Be A Marketer with Dave Charest

Gail Bernardo, owner of Invisilace Hair Spa, emphasizes the value of patience and persistence in business growth, as well as the power of combining online marketing with personal, face-to-face interactions. 

Gail also believes in the power of consistent customer contact. In her experience, even if a potential client doesn't require her services immediately, maintaining contact through newsletters means that when they do need her services, her business is top of mind. 

Gail recounts what she’s learned about marketing, “Sometimes it's not always instant. It may take time for your customer to come...and some people just think, oh, if I send out 500 brochures or I do this and do that, it's not working because in 30 days no one called me. So sometimes you have to be patient and you have to wait.”

She’s successfully leveraged local resources, online marketing, and personal interactions to grow her business of 13 years. 

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Gail and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss the importance of marketing for small businesses. Gail shares her strategies for building relationships with customers, including collecting email addresses at events and following up with Constant Contact newsletters.

👉 Check out An Overview of Constant Contact’s Mobile App

Meet Today’s Guest: Gail Bernardo of Invisilace Hair Spa

☕ What she does: Since 2010, Gail Bernardo has been helping people with hair loss or thinning due to life-changing health issues. For Gail, it’s more than just a business. It's part of her calling. And she doesn’t take it lightly. After personal struggles with hair loss due to cancer, she knows what it means to her clients to feel good about themselves.

💡 Key quote: "Do your homework before you decide that you're going to open up a business. Understand that it's going to take some time and it's not going to take a whole bunch of money." 

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Invisilace Hair Spa: Website

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Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

If you ask Brad Sundberg, storytelling is an effective marketing strategy that allows you to build trust. Brad shares his experience of using personal storytelling to promote events based on his time in the studio with Michael Jackson. He believes that sharing stories, especially about personal experiences, helps to establish connections with customers. 

“When you are a business owner,” he says. “You either sit on the couch and eat popcorn and go broke, or you've got to get out and beat the drum.” 

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Brad and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss the power of personal branding, storytelling, and building trust in marketing. 

👉 Check out How to Create a Facebook and Instagram Ad in Constant Contact 

Meet Today’s Guest: Brad Sundberg of In the Studio with MJ

☕ What he does: Brad Sundberg joined Michael Jackson’s team during the production of Captain EO in 1985, and remained with Michael as one of his engineers and Technical Director for nearly 18 years. Now, Brad shares these unique experiences with the public through his In the Studio with MJ seminars. 

💡 Key quote: “Marketing is essential now. In the age of social media, whether you love it or hate it, it's an amazing tool. ” 

👋 Where to find him: Website | LinkedIn

👋 Where to find In the Studio with MJ: Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

Wondering how to get faculty to attend your webinars? In this episode, Dave Charest provides detailed strategies on audience understanding, creating engaging content, effective promotion, and collecting feedback. 

Listen in to hear how to: 

• Understand your audience's interests and challenges through pre-work and surveys.
• Create engaging content that provides practical solutions to educators' challenges.
• Promote the webinar effectively through various channels and supportive colleagues.
• Collect feedback after each session to improve future webinars and promotions.
• Leverage relationships with supportive colleagues ("friendlies") for promotion and feedback.

Resources:

How to create a survey page in Constant Contact

How to create and activate an event in ​​​​​​​​​​Constant Contact 

Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

Jay Schwedelson has had an interest in direct marketing since he was a five-year-old watching his parents’ direct mail business. Today, he’s one of the internet’s top email marketing experts, but the thing he loves most about email is that you don’t need to be an expert to do it well. 

“Just get it out there,” he says. “Iterate and keep going. Consistency will win out—you will beat out 95% of everybody else you’re competing with just by being there and doing it.” 

For nearly 30 years, Jay has run Outcome Media, an agency that today offers demand generation services and email and direct mail marketing. In 2021, he launched GURU Conference to offer affordable, accessible marketing education to business owners and marketers. 

On this episode of Be a Marketer, Jay and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss what’s most important for email marketing in 2024. Jay also offers his top tips and resources for business owners looking to tap into the power of email. 

👉 Check out the email marketing conference mentioned in this episode: GURU 2024

Meet Today’s Guest: Jay Schwedelson of Outcome Media and GURU Events

☕ What he does: Jay is a lifelong entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Outcome Media and GURU Events. He is an expert in email marketing who also started SubjectLine.com, the free subject line testing service for email marketers. 

💡 Key quote: “Email is the most important thing on the planet. Your email list is the most important asset in your company — no questions asked.” 

👋 Where to find him: Website | LinkedIn | Podcast

👋 Where to find GURU Events: Website | LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Outcome Media: Website | LinkedIn

Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

In this episode of the "Be a Marketer" podcast, Dave Charest discusses the benefits of using sign-up landing pages and provides tips on how to effectively promote them in person, in print, and online.

• Sign-up landing pages are standalone web pages that offer a simple way to collect contact information and grow an email list.
• Sign-up landing pages can be customized with branding and tailored to collect specific information.
• QR codes can be used in-person and in print to drive traffic to sign-up landing pages.
• Promoting sign-up landing pages on social media and through email signatures can convert followers into subscribers.
• Focusing on the value offered to subscribers, such as discounts or free gifts, can increase signups.

Want to learn more about sign-up landing pages? 

• Create a Sign-up Landing Page to collect new email and SMS contacts online 
• Tutorial: Sign-up Landing Pages for Lead Generation

Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured in an upcoming episode. 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

2024 is one of those special years that gives us an extra day—and this Leap Day, Todd Shimkus and Maggie Fronk want you to do something kind for someone else. 

Todd, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, started Leap of Kindness Day in 2016 to support local impact-sector organizations. The premise is simple: Use February 29 to do something kind for someone else. 

That simple idea has catalyzed a worldwide movement, with communities around the United States and beyond running their own Leap of Kindness Day efforts. Maggie has seen the power of this simple call to action firsthand as CEO of Wellspring, the domestic violence and sexual assault services resource for Saratoga County. 

On the first episode of Be a Marketer for 2024, Todd and Maggie join host Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact, to share how Leap of Kindness Day works and how others can take part. 

Tune in to learn how their organizations use Constant Contact to support businesses and nonprofits in Saratoga County and champion important causes through Leap of Kindness Day—and every day. 

👉 Learn more about Leap of Kindness Day and how you or your organization can get involved.

Meet Today’s Guests: Todd Shimkus of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and Maggie Fronk of Wellspring

☕ What Todd does: Todd is the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, overseeing an organization that supports more than 2,700 businesses in the region. 

💡 Key quote: “Think about somebody that’s done something special for you in your life. And on February 29, as part of Leap of Kindness Day, do something kind for them.” 

👋 Where to find him:  LinkedIn | Instagram | X, formerly known as Twitter

👋 Where to find the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

☕ What Maggie does: Maggie is the CEO of Wellspring, a Saratoga County nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and engages the community to end relationship and sexual abuse. 

💡 Key quote: “The more we are given opportunities to help others, to see the good, to do the good, to be recipients of somebody else’s kindness we never expected, the more we make a great community, and the more we feel better about this life.” 

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Wellspring: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Are you a Constant Contact customer with a burning marketing question? Go here for a chance to have your question featured on an upcoming episode. 

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

When Julianna Curtis made the tough call to shut down her yoga and fitness studio in March 2020, she took a day to feel sorry for herself — then she sat down and figured out how to pivot. 

Julianna is no stranger to adversity in business. A year after opening The Energy Barre, she ended up in court facing a lawsuit about noise complaints from a neighboring tenant. Although the lawsuit was a setback, she pressed on, using headphones in class, until she and her building manager figured out a path forward. 

Today, The Energy Barre offers yoga, barre, and dance classes in three locations in Massachusetts and online. Julianna is candid about the storms she’s had to weather in building her business — and grateful for the lessons she’s learned along the way. 

“Once I made my way through the recovery periods, I was able to look back and see how much positive came out of those experiences,” she says. 

In this episode of Be a Marketer, Julianna and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss the ups and downs of owning a small business in an unpredictable world. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Julianna Curtis of The Energy Barre

☕ What she does: Julianna is the founder and CEO of The Energy Barre, an independently owned fitness and yoga studio. Founded in 2013, The Energy Barre has three locations in Massachusetts and offers classes and sells apparel online. 

💡 Key quote: “I am so excited and obsessed with the fact that this is what I get to do.” 

👋 Where to find her: Instagram | LinkedIn

👋 Where to find The Energy Barre: Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok

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“We’re all just trying to get through this life together,” says Al Yeck. “So let’s help each other.” 

As the Executive Director of the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Al leads an organization devoted to enhancing the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of U.S. veterans and their families. 

A former Marine — and a former marketer — Al juggles many responsibilities in his role as Executive Director. He divides his days between managing the business side of the nonprofit and the farm itself, which doesn’t leave him much time for marketing. 

His primary goal for the organization is to achieve financial solvency. That means marketing is especially important for getting the word out to local veterans groups, gardening groups, and others who might be interested in the farm’s mission. 

Al leans on Constant Contact to help him spread the farm’s message efficiently. In this episode of Be a Marketer, Al and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, dig into the joys and challenges of running a nonprofit and the marketing tactics that are helping the farm grow. 

Meet Today’s Guest: Al Yeck of Veterans Healing Farm

☕ What he does: Al is a Marine Corps veteran and the Executive Director of Veterans Healing Farm, a nonprofit with a mission to enhance the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of U.S. veterans and their families. 

💡 Key quote: “I just urge you, if you’re hurting, mentally or emotionally, to seek help… There should be no stigma attached to it. If you’re hurting, mentally [or] emotionally, join the club. We’re all broken. And we’re all just trying to get through this life together.” 

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Veterans Healing Farm: Website | Donate | Facebook

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.

From an 800-square-foot store to 12,000 square feet of retail and warehouse space in just three years, Lady Black Tie is the picture of small business success. 

Owner and founder Marissa Tilley started Lady Black Tie as a brick-and-mortar store after leaving an unfulfilling corporate job. “It came down to the idea of wanting to have fun every day,” she says. “I thought selling dresses would be super fun.” 

Over the years, Marissa and her colleague Chelsea Demby, who runs Lady Black Tie’s media and influencer relations, have had to navigate a rapidly changing marketing landscape. 

A few years ago, Marissa says, you could get “a nine-to-one return on your ad spend.” Today, with iOS updates impacting the power of ads and search engines taking a bigger cut of ad sales, they’re seeing returns of three-to-four at best. That’s why Marissa and Chelsea are leaning into email marketing to continue growing Lady Black Tie.

In this episode of Be a Marketer, Marissa and Chelsea talk to host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact. Tune in for their tips on sustainable marketing, from avoiding the pitfalls of algorithm changes to navigating virality. 

Meet Today’s Guests: Marissa Tilley and Chelsea Demby of Lady Black Tie

☕ What Marissa does: Marissa is the owner and founder of Lady Black Tie, a Massachusetts-based fashion company with three lines of business: retail, ecommerce, and wholesale. 

☕ What Chelsea does: Chelsea is Lady Black Tie’s head of media and influencer relations. 

💡 Marissa’s key quote: “It really came down to wanting to focus on the lighter side of life every day. Not every day is a joy. However, I do try to sit back and remind myself why I did this… seeing the smile on our customers’ faces when they find that dress.”

💡 Chelsea’s key quote: “My best advice is to really not strive for perfection. Have fun with it.”  

👋 Where to find Marissa: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Chelsea: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Lady Black Tie: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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Your email’s journey to the customer’s inbox isn’t magic — it’s intentional. Constant Contact has email deliverability experts working behind the scenes to keep your special message out of the dreaded spam folder. But in addition to our technical crew, you, as the sender, can make certain shifts to increase your email’s deliverability.

Constant Contact’s Jon Marburger, Director of Email Deliverability, and Tara Natanson, Manager of Deliverability for ISP Relations, together have 31 years of experience in the email industry. Their biggest advice? Pay attention.

Metrics and unsubscribe comments can help you understand who’s reading your emails, as well as who’s leaving and why.

“The most underutilized part of our product is the opt-out comments,” says Tara. “People unsubscribe and leave you a message about why. You should really be looking at those. They are super enlightening.”

On this episode of the Be a Marketer Podcast, host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, talks to Jon and Tara about other Constant Contact features that can help with your email deliverability. They cover the Gmail Promotions tab and its undeserved bad rap, technical ways to get higher open and click rates, and why you should avoid single-image emails.

👉 How to Build an Effective Email List: Best Practices and Strategies

👉 How to Interpret Your Email Marketing Reporting

👉 Do You Know Why People Are Unsubscribing From Your Emails?

👉 Understanding Email Authentication
👉 How to Prepare for Upcoming Google and Yahoo! Changes

Meet Today’s Guests: Jon Marburger and Tara Natanson of Constant Contact

☕ What Jon does: Jon is the Director of Email Deliverability at Constant Contact.

💡 Key quote: “Listening to what your customers are telling you — even if it's a negative data point, giving the opportunity to indicate why they chose to unsubscribe — that's really important.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

☕ What Tara does: Tara is the Manager of Deliverability and ISP Relations at Constant Contact.

💡 Key quote: “While it can be hard to see people leave, or to watch your list get smaller, having a smaller, more engaged list is way better for your deliverability than having a huge list that has a very low number of opens and clicks.” 

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn

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

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