Social media is often a big challenge for small business owners. Running the business itself is so much work how can you find the time to do the extra work of social media? And how can you make sure that those efforts actually yield a result? These are real challenges for real businesses. And in […]
Social Media Strategy for Brick and Mortar Businesses: Interview with Laura Nunemaker
How can brick and mortar businesses make the most of social media? On this week’s episode, I interview Laura Nunemaker about her specific strategies for offline businesses, clever cross-promotion opportunities, and careful automation to help make you more efficient.
New Opportunities in a Post-Gatekeeper World
Why are you waiting for permission? Walk straight past the Gatekeeper and connect with your audience directly. There’s nothing holding you back anymore, and there are no excuses. Your audience is your greatest business asset—it shifts the power in your favor.
Timing and Frequency in Content Strategy
The right information, delivered at the right time, is powerful. The opposite is true, too. Get it right, and your posts are not just welcome—but even anticipated!
How to Get Publicity and Other Media Coverage: Interview with Chris Well (Episode 37)
The great thing about content marketing is that it has allowed people to do their own marketing. You can develop your own voice and reach your audience directly. Having a fully developed content strategy involves more than just content marketing, though. Sometimes you'll want to employ traditional channel marketing as a part of your overall […]
How to Get Publicity and Other Media Coverage: Interview with Chris Well
How do you get media coverage for your business? On this week’s episode, I interview Chris Well about his strategy for how to build your media kit, identify the right outlets, craft the perfect pitch, and set up a series of appearances that can help boost your authority.
Building Your Online Authority (Episode 36)
Start by helping one person. It sounds simple, but that's all it takes. Solve a problem for someone, and you've just taken the first step towards building your online authority. Then do it again. Repeat this enough times, and two things might begin to happen: They keep returning. It becomes a habit. What happens when they […]
Building Your Online Authority
When you’re seen as an authority, it opens up all sorts of possibilities to you. Trust in you builds, which accumulates as an asset for you and your business. The value you create sticks with you, and can even transfer to your next business, your next project, or your next job.
Optimizing Your Content for Searchability and Discoverability (Episode 35)
Getting found is difficult in today's world. By producing something that you think will be of use to someone, you've taken the first step. You have a voice, you're at the podium. You're off to a good start. So why aren't people listening to you? Why aren't they paying attention? The problem is that, for […]
Optimizing Your Content for Searchability and Discoverability
Getting found and getting heard are a huge challenge in today’s world. Here’s how to set yourself up to be searchable and discoverable so that you have a better shot at it. Smart tactics with no tricks.
How to Create Brand Advocates (Episode 34)
There's a great book called Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force by Rob Fuggetta. I reference it in the episode, and I'm assigning it to my students this term. In it, the author describes how advocacy can't be purchased. In order to be effective, it must be genuine and given willingly. […]
How to Create Brand Advocates
A story is at the root of trust, and a good content strategy gives your brand advocates the language to use on your behalf. Since it’s more believable in their hands, you should be doing all you can to make it easier for them.
Teaching and Learning
This week’s episode is about two new projects for 2016. I also ask a favor: For those of you who are writers, musicians, or visual artists, I invite you to talk about how the Web and social media has affected you and your creative business.
Thank You to My Listeners
I wasn't going to post this week, but I couldn’t stop myself. Lately I've been overwhelmed by gratitude. Thank you to all my listeners. Thank you to all my readers. Thank you to all my Twitter peeps. You all inspire me. Thank you. And thank you to the random folks out there who share your […]
Running Your Business the Right Way
Looking back at the first 30 episodes of this podcast, I have an epiphany about what content marketing is really about. It’s an antidote to the lies, micro-lies, and lies of omission that marketers have forcing on us for years.
Content Strategy Planning for Small Business Owners
Content marketing is about shifting from you talking about you to customers talking to other customers about you. It’s a lot of work at first, but the only way to see rapid, self-replicating growth.
Differentiating Yourself as a Small Business
Articulating your solution in your customers’ own language is a much more powerful way to connect than just throwing me-first marketing-speak at them. First, you have to know your audience.
Why Do Small Businesses Need a Content Strategy?
Building an audience is difficult. But the rules have changed, and they are in your favor now. In this episode, I make a case for why your business needs a cohesive content strategy.
Choosing the Right Channel for Your Social Media Strategy
Social media marketing is all about direct engagement with an audience. It functions best when brands treat it as a bi-directional discussion, making prospects and customers alike feel like they are a part of a conversation. When it’s working, it builds trust little by little until a prospect becomes a customer, or a customer becomes […]
Social Media Marketing: Choosing Your Channel (Episode 27)
In any content strategy, the delivery is almost as important as the content itself. Either it's supporting your core message or it's working against you. That's why channel selection is so important. There's no one right answer you have to find out for yourself. So, continuing the discussion from the last episode about making real connections, […]