The Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast
Improve your marketing by challenging the status quo
All Podcast Episodes
Web.Search.Social is a podcast about challenging the status quo of marketing. We leave behind the blueprints, secrets and “ten steps to success” and talk about a better way to market and grow your business. We talk to both industry leaders and real business owners about how to cut past the noise, avoid common pitfalls and use your website, email, social media and content to get qualified leads.
If you’d like to narrow tour listening options, you can listen to episodes with Ralph and Carol Lynn, our guest episodes and our blog readings. Be sure to subscribe to be notified whenever new content is published.
The Times They Are A Changin’ … A New Adventure Awaits!
We’ve been asked an embarrassing number of times why it’s been so long since our last podcast, so here’s the short story. It begins with the death of our cat... through selling a house, running three businesses and traveling the country. Join us on our journey!
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Ian Anderson Gray On The Business And Personal Sides Of Conference Speaking
If you want to be a conference speaker Ian shares insights into the benefits, challenges and drawbacks. He talks about why he decided to speak, why nerves are a good thing and how you may not know you like it until you try it.
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Nadia Bracken Brings The Hotness
Today we talk about aggressive, persistent marketing with Ian Anderson Gray. It starts with email marketing and digresses to a conversation about Jehovah’s Witnesses and whether their persistence creates a branding problem for them.
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The Creative Process Is Not All Rainbows And Unicorns
There’s a process behind creativity, and work, too. Today we talk with a filmmaker and author about how he starts (and finishes!) creative projects, plus more on marketing and building a fan base.
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Time Sucks, A Yucky Interface And Other Business Conundrums
As an entrepreneur you’re always going to be dealing with time issues, namely lack of it. Time sucks come in many forms, from big crises like death or health problems, to small ones like spam or unsolicited emails. But how do you deal with them?
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Warfare Plugins: Saving The World One Share At A Time. A Chat With Dustin Stout And Nick Cardot.
When no social sharing plugin met their needs, 3 men set out to develop their own and Warfare Plugins was born. This is how they built a social plugin that beats out the rest when it comes to beauty and functionality and how they service customers.
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The Challenges Of Naming A New Product Or Business
Naming a new product or business comes with unique challenges, from coming up with a name to having a good story to finding a domain that matches. We talk about our own challenges and some of the things we’ve done to work through the process.
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How Do You Make A Niche Business Succeed?
Kate Ahl built a business around being a Pinterest expert for bloggers. We talk about how she started her business and built a loyal customer base, what it takes to succeed in a busy niche and whether the world really needs another Pinterest person.
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How Marketing Automation Fails When It Feels Like Automation
Marketing automation can help you save time and keep your sales funnel flowing. But there’s a line between automation and acting like a robot. Today we talk about how too much automation and not enough human interaction loses sales.
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Your Brand Is More Than Your Logo: On Messaging, Consistency And Your “Why”
Craig McBreen joins us to talk about what branding is, how your personal brand and business brand intersect and what you need to think about as you develop a brand.
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Website Costs And Dangerous Video Trends
We answer a listener who asked us whether a proposal she received for developing branding, logo and website was fairly priced. Plus we talk about prank videos, reaction videos and strange licensing schemes.
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The Power Of Being A Podcast Guest Plus Why And How To Mastermind
Being a podcast guest can help you generate leads but you need systems in place to make it an effective marketing tactic. We talk about what those are, then dive into masterminds, how they can help you, how to set one up and what you can expect.
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Storytelling, Productivity And Business Lessons Learned At Gunpoint
Does caffeine get you going or just create an illusion productivity? We talk about getting out of the whirlwind, learning to relax and what it takes to be productive. Plus how to tell a better business story and why empathy wins over confrontation.
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Tea Time With Simpson & Vail: History, Brewing And The Entrepreneurial Journey
We talk with this family of tea importers and tea blend mixologists about how they got involved in the tea business, how to brew a great cup and how they get the word out about their products.
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10 Ideas To Make Your Business Better In 2016
On our last solo episode of the year we talk about what you can do in the upcoming year (and beyond) to improve your business. From tiny details to big steps, make this a year of better work and more play.
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Get Better! Improve Your Life And Business One Small Action At A Time
Instead of aiming to be the best, how about simply seeking "better"? We talk to Terry Lancaster about how to build good habits for business, fitness and life by taking small, simple actions every day.
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Podcatchers, Health & Business, And An Action Item Challenge
We talk about our breakup with iTunes and some podcatcher apps we like. Plus we discuss the effects of physical health on your business and productivity. Finally, we issue a productivity challenge to you with a free downloadable action item list.
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BNI Live! Peek Into The Inner Workings Of A Real Networking Meeting
Today we record live from a BNI meeting at Tapeo restaurant in Hazlet New Jersey. It's just one of many chapters of this international networking group but it will give you a look at how meetings work, what to expect, how to get referrals and more.
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In Which We Solve Sexism With Disembodied Heads. Plus, Mike Allton Dies.
Today we take on an article circulating on Facebook that talks about the prevalence of sexism, whether or not sexism is actually prevalent and if there's a difference between "real life" and social media. We also discuss Dreamweaver vs. WordPress.
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Free Is A Four-Letter Word: Why It’s Worse For Business Than You Think
Today we talk about why free stuff is bad – not just for business people who spend a lot of time and energy on free products, webinars or consultations but for the people who get the free stuff, too.
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Bah Humbug! Christmas, Outrage And Client Gift Dilemmas
We talk about the manufactured outrage over Starbucks' red holiday cup, a thing we're calling "outrage fatigue" and why businesses need to beware the outrage bandwagon. Plus which clients should you send gifts to? And how much should you spend?
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Femtrepreneurship Or Femtrepreneurshit? On Women And Self-Inflicted Sexism.
We talk with Mojca Mars about whether the "femtrepreneur" movement is isolating and excluding women rather than promoting their interests. We take on common views and misconceptions about sexism and dare you to be yourself no matter what that means.
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After Hours: All Food, All The Time (Plus Gratitude!)
It's our After Hours episode and today we're really taking Thanksgiving to heart by talking about what we're thankful for plus more about our tea snobbery, honey, apple pie and farm raised meat.
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Superhero Sarah The Rebel On Writing For Marvel’s Comic Universe. Plus: Legs, Poop And A Tank Top
We talk to Sarah The Rebel, author of Marvel's Agent Carter: Season One Declassified and self described angry, feminist geek. She tells us about how she got started on her entrepreneurial journey and the fun and challenges she had along the way.
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You Asked, We Answer: Business, Freebies And Guest Blogging Conundrums
Today we answer listener questions about when it's ok to give stuff away for free and how to extricate yourself from a guest blogging commitment. Plus we talk about recovering from entrepreneurial failure.
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Know When To Fold ‘Em: Recognizing The End Of The Road For Your Business
Today we talk to Geoff Livingston about two topics: the first is his experience publishing (and his transition from business to fiction, traditional publishing to self publishing) and the second is the sunsetting of his marketing agency.
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Death To Free: How To Get Paid For What You Do
Today we talk about how we've been brainwashed to think that the way to make money is by giving stuff away for free. And we stop the madness by offering alternatives to a constant stream of free content and offers.
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Pivoting In Business: The Agony, The Ecstasy And The Oreos
Podcast engineer Chris Curran joins us to talk about pivoting in your business, whether you decide it's time to change or you're forced into one. We talk about how to know when it's time to pivot and what it means for your entrepreneurial journey.
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Curating (Your Own) Content And The Fictitious Line Between Business And Personal
Today we talk about how to repurpose content you've already created. We also discuss whether it's possible to separate your business and personal life and if saying, "It's not personal, it's just business" is valid or just an excuse for bad behavior.
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After Hours: Apple Pie, The Martian, Game Of Thrones & Prostates
Today's "after hours" episode covers books, movies, apple pie and prostate exams. And we promise it's fun. Join us as we take a break from business (mostly) and host our once-per-month show about all the other things that go into making life happen.
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How To Have Your Business And Enjoy It, Too: The One Year Podcast Anniversary Episode
We hit our one year podcast anniversary and 150 episodes today! We plan to keep going and talk more about how to start a business, sustain a business, manage a business, make money with a business and market a business – all while enjoying your life.
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A Puzzling Tale Of Ants, Popcorn And Shareholder Agreements
When you start a business venture with partners, consider your Shareholder or Operating Agreement so everyone knows how the business works and what to expect.
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Episode 148
A Healthy Discussion About What Ryan Hanley And Carol Lynn’s Boobs Have In Common
Today we're talking about health because if your physical or mental health suffers, so will your business. We talk eating healthy, exercise, taking a "brain break" and taking care of yourself so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors.
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Episode 147
How One Man Turned An Internet Marketing Fail Into Relationship Marketing Success
From believing the promises of get-rich internet schemes to finding his passion in helping people, Wade Harman has made the mistakes so many have made, and ultimately experienced the success that comes with perseverance and being true to yourself.
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Episode 146
When Should You Jump On A Marketing Trend?
Periscope, Meerkat and live streaming. It's the hot new marketing trend. But how do you know if it's right for you? That's what we tackle today as we share different perspectives with Ryan Hanley of Content Warfare fame.
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Episode 145
Get More Leads, Customers And Profits With The Nuclear Chowder Marketing Method
Marketing isn't magic. Content marketing is old news. And sales letters with typos may convert better than perfect ones. In his book The Nuclear Chowder Marketing Method, Mike Brooks takes on marketing fundamentals. https://www.websearchsocial.com/145
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Episode 144
The Entrepreneurial Journey: It Sucks, But It’s Awesome, Too
Being an entrepreneur is hard but it has its rewards – namely freedom. Today we talk about the ups and downs and the decisions you have to make – from business models to revenue streams, partnerships and more.
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Episode 143
Google Aliens, Conspiracies And The Truth About SEO
Backlinks, branding, competing with big brands and more… that's what we talk about with Mark Traphagen of Stone temple Consulting, who spends time "failing so you don't have to."
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Episode 142
The Tale Of The 14 Month Old Invoice
If you work in a service business, your cash flow problems may not be about how many customers you have or how much you charge. It could be a result of your poor billing habits.
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Episode 141
Are You Losing The Sale At The Register? How Customer Experience Can Make Or Break Your Business.
You may be busy perfecting email subject lines and crafting engaging Facebook posts. You may even be getting leads. But are you losing customers and sacrificing loyalty because you lack good old-fashioned people skills?
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Episode 140
On Periscope, Marketing Fads And The Red Herring Of “Engagement”
Periscope is the hot new thing in video streaming, but is it right for your business? Before you jump on this – or the next trend – stop to consider the fundamentals of marketing. Think strategy, not tools. And beware confusing engagement with success.
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Episode 139
Numbers Can Be Fun! Learn To Love And Manage Your Business Finances
Small business owners make a lot of financial mistakes, from not recording expenses to not tracking time to under pricing and more. Today we talk to Numbers Whisperer Nicole Fende about how to approach finances differently and more effectively.
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Episode 138
Throw Some Daggers… At Your Business
Take a moment to evaluate the plans, decisions and resolutions you made in 2014 for 2015. The year isn't over yet. Let's re-evaluate the remaining half of 2015 and throw some daggers at your unfulfilled resolutions and plans.
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Episode 137
To Swear Or Not To Swear: Marketing, The F-Word And Other Language Conundrums
What is a "bad word"? Today we explore the effects of language and why it matters to you, your business and marketing.
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Episode 136
How To Be Successful By Not Following The 7 Steps To Success
We're tired of reading articles that talk about "what successful people do" and hand out steps to success like candy. Today we talk about what success really means and how you may want to change your mindset and think about getting there.
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Episode 135
Are You Networking Wrong? How To Be Interesting, Build Relationships And Earn More Business.
Did you know… that your networking group is your sales force? Today we talk about what networking is (both formal and casual) how to do it well, what mistakes to avoid, what makes a good group, a good meeting and more.
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Episode 134
Meerkat, Periscope And The Danger Of Jumping On Marketing Trends
I've ben fixated on the video streaming service Periscope the past few weeks. I wrote about Periscope on my personal blog, but today I want to talk about the genesis of Periscope and what your business can learn from it.
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Episode 133
“Provide Value To Customers,” They Say. But What Does That Mean?
Right up there with "write epic content" and "be awesome", you probably hear or read something every day that reminds you to "provide value to customers." But what does that mean? It may or may not be price, service, experience or anything else.
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Episode 132
Good Reviews Are Good, But Bad Ones Can Be Better
It's tempting to get caught in the echo chamber of positive reviews and praise from fans but sometimes we need to pay attention to negative feedback because that's they only way we'll learn to improve. Here's the good, bad and ugly of reviews.
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Episode 131
The Key To Successful Marketing: Happy Customers And… Stickers!
What trumps social networks and Facebook ads and landing pages and copywriting when it comes to marketing? Focusing exclusively on making happy customers. Sticker Mule's Anthony Thomas talks about how he does just that.
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Episode 130
What Defines A Perfect Product?
What makes a good product? You need a good idea, a definition of success, a grasp on your audience and potential revenue. Here are some things to consider.
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Episode 129
How To Stop Saying Um (And Other, Like, You Know, Filler Words)
If you record video, go to networking events, host webinars… or even do something as simple as talk to your clients and prospects… nobody wants to hear you um and er your way through a conversation. Try these ideas to improve your speech.
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Episode 128
You Are What You Think: Pride, Business And The Danger Of Negativity
In light of recent events in the US – a racially motivated shooting and the passage of marriage equality – we decide to take on the sticky subject of sticky subjects and what to do about the inevitable backlash that follows on social media.
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Episode 127
Pit Bulls, Pie And Storytelling For Business
What does it mean to tell the story of your business? Some of it is about the written word and the right visuals. Some is about your passion. Some is about sharing and getting it out into the world. And some is about being a darn good storyteller.
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Episode 127
Should You Run Your Venture As A Business?
A few days ago, I wrote an article as part of my series on my entrepreneurial journey on my personal blog at RalphMRivera.com. I got a lot of feedback from it and I decided to share it here because I thought it was relevant. Let me know what you think about my observations and I invite you to read more at my blog.
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Episode 125
How Much Should A Website Cost? The Older And Wiser Edition.
From planning to content, design, photography and more, here's what's involved in build a good business website so that you can be smarter about budgeting and understand why one guy wants to charge you $500 and the other is asking for $5,000.
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Episode 124
Dirt + Leaves + Sharks = Lawyers (Or How To Start A Business)
Have a good idea for a new business venture, product or service? There's plenty to think about, from incorporating to shareholder agreements, equity distribution and more. Today we talk about the basics of starting a business and some pitfalls.
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Episode 123
Buffoons Need Friends Too And Other Content Marketing Realities
Today we talk to Ryan Hanley about content marketing and learn: why is content marketing "sold wrong"? How do you build a super fan base? Is there too much content out there? How can small companies compete with big brands? And a whole lot more.
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Episode 122
Don’t Believe The Hype! Your Success Depends On It
In sales ABC means "Always Be Closing." But here's a better acronym for business success: Always Be Questioning. Here's why asking questions is vital to your the profitability and success of your business.
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Episode 121
Are You Unwittingly Telling People You’re Boring? Answer This Question To Find Out.
Someone once told me to keep a story in my back pocket so when I ran into someone or attended a networking meeting, I could answer the question, "What's new?" with more than, "Nothing." Today we explore why that matters.
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Episode 120
Critique Vs. Criticism And Other Musings
Today we talk critique (in a way that helps you improve your business and marketing) and criticism (in a way that only makes you feel bad but isn't actionable or useful.) Plus some miscellaneous stuff about products, efficiency and napping.
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Episode 119
You Don’t Need A Golden Toilet. Or, How To Create And Sell A Valuable Digital Product.
Today we talk to Cynthia Sanchez about how she conceived of and created her course, Web Images Made Easy. It took her a while, she isn't planning to get rich and there are no selling tropes. Here's how to create a product of value without gimmicks.
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Episode 118
My Transgender Entrepreneurial Pornographic Pinterest Pledge
We're fascinated with and big fans of Pinterest. The irony is that it's the least effective arrow in our quiver. That's why I'm making a Pinterest pledge. Here's what I'll do and I hope you'll take the pledge with me.
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Episode 117
Stop Asking Me If I Like Your Logo
Have you ever had a logo designed and asked people, "Which version do you like best?" Or has someone asked the question of you? Here's why that's the wrong question and a bad idea… plus some suggestions for how to approach your logo design instead.
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Episode 116
Get Out Of The Whirlwind! Learn How To Finally Get Things Done.
Today we talk some serious GTD (Getting Things Done). It's a system taught by David Allen and it's worked wonders for us. We share the 5 steps (collect, clarify, organize, reflect, engage), some of our trip-ups and share what we've learned.
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Episode 115
Rob Beeler Saves Ad Operations From Deadly Nanobots
Ads: we gripe about them, block them, but need them. They support the free content we want and help us get the word out about our businesses. Today we talk native ads, retargeting, Facebook ads, the future of ads and remember to check our own noise.
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Episode 114
5 Thoughts On Marketing And Productivity: I Am Inbox Zero And You Can Too.
How many emails you have in your inbox isn't as important as emails in your inbox that are out of control. Here are some smart ways to manage email so it doesn't manage you.
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Episode 113
My Crummy Waitress: In Defense Of Poor Customer Service
If you're in a service business you know "those days". You know that sometimes you're off your game and don't deliver your best to customers. But that isn't the totality of you. Before we spew out snark for bad service, let's take a kinder approach.
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Episode 112
The Mad Max Rules Of Marketing And Getting Stuff Done
We went to see Mad Max: Fury Road but ended up thinking about marketing. And it comes down to creating context for your audience. We talk a little about how to do that plus GTD (Getting Things Done) and how to manage stuff and projects.
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Episode 111
Average Is Over: It’s Time For You To Stand Out
The loudest ideas are usually the ones that get heard. Now it's time for the good ones to win. We talk with Dorie Clark, author, speaker and consultant about what it means to have a breakthough idea and how to get noticed when you've got a good one.
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Episode 110
3 Things That Will Prevent You From Cutting Your Marketing Budget In Times Of Crisis Or Beheading
Do you have to make decisions about budget for your business? If you've ever struggled to cut expenses when income is down, here is some advice for preparing ahead of time so you're not making bad or reactionary decisions under the gun.
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Episode 109
Marketing To Millennials: Should You, Shouldn’t You And What Does That Mean?
What does it mean to market to millennials? Is it a state of mind or of age? Is it leading your brand to be inauthentic? And what does "on fleek" mean, anyway? Here are some things to think about if you're worried about missing an entire generation.
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Episode 108
Have A Sardine And Let’s Get Naked: The Art Of Communicating With Customers
Whether phone, email, video or carrier pigeon, communicating with customers is vital. But how do you set expectations? How quickly should you respond? What makes for good communication? And what do you do when things go off the rails?
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Episode 107
Put On Your Social Media Hat: When To Post, Automate And Listen
Are you wondering when the best time to post to social media is? How about whether or not you should automate? Are you still sending out auto direct messages on Twitter? Tune in for a social smackdown and a tiny bit of tool talk.
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Episode 106
Is Your Marketing Message Clear Or Are You Just Selling Toilet Water?
We as business people come from a place of knowing. We are intimately acquainted with our products and services. We know what they do (and what they don't), we know what they offer and we know their limitations. We know how things work from the inside out, but sometimes we forget that just because we know, doesn't mean our customers know.
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Episode 105
7 Things Wasting Your Time Instead Of Making You Money
You probably expect to see the usual suspects on this list… spending too much time on Facebook, pinning too many recipes. But this list is a little different. These are productivity suckers of the worst kind because they are things we have to deal with every day. So while you can take a "just log out of Facebook" approach to those other kinds of distraction, the ones I want to talk about are in front of you whether you like it or not. And it's easy to let them get out of control.
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Episode 104
How Bad Is Your Sales Pitch And Are You Missing The Millennial Boat?
LikedIn, Facebook and Skype all prompt us to wish someone a happy birthday or congratulate them on a new job. But sometimes that can backfire. So can your sales pitch, if you don't pay attention to the relationships you're building. Today we talk warnings, dos and don'ts when to comes to social, your website and whether or not you're even targeting the right "generation".
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Episode 103
My Family Life Is Suffering Because Of My Business. Now What? A Discussion With Ryan Hanley.
Ryan Hanley is no stranger to the Web.Search.Social Podcast and for good reason: whenever he's on we walk away inspired and ready to take action. As the host of the Content Warfare podcast and author of our new favorite business book by the same name, Ryan makes every conversation a fluff-free zone. He is also notorious for his love of tangents which may be why we started out thinking we were going to talk about content marketing but ended up talking about balancing entrepreneurship and family. Success for Ryan is simple math. It's 90% showing up, 9% doing the work and 1% talent. It's worth repeating: you have to want to succeed. If you've ever struggled to get things done, spend time with your family and still have time to sleep, this is the perfect episode.
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Episode 102
10 Things I Learned About Business And Productivity From 100 Episodes Of Podcasting
In the week before the 100th episode of the Web.Search.Social Podcast, my friend Alisa Meredith suggested that I should write an article about what I've learned. So here are the 10 things I learned about business and productivity from 100 episodes of podcasting.
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Episode 101
10 Things I Learned About Content Creation From 100 Episodes Of Podcasting
It took us a while to get started but some eight months later, after buying a bunch of equipment, setting it up and connecting eight billion wires… we made it to episode 100. Along the way we learned a lot, and not just about knobs vs. sliders, but about planning, promotion, content creation and the audience we do it for. So as we cross the 100th milestone this week, we want to reflect on what we learned so that if you create any kind of content for your business you can take something away to help on your own journey.
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Episode 100
Celebrate 100 Podcast Episodes And Save Up To $6,000 On Your Marketing
If you're suffering through the Disappearing Developer, the MIA Marketer, or experiencing the "what am I spending money on?" blues... it's time to change that right now. We put the marketing pieces in place that you need to start generating leads.
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Episode 99
Better Sex Makes For Better Business
Fair warning folks, this is our first official and very NOT Safe For Work episode. First there's the subject matter: sex and the marketing of it. Then there are the F-words sprinkled liberally throughout so if you feel weird and uncomfortable about this stuff, you may want to skip ahead to episode 100. But I hope you don't because as weird and uncomfortable as the whole thing sounds there are some really great takeaways about entrepreneurship, creativity, doing what you love and being fearless about it. Plus it was just loads of fun.
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Episode 98
Don’t Fire Your Social Media Marketing Company Until You Enter “The Room”
I want to share the story of a friend of mine that has hired and fired many marketing companies of various disciplines. His rationale was simple: they weren't producing results. And while that sounds like it makes sense, the problem was that my friend was not giving anyone enough time to actually achieve results. Here's a story that will demonstrate why you need to take time to let your strategy unfold.
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Episode 97
Embrace Your Messy Space: Your Creativity Depends On It
Do you sometimes sit and stare at the blank page of a Word document and wonder what on earth to put on it that might resemble your next blog post? Or look at your Instagram or Pinterest account and wish you could think of something to post that isn't your cat or the last thing you ate for dinner? I hope so because otherwise I'm going to feel pretty lonely over here in what-the-hell-happened-to-my-creativity land. But the good news is that something as simple as messing up a few papers on your desk can get your creative juices flowing. Join me in throwing out all those plastic containers and embracing mess... science itself proves that it's better for creativity and innovation!
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Episode 96
Run A Business? Now There’s Even More Reason To Be A Pinterest Fan.
Last week Buffer announced that you can now schedule pins to Pintrest through their Awesome Plan. We love Buffer so we asked three Pinterest fans to talk to us about their initial reactions. We also discuss the issue of patent trolls and whether that could spell problems for podcasters. Plus we're about to hit our 100th episode and we want to address your marketing challenges on it, so reply and email me your biggest challenges and we'll talk about as many as we can next week.
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Episode 95
Knowledge, Research And Content: Is The Medium The Message?
Today we welcome Lisa Gerber of Big Leap Creative and marketer extraordinaire. We love Lisa because she is super smart when it comes to marketing and always creates great content that makes us think. Plus she lives in Idaho, which makes her the first person we know who lives in Idaho. Join us as we talk about whether or not you're giving away too much of your knowledge, the relationship between SEO and storytelling, why you need to plan before you start marketing and whether you should publish on other platforms or stick to your own website.
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Episode 94
Marriage And Business: A Love Letter
Today is Word Carnival day, that once-monthly event where a bunch of business bloggers get together to write on a theme. This month's topic: the secret to my success. Rather than talk about tools or tricks or mindsets or practices, I decided to have a little fun and turn this into a love letter because there really is only one thing I can't live without: my business partner, husband and love of my life. I hope you know someone like this, too, because you really can't succeed alone.
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Episode 93
Bad Chief, Bad Tribe. How To Get More Shares On Triberr.
How can my content be shared more on Triberr? I get asked that question every day several times a day. The short answer is "write good content that people will want to share." But of course nothing is ever as easy as that. So I want to present some ideas on how you can get your content viewed by more people using Triberr as a tool. If you are a blogger, podcaster or YouTuber who produces great content and you're struggling to find an audience, give Triberr a shot - it's easy, it's free and these tips will help you make the most of it.
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Episode 92
So You Don’t Know Anything About Online Marketing And Your Site Has No Traffic. What To Do?
The title says it all. Today's conversation starts with a question posted to a Facebook group by someone who said…. to paraphrase… "I'm taking over as internet manager for my company and I know nothing about websites, design, etc. Where do I start?" Wow! Nothing like getting thrown into the deep end of the pool. So on this episode we throw out a lifeboat and talk about exactly that – where to start. And it's not with a website. Or with pay per click. Or SEO. Listen in - and check out the show notes - for some "where to start" goodness, whether you're on your own or planning to hire help.
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Episode 91
Picture Perfect Marketing: How Great Custom Photography Can Make Your Business Money
Say cheese! Today we talk to Paul Scharff, a photographer who specializes in taking photos that help businesses make money. Whether they're product shots or pictures of you and your staff in action, Paul wants to showcase your business so you'll win more customers. So ask yourself, do the photos on your website and in your other marketing materials pull people in, humanize your brand and make people want to do business with you? Listen for some great insights into what photography can do and some tips for doing it yourself when you need to.
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Episode 90
Monetizing Content, Social Media Outrage, Keeping Facebook Ads On Message And #Cynthia2016
This is a bit of a mashup episode because we really cover the gamut. Here's just some of what we tackle: * The difference between being offensive and being off-message * Whether it's important to tie a direct line between your podcasts, blogs, social posts or other content and sales * The value of understanding why you lost some business – and just as importantly, why you won some And yes, more! Listen in because these are issues plenty of businesses struggle with. Plus we give you some fun marketing action items that we think you'll not only get something out of but also enjoy.
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Episode 89
My Marketing Content Isn’t Resonating. My God, What Shall I Do?
How do you write good? That’s the question we ask our guest today! Laryssa is a trained writer who not only writes business and marketing copy but self-published a fiction book and also teaches creative writing to undergrads at Rutgers University. So when it comes to talking about writing good… er, real good… er, the goodest… Laryssa knows her stuff. She has some great stories to share about how to fund and promote a self-published book plus lots of insight into what it takes to create good business content, even if you’re not a writer.
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Episode 88
Why Settle For Meh When Your Marketing Could Be Super Awesome?
We missed the excitement of the Social Media Marketing World conference but that doesn’t mean we missed the learning! Our Chief Executive Research Dude and official Boots on the Ground, Ian Anderson Gray, joins us to share some of the highlights that everyone can take away. Today we talk about "hugging your haters" and why having haters is better than having people who think your business is just "meh", the importance of getting past your fears so you can make marketing magic happen, plus we get the added bonus of hearing Ian say "jolly hockey sticks". Does it get any better than that?
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Episode 87
Podcasting Is For Losers, You Owe $70 For Website Backups And Other Marketing Myths
After Monday’s doozie of an episode, we kept this one short and light. We talk about movies, podcasts and throw in a little bit of marketing, too. We talk about the importance of narrowing your audience instead of widening it, why podcasting is good for business, plus we discuss a postal scam asking you to pay $70 for website backups you never ordered.
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Episode 86
At The Intersection Of Business And Social Issues: #RaceTogether Or Cut And Run?
You may want to grab a grande half whole half skim quadruple upside down macchiato latte extra hot… and breakfast… and maybe lunch, too… because this is what can only be described (if you’ll forgive the cliché) as an epic episode. Friends Jillian Jackson and Dino Dogan join us to talk about the Starbucks #RaceTogether campaign, the good, the bad and things we couldn't have anticipated. We truly enjoyed the conversation and think you’ll gain some valuable insights into business, marketing, how they tie into social issues and whether you should put yourself or your business in the line of fire.
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How To Market Without Marketing In A Parallel Universe. A Discussion About Content Creation And Marketing With Filmmaker Christopher Leone
Today we step into a parallel universe where we explore the world of filmmaking – which in the end is just another form of content creation. We talk with Christopher Leone, the writer, producer and director of the movie (no, the TV series) Parallels, now available on Netflix. Yes, we talk about making movies (…or is it a TV series??) and have a whole lot of fun. But the lessons can apply to any creative project.
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Episode 84
Why The Starbucks “Race Together” Campaign Failed To Fail
Have you read the hoopla surrounding the Starbucks "Race Together" campaign? To read the stories, one might think this was the most evil blight to hit humanity. Was it poorly planned? Was it badly executed? Did it completely miss its audience and prove that there is just another tone-deaf CEO trying to reach the cool kids? Or are we perhaps too scared of the subject to give it credit, to dare see a bright light in the madness? And why does this matter to your small business, anyway? That's what I tackle today - issues from race to raving lunatics, from social media to customer relationships. Here's my perspective and why I think the alleged "failure" of the campaign wasn't a failure at all. Agree or disagree, there is something for all of us to learn.
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Episode 83
CRM Frustrations, Marketing Skepticism, Being Yourself And Strong Black Women
Grab a cup of coffee because we’re not fooling around today! We get serious about some sticky topics like thinking critically, “being yourself” online and issues of race in our current culture as we tackle Starbucks’ controversial “Race Together” campaign. Plus we talk about haters and why you should ignore them. Yes, it’s all about business and marketing, and hopefully we’ll make you think a little harder about the bigger impact of what we say and do online.
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Episode 82
Don’t Believe The Hype! Social Marketing “Truths” That Aren’t
If marketing your business “these days”, especially in an Internet world, seems overwhelming or confusing… if you’re not sure where to start or if you’ve started but aren’t sure where to go… if you’ve spent money or time (or both) for little results… It might be time to realign your thinking about marketing altogether. Here are a few things you may have been conditioned to believe about social marketing - some misconceptions and misperceptions that will do nothing but stand in the way of engaging in productive, lead-generating marketing.
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Episode 81
Facebook Ads, Retina Graphics, Stock Photo Nightmares And The Unintended Effects Of Marketing
It’s the super special palindrome anniversary edition of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast because we celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary as we record our 81st podcast episode. Our conversation covers the gamut from better wifi technology to stock photography gone very, very wrong... Facebook ads to whether or not you need to think about retina graphics... The deception of the 5-minute WordPress install to pop tarts and tapas!
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Episode 80
Throw Off The Tyranny Of Perfection And Get Your Marketing Done
Today we welcome back Ian Anderson Gray, our Chief Executive Research Dude, to talk about ditching perfectionism, taking chances, having fun and calling it marketing! We talk about... How to stop overthinking and just get started Whether or not you should be worrying about how many likes, shares, fans, plusses and other "numbers" your content generates What Google's “accuracy algorithm” can mean for the future of search And more about making customers happy, building real community and having fun!
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Episode 79
The Trampoline Of Social Proof (Or The Vanity Of Numbers)
What do old video games, trampolines, social proof, creative inspiration and broken websites have in common? Well… not much, actually, except they all make an appearance on today’s podcast. We talk about how smart companies can use Pinterest, why social proof doesn't prove anything, Facebook's new changes that may result in fewer "likes" on your business page, plus wine, jazz hands and more!
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Episode 78
Generate Traffic And Business With Pinterest
Did you know that men are the fastest growing demographic on Pinterest? (Businesses, pay attention!) Today we’re joined by Jeff Sieh, the manliest of Pinterest users, to talk about how to effectively use Pinterest to generate traffic to your website, plus some of the nifty things you may not have known you can do with pins. We talk rich pins, promoted pins, correct pin dimensions and orientation, how to capture interest, how to optimize for search, for mobile and more!
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Episode 77
The Value Of Good Branding And Visual Design And Why A Logo Is Worth More Than $5
If you’ve got a business then you’ve got a brand and a visual identity whether you’ve thought much about it or not. But what exactly is your brand? And what about that elusive “visual identity”? And why can’t you get a logo for $5? Those are just a few of the things we discuss today as we talk to Dave Walker, a designer who works on everything from book covers to brochures and understands the true power and value of a good design.
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Episode 76
Build Your Marketing House With Your Own Bricks And Keep The Poachers Off Your Land!
It’s the last Monday of Freduary! Welcome our final Fred of the month, SuperFred Krithika Rangarajan, also known as “Kit Rodgers” (you’ll have to listen to find out why). Join us as we talk about why email marketing isn't dead, the changes over at Pinterest that have marketers up in arms and whether or not you "own" the content you produce.
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Episode 75
How To Market And Promote Your Book Without Being Icky
Have you written a book or are you perhaps still writing one? How about dreaming of writing one? Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, chick lit or murder mystery, business or history – you’ve got more of a challenge than just committing many thousands of words to a page. Even before you’re done writing, the challenging process of marketing and promoting that book must begin. But with all the books being published, including a plethora of self-published books, where do you start? That’s what we tackle today with a professional in the PR and marketing industry who knows a thing or two about promoting books.
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Episode 74
Nix The Rules And Add Some Magic To Your Marketing
In yet another Freduary episode, we welcome Melanie Kissell who knows a thing or two about adding magic to marketing. We talk with her today about nurturing your online relationships, skipping the automation and why she hates Brussels Sprouts. We also expand a bit more on our conversation with Snip.ly founder Chris Bowal, caution against apologizing too much and share a bunch of resources that can help you add a little magic to your marketing.
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Episode 73
An Absurdly Reasonable Conversation With The Founder Of Snip.ly In Which We Vehemently Disagree Without Yelling Or Name Calling
I recently learned of a tool called snip.ly that lets you put your call to action on someone else's website. The premise is that you can take a web page - say, from Web.Search.Social - and when you share a link to that page via your social networks, someone can click and BAM! There's a popup with your link or newsletter signup or product download right there on the Web.Search.Social site. Sounds cool, huh? Well, just wait until you consider the fact that someone might be putting their calls to action on YOUR site or blog. And instead of signing up for YOUR email newsletter, your readers are now singing up for someone else's newsletter. Or buying their product. Or contacting them. And you may not even know it's happening. In today's podcast and accompanying article, we tackle this dilemma head on by talking to one of the founders of the tool and asking him, WTF? Listen in and read the article to understand just what this tool does, and how to keep it from being used on your site if you're not into sharing your home with strangers and letting them profit from your hard work.
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Episode 72
Sorry, But You Need To Stop Apologizing For Your Marketing
Are you one of those people who starts sentences with the word "sorry?" As in, "Sorry, but I just think coffee is better than tea." I've been noticing that more and more lately. Not just in every day colloquial conversation, but in the way that businesses of various sizes manage their marketing. The word sorry should never be used to start any marketing message or else you run the risk of diminishing the authority of your brand. Here's why.
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Episode 71
When Is Marketing Not Marketing?
When it comes to marketing there are a lot of ways to do it. And it’s wonderful to have so many opportunities but at the same time it can be so overwhelming that we end up with decision paralysis. Marketing fundamentals may be the same: provide a good product or service that people need then get them to want it so they’ll buy it. But the mechanics of making that happen – the strategies and tactics that you’ll ultimately employ – will vary greatly. Here are just a few things to consider about whether a marketing idea is good - for you.
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Episode 70
In Which We Tackle Email Marketing Challenges And Ecommerce Conundrums
Freduary continues with another episode dedicated to all things SuperFred. Today we tackle a tough question about email marketing asked by one of our email subscribers: are we training him to ignore us? Ouch! We explore the possibility and pose this question to you: are you getting what YOU want out of being on our email list? What can we do to make your subscription better? We also have an interesting conversation about marketing your Etsy shop and the challenges of eCommerce so join us for a jam packed episode of goodness.
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Episode 69
Ian Anderson Gray Tells The #JasonWiserBot To Be Authentic And Not A Robot On Social
Freduary continues with this all-Fred episode! It’s a short one because our originally planned guest episode with Jeff Sieh ended up sounding pretty darn tinny and Jeff was kind enough to offer to reschedule and try again. So today we talk about some of our favorite Freds, what they’ve got going on and how that can help you, including Ryan Hanley and Content Warfare, Jason Wiser and the Social Warfare Social Sharing plugin and more.
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Episode 68
The One Business Question You Need To Ask If You Want Successful Marketing
Even though today is not a regularly scheduled guest podcast day, a lot of interesting and timely topics just begged to be discussed, so we invited Jason T. Wiser of On Track Tips to get to the bottom of some important marketing stuff. In this episode we talk about - The one word that matters most to the success of your marketing - Why we love the Social Warfare plugin - Why we don’t love Snip.ly - And some philosophical conversation about how to budget for marketing, the best approach to take and why marketing isn’t even the whole picture
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Episode 67
The Two Toughest Social Media Marketing Questions You Have To Answer
Should I have a Facebook page? Is my audience on Twitter? Do I have time to invest in social marketing? Why am I doing this? Those are all great questions but they’re not the questions I’m talking about today. The questions I’m talking about today are even tougher than that and have a lot more to do with your business approach and philosophy than with the mechanics of marketing. They may keep you up at night for a little while but if you can get to the bottom of them you'll have more fun and do better business.
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Episode 66
The Art And Power Of Being Human On Social Media Plus More On Content Curation And Co-Opting
It’s Freduary! No, we didn’t forget the spellchecker. While the rest of the world goes about their business this February, we here at the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast are going to be celebrating Freduary, a month dedicated to all things SuperFred. If you don't know what that means, you'll have to listen and find out! We talk about what it means to be an influencer, how to connect with people online even if it feels like you don't know anyone, why we don't advocate content curation as a marketing tactic, plus we talk about a new tool in town that lets people co-opt your content without you being the wiser.
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Episode 65
Blogging, Content Creation And Marketing Mindset
If you listen to our podcast you may have heard us mention Triberr at least once! Seems like it’s about time that we talk with Dino Dogan, founder and CEO. But that’s not all. We’ve got our first in-studio visit by a SuperFred, also known as Dino’s prettier other half, Jillian Jackson. Our topic is all blogging, all the time. We talk about why it matters, how to do it with a focus on closing business, the difference between creating, curating and stealing and a whole lot more. We also might be having too much fun but you'll have to listen for yourself and let us know what you think.
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Episode 64
The Confounding Practice Of Content Curation
Today I’m going to tell you why content curation as a social marketing strategy is silly, fruitless and something you should stop doing immediately. And if you just read that sentence and immediately thought, "But...." then this is for you. Arguments... debunked. Challenges... debunked. "Buts"... debunked! Join me in the land of lead generation and practical marketing tactics. Here's why there's no home for curation there.
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Episode 63
It’s Time To Consider Your Business Super Fan Bubble
The super fan bubble is a collection of dedicated and loyal fans. Fans that will not only consume your content but take action on your behalf. They'll buy your products, listen to your shows, share your tweets. The super fan bubble is great, but it can also be a plateau that slows growth. The goal of any business endeavor is to continue to grow your audience or customers. So you need to cultivate relationships with the people in your super fan bubble while creating strategies to help you grow the bubble to include more super fans. This is my perspective on getting out of your super fan bubble by collaborating with the competition.
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Episode 62
If You Park Your Website In The Driveway Your Marketing Won’t Go Anywhere
Did you buy the BMW of websites then park it in the driveway? Do you sit there now, watching it go nowhere? Well we’re here to tell you that it’s time to change that! Today we share our thoughts with you on how you may need to change your mindset about your own web presence. We talk about what a website means to your business, what you need to know to build your authority and why simply having a website doesn't mean anything anymore.
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Episode 61
Relationship Building With Authentic, Intelligent and Responsible Social Media
It’s a banner day on the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast! On this episode we talk with Ian Anderson Gray, a SuperFred with an official Web.Search.Social title, otherwise known as our Chief Executive Research Dude. And Ian doesn’t disappoint. He not only brings real research to bear on the conversation but he inspires us to be authentic (and successful!) on social media. We take on some tough social media questions, like what you should and shouldn’t say online, whether you always need to be positive, how to be transparent, whether it’s ok to talk politics and when to use – and not use – automation.
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Episode 60
Use This Visual Identity Guide To Make A Splash On Your Website And Social Media
Branding consistency is important. But businesses can get so caught up in their day to day operations that they fail to present a unified visual identity or worse, they don't portray a strong message about the product or service they're selling. Today I want to talk to you about a small business that made this error. What business did that? Mine. Yup. We did that. Or rather failed to do that. I'd like to share our branding journey with you along with some strategies you can use to make your own visual identity the strongest it can be.
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Episode 59
Social Media Marketing Myths That Are Costing You Money
There are two ways that marketing costs you money. One is in the actual costs that you pay out – to vendors and agencies, for tools and subscriptions to support your marketing. And the second is by spending time – or paying other people to spend their time – doing things called “social media marketing” that aren’t contributing in any way to your bottom line. That thing you’re calling “social media marketing” may just be another line item in the expense column and if you’re ok with that, if you're using social media just for fun and diversion, then you can skip this article. But if you actually want to make money marketing instead of just spend money doing it, read on.
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Episode 58
Branding, Visual Identity And World Domination. What? Are You Kidding Me?
Today it’s all branding all the time… well, except for the other stuff about hosting and avatars and clones and SuperFreds. But it’s mostly branding! More specifically it's about the visual identity component of your brand, why it’s important and what you as a small business person need to think about.
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Episode 57
In Which Questionable Things Happen With Puppets, Elves And Social Media With Janet E. Johnson
If you don’t know Janet E. Johnson yet then you’re in for a treat. She hosts her own video podcast called Social Media Hangout Time but it’s not just any old podcast – it’s a podcast with a puppet! What better way to make social media lessons memorable than to tell them with a little… panache? Janet knows more than puppets, though. She’s a social media whiz who gets real about strategy and results. Listen as she joins us today to talk about the five things you need to know to be successful with social media.
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Episode 56
Is Your Business Analytics Yours? Probably Not. Here’s Why That’s A Bad Thing.
Recently we welcomed a new client and asked their old developer to give us administrative access to our client’s Google analytics. But we discovered that the developer had set up analytics incorrectly. The result? Well, in this case it's goodbye to years of data. Here's what you need to know about setting up - and owning - your Google analytics so you don't get caught in the same trap.
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Episode 55
Don’t Hire A Web Developer Or Marketing Company Until You Read This
Even the simplest of sites can take weeks of dedicated effort and even then the creation process never really ends. You’ll forever be perfecting and learning, adding and growing. But to destroy a website and take a business’s lifeblood with it? Well, as one of our newest clients learned, that only takes a few hours in between firing an unethical developer one night and waking up the next morning to scorched earth. In this podcast episode we talk with Mike Ash, the business owner who lived through this scenario, and we get his take on the experience, from hiring to firing his developer and how he dealt with the aftermath. We also have an accompanying article with a slew of red flags that should make you think twice about hiring your own developer or marketing company.
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Episode 54
The Marketing Mindset, Professional Crushes And Embracing The Competition
Do you have the right marketing mindset? Before we can talk tactics and even before we can talk strategy it’s important to start with the right mindset. What does that mean? Well, it’s about adapting, getting out of your own box, watching the right metrics and more… listen and we’ll tell you all about it!
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Episode 53
Ralph, Carol Lynn And Pam Aungst Are In A Boat. Who Gets Thrown Overboard In The SEO Wars?
SEO sends shivers down many spines and when it comes to search optimization, lots of small business people have one of two reactions: they either obsessively chase down the latest Google rule or they put their heads in the sand and opt out entirely. Well, we’re here to say that you don’t have to do either! Listen as we talk to Pam Aungst of Pam Ann Marketing about what you need to know to make good SEO decisions.
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Episode 52
What Happens If Your Web Developer Dies? And Other Such Musings.
Almost every business I came in contact with in 2014 had no idea where or how their business domain name was registered. Other people were paying vendors such as web developers or marketers but had no contract or work agreement. They simply paid and had no expectation of what they were to get in return. In one case, a prospect of ours was paying three different companies for the same service - and they didn't even need it. Don't let this be you! Here's a short list of things that you should do before the end of January to assure business continuity and peace of mind in the new year.
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Episode 51
Skip The Marketing Resolutions. Lead With Results Instead.
Every year the gurus explode with books and blog posts telling you how to REALLY lose weight/get smarter/stop smoking/start running/volunteer more/work less. I Googled “marketing resolutions” before writing this and discovered no shortage of advice for everything from “create a delightful mobile experience” to “be more consistent with marketing.” And while some of the advice is solid, most of it is all about the "what" and lacks a focus on the "why". So this year, do your business a favor and skip the resolutions. Try approaching your marketing from results first and see how the resolutions make – and keep – themselves.
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Episode 50
Start The New Year Right With Cocktails, Instagram And A Positive Attitude Toward Your Customers
Crack out the champagne because we just hit episode 50 of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast! On this episode we talk about why we don't make new year's resolutions (plus we confess to making a few) and we have a great conversation about how to talk to your customers from a can do/will do perspective. Ring in the new year with us and join us in our commitment to eliminating "not" words from our communications.
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Episode 49
Butter & Beast Presents ‘Adapt and Reinvent: The Good, The Bad, and The Delicious’
Today’s short form podcast is a story that I wrote for Butter & Beast, a storytelling project hosted by my friend Téa Silvestre of The Story Bistro. It’s 12 days of stories from entrepreneurs that tie a business tale into a recipe – perfect for sharing and eating during the holidays! If you’d like to read the article or get my Arroz con Pollo recipe, visit ButterAndBeast.com. While you’re there, subscribe so you’ll be notified when the next story and recipe is published!
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Episode 48
Happy WHOlidays From The Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast
We planned to take two weeks off but then the microphone jumped in front of us and said, “Record me!” And that led to a somewhat un-marketing-ish conversation about chocolate, bear burgers and other food-and-beverage related things. Hey, it’s the holidays! Listen in for a little holiday fun and help us make 2015 even better by sharing YOUR questions and challenges so we can talk about topics that matter most to you.
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Episode 47
Passion And Business Go Together Like Chicken And Waffles
Today we talk to Clare Price, self-published author of Web of Betrayal, a cyber thriller set in the dinosaur days of the internet – 1994. She not only self-published but created her own publishing house to do it. And she took on all of the marketing and promotion herself. How did she do it? Join us to find out! And if you’d like a chance to win an autographed copy of the book, reply and let me know by FRIDAY!
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Episode 46
Stop The Bleeding! What To Do If You Lose Your Website To An Unethical Developer Or Other Disaster
Today’s episode is a follow-up to last week when we talked about the things you need to get in order if you want an effective business continuity plan. But what if you don’t have a business continuity plan and you lose your site? You have no backup… no access… your online business is paralyzed and you’re about to fly into a panic just thinking about all those lost pages and hundreds of blog posts… gone. Stop, take a deep breath and listen to this podcast. We talk about how we helped restore our new client’s site from nothing and what you can do if this happens to you.
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Episode 45
Marketing Products: The Good, The Bad And The Nebbish, Sponsored By Mike Brooks And The OMG Formula
Today we invited Mike Brooks of Nuclear Chowder Marketing to sponsor our show and talk about his OMG Formula for marketing. We planned to have him on for five minutes but he stayed for the whole show and we had a spirited debate about how to market an information product online. We also delve into the difference between a good product and a bad product so listen in for some insights if you're thinking of either creating - or buying! - an educational or information product online.
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Episode 44
Designer Aaron Wood On Building A Social Media Empire With Posters, Propaganda And Popularity
Today we talk to Aaron Wood, a graphic designer most recognized online for his social media and pop culture propaganda posters. We’re big Aaron fans if you can judge by the number of his posters that line our office walls. Aaron’s story is unusual but the lessons we learned can be applied to any business. They include things like “be nice” and “make friends”. Enjoy our conversation and if you love his artwork as much as we do, enter our giveaway to win one of his propaganda posters. Winners will be chosen on Friday December 12th so hurry and enter now!
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Episode 43
Good Search Engine Marketing May Be Bad For You
If you hire an SEO company they may be giving you exactly what you asked for but still not be producing the results you want. Be clear on what you really want out of SEO because it probably has nothing to do with your position in Google. This is a story of two clients who asked for one thing but meant another and why it's so important to know what kind of results you really want.
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Episode 42
How Do I Get More Traffic To My Website?
Of all the questions I’m asked by customers and prospects alike, this one ranks in the top three. Even people who don’t check their analytics and barely know what analytics are have the presence of mind to ask how to get more people to visit their website. I’m going to tell you one of the best kept secrets of increasing website traffic: It’s easy. I’m also going to share some tactics for doing it but there’s a twist at the end of the post, so stick around.
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Episode 41
In Case Of Emergency Break Glass (Or Use This Online Business Continuity Plan)
Today we get serious and talk about a scenario we encountered last week when a new client had his site shut down by a vengeful developer. Website? Gone. Email? Gone. Google Analytics? Gone. So we decided to talk about business continuity from the standpoint of protecting your business online. There are a lot of pieces to keep straight so on top of talking about all the things you need to think about, we’ve also put together a Business Continuity Planning Worksheet as part of the Marketing Game Changer Kit that you can download and use so that in the event of a crisis you won’t find your online business crippled.
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Episode 40
Fun, Joy And Excitement… All That And Great Marketing, Too. Get Inspired By Bryan Kramer.
Today we welcome Bryan Kramer to our podcast and we're admittedly superfans so we felt kind of shy and giddy and elated all at once. We had a fun and enlightening conversation about what it really means to be social online, why you need to bring the joy and plenty more to inspire you. And if you haven’t entered to win an autographed copy of his book “H2H” and you'd like a chance, reply to this email and let me know. We’re picking the 5 winners on Friday December 5th!
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Episode 39
“I’m Writing A Ton Of Great Content But Not Getting Leads. Why?”
If you’re busily blogging, podcasting and social media-ing but still not getting the leads you want, you may be wondering why you’re investing all that time and effort. You may be discouraged by the whole thing and ready to check out of content marketing entirely. If that’s you – if you’re creating content and not getting results – hang tight. I’ve got a few reasons why that may be happening so that with a few adjustments you can see the success that everyone else seems to be talking about.
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Episode 38
All I Really Need To Know About Marketing I Learned From Being Human
As we emerge from a weekend-long pie binge, we reflect on what marketing really means and decide it has a lot more to do with being human than people may think. And what better theme for this week than one that focuses on the human side of marketing and not on the charts, graphs and traffic statistics? Stay tuned for our Thursday podcast, too, where we talk with Bryan Kramer, author of There is no B2B or B2C: It’s Human to Human #H2H and be sure to enter our giveaway to win an autographed copy of the book!
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Episode 37
Put Some Fun Into Your Day: Your Business Depends On It
It’s Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. which means if you’re not planning the turkey or cooking the turkey then you’re certainly thinking about eating the turkey – or whatever favorite Thanksgiving treat you eat enough of to put you into a weekend-long food coma. So rather than give you a lesson in my marketing processes, social media management plans or how I segment email lists (we’ll save those for January after the hangovers have worn off), today I’d like to share a little fun - because when we’re down in the trenches of business and marketing it can be very easy to forget that there is such a thing.
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Episode 36
Thanksgiving Marketing Mashup: Social Plugins, SEO Mindset, The Value Of “Free” And Whole Lot Of Thankfulness
It’s Thanksgiving time here in the U.S. and that means we’re gearing up for a nice four-day-long food coma. We were planning on taking the week off but then there were too many things to talk about so here we are. Today we tackle problems with social sharing plugins and "page not found" errors on Facebook, why it's time to change your thinking about SEO, some thoughts on what "free" means plus a few thank yous to some wonderful people.
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Episode 35
The Best Time To Start Marketing Is Before You Start Marketing. Find Out How With Sarah Peters.
They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago… and the best moment for change is now. But when it comes to marketing your business, the best time to start is… before you start! If that sounds weird, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered in this episode of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast because we talk with web marketing professional Sarah Peters about how to plan, prep and get ready-and-set so you can GO when it’s time to start.
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Episode 34
Is Your Website Generating Leads? Fix These Things Now To Improve Your Chances.
Building a customer-focused, lead-generating site is a lot of work. The “building” part of a website is the easy part. But knowing what to build? Not so much. That's why so many sites languish and turn into an expense instead of a business asset that makes you money. Today I share a short list of things that you can improve on your site - from the tiny fixes to the big-picture strategy - that will increase your chances of pulling people in, keeping them there and getting them to take action.
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Episode 33
Here Are 10(ish) Ideas That Will Make 2015 Your Best Marketing Year Ever
Since our last couple of Monday episodes have been a little rant-ish, we put on our thinking caps today and came up with a list of things that you, Fred, can do to improve your marketing in 2015. There are some practical “do-now” ideas and a few conceptual big-picture ones. If you want to get off center and see results from your marketing, this is for you.
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Episode 32
Once Upon A Time There Was A Podcast About Storytelling For Business With Téa Silvestre
Snuggle up in your comfy chair and settle in for a good yarn. Today we talk to story spinner, tale teller and podcast protagonist Téa Silvestre about how, when and why to tell your business story. I don’t know about you but I’ve got a nice cup of tea with honey and a couple of chocolate chip cookies. What’s your favorite way to enjoy a story?
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Episode 31
SEO Or SEarrrgh!? Search Optimization Pitfalls and Conundrums That You Need To Be Aware Of
It's The Great Google Paradox: the less your site seems "optimized" the better optimized it will be. Google wants us to focus on content and not on search results. But that has led to a lot of confusion about what's right, what's wrong, when you'll get in trouble and what you should really be doing to optimize your site to be found in search. Today I tackle a few of the pitfalls of optimization and share some insight into a smarter way to approach SEO.
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Episode 30
You Don’t Have To Hate Marketing Or Run Marketing Campaigns That Make People Hate You
Today we thank you, Fred, for keeping us going by pointing out the madness in marketing. Today’s madness comes courtesy of a Fred who pointed out one marketer’s opinion that “it’s ok to hate marketing.” Well, we have a field day with that and thus follows a conversation and a bit of a rant about high pressure, disingenuous marketing.
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Episode 29
Marketing Can Be Oh, So Pinteresting With Cynthia Sanchez
Today we welcome Cynthia Sanchez, mother of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast and Pinterest marketer extraordinaire. You can’t go two pins across the internet without seeing Cynthia pop up and for good reason – when it comes to marketing your business on Pinterest, she has all the insight, advice and know-how you need. Listen in as we talk the whats, whys and why-nots when it comes to marketing your business on Pinterest.
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Episode 28
Attack Your Biggest Social Marketing Challenges With MavSocial
Faster. Easier. Wouldn't it be better if your social marketing was both? We rarely talk tools but today I want to share one with you that has some nifty features that I've used to make my own social marketing faster and easier. It's called MavSocial and it lets you buy, store, edit, schedule and share photos, audio and video from one account. If it sounds like Hootsuite or Buffer that's because of the scheduling part. But wait until you find out about some of the other tricks up its sleeve. If this sounds useful to you there is a free account you can sign up for, no credit card required. I've enjoyed this tool and I hope you do too.
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Episode 27
How To Run An Email Campaign, Make Mistakes And Still Win Business
Today is all email, all the time… but before we get down to business we make a very important announcement: The designation of the official Poet Laureate Consultant In Poetry To The Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast. Rain down confetti because this is a big one. Our first official poem sent in by a very special fan who inspired us to create this most noble of positions. Read the poem, listen to the podcast then go do your homework (because we give you some!)
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Episode 26
Social Marketing Simplified: Manage Images and Plan Campaigns With MavSocial
Today’s podcast episode is a little different because we don’t usually talk tools, but this one stood out. We were first introduced to MavSocial through a campaign they’re running on Triberr. We’ve had a couple of weeks to try out the tool and it has some pretty neat features that might work for your business. Listen in as we talk with MavSocial’s founder Matthew Holden about where MavSocial came from, where it’s going, why we need yet another social management tool and how this one can help with your social management.
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Episode 25
Web, Search And Social Marketing: DIY Or CTM?
Ralph and I have a shared philosophy when it comes to things like home improvements, automobile repair and event planning. It’s the CTM philosophy and it involves one or the other of us picking up the phone to Call The Man. It’s our generic way of saying, “Let someone else deal with it, preferably someone who knows what they’re doing.” When it comes to marketing, there are some things you can DIY and others you definitely shouldn't. Here's what you can comfortably tackle (and when) and what you should think about hiring out (and why).
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Episode 24
Content Curation Drives Us Nuts, Apple Makes Life Difficult But Wine Saves The Day
Get your noise-dampening headphones ready because in this episode we crack out the bleep button. Ralph is on a warpath about Apple and I get on my soapbox about content curation. But in the end it’s all good because we wrap up with a fun lesson in wine and marketing. We talk storytelling, social marketing (for profit!) and more. Pour a glass of wine and share your thoughts!
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Episode 23
Ryan Hanley Can’t Shut His Big, Fat Face. And That’s A Good Thing For Your Content Marketing.
Both Ralph and I have had the pleasure of being on Ryan’s Content Warfare podcast so today Ryan joins us on ours to talk about what he knows best: content! If you’re on the content marketing bandwagon and want some insight into taking it up a notch, or if you aren’t convinced and need a push that will get you jumping in with both feet, this is the episode for you. Ryan is all about challenging the status quo and that’s exactly what we love around here. Listen as we talk about what content really is, how to create it (and why), digital sharecropping and more.
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Episode 22
How To Be Effective At Social Marketing Without Content Curation
Modern marketing wisdom goes something like this: If you want to be successful at social marketing then you need to share other people’s content 80% of the time and your own content 20% of the time. I don’t know what the source of this dumb advice is but I would very much like to know who decided that this was the magic ratio and why it's repeated as marketing gospel. Here's why content curation is not doing you any favors... and some practical, actionable ideas you can try instead.
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Episode 21
This Podcast Is Guaranteed To Improve Your Marketing (Results Not Guaranteed)
In today’s podcast episode we button up a few things that have been nagging at us recently, namely ineffective programs, not-so-valuable "products" and the perils of SEO. We also summon our sponsor, Cynthia Sanchez of Oh So Pinteresting to tell us about the workshop she's offering especially for small businesses to help them boost their marketing on Pinterest.
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Episode 20
Get On Board With Pinterest And Synergize The Impact To The Next Level With Alisa Meredith
Are you on board with Pinterest? If not, Alisa Meredith will inspire you. She talks about how it can work even for a non-visual business and how you can think differently about this underutilized tool. We also talk about how to get started with online marketing, avoid internet marketing fatigue and stay in a jargon-free zone. If you think you don't have the time, don't have the money and don't know how to get your marketing working online, Alisa has some great insights to share.
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Episode 19
Improve Your Marketing By Tapping Into Your Failures
So many times businesses fail to gain momentum on their marketing because they want every campaign to be flawless. When a campaign takes an unintended left turn, a business becomes hesitant to try again. While you should do everything you can within reason to avoid failures, missteps in marketing are inevitable. I want to share three of our recent failures so that you can (hopefully) laugh along with us and perhaps learn from our mistakes so you don't make your own. Or if you do make mistakes, you can learn to pick yourself up and keep going.
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Episode 18
How You’re Being Tricked Into Wasting Your Marketing Dollars On Ineffective Programs
Have you seen the $4,000 toothbrush? It’s real, I swear. And it begs the question: what makes a toothbrush worth $4,000? The answer is pretty simple, actually. It’s worth $4,000 because that’s what someone is willing to pay for it. But when it comes to business the idea of value still lies in the return that a product or service yields. That makes it more challenging to work in the B2B space, because it’s a lot harder to sell something that doesn’t promise a better outcome. And yet, paradoxically, it’s also a lot easier to trick you, as a business, into spending your marketing budget on something completely worthless. Today I want to talk about one of the most common marketing tricks that will get YOU to part with your hard earned dollars, all in the interest of improving your own marketing. And why you should shut your wallet every time you encounter it.
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Episode 17
This Podcast Is Worth One-Point-Seven Trillion Dollars But You Can Have It For Free
In today’s episode we revisit our conversation about SEO from last week because I call Ralph out on the fact that he said he had a “big objection” to the article we discussed... but never ‘fessed up to what that was. And that takes on a whole life of its own. Listen in as we talk popups (good and bad), the reality of discount pricing and how to pronounce "Moleskine". Plus we share our own email segmentation method so that you can try it for yourself.
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Episode 16
Facebook, Email And Landing Pages: Brought To You By The Power Of The Sun
Plenty of people have “a big idea”. But not a lot of those people take their idea to fruition and watch it grow and thrive. Yet that’s exactly what Glen Koedding did. One day he was hanging out in the pool with a business colleague, thinking about how to use solar energy to heat the pool and nine months later he was running his own solar business. Since then he’s grown the company into an impressive enterprise by doing all of his own marketing. We talked with him about just some of the incredibly smart strategies he employs – from social to email to website. There are more good ideas here than miles to the sun.
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Episode 15
It’s Q4. What Does Your 2015 Marketing Look Like?
It's Q4 2014. With the holidays coming, you have very little time to decide what your 2015 marketing outlook is if you haven't already done so. But let me tell you one thing that you can take to the bank. In 2015 more of your consumers will be connected than at any time in the past. They will be online, using social media, looking for the products and services that they want to buy and relying on the information they find online to inform their decisions. If you are reading this while sitting next to a truck load of cash, then go enjoy your money. This isn't for you. But if you want to give your business a fighting chance in 2015, keep reading.
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Episode 14
3 Marketing Tropes To Eliminate From Your Tactical Toolbox
Have you read the story about Marriott International’s “The Envelope Please” program? It's stirred up a bit of controversy and got me thinking about dumb things done in the name of marketing. Turns out, dumb marketing is not only the domain of big companies. Even small businesses sometimes fall into these traps. Here are three of the most head-shaking mistakes and why you should avoid them. PS: If you haven't read the Marriott story, I include a link at the beginning of my article. Let me know what you think!
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Episode 13
Who Gets SEO In The Divorce?
In today's podcast episode, Ralph throws me under the bus, we talk divorce and for the first time ever, I don't end up with my mic muted. Today's episode gets off to a bang as we tackle the subject of SEO, inspired by an article written by an industry-leader that reads like one big contradiction. Search is important for a lot of businesses that rely on it for leads and customers but it's also one of the least forgiving areas when it come to the "try - test - measure - try again" approach. Listen in as we share our thoughts on SEO, the dos, don'ts and definitely nots. We also talk email marketing and more.
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Episode 12
Podcasting: The Next Frontier Of Marketing And Why You Need To Jump On The Bandwagon
In this episode of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast we talk with Chris Curran of Fractal Recording about the value of podcasting for business. Before you write it off as something that's outside your wheelhouse, consider this: 2015 car models are being equipped by default with podcast listening options. More and more people are listening to podcasts every day. It's a relatively untouched frontier where you can have a voice and it's a lot more likely to be heard instead of drowned out by the competition. Add "podcast show" to your résumé and watch the competition fade. It doesn't have to be hard to get started or to do. Listen to Chris share his passion and you might just get excited about the underutilized benefits of this marketing opportunity.
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Episode 11
Forget About Content Being King. Forget About Contact Being King. Let’s Talk About The Queen.
Something is king. I'm not sure what, but every day it seems to change. One day Content is King. The next, it's engagement. Then it's disruption. A few days ago, my nemesis (and good friend) David Deutsch of SynergiSocial wrote an article proclaiming that "contact", not "content" is king. Ok, so what is King? The answer is simple. There is no king. Here's a different way to think about marketing.
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Episode 10
The Difference Between Magical Thinking And Actual Marketing
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: If you want to promote and grow your business, connect with influencers. You can’t go a half-mouse-click without someone telling you how to connect with influencers and why you really, really, really need to do that. I’ve discussed this in detail before but suffice it to say that trying to “connect with influencers” is the sort of magical thinking, right up there with “write epic content” and “just make it go viral”, that will hinder and even kill your true marketing success. If you want your business to succeed, here's a better way to market.
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Episode 9
Marketing Fails, Bad Blog Posts And The Importance Of Keeping Your Profiles Current
In this episode of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast we revisit the U2 “marketing fail” and ask whether it was such a fail after all. We also talk about why the "list post" must die and the importance of keeping your profiles and photos up to date.
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Episode 8
Porn, Plagiarism And Protecting Your Content With Jonathan Bailey
Have you ever worked hard on a blog post only to find that someone else had pilfered it wholesale and reprinted it on their site without permission from you? That really burns our buns! On this episode of our podcast we talk with plagiarism consultant Jonathan Bailey about all types of content theft and what you can do to protect your intellectual business property.
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Episode 7
The Only Buzzword You Must Eliminate From Your Marketing Vocabulary
Take a moment to think about the business buzzword that drives you most crazy. Synergy? Thought leadership? “Next level”? Each of those makes me cringe a little… especially “next level” because couldn’t the next level be down? Buzzwords are overused, cliché and sometimes downright silly. Every industry has them. But there is only one word that you should squash completely before it stings you. Want to guess what it is?
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Episode 6
My Credit Card Or Yours? Your Marketing Relies On Smart Financial Decisions.
Guess what? Your marketing company can make things really simple for you. They can pay for your hosting, your domain renewal, your email software, and your social scheduling software. They can itemize all of those expenses for you and then send you one bill. Easy peasy. Lemon Squeezy. But I want to share two stories with you that illustrate the downside of the easy-peasy-one-bill method so you'll see why it's so important to know who owns your accounts and services.
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Episode 5
Oh, The Outrage! The Reality Of Trying To Please Everyone With Your Marketing
Just recently Apple announced a new iOS update and as part of a PR collaboration with the rock band U2, Apple added a free copy of U2’s latest album onto Apple users’ iPhones. While some of you may be thinking, “Cool, free stuff!” others were outraged by the fact that Apple did something “without their permission”, even if that something was giving away a free album. Thus opens the conversation in this podcast about good marketing gone bad and when you should and shouldn’t run in to pick up the pieces.
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Episode 4
Business Card Marketing: Titles Don’t Matter Except When They Do
Are you a Firestarter? How about a Ninja? Chief Fun Maker? Executive Content Czar? When it comes to the titles that people put on their business cards, I've seen some pretty interesting things. But the big question is: does that help or hurt them? Read or listen to today's blog to find out. Even if you think you know the answer, I bet you'll be surprised by some of the ideas that you can try on your own to find out what title suits you best. Find out how to make a title work for you.
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![Beer. Guacamole. And Writing A Great Email Marketing Campaign with Mike Brooks. [Podcast Episode 3]](https://www.websearchsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/wss-podcast-mike-brooks-email-marketing-300x188.jpg)
Episode 3
Beer. Guacamole. And Writing A Great Email Marketing Campaign with Mike Brooks.
What does peanut butter and chocolate beer have to do with email subject lines? That's what you'll find out if you listen to this episode of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast. In This Episode We Talk About: * Why subject lines are so important. * Why a 3% or 5% or 10% or even 40% open rate isn’t good enough. * How to catch people’s attention so they’ll actually open your email. * What NOT to do once you get them to open it. * And more great stuff like whether design matters, what to do about colors and fonts and whether it’s ok to “go negative”. Visit https://www.websearchsocial.com/ for our blog and more info. Call Ralph on his cell at 732.616.8364 Call Carol Lynn on her cell at 732.939.2017
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Episode 2
Here’s Why Hello Kitty Is Your Biggest B2B Marketing Ally
Yesterday we premiered the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast. Today we’ve got something a little different, too. It’s a blog post and it’s also got an audio version so you can read AND listen. Your choice. Visit today’s blog to read or listen. In the blog, I share a lesson learned from an email that I sent to our mailing list last week. If you received it, you may recall that Hello Kitty played a starring role. Well, she also has something to say about B2B marketing so visit to find out what that is. Because sometimes it's great to talk theory and strategy and big ideas, but sometimes it's much more helpful to read about something practical, something tested that WORKED. Intrigued? Visit to read or listen now.
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Episode 1
Ryan Hanley, Shut Your Big Fat Face!
This is it! The first episode of the Web.Search.Social Marketing Podcast. It feels like we've been planning it forever and thanks to the help and encouragement of some great people, we're finally up and running. It's also thanks to readers like you that we were inspired to go farther and wider to spread the message that marketing isn't about secrets, gimmicks, ten-steps or simple tricks. It's work, but it can also be fun, personally rewarding and most importantly profitable. So join us on our journey to debunk some common marketing myths and to talk about things that really matter to your success. In this first episode we talk a little bit about how we got here and say a lot of thank-yous. We also throw in our marketing two cents to get the conversation going. I'd love it if you would listen and then leave a comment letting us know what you think and what you would like to hear in future episodes.
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