn teaches courses in Educational Psychology, Human Development, Elementary Science, and the Psychology of Social Media. His writing and research interests include learning from teaching, social media in education, and the psychology of social media. He also presents inquiry-based science assemblies at elementary schools with Junior Science World, a company he founded in 2009. He and his wife Leah are the parents of 8 children. Visit Brians Psychology Of Social Media Facebook Group
Visit Brian Kinghorn's Website
Welcome to Episode 500! This has been a journey of 250 weeks, just 10 (or 2x5) weeks short of 5 years.
In Numerology "The number 5 usually indicates someone who is full of energy (but unable to channel it responsibly)." I humbly disagree with that last point. 😇
"This number brings adaptability, independence of thought and action, and an unwillingness to (completely) conform. The number 5 can be used to increase versatility and independence, but people must guard against an overwhelming desire for change (so as to not be consumed by variation and, thus, unable to maintain happiness without it)."
This podcast was never scheduled when I started. I was not sure if it would make it to episode 5, or 50, but never imagined I would be doing it for 600 and beyond. It goes LIVE on 9-9-19 (which in its self is kind of ironic?
In Numerology - "9 is wisdom and responsibility, and the ultimate goal of the number 9 is to serve humanity. ... Number 9 learns selflessness and compassion. People with the 9 energy work without motive and their purpose is for the greatest good of all. They have a protective energy and they have great power and love in their soul.
I think the numbers 5 and 9 are really a representation of the almost 200 guest experts who unselfishly graced us with their time, insights and wisdom. Please go back and read that last paragraph and think about how that applies to each (or your favorite) of the guest experts who have graciously appeared on my podcast.
The final number I want to explore is 1. No Numerology here... you... that one listener is the reason I keep doing this. I hear time and again how this podcast has helped and that is the #1 reason I do this, IT IS ABOUT YOU and... I appreciate your time, attention, and support over the last 5 years more than you will ever know!
This episode is a compilation of the 21 past guests who reached out to share their thoughts, stories and congratulations. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did recording and editing it together! Special Guests:
Brad Banyas - Episodes 421 & 433 Kathleen Gage - Episodes 35 & 287 David Garfinkel - Episodes 235 & 237 & 489 Phil Gerbyshak - Episodes 201 & 487 Connie Regan Green - Episode 13 Jeff Herring - Episodes 17 & 303 & 391 Jim Kendall - Episode 379 Liz Kerns - (Coming Soon) Brian Kinghorn - Episodes 353 & 355 Deb Krier - Episodes 213 & 439 Miha Matlievski - Episode 497 Ted Prodromou - Episodes 79 & 457 Kurt Scholle - Episodes 5 & 479 Steve Sipress - Episode 143 Felicia Slattery - Episode 33 Scott Smith - Episode 27 Marla Tabaka - Episodes 171 & 395 Heidi Thorne - Episode 471 Chris Voss - Episodes 343 & 409 Warren Whitlock - Episodes 121 & 229 & 257 & 333 & 441 WendyY Bailey - Episode 199
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As the CEO and chief architect of NAMS (the Novice to Advanced Marketing System), David Perdew has used all his skills as a journalist, consultant and entrepreneur to build one of the most successful and fastest growing business training workshops available today at http://NextNAMS.com and it’s supporting membership site at http://MyNAMS.com. The Novice to Advanced Marketing System is a step-by-step tutorial system focusing on Team, Training Tools to help novice to advanced business people become even more successful. After 17 years in the newspaper business as a journalist, editor and publisher, David created and sold a successful stock photo agency to a British company with more than 150 photographers and 300,000 images. For the past 20 years, he’s managed a few of the largest telecom ecommerce mergers as a telecom merger project specialist. One of his last consulting projects was building and implementing a $30 million project management office for the largest wireless company in America. He took a year off in 2003 to personally build a 2200 square foot log cabin in north Alabama where he and his wife and two dogs and a cat live on 95 acres of forest with four streams and 60-foot waterfall.
Learn More about David & NAMS - CLICK HERE
Reinvention often means scrapping everything and starting from scratch, or trying to take something that someone has already created, and trying to do it better (the better mouse trap). Starting from scratch takes a lot of time and resources. But, sometimes it's worth it. For example take Apple and how they went from a company that makes and sells computers, to a company that delivers content (music, movies, games, and apps) to a variety devices (iPods, iPhones, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and licenses that to cars, speakers and more! Pivoting is a "structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, strategy, and engine of growth. Think of a basketball player that stops and can pivot 360° to send the ball moving in a different direction. Groupon went from an advocacy business to a company that crowdsources coupons to drive traffic to businesses. It pivoted off of crowdsourcing to become a company that was valued at $1.35 billion (at one time). In this episode, we will discuss how I have learned to keep what’s working, and remove what's not, that build on that. Pivoting can help you grow bigger and faster than reinvention when it makes sense, but as Kenny Rogers said the the song The Gambler... "You've got to know when to hold 'em... Know when to fold 'em!"
One business coach has forged his approach to helping entrepreneurs and business executives by using a monumental personal failure and eventual redemption to help get others where they need to go to find their personal success and fulfillment. At just 18 years old, Miha Matlievski, a Slovenian high school dropout, dreamed of becoming a successful entrepreneur. And he pursued it with a passion, putting in 12 years of hard work that resulted in four successful businesses and a personal net worth of $15M. But in December 2009, an unexpected call from his bank, which had decided to foreclose on his real estate investments, brought his world crashing down around him. That one negative event instigated an avalanche of ruin for him and his businesses, resulting in his four, once-successful companies going bankrupt.
Embracing that previous failure, Miha began to climb out of his rut and take charge of his own life once again. In 2014, he created a new startup, generating eight figures in less than a year. Many publications in Slovenia approached him and his story went viral.
Since Miha’s “resurrection,” he has been known as The Fail Coach. In that capacity, he helps entrepreneurs around the world embrace and have a healthy relationship with failure with the goal of reaching a higher level of success.
clients, making it easier for them to trust you.
Check Out Miha's Offering - CLICK HERE
There are two kinds of people in this world - People who get up in the morning and say, "Good Morning God", and those who say "Good God... It’s Morning?" Are you seeing life through the lens of "If I could only?" or are you living with an "Attitude of Gratitude?" While having a coffee with my friend and mentor Al Ritter (the author of the "100/0 Principle"), he told me a story about his daughter Ashley that really moved me and got me thinking? "How could my life be better with and Attitude of Gratitude?" Here are the five things I came up with...
Work With What You Have Continue To Learn Embrace Failure Don’t Quit Too Early What Gets Measured Gets Done
In this episode, I will paraphrase Al's story about Ashley, and offer you quotes, thoughts, and some tips about how changing your attitude, can greatly improve your life... and your business!
Shawn Finder has always been an entrepreneur at heart. At age 24, Shawn entered the entrepreneurial world after competing as one of Canada's top-ranked tennis players. He started out importing packaging from the Orient and selling to top retailers in North America. However, knowing he always loved selling and list building, he founded ExchangeLeads in 2013 which helps his company build quality lists for outreaching new prospects. This was followed by his new venture Autoklose in 2017 that combines both sales engagement and list building all-in-one platform
Get the Autoklose FREE Sales Ebook - CLICK HERE
Did you know that approximately 8 million metric tonnes of waste plastic that enters the Earth's ocean every year? Sometimes it feels that way on the internet as well?
1,209,600 new data producing social media users each day. 682 million tweets per day! More than 4 million hours of content uploaded to Youtube every day, with users watching 5.97 billion hours of Youtube videos each day. 67,305,600 Instagram posts uploaded each day There are over 2 billion monthly active facebook users, compared to 1.44 billion at the start of 2015 and 1.65 at the start of 2016. Facebook has 1.58 billion daily active users on average as of Q2 2019 4.3 BILLION Facebook messages posted daily! 5.76 BILLION Facebook likes every day.
Source - https://blog.microfocus.com/how-much-data-is-created-on-the-internet-each-day/ In this podcast, we will discuss how you can utilize your own recycled content, to generate new traffic to your website, create new sales, and save the internet from being clogged up with waste materials that get read, listened to, or watched just once... and then thrown away!
BONUS Article - The Decomposition of Waste in Landfills: A Story of Time and Materials
Jackson Price is a senior Creative Director with over 25 years of experience across a variety of business sectors. Clients include the Fortune 100, ad agencies, design studios, universities, government agencies, small businesses, and professional athletes. He is currently the Director of Creative Services for Iowa State University Athletics. . Jacson believes great design marries aesthetics and strategy. It takes both working together to tell a compelling story. Why sweat the details over crafting the perfect marketing message and then not invest in the design that visually completes it? Great design completes your brand message by visually backing up the story you’re crafting for current and potential clients, making it easier for them to trust you.
Check Out Jackson's Work - CLICK HERE
In 1986, "Back To The Future II" predicted what life would be like in 2015. They got a lot of things right, and some of them wrong, but it also missed a few KEY things while predicting the future...
The Internet Mobile Phones People Would Still Be Reading Newspapers!
The theme song was written by Huey Lewis and the News ("The Power Of Love"), but they had another hit song called "It's Hip To Be Square." That is especially true on the internet today when it comes to social posting. Posting images to social media can be confusing. There is no rhyme or reason to posting sizes and display sizes when you post links with graphics to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Although they all can use JPEG or PNG files (for the most part) the sizes and aspect ratios are all over the place? Is there an optimum way to create one graphic in one size that will work for all platforms? The short answer is YES! In this episode, I will give you some basic knowledge about graphics technology basics, and I will also dig into what sizes are used on the most popular social media platforms.
SproutSocial's "Always Up-to-Date Guide to Social Media Image Sizes" - CLICK HERE
British author, piano player, international racing driver and business coach Jonny Cooper is the founder of www.JonnyHatesMarketing.com. Since growing a business to 8-figures and exiting, Jonny’s been supporting coaches, trainers, therapists and consultants who are serious about building their thriving practice, changing the world and enjoying a life of effortless abundance. His Client Attraction Blueprint programme is filled with eager students every month and he’s closing in on his mission to impact the lives of 1,000,000 professionals by 2025. Jonny’s Three Pillars of Effortless Marketing provides a template for universal success and growth to any aspiring coaches and therapists, and he’s passionate about increasing the average income across the profession. He’s also the voice behind the legendary Jonny Hates Marketing Facebook Group, and swears that he really, really does hate marketing.
Check Out Jonny's Facebook Group - CLICK HERE
Have you ever gone to a networking event and ask someone "What do you do?" only to regret it. Sometimes we ask people what time it is and they want to tell us how to build a watch?
When we get shipments, they often ship the contents using packing peanuts. These are used to surround the content to protect them from breaking. A lot of times people do the same thing with their communications. They use additional words or statements to build up or protect their branding and messages.
LinkedIn allows you only 120 characters to tell people what you do in a headline. A well-crafted headline uses 20-24 words to feature these three things...
Who You Work With
What Problem You Solve
How You Do It
In this episode, we will explore how to avoid using packing peanut words and phases to effectively get your messages across in a clear and concise way. This will help you get your messages heard in this short attention span theater world!
David Garfinkel is author of "Breakthrough Copywriting" and known among insiders as "The World's Greatest Copywriting Coach." He's worked with direct-marketing-oriented business owners in dozens of industries, and is currently a copywriting consultant to the largest direct-response-driven business in America, Agora Financial. He's also host of the Copywriters Podcast, and a big fan of bacon for breakfast. David is also a podcaster with his weekly show - The Copywriter's Podcast - CLICK HERE
Check Out David's Book - "Breakthrough Copywriting" - CLICK HERE
When I was a kid... I remember getting excited every day for a program on TV. You may (or may not be ) old enough to remember a kids TV show called "Romper Room". In this show, they taught life lessons and today I want to share how that has affected my ideas around content marketing today.
At the end of the show, the host (Miss Mary, or Nancy, or so on), would pull out her "Magic Mirror" a hand mirror with the mirror removed so you could see her face through the TV camera. She would say... "I can see Cathy and Jesse and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and Billie and Bobby and Jenny and Mark" and so on. I would watch every day hoping she would say "I see Brian!"
Our customers are looking for their questions to be answered and have their name called out, and you can do this through five easy steps...
Phil Gerbyshak is a Sales trainer, a social media pioneer and a techno whiz kid who got his start delivering email by hand in the Navy.
He’s the host of the show Conversations with Phil and is the co-host of the longest running social media marketing talk show #SocialChatter with Christian Karasiewicz.
When he’s not doing live video you can find Phil training salespeople how to sell more by creating more valuable relationships with their prospects and customers by injecting the sales process with social media and technology.
Why is it better to build a pile of needles versus finding a needle in a haystack? Because the needles are what you use to sow (sew) new business. Yet still, people spend way more time trying to find that needle.
Advertising is typically putting your message out to a large audience and hopes it attracts the right customers at the right time. Marketers try the same concept with email lists. They collect names, but are they the right names and emails at the right time?
The difference is a pile of needles is a group of very targeted customers or influencers who help you focus on getting to your goals faster and better.
Busy business people like contractors, don't have the time to build relationships like full-time salespeople, but through finding and working with influencers, they can amplify their messages if they simply invest time in specific relationships!
Time to stitch together some new business? In this episode, we will explore how you can build a pile of needles simply by asking yourself some key questions!
John Corcoran is a former White House Writer, speechwriter, an attorney, author and podcasting expert.
He started his career as a Writer in the Clinton White House, and today is cofounder of a boutique agency, Rise25, LLC, that helps B2B businesses to connect with their ideal clients, referral partnerships and strategic partners.
He is the cofounder with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, of Rise25, LLC, a boutique agency which helps B2B companies with lead generation and done-for-you media and content marketing.
So What's a Hashtag?
When I was a kid, has was something we had at breakfast (with potatoes and corned beef). As a teen, it was something (I heard about 😎) that people put in pipes and smoked. Today, a hashtag is an integral part of many social media systems.
A hashtag is a type of metadata tag used on social networks like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and others. They allow you to apply a dynamic and widely used tool (in some cases) that makes it possible for others to easily search and find messages with a specific theme or content.
Hashtags have different clout and influence on difference social media platforms:
Why do this? Run a Sustainable, scalable, profitable, and salable business.
Pope Gregory listed the seven deadly sins in 590 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues For every sin there is an associated virtue. The virtues protect one against temptation.
Sin = (Greek and Latin) failure, error, to miss the mark Virtue = (Latin) Valor, Being your very best
Have you noticed that social media is becoming more and more divisive lately? Something as simple and fictional as a mermaid is causing people lose their minds, get in fights, and spew hate, vitriol, and disdain.
I have been trying to be more positive on social media, posting fun stuff, positive quotes, and real life stories of overcoming life's obstacles. The amount of engagement has been outstanding and encouraging, and people love to share and be engaged and conversational around positive topics.
In this podcast I am going to lay out the Seven Deadly Sins of social media posting, and what I consider to be the antithesis to each
“I show women how you can be a badass chick when sometimes you feel like Gal Gadot in Wonder Women and other times like Roseanne Roseannadanna.”
I am a 50+, menopausal, married, have 2 semi adult children, love to binge watch Netflix, read about all things health & wellness interspersed with romantic trashy novels, don’t do sad movies, encore entrepreneurial women who believes all women can change their life, beauty and mindset to be a Badass Chick.
I have found that working for a company forces you to conform to the corporate culture... So does that make it a cult or a culture? Not all cults are bad, nor all cultures good.
People join cults not because people are crazy, but because they have two kinds of wishes. They want a meaningful life, or they want to be taken care of. A social culture is an organized way of life which is based on a common tradition and conditioned by a common environment.
There are some key difference though?
Kurt Scholle is an entrepreneur who understands what it is like to own your own business and to be responsible for the livelihoods of your employees. He measures business success only one way: profits. He founded Web Asylum in 1996 and has had equity interests in a couple of local Internet Service Providers that delivered high-speed Internet and reliable web hosting.
Website success and social media are passions. Kurt speaks on developing successful website strategy, Internet Marketing and Social Media, including Twitter and Facebook workshops.
With today's communication technology, especially in the world of social media, change is a constant. No matter what platform you login to, on what ever day, there is change. Some of it is obvious, and some is subtly behind the scenes (buried in algorithms and pixie dust).Google is no different.
All of this change does not come with instructions or even a warning? That's because we don't pay for the services (unless you are advertising). And... they do what they want, when they want, without even asking us?
Brynne Tillman is the LinkedIn Whisperer and CEO of Social Sales Link. For over a decade she has been teaching Entrepreneurs, sales teams and business leaders how to leverage LinkedIn for social selling.
As a former sales trainer and personal producer, Brynne adopted all of the traditional sales techniques and adapted them to the new digital world. She guides professionals to establish a thought leader and subject matter expert brand, find and engage the right targeted market, and leverage clients and networking partners for warm introductions into qualified buyers.
Images are integral to your content. When my wife broke the screen on her iPhone, I took it in to have the screen repairs. At the front of the store, there was a display case, with old broken screens lined up. I took a picture of it and posted it on Facebook and labeled it "The Boulevard of Broken Screens!". Have you ever seen the image called, "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams"? What emotion does that conjure up in you?
Creating graphics is a skill. So is photography, design, layout and using software to enhance and optimize them. You can choose to do it yourself or hire an expert, but either way, you brand is depending on the quality, the emotion, and the use of those graphics.
Vlad Calus is the co-founder @ Planable, the command center of social media collaboration for marketing teams, digital agencies, and freelancers to collaborate with their teammates & clients on the content calendar in the most visual way. Planable is used by more than 5000 brands worldwide, including Mini, BMW, Volkswagen, SkyTeam, Wendy’s and many others.
Vlad founded two non-profits at the age of 16, then dropped out of college, moved to another country with two 2 his friends, built Planable (Techstars London ’17) at 19 y.o and became an honoree Forbes 30 Under 30 at 22 y.o. And he’s been featured as a guest writer & marketer by multiple publications including Social Media Examiner, Entrepreneur, WeRSM, Freshdesk, Subsign, Digital Agency Network and many others.
What's more important to you and your business... Engagement or Education when it comes to posting on Social Media? Well that depends on many factors? What platform are you posting? What are your goals, Who is your audience and where are they hanging out?
Engagement is very measurable and desirable, but it's not always an indication of action. People engage in different ways. They comment, like or share and that can be very exciting, but may or may not culminate in any sales.
Education is creating longer form posts and often links to deeper educational content (like blogs, podcasts, videos, and more). Educating people takes longer to create and often generates less but more targeted engagement. There is, however, and long term cumulative effect that can lead to measurable sales.
Lou Bortone is known as The Video Godfather. We’re not exactly sure why and, frankly, we’re a little afraid to ask. What we do know is that Lou Bortone has been a pioneer and thought leader in the video space since the launch of YouTube in 2005. He’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs and companies create and leverage online video to build their brands and dramatically grow their revenues.
Prior to his industry leading work in online video marketing, Lou spent over 20 years as a marketing executive in the television and entertainment industries, including stints as National Promotion Manager for E! Entertainment Television and Senior Vice President of Marketing for Fox Family Worldwide in Los Angeles.
Lou is a popular speaker, author, and ghostwriter of six business books. He’s also the author of“Video Marketing Rules: How to Win in a World Gone Video.” You can learn more about Lou at LouBortone.com.
Would you take a flight knowing that it was ONLY running on autopilot? Why would you try to do that with your social media posts? Ever platform has a different audience, but more importantly, a different ecosystem for posts. They vary in picture size, text amounts, hashtags or no hashtags, and more!
I use Canva.com (both the free and paid for versions) to create stunning (scroll stopping) graphics. The paid for version lets you resize and reuse your designs. Graphics are the key to getting attention, but often the meat (BACON) of the message is in the text. Limits range from 280-2000 characters (not words). How you format and use that limited messaging resource is paramount to the effectiveness of your messaging!
In this episode, I will discuss how to maximize Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest (and touch on Instagram). I wall also give you three DO & DON'T tips to help you get the most out of your social media posts!
If you want people to fly your content airline... Let them know that you are piloting the plane!
Dr. Heidi Thorne, MBA/DBA, is a business speaker and author with over 25 years of combined experience in sales and advertising, including over 15 years as editor and advertising director of a trade newspaper covering the plumbing and mechanical contracting trades. In addition to two advanced business degrees (MBA/DBA), Heidi also has five years of experience teaching at the college level. Her business, Thorne Communications LLC, was also a promotional products distributor for 17 years.
Heidi has been an active blogger since 2010, and is the author of several business print books, eBooks, and audio books on small business and self publishing. Her goal is to help authors avoid embarrassing and expensive mistakes when self publishing.
As a professional business speaker, Heidi has done presentations on sales, social media, and self publishing with many business associations and chambers of commerce. She now hosts a regular audio and video podcast, The Heidi Thorne Show, where she discusses self publishing news and views. Heidi has also been a guest on many podcasts and educational webinars over the years. As well, she shares her knowledge and experience through her online courses on Udemy.
In the last episode, I interviewed Jane Atkinson about public speaking as a tool for your business. In that Interview she mention that she like to create keynote speeches that start with a story, make three memorable points, and then close with another story. I Thought that was The Perfect Content Strategy, so I wanted to explore that concept a bit further.
I suggest you keep your posts short and to the points (3-5 to be exact). You should also use some memorable hooks that are esy to remember and repeat. Kind of like the ear worm a good song hook or chorus has!
Here are some techniques I have used and the may help you...
They say “It's hard to see the label when you're inside the jar." My specialty is to help speakers see and work on what they can't see in their business.
Having worked with professional speakers for nearly three decades, I understand the common challenges that speakers face. Those that are just starting to seasoned pros often struggle with three main challenges: positioning; branding; and rolling out consistent messaging to their fan base.
I help speakers of all levels develop and launch their business, solidify their brand and message, and market and monetize their keynotes.
I do this through three books that I’ve written: The Wealthy Speaker 2.0, The Epic Keynote, and The Wealthy Speaker Daily Success Planner and Journal, as well as through online courses, group coaching, and private coaching.
As one long-term client shared: "What changed for me working with Jane? Everything…we’ve been together since the beginning and 3 years later we are well on our way to building a million dollar business. She is the definitive Speaker Launcher!” - Ryan Estis, Performance Expert
Selling Dog Food To Cat People means that just because someone has a pet, it does not mean that they are potential customers for all kinds of pet foods. Yeah they may get a dog some day, but right now they are paying attention to their immediate needs.Everyone needs water. Consumers and businesses need water, but as you start to niche down, you discover there are differences. Home owners are different than renters, and service businesses have different needs for water than manufacturing.Some people treat marketing like everyone is a customer, but are they really? In today's short attention span theater, you have to get the right message, to the right person, at the right time!
Michael Greenberg is the founder of Gentleman Of Technology LLC, a B2B venture creation and growth consulting firm. GOT specializes in B2B SaaS and Service businesses, as well as personal advisory services for serial entrepreneurs.He launched his first independent venture, Call For Content, in January of 2017. Call For Content is a full-service podcasting agency for content marketing, audience growth, and monetization strategies. Finishing his transition away from day-to-day at Call For Content at the beginning of this year, Michael is excited to expand his businesses further into podcasting and B2B services with new acquisitions and partnerships to be announced later in 2019.
When it comes to online marketing and social media, people tend to engage from emotion, but buy for benefits. LinkedIn is no different (sort of). It's different than any other social platform because it's more professionally based. That means what works on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, may or may not work on LinkedIn. Linkedin differs because the audience is used to the corporate environment. They appreciate training, information, and whatever helps them in their professional careers and business. It does not have to be stodgy. Just the opposite, it should be creative, just not as casual (no posting of cat videos and memes).
Nathan Hirsch is a 29 year old long time entrepreneur and expert in remote hiring and eCommerce. He started his first eCommerce business out of his college dorm room and has sold over $30 million online. He is now the co-founder and CEO of FreeeUp.com, a marketplace that connects businesses with pre-vetted virtual assistants, freelancers and agencies in eCommerce, digital marketing, and much more. He regularly appears on leading podcasts, such as Entrepreneur on Fire, and speaks at live events about online hiring tactics.
Over the weekend I listened to two audio books. One was "Choose" by Ryan Levesque about a marketing strategy and another was by a LinkedIn Expert focused on sales. They BOTH lived up to expectations. The marketing book gave away great ideas and concepts while the Linkedin book sounded more like a sales pitch for his LinkedIn Leads business.What's the difference between sales and marketing? Marketing informs and attracts leads and prospects to your company and product or service. Sales, on the other hand, works directly with prospects to reinforce the value of the company's solution to convert prospects into customers.
It is generally agreed upon that entrepreneurship is the engine that drives an economy upwards and is primarily responsible for its growth.Entrepreneurs create jobs, bring better and more affordable products and services to the marketplace, resulting in greater societal health, overall wealth and a vastly improved standard of living. And, while we treasure the entrepreneur, one needs not start their own business in order to be one. One can be entrepreneurial within a company setting (often called “intrapreneurs”) and can lead from anywhere they happen to be positioned.
Have you ever worked with a customer who could not see the value that your products or service provided? Value is relative. Value is in the eye of the beholder. Although value is often view as a measurement of price, different people value different resources... time, money, status and more.Value-based pricing is about basing price on the benefits perceived by the customer instead of on the exact cost of the product. People who value their time are more willing to pay for convenience. Have you ever paid for food delivery? People who value their money are willing to spend the time to save it. Have you ever driven an extra mile out of your way to save .01-.02⍧ a gallon on gas? You know what I am talking about?
Charlie Wedel is the CEO of 5D Creations, a creative design agency focused on website design and development for entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses. With his passion for spirituality and consciousness, he brings a unique approach to website and graphic design that brings in the unique energy blueprint of the business and presents a finished product that every client is proud of and excited to share with the world. In addition to designing and developing, he also teaches people how to design and manage their own WordPress website.
Do you remember the movie "10"? It's an American romantic comedy by Blake Edwards, and starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrew, and Bo Derek, and follows a man in middle age who becomes infatuated with a young woman whom he has never met, leading to a comic chase and an encounter in Mexico.On LinkedIn, your perfect 10 is more than just your perfect avatar? I'd like show you something different... I've seen tons of courses and Gurus who promise "UNLIMITED LEADS" systems on LinkedIn, but they base most of those systems on connecting with mass quantities of people and hoping some will buy from you.I like to focus on building lasting relationships with a limited amount of quality connections. How would your business be effected if you could add 10 QULITY new customers?
Mark S A Smith: Working in the world of technology since 1982, Mark uses systems thinking to help organizations successfully bring new, disruptive technology to market by orchestrating compelling, strategic conversations with executives.Mark’s authored many books including include his latest Pivot to Profit from IT Disruption, Security in the Boardroom, Linux in the Boardroom, Guerrilla Negotiating, Guerrilla TeleSelling, & Guerrilla Trade Show Selling. Forthcoming: Selling Disruption & Executive Strategy Skills.Mark is an electrical engineer, media technologist, computer programmer, hardware salesman, software marketer, business owner, executive coach, author, professional speaker, video producer, podcaster, blogger, musician, and father of five Millennial children who do not live at home.
Everybody wishes they had an "Easy Button" that you could simply push and 'POOF'... good things just happen. If we all had that, nobody would have to work and nor would your products and services stand out as the right choice for your customers. But, we all want to make things easier and less complicated? That can be done with a little extra effort!The definition of insanity is "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" but I like to think of it as "Trying what everyone else is doing and expecting better results?"What you really want is the RIGHT PEOPLE to PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing and TAKE ACTION! We all have assets of Time, Treasure, and Talent but you have to "Work To Your Strengths & Hire To Your Weaknesses." Do you have a plan to maximize your assets to help you achieve your goals?Each goal has a cost of time and a cost of money...In this episode we will explore some concepts where you can reinvent your business messages to get to the RIGHT PEOPLE to PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing and TAKE ACTION!
Ted Prodromou, America’s Leading LinkedIn Coach, is the award-winning, best-selling author of Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Business and Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business (Entrepreneur Press). Ted is a social selling expert and the founder of Search Marketing Simplified, LLC, a full service online marketing agency. The SMS team creates advanced LinkedIn, Facebook, Google and social media lead-generation strategies for small to medium-sized businesses with over $100 million in revenue generated.After 20 very successful years in the high-tech industry working for IBM, DEC and Cellular One, Ted’s IT career evaporated into thin air after the dot com crash. He was forced to reinvent himself and became a certified professional coach because he enjoyed mentoring his staff. While learning how to market his coaching practice, he fell in love with online marketing and lead generation which resulted in the shift from professional coaching to the creation of his marketing agency. Search Marketing Simplified, LLC.
Did you know that the average person get of has...Over 120 Email per DayAbout 200 Unread Emails In Their InboxHas Over 8000 Emails In Their InboxHas Around 40 Email FoldersThis can lead to overwhelm when you are trying to stand out with your marketing messages. We all want to create that perfect email, that gets users to sit up, take notice, and more importantly... Take Action!Your audience is asking themselves 5 questions when they see any email come in when they get a business email...Why is this important to me?How does this help me in my job?Is It Important/Urgent or Important/Not-Urgent? Why should I act on it?Will it save me time or money?Does it mean more work or less work?In this episode, I will discuss the difference between how most people composed email (WIIAM) and how people read it (WIIFM). And get busy cleaning out your inbox!
Robert got an early start to his career. With a computer in his hands in 1980, he quickly realized how this new technology would have a major impact on oursociety.He is the author of the best-selling book, “Motivational Marketing,” which he wrote as a manual for understanding marketing from the customer’s emotionalperspective.As a speaker, Robert has shared the stage with many of today’s business leaders and has appeared on national television, radio, and in print in many leadingmagazines.Today, he is the host of the Coach’s Corner podcast, and works almost exclusively with coaches hosting live web casts, seminars, and on-going training programs that help them have a bigger impact on the clients they serve.