As we look for new ways to reach our customers, we are seeing more and more companies invest more time and money in their social media marketing and not enough in their email campaigns. But your email marketing strategy is still one of the most important parts of any marketing strategy. Email is the most cost-effective way to communicate with your customers, promote your services and products and reach your business goals. In this episode, Susan MacNicol, the founder and president of Strategic & Creative Marketing Inc., shares some simple tips.

In this episode, Aisha talks with Micelle Tran Maryns of WeSparkle. Recently, we’ve been talking to business owners who have been working on their social media strategies.  A lot of the effort is centered around content that connects with future customers and  existing customers.  Whether it's an article they wrote, or a product they want to showcase, business owners are really flexing their creative muscles to really come up with content that attracts.  In these discussions, one question that sometimes gets forgotten is “now that I got their attention, how do I get them to my website or landing page or online store to close the deal?”  

Tune in for the answer.

As small business owners, many of your wear multiple hats in your daily operations.  You're handling marketing, sales, development, finance, operations, compliance, security, and more.  In addition to your business. Without a good organization plan in place, it can feel like you’re running from one fire to the next.  

In this episode, Aisha talks with Mekeda Johnson-Brooks about ways to organize your business so that your big ideas don’t get buried under all the other parts of your business operations. 

Mekeda is the President and Chief Client Experience Architect of MJ Design and Company; an MBE, WBE, and WOSB certified consulting agency that helps mission-driven organizations solve problems, tell stories, and build connections through strategy, design, and program development. An avid organizer with a strong background in negotiation, project management, and instructional design, she regularly pioneers new client experiences for corporate and nonprofit organizations.

Digi Tips and Tools is produced in partnership with iDream.tv, a multi-media production company.

This episode is being sponsored by Capitol One, our valued corporate partner.

As technology evolves, so does risk.  Without a proper risk assessment or a good data security process in place, your company and your customer’s data can be left vulnerable.  Even if you haven’t experienced a compromise, a weak data security process can still hurt your company’s reputation. 

In this episode Aisha talks with Fiona Parr about some steps you can take to secure your customer’s data even more. 

Fiona is the Director for Cyber Governance and Risk Services at Capital One.  She is also the Cyber External Client Assurance Program Lead.

Digi Tips and Tools is produced in partnership with iDream.tv, a multi-media production company.

This episode is being sponsored by Capitol One, our valued corporate partner.

Today we’re going to talk to Mekeda Johnson-Brooks  about how small business owners can manage their content in a less stressful way. Thinking about your marketing strategy, let’s focus on streamlining your social media engagement.   

Mekeda is the President and Chief Client Experience Architect of MJ Design and Company; an MBE, WBE, and WOSB certified consulting agency that helps mission-driven organizations solve problems, tell stories, and build connections through strategy, design, and program development. An avid organizer with a strong background in negotiation, project management, and instructional design, she regularly pioneers new client experiences for corporate and nonprofit organizations. 

Digi Tips and Tools is produced in partnership with iDream.tv, a multi-media production company.

This episode is being sponsored by Capitol One, our valued corporate partner.

Today we are talking about TikTok for business. A lot of businesses may overlook this platform when thinking of their social media strategy, but why is that? Depending on what source you look at, TikTok has anywhere from 750 million to 1.1 billion active users worldwide.

In this episode our guest is Lauren Ramsey of Betsy Bash. Lauren Ramsey is a digital strategist who focuses on bringing community engagement to the forefront of social media campaigns, whether she is sitting on a panel mentoring startups at 1871 or working with retailers and restaurants.

To build a killer social media strategy. She is always focused on growing an authentically engaged community of brand advocates and customers for her clients through excellent digital marketing strategies.

Digi Tips and Tools is produced in partnership with iDream.tv, a multi-media production company.

This episode is being sponsored by US Bank, our valued corporate partner.

Welcome to Women’s Business Development Center’s Digi Tips and Tools Podcast Series – where we tackle some of your questions when it comes to your digitizing your business processes and discuss possible solutions.  These solutions include easy digital tips and tools that can help your business increase revenue, save money and optimize your time. 

Today we'll talk about a sore topic for many business owners when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping, and that is tracking expenses.

In this episode we talk with Tony Pittman about what expenses you need to track and what digital tools can you use to help make tracking expenses easier.

Tony Pittman currently serves as tax consultant and preparer with RE Clemons and Associates Tax and accounting.  RE Clemons and Associates Tax and Accounting have a staff of Enrolled Agents and CPAs with over 40 years of experience in corporate and personal taxation and bookkeeping.  Their involvement in local and national tax associations keeps the firm on the "leading edge" of the ever-changing tax laws and accounting methods.

Digi Tips and Tools is produced in partnership with iDream.tv, a multi-media production company. 

This episode is being sponsored by US Bank, our valued corporate partner.

Guest - Dr. Sharon Tal

Sharon helps entrepreneurs and managers identify, evaluate and prioritize market opportunities for their business. Together with Prof. Marc Gruber she wrote the book Where to Play.

Sharon is a co-founder and former executive director of the Entrepreneurship Center at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and a senior lecturer on marketing and entrepreneurship. She runs courses and workshops in accelerators and universities around the world, and serves as a mentor in many organizations that aim to help budding entrepreneurs. Sharon has over a decade of experience in marketing and in strategic consulting. Her PhD research looked at market entry decisions of hundreds of startups and its consequences on firm performance and flexibility.

The Market Opportunity Navigator helps entrepreneurs and business managers to systematically discover their best market opportunities.

Case Study - Martha Razo

Martha Razo is the CEO of Guero Pallets, Inc. a Chicago-based pallet company. She was also a member of the WBDC and Women's Innovation Learning Lab Scale Higher Cohort.

Breakthrough Innovations is hosted by Colette Buscemi, Director of Women's Innovation Learning Lab and produced in partnership with iDream.tv. 

This episode is being sponsored by US Bank, our valued corporate partner.