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.

3 Ways to Connect With Thought Leaders Through Podcasting

One of the big advantages of podcasting is that it allows you to connect with leaders in your field. As a podcasting producer and host I've been able to connect with the top authors, bloggers and speakers in my field. Below are 5 of the best strategies that I've found for connecting with thought leaders and increasing your credibility and visibility with a podcast:

1. Interview thought leaders
One of the most effective ways to connect with the top people in your industry is to interview them. You'd be surprised at the number of people who will say yes if you ask them to appear on your podcast. You are providing exposure and credibility for them. Interviewing authors and speakers in your field is a great way to start a relationship with them which can lead to additional opportunities and exposure.


2. Comment on thought leaders work in your podcast
If you are doing a solo podcast, where you are not interviewing guests but speaking directly to listeners, you can still connect with thought leaders in your field. Read their blogs, watch their videos and listen to their podcasts and then do a podcast episode about your reaction and reflection to their work. Encourage your listeners to visit the thought leaders blog and give the url for their website on your podcast. Then you can send your podcast episode directly to the thought leader and start a conversation with them.

3. Share your podcast in social media groups
Find social media groups that contain influencers and connectors in your field and join the conversation. As people share their struggles and challenges, you can do a podcast episode that answers their questions. You can then share your podcast episode and ask for feedback. Sharing your podcast episode as part of the conversation will allow you avoid being "spammy" and will make you a resource for solving the problems and challenges that the thought leaders in your field are facing.

Podcasting is a powerful platform to connect with the top people in your field and demonstrate your own thought leadership. As you share your thoughts and reflections on challenges in your niche, people will start to look to you as a thought leader. Using the above strategies will help you rise to the top in your field, increase your credibility and visibility and grow your business.


About Doug:

Doug Foresta is a veteran podcaster who helps coaches, authors and speakers to start podcasts that help them expand their reach. He is the founder of the 30 Day Podcasting Challenge and host of the popular Coachzing Show on iTunes and Stitcher Radio. For a free 30 minute consultation, contact Doug at 413-883-5518 or dougforesta@gmail.com 

How to Stop Wasting Your Time and Get People to Read Your Blog

Think about it for a moment. You spend valuable time thinking up your topic for your next post. You’re using Evernote on your smart phone to make notes on ideas for titles. You spend time day dreaming, perhaps putting your marriage or your job at risk, crafting your next creative post.

The day arrives that you’re ready to put all of your creative spirit and your passionate energy into your blog post. You move meetings or other appointments to make the time to write, impacting other people’s lives. You pull up your word processor and the creative juices begin flowing as you construct amazing content that could potentially alter the life paths of your readers.

Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business

You read it over a few times and then sit back with great satisfaction with what you created. You select an eye-catching image to go along with the post and pick out a handful of striking search key words and then set up your post to go live on your designated day. You sit back and feel fulfilled that you completed your commitment to provide a thought provoking article, and then go on with your life. But your job as a blog contributor doesn’t end there (queue the sound bite of a record album getting scratched).

So why did you just go through all of the effort I described above?; to write valuable content

that will get read by many, of course. But have you looked at your past blog posts lately? How many have actually read your posts? Eight people? How about 2 or 14 or even 11? So why haven’t your posts been noticed by more readers? It’s because you’re not doing the most important part of being a blog writer… promoting your posts.

Writing the post is only a part of the process. Very few will actually find your post to read it if you’re not taking the time to share it. So, start increasing the readership of your blog posts by promoting them online today. As soon as your post goes live, copy the address of your blog post in the URL window of your browser. Post that URL along with a brief comment on your following social media channels:

• Your personal Facebook page: post it in the block at the top of the page, right over the words “What’s on your mind.”
• Your business Facebook page (if you have one): post your comments and paste the URL link in the box that contain the words “What have you been up to?”
• Your Linkedin profile: immediately upon logging in to your Linkedin profile, you’ll see a little narrow box at the top of the page with the words “Share an update.” This is where you’ll say a few words and then paste the link to your blog post.
• Your Twitter page: you will see a narrow box at the top of the screen that contain the words “What’s happening?” Writing in a few words and then past your post URL there.
• Linkedin groups that you subscribe to: go to the discussion page of those groups and along with a few words to entice group members, paste your post URL into as many groups as you can. Don’t forget the enticing words. Group administrators don’t like it when you only paste your post URL. And don’t forget to post it in our own HSSN Linkedin discussion group.
• Facebook groups: if you belong to any Facebook groups, do the same as I described above.
• Our HSSN Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/hartfordspringfieldspeakers): Lucinda Smith does a great job of putting up our posts on our group Face, but yet very few make comments. At the very least, when she puts YOUR post up, LIKE it or make a brief comment.
• Other blog posts: if you subscribe to other blogs, make a comment on another author’s blog post and include the URL to your post.
• Spend $5 on Fiverr: no, I didn’t misspell it. If you haven’t heard of Fiverr.com, you’re missing out. Spend $5 (plus .50) on this website and get your blog post blasted to thousands of potential readers across the globe. Do this as many times as you’d like, with many different sellers.

Your blog posts are not going to get found on their own. Social media works best when content writers promote their work. I know this flies in the face of what our mothers, fathers, and teachers taught us. We were told to stop bringing attention to ourselves because they believed that was a selfish thing to do. It’s time to shed the barriers our caregivers put on us as children and begin standing up and tooting our own horns!

One last tip for you bloggers… please craft blog titles that entice people to click on it to read it. Some of the most successful ones are: create a sense of urgency, make it personal, ask a question, make it clever, make it curious, and use numbers (5 Things That Will Make You More Money).

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Bill Corbett is a professional speaker who delivers keynote speeches and training seminars across the United States, and helps his clients leverage 2.0 strategies in order to grow top line revenues. Bill has built several successful businesses from the ground up using top-notch entrepreneurial techniques to implement inbound marketing campaigns. He has thousands of followers and subscribers tuning into his various social media channels, and he knows how to work them all to maintain platform growth and connect with both new and established customers, clients, and collaborators. He is a much sought after business consultant, trainer and mentor, is a regular contributor to major network television affiliates, and currently produces two television shows as part of his own unique marketing plan. Visit Bill's website at http://The20Entrepreneur.com.

8 Things To Do On Linkedin After Someone Gives You Their Card

So you go to those lunch-time and evening networking group events; good for you. But what exactly do you do with those business cards that you collect? If you’re like many, those cards are probably stacked up in piles on your desk and you have full intentions to do something with them someday when you get a ROUND TUIT. Consider this me giving you your ROUND TUIT and an idea on what to do next.  Here are 8 things to do on Linkedin with that stack of cards:

1. Find them on Linkedin and connect with them. Use the COLLEAGUE button and select your role that you may have shared with them at the event. In other words, how would they know it was you. Add to the personal note box that you met at the XYZ Event and that it was a pleasure to meet them.

Sales Success Made Simple Training Kit

2. Fill out the HOW YOU MET section under the RELATIONSHIP tab, under their photo. This will be valuable information later on when you’re trying to remember how you know them.

3. Examine their profile to learn more about them and use that information to determine what’s important to them and more importantly; what solutions might you be able to provide for them.

4. When they accept your invite, send them a message thanking them for adding you to their network and invite them to let you know if there is anything you can do to help them.

5. If you can help them out directly, do so. If you can’t, connect them to any of your connections that might be able to.

Add life to your website today with a Real, Talking Spokesperson!

6. Think about which of your discussion groups you moderate that you could invite them to and do it. If you haven’t created any Linkedin discussion groups, create one and then invite them in.

7. Invite them to any of your local or web-based events that might interest them. If you don’t have any future local or web-based events (lectures, workshops, trainings, etc.) perhaps it’s time you created some.

8. Invite them out for coffee to learn more about them and to find common group so you can help each other.

To all of those who say, “I have a Linkedin profile, but it hasn’t brought me any new business,” I’d like to say, “You haven’t learned what to do with it.  Hire me and I’ll show you how to master Web 2.0 marketing at its best.”  Be watching for my future post titled HOW TO FIND PROSPECTS USING SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS. I’m more affordable than you might realize so call me today or get my latest book.  Bill Corbett, Web 2.0 Marketing Consultant http://The20Entrepreneur.com.