Fast Marketing Minute

I love the phrase, you are brand wherever you go, because it’s truer than ever, especially if you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur looking to grow your business.

Your brand story tells it all.  So, be sure that you know it inside and out. What makes you different? How did you get to where you are now? Why should someone want to do business with you?

Here’s what I tell my clients: 

-Create a story that’s compelling.  Moving. And, include your why to make it personal. 

-Practice sharing your story with feeling – and whether you pretend to or not, tell it with meaning! 

-Use your brand story as part of a daily PR and marketing practice to grow your business, build a base of raving fans so you can sell more products and services.  

The core of your brand story will always be the same, because it’s who you are. 

Include your brand story as part of your elevator pitch, in person at networking events, in an author resource box at the bottom of articles, on Amazon Author Central when you upload your blog. And always, when you write content. 

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute, let me help you create and promote a brand that’s spot on -- 24/7, wherever you go. Shoot me an email at [email protected] and let’s connect. Talk tomorrow!

If you think that email marketing is dead, you’re dead wrong. Email marketing is alive and well and growing every year.

In fact, the power of marketing is greater than you probably ever thought. Here are some stats from HubSpot.com:

* 4.3 billion+ email accounts send 196 billion emails every day

* 91% of consumers check their email every day

* 77% of consumers prefer email for marketing communications

* Email has a marketing ROI of 4,300%

Use email marketing to engage your target market, bond with them, get feedback, inform, entertain – you name it. Just be sure you have reader’s permission and offer an opportunity for anyone at any time to unsubscribe. No questions asked!

You also own your email channel – which is why I call it your ‘owned’ media.

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute, I write marketing and action plans that work. If you need help with your marketing or email marketing, contact me at RobinSamora.com. And check out my 50+ Google 5-Start reviews while you’re at it. Talk tomorrow!

If you give workshops or provide training to small groups or a larger audience, I’m going to call you a speaker for easy thinking. OK? In a nutshell, you sell concepts to other people who are interested in what you have to say. 

The best $10 you can spend, if you’re a speaker, is the $10 tip you’re going to give to the audio-visual tech that’s helping you set up your equipment. Now, if you’re in-house, that’s maybe not such a great idea – you can give a Starbucks card later. But, if you’re on the road, I’m all for it because you want your presentation to go off without a hitch. 

Sure, you printed out the thumbnail master slides in case there’s a snafu, but your A/V tech has some skin in the game and will ensure that your presentation will work. The $10 investment just helps.  

Sometimes, we’re so focused on what we have to do, we forget about the details of delivery.  We forget about the team supporting us. I’m not necessarily talking about your virtual team who you should treat like gold, but the other people you don’t know, who will help you be your best.

That’s my Fast Marketing Minute tip today. Tip your A/V technician $10 and feel confident that your presentation will be flawless. And, that they’ll enjoy a nice surprise! 

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. Are you looking for more marketing shortcuts to grow your business? Sign up for weekly marketing insight delivered straight to your inbox at RobinSamora.com/blog. Talk tomorrow!

Let’s talk about the 4 different types of media you need to know about and include in your marketing plan. The first is traditional media. That would be print, TV, radio – and include newspapers, magazine articles, and so on. 

The second, is your own media. That’s media you create that’s yours, it’s original content, your own media channels. You own it. That could mean your website, blogs, white papers, videos, articles, infographics, branded graphics, and more. That’s content you create and no one can take from you.

Then there’s social media. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram – and other micro or niche platforms. At any time, one of these networks can take you down or lock you out, so it’s important that you have backup your information and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

And finally, earned media. Earned media or media mention is when you’re published or someone mentions you, unpaid third-party endorsement. You’ve been featured in a blog, a magazine, received coverage on TV, or been interviewed. This is the greatest kind of media, because other people are talking about you, not just you ‘talking about you.’

That’s it. 4 Different Types of Media. Use them all or just a few in your marketing mix to build your brand, visibility, and let’s never forget – increase sales. 

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. If you’d like to get media attention and grow sales, let’s have a conversation. Contact me at RobinSamora.com.  Talk tomorrow!

Today, we’re going to talk about editorial calendars. So, what’s an editorial calendar and how can it help you grow your business? Think of an editorial calendar as a glorified excel spreadsheet with different tabs. It doesn’t have to be super complicated. And, each tab houses different content. 

My editorial calendar lives on my Google Drive and a couple of different people have access to it. It’s user friendly, and not complicated because I’d never use it if it was. We have a bunch of different tabs – a social media checklist, original content, quote, blogs, events, and a tab for social media images. 

After years of random approaches, this editorial calendar works best. The benefits are that everyone – including you – can see what’s on for social media this week, or blogs that are in process, or guest articles that are ready to be posted. You can also upload images for Instagram or links that you’ve curated from a source like Feedly or whether you’ve collected them on your own, or forwarded them from your Google feed.

Editorial calendars help keep you organized so that you don’t have remember everything – and it’s all in one place. What you’ve posted, what’s new, and they also serve as a reminder for all of that glorious content you have at your disposal to build your brand. You can even have a section on call to actions! 

I also have a link section, where I gather articles from other experts and influencers.  That provides me with the latest insider news so I can stay up to date and see what’s going on. 

Did I mention you can also put links to your own blogs on your editorial calendar? Post that in your  original content section. 

There you have it, how editorial calendars can save you time and keep you organized. 

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. I write marketing and action plans that work. If you need help with your marketing, contact me at RobinSamora.com. And check out my 50+ Google 5-Star reviews while you’re at it. Talk tomorrow!

Every speaker wants to get booked – well most any way. Some insist they get paid, others are ok with getting experience, and then there are speakers who will speak for free – if they’re speaking to the perfect target audience – and they can sell from the stage.

Getting speaking engagements takes time, and if you’re busy working IN your business and not ON your business, it’s not always easy. Here’s a trick I learned a while back – see what you think of it.

If you track conferences and places where your ideal audience hangs out, and where you’d like to present, it’s easy to use this strategy. I just love it, because it saves the day for the event organizer and you’re the hero!

Let’s say you wanted to speak at the Ultimate Digital Marketing Conference in East Marketingville, Illinois, but were late in applying or you were on vacation, or honestly, it just slipped by and you didn’t even notice. No problem.

Two weeks before the event, write an email to the event organizer and tell them that you’re available as a back-up speaker, in case someone doesn’t show up. Simple as that. The event organizer will be thrilled to death, and more often than you think, there’ a situation where a speaker can’t make it. Life happens.

Another quick tip to getting a speaking gig is to check out where your competition recently spoke, even a few years back.  If the topic was relevant and timely, event organizers might like another speaker in a year or two to present. You’ll probably have to check your competition’s website or the association’s, so you may want to do this in stealth mode.

These are insider tips, two of the many not so traditional ways to get speaking gigs to build your sales funnel and base of raving fans.

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. If your company is looking for a fun and engaging speaker on marketing – or all things marketing and how to grow your business, check out my speaker page at RobinSamora.com/speaking. I’d love to talk with you about your event goals, challenges, and what you’d like to accomplish.  Talk tomorrow!

Do you know about Quora.com? In case you don’t, it’s a website you should know about, especially if you’re an expert or authority in your field.

Quota is an online platform, where people ask questions to experts and experts in turn, answer questions. Wikipedia adds “that users can collaborate by editing questions and suggesting edits to answers that have been submitted by other users”. Sounds simple and straight forward, but what are the benefits of using Quora?

First, almost any expert I know wants to gain recognition online, so it’s easy to hang out there and claim your spot as an authority. As with any platform, you have to engage often and not be salesy – in any way. Your job is to answer questions. One of the benefits of Quora, is that the person asking questions may like what you have to say and look you up for more information.

Second, as an expert, you can see what kind of questions are being asked so you can use those same questions for content, workshops, blogs, article titles, YouTube videos and more. But to make it even better, you can see who is asking the questions, and on a reverse note – use Quora as a lead generator. So, it works both ways.

Now, there’s even advertising on Quora. Quora offers advertisers the opportunity to build credibility in the eyes of a prospect and – gives you the ability to place your ad copy between nuggets of information that relate to your product or service.

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is marketing 24/7. Well give or take a few hours for sleep. If you’re finally ready to claim your spot as an expert, because enough is enough, contact me at RobinSamora.com. Let me help you build your brand. Talk tomorrow!

So you’re media ready. You want to pitch the press. You know you’re onto something hot and want the world to know – but what the heck do you say? What do you write about? What is really press worthy?

Every week, I’m scouring the internet looking for new tools, strategies and tactics, to improve my game and be able to share with you – experts, small business owners, speakers and professionals alike, how to get a bigger bang for your buck with marketing and PR. And, as you may have remembered, my favorite two words are marketing and free.

Enter PressFarm.com. It’s a totally cool site and an amazing resource for ideas on what to pitch – with 10 cold email pitch-to-journalist templates to choose from. A few sample templates are: how to share a personal story, a company milestone or a new ground-breaking product – or just how to connect with a journalist as a resource or subject matter expert. Plus, what I love is that there are explanations, on why each paragraph is part of the pitch and why it’s important. How good is that!

When I speak around the world about marketing and free publicity, I always use PressFarm.com as an example, plus of course Buzzsumo, another favorite.  We’ll talk about that later.

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. Let me show you how to get media attention and position yourself as a leading authority in your field. Reach out to me personally by email at [email protected] or and let’s set up a call. Talk tomorrow!

Some of you listening might be consultants out there, and from time to time get pushback about your pricing. First thing I’d like to say, is hello -- you’re worth it. Second thing, make sure you’re not using the word ‘rates’ in your proposals. Instead, use the word ‘fee’. Rates are by the hour and as a consultant you’re not necessarily getting paid hourly. You bring a whole lot more to the table and deserve to reap all the benefits of all your hard work for a professional fee.

Here’s another tip to get higher fees.

Instead of writing the word ‘training’ in your contract, you’ll receive a higher perceived value if you use the phrase – strategic work session. This positions you to charge more. Everybody and his brother does training, but if you offer strategic work sessions, you’re seen as more as a subject matter expert – who absolutely demands more.

In upcoming Fast Marketing Minutes, I’ll be reviewing all kinds of strategies where you can gain expert status, credibility and visibility, online and offline, so you can charge what you’re worth -- and have more financial freedom.

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. Join me in changing the way you perceive yourself and how others perceive you, because ultimately, what you perceive is what you believe. Connect with me on LinkedIn (at) RobinSamora to learn more about how you can position yourself as a subject matter expert. Just be sure to tell me where we met. Talk tomorrow!

Everyone in business wants to grow their business, right? I mean it’s a no brainer. But we all stress so much to beat the competition, do more, be more, all at the quickest speed possible. But what if we could make it easier for ourselves and our business to be better and improve every single day.

Do you know about the 1% factor?

As a recovering perfectionist, I want to grow my business, as fast as I can and grow my expertise too. But the truth is, you can only put so much in your head at one time – and if you overload, you’ll explode. I know, I’ve been there and from time to time, my brain really hurts!

What would happen if you improved 1% everyday. Tweak one action item. Call 5 more prospects than last week. Add content to your editorial calendar – not just for a week, but for two weeks. Actually, listen to a webinar that you signed up for. Take those notes from a seminar and actually implement 2 tactics a week.

I happen to love to learn and grow. I’m inspired by what’s going on in my industry and how I can be a better marketer – and also help people, while enjoying a big, bold, and juicy life!

If you start today and make a commitment to improve just 1% a day, you’ll be on a steady course to improve.  I challenge you to improve 1% every day. I’ve jumped on the brand wagon, you?

I’m Robin Samora, host of Fast Marketing Minute. You be the expert you are and let me help you with what I’ve been doing for over two decades. Contact me at RobinSamora.com to talk about improving your business.