What Does Pizza And Karate Have To Do With Online Marketing?

Being my first article here, I was asked to make this about me: To introduce myself to you.

I hate talking about myself. As a long time blogger and podcaster my goal is to help my audience through my content. But this was the assignment so I'll give it my best shot...

 

Who Is This Guy?

I own a company called Nuclear Chowder Marketing, a digital marketing agency. We help businesses large and small get more business online (and offline).

Most of our clients come to us looking to improve traffic to their website. Our specialty is SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

However, we are different than most SEO companies. We’re not just concerned about traffic. Driving traffic is a piece of cake.

Our passion is in building traffic AND conversions. The conversion, when traffic turns into a customer, is the real secret to success for any business both online and offline.

Most businesses want more traffic. And that's important.

But what you do with that traffic is where the rubber meets the road (and where the real money comes).

Because of this we practice an integrated approach to online marketing which connects the dots from search to social to email to content and more.

Where It Started

In 2002 when I became part owner of a martial arts school. My role was to market the then struggling and very small business.

I immersed myself in all things sales and marketing. Coming from a technology background, I was also able to take advantage of emerging online technology… such as Google. That was a lucky stroke as online marketing was about to become a hugely important tool for any business.

Very quickly, the school went from struggling to one of the top schools in the country.

Opportunity Knocked

One day a parent of one of our students came to me and asked if I would help his business. He told me he was searching online for a pizza place and our school appeared in the search results.

He was so amazed by that and the fact he saw our school everywhere that he hired me to do the same for his business. In 2006 my digital marketing agency was born.

In 2010 I sold my share of the school back to my partner and went full time helping businesses with their online marketing. Today we are what I call a full service digital marketing agency.

We can handle about any sized online marketing need. We create simple to extremely complex websites and manage any level of online marketing for companies large and small.

What's In If For You

What brings me here as a contributor to this blog is my passion for teaching. I have always loved teaching, which is what originally brought me into martial arts school ownership.

I joined the Hartford Springfield Speaker's Network to better my speaking skills so I can share and teach more.

I want to challenge you to think beyond traffic in your business. I want to challenge you to adopt a fanatical focus on conversions.

My goal is to bring you content that will help you increase the conversions in your business. So you're not just attracting qualified prospects but turning more of them into happy customers.

Do You Have A Question About Online Marketing?

I hope you will enjoy and get value out of the content I’ll share here from my many years experience in online marketing and business. I'd love to answer any questions you have. Leave your question in the comments below and I'll answer in an upcoming article here.

About Mike Brooks

Mike Brooks is President of Nuclear Chowder Marketing, a Digital Marketing Agency. He is the author of The Nuclear Chowder Marketing Method book available in print and on Kindle. Mike is passionate about helping businesses and entrepreneurs get customers online. Website development, advanced search strategy, social media, email marketing and mobile are just a few of the ways Mike helps local business owners with their online marketing. Mike also speaks and trains people all over the world.

10 Ways to Simplify your Social Media Strategy

"What type of social media platform are you?" Honestly, I suspect those Facebook personality quizzes are purposely created to waste other people’s precious time. 

Do I need to know what type of politician I would have been if I was one? Hmm, I hope none of them, and frankly I don’t express my political views publicly.  

Another, even more useless discovery: “What kind of horror movie teen star are you?” The last time I watched a horror movie was on Halloween night during that infamous snowstorm that left most of the Northeast without power for weeks. The moment I realized it wasn't my smartest move, while “Scream” characters were being merciless sliced and diced on a blue screen, my lights started to flicker and eventually went off completely… Suddenly, the Halloween “spirit” felt uncomfortably close in the dark. 

Why do we want to know what kind of celebrities, rock bands, songs, or Harry Potter characters we would have been? How does it feel to find out that you are  #7F7F7F HTMX Hex color out of all 50 shades of gray? I bet it feels amazing!  What kind of car or, better yet, plane are you? If I was a plane I would be a Concorde—loud, and deadly. 

I read my Facebook friends’ quiz result posts with—declaring them to be dead presidents, rare minerals, instinct animals, etc.—with one thought in my mind: “Are you that confused about who you are?” 

Confusion is a Goliath of social media. It is THE main reason why people hate, fear and don't use social media to its fullest potential either for personal or especially business purposes. Social media with its millions of platforms, constantly changing at the speed of light, reminds me of my ADHD brain. It never rests. 

Flickr lost its followers and the market share to Instagram in photo sharing. Apple just came up with a new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Who knows what Android has in the store? I think the new product should be called “Google Brain.” I can see a big demand for that type of technology in today’s market. 

The most common mistake people make about social media is profiling channels and their audiences: 

Pinterest is for middle-aged women; 

Snapchat is for kids; 

LinkedIn is for professional use only (wishful thinking—trolls love this site!);

Ello is for communists, who also believe in a “money free” society; 

Brigade is for politicians (Here’s your chance, guys! This beta site is ready for you to rumble. Bring your boxing gloves when you to sign on!);
Periscope and Meerkat are for people who can use selfie sticks; 

Blab is for playing Hollywood Squares; 

Wordpress is for bloggers;

Instagram is for selfie addicts (Kim Kardashian should start an “Instagram Anonymous” 12-step program); 

Reddit is for engineers; 

Youtube is for those who finally figured out how to use their camera phones;

Twitter is for people who find it challenging to type more than 140 characters. and finally, 

Facebook is for changing the status of your personal relationship from “Happily ever after” to “It’s cheaper to kill that B$tch!” 

Unfortunately, this far-from-complete list of social media platforms will continue to grow and evolve more rapidly as time goes by. People will always feel the need for another, better and unique, one-of-a-kind idea for attracting today’s consumers and their precious 8 seconds of attention. 

The unfortunate reality is that you will never catch up. I repeat: You will never be equally successful on ALL existing social media platforms—even if you are Donald Trump, and one day wake up with the strange urge to become the U.S. President. 

Let me give you some helpful tips, or “hacks,” as they’re called nowadays, on how to simplify your social media initiatives and make this experience enjoyable, meaningful and profitable.

First of all. 

• Relax. You are not the only one who’s confused. 
• Follow 10 people who are successful on their social media platforms. Out of those, choose five you like and then cut down to the three who make the most sense in their presentations to YOUR Business. 
• Start building your first “out of the box “ tool kit, with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube channels
• Be a true leader. Meaning a leader who has followers (we are all VIPs in our own minds). If you are the CEO of a big corporation, at least create a Twitter account. By the way, Michael Dell and John Legere (T-Mobile CEO) are avid Twitter users. Do you think you are busier than Michael Dell? 
• Give it some time and expect at least 6-9 months of a ramp up for your social media initiatives. 
• Don’t scale too soon by buying the latest and the greatest social media and marketing automation tools in the beginning. Wait, and enjoy your learning process…slowly. Constant Contact (emailing software) can handle all of your first mass emailing campaigns. 
• Start in your own backyard. Build your fan club inside your company.  Make asking questions a part of your clarity tactic. Be aware that some people don't like to comment publicly.  Generate conversations in private messages. Just don't stalk them. 
• Please, do all of us a huge favor and get a professional photographer’s help on creating your social media avatar. I know, smiling can be challenging sometimes, but you can do it. 
• Blog about things that matter. Tell your fans a story about how your product and services changed someone’s life . Try to write something compelling and fun. 
• While trying different things and marketing on all those platforms, just follow this formula  Clarity = Customer (where all of your focus should be) + Content (what they like to read) x Common Sense (remember, Google Brain is not coming out anytime soon.)   

In reality, social media selling is a very simple concept: It is a buying not a selling process.

And not to forget our quiz subject, my answer to the question “What type of Social Media platform are you?” is:  “The clearest one—the one that makes sense to your audience.”

If you like to learn more on how to simplify your social media strategy follow me on Twitter @natashajuhasz and LinkedIn - Natalia Juhasz

An Investment That Guarantees a 25% Rate of Return!

In these trying financial times, many of us are looking for investments that provide a high rate of return. What if I told you about an investment that would guarantee a 25% rate of return, with little to no risk? Is this something that you would take advantage of?

The investment that I am going to tell you about is one that you know very well, you are quite confident in and it provides you with the highest level of trust. That investment is you! If you sell a product or service the n  you are constantly looking for ways to increase your bottom line. How can you market your product or service to generate more business to increase your income? The answer is relatively simple. The solution is to invest in yourself.
As I publish this blog post, I am attending a legal marketing summit in Alexandria ,  Virginia where I will be receiving training from some of the best legal marketing experts in the country. I am also taking one of my paralegals with me so that the two of us can absorb the information and then discuss what might work best in our office. We will be joined by attorneys across the country who are all interested in bettering their personal situation by generating more business for their office and becoming better marketers. What better use of your time, energy and money could you utilize than by spending it with industry experts and peers from across the country who are coming together to increase their specialized knowledge  so  each person can use to generate greater levels of income?

Although I am a personal injury lawyer and this is a legal marketing summit, there are workshops and seminars that apply to almost every service or product category out there. When was the last time you researched where you can learn about the latest and greatest industry secrets, tips and techniques that are being utilized by your competitors to gain an advantage over you and others similarly situated? Why are you not seeking out these opportunities and taking advantage of them?

 I expect that the money that I am investing in this summit will pay dividends that will greatly exceed the money I spent by a multiplier of at least 50 in just the first year alone.  I will learn from the contacts I meet what is working for them in their market area, what others are using and what other methodologies are being utilized in their marketplace that can assist me in my marketing efforts.

Is always a good idea to surround yourself with people that know more about a particular subject than you do as this is the way we learn, this is the way we grow, and this is the way that we become better at what we do. It has been said that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at the five people that the individual interacts with the most. Why not interact with those that are highly motivated, that possess highly specialized knowledge, and that are willing to learn and share with others?

Your competitors are currently looking for ways to take business from you. Your competitors are attending seminars, conferences and summits to learn the tips and techniques that they can utilize to acquire more clients or customers to the exclusion of their competitors. Why not be proactive and take the needed steps to gain a competitive advantage over those in your market area? If you invested a total of $5,000 in specialized learning that is particular to your area of practice or industry then how could you not earn an additional $1,250 from the investment that you what made in this learning process .  My observation is that it would be impossible! So why would you not invest in yourself?

Find out what seminars, conferences or summits you can attend to increase your bottom line and gain an advantage over your competition. Research what programs are out there and immediately sign up for one that will provide you with specialized knowledge. The sooner you engage in this process the sooner you will begin to see large  rates of return on the investment that you're making. GUARANTEED!

How To Build A Community With Your Podcast

One of the most powerful benefits of podcasting is that it allows you to build a global online community of raving fans. When you share your voice, you will attract the people who most need to hear your message. However, one of the limitations of podcasting is that you can't have a two way conversation with your listeners! Unless you are doing a live call in show, your listeners will hear you, but you won't hear them. And even if you do a call-in type show, you will never speak to the vast majority of people who are listening. Here are four tips for building an online community from your podcast:

#1) Name your community: My global community is called Stand Out and Be Heard and it represents my vision, which is to help coaches, authors and speakers to stand out and be heard through the power of podcasting. Give your community a name that will be enticing to your ideal listener.

#2) Give them somewhere to go: You want to invite your listeners to take a "deeper dive" with you and connect via email or on social media, where you can follow up with them. Until you convert your listeners to social media followers or email subscribers you can't have a two way conversation with them.

#3) Give them a reason to join: Be clear on the benefits of joining your community. People are invited all the time to all sorts of things. Why should they join you? What will they get out of joining the community? Will you offer free trainings? Will you provide networking opportunities? Make sure that you communicate the benefits of joining your community.

#4) Stand for something: In my experience, most people don't want to join yet another online group or be on another email list, but they do hunger to be part of a movement. I encourage you to connect with your "big why" and invite your listeners to join you on your journey. When you stand for something beyond yourself, it creates magnetic attraction and listeners will want to be part of your community.

About Doug:

Doug Foresta is a veteran podcast producer and host who has interviewed over 800 guests, including NY Times Bestselling Authors and Academy Award winners. He has helped over 1200 worldwide launch their own podcasts and offers a free 30 minute Expand Your Reach consultation where you can learn how to expand your reach with a podcast. To contact Doug call 413-883-5518 or email him at dougforesta@gmail.com.

How to Get More Clients With a Podcast

If you're a coach, author or expert you've probably heard the term "know, like and trust." This is the concept that people have to get to know, like and trust you before they will buy from you. What I want to share with you is some ideas to build YOUR know, like and trust factor with a podcast, and how that can help your business.

How many listeners do you need to your podcast for it to be successful? When I ask my clients this question, they often say 5,000 or 10,000. But what if just one person listened to your podcast? Would it still be worthwhile?

I would argue that it is. If you think of a podcast as a way to build a deeper connection with your audience and as a way to serve, then even if one person gets lots of value out of your podcast it can be worthwhile.

Take the following scenario: You are talking to someone who is thinking about working with you, but they have a lot of competing things going on in their life. They are not certain if you are the person that they need to work with, and they have so many challenges going on that they don't know where to start.

Here's what I suggest: Ask that client what their biggest challenge is, and what they would they would like to know more about. Then do a podcast addressing that challenge and possible solutions. If it's a solo podcast it can be you talking about it, and if you are doing an interview based podcast you can bring in an expert who can speak more in depth about the topic.

After you finish the podcast, you can follow up with an e-mail telling the person that you just finished a podcast addressing their very challenge and ask them for their feedback. You are not asking or trying to convince that person to do anything, you are simply providing a solution to their problem via a podcast.

If that one person becomes a loyal client and tells other people about you, was it worthwhile to do that podcast episode? (Of course I think the answer is YES!) The nice thing about podcasting is that there will be more than one listener and your client's challenge will be one that other people have, and you'll be able to serve and connect with those people to.

My challenge for you is to ask your potential clients about their biggest challenges and think about how you can create a podcast that helps them solve their problems. Do this over time and you will be their go to person for your specific topic!

About Doug:

Doug Foresta is a coach who helps coaches, speakers and authors expand their reach and build their platform with a podcast. He has helped hundreds of people from all over the world start their own successful podcasts. For more information visit www.standoutwithdoug.com or call 413-883-5518 for a free 30 minute Expand Your Reach session.

5 Ways to Boost Your Book Or Business With a Podcast

I often get asked whether creating a podcast is worth the time and effort. My experience both as a podcaster and helping speakers, authors and coaches create podcasts is that it is worth the effort, but you have to be strategic and know what you're doing. Here are 5 ways to boost your book or business with a podcast:

1) Expand Your Reach Through Interviews: If you do an interview based podcast you can reach out to leaders in your field. What I recommend is to make a list of 5-10 thought leaders in your field, as well as influencers who can connect you with the people who most need to hear what you have to say.

2) Increase Your Credibility and Visibility: Whether you are doing interviews or a solo podcast (where it's you speaking without a guest) podcasts help position you as an authority. When you are the authority in your field, it helps you enroll people in your programs and services, and paves the way for people to read your books and other content. 

3. Create a Journey for Your Listeners: Many people will start podcasts, but few will stay with them, because they won't see results from their efforts. An important part of successful podcasting is creating a "journey" for listeners. Invite your listeners to join you on a teleseminar, or email you, or sign up for a free gift. It's not enough to create a podcast. You have to create engagement and an conversation, and invite and inspire your listeners to join you. Figure out what your "journey" is and give listeners a way to work and connect with you in a deeper way.

4. Get Listed on Industry Websites: A great way to boost your visibility and get the word out about what you do is to get listed on industry websites. A powerful way to do this is to interview leaders of organizations that are related to what you do. If you are not doing an interview based podcast, you can still get the word out by using a "curation" strategy. Mention the organizations website or events and put the links to their website on your show page. Then send the podcast to the organization. There is a very good chance that they will send your podcast out to their list and put it on their website. After all, it's an endorsement of them. 

5. Be consistent: A big part of what makes podcast so powerful is that it allows you to project yourself and your message to people all over the world. Make sure to release your podcast at a regularly scheduled day and time to build trust with your audience. Soon, your ideal listeners will be excited and looking forward to your new episodes. Those are the people who will be hungry to read your new books and buy your programs, products and services. 

Want to learn more about how podcasting can help you expand your reach and get your message out in a big way? Call me at 413-883-5518 for a free 30 minute consultation, or reach out at www.dougforesta.net