A Brighter Web | Grow your business with digital marketing: Recent Episodes
GreenMellen
Running a business is daunting. There are too many things to keep track of and everything seems to cost money. So how do you actually grow your company without going crazy or broke?
At GreenMellen, we understand the challenges of being business owners. As a digital marketing agency for over a decade, we've got experience helping businesses grow using the latest technology and marketing best practices.
The Brighter Web podcast is aimed at sharing practical advice. The show is hosted by GreenMellen partner Mickey Mellen & marketing manager Robert Carnes. Join us to learn about effective organizational processes and digital marketing insights.
Does it ever feel like something's wrong with the American model of capitalism? If obsession with growth at all costs and maximizing shareholder wealth is disappointing to you, you’re not alone. Many are working to improve this mindset, including Paul Knowlton and Better Capitalism.
Paul literally wrote the book on how to improve our system to work better for everyone, not just the wealthy. Listen in to learn how you can become a part of this movement, especially as a marketer or small business owner.
Links* Better Capitalism website * Better Capitalism book on Amazon * Better Capitalism blog * Paul on LinkedIn * Better Capitalism on LinkedIn * Donate to support Better Capitalism
Michael Caldwell is the co-founder of technology agency Black Airplane, and the current mayor of Woodstock, Ga. He's also a futurist who thinks a lot about how technology impacts our lives, especially artificial intelligence. At the 2025 Brighter Web Conference, Michael shared how he foresees AI impacting our lives and work, in both positive and negative ways.
- Michael’s talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y38GCBFQNs
- Black Airplane: https://blackairplane.com/
- Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caldwellmichael/
- Michael on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Caldwell
- Mayor Caldwell: https://www.mayorcaldwell.com/
Moira Vetter shares her experience founding and running an award-winning marketing agency, Modo Modo, in this talk at the 2025 Brighter Web Conference.
Links:
- Moira’s talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3YxRa1sdHA
- Modo Modo: https://modomodoagency.com/
- Adventure The Book: https://adventurethebook.com/
- Moira on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moiravetter/
- Marketing Madhouse podcast: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-i3562-24e37caa
Co-founder of the Atlanta-based branding agency, Matchstic, Blake Howard shared how his team develops radical relevance for known brands. This talk was given at the 2025 Brighter Web Conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Links:
- Blake’s talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceRz3XgtuKQ
- Radically Relevant book: https://learn.matchstic.com/radically-relevant-book
- Matchstic: https://matchstic.com/about
- Blake on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardblake
- A Change of Brand podcast: https://www.achangeofbrand.com/about
KWSM agency founder, Katie Wagner, spoke at the 2025 Brighter Web Conference about a new approach to marketing that goes beyond just traditional inbound and outbound—it's called Nearbound Marketing.
Links:
- Katie’s talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpCx_TWUnBU&t=364s
- Katie’s agency, KWSM: https://kwsmdigital.com/
- Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiewagnerkwsm/
- Nearbound and the Rise of the Who Economy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nearbound-Rise-Economy-Jared-Fuller/dp/B0CW3DKVQD
At the 2025 Brighter Web Conference, Atlanta tech entrepreneur Jeff Hilimire discusses how dreaming small might be the key to finding meaning in both work and life. He shares from his personal perspective on how starting small has benefited his career and organizations.
Links:
- Video of Jeff’s talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNBag5WWheQ
- Jeff’s Website: https://jeffhilimire.com/
- Dream Small book on Amazon: amazon.com/Dream-Small-Finding-Turnaround-Leadership/dp/B0DXM9VLJL
- Ripples Media: https://ripples.media/
- Dragon Army: https://dragonarmy.com/
- Purpose Group: https://purposegroup.us/
- 48in48: https://48in48.org/
Struggling to keep up with the rapid changes in AI technology and its impact on marketing? Discover how small business leaders and marketers can harness AI tools to stay ahead of the curve and enhance their strategies. This episode dives into the benefits and challenges of AI, emphasizing the need for adaptability in a fast-paced digital world.
Links* Claude * ChatGPT * Robert’s AI experiment article
Remote work is more common than ever and a highly desired flexible benefit in many jobs. However, it doesn’t come without its own set of challenges and downsides. Coworking spaces like Fireworks in Marietta, Georgia, offer a good balance between flexibility and community. Courtney Schwartz from Fireworks shares the benefits and community aspects of co-working spaces.
Chapters* [01:15] Meet Courtney Schwartz * [03:00] The Role of Fireworks Coworking * [05:45] Benefits of Co-Working Spaces * [09:30] Addressing Loneliness in Remote Work * [13:00] Inspiring Stories from Fireworks * [17:45] How to Maximize Co-Working Opportunities * [22:00] Flexibility and Events at Fireworks * [26:30] The Growing Demand for Co-Working Spaces * [30:00] How to Connect with Fireworks
Quotes from Courtney Schwartz* "Connecting people together is one of the biggest things that we value here at Fireworks." * "It's hard to be creative when you're the only person collaborating on it." * "It's more than just a place where you can go to sit and get free coffee and Wi-Fi. It's really something more."
Links* Fireworks Coworking * Email: work@fireworksfly.com * Fireworks on Instagram
Logan Lewis is the creative mind behind Hammerhead Creations and the Your Morning Drive podcast. Logan shares his journey of building a brand that encompasses his diverse creative pursuits, from podcasting to marketing services for small businesses.
Discover how Logan balances his full-time job with his passion projects and the importance of community and personal relationships in his work.
Chapters:* Introduction to Logan Lewis * The Birth of Hammerhead Creations * Balancing Full-Time Work and Passion Projects * The Role of Community in Business * Embracing Failure and Learning
Key Quotes* "I wanted a company that I could put all my creative fun things under one umbrella." * "Community is everything. Opportunities will come your way if you're not just focused on me, me, me." * "Be willing to fail. It's necessary in order to succeed."
Links* Hammerhead Creations and on Instagram * Logan Lewis on LinkedIn * Your Morning Drive Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube * Fireworks Co-working Space
Digital marketing isn’t just about posting and hoping people see your content. You also need to do the more difficult work of creating an online community and forming mutually beneficial relationships. What does it actually look like to create an online community? That’s what we’re learning together in our brand-new Brighter Web marketing community. Join us and let’s learn together.
Data is both helpful and overwhelming for marketers. Let’s have an honest conversation about how to manage your flood of online data and make wiser decisions in your business. We’ll cover some common misconceptions, useful tools, and how to focus on what really matters.
Highlights* Data coordination involves creating client reports and answering data-related questions. * Data provides unbiased insights that guide marketing decisions. * Understanding data helps avoid operating blindly in business. * It's important to filter out spam sources for accurate data reporting. * Clients often have specific data needs that must be addressed. * Data stories can help clarify business performance. * Using tools like Google Analytics and DataBox is essential for data analysis. * Marketers should focus on one metric at a time to avoid confusion. * Data analysis is an ongoing learning process.
Time Stamps* Chapters * 00:00 Introduction to Data Coordination and Analytics * 02:45 The Importance of Data in Marketing * 06:06 Understanding and Interpreting Data * 09:03 Common Misunderstandings in Data Analytics * 12:01 Tools and Resources for Data Analytics * 14:51 Practical Advice for Marketers on Data Analytics
Links* Fathom Analytics * Analytics WP * Databox * Microsoft Clarity
Conferences can be fun and helpful, or they can be a massive waste of time and money. Overall, we love going to marketing conferences—enough that we wanted to plan one of our own. If you’re in Atlanta on October 9, 2025, we’d love to have you at the first-ever Brighter Web Conference. Even if you can’t make it, here are some insights on what we love about these events and what we’ve learned from planning one.
You can get $50 off your conference ticket with the promo code MEETUP. See you there!
In this episode, our guest Sanjay Parekh discusses the importance of privacy and security in our digital lives. We discuss the balance between convenience and security, the necessity of using strong passwords and unique email addresses, and the tools available to enhance online safety, including password managers and two-factor authentication.
Sanjay emphasizes the need for individuals and small business owners to take proactive steps to protect their information and offers practical advice for implementing better security practices.
Takeaways* Privacy and security are essential for everyone, not just celebrities. * An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. * Using a debit card can expose you to more risk than a credit card. * Unique email addresses for each site can help track breaches. * Password managers are crucial for maintaining strong, unique passwords. * Two-factor authentication adds an important layer of security. * Avoid SMS-based two-factor authentication when possible. * Consider using a secure USB key for backups of sensitive information. * Think critically about the information you share online. * Freezing your credit can protect against identity theft.
Chapters* 00:00 Introduction to Privacy and Security * 05:11 The Importance of Privacy and Security * 08:55 Finding the Right Balance * 16:17 Tools for Enhanced Security * 25:48 Final Thoughts on Security Practices
Links* Sanjay’s website: https://www.sanjayparekh.com/ * Sanjay on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sanjayparekh.com * Together Letters: https://www.togetherletters.com/ * Tech Talk Ya’ll: https://www.techtalkyall.com/ * Edgewise Media: https://edgewise.media/
Tech Recs* Bitwarden: https://bitwarden.com/ * Yubikey: https://www.yubico.com/ * Mozilla Firefox: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ * How to freeze your credit score: https://www.usa.gov/credit-freeze
What are the most impactful web technologies of all time? We were inspired by another podcast to create our very own unscientific list. What tech made the cut?
Show NotesOriginal Hard Fork podcast episode
Our Top 30 Technologies List1. HTML (1993) 2. Google (1998) 3. AOL (& AIM) (early 90’s) 4. iPhone (2007) 5. WordPress (2003) 6. Wikipedia (2001) 7. Cable modems (late 90’s) 8. Facebook (2004) / MySpace (2003) 9. RSS (1999) 10. Gmail (2004) 11. Netscape (1994) 12. Chrome (2008) 13. ChatGPT (2022) 14. SSL (1995) 15. Dropbox (2008) 16. YouTube (2005) 17. Twitter (2006) 18. Dreamweaver (1997)/Photoshop (1990) 19. Reddit (2005) 20. Github (2008) 21. Constant Contact (1995) → Mailchimp (2001) 22. Google Analytics (2005) 23. eBay (1995) → Craigslist (1995) 24. CSS (1996) 25. Salesforce (1999) → Hubspot (2006) 26. Blackberry (late 90’s) 27. Geocities (1994) 28. BBS (late 70’s) 29. MapQuest (1996) → Google Maps (2005) 30. Archie (1990) → Yahoo (1994) / WebCrawler (1994) → Lycos, Altavista, Hotbot (mid-90’s) 31. Linux (1991)
Honorable Mentions* Google Wave * Flash animation * SMS * PHP * VPN or TOR * Java
It’s 2025! At the end of 2024, we recorded our reactions to an article predicting some of the biggest trends and ideas for the new year. Which of these will come true and which will flop? Only time will tell.
Original article from LinkedIn: 25 Big Ideas that will change our world in 2025
Here are the items from the list that we discussed in depth:
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1: AI will lead to a more productive and shorter (four-day) workweek
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3: Big brands will start inhouse corporate influencers
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12: Streaming services (like Hulu and Netflix) will start to offer more bundled services
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13: Social media platforms will continue to splinter and niche down
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14: Virtual reality (VR) will be used more for travel
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18: Hybrid work cultures will rely on more in-person meetings like lunches
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19: AI will allow more businesses to be more accessible (especially online)
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20: Corporations will start demanding more practical uses of AI
Which of these predictions do you agree with? What do you think is missing from the list?
Email us with feedback at podcast@greenmellenmedia.com.
In this episode of the Brighter Web Podcast, we talk to Laura Beth Daws about the critical role of communication in team building. They explore the challenges of hybrid work environments, the importance of self-awareness, and the need for psychological safety within teams.
Laura emphasizes that effective communication is not just about conveying messages but about fostering connections and understanding individual roles within a team. She also highlights the significance of listening as a leadership skill and the value of external perspectives in improving team dynamics.
Links* LBD Communications * LBD Communications on LinkedIn * Laura Beth Daws on LinkedIn
Takeaways* Communication is essential for connection and team success. * Miscommunication often stems from assumptions about ease of communication. * Self-awareness enhances individual contributions to team dynamics. * Psychological safety allows team members to express dissenting opinions. * Listening is a crucial skill for effective leadership. * Understanding different communication styles can improve interactions. * External consultants can provide valuable insights into team dynamics. * Team roles influence how individuals contribute to group success. * Effective communication can mitigate the challenges of hybrid work. * Continuous learning about oneself aids in better teamwork.
Chapters* 00:00 Introduction to Team Building and Communication * 03:00 The Importance of Communication in Teams * 05:48 Challenges in Hybrid Work Environments * 08:51 Self-Awareness and Team Dynamics * 12:02 Psychological Safety in Teams * 15:12 Listening as a Key Leadership Skill * 18:00 Utilizing External Perspectives for Improvement
Quotes* "Miscommunication happens for many reasons." * "Communication is all about connection." * "Self-awareness is key for team players." * "Psychological safety is essential for teams."
Keywordsteam building, communication, workplace dynamics, hybrid work, self-awareness, psychological safety, listening skills, leadership, consulting, corporate training
Diversity is an often discussed but just as frequently misunderstood topic—including in marketing. What does being inclusive in digital marketing mean, and why is it important? We invited a marketer with experience dealing with these questions to join us on the podcast. Let’s learn from Daniela Cintron how we can all be more diverse in our representation to reach wider audiences and connect with them more deeply and authentically.
YouTube is the second-largest search engine online and the largest video platform. Video is becoming an increasingly powerful way to reach people online; however, producing and sharing meaningful video content is a challenge. In this episode, we talk to video production professional Kendrich Disch about the basics of growing your following on YouTube.
Links* verticalriver.co - video production agency in Atlanta * tubeworks.co - Done for your YouTube channel management * growthlab.tubeworks.co - DIY resources (courses, templates, downloads, community, etc) * Rode mics: https://rode.com/en-us/microphones/wireless/wireless-me
Every small business owner understands that social media is meant to be part of your online presence. But which platforms should you be active on? How often should you post? What’s the goal with social media? Do you need to pay for ads? Liz Bachmann manages organic social media and more for small businesses and joins us on the podcast to answer these questions and more.
Show Notes* Wildflower Social Media website * Wildflower Social on Instagram * Wildflower Social on YouTube * Liz Bachmann on LinkedIn * MetriCool Social Media tool
Over 40% of websites are built using WordPress—the popular open-sourced content management system. But do you need to be a web developer to build an effective website using WordPress. To break this down, we invited our friend and WordPress web creator, April Wier, to the podcast.
Links* WordPress CMS * April Wier’s website * April on Facebook * Sugar Five Design * Woodstock WordPress Meetup
Communicating clearly is a cornerstone of effective marketing. But how do you maintain a consistent message across various digital platforms? It begins with great marketing copywriting. To unpack this underappreciated art, we invited freelance copywriter Jessica Fralin on the podcast.
Links* Jessica’s website * Sparked studio * Jessica on Instagram * Jessica on LinkedIn
Despite what you might think, effective digital marketing isn’t free. It takes time and knowledge, and it can often require paid advertising to reach new audiences. The digital ad landscape can be overwhelming, so we invited our friend Mike Scott from Manticore Marketing to walk us through how any small business can get started with ads.
Links* Manticore Marketing’s website * Mike Scott on LinkedIn * Manticore Marketing on Instagram
Your company’s brand is built on how you’re perceived by the general public. Therefore, managing your reputation among consumers using public relations is a valuable practice in branding. Cindy Miller is a PR expert with years of experience and the CEO of Cindy Miller Communications. She spoke with Mickey about the value of public relations and how you can get started with PR at your small business.
Links* Cindy Miller Communications website * Cindy Miller on LinkedIn * Cindy Miller Communications on Instagram
Even if it’s not in your job title or description, you’re likely somewhat familiar with project management. However, it’s not a responsibility everyone fully understands or embraces. This makes project management one of the most underrated and underappreciated parts of business and marketing. We invited GreenMellen’s project manager, Brooke Desmond, on to discuss how we can all improve our project management.
- Brooke Desmond on the GreenMellen website
- Brooke Desmond on LinkedIn
What is it like to start and run a marketing agency? Our co-host Mickey Mellen invites his co-founder Ali Green to the show to discuss building GreenMellen together. This is a peek behind the curtain of how a digital marketing agency works and what it takes to operate smoothly.
- Ali Green on GreenMellen's Website
- Ali Green on LinkedIn
- The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Is SEO still relevant to marketers, especially with recent changes with technology? The short answer is yes, and we invited search expert Bobby Kircher to discuss why. Let’s make search optimization practical and achievable for small businesses like yours.
Links* Bobby’s website: https://bobbykircher.com/ * Papaya Search: https://papayasearch.com/ * Bobby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbykircher/
Is your small business struggling with content marketing? In this episode, we invited on our friend Adam Walker to talk about repurposing content for different platforms. These simple tips will help you scale your marketing strategy to reach a wider audience and save time.
Links* Adam’s Website: https://adamjwalker.com/ * Tech Talk Ya’ll on Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/techtalkyall/ * Together Letters: https://www.togetherletters.com/ * Edgewise Media: https://edgewise.media/ * Adam’s Newsletter on Substack: https://adamjwalker.substack.com/ * Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjwalker/
After 60 episodes of the Brighter Web podcast, we're changing things up. Starting in 2024, we're bringing guests to the show and talk about digital marketing topics. We'll be back in a few months with some new, slightly different-sounding episodes.
There’s no shortage of digital metrics to measure, but conversions are perhaps the most important. These are the actions that actually help your business to grow. But how do you measure and improve your conversions online?
What are website conversions?* Form fill * Download a file * Watch a video * Purchase * Donate
What is conversion optimization?* Making adjustments to your website to get people to take a desired action * It’s an ongoing process that you must test and adjust * Rand Fishkin (Sparktoro) - Precise attribution is hard to measure. Share our Blumer story. * Less attribution, more refinement of optimization
Why does conversion matter?* Because these are the actions to help your business grow * Without a desired action, what are you aiming for? * This is where the true value of marketing comes in
How do you get people to convert more?* Pick a single call to action * Make it clear how to take action * Focus the content on the page around the action * Give people multiple opportunities to click a call to action * Make small changes and test to see how people react — A/B testing
How do you measure conversion rates?* Count the number of conversions * Count the number of website users * Divide the former by the later * You can also divide up the specific types of conversions * This can be done directly in Google Analytics 4 (with help from Google Tag Manager)
Do platforms outside of your website influence conversions?* Yes! It matters how people view your brand before seeing your website. * It matters what landing page they come to * It matters how many times & ways they’ve encountered your brand
The internet is about far more than just making money—but that’s certainly something you can do. Content creators have found plenty of ways to earn income from the digital stuff they make.
This list is far from comprehensive, but here are 10 big buckets of ways to make money from the content you create online.
- Selling a service (like GreenMellen)
- Website development
- Coaching or consulting
- Graphic design
- Freelance writing
- Selling a physical product online
- E-commerce
- Swag
- Books
- Selling a digital product
- Ebooks and resources
- WordPress themes
- WordPress plugins
- Document templates
- Selling an online course
- Teachable
- Skillshare
- Kajabi
- Create a private membership forum
- Post Status
- Mighty Networks
- Private newsletter
- Accept donations
- Patreon
- Through Facebook
- Kickstarter
- Sponsorships
- Mostly for podcasts
- Directly on Anchor
- Website ads
- Google AdSense (and similar)
- Direct sponsorships
- Affiliate marketing
- Promoting products
- Getting a cut of the sales
- Amazon Affiliate links
- Publishing videos
- YouTube monetization
- Not just with ads, but to help promote other content
Effecitve marketing requires an investment. For a business, this means creating and spending a marketing budget. But how much should you spend on marketing, and what return should you expect? There’s no one answer, so let’s examine the right approach.
Where do I start with my marketing budget?* Figure out what you’ve spent to this point. * Create a document to track everything and work with your accounting team. * Develop an ideal budget for what you’d like to spend. * Think big and work backward to what is realistic.
How much should I be spending on marketing?* There’s no one right answer. * It’s all about what’s most valuable to your business. * This is much more than just advertising.
What categories should I consider?* Marketing software/tech stack * Content creation * Advertising * Networking events * Sponsorships
How do I expand my marketing budget?* Measure the ROI for what you’re seeing in return. * Determine your most effective channels and increase there first. * Look at the spend as an experiment—try something new and see if it works. * Get your leadership’s buy-in so they understand the value.
Digital marketing is useless without personal connections and word-of-mouth referrals. But is networking played out or ripe for you to take advantage of? It all depends on your approach.
How does networking help my marketing?* Get to know people in a more casual setting. * Face and name recognition can be as important as brand recognition. * Build a relationship with people before you begin selling. * You might also meet people who can help your business.
What kind of events can I network at?* Conferences * Tradeshows * Panel discussions * Volunteer opportunities * Business happy hours * Lunch & learns
What are some networking best practices?* Attend events where you know who the audience will be. * Focus on in-depth conversations with a few people. * Are business cards still worth bringing? Yes, if you have them. + Digital business cards are cool, but they break my process. + I like receiving cards more than giving them. * Follow up with people after you meet them—connect on LinkedIn.
Is it worth sponsoring networking events?* Take a look at the cost and see if it fits into your budget. * Determine the why behind your reason for being a sponsor. * The reason might be exposure or trying to get more leads. * It’s also good to get visibility in your local community.
What about speaking at events?* Are you comfortable with public speaking? * Do you feel like you have something of value to provide? * What topic do people care about that you can help them with? * Reach out to a few events that are actively looking for speakers.
Should I plan my own networking event?* We do quarterly micro-networking events. * This is with people we already know and want to introduce to each other. * It’s fun for us and fun for them—that’s the point. * This helps us to deeper our relationships and say thank you to our fans.
There are plenty of great and effective digital marketing channels, but there are just as many bad ones. Or at least good channels that tend to be used poorly by lazy marketers. These are our six least favorite marketing channels.
Robert’s 3 least favorite* Direct mail: because it’s usually useless and hard to track. * Billboards: because no one looks at them while they’re driving. * Twitter: because it’s been officially run into the ground.
Mickey’s 3 least favorite* Spam email: Email marketing can be great, but it too often isn’t. * Bogus LinkedIn connections: Don’t connect with me if I don’t know who you are. * Unsolicited text messages: Texting should be personal, so stop bothering me.
Technology can make marketing easier for your business. The various software tools your company uses for marketing combine to make a marketing stack. But what tools should you use and how do you build the right marketing stack?
What is a marketing stack?The set of tools and technologies that you use to plan, execute, and measure your marketing efforts.
What are the different categories to consider?* Website content management system (CMS) * Domain name registrar, DNS, and Website host * Customer relationship manager (CRM) database * Email marketing platform * Social media management * Survey & feedback tool * Graphic design software
How do you choose the right marketing software?It’s the classic battle of “all in one” (like Zoho) or the best of each different piece.
I lean toward the best of each piece but certainly combine when I can.
How do you set a budget for your software?In most cases, for a small business, time is a bigger issue than cost.
The cost for most of these tools doesn’t exceed perhaps $30/user/mo, but it can add up.
Do you need digital tools for everything?YES! At least that’s our opinion.
We’ve talked about several skills marketers need in previous podcast episodes. Now, let’s bring it all together and give an overview of the seven most important skills we all need to hone. Which ones do you need to work on?
- Planning: Just going out and “doing it” will likely end poorly. Get a strategy.
- Writing: It’s the key to great communication and creating great content.
- Consistency: Pushing hard on social media for a week won’t do much. Keep it up.
- Learning: Marketing is always changing, so you must stay infinitely curious.
- Testing: Some things work well, and some don’t. It’s vital to know the difference.
- Analyzing data: Scale your marketing by uncovering the patterns in the data.
- Acceptance: GA4 and AI are coming, like it or not. Know they’re coming and get to work, because hiding is fruitless. Be adaptable.
Related Podcast Episodes* Why Writing is the Most Important Marketing Skill * Professional Development Made Simple For Digital Marketers * 10 Books Every Marketer Should Read * Preparing to Migrate to Google Analytics 4 * The Future of AI and Digital Marketing
Creating your own marketing channels is a valuable practice. However, you can reach new audiences and gain extra credibility by sharing your content on other people’s platforms. These guest contributions have their own pros and cons, which we’ll discuss here.
What do we mean by guest contributions? * Sharing content on a platform that you don’t own. * It’s like public relations (earned media), but it’s with other content creators.
What kind of content or platforms can you contribute to? * Blogs * Podcasts * YouTube channels * Social accounts
What are the benefits to contributing as a guest? * You don’t have to build your own platform. * You don’t have to promote the content. * You can focus on creating great content. * You gain credibility * You reach a new audience
What are the downsides? * There are ton of spammers reaching out to platforms * Many of them are protective of their platforms * It takes legwork to do right
How do you get started with guest contributing? * Find the right platforms (hint: it’s where your ideal audience is) * Make a list based on types of platforms (blog vs podcast, etc.) and PRIORITIZE * Consume their content: read their blog or listen to the podcast * Reach out to a FEW platforms to ask about contributing—especially those looking for contributors Search for sites with the keywords “write for” or “guests” * Learn what kind of content they’re looking for
Marketing has no shortage of acronyms, and B2B and B2C are two of the most important. These represent two large business categories, however, they’re not as different as you might think. Listen in as we compare and contrast these two types of companies (plus a few more).
What are the biggest differences between B2B & B2C marketing? * In case of acronym confusion, “business to business” and “business to consumer”. * B2B would be the company trying to sell cups to Starbucks. * B2C is Starbucks marketing to consumers.
Why is it helpful to distinguish between the two? * They’re in a very different state. * B2B generally has specific goals, budgets and timelines. * B2C is often more spontaneous. You may have a budget, like for a new laptop, but often it’s low-ticket items.
How are these similar? * At the end of the day, they’re all humans. * If we’re “working with Starbucks”, it’s not a faceless company. We might be working with Jennifer or Steve, not with “Starbucks”.
Why do we focus more on B2B? * It’s a different area of expertise, and simply what we’ve chosen. * We know how to make a difference for B2B firms. * Solid B2C marketing is crucial (see: every TV ad), but is a very different approach.
Are there other options beyond B2B & B2C? * D2C - Direct to Consumer, like Warby Parker * C2C - Customer to Customer, like Etsy * B2G - Business to Government, like some construction firms * B2E - Business to Employee, like some online insurance companies. * Probably many others as well.
Customer testimonials and case studies are everywhere within marketing. But what’s the difference between these two things, and how can your business use them? Let’s unpack how to maximize your customer stories.
What’s the difference between testimonials and case studies? * Testimonials are direct quotes from your customers, clients, or vendors. * Case studies are more in-depth examinations of a specific project with a client. * Testimonials are better to be short; case studies can be longer.
Why are both important in marketing? * People trust others more than what businesses say about themselves. * Keep in mind, that even testimonials can be skewed and biased. * Offer a range of reviews—balance the good and the bad. * Some brands have used negative feedback to set themselves apart. (eg. Liquid Death)
Where can you use each one? * Testimonials can be shared fairly widely. + In blog posts + On web pages + On social media + In videos + Within case studies * Their short nature means they’re more flexible. * Case studies are better off on your website—as a landing page or downloadable PDF. * You can point all of these other marketing channels back to the case study.
How can you source testimonials? * Ask clients directly - be sure to get permission either way! * Online reviews * Customer surveys * Social comments * Email responses * Anywhere your ideal customers connect with you
What format should your case study take? * About the client * Their problem * How they found you * What you did for them * The results
We did it—we made 50 episodes of the podcast! Since most podcasts never make it past episode 3, we figured this was a time to reflect back on what we’ve learned so far and how we made it this far. Thank you for being a listener of the Brighter Web Podcast!
Most listened-to episodes * Getting Found Online with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) * Keeping Up With Key Business Metrics * Keeping Your Email Marketing Legit * 5 Parts of a Clear Business Messaging Strategy * 10 Things You Need to Do Before Launching a Website
Some of our favorite episodes * Why we never send cold emails * Keeping your email marketing legit * Why should you bother with website accessibility?
Other stuff we talk about * What we've learned * Our process for making the show * Why we did the podcast
Buzz, buzz, buzz. No, it’s not a bee, but it’s equally as distracting—it’s another digital notification that’s pulling you away from your other priorities. Dealing with digital distractions is a daily dedication, but one we all must definitely deal with.
What are digital distractions? * Pings * Rings * Beeps * Buzzes * The constant stream of notifications that break our concentration
What are some examples? * Email notifications * Slack pings * Text messages * Phone calls * Status updates * Social media notifications * App badges * News alerts * Amber alerts
Why are these problematic? * They break our focus and keep us in shallow work * People can’t really multi-task like we think we can * It keeps us pulled toward the urgent rather than the important * They’re major time wasters
When should we be wary of distractions? * During meetings * During important work blocks * Before bed * During meal times * When spending time with people who matter
Why does this matter in marketing? * Because we’re competing for people’s attention with these distractions * Because often these distractions are also marketing messages
How do we deal with digital distractions? * Go on Focus mode (in a Mac) * Turn off certain notifications * Schedule time to check email and social accounts * Set up timers for certain time-wasting apps * Leave your phone in another room * Take regular tech-free breaks during the day * reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, clarity breaks * Keep a “mind like water” so you can clear your head a bit more
Constantly cranking out new marketing content gets exhausting quickly. Using evergreen content that can be recycled makes the content marketing rat race a little more sustainable. Here’s some approaches for how to create and use evergreen content in your business.
What is evergreen content? * Topics that you can talk about at any point during the year * Different from timely content that’s only relevant for a short period * Evergreen content might change over time, but has a long shelf life
Why is this beneficial? * It saves you from having to constantly generate new content * It reinforces the most important themes in your business * It gives you content to fill in during slower times * It allows you to plan your content out in advance
How do you come up with evergreen topics? * Think about the things you talk about often * Consider what’s always relevant to your business over the long term * Start with a short list and add to it over time * These can be educational or promotional
What are some examples? * Your main product or service offerings * Your company's core values * Your team members or company history * Partner organizations * Cross-promoting your marketing channels (eg. blog, newsletter, etc.) * Your main calls to action
How do you use evergreen content? * Come up with a list of topics * Write up a blurb that’s easy to share with a link if applicable * Save this content in an accessible space for your team * Sprinkle these posts in your content calendar for various platforms * Revisit annually to see how it needs to be updated or expanded
Online reviews are often trusted more than other forms of marketing because they come from neutral third-party sources. You can’t fully control your brand’s reputation, but you can respond to negative reviews and encourage positive feedback.
Why are online reviews helpful? * People trust objective parties more than your brand * People use online reviews before they make a purchase * These online sites make you more discoverable online
How can you get started taking control of your reviews? * Search for your brand name online * Claim all of the online review sites you can find * Audit the information to ensure that it’s accurate * Create accounts on the other sites that make sense * Setup email notifications for when a new review is left
What are the most common review sites? * Google My Business * Yelp (consumer-facing) * Facebook * Clutch (services) * Glass Door/Indeed (hiring) * G2 (software) * Industry-specific (Houzz, Upcity, Blue Bird, BBB, etc.)
What are tips for responding to reviews? * Respond to everything— positive or negative * Be timely— within a week or not at all * Thank people for leaving a review * Take negative comments to offline conversations
How can you encourage positive reviews? * Link to it from your website * Automated emails to new customers * Scannable QR codes in brick-and-mortar locations * Asking people in person * Can’t offer anything in return * 4.5 is ideal because people don’t trust 5.0 ratings
Believe it or not, there’s more to marketing than digital media. Websites can coexist with billboards, and email doesn’t replace direct mail. The best marketers learn how to leverage both of these types of marketing to work together.
Why should people care about non-digital channels?* Because some can be effective. * Not everything can (or should) be digital. You should have a balance of offline, too. * While we’re a digital marketing firm, our main goal is to do whatever is best for our clients. * If that means using offline methods, so be it.
What are examples of offline channels to pay attention to?* Direct mail + Mailboxes are emptier than before. + “Lumpy mail” can be very effective. + It’s slower and more expensive than email. * Events + Speaking, tradeshows, conferences, networking, meeting folks, etc. + This is a great way to connect directly with people. + These require traveling and talking to humans.
What do offline channels have that digital platforms don’t?* More of a personal touch. * Zoom can be excellent, but it’s nothing close to an in-person interaction. * They can survive an EMP. * These channels can interact with your digital ones.
What’s the best way to balance offline and online?* I try to bring one to the other. * We’re using online tools to drive people to our offline Meetups. * Eg.I spoke at an offline event last week, but then connected with people online afterward. * QR codes are another good way to point offline people back to online.
How can you effectively start to connect offline and online?* Be intentional. * I’m careful to “process” after events. * With that speaking event last week, I took time to record notes (from paper) into Obsidian, add new contacts to my phone contacts, and connect with folks on LinkedIn.
If you’ve ever been on the internet, you’ve probably seen some video content—it’s everywhere. Some platforms—like YouTube and TikTok—are completely video based. There’s a reason why video content is so effective, but it’s not that easy or cheap for every business to create quality videos. This episode is your guide to understanding video and where to get started.
Why is video so popular with digital content?* Video is dynamic. It’s easy to consume (but difficult to create). * Video creation is exploding which means there’s a plethora to consume. * Video feels more personal because you can see people.
Why is video difficult to create?* You have to account for both audio and visual. * You need recording equipment and editing software. * The files are larger and more complex. * Quality is more elusive.
What kind of video content should we create?* Video podcasts and vlogs * Webinars and online training * Livestreamed events * Behind-the-scenes videos at your office * Scripted video ads
What do I need to start making video content?* An idea and a purpose * A goal for how the video should perform * A platform to share it on (eg. YouTube) * A camera—a smartphone or webcam works, but DSLR is better * A microphone—sometimes built into the camera, or you can upgrade * A good shooting location * A good on-camera subject * Editing software
What are some marketing video tips?* Create a plan for what kind of videos you want to create and why. Making decent videos requires an investment of time and resources, so you want to be reasonably prepared to go in. * Start small and play around with some options. It doesn’t have to be an immediate home run. * YouTube is a great platform for video, but it’s not the only one. Repurpose your video content across multiple marketing channels to make it more worth your time. * Follow other companies to see what kinds of video content is effective for them. Don’t copy, but you can be inspired by brands both inside and outside of your industry.
There aren’t many magic bullets or quick fixes in digital marketing—but there are a few. One of them is this surprisingly powerful and sneaky checkbox in the backend of every WordPress site. Here’s how that Magic Checkbox works and why you should probably avoid it.
Today on the Brighter Web Podcast, we’re talking about the WordPress magic checkbox. We did an episode on the Magic Email, and this is another magical episode. We call it that because it’s a surprisingly simple fix that can generate nearly instant results.
What is the magic checkbox in WordPress?* It’s the opposite of the magic email — the email is your way to get people to respond, and the magic checkbox is telling Google to go away. * It’s a devastatingly powerful checkbox buried deep in the WordPress settings that can literally make or break your website, and it’s very easy to miss. * Settings —> Reading —> “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” * (quick bit about crawling and indexing) * This adds a “noindex” to your site, and all major search engines will respect this.
Why shouldn’t most websites have the checkbox checked?* You want Google (and Bing and DuckDuckGo) to see your site. * Organic search is how most people find sites. * Without being on their radar, you’re effectively invisible. * People can still find your site from the URL, but you’re limiting your visibility.
What should you expect after unchecking the box?* It’ll take some time—the result is not immediate. * Google still needs to re-crawl your site to discover and index it. * Depending on the size of your site, it could be a few weeks or potentially a few months. * But you’ll start to see a noticeable change in the long run.
What are some reasons why WordPress has this?* Development sites. * Sites under construction. * Too many of these development sites forget to uncheck the box when they go live.
What are some other things you can do to improve on-site SEO?* Product excellent unique content, and don’t screw it up with things like this. * Use Google Search Console for recommendations and insights.
Does anyone like being interrupted by unsolicited promotional emails in their inbox? Because that’s what cold emails are—and they’re not the only form of cold marketing. Let’s talk about why we don’t like cold emails and discuss some better alternatives.
Why we don’t like cold emails* They’re an interruption in a place you don’t want to be interrupted. * They feel like an invasion of privacy. * They don’t stop even after being ignored. * It’s frowned upon by email service providers.
Why do people send cold emails?* Because it sometimes works (at a large scale) * Because it’s the easy way out * Because it’s a brute-force approach
What’s the alternative?* Permission-based marketing lets people self-select into your marketing funnel. * This “warms” people up before you hit them with a sales pitch * Always allow people to unsubscribe and opt-out of the funnel. * Introductions and networking. We send great leads to a lot of other web companies that are a better fit. * Proper advertising (Google Ads, TV ads). * Other digital marketing (SEO, etc).
Why permission marketing is better* It’s more focused and has higher success rates. * It takes more time but works by cultivating a relationship. * People are more willing to talk to you when you provide value to them first.
How to build a permission-based marketing funnel* Create valuable content (eg. blog posts, podcasts, videos, downloadables) * Create a place where people can subscribe for updates * Gate some of the content so people need to provide contact info * Nurture this list with more value before you ask for the sale * Create automated email series and newsletters to reel people in * Don’t forget to occasionally make a strategic ask
We won’t bury the headline for this episode—because that’s how important headlines are. Unfortunately, they’re often overlooked and underrated in digital marketing. We’ll help you craft more effective headlines with a few ideas and suggestions.
We don’t want to bury the headline, so that’s exactly what we’re talking about. Whether its a website or an email, we spend ages on design and body copy—only to mail in the headline at the last minute. But often, that should be the first thing we think about and refine.
Headlines are underrated.* People judge books by their covers. Your headline is your cover. * People shouldn’t just read news headlines, but too often they do * This is the first thing people encounter and helps them decide if they should keep going * Writing good headlines means being able to summarize what you mean. * Don’t just write headlines by default.
What do we mean by headlines?* Not necessarily news headlines; although use that same idea. * Blog post titles * Email subject lines * Video & podcast episode titles * Ad taglines * Book title (& subject line)
7 Headline writing tips* Write about 5-6 options. * There are templates and patterns you can follow. * Use a tool like Headline Analyzer * Snip good examples you find in the wild and collect for inspiration * You get better with practice. Spend as much time as you do on the blog post. * Use bold words that are action-oriented * Clarity is better than brevity. You can be longer to include context.
Are the robots coming for our jobs? Artificial intelligence is nothing new, but new innovations are pushing AI to the forefront of digital marketing. Businesses will need to adapt to how new machine-learning tools are changing how we do online promotions. Welcome to the future of marketing.
Why are people so excited about AI?* It makes hard tasks quick and easy. * There are some amazing use cases, for example: “write 500 words about the Civil War at a second grade reading level in the style of The Rock.” * It’s fun!
How does AI impact marketing?* It can generate content for you, both text and images (and video before long). * It’s great for helping generate content marketing ideas. * It’s also able to write blog posts, social media posts, emails, and more. * AI can also create better, and more specific stock photography. * All of the content is original and essentially instantaneous.
What are some of the AI tools people should try?* ChatGPT for text * DALL-E for images * I’m signed up for the Bing beta, but don’t have it yet.
What are AI’s strengths? What are the limitations?* It can consume and refine incredible amounts of data in seconds. * AI is surprisingly adept at following prompts. But it can’t create prompts for itself. * It’s not really “artificial intelligence.” At a high level, it’s just predicting the next word, but it feels like more than that. * Not all AI tools have access to the entire database of the internet. While others have arguably too much data.
Should we be scared of or worried about AI?* Not scared, but you don’t necessarily need to like it. As writers, we both have our concerns with it. * Human-written text is already becoming flooded with AI-generated text. We don’t have to like it, but it’s coming. * It’s hard to know where it’ll take us in the next decade, but it seems likely that very soon you’ll be able to say something ridiculous like “make a 10-minute show where Tom Hanks, dressed as a firefighter, fights Jennifer Lopez for control of the moon” and it’ll generate it instantly; including text, dialog, speech, and even video.
Most people say that they’d like to write a book one day, but few ever do. Book publishing is a challenging but rewarding process that too few get to experience. Luckily, one of our co-hosts has firsthand experience to share with any marketer or business leader looking to write a book.
Our co-host Robert Carnes has written three books, including his latest book The Story Cycle, all about storytelling for businesses. He shares his insights on the process of writing a book and how it’s more achievable than you might imagine.
Writing the book* Choose a topic you can live with for a year * Collect ideas and save them somewhere. * Organize your ideas into chapters and sections. * Write a crappy first draft to get it out of your system. * Let it breathe for a while and give yourself a break.
Editing the book* Aim to work on at least 4-5 revisions. * Writing and editing are different skills. * Knowing when to share with other people is tricky. * Share with 4-6 people to give you initial feedback. * Hire an editor who you trust to be objective. * Come up with a title that’s clear and catchy.
Designing the book* Collect 10-12 books whose covers & interiors you like. And explain why. * Layout the book or get a professional to do it for you. * Design the cover to be different from your competition. * Focus group the title and cover with examples of your audience.
Distributing the book* Either through a publisher or through Amazon self-publishing. * This process is still opaque and hard to understand. * The more versions (print, hardback, audio, e-book) the better. * You don’t have to do every format at once- releasing a new format later is a secondary launch.
Promoting the book* Use the book like a business card. Helps to build your credibility. * The process of promotion never really ends. * Break the book down into content chunks to share. * Guest blog posts. Lead magnets. Podcast episodes. Speaking engagements. * Create a list of everything you can think of to keep going.
Speakers. Sponsors. And swag. Who doesn’t love getting to go to a good conference? But with so many events to choose from, how do you pick the right ones and make the most of the experience? Let’s do a deep dive into the wide world of marketing conferences.
This is related to a recent episode we did about continuing education for marketers. We wanted to take a deeper look at learning from conferences & events.
Choosing Which Conferences to Go to* Cost: charging people actually helps more people show up * Location: can you afford to travel? Are there conferences near you? * Content: how broad is the conference theme? What are the breakout topics? * Speakers: any big names or brands you recognize?
Choosing Which Sessions to Attend* Hopefully, the conference lists some of the breakouts or sessions ahead of time. * Take the time to print off this list and review it. * Have a game plan on which ones you’d most like to attend. * This is especially important if you’re going as a team, so you can divide and conquer.
Networking at Conferences* Networking isn’t always easy, but it’s a big advantage of conferences. * Conferences should have a space for introverts to recharge from talking to people. * Wear that name tag and bring some business cards. * Visit the sponsor booths, get some swag, and hear what they have to say.
Taking Notes at Conferences* Bring a pen and paper, or a (fully-charged) laptop * Grab something interesting you learn from each speaker. * Mark 1-2 items that you can implement immediately when you get back to the office * Be sure to write down their name and contact info when possible. * Download digital notes if they offer it and make plans to review them later.
Beyond just going, you could…
Being a Conference Sponsor* Conferences are good chances to get in front of your target audience. * Think about attending a conference before becoming an official sponsor. * How your booth is setup and what swag you have impacts your conversations. * Consider doing a giveaway (that’s relevant to the audience) to collect leads. * Setup a dedicated landing page with trackable URL for conference attendees. * Have an automated email series ready to go for the email addresses you collect.
Conferences we like* Digital Summit * WordCamp * DigiMarCon * Inbound (by HubSpot)
Nonprofits are unique organizations for many reasons, including how they approach marketing. This can be both a benefit and a challenge for the professionals marketing for nonprofits. Let’s take a look at what makes charities different and how they can make the most of their digital marketing.
What makes nonprofit marketing different?* Your organization has a mission * Closely tied with fundraising. * Sometimes slower to adapt to technology * Organizations more willing to share with each other. Less competitive.
What challenges do nonprofit marketers face?* Limited budget & resources. Marketing is viewed as overhead. * Limited staff. Even large nonprofits tend to be understaffed. * Lots of different audiences. Having to appeal to all of them. * Marketers have to do most of the work themselves.
The way we think about charity is dead wrong— a TED Talk by Dan Pallotta
What are the benefits of marketing a nonprofit?* A mission that people (hopefully) like. * Volunteer help. Guidance from your board. * Easy calls to action. Donate. Volunteer. Come to an event. * Digital tool discounts (or free)!
What resources can a nonprofit marketer use?* Georgia Center for Nonprofits * Nonprofit Marketing Guide * Classy
5 Ways Nonprofit Organizations Benefit from Digital Marketing
When it comes to WordPress plugins, less is more. You don’t want to bog down your site with too many plugins, but you also need a few to help with your site’s functionality. Here are 10 of our favorite plugins to help your WordPress site operate smoothly.
Security and SpamContent wins, and just producing solid content and keeping your site safe is the key.
- Akismet: filter for spam comments
- BlogVault: site backups
- ManageWP: a single dashboard for handling multiple sites
Search Engine OptimizationYou can’t depend on these exclusively for SEO, but they can be a good guide.
- SEO Press: all-in-one website ranking plugin
- Yoast: The opinion of an algorithm from some guy in the Netherlands.
ContentThese plugins can help you create great content and format your pages well.
- Beaver Builder: our preferred page builder
- Redirection: helpful for redirecting pages and blog post URLs
- Gravity Forms: a robust form creator
- WP Rocket / Imagify: speed up your website with caching and smooshing
- WordPress Editorial Calendar
Read More* GreenMellen's Favorite Plugins of 2018 * All Things WordPress: The Essential WordPress Plugins that You Need to be Using * All Things WordPress: The Best WordPress Plugins for Everything
We encounter so much information daily—it’s easy to get lost or confused. One of the best ways to combat this is to have a good note-taking approach. But how do you take effective notes and keep them organized enough to be useful?
Why is it valuable to take notes?* Our brains are quite fallible. * We work hard to keep it strong, and you can still forget things. * Notes are a great way to know what was said, and what that meant to you at the time.
What can you take notes for?* The two big ones are meetings and books, for different reasons: + Meetings, to remember what we said and serve our clients appropriately. + Books, to help me learn. * This could be reframed as learning and logistics. * Other things can include conferences, podcasts, task lists, etc.
What do you do with your notes after writing them down?* For many people, just writing notes down is a huge first step. * For me, it depends on the type of note: + For meetings, I’ll make sure they’re cleaned up and in a place where the team can benefit from them. + For books, I’ll add more context around them and put them in a system where I can use them later. I also try to pull out any gems and turn those into future blog posts.
Why do you prefer digital notes to physical ones?* I’m digital all the way, mostly for the ability to share with others and do some great cross-referencing on my own. * There are advantages to hand-writing notes, though some of the stated ones are a bit over-blown. The three big advantages that I hear about are: 1. Handwriting slows you down, in a good way. Handwriting forces you to write about the topic rather than copying verbatim, which makes you think more. Be careful not to just type word for word. 2. Digital shows too much information/distractions. This is true, but easily solved. 3. Digital shows too many tasks — the list never ends. Well, configure it differently and make it end.
I tend to go with a hybrid. I’ll often take notes by hand, and then move them into a digital system later. This serves two purposes:1. I can be more present. Depending on the environment, a laptop may not even be appropriate, but manual notes are always find. 2. The migration of manual notes to a digital system is gold. I take church notes by hand, but processing them is an enjoyable Sunday afternoon activity.
How is note-taking relevant for marketers or business leaders?* It goes back to the two core reasons: + For clients and meetings, you want to know what they said and remember what you promised. + On the other hand, as a marketer or business leader, you should be constantly working on your skills. + I recently wrote a post about the different ways someone might take notes about a book. It gives more detail about how to capture information that you read.
The best marketers are constant learners. We must keep up with plenty of trends to remain relevant. To help with that, let’s take a look at the six most popular ways to stay on top of digital marketing professional development.
Why is learning important for marketers?* It’s always changing. * There are no experts. * It keeps you sharp and curious. * You can be more well-rounded.
- Books* Books are undervalued.
- Expand your definition of reading: audiobooks count, too.
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A few reading suggestions:
- This is Marketing by Seth Godin
- How to Write Copy that Sells by Ray Edwards
- Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller
- The Story Cycle by Robert Carnes
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Podcasts* Podcasts are easy to listen passively.
- Practice active listening: take notes, and take action
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Some suggestions:
- WorkLife with Adam Grant
- Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam
- All It Takes is a Goal with Jon Acuff
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Conferences* Conferences are more active and offer an experience
- These are a quick boost of inspiration and encouragement
- Create a plan to get the most out of your time & investment
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Some suggestions
- Digital Summit
- WordCamp
- DigiMarComm
- Inbound by Hubspot
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Email newsletters* They’re making a comeback
- Good way to curate lots of online content
- Avoid content overload by subscribing wisely
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Suggestions:
- Daily Carnage
- Total Annarchy
- The Hustle
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Mentor* They help to shortcut experience.
- Help you focus on a relationship
- Find someone you want to be more like
- Find a professional program to help connect you
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They’re mutually beneficial for both of you
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Make it stick* Make learning a regular habit
- Take notes to help it remain in your head
- Take action - implement what you learned
- Share what you learned
Did you create a strategy before building your business website? Perhaps you skipped this step to save time or because you weren’t sure why it was needed. However, creating a website without a strategy can leave it aimless and ineffective. Let’s talk about why you need a website strategy and what it should look like.
Why is it important to have a strategy before building a website?* So you build the website for the right reasons. * A common way to spot strategy-less sites were clearly built for the business, not their customers. * Think about what information your audience needs before you even begin.
But doesn't that slow the process down?* Absolutely, but that’s ok. * Speed isn’t the goal here. Or if it is, that’s a different conversation. * You could go on Squarespace right now and literally have a site in a matter of minutes. * Slowing yourself down can be a good thing to get the content right.
What should the website strategy include?* It’s a deeper process, but it comes down to understanding who you’re trying to serve. * Who are they? * What are you trying to help them with? * Why should they listen to you? * What do they need to do to get started?
How can you implement this strategy into the site build?* One, clearly, is the content. Speak to them in the right way—don’t use internal jargon (unless it helps with your audience). * The other is the site hierarchy, the sitemap. Knowing your audience will give you a better insight into what kind of content would be beneficial on the site.
How does this benefit your company in the long run?* We get a lot of clients that come to us with sites that you can tell were solid when they started, but they didn’t have a clear direction. * The navigation has become overcrowded, there are a bunch of CTAs on the home page, three or four big buttons at the top, each trying to overpower the other. * With no direction, it’s hard to know what to prioritize. * A strategy gives you a road map for how to build and grow your website.
What are your business goals in the new year? You don’t have to wait until January to set new goals—but you should take the time to make sure these goals are effective. Join us as we examine the best way to set goals for your marketing this year.
Why is proving ROI in marketing so difficult? * It can be hard to follow multiple visits all the way down to your bottom line. * Increasing likes and followers is nice, but how does that help you? * There are any number of marketing touches that can lead to new business. * Increasing those touch points with your audience helps. * But set goals around things that you know impact your business.
How many goals should you have? How often should they change? * Layers. Bottom-line revenue is often the main one, and work up from there. * You want more revenue? You need more leads. * Want more leads? You need more traffic. Want more traffic? You get it. * Build a marketing funnel and continue to optimize each layer.
What makes an effective marketing goal? * SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound * This helps you add context so you know what role it plays in your marketing. * Keep your goal something you actually want to achieve so you’ll stay motivated.
What’s a bad example of a marketing goal? * Eg. Increase revenue for next year. * It’s notspecific enough and leaves out the context of how to get there.
How do you keep track of these goals? * Set about 2-3 goals each quarter to stay focused. * Write them down somewhere you’ll see regularly. * Create a weekly scorecard to keep you focused regularly. * Hire a solid CPA to help you figure out your money stuff.
Why is email underrated? * People take email for granted. It’s kind of boring and reliable. * It’s been around forever and most people have it. * There are plenty of people who do email poorly. * We talked about spammy email in a previous episode.
Why is email so valuable? * You own your list. Not the platform it’s on. * Deliverability is high. Assuming you do email the right way. * Open rates are much higher than social reach rates. * It’s media rich—meaning you can include links and visuals. * Automation is much easier to accomplish—also talked about this in another episode.
How does email work with other marketing platforms? * Everything should point back to your website. * Use your social, podcast, and blogging content to drive emails. * People are often willing to give up their emails in exchange for lead generators. * Email is a way to nurture a lead you got from somewhere else.
What’s changing with email lately? * Email open rates are less reliable with Apple’s auto-open rates. * Email newsletters are making a comeback.
What is the magic email?
- It’s a way to get people’s attention in their inbox, but it’s kind of a last resort.
- I (Mickey) heard about it from Blair Enns (2Bobs podcast).
- The email is simply this: “Since I have not heard from you on this, I have to assume your priorities have changed.”
When do you use it?
- When all else has failed. This is your Hail Mary.
- After you’ve tried connecting with the person multiple times.
- For example, Mickey reached out to a person five times with no response before sending the magic email. He then got a reply 26 minutes later.
When should you NOT use it?
- Use it sparingly because the message is direct and snarky.
- Not on any relationships you don’t mind losing.
- It often gets people to respond, but not always positively.
Why do you think it works?
- Puts a bit of time pressure on. And some guilt, too.
- There must be some psychology behind what gets people to finally respond.
- “Works” is relative. A response is the main goal, though, and it works for that.
Why is it important to know your audience? * Why waste time communicating with someone else? * Talk to people who you’re relevant to * Every business exists to serve people; even if you’re B2B
What are mistakes businesses make with their audience? * Thinking everyone is their audience; the more focused, the better * Not fully understanding their audience; don’t make dumb assumptions * Not staying focused on the audience; it’s not about you, it’s about them
How can we figure out who our audience is? * Think about the people you serve? Who are your best customers? * Figure out what they have in common; usually it’s the problem you help them solve * Talk to some of them; learn about their motivations and preferences * Look at your website users, social media followers, email subscribers * List the demographic data; gender, age, location, income, occupation, family, etc.
What are the practical ways of staying focused on your audience? * Creating audience personas is a helpful shortcut to processing this mass of information * It focuses your attention on a specific character, rather than on statistics * It’s OK to have a few different personas based on different audience segments * Print these out and keep them visible as a reminder for who you’re reaching * Think about the persona every time you write an email, social post, or blog * But don’t overly generalize; keep meeting with people to keep it human
Quick—describe Twitter in less than 140 characters. It’s not easy to be succinct, but that brevity is one of the major advantages of Tweeting. Twitter might be great for influencers or debating politics, but does it have a place in business marketing? #GoodQuestion
How is Twitter different from other social platforms? * It’s more short form, micro posts with limited characters * It’s more focused on trending news content * Visual content still performs well, but it’s not entirely focused on that * Twitter is simpler because it has less of the added features of Facebook
How can Twitter work well for businesses? * It’s still a large and active social platform * There are lots of conversations to engage in * It’s a relatively easy platform to create short-form content for * Best for newsworthy posts and conversations (especially using hashtags) * A good way to keep on top of trends
Why might Twitter not be a good fit? * Many of their users are bots and fake accounts * Unlike LinkedIn, there’s a lot of political nonsense and anger * It’s much hard to maintain an active presence— it requires multiple posts per day to stay relevant * Sees a much lower engagement rate * Mostly suited for influencers with existing large audiences
How can your business take advantage of Twitter? * Use it mostly for quick updates and news content * Leverage visuals— one of the best platforms for GIFs * Join existing conversations using relevant hashtags * Connect with industry influencers * Set your expectations low and try to have some fun with it
What’s the future of Twitter? * They already went from 140 → 280, next is “articles”? * Open up API some more? Elon was planning to. * Cluttering themselves with too many different features (eg. Spaces) * Twitter Blue for $2.99/mo (ad-free, editing tweet feature)
Quick—describe Twitter in less than 140 characters. It’s not easy to be succinct, but that brevity is one of the major advantages of Tweeting. Twitter might be great for influencers or debating politics, but does it have a place in business marketing? #GoodQuestion
How is Twitter different from other social platforms? * It’s more short form, micro posts with limited characters * It’s more focused on trending news content * Visual content still performs well, but it’s not entirely focused on that * Twitter is simpler because it has less of the added features of Facebook
How can Twitter work well for businesses? * It’s still a large and active social platform * There are lots of conversations to engage in * It’s a relatively easy platform to create short-form content for * Best for newsworthy posts and conversations (especially using hashtags) * A good way to keep on top of trends
Why might Twitter not be a good fit? * Many of their users are bots and fake accounts * Unlike LinkedIn, there’s a lot of political nonsense and anger * It’s much hard to maintain an active presence— it requires multiple posts per day to stay relevant * Sees a much lower engagement rate * Mostly suited for influencers with existing large audiences
How can your business take advantage of Twitter? * Use it mostly for quick updates and news content * Leverage visuals— one of the best platforms for GIFs * Join existing conversations using relevant hashtags * Connect with industry influencers * Set your expectations low and try to have some fun with it
What’s the future of Twitter? * They already went from 140 → 280, next is “articles”? * Open up API some more? Elon was planning to. * Cluttering themselves with too many different features (eg. Spaces) * Twitter Blue for $2.99/mo (ad-free, editing tweet feature)
If you’ve ever built a website before, you’ve probably heard about sitemaps and wireframes. But perhaps you’re not familiar with either, or why they’re important for custom website development. Let’s unpack the role sitemaps and wireframes play in creating websites and why to consider using both.
What is a sitemap? A sitemap is a flowchart depicting the pages that need to be created for your site. Essentially like mapping out the chapters of your book before you start outlining the content.
Can you start building pages with a sitemap? Like a book or school research paper, you need to create a content outline for each page. What topics need to be highlighted on each page? What is the main action a user should take on each page? A content outline gives you a good framework to start writing.
Which comes first: writing or wireframes? Great question—many UX designers debate this very thing. Having a first draft of content is always ideal when starting your wireframes, but referencing the content outline is adequate.
What is a wireframe? Think of a wireframe as a page blueprint before you add design elements. The black and white drawing (sometimes a hand sketch) of the page layout before you start thinking about the visual brand elements. More complex websites (and apps) require more complex wireframes.
How does this make a website stronger? You remove the guessing game from your website strategy. You have a strong outline on to base the content on. This forces you to think about the purpose behind each page and slows you down enough to consider all of the details.
If you’ve ever built a website before, you’ve probably heard about sitemaps and wireframes. But perhaps you’re not familiar with either, or why they’re important for custom website development. Let’s unpack the role sitemaps and wireframes play in creating websites and why to consider using both.
What is a sitemap? A sitemap is a flowchart depicting the pages that need to be created for your site. Essentially like mapping out the chapters of your book before you start outlining the content.
Can you start building pages with a sitemap? Like a book or school research paper, you need to create a content outline for each page. What topics need to be highlighted on each page? What is the main action a user should take on each page? A content outline gives you a good framework to start writing.
Which comes first: writing or wireframes? Great question—many UX designers debate this very thing. Having a first draft of content is always ideal when starting your wireframes, but referencing the content outline is adequate.
What is a wireframe? Think of a wireframe as a page blueprint before you add design elements. The black and white drawing (sometimes a hand sketch) of the page layout before you start thinking about the visual brand elements. More complex websites (and apps) require more complex wireframes.
How does this make a website stronger? You remove the guessing game from your website strategy. You have a strong outline on to base the content on. This forces you to think about the purpose behind each page and slows you down enough to consider all of the details.
Storytelling is a term plenty of business leaders use—but are they actually prepared to tell stories? Finding the right stories in your company is one of the biggest challenges. In this episode, we’ll discuss what business storytelling looks like and where you can begin.
Why is storytelling worth it for businesses? * Stories are far more captivating than data or information * They create an emotionally-charged experience that people remember * Effective businesses invite their audience to imagine themselves as part of the story
What are the 4 things that every story has? * Context: setting and platform * Character: the perspective of the audience * Conflict: a problem that drives the narrative forward * Change: transformation because of the conflict
Where is the first place to start with business storytelling? * You’ve got to start listening to tell the stories of your audience * If you have people, then you have stories to tell * But you must earn their trust in order to hear their story * Always be ready to capture a story by writing down notes or capturing images * Share these stories with your team in a Story Library and have a set team of people who help you out
What’s a good example of business storytelling? * Humans of New York blew up when they started adding stories to their photos * The lesson is that you can listen either actively or passively for organizational stories
What are some storytelling resources? * Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller * Story or Die by Lisa Cron * Story of Business podcast * The Story Cycle by Robert Carnes
Personality tests are more than just Buzzfeed time-wasters. They can be tools for understanding coworkers, building better teams, and becoming more self-aware. So which personality assessments are the most helpful and how do they apply to marketing?
Show Notes What are some of the personality assessments out there? * Myers Briggs: 16 personalities with 4 different categories * Enneagram: 9 personalities * DISC profile: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness * Right Path: 16 blended profiles * Strengths Finder: several different strengths ranked
How does GreenMellen get into using personality assessments? * We have always been a team of do-ers. We get things done, we are task-oriented. This was great for projects, but when it was time to grow our services, we hit a wall. * After one of our business coaches suggested a team personality assessment, we learned we how best to work with one another. * Just “being nice” isn’t the right approach.
Are personality tests perfect? What are the pros and cons? * Pros: Quick shorthand to understanding how people think and operate, fun to do as a team, gives you language around types of people and behaviors * Cons: can be overly generalized, overused to make big decisions, hard to know which one to use, not obvious how to put the results into practice. * People can “own” them a bit too much and try to become what the test said they should be, which is certainly problematic.
What does this mean for marketing and your business? * Make sure you have the right people on your team. * Know what roles and tasks motivate people * How to communicate properly with people * Think about what personality each of your audience personas has
Remote work has been around for decades, but a global pandemic and booming technology have allowed for working from home to become more commonplace. But is this practice a fad or the future of work? How do businesses handle this changing landscape of work?
Is this the desirable benefit some people think it is? Is it the future or a fad? * Depends largely on the industry. * Some businesses are able to get away with it more than others. * It can also be individual. Some people are more productive at home than the office.
How have we made this work at GreenMellen? In-person work:
- Collaboration time
- Social time
Remote work:
- Block your lunch hour
- Stay on communication channels
What are some of the benefits or disadvantages as we see it? * Pros: more flexibility, no commute, happier employees, save $$ on offices * Cons: less face time, abuse of company time, less collaboration, more isolation
How can other businesses prepare for more remote or hybrid work? * Find the right communication channels—Slack, Zoom, Loom, etc. * Help people set boundaries (reference our episode on mental health) * Find ways to maintain a culture and keep people plugged in * Keep an open mind and listen to what your team expects
How does this impact marketing? * Online presence matters even more than ever—both for customers and the team * Collaboration and communication become a challenge, but still achievable * Save money in office space and put it back into marketing that has direct results?
There are two basic approaches to business marketing: inbound and outbound. Outbound means going to your audience, while inbound refers to attracting your audience to your brand. There are pros and cons to each approach, but the best marketers use a blend of both.
What’s the Difference Between Inbound vs Outbound Marketing? Outbound is essentially pushing marketing messages out to an audience. This means going to the channels where they are and broadcasting to a broad group.
Inbound flips that by trying to attract people back to your marketing channels. It’s usually about creating content that people find and willingly enter your marketing funnel.
What are some examples of each? Outbound looks like advertising, sponsoring conferences and trade shows, sending direct mail pieces, or cold calling. It’s pushing your brand to people.
Inbound can include blogging, lead generators with email automation, or free educational webinars. It’s pulling people to your brand.
What are the big differences between the two? Outbound is more traditional. Jumping on someone else’s platform used to be the only way to do marketing. It can reach a broader audience that doesn’t already know you so you get better brand awareness and have an immediate impact. But it’s more invasive and can have a higher cost with a lesser return on that investment.
Inbound marketing is newer and more built around the digital space. The goal is to provide value to a smaller, targeted audience and then nurture them to make a purchase. However, this can also take more time to build content, and it can take more time before you see results.
Is one approach better than the other? Inbound is becoming more popular because it’s not as invasive, it’s more focused, and has lower direct costs. However, it’s usually best for businesses to take a balanced approach. There are pros and cons to both, especially depending on your industry.
Try a mix of both to see what works for you. Especially if your industry is dominated by one or the other, taking the alternative approach can help you to stand out.
Are thee the only two marketing approaches? These are two of the most recognized approaches to marketing, but I wrote an article a few years back about a theoretical third approach: what I call outlandish marketing.
The idea is to do something different that helps you to stand out even if it doesn’t obviously or immediately improve your bottom line. Some examples of this are the Guinness Book of World Records, the Michelin Restaurant Stars, and Domino’s Paving for Pizza.
Google Analytics is among the most useful free tools in digital marketing. But as of 2022, businesses must transition to the newest update—Google Analytics 4. Here’s how you can handle this change and make the most of it for your marketing.
What is Google Analytics 4 and why do we need to move to it?
- 1995 - Urchin created
- 2005 - Purchased by Google, becoming Google Analytics.
- 2011 - New version
- 2012 - UA unveiled
- 2020 - GA4
How is it different from Universal Analytics—aka GA 3?
It's hard to explain over audio, but there are two main things:
- Instead of Pageviews, events, transactions, etc, it’s all just “Events”.
- This makes it much more complex out of the gate, but much more powerful.
What does this mean for the future of digital marketing?
- GA4 is trying to do more without cookies, which will help.
- As your audience goes into more separate channels (website + app, for example), this can do a better job of pulling all of that data into one place.
How can businesses make this transition?
- Run both sets of code for the time being.
- Start collecting data ASAP so you'll have historic data.
- Use tools to make sense of the data (like “scorecards” for some of our clients)
Why is data and analytics vital to marketing?
- You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
- Know what’s working and what’s not, and make changes accordingly.
- Allows you to run experiments and objectively see what works better.
Resources * Preparing Your Business for the Big Transition to Google Analytics 4 * Google Analytics 4: What We Know and Think So Far * Google Announces Transition to New Google Analytics 4 - Lever Interactive * Google Analytics 4 transition - How to manage migration
Self-care is frequently discussed, but too often overlooked, especially when it comes to marketing professionals. To start off a new year, let’s examine why self-care is as important as ever and why it’s needed for every marketer. Do yourself a favor and listen to this episode.
3 reasons why self-care is important for marketers 1. You do better work when you’re your best self 2. Reduce stress and anxiety 3. Avoid burning out
10 tips for better self-care 1. Take breaks during the day Download an app like WorkRave or Timeout. Take a one-minute break every hour. Look away from your computer every 20 minutes. Otherwise, you’ll never find the time for yourself.
- Set clear working hours Consistently start and stop your workday at a specific time. Let your boss know when these are. You might not always have this autonomy, but work towards it.
When you’re done working, create a shut-down routine to tell your brain that work time is over. Turn off notifications. Shut the computer. Unplug the wifi, if that’s what it takes.
- Get sleep It sounds basic because it is—sleep is one of the most important things your body needs. But working or living on little sleep isn’t sustainable in the long run. Snooze for at least eight hours.
Depriving yourself of restorative rest will sap your productivity and make you more vulnerable to getting sick or injured (when you’ll have no chance but to stop working).
- Don’t eat at your desk. Eating is another obvious tip. Take this to the next level by using lunch as an excuse to take a break. Don’t eat while hunched over your keyboard. Your productivity naturally wanes during the course of the day. But stopping for half an hour to eat gives you a natural boost.
Don’t use this time to watch a video or catch up on emails. If you must be productive, eat with another person. Talk about something other than work. Use lunch to deepen a relationship.
- Take a walk Walking is one of the most basic, but structural practices for better physical fitness. As a bonus, it’s also great for your mental well-being. Walking allows your mind to wander and process.
Stroll, don’t scroll. Walking outside is even better because you get sunlight and fresh air. Walking with another person is best of all because of the added social benefits.
- Find ways to refuel Motivation naturally flags over time. We all go through dips in our work. So it helps to have sources of inspiration and energy when we’re stuck in a rut.
You know what works for you. Go to a conference. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Watch a TED Talk. Read a blog post. Meet with a mentor. Pick one a do it regularly.
- Take a vacation Most businesses offer paid time off as a benefit to their employees. But the majority of Americans don’t use all of their PTO. Even when they do, they often work on vacation.
Plan a trip every year. Even if it’s just a staycation to visit your own town. Disconnect for work for an extended period of time. Send work a postcard if you need to.
- Don’t multitask It’s tempting to try and tackle four or five or a dozen tasks simultaneously. That seems like a productive use of time. But it’s actually the opposite because you do none of them well.
Constantly switching focus makes you less productive and strains your brain. Work toward focusing on one thing at a time. Figure out what’s important and dive in deep.
- Look at your work environment Are you at your workspace right now? Look around. What do you see? Do you like how your desk looks? Does it seem like a good place to foster creativity and productive work?
If not, then spend some time working on your workspace. Dim the lighting. Declutter your desk. Store some snacks and water nearby. Hang some artwork. Maybe even invest in a standing desk (if you’re into that sort of thing like me).
- Connect with people A theme that’s emerged in a few other tips thus far has been engaging with other people—whether that’s family, coworkers, friends, or even strangers. Work can be isolating. Engaging regularly with others keeps you connected and helps fight off depression.
Occasional texts or messages are OK. Longer video calls or face-to-face conversations are even better. Find people who will pour into you like a professional mentor, or even a therapist. Figure out what relationships you need and find people to fill those roles.
The only thing we love more than digital marketing tools is sharing them with others. They won’t replace your work, but they might just make it easier or save you time. We’ve compiled a list of our dozen favorite digital marketing tools that you should check out today!
Tool recommendations are like the dessert of any conference presentation. So this episode is basically just a sugar rush of fun information of tools to test out and try.
We’re not going to mention some of the more obvious ones you’ve already heard of like WordPress, Google Analytics, Mailchimp, etc.
Mickey’s Top Tools 1. RSS Reader: Feedly 2. CRM: Pipedrive, SalesFlare, HubSpot or Notion 3. Reading: Kindle, Blinkist, and GoodReads 4. Notes: Google Keep, Roam Research, Evernote 5. Keyboard shortcuts. Operating system, to browser, to apps; here’s a handy list 6. Heatmap: Crazy Egg or HotJar
Robert’s Top Tools 1. Writing tools: Grammarly and Hemingway app 2. Password manager: LastPass or 1Password 3. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer & Email Subject Line Tester 4. Survey tool: Typeform or Survey Monkey 5. SEO tools: Moz or SEMRush 6. ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com
Podcasts are popular. The fact that you’re reading this or listening to this episode proves it. They’re not just for entertainment either. Podcasts can be great sources of information and building a brand. But not every business needs a podcast. Here are a few things to consider if you’re thinking about starting a podcast for your business.
Show Notes Why are podcasts so popular? * Podcasts are where blogs were 20 years ago. * We’re slowly coming down from the boom. Plateauing in popularity. * However, we expect that podcasts will still be popular in the near future. * They’re easy to consume, especially passively. * There’s a wide variety of topics and formats. Good way to find a niche. * They blew up after we had the delivery platform (smartphones), unlike blogs.
Should every business have one? * It’s a way to repurpose content and get it in front of more people. * More places for people to find you. * It builds trust and credibility. * It forces you to stay on message and informed. * M: We hired our CPA firm because of their podcast. Not anything specific, but just a few years of hearing their great content helped me understand what they were about, and even helped me develop more trust in them (without actually talking directly to them)
What are the reasons not to have a podcast? * The biggest downside is the investment of time (and one-time equipment). * It’s becoming an increasingly saturated market.
How does your business get started with creating a podcast? * Get a name. Make it clear and unique. * Pick out your hosting platform. Eg. Podbean, Libsyn or Anchor * Set up your account. * Decide on your format. Eg. interviews, roundtable discussions, audio blog * Pick a host(s) and list of potential guests. * Brainstorm episode topics. Start with 50, not all of which you’ll use. * Decide on a publishing cadence. Monthly or bi-weekly. Start less. * Start to make a content calendar. * Build your setup. Buy mics and headphones. Know where to record. * Record several episodes before launching. Batch recording is better. * Edit episodes.
Digital marketing is constantly evolving and there’s always something new to learn. How do you keep up with the latest trends and news? It’s a neverending task that you’ll never fully tackle, but you can certainly still be more informed—even without overwhelming yourself. Here are five ways we like to stay up to date and in the know.
First, let’s split out interesting news versus useful information. I enjoy interesting news, but it’s not super helpful.
- Interesting news: The new Android 13 beta is out, Elon Musk talking more about going to Mars, etc.
- Useful news: Major algorithm changes, security concerns, etc.
- How do you decipher what’s not interesting or useful? There’s a lot of noise out there. Filtering and curating seem more important than just absorbing.
Social Media * In terms of staying on top of news and trends, t’s mostly entertainment, which isn’t to say it’s all bad. * Depending on your business, it could be helpful. * At the end of day, you’re seeing what the social network wants you to see. That can lead to a filter bubble. * Which platforms do you use? How do you find information beyond the doom scroll?
Books * For most marketers, a tighter grasp on overall best practices is more valuable than learning about the latest tiny tweak that Google made to their algorithm. * Full books are great, but Blinkist + Goodreads can be a good shortcut. * Not all marketing books are recent. Is there something to be said for older books that might be slightly outdated on technology? * Eg. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is still startlingly relevant on the topic of social media.
Blogs * I’m still a big believer of blogs and feed readers, because you get 100% of what you asked for; nothing more, nothing less. * Be careful, though, as you might create your own filter bubble. * Using an RSS reader to consume multiple blogs more efficiently.
Newsletters * These are making a comeback more recently. * Similar to blogs, but more bite-sized information delivered directly to you. * Examples: Stacked Marketer, Total Annarchy (Ann Handley), Daily Carnage
Memorization * Learning isn’t worth much if you don’t remember. * The best way is to put it into practice. * Tools like Anki can help a lot too.
Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok might be the trendiest social media platforms (for now). But LinkedIn has been around longer than all of them and is a more reliable medium for B2B marketers. We’ve got some advice for how you can leverage LinkedIn for networking, learning, and growing your business.
Why should companies, especially B2B companies, use LinkedIn? * It’s the most prominent professional social networking site * It’s a great way to network and learn information * They earn money from more than just ads (so the ads are less in your face) * It’s actually older than Facebook and Twitter (and more well respected) * It’s free from a lot of politically charged nonsense
How can a business leader start using LinkedIn? * Claim your company page to grow visibility * Share updates with a professional audience * Engage existing team * Recruit new talent
What are some of the best practices when it comes to LinkedIn? * Make sure your branding is consistent (profile photo, banner image, etc) * Get your employees to link their profiles your page * Visually compelling posts (especially videos) or long-form, mini-blog posts * Figure out who your audience is (and who it should be) + LinkedIn lets you see the experience, industry, job title, seniority, etc of your followers * Follow your competitors and others you want to be like * Comment on other people’s posts to build a community * Connect with humans versus automation
There are a few downsides to LinkedIn * Groups are very engaging (unlike Facebook) (did you mean “aren’t”?) * Profiles always get more engagement (but less analytics)
If you do anything online, there’s always some risk that your privacy or data could be compromised. Hackers are a real thing, and so is identity theft. Thankfully, there are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your business online.
Why does this matter? What’s the worst that can happen? * Identity fraud * Account hacked, like Facebook + Hacked ≠ Cloned * Credit card information stolen * Website hacked (and you might not even know it for a while) - episode 15
What are ways to keep your accounts and passwords safe? * Use a password manager like Lastpass or Onepass * Use strong passwords and different passwords for each account * Use dual-factor authentication, either texts or an authenticator app + Three factors: Something you know, something you have, something you are
How can people keep their online information secure? * Check your privacy settings on each platform; know what information you’re sharing * Watch what information your share online, especially social media & email * The browser and email client you use matter.
How does this apply to businesses? * Keep your customer data safe. * Keep your customers feeling safe. * So your business doesn’t lose money or credibility
Not everyone enjoys writing. However, it’s a crucial skill for anyone who works in marketing or hopes to grow as a business leader. Writing is central to clear communication and persuasion. Lucky for you, we have a few easily applicable tips for how to become a better writer.
Why is writing important for marketing? Here are four reasons why writers make good marketers.
- Clear communication. It forces you to think about your audience and your core message.
- More compelling marketing. Writers keep things concise. They understand how to move people to action.
- Better content. Content is increasingly relevant in marketing. Writing is central to good content.
- Widely applicable. Nearly everything in marketing can be improved with better writing.
What are some examples of places where marketers write? * Website copy * Blog posts & headlines * Emails * Social media posts * Ebooks & white papers * Speeches * Ad copy * Video scripts
What advice would you have for marketers to improve writing?
-
Start with the basics. Begin with the simple stuff and build from there.
-
Use active voice, not passive.
- Be concise.
- Be clear.
- Avoid adjectives and jargon.
-
Don’t be boring.
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Practice writing. The best way to get better is repetition. Build regular writing habits and get better over time.
-
Aim to spend time writing daily.
- View this time as an investment in an important skill.
- Realize when you’re writing professionally.
- Be intentional about improving the quality.
- Contribute content to publications like industry blogs.
-
Write personally—even if it’s about fun things to keep yourself interested.
-
Read effective writing. Good writers read a lot. Immerse yourself in examples of writing.
Blogs to read: * Seth Godin * Punchline Copy * Content Marketing Institute * Jeff Goins * Marketing Profs
Books to read: * Everybody Writes by Ann Handley * On Writing by Stephen King * How To Write Copy That Sells by Ray Edwards * Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott * You Are A Writer by Jeff Goins * The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly
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Learn how to edit. Writing and editing are separate skills. Treat them accordingly.
-
Take a break and revisit the writing later.
- Read the words out loud.
- If you can remove a word without changing the meaning of a sentence, do it.
- Follow a style manual (like the Associated Press)
-
Get someone else to proofread your writing.
-
Take a writing course. Be a student of writing. Learn from the experience of others. These are some of the most popular courses on writing available online—but this list is far from comprehensive.
-
Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing (Masterclass)
- Content Marketing Certification (HubSpot)
- Leading to Write Marketing Copy (Lynda)
- The Strategy of Content Marketing (Coursera)
- Copyblogger Certification
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How to Write Copy That Sells (Udemy)
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Use online tools. Automate some of the writing process with digital tools like these. There’s no shortcut to good writing, but there are certainly some tools that will make your job easier.
-
Grammarly
- Hemingway
- Readable
- Headline Studio
- Email Subject Line Tester
- Word Counter
- Copy.ai
The work on your beautiful company website doesn’t end once you launch it. There’s still a lot of work that comes with maintaining the technical and content elements. However, this effort is well worth it to ensure your website is secure and represents your business well.
Show Notes What happens if you don’t keep your website secure?
- It can get hacked... and you might not even know it
- It can crash
- It will be slow: Use a tool like GT Metrix to test your website speed
- Less likely to be listed on Google
4 Steps to keeping your website updated
- Backup regularly
- Keep themes & plugins updated
- Malware scans: use tool like Google Search Console
- Uptime Monitoring
How to keep your website’s content updated
- Review your site periodically
- Use evergreen language: eg. “been in business since 1980” instead of “for 40 years”
- Get an outsider to look at your website
- Write a blog to keep content fresh
- What are email automations?
- Automated workflows that communicate with your audience
- They're triggered based on pre-set criteria
- Used in most email marketing platforms like Mailchimp & Active Campaign
- Sometimes called a customer journey, because that's what they follow
- Why use email automations?
- Help you scale your work: setup one time and then optimize over time
- They personalize the experience for your audience However, they can also get very complicated very quickly Forces you to think through what steps your audience takes
- Create consistency so you're not having to constantly churn out content Nurtures your audience over time and warms them up to be a customer
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How do you make the most out of email automations?
- Don't overdo it.
- All automation should lead to human interaction.
- The "from" and "reply-to" are very important. If you have a "noreply" sending an email, just don't do it. I changed banks because of this.
- Actually respond when people reach out.
- Here’s a humorous example of that from a car dealership with massive amounts of clunky email automation.
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Examples of email automations
- Welcome series: these generate better results for later emails
- Client onboarding: preemptively answer your clients questions
- Audience milestones: those birthday emails are really effective; celebrate something
- Reengagement series: pull uninterested people back in, or auto unsubscribe them
Finding Clients * 1. Referrals + How can you encourage and appreciate your referral sources? + This could be from other clients or business partners. + Refer back: this makes you look better to the potential client, too. + Using a gift tool like Thnks to surprise and delight. * 2. Networking + Business associations + Professional groups: eg. AMA, Chamber + Conferences: We've got a lot of work from these kinds of groups over the years, but mostly as referrals further out. * 3. SEO + Let your website work for you + More passive than active + What if this isn't generating the right clients? - Tighten your messaging. - Ask more difficult questions on your contact form. * 4. Content + Blogging, speaking, podcasting + Social & email is more promotional + All of it into a marketing funnel + Educating and thought leadership is one of our core values, and leads are a positive consequence of that content
Tracking Clients * 1. Forecasting potential revenue + How do you weigh the value of a client? + Initial spend or monthly x12. + In our system, we also weigh the odds of a win and track that metric. * 2. Tracking also ties heavily into follow-up into interested leads + What is an interested lead? + We don’t use cold marketing—only follow up with warm leads. + How do you follow up without being obnoxious? - Initial follow-up: Just connect on LinkedIn - For interested leads: Offer value and have a reason to follow up * Tools: + Pipedrive + Notion + Hubspot
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- Website traffic
- For us, it's mostly checking for red flags.
- Basically, that’s any spikes in traffic, either good or bad.
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- Engagement rates
- This specifically refers to social media.
- Engagement is when someone actually interacts with your posts.
- Actions like sharing or commenting are always more valuable.
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- Sales Pipeline
- We'll talk more about this in our next episode.
- This is a leading indicator for GreenMellen.
- This is similar to a marketing funnel to track a customer's progress.
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- Click-through rates
- This specifically applies to email marketing.
- Clicks are more valuable than opens, which aren’t as reliable.
- Follow the users back to your website to watch what they do.
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- Cash balance
- This is a trailing indicator, but obviously quite important.
- Try to keep at least a quarter’s worth of expenses on hand.
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- Conversions
- What are you trying to get your audience to do?
- Eg. fill out a form, download a file, buy a product, call you
- Find ways to measure these things—eg. Google Analytics events
- Once you can measure, you can optimize by testing to see what increases conversions
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- Support tickets
- This might not apply to your company, but we do a lot of support and maintenance for our clients.
- We track both the number of tickets and our average response time.
- GreenMellen uses Help Scout for that.
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- Return on investment
- It’s difficult to measure but very valuable
- This is a bit like the marketer's holy grail—elusive and we're not sure if it really exists
- This is why marketing is often the first thing to get cut—it's hard to accurately measure
- This becomes easier if you can measure conversions and the customer lifetime value
- What is the goal with productivity?
- Make the most of time
- Not just to stay busy
- Keeping your mind like water is a key to staying productive.
- Email productivity
- Is Inbox zero a realistic goal?
- Emails aren't messages, they're actions
- Task management
- Task management systems: Asana, Clickup, Teamwork
- Hundreds of Ways to Get S#!+ Done—and We Still Don’t (Wired Magazine article)
- Block off time on your calendar to get work done
- Taking notes
- Disposable notes —> trusted systems.
- What are the best ways to take notes?
- Deep work
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Mickey is better about "deep study" than deep work. Things like Kindle, reMarkable and Brain.fm help with that.
- Task switching is tempting, but it's the enemy of productivity.
- Deep work takes intentionality, but it always yields the best results.
- Find a space that's free from distractions.
- Shut the door.
- Clear off your desk.
- Turn off notifications.
- Put on music or white noise in headphones.
Mickey's List 1. Think Again by Adam Grant 2. Getting Things Done by David Allen 3. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg 4. How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens 5. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Robert's List 1. Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull 2. Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller 3. Everybody Writes by Ann Hadley 4. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk 5. Deep Work by Cal Newport
Other Book Suggestions * This is Marketing by Seth Godin * Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell * Essentialism by Greg McKeon * Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman * Atomic Habits by James Clear * Outrageous Marketing by Scott Dikkers * Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek * Finish by Jon Acuff * Give & Take by Adam Grant * Covert Cows & Chick-fil-A by Steve Robinson
We're taking a look at the state of blogging as we head into 2022. Mickey Mellen has been blogging every day for more than a year.
He’s following Seth Godin's advice that everyone should blog, every day. It seems crazy, but it's largely not for the reasons you think. Here’s why to blog daily:
- Writing daily helps you grow yourself and your thoughts.
- There are some SEO benefits, but that's secondary.
- Really, it helps open your eyes to the world, and then really unpack what you see.
So businesses should blog daily too?
- Almost certainly not, as there are different goals.
- For most of our clients, SEO is a big part of this, which is a different kind of post.
- Research keywords and write more robust (yet focused) content.
About how long should posts be? There’s no hard and fast rules but here are some thoughts:
- As long as they need to be, but that's not very specific.
- Personally, Mickey just writes what's needed.
- For business, we generally recommend a bit longer, perhaps 500-1000 words.
- Longer form content gives more detail and content for Google to consume.
What are other advantages to blogging for your business in general?
- It's good fodder for your social media and email marketing. Much of what we produce in those channels links to our blog posts.
- It can be good for clients. We frequently send links to clients and leads with blog posts that help them understand a particular problem.
What should people do if they're interested in learning how to blog daily? Just do it. Start a WordPress or Medium blog and just start writing. Learn by doing.
There are three main reasons why you should care about email legitimacy.
- Legality: don't get sued
- Deliverability: Email inboxes are more limiting.
- User experience: build customer loyalty
CAN-SPAM is the main legislation for email marketing in the United States. It stands for The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act in 2003. Fair warning, there are a bunch of acronyms in this episode.
Here are 7 things to know about CAN-SPAM.
- No misleading info in the header. (From, to, reply to)
- No deceptive subject lines.
- Tell recipients where you're located. Usually in the footer.
- Let people opt-out. Honor the opt-out promptly (within 10 days).
- Identify unsolicited emails as an ad. (Lots of loopholes)
- Don't scrape emails. Can still buy lists.
- Monitor what others (eg. marketing agencies) are doing for you. Still liable.
Where does CAN-SPAM fall short?
CAN-SPAM is a joke because it means businesses can spam people.
- Too many loopholes. Doesn't actually ban spam.
- You don't have to get permission to email someone.
- People can't sue you for getting spammed.
- Too hard to enforce.
- Overrules state legislation, which could do more to limit spam.
There are two other pieces of legislation you should be aware of: GDPR and CCPA.
- GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulation.
- This went into effect in 2018 for the European Union.
- CCPA is California Consumer Privacy Act effective in 2020.
- It’s similar to GDPR, but limited due to CAN-SPAM.
- This gives consumers more control over their data, but only in certain instances.
There are plenty of reasons why you should see to be ethical, not just legal.
- Don't send email 'blasts' people. Use different termoniology: campaign, send, etc.
- Use a legit email platform like Mailchimp or Active Campagin.
- Test for email spamminess, like Mail Tester.
- Don't buy lists. Get permission before emailing.
- Send relevant content that people care about. Test out what gets responses.
- Watch your churn rate (% of sends who: unsubscribes + bounces + marked as spam)
Website accessibility is an often overlooked, but vitally important part of effective website development.
Accessibility is essentially making sure that ALL users can consume the content on your website, even if they have disabilities (such as vision impairment) that could make it difficult.
There are more people who
There are at least three reasons why you should address accessibility on your website.
- Naturally improve your SEO
- Avoid unnecessary Lawsuits
- It’s the right thing to do.
What are some practical ways to improve your website’s accessibility?
- Don’t use an accessibility overlay: shouldiuseanaccessibilityoverlay.com
- WordPress Themes
- Include alt text: Also, pictures of pictures and text of text
- Don’t open links in new tabs
- Website Form fields
- Add an accessibility statement
- Use #CamelCaseHashtags
Those might seem daunting so here is one small step to get started. Use the WAVE tool at wave.webaim.org to do an accessibility check of your website.
On this episode of the podcast, we're examining a tool every digital marketer should use: a content calendar.
Why should we use them? 6 reasons to use a content calendar
- Manage more content. Don’t try to juggle everything manually.
- Be more intentional about content. Be proactive, not reactive.
- See how content works together. Align your strategy over multiple channels.
- Get the timing right. Manage time, date, and cadence.
- Stay consistent. Avoid those content dead spaces.
- Give yourself more margin. Prevent yourself from burning out.
Ultimately, the content calendar is meant to help you out. It can be your marketing best friend if you’re willing to give it a chance.
What can you use a content calendar for?
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Email marketing
- Podcast episodes
- Videos
- Events
- Webinars
Having something is better than nothing. That said, we love our tools so what are some you can use to build a content calendar?
- Spreadsheet software like Google Sheets or Airtable
- Notes apps like Notion or Evernote
- Project management tools like Trello or Asana or Clickup
- There are even a few dedicated content management platforms like CoSchedule, StoryChief and Content Cal
What information should be included on the calendar?
- Titles: headlines & subject lines
- Dates: when is the content being shared?
- Audience: who are you targeting with the content?
- Status: where is it in the process of creation?
- Links: provide live links to where the content lives online
- Meta Data: tags, categories, ect.
- Stats: blog post views, engagement, downloads, etc.
- Leave yourself a space for notes or comments
Advanced tips for using content calendars:
- Keep it all organized; make sure that it stays updates
- Collaborate with your team
- Automate where possible: more for Notion and PM systems
- Use content buckets for ideation
Company websites can take a long time to create and cost a major piece of your marketing budget. What if there was a quicker and cheaper way to build a website that was also more responsive to your audience’s needs? That’s the idea behind Growth-Driven Design, a more modern way to build websites.
- Growth-Driven Design is a very different approach to web design, more of an iterative approach rather than one big swoop. They have a full course at Growth-Driven Design.com.
- There are three main phases:
- Strategy with user research
- Build starting with a launch pad
- Learn with continuous and proactive improvement
- This new approach is worth considering because it’s faster and has less upfront costs. However, it doesn’t work as well for larger, more established websites.
- We recently adopted some of the elements of GDD at GreenMellen. This has allowed us to be more strategic rather than being one-and-done. It gives us a more clear path to continue improvements.
Learn more about the process and get certified on HubSpot at their website: Growth-Driven Design | A Smarter Website Redesign Process
A marketing funnel is essentially a path for how users could interact with your marketing content as they move closer to becoming a customer with your business.
For example:
- A business might be found through a search engine by a potential customer.
- The customer lands on their website and reads a blog post on the topic they searched for.
- They then download a related free PDF resource.
- This means giving up their email address to get the resource and join the mailing list.
- This drops them into an automated welcome series of emails
- After the first three emails, they eventually make their first purchase.
The stages of a marketing funnel * Awareness: getting to know you. Think about meeting a new person. * Consideration: let me think about that. Think about asking them out on a date. * Conversion: count me in. Think about a marriage proposal. * Loyalty: I really like you. Think about staying married.
Tips for getting started. * List out all of your marketing efforts. Label which stage they fit into * Map out the connections between platforms. * Eliminate anything that isn't driving business growth. * Begin tracking how people move through these stages. * Optimize places where bottlenecks occur.
Resources What is a Marketing Funnel and Why Do You Need One?
We have 55 things on our official website launch list, but this is the top 10 things to check when you launch a site.
- Set WordPress to allow indexing: Settings —> Reading: "Discourage search engines from indexing this site"
- Make sure Analytics is installed
- Add launch date to Analytics as a "shared annotation"
- Along with any other tracking software, like FreshMarketer or CrazyEgg
- Add new site to Google Search Console
- Listen for issues
- Make sure to submit your new sitemap
- Make sure test blog entries have been removed. Remove "uncategorized" category.
- Check time zone settings: eg. New York vs GMT -5
- Make sure posts are "by" the site owner
- Check for special characters.
- Invisible on Mac
- You can see them on Windows or Chrome OS.
- Set up redirects
- Check API keys for Google Maps and Google ReCaptcha
- Make sure your forms work
Resources * What a Website Launch Day Looks Like * What to Do After Your WordPress Website Launches
A messaging strategy is a filter to figure out the right words to say to the right people.
The 5 components of any effective messaging strategy are:
- Audience: who are you trying to do business with?
- Problem: what is their issue?
- Solution: how can you help them?
- Credibility (Guide): why should they trust you?
- Action: what do they need to do to get started?
So where does all of this go? Use this as a filter for all of the content you create. It should be your internal guide as a team to produce a consistent brand message.
Resources * Messaging Strategy * Your Guide To Creating a Messaging Strategy For Your Brand * 4 Mistakes to Avoid With Your Website Messaging * Why Messaging Strategy is Key for Website Content
SEO is a key strategy for having your business discovered online. But what is SEO and how do you take advantage of it? SEO is more than just flipping a switch on your website—it’s a long-term, intentional strategy. But getting some of the basics right are easier than you think.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. That refers to organic search results compared to paid search.
Google doesn't really change the rules very often so don't overthink it. Great content will get you a long way.
Three main areas to focus on for organic SEO: 1. Technical: becoming pretty easy in most cases. 1. Speed: Simple theme with a good host 2. Mobile responsive 3. SSL 4. Magic checkbox: "Discourage search engines from indexing this site” 2. On-site SEO 1. Keywords 2. Page titles, avoid jargon 3. Content: headers and separate pages 3. Offsite 1. External links: hard to get anymore, Get the low-hanging fruit
Resources * Organic SEO and Keyword Research * 5 Tips to Improve SEO for Your Service-Based Business * Instantly Improve Your SEO Writing * SEO Best Practices You Should Do No Matter What * Why is Organic SEO a Long-Term Strategy?