Author Archives: Rich Brooks

Built-In Social Media with Jeff Korhan

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Jeff KorhanSocial media is like secret weapon for small businesses…it allows us to build loyalty, create deeper connections with our audience, and build our business.

But for too many small business, social media is still something that seems like a foreign language. They don’t know how to make it part of their every day activity.

In this week’s episode, we bring in Jeff Korhan, author of Built In Social: Essential Social Marketing Practices for Every Small Business, to walk us through how we can use social to grow our own businesses.

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Big Ideas:

  • Understanding the impact of social may be more important than using it. These days, customers often have more information on our products or services than our sales force because of social.
  • Use social to listen. Even if you’re not sure how to participate, you can at least use social to listen to what your customers are saying.
  • Social has democratized media. Getting in front of your ideal customers used to be expensive…but with social media the costs have plummeted, giving small businesses new opportunities.
  • Be in the answer business. Find out what your ideal customers are asking, and be prepared to answer those questions through social.
  • Don’t get overwhelmed. Focus on your goals and plans, and use the social media tools that help you accomplish those goals.

Show Notes:

Rich Brooks
Social Media for Small Business

The Zen of Social Media Marketing with Shama Hyder

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shama-hyderIn her short professional career, Shama Hyder has used social media to build credibility, generate buzz and increase revenue for her business. Now she’s here to share with you how you can, too.

Shama is a sought after, well-resepected presenter on social media marketing for business. She’s the author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing, and runs her own social media consultancy company.

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Big Ideas:

  • Social media is an accelerant if you wish to become known as an expert in your field. It allows you to become a thought leader in your industry in a shorter time.
  • Consistency is important and trumps variety (at least in terms of the number of platforms you’re on.) Better to be consistently present in one channel than sporadic in all.
  • Basics must come first. Why are you using social media? What are the business goals for being there? Leads? Awareness? Knowing this will help you determine how to best spend your time on which platforms.
  • Buzz is important to any small business. Whether you are a professional speaker or run a diner, if no one is talking about you, you’re dead in the water. Depending on your industry or business, where you need to generate buzz may differ.
  • Social media can increase revenues. However, it’s unlikely to work immediately, and it’s best used to build trust so that you’re more likely to make the sale.

Show Notes:

Rich Brooks
Social Media Consultant

Mobile Marketing with Greg Hickman

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Greg HickmanMobile Marketing isn’t the next big thing, it’s already here. 

Mobile websites, mobile email, mobile apps, text messaging, SMS, MMS and more…all ways you can reach and engage your ideal customer…but where do you start and how do you move forward?

To answer those questions we reached out to Greg Hickman, the man behind Mobile Mixed, a blog and podcast all about mobile marketing.

Mobile is too big to be ignored, and it impacts your search visibility, your social engagement, and just about every other aspect of your digital marketing.

If you’ve wanted to jump in, but you’re not sure where to start, you’ll want to tune in to this week’s episode of The Marketing Agents Podcast.

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Big Ideas:

  • Reason One You Need a Mobile Site: If you’re already engaging people on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels, likely you’re engaging them on a mobile device. That means they’re one click away from your website. If it’s not mobile optimized, you’ve lost them.
  • Reason Two You Need a Mobile Site: Google is penalizing websites that don’t have a mobile-friendly experience. Even if you don’t think your audience is arriving via a mobile device, you may be hurting yourself by not being prepared.
  • Is Responsive Web Design (RWD) Right for Your Site? RWD may not be right for you for small business. You may be able to cater to a mobile user better with a mobile-specific site, rather than a RWD site. 
  • When is RWD Right? RWD may be best for content centric businesses, where all the content needs to be mobile optimized.
  • How Does Mobile Impact Email Delivery and Opens? We often use mobile devices as a last line filter against unwanted or unnecessary emails. To overcome this, put your best keywords right up front in the subject line, and test send times to avoid being a victim of early morning mobile purges.
  • Should You Use Text Messaging? Text messaging has an immediacy and deliverability rate that’s unlike any other. It can also reach feature phone users. Treat it like an email opt-in list for best results.
  • How Should You Use QR Codes? You can’t build a list via QR codes directly. Use them to provide additional value to the user if you want to build trust. 
  • Should My Small Business Build an App? Only consider an app after your mobile website is built, and only if you have “loyalists,” people who need regular updates/contact with your business. And don’t just duplicate your website into an app.
Big Links:

Rich Brooks
Going Mobile….

How to Use Virtual Assistants to Grow Your Business – Chris Ducker

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Chris DuckerWould having a Virtual Assistant free you up to grow your business? Chris Ducker thinks so.

Do you ever find yourself thinking there’s just not enough time in the day? Or there are certain tasks in running your business that you hate doing, or you aren’t very good at, or that you shouldn’t be doing any more because they’re keeping you from growing your business?
 
If that’s the case, a virtual assistant may be your ticket to freeing up your time and succeeding with your business.
 
This week Chris Ducker stops by and walks us through how you can find and get started with a virtual assistant to free you up to do the work that matters.
 
Favor! Could you please head on over to iTunes and leave us a rating and review? It will only take 30 seconds and it makes a huge difference in helping us get the word out about the show.
 
(Or, have your VA do it! 😉 )

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Big Ideas:

  • Decide if you need a Virtual Assistant (VA). Create a three column sheet and label it thusly:
    • What do I do every day that I hate?
    • What are things that I can’t do that will help me grow my business?
    • What should I not be doing any more so I can focus on higher return activities?
  • Chris thinks every entrepreneur needs a “General” VA. Someone to handle your emails, calendar, travel itinerary, transcripts and more.
  • Break in a new VA with a specific project. If you’ve never worked with a VA, or you’re breaking in a new one, give them a very specific project to get to know them.

Show Notes:

  • The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference: Whether you come to Maine or watch in the comfort of your own home or office, be sure to check out the 2nd annual conference all about search, social & mobile marketing! Save $25 on your physical or digital pass with the discount code TMAP. 
  • ChrisDucker.com: Where you can check out Chris’s great “New Business” blog, podcast and other resources. 
  • Virtual Staff Finder: Want to get started with a VA right now? No better place to get some great VA matchmaking services than Virtual Staff Finder.
Pat Flynn, Chris Ducker & Rich Brooks

Pat Flynn photobombing this pic of Jason Stratham and Steve Jobs.

Rich Brooks
Digital Marketing Consultant

Create Knowledge Based Products for Leads and Profits with Denise Wakeman

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Denise WakemanThere are plenty of benefits to creating knowledge based products…you can use them to establish your credibility, generate leads, and create additional streams of revenue for your business.

In this episode of The Marketing Agents Podcast, I speak with online marketing expert Denise Wakeman about two of her specialties: creating a business blog that generates leads and how to turn everyday content into knowledge-based products that people will be willing to pay for.

Whether you’ve been looking to build a powerful, lead-generating business blog, or create your first Kindle book, this episode has everything you need and more!

Please subscribe directly at iTunes so you don’t miss any future episodes! And if you’re already a subscriber, please consider giving TMAP a juicy 5 star rating and review…those reviews help us reach a wider audience and let us know you’re listening…and enjoying! Thanks. 🙂

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Big Ideas:

  • Start with a blog. Too often businesses feel overwhelmed where to start with social media. Denise recommends a blog because it’s your home base, and unlike social media platforms, you own it.
  • Determine your topics first. Topics become categories and you should have five posts ready to go in each category before you start.
  • Use “social” to drive traffic and build your list. While you don’t own these channels, they are critical tools to drive traffic to your blog.
  • Create additional streams of income with knowledge-based products. Anything you’ve written or recorded can be turned into a product. Blog posts can be turned into a Kindle book. Interviews can become audio products. Transcripts of interviews can be turned into ebooks.

Show Notes:

  • The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference: Whether you come to Maine or watch in the comfort of your own home or office, be sure to check out the 2nd annual conference all about search, social & mobile marketing! Save $25 on your physical or digital pass with the discount code TMAP. 
  • Evernote: The most popular tool for keeping track of ideas for blog posts (and everything else.)
  • Editorial Calendar (WordPress Plugin): Great for managing multiple authors, or just keeping track of upcoming posts for your own blog. 
  • Triberr: The network Denise uses to help promote blog posts and other topics. 
  • Denise Wakeman: Be sure to check out Denise’s home base and sign up for her newsletter!

Rich Brooks
Digital Marketing Consultant