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Word of Mouth Marketing Strategy
In talking with several hundred business owners and entrepreneurs for over thirty years, I have learned that word-of-mouth is always the most favored method of how small business brands grow. Yet, I have also observed that very few business people initiate proactive word-of-mouth campaigns or tactics. Too many view word-of-mouth as something that just happens, and in no way can be proactively guided as an ongoing strategy.  A Nielsen study in 2013 found that earned media (also described in their report as word-of-mouth) is the most trusted source of information in all countries it surveyed worldwide. Moreover, it found that it is the channel that is most likely to stimulate consumers into action. There are three important factors which underlie powerful and successful word-of-mouth marketing strategy all of which can be proactively initiated:

1. Acceptable Product/Service
2. Opinion Leaders & Influencer
3. Publicity

Acceptable Product/Service
You can’t have an unacceptable product or service and generate any effective word-of-mouth. Acceptable only means that your audience likes what you offer and has a willingness to continue to do business with you. While McDonald’s does not make the highest quality hamburger, millions upon millions find their products and services acceptable. And they are quite profitable. Now there are degrees to being acceptable. One could rise to the very top of the “Acceptable Scale” and become a legendary brand such as Tiffany's, Apple, or Disney.  But there are legendary brands on a micro level, such as the local diner that people wait in line to get into every day. They may not serve the healthiest food, but they are quite acceptable and popular with the locals. One can always improve the quality of the product and/or service of one’s brand. In this way, you are proactively setting the stage for better word-of-mouth. Creating a one-of-a-kind product or delivering 5-Star service only helps you to generate stronger word-of-mouth. 

Opinion Leaders & Influencers 
Once your brand can consistently deliver an acceptable product or service, one needs to tap into those who can influence others. It is a known fact that many people judge who to do business with based on what others say. Opinion leaders and Influencers are not just Instagram models with millions of followers. We have been desensitized that someone who could influence a few hundred or a couple of thousand people is of no value.  These smaller, more focused niche experts connect on a deeper level with their audiences and generate greater engagement.

In fact, micro-influencers with 1,000 followers generated 85% higher engagement than those having 100,000 followers, and as the number of followers increases the engagement tends to decrease. Publicity is concerned with providing favorable information to the media and any third-party outlets, such as bloggers, mainstream media, as well as new media forms such as podcasts and YouTube vloggers. 

“Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.” - Richard Branson

The prime role of publicity is to provide a message to consumers without having to pay for direct time or space. This not only creates awareness, but publicity achieves greater credibility in that others are now talking about your brand. The use of publi

What is a Virtual CMO? - http://virtualcmo.expert/
John Truman Wolfe is an award-winning author.
John's website: https://www.strategicfinancialintelli...

His book exposing the real forces behind the global financial crisis became an Amazon Best Seller. His latest release—The Coming Financial Crisis: A Look Behind the Wizard’s Curtain, includes the expose of the source behind the Global Financial Crisis as well as their current agenda, now in full swing, to implement “Bail-In” procedures by big banks that enable failing banks to confiscate funds in their depositor’s accounts and convert them to bank stock. He has been a senior credit officer for two California banks: one in the San Francisco Bay Area, the other in Beverly Hills. He is the co-founder of a prestigious Los Angeles-based business-management company where he oversaw the business and financial matters of some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

John has spoken to bankers and business executives around the world on the oppressive agenda of international bankers and provided solutions to their programs. In their first decade, Bitcoin and Blockchain have established themselves as functioning parts of the global financial and business landscape. They are here to stay. And while we have covered the cryptocurrency world in earlier issues of The Hard Truth, as the digital currency world celebrates its 10th anniversary, it seemed appropriate to revisit the world of cryptocurrencies and the underlying platform that enables them to function – Blockchain.

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency (and the only crypto for the first two years of its existence – 2009 to 2011) and is the digital currency “brand” that most people know. Many think it is the only digital currency. But that is far from the case today. There are currently over 2,000 digital currencies. They have a combined market capitalization (the amount of money invested) of $138 billion dollars, with more than $20 billion dollars of cryptocurrencies traded every day. Cryptocurrencies are anything but dead. While the prices have been depressed, as you can see, there is no shortage of trading volume that is, as we have said, running in excess of $20 billion per day.

Here’s a look at the statistics of the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
https://coinmarketcap.com

You can see that with Bitcoin’s market cap of $70 billion, it represents a little over 50% of the total cryptocurrency market of $138 billion. As you can also see, even the #10 crypto has a market cap of $1.5 billion. It is also evident that, in addition to Bitcoin, #2, Ethereum, and #3, Ripple stands head and shoulders above the rest. Both of these two crypto brands represent innovative global communication platforms – they aren’t just currencies, but currencies representing digital solutions that are in high demand.

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How can a Virtual CMO help to drive growth? - http://virtualcmo.expert/

1. Adopt the 10x mindset. The single most important step is to have the clear intention of generating exponential growth in your company. Dan calls this the “10X mindset.” It means seeking and being open to every opportunity that can help you grow by 10x, and avoiding those things that don’t contribute to that growth. Without this 10x mindset to guide and motivate you, none of the other tools or tactics will matter.
I can tell you from my experience that the shift from a slower growth mindset — say, 2x, or trying to double your success — to 10x is both liberating and energizing. That’s because in 2x growth mode, says Dan, you essentially get stuck in the immediate past and try to improve incrementally without really changing anything. In contrast, a 10x mindset focuses your thinking squarely on what your ideal future looks like, and how you can best pull your present situation toward that ideal vision. With a 10x mindset, you begin to examine everything in your entrepreneurial life — your clients, customers, support team, technology, even your lifestyle — and question which parts of the past should come along on the journey forward, and which need to be jettisoned.
2. Turn mindset into action. Of course, the right intentions will only get you so far. You also must act. Every 90 days, identify three things around you (or three actions you are taking) that are blocking your progress toward 10x growth — and get rid of them. Likewise, look to add three things or take three actions that will help fuel your exponential growth goals. By regularly cutting out those activities that sap your energy and adding to those things that boost your energy, you will make tremendous progress consistently. Soon you’ll find yourself operating at a 10x level of performance and results in many areas of your life.
3. Take full advantage of technology. Technology is the rocket fuel that’s helping more entrepreneurs generate 10x growth than ever. In the past — meaning the pre-personal computer/software application/Internet days many of us came up in — most business owners thought only in terms of incremental growth because it was so much harder to reach their audience. Modest growth was all the world seemed to allow. But thanks to Moore’s Law and the power of the microchip, we now have technologies such as webinars and podcasts to reach huge numbers of people easily and cost-effectively. These tools allow entrepreneurs to get massively bigger results with very low investments.
If you think you’re too old to make these and other technologies work for you, think again. It’s actually the most seasoned entrepreneurs among us who tend to benefit most from technology — not the upstarts. The reason: Veteran entrepreneurs demonstrate a purposefulness when using tech that their younger peers lack. Instead of getting distracted by a technology’s bells and whistles, experienced entrepreneurs hone right in on using the technology to achieve exactly what they want. That powerful combination of strategic purpose and today’s connection-building technology can drive huge results for so-called “old guard” entrepreneurs.
4. Strengthen your strengths — not your weaknesses. 10x growth tends to occur after entrepreneurs start focusing more on what they do best and stop worrying about their weaknesses. This might seem counterintuitive. After all, you’re told throughout your life that working on improving your weaknesses will make you a more well-rounded person. Maybe — but it also will make you a less strategic, less purposeful & ultimately less successful entrepreneur. By betting on what you’re really good at and raising that bet throughout your life, you’ll gain the confidence and capability

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/
What is a Virtual CMO? - http://virtualcmo.expert/

Simple Growth Hacks With LinkedIn

LinkedIn may not get as much love in the social media world as platforms like Instagram and Facebook, but there’s still no better way to get in front of business decision-makers than LinkedIn. 

If you’re a marketer, salesperson or another type of professional who wants to connect with executives and other brand leaders who have the ability to actually write you a check, LinkedIn is where you want to be.

However, an empty LinkedIn profile won’t do anything to attract these decision-makers to you. You need hacks that expand your reach on LinkedIn and turn it into a lead generation tool. 79% of marketers use the network as a great source of leads.

What’s more, HubSpot learned that LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Twitter and Facebook.

LinkedIn growth hack #1. Connect with the right audience

The keyword here is ‘right.’ Connecting with your target leads helps you put your product in front of the people who are actually interested in it. In your Sales Navigator (available through the upgraded LinkedIn version), go to the advanced search bar, and click on Search for leads. 

LinkedIn growth hack #2: Engage with your audience

Engagement on LinkedIn is synonymous with commenting on other people’s posts. It’s easy to assume that liking and leaving comments like ‘nice,’ ‘great post’ will help you gain exposure. But you are dead wrong if you’ve made such an assumption.

LinkedIn growth hack #3: Share valuable content

The last cog in the LI sales prospecting tool machine revolves around sharing relevant content. 94% of B2B marketers use the platform as a content distribution channel. That’s because LinkedIn helps drive over half of the traffic to B2B blogs and sites.

Create content directly on LinkedIn. 

Like other social media platforms, LinkedIn’s algorithm favors native content. So instead of just sharing a link to your YouTube videos or website blog, upload some of your content directly to LinkedIn. Publishing an article on LinkedIn, for example, ties back into adding rich media content to your profile, while also increasing the odds that you can stay on your contacts’ radar.
If you’re looking for content inspiration, browse the trending news stories on the platform. Doing so may give you an idea, even if it’s just for a quick reaction video that you upload natively to LinkedIn. Use a few hashtags when sharing this type of content, and if you’re lucky, you may even get a LinkedIn editor to add your content to the platform’s trending news feed.

Following these tactics can help you organically get more out of LinkedIn, rather than running up against a brick wall trying to cold pitch prospects you have no real connection with. You can increase your odds of forming organic connections through tactics like optimizing keywords and sharing content natively, and taking a little bit more time to form stronger relationships initially can pay off significantly more in the long run.

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/
What is a Virtual CMO? - http://virtualcmo.expert/

Stacy owns a metal fabrication company in Austin, Texas.

Website: http://www.codybuilderssupply.com/
Phone: (512) 339-9834

Cody Builders Supply, headquartered in Austin, is a structural and miscellaneous metals fabricator established in 1994 by a team of veteran steel fabricators with an extensive scope of construction, management and production experience throughout the industry. Since its inception, Cody Builders Supply has expanded steadily, garnering additional expertise in a wide variety of infrastructure, water and waste-water, and transportation projects.

Her business philosophy and message to entrepreneurs is to build your business methodically, consolidating each advance so as to achieve long term and sustainable growth.

"Work hard and smart and have been able to create a great company with a great future." - Stacy Sass

Connect with me on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/
What is a Virtual CMO? - http://virtualcmo.expert/

In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service or organization (company, charity, etc.). It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subjects of publicity include people of public interest, goods and services, organizations, and works of art or entertainment.

A publicist is someone that carries out publicity, while public relations (PR) is the strategic management function that helps an organization establish and maintain communication with the public. This can be done internally, without the use of popular media. From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion and marketing. The other elements of the promotional mix are advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling.

Organizations will sometimes organize events designed to attract media coverage, and subsequently, provide positive publicity; these events are known as publicity stunts.

Podcast Statistics:
* 197 million Americans have heard about podcasts.
* 32% of Americans listen to podcasts at least once a month.
* There were 750,000 active podcasts in 2019.
* On average, 45% of podcast listeners have an annual household income of more than $250,000.
* 2 million podcasts are registered by Google.
* 54% of podcast consumers say they think about buying advertised products. 
* Businesses spent $497 million on podcast advertising in 2018.
* Brands that advertise their products and services on business podcasts enjoy an average 14% rise in purchase intent.

What is a podcast?
A podcast is an audio or video file, usually available as a single episode. A podcast can be watched via a streaming platform or downloaded to a mobile device or computer. The podcast industry covers a number of niches, including music, culture, society, comedy, health, business, and many others.

How many podcasts are there?
It is estimated that 750,000 podcasts and more than 30 million episodes existed on the web in 2019. In 2018, Apple alone featured 550,000 podcasts and 18.5 million episodes.

How do you find out how many listeners a podcast has?
Podcasts exist across various platforms and websites, meaning it is difficult to track podcast growth and the number of listeners following a specific show. However, there are methods to find out the number of listeners. The easiest way to see how many listeners a podcast has is to check out podcast download numbers and the number of subscribers. This is possible for podcasts that are hosted on platforms such as Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, SoundCloud, and others.

To estimate the number of listeners, you can use a Web analytic tool. Every podcast-hosting platform provides tools for tracking subscribers by IP address and device. In this way, they offer specific data on podcast listenership. For example, iTunes podcast analytics provide podcasters with information about how often users listen to shows and episodes and how the popularity of each episode changes over time.