Monthly Archives: November 2012

Top 6 Business & Marketing Podcasts

Podcast - creative commons

By now you’re probably fed up with surfing the internet. You’ve been staring at random business tips and how-to marketing videos but are no closer to finding the answers to your business questions. I’d like to help you make headway, with these top six marketing podcasts that have caught my attention.

1) Small Business Big Marketing Show: This is an opportunity to hear from small business owners about how their marketing strategies have helped them achieve success. These stories will inspire you and allow you to tailor these tips to your own ventures. The interviews are very informal and full of firsthand business advice.

2) How to Make Money and Do A World of Good: For those of you who are looking to do some good in the world and make some cash while you’re at it, Streat co-founder Rebecca Scott’s podcast is what you need. There is no doubt that social responsibility is on the minds of many but how exactly can you integrate it into your business? Learn more about social entrepreneurship and how to market it.

3) Funny Business: This is another interesting podcast by people who have made humor their business. Guests include Ben Huh, CEO of the Cheezburger Network and Ryan Dolan owner of 30Watt and former business developer for The Onion. Cheezburger takes full responsibility for initiatives such as FailBlog, ICanHazCheezburger and ThereIFixedIt.

4) Eight Stories You Must Tell to Built An Epic Business: Valerie Khoo is a journalist, speaker and small business commentator. This posdcast is filled with Valerie’s accounts of how storytelling can be used as a powerful marketing tool that can not only transform your brand but turn your clients into valuable allies. Subscribe on iTunes to download this fantastic resource.

5) Foolish Adventure: Tim Conley looks at the adventures of internet entrepreneurs who have made it part of their lifestyle to innovate, experiment and experience business online. Businesses and innovation come in all shapes and sizes. Foolish Adventures is proof that if we step outside the “norm” we can succeed.

6) Automate My Small Business: Have you ever wanted to take a vacation and not worry about how your business is doing without you? Well, it’s all in the title. These guys go out of their way to show you exactly how to automate your small business so that all you have to do is reap the fruit of your success. How do you do this? By using cutting edge technology and online management tools that allow you to set it and forget it!

All of these podcasts can be found on ITunes. So get to it, and enjoy!

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Review: Scott Stratten’s Un-Marketing Stop Marketing Start Engaging

unmarketing

Un-Marketing takes marketing as we know it, and flips it on its head. It’s a lesson in the new ways to market in our new connected, social media aware world. The book has a total of 56 chapters that are two to ten pages long, short and easy go digest. Each gives us real, applicable advice. People first, customers second.

The book itself is more like a conversation rather than a preaching or a sales pitch. At the heart of Un-Marketing is active engagement not hard core marketing. Scott’s language is simple and genuine. His case studies are funny and familiar. It’s a book that does not play by the rules; in fact it tosses them right out the window. He shows us that Un-Marketing is about letting people know you care. The section on the trust gap and experience gap are what resonated with me. In this chapter Scott makes an excellent point: “The space between the best services, often what a new customer receives, and the worst experience is what I call the Experience Gap. As a business owner your goal needs to be having no gap at all, optimizing every point of contact with your customer.”

Stratten offers his readers a wealth of rather unconventional ideas, stories, and resources to enable them to think outside the box. He touches on the ideas of platforming and social currency. It’s the idea that when it comes to marketing, social relationships are far more rewarding than the mere exchange of goods and services. In this case honesty, authenticity and transparency are vital to business success. Engaging with clients helps motivate then and establishes an environment of trust. These relationships are social currency that can be used in a positive and impassioned manner to further people’s confidence in a product or service. “Investing your social currency means giving your time, your knowledge and your efforts to that channel. People don’t care about your business until they know you care about them”. Today doing business, means putting people first. It’s about starting conversations and building a platform that stems from shared values and understanding.

The way we do marketing today is rapidly changing. Thus the question we have to ask ourselves is; would we rather flop, follow or get ahead? When most of us are fighting to stay afloat, Scott tells us it’s time to change gears and reevaluate our priorities as far as social engagement. Viral, Social and Authentic Marketing all of which Scott is an expert, fall under the umbrella of what is known as Un-Marketing.
The central message of the book is that when we truly allow ourselves to understand people, and allow for these relationships to grow it inevitably leads to trust and generates instant results. What’s more is that Scott’s Un-Marketing tactics aren’t that different from those we apply to real-life situations and people, which makes this that much more doable. With ten years experience under his belt, Scott has been fortunate enough to work with the likes of Cirque du Soleil, Fidelity Investments and more. All of them have sought Stratton’s guidance when it comes to navigating the realm of social, viral and relationship media.

By reading this book we are once again reminded that market relevance is the key to success. “It is not about quantity but rather quality” says Scott, that if we use our best judgment and apply some common sense to the way we deal with others the market will always follow regardless of the competition. As long as we learn to foster and maintain these important relationships the marketing will take care of itself.

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Social Media and Your Business – Convince and Convert

Jay Baer
This is the first in an ongoing series of posts where I’ll be introducing books, sites, tools and resources which will help you achieve business success and great breakthroughs.  For the first few posts we’ll be focusing on the relatively new and often confusing world of social media.

Who Is Jay Baer?

Jay Baer is an innovative social media strategist, speaker and author. His blog Convince and Convert is among the top three most sought after, award winning social media hubs worldwide. The purpose behind his blog is to educate and enlighten companies about ways to dramatically improve their marketing and content through social media. 

His daily news letter One Social Thing, is filled with current, innovative and insightful stories that offer an authentic look at the inner workings of today’s social media and entrepreneurship. Baer is also the author of a great book “The New Revolution: 7 Ways to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social”. This is a 7 step guide to using social media to reinvigorate and empower businesses and a great source of advice to everyone running a business.

Social Pros Podcast with Co-Conspirator from Argyle Social, Eric Broggs 

Jay’s podcast series Social Pros, is where Baer interviews social innovators and social media pros. Each time, Social Pros offers its listeners a chance to tap into the minds of the leading social media experts, speakers and innovators. It’s a chance for listeners to learn firsthand about the many ways in which social media drives how people and businesses interact with one another. For instance, Jay’s “Thought of the Week” segment is a quick peek into current social media trends and topics. Eric Broggs the CEO of Argyle Social is Jay’s co-conspirator.  They are a fantastic duo that gives the program a dynamic and refreshing voice. This podcast is jam-packed with engaging topics and hands-on advice. 

“Community Building Through Innovative Conferences” Featuring Jason Keath 

One of the Social Pros Podcasts that I found of particular interest was Episode 37 entitled “Community Building Through Innovative Conferences”. The idea for these types of conferences came from Social Fresh a “social media empire” founded by a New York City’s social media Consultants Jason Keath. Social Fresh is a series of events that bring people together from all types of professional backgrounds to learn more about how to achieve entrepreneurial success using current market research and social media tools. “These events says Jayson, offer participants some actionable content and resources that they can adapt into their own work”. 

Why Social Fresh is Relevant Today

It is important for us to recognize that social media does and will continue to affect the way that we communicate. Today’s business success is largely reliant on our ability to effectively share ideas, resources and perspectives. We need to have continual access to information and be ready to use the content we encounter at these events to help mold our own business strategies. More than ever we need to be open to new, innovative ways of learning about and understanding how it is that social media can enhance our roles as people, innovators and entrepreneurs. Social Fresh is an amazing platform that serves to enable further discussion of emerging themes that will have a significant impact on the future of business. 

For more information on Jay Baer’s blog visit convinceandconvert.com

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Eight Simple Tips to Writing A Great Professional Review

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A good business review should be written with care. If you consciously make the decision to become emotionally invested in the success of your business clients the payoff will be worthwhile. There is nothing worse than a sloppy review that fails to clearly make its argument.  It is important to thoroughly assess submission type and content then tailor your feedback to reflect the goals and objectives of the specific business clients. When writing quality professional reviews it’s important to have a clear understanding of your companies’ direction, motivation and purpose. 

The following are my eight simple steps to writing a professional review:  

  1. The language you choose must be clear and concise. There is nothing worse than failure to make your point.
  2. Your advice should be useful, insightful and applicable depending on the type of submission. Comments such as “I don’t think this is good” come across as sloppy and discouraging. Nor do they help clients achieve their business goals. 
  3. Your advice must be realistic and feasible. Business clients want to know exactly what to do and how to do it.   
  4. Stay positive. Negative feedback is disempowering and does not inspire confidence. Remember there is always a way to critique without criticizing. 
  5. Your advice should be both constructive and encouraging. The truth is more often than not business clients are intuitive and well aware there is a problem they just may need that extra nudge to point them in the right direction. Identify issues by pointing out the areas that need improvement. 
  6. Similarly, if a client has done something particularly well let them know that you’ve noticed. You could even go as far as explaining why a certain point has captured your attention  
  7. Honesty is always the best policy; your clients will love you for it. 
  8. Last but not least, remember that by giving clients quality feedback on their work you begin to cultivate trust and being trusted by clients is the best kind of leverage a business advisor can have. 

Now, I know that giving great business advice isn’t always easy. These eight simple steps will help you stay focused. Who knows, you might even surprise yourself. In the meantime keep at it and good luck. 

 

PHOTO BY MARIA REYES-MCDAVIS VIA FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONSPHOTO BY MARIA REYES-MCDAVIS VIA FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

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