Be A Marketer with Dave Charest

Email marketing is the backbone of any digital strategy — a tried and true way to reach customers. And the best part is, you don’t have to get overly advanced to see results.

Email marketing coach Ken Countess says what works best for his clients is keeping it simple.

“People don’t scroll. Don’t sweat this idea that you don’t have enough content to go on,” he says. “Keep your brand up front. Make sure you're top of mind. Give them enough that they look forward to the next email they get from you.”

Through his consulting business, Ken is Email, Ken has coached clients in email marketing for 22 years. He’s also a Constant Contact Certified Partner. His top advice always centers around simplicity and sticking to what works.

“Everything takes time,” he says. “Be great at what you do. And once you're great at what you do that will give you permission to try something else. But don't steer away from the things that are working. They're working for a reason.”

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Ken and host Dave Charest discuss why email should be the first go-to for a marketing strategy, Ken’s accidental journey to becoming a business owner, and how he coaches clients on email marketing.

👉 Ken’s 8 Essential Email Marketing Tips

👉 Constant Contact Partner Program

👉 Constant Contact Agency Directory

Meet Today’s Guest: Ken Countess of Ken is Email

☕ What Ken does: Ken has been an email marketing coach for 22 years through his consulting business Ken is Email. He focuses on B2B companies and is a Constant Contact Certified Partner.

💡 Key quote from Ken: “​​I know for a fact that I've taught over 10,000 business owners how to use digital marketing. And most of it starts with email.”

👋 Where to find Ken: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Ken is Email: Website | Podcast | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

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Episode Description

If you’re at a point where you have staff representing you and your business, it’s essential to train them to provide excellent customer experiences.

Barbara Gassaway, president and founder of The Research Group, has created that culture of growth for her employees, and she views that as her most significant professional accomplishment.

“I think that’s amazing — when you can touch the lives of others,” she says. “Makes me want to cry.”

Barbara led her market research group through the COVID-19 pandemic, and along with that came new job responsibilities and an entirely different structure for her business.

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Barbara and host Dave Charest discuss the importance of leadership training, mentors, and creating an atmosphere for your employees to become better at what they do.

👉 Constant Contact Small Business Marketing Services

Meet Today’s Guest: Barbara Gassaway of the Research Group

☕ What Barbara does: Barbara is one of the nation’s leaders in market research. She founded The Research Group in 1991, which provides market research services to businesses by running focus groups, listening sessions, and in-depth interviews.

💡 Key quote from Barbara: “To be honest, I just love exploring and discovering things that are going to help move the ball forward. And that makes me tick.”

👋 Where to find Barbara: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find the Research Group: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook

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A business is only as successful as the message it puts out to its customers. That’s a fact that Joan Noe knows well. 

As the Director of Partner Engagement for Senior Options, Joan knows the value of clear and concise communication.

“We're all moving too fast. We're all chasing something. Everybody's got a lot of distractions around them from their phones and other devices at all times,” she says. “So you’ve got to get their attention. You've got to make sure your message is as clear as it can be.” 

On this episode of the Constant Contact podcast, Be a Marketer, Joan and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talk about using feedback to craft the most relevant messaging for any audience.

Meet Today’s Guest: Joan Noe of Senior Options

☕ What she does: Joan is the recently retired Director of Partner Engagement at Senior Options, LLC. A Constant Contact user since 2016, she communicates with Senior Options’ partners using the platform’s email, survey, and event functions. 

💡 Key quote: “It’s our problem to be as clear as we can and communicate as well as we can.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Senior Options: Website

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As a business owner, is giving stuff away for free effective? Michelle Cummings, the founder of Training Wheels, has seen it work. In Michelle’s case, free content builds trust with her audience.

“They'll shop around a little bit, of course,” she says. “But the more they build loyalty with you as either the face of your company or the brand behind it or just the mission and what you do and how you do it, that actually will get people to … want to purchase from you directly.”

She has seen it work. Michelle has been in business for 24 years, and she’s been a Constant Contact customer for almost just as long. She sends a newsletter every Wednesday to her list of more than 22,000 people interested in team-building and leadership tactics. 

This is on top of running a leadership training online course, conducting keynotes and online workshops, and authoring several books — one of which is being made into a screenplay (!!)

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Michelle and host Dave Charest discuss the importance of blocking off creative time and why you should focus on your list-building efforts. 

👉 Ask Michelle & Chris About Team Building [podcast]

Meet Today’s Guest: Michelle Cummings of Training Wheels

☕ What she does: Michelle founded Training Wheels, dedicated to building high-performance teams and skilled facilitators through hands-on learning. Michelle, who has authored multiple books and travels the world as a keynote speaker, started her first business over 24 years ago. And she's been a Constant Contact customer for almost as long. 

💡 Key quote: “People love good stories. We learn through story all the time. So if you have a client or you have a best practice … and if that could help another person that does something similar to what you do, or it drives people to your site for a sale, then that's a great little newsletter article that you can do.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn | YouTube

👋 Where to find Training Wheels: Website | Podcast | Twitter | Facebook

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What if you could communicate directly with customers on a device they have on them at all times — and they’d prefer it? Look no further than SMS.

SMS, or text messaging, fits naturally into how your customers communicate. And now, there are tools at your disposal to bring texting into your marketing strategy right in your Constant Contact account.

Constant Contact product marketing manager Hannah Khouri and product manager Zachary Robertson say the key to success is to be timely and creative in your messaging. It can be more than just sharing a discount. What can you offer your customers that they can’t get in your other communications?

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Hannah, Zack, and host Dave Charest discuss creative ways to use text messaging, as well as how to get customers to opt in. They also dive into Constant Contact’s new SMS tools, including a new AI feature to help you get started.

👉 Questions or Feedback about SMS? Let us know.

👉 Upcoming SMS webinars

👉 Getting started with SMS Marketing in Constant Contact

👉 SMS Text Message Marketing Best Practices to Build Relationships and Increase Sales

Meet Today’s Guests: Hannah Khouri and Zachary Robertson of Constant Contact

☕ What Hannah does: Hannah has spent more than seven years at Constant Contact. She currently works as a product marketing manager.

💡 Key quote from Hannah: “When you think about who you're getting text messages from, it's your friends, it's your family, it's people that you already know. So I think it's really interesting because in this particular case, with marketing, our small business owners actually have an advantage over some of those larger, more established brands.”

👋 Where to find Hannah: LinkedIn

☕ What Zack does: Zack works as a product manager with Constant Contact.

💡 Key quote from Zack: “It really has a very personal touch that you wouldn't necessarily get from social or email. There's still a lot of that in there. Having all of the channels is absolutely the right way to do it. But knowing that someone sent you that text message directly because you told them you wanted this information — it's just tremendous. Huge.”

👋 Where to find Zack: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Constant Contact: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

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Growing your customer base is critical to sustaining any business. But when it comes to marketing, you can’t forget about your most important audience — your current customers. People that already know you can be your biggest advocates. 

“The best audience I have are the people I know — who already know what I’m doing, already are in communication with me, and have already joined my mailing list,” says Tom Agostino, live concert promoter and producer as well as the owner of The Folk Sessions. 

If you go to Tom’s shows, you’re on his mailing list. And if you enjoyed the show, you’re ideally telling your friends about Tom’s work and continuing to support him. In turn, he sells more tickets.

On this episode of Constant Contact’s podcast, Be a Marketer, host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talks to Tom about how he’s adjusted his marketing strategy over the last 20 years to continue selling out music venues.

Tune in to hear how Tom fast-tracks his decision-making process and how to build trust with your audience through educational content.

Meet Today’s Guest: Tom Agostino of The Folk Sessions

☕ What he does: Tom is a concert promoter and producer coming up on 20 years of bringing folk music to the Prescott, Arizona, area through The Folk Sessions. As a business owner, Tom has used Constant Contact to educate his audience, sell tickets, and stay in close communication with his recurring customers — a group that he identifies as his most important audience.

💡 Key quote: “Basically, what I've had to do is educate my audience to this kind of music and get them to trust that if I'm bringing somebody to town, they’re good. That’s basically all you need to know. I'm bringing them, so they're good. I had to earn that. I earned that respect.”

👋 Where to find him: Facebook 

👋 Where to find Folk Sessions: Website | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud

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When marketing your business, it’s so tempting to want to talk only about your business. These are our services. This is what we can do to help. Here’s why we’re great. But Gab Leonetti, marketing director at Wolf Commercial Real Estate (WCRE), reminds us that it’s not about you… at least not at first.

“In order for us to be able to assist and be able to help our clients, you have to know what they're up against, or what they're facing, or what their challenges are,” she says. “Build the relationship. Ask about people's lives. Ask about what they're doing, what their successes are, where they need help.”

It may seem counterintuitive, but when you focus on the customer and their needs, they become more interested in you.

On this episode of Constant Contact’s podcast, Be a Marketer, host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talks to Gab about what business owners can do to better relate to their customers.

Tune in to hear how Gab uses data and analytics to inform key marketing decisions, as well as how to get hyper-targeted in your messaging so you reach the right audience.

Resources mentioned by Dave: 

👉 How to A/B test an email subject line

👉 How to test your way to higher converting emails [webinar] 

Meet Today’s Guest: Gab Leonetti of Wolf Commercial Real Estate

☕ What she does: Gab is the marketing director for Wolf Commercial Real Estate in South Jersey. She’s a one-woman team focused on driving revenue and expansion for the company. A long-time Constant Contact user, Gab is well-versed in utilizing email marketing to reach her target audience. 

💡 Key quote: “I think that as a marketer, it's always great to try new stuff and to research what else is out there, what could you be doing better. But it's also important to be strategic about what you're doing. It's important to know your ROI. You want to make sure that [with] everything that you're doing there is a plan.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Wolf Commercial Real Estate: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Twitter

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Omar Zenhom learned all of his best sales tricks from his dad, a car salesman. 

“He really wasn't somebody that tried to sell anybody anything. He would try to ask a lot of questions. … He would ask things like, ‘What don't you like about your car right now?’ And he would highlight the features of the car that he was selling to them that would fit their needs,” he explains.

Omar applies the same logic to how he teaches entrepreneurs to sell, both in his podcast, The $100 MBA, and his business, Webinar Ninja. It’s never about a gimmicky hard sell or a flashy demo. Instead, selling is about removing barriers and making decisions easy for customers. 

Tune in to this episode of the Constant Contact podcast, Be a Marketer. Host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Omar discuss prioritizing yourself as an entrepreneur, conventional but effective marketing methods, and how the soft sell is often the best tactic. 

👉 Check out Dave as a guest teacher on Omar’s The $100 MBA podcast here. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Omar Zenhom of Webinar Ninja

☕ What he does: Omar is a former teacher turned marketing and business guru. His podcast, $100 MBA, won Best of iTunes in 2014, and his SaaS company, Webinar Ninja, now has over 30,000 users. 

💡 Key quote: “I see entrepreneurship very much like American football. You can't play every day; you have to play once a week. It's such a high-contact sport. It's very taxing on you. At some point, you're going to have to start playing golf. You just can't burn the candle on both ends forever.”

👋 Where to find him: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Webinar Ninja: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter

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Ah, the snowbird life. It’s a great luxury if you can come by it, but there’s always a house somewhere that sits empty. And with that long-empty house comes inherent security and maintenance risks. 

That’s where Frank Fantasia found the sweet spot for his retirement business, The House Watchers. Serving the greater Boston area, he and his small team identify security threats and maintenance needs for the vacant homes left behind by snowbirds and help homeowners take steps to protect them. 

Frank relies on Constant Contact for his marketing, and he’s willing to try anything. He’s taken advantage of its email, dedicated landing pages, and surveys. Recently, Frank even started using Constant Contact’s text messaging feature to reach the realtors on his list. 

Tune in as Frank chats with Constant Contact’s Director of Small Business Success, Dave Charest, about his lessons in business, and how he uses Constant Contact and more traditional marketing methods to spread the word about The House Watchers.

Meet Today’s Guest: Frank Fantasia of The House Watchers

☕ What he does: After a corporate career, Frank started The House Watchers as a retirement job. The company helps snowbirds find peace of mind while they’re away from their Boston-area homes and also helps realtors with required smoke detector checks.

💡 Key quote: “I know why small businesses go out of business. For a lot of obvious issues, you can't take your eye off the ball. You’ve just got to stick to the basics and can't be pie in the sky. It's not something that happens overnight. You build the business one client at a time.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find The House Watchers: Website | Facebook

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Some of the best lessons in business come from sports. Just ask former Arizona State football player Dereck E. Moore.

Dereck bought Building Maintenance of Tomorrow in Costa Mesa, California, in 2011 and remains the company’s president and CEO. One of Dereck’s biggest lessons from his time as a student-athlete was the value of leaning on coaches and mentors. He receives guidance from colleagues in the industry, a business coach, and a spiritual mentor. 

Dereck also stays true to his company’s values when choosing employees and clients. 

“We try to identify clients that can embrace [our] core values and believe in the same type of things and how to do business. I made a conscious decision a few years ago that all money is not good money. And I'm not going to take every client, and I'm going to be very strategic and deliberate about the clients that we do take on.”

Tune in to this episode of Be A Marketer to hear Dereck talk with host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact. They discuss coaching, spreading the word, providing stellar customer service, and leading with values. 

👉 Learn more about 100 Black Men of America, an organization where Dereck mentors. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Dereck E. Moore of Building Maintenance of Tomorrow

☕ What he does: Dereck owns Buliding Maintenance of Tomorrow, a California-based janitorial company. He prides himself on finding employees and customers that align with the company’s values of faith, integrity, impact, and abundance. He’s been a Constant Contact user for several years.

💡 Key quote: “To win any type of game, you have to have the right team, the right teammates, and the right coach. There is somebody that knows more than you that can tell you a better way to do it. And you need to follow the script — they can put the blueprint together. But when it's time to go play on the field, then you go out there and do your job, and get it done. And as long as we're in sync, we have an opportunity to win.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Building Maintenance of Tomorrow: Website | LinkedIn

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