Learn Marketing Interviews

There are so many ways in which you can market your business these days but one of the most important, and most overlooked, is video marketing. One of the issues that most of us have with the idea of starting a video marketing campaign is that we don’t like to appear on camera. Another is that we don’t have anything interesting to say. With us on this episode of Excellence Expected is Mary Jo Cranmore, who is going to let us know that that is nonsense!

Everyone who runs their own small business has their own opinions about the industry that they operate in and a wealth of knowledge about their chosen market. These are valuable assets that can be used in video marketing for your business. People are so used to big companies speaking in the blandest of ways that hearing someone with a real opinion, and some passion, can be like a breath of fresh air. Injecting a bit of personality and some of your own opinions into some videos about your business can help draw the attention of those searching online for terms related to your company.

It can also be a massive help to your Google rankings as the search engine’s algorithms look favourably on those businesses that regularly upload new video content. Not only that, but you will, over time, develop a following made up of people who share your passion and interest for your products or services. The more that you engage with them, the more they will act as ambassadors for your brand.

Mary also has a great tip for those who are a little reticent to get behind the camera regularly. If you don’t want to do videos too often, how about this? Compile a list of the top 20 questions that you’re asked by customers and then make a series of videos that answers each question. It’s practical information for those searching in your niche, it’s most likely evergreen content and if you stagger the release of the videos, you may see a noticeable bump in your Google rankings.

We could all talk about our business until the cows came home, so why not use that to help promote your business. What have you got to lose?

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can video marketing help my small business?

About Mary:

Mary Jo Cranmore has worked as a TV news producer for both ABC and NBC but now she is using her expertise in the visual medium to help clients such as Kraft Foods, Gillette and Verizon to get the most out of their visual marketing strategies. As well as working with big name clients, Mary has created marketing systems, video marketing programs and other strategies to help smaller businesses in the same way. Her company, Client Cycle Marketing, is helping businesses both big and small make an impact with video marketing.

Mary’s with us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast to discuss the benefits of video marketing and to give us all some actionable tips that can help us harness the power of video marketing.

Actionable Tips:

* Have a point of view or a mission. Think deeply about why you do what you do. What part of your work really drives you? Finding your mission will drive so much more than just your video strategy.

* Create a tribe. Collect an e-mail list of people who engage with your videos and regularly engage with them. Ask about their needs and desires. This will take you to places that you never thought possible.

* Deliver your tribe things they care about. Engage with them and give them what they will find valuable. People want to be involved. If you can do this, they will help spread the word about your business.

Top Quotes:

* “People watching your videos can experience you with more than one sensibility.”

* “We’re very good at ‘Once upon a time…’.”

* “Have one direct point in each video.”

Social media has changed the way many of us interact, do business and, to a degree, live our lives. Networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are fantastic for marketing yourself and your business and newer platforms like Periscope and Blab are opening up new channels to reach potential customers. It’s all well and good using social media to promote your business, but are you using it in the most effective way?

How many companies have you seen you seem to have forgotten that it’s supposed to be social? Dry product launches, spammy links and generic information are just some of the ways in which some companies choose to use their social media accounts. To create any sort of rapport with potential clients, it needs to be social. The clue’s in the name, guys! 

Lots of small businesses feel that they need to have social media accounts just because everyone else seems to have them. They pump out the same old content over and over just to be seen to be doing something. But if they’re not going to use social media to actively engage with their clientele then it can be a waste of time. Getting a conversation going with customers on social media can help build a connection between your business and prospective customers, and you can also learn a lot about them, their needs and their experiences. Companies that don’t join the conversation, don’t produce interesting content and don’t treat social media as a two-way street will be easily forgotten when it the time comes for those customers to do business. A company that listens, ask questions and provides help and advice will make a much deeper impression.

As Tim Elliot mentions in this episode, people don’t engage with products and services, they engage with people. And if you’re hiding away behind a logo on social media, many customers will be put off. Getting out there and sharing some of yourself along with your business can have a fantastic effect on how people view you and your company.

Tim’s joining us on this episode your favourite small business podcast to share his ideas on how to get the most out of social media as well as some of the things to avoid.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I put the social back into social media?

About Tim:

Tim Elliott is a digital marketing manager, social media strategist, social media coach and noted speaker on all things social media. Tim prefers to look at things more simply, and refers to himself as a marketer.

Tim has been working in the online marketing space for many years and has a wealth of expertise on using social media to help businesses to grow. He’s here with us on the number one small business podcast to help us put the social back into social media. 

Tim’s Actionable Tips:

* If you use scheduling tools for social media, remember to be ready to respond after a message has been posted. People will expect you to engage with them so you need to be ready to jump into the conversation. If you’re not there to engage with your followers, it will be a bad experience for them.

* Don’t be afraid to be yourself. People want to do business with people and learn more about the personality behind the company. Allowing people to engage with you through social media can have a great effect on your business.

* Listen more than you talk. There are so many conversations that are taking place on social media that you should be aware of. You can learn a great deal about your customers and their needs by listening to them.

Top Quotes:

Tim’s Links:

* Tim’s Site (http://www.timelliottuk.com/)

* Tim’s Twitter (

Getting customers to your website can be a difficult task. There are so many business out there vying for the attention of consumers and these days there are so many ways in which people can find solutions to their problems. But gaining traffic is only half the battle. Unless you can successfully convert those prospects, your business won’t experience optimal growth.

A conversion can be different things to different businesses in different situations. It doesn't necessarily have to be a sale. A conversion could also be engagement with a prospect or even just an exchange of content or ideas. What is the best way to go about converting visitors to your website into valued customers? With us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast is a man who has been focusing on this tricky question for the last five years.

Trajan King has worked with big tech companies and fledging startups to streamline and optimise their conversion process. There needs to be an investment of time, energy and money into conversion optimisation, but, according to Trajan, it needn’t be as expensive of labour intensive as many of us imagine.

Some simple, common-sense tweaks to your existing site could help to improve your conversion rate. We all invest so much time and energy into getting people to our sites so it would be shame to miss out on some valued customers by neglecting conversion optimization. Trajan has some great insights and tips to help us get the most out of our efforts. 

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I make my website convert and generate more income for my business?

About Trajan:

Trajan King began his career on Wall Street before making the move to Silicon Valley where he worked for some of the biggest companies, successfully built many startups and became a renowned advisor in the field of conversion optimisation.

Trajan now works with companies to improve their conversion rates and improve their profit and efficiency. Here’s here with us on this episode of the number one small business podcast to share some of his expertise and help us apply some effective conversion principles to our small businesses.

Actionable Tips:

* Think of your website like it’s an Ikea store. Give your visitors and customers a clear, obvious path. Look at other websites such as Zappos and Amazon, and see how the conversion paths are clearly laid out.

* Think of the colour scheme and navigation of your site. You need to highlight the action that you want people to take on your site with colour so don’t overdo it with colours elsewhere.

* Each page should have one call to action. Lots of visitors aren’t coming through the home page, so it’s important that each page directs visitors in the right way, regardless of where they arrive from.

Top Quotes:

* “People spend around $97 to get people to their website and only $1 toward converting them. Those numbers are skewed when you look at how much time, energy and money people are spending on generating traffic.”

* “A conversion is not always a sale.”

* “Every page of your site should have an objective. I find a lot of website where people put up content but there’s no clear objective, call to action or conversion strategy.”

* “One of the top mistakes is having too much content on your website. It can muddle the message that each page should have a distinct call to action or objective.”

* “What we learn from the paradox of choice is that if you don’t give people a lot of choice then they’re more likely to go where you want them to go.”

Trajan’s Links:

The idea of creating a community around your business is something that a lot of us are hesitant about. It may be because we think that it doesn’t really apply to our business, or that it will take a lot of work. However, with the advent of social media, it doesn’t need to be such an arduous task and as Google is the first port of call for most people who are searching for a solution to their problems, it can be a benefit to almost any business. The networking opportunities created by a thriving community can open up a new world.

If you create community of people who are passionate about your products of services then this can really give your business a boost in a number of ways. Firstly, it can help develop a network of ambassadors who will promote your business organically. People are more likely to trust information if it comes from a real customer as opposed to a PR department. If customers receive fantastic service, they’ll want to tell others about it. This has always been the case, but it’s even more important these days thanks to social media. Maintain a great relationship with your community and it will promote your business for you. This promotion can give you fantastic opportunities to network with other people in your industry and respected entrepreneurs in niches different to your own.

Secondly, it will help you climb up the Google rankings. A community of people talking about you and your business creates a lot of hits for the search algorithm so that when a potential customer is searching in your niche or industry, your page is more likely to feature near the top. It will also make networking a whole lot easier as you will be easier to find.

Lastly, creating a community allows you to inject some personality into your business. If you provide no way for your customers to interact with you, your business could come across as bland. How many ‘About Us’ pages have you seen that just seem like the same, generic stuff? With a community, you can engage with your client base, offer content that will be of value and show the personality behind the business. You’re passionate about your business and industry, and others are equally passionate. People network with people so it’s important to get yourself out there. It’s time to harness that passion you have to create some tangible benefits for your business.

With us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast is inventor, entrepreneur and author, Stephen Key, who has some first class advice for those looking to grow and maintain a community of passionate ambassadors.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I cultivate loyal fans who will grow my network for me? 

About Stephen:

Stephen Key is an inventor, entrepreneur, intellectual property strategist, speaker and author. He has spent the last 30 years coming up with innovative ideas that he has taken to major companies to generate licensing opportunities. He is a regular contributor to both Entrepreneur and Inc. and his website, inventRight, is a treasure trove of fantastic resources.

Stephen’s best-selling book, One Simple Idea: Turn your Dreams into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work, has helped thousands of entrepreneurs around the world build a following and connect with their customers to push their businesses forward.

Actionable Tips:

* Create a YouTube channel. Practice in front of the camera and try to learn to love the camera. You can do this anytime and anywhere. You can become comfortable with yourself and start to critique yourself and improve before putting yourself out there.

* Share your enthusiasm for other people on social media. Make it known that you appreciate other people and people will come back to you. Flattery will get you everywhere!

Creating a successful business from something that you genuinely have a passion for is the goal of most small business oweners. We all want to make money through sharing our expertise of a particular area in which we’re experts. Not all of us get to live that life though, as plans, and passions, change over time. Someone who has taken their passion and built a hugely successful business from it is Steve Lubetkin.

Steve has taken his early passion for radio and has since worked hard at building his business by providing professional podcast production services to a range of high-profile clients across America. In the past, Steve was interested in being in front of the mic, but he now focuses on the production side of things and his knowledge has helped major corporations produce professional content that has benefited their staff and customers.

Lots of us know and love podcasting and some of us even have our own shows, but how many of us have considered marketing our expertise to clients? Sure, we might think it’s not too difficult to record content, edit and distribute it, but for lots of organizations, it can be. They also may not have the right equipment and some may not have even considered what podcasting could do for their business. Many of them may be missing a trick and that’s a problem that those in the podcasting world can provide a solution to.

Company training sessions, seminars, conferences and product descriptions can all be packaged as podcasts. As Steve mentions in the episode, a business conference is only of benefit to those who attend, so why not record it and make it available online? Companies could then reach more people with less work and expense and nothing helps Google rankings like regular publication of audio and video content.

There is a potentially a lot of business out there for someone who has the right experience, equipment and networking skills. Steve’s going to shine a light on how to take this passion and make it into a business.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast Episode:

How can I market my podcasting expertise to my clients?

About Steve:

Steve Lubetkin is the managing partner of Lubetkin Media Companies. Steve started off on college radio before moving on to commercial stations. He then went on to work in public relations for major corporations in the United States, but moved back to world of the spoken world as podcasts started to take off. He has been able to take his passion and turn it into a wonderfully successful business by providing podcasting and consultation services to some of the biggest players in the corporate space.

Steve’s a pioneer who saw early on just how podcasts could be used by large companies and other organizations as an important tool to get ideas and concepts out to as many people as possible. How has Steve taken something that many of us do as a hobby and used it to grow a successful business? He’s here with us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast to talk through his journey.

Steve’s Actionable Tips:

* Know your equipment, your software and setup and plan for the unexpected. Don’t depend on recording your podcast on a computer. We believe in having dedicated equipment and knowing how to operate it. Always have a backup.

* Leave your ego at the door and produce what clients want. If you are doing this a business, you need to do what they want. This is a shift in mind-set for hobbyist podcasters.

* Demonstrate professionalism when it comes to client content. It’s helpful to have a script or bullet points for the things you want to talk about. There’s also nothing wrong with editing content after the program has been recorded.

Top Quotes:

* “It’s important for business people to understand that they can’t...

We all want to work with the best clients that we possibly can. It’s easy in business to peek over the garden fence and look at who your competitors are working with. If they’ve made deals with some big names in your industry and you haven’t, it can feel a little deflating and a number of questions will probably come up. What have they done differently? How did they gain access to this client? Where am I going wrong?

In order to work with larger organizations, small businesses and startups need to offer something unique that the bigger company perhaps doesn’t have the expertise, personnel or time to do themselves. Large organisations can be very traditional in terms of their planning and decision making. Add in the many layers of bureaucracy that need to be navigated in a big corporation and the result is that many processes take a long time to be completed. Startups and small businesses on the other hand are very agile, they can complete projects or change directions much more quickly. This difference in timescales can pose a challenge when dealing with larger organisations but it also creates an opportunity for small businesses.

With us on this episode of the number one small business podcast is Jannick Malling. Jannick is the CEO and founder of Tradable, a comprehensive all-in-one platform that integrates trading tools and functionality, taking the hassle out of trading. Jannick has spent a lot of time dealing with both large financial organizations and much smaller tech startups to get Tradable to where it is today. He’s going to be sharing his expertise and tips on how to gain access to those big clients and how to work alongside them.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I gain access and contracts to work with the world’s largest organizations?

About Jannick:

Jannick Malling was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark. He first started working in banking at 18 and over the course of his short career he has sought to bring the worlds of finance and tech closer together. In 2012 Jannick founded Tradable, an innovative trading platform that integrates all of the best trading tools in one convenient platform. Tradable allows users to handle sophisticated trades without the hassle. Jannick and his team work closely with software developers, banks and brokerage houses around the world.

Actionable Tips:

* Do something new. You can’t get the attention of large organizations by offering something that they think they can handle internally. You need to position your product in such a way that they will never have even considered doing themselves.

* Introduce unique features. You need to offer features and services that large organizations are not in a position to do themselves.

* Move fast and deliver quickly. Startups are more nimble than larger organizations so play to your strengths.

Top Quotes:

* “One of the issues is a time gap. For a startup, twelve months is a lifetime, for a large company, it’s only four quarterly reports.”

* “Steve Jobs didn’t see himself stealing customers from Microsoft, but he saw himself increasing the size of the market. It’s not always a zero sum game.”

* “It’s great to have confidence, especially if they can argue why they are so confident, but there’s also such a thing as being overly confident.”

* “Defining your initial market is one of the most difficult things to do. There’s no silver bullet, it’s just a lot of trial and error.”

* “You need to be very good at focusing on things, coordinating things and getting them delivered. As a startup working on your own product, you can use trial and error twenty times over and make adjustments. You have a nimbleness, but you don’t necessarily have that when you enter into a large partnership.”

Making first contact with a prospective new client can be a great feeling, especially if you feel that you’ve quickly built rapport and your product or service will be of real help to the client’s business. Realistically, though, how many times are we ever going to make a sale after speaking to a client just once? Therefore, the follow up with the client is just as important as making contact.

For small business owners, this can prove somewhat of a challenge. We want to keep in contact with prospects, but we don’t want to feel as if we are pestering them. All of the rapport you built up on your first call could be swept away if they feel hounded in any way. On the other hand, a burgeoning business relationship could fade away if you leave it too long before you contact them for a follow up. How we relate and serve clients can make or break our businesses, so there are mental barriers when it comes to things like following up. If we want to build and maintain fantastic client relationships, what’s the best way to keep in touch with them?

On this episode of the number one small business podcast, we’re joined by Amanda Holmes. Amanda is currently the CEO of Chet Holmes International and her business is helping companies grow faster, better and smarter. She’s going to be sharing her thoughts on this tricky issue and some actionable tips that should take the anxiety out of following up with prospective clients.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I successfully follow up with prospective clients?

About Amanda:

Amanda Holmes originally followed her passion and studied music at USC, but joined her father’s company after he sadly passed away. After a while she stepped into the role of CEO and is now driving Chet Holmes International to further success. Amanda is now an authority on sales, marketing and growth. She’s here with us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast to share some of her experiences of following up with prospective clients and some actionable tips that can be implemented in any type of business.

Actionable Tips:

* The perfect window for following up is within 1-2 hours of your conversation.

* The four elements of an effective follow up are:

* Make sure you start your correspondence with something personal.

* Compliment the client on an aspect of their business.

* Mention to hot buttons that they are currently facing.

* Close on a personal note.

* Focus on the client, their needs, desires and hot buttons.

Top Quotes:

* “The one with the most passion wins.”

* “The ultimate salesperson is one who perseveres with passion.”

* “Focus on one product, vertical or niche, then you can expand out from there. Focus on one first. Companies start to grow and see progress because the mind of the entrepreneur is focused and their attention is not scattered around too many different ideas.”

* “You don’t have customers, you have clients. Clients are under the care, guidance and protection of an expert.”

* “E-mail marketing is the second highest ROI marketing method after referrals. Find your voice, find a way to be authentic and it will resonate with people way more than being ‘salesy’.”

* “The number one marketing mistake that entrepreneurs make is to focus on themselves. Don’t focus on you, focus on them, their needs and desires.”

* “You should leave nothing up to chance. Every one of your salespeople should know exactly how to follow up. The same is true of staff working in customer service.”

Amanda’s Links:

* Chet Holmes International (http://www.chetholmes.com/)

* Amanda’s Twitter (https://twitter.

Building a following or community online is a pretty tough ask these days as the competition for the attention of users is fierce. Everyone seems to be offering more and more in terms of content and value to try and keep people on their sites long enough for a community to develop. As a result, many of us have become cynical towards sites that offer a great deal and don’t seem to ask for anything in return.

Our guest on this episode of the number one small business podcast has faced an extreme version of this issue with his site as he’s giving away free money! If alarm bells are going off and you’re thinking of e-mails you’ve received from deposed princes in far off countries, don’t worry!

Chris Holbrook has created his own spin on the lottery format with Free Postcode Lottery. His users simply enter their postcodes and prizes are awarded every day through a number of different draws. A dedicated community of users has grown up around the site and Chris now has an army of brand ambassadors who help spread the message and bring new users to the site. As the business grows through advertising revenue, so too do the prizes that users are able to win.

How was Chris able to overcome some of the cynicism that greeted him in the early days of his business? And how was he able to create an environment that was suited to growing a powerful following? Chris is going to talk us through these points on more on this episode of your favourite small business podcast.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can I build a loyal and trusting following in today’s noisy world?

About Chris:

Chris Holbrook has worked as a freelance web developer for such high profile clients as Nokia, BT and the BBC. It was while working as a developer that he struck upon the idea for his site, Free Postcode Lottery. The site is a lottery but users needn’t buy a ticket, they simply enter their postcode. Prizes are awarded every day through a variety of different draws. Through advertising revenue, Chris is able to grow his business at the same time as sharing success with his users.

Actionable Tips:

* Be visible, transparent and authentic. If people can see the person behind the business, they’re less likely to be cynical about it.

* Cultivate your user base. Allow your users to become part of the website and part of the movement. Always exploit opportunities to delight your users or customers.

* Persevere and be patient. It’s very difficult to be heard online and it’s tempting to give up if things aren’t going well. Don’t become disheartened.

Top Quotes:

* “The very first mistake I made was choosing April 1st to launch the site!”

* “You do get lots of cynicism but at the same time I also get lots of people who go the extra mile and constantly surprise me.”

* “Public negativity is an inevitability. I’ve been lucky so far in that there hasn’t been a bad review or article or any negativity from anyone who matters. There has been negativity from trolls though.”

* “If I can make a living from the website in a way that means that there are no losers, why would I change what I’m doing to make money? What really excites me is that the model benefits everyone and it’s scalable so the mutual benefit grows.”

* “Having a community like mine is like having an army!”

Chris’ Links:

* Free Postcode Lottery (http://freepostcodelottery.com/)

* Chris’ LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-holbrook/11/34/911)

* Chris’ E-Mail ([email protected])

Key Timestamps:

* 01:04 Challenged Issue

Most small business owners know that they need to have an online presence in order to compete and stay relevant. Are we doing enough though? Are we getting the most out of the massive opportunities that come with doing business online? Are we engaging in digital commerce or ecommerce? And what’s the difference?

We’re joined on this episode of the number one small business podcast by Chaitra Dutt, who is going to help us answer these questions and more. Chaitra knows a great deal about this area and currently serves as a Chief Marketing Officer of Meylah, an innovative digital commerce platform for small and medium sized businesses.

With Chaitra, we’ll lay out the differences between ecommerce and digital commerce and why your business should be getting digital commerce ready. Chaitra also has some great actionable tips that will help you assess your business’ readiness and help your prepare for a more engaging customer experience beyond the simply transactional.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

Are you digital commerce ready?

About Chaitra:

Chaitra Dutt is the CMO of Meylah, a digital commerce platform for small businesses. She has previously helped to create Microsoft’s service culture and served as Director of Licensing at Oracle.

Chaitra has a proven track record of enabling global transformations, readying business for digital commerce and delivering tangible results for businesses around the world.

Actionable Tips:

* Take a Digital Ready Assessment. Businesses that are digitally ready are 11% more profitable. The assessment has been put together by real leaders in this area. After taking the assessment you can see where you need to spend your money to improve. Get to know where your business is right now, so you can take steps in the right direction.

* Pledge to Entrepreneurs Unite. Small businesses are the segment of the economy that can provide jobs for future generations.

* Join the free Meylah boot camp taster. You will learn what it will take for what it will take your business to support digital commerce.

Top Quotes:

* “The difference between digital commerce and e-commerce is the difference between engagement versus just transactions. Digital commerce is a solution to attract a customer who can engage with you beyond simply transactions.”

* “There are a lot of fragmented solutions and small businesses are getting overwhelmed. Digital commerce allows you to handle all aspects of commerce from one platform.”

* “The first reason why you need ready to do digital commerce is discovery. Consumers are using their mobile phones to search and if you’re not found after a relevant search then you’ve lost an opportunity.”

* “Can I convert the consumer from discovery to engagement to transaction?”

* “Engagement looks different for every business.”

* “Engagement can be as simple as writing a blog post, as simple as creating a webinar or as simple as providing templates and tools to save your customers’ time.”

Chaitra’s Links:

* Meylah (https://meylah.com/)

* Chaitra’s LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitrav)

Key Timestamps:

* 00:30 Challenged Issue

* 00:48 Chaitra’s Introduction

* 03:38 Digital Commerce

* 05:19 Common Mistakes

* 07:38 Challenges of Digital Commerce

* 11:38 How Can I Begin?

* 15:20 Engagement

* 19:10 Getting Started

* 22:57 Actionable Tips

* 28:20 Chaitra’s Links

Don’t forget, the more you expect from yourself, the more you WILL excel!

As small business owners, we all know that gaining a customer’s trust is very important. It’s common sense and it’s covered in all of the business books that we like to read. But, it can be easy to neglect when we’re chasing those sales and trying to grow our business. How can we not only build trust, but maintain it as well?

With us on this episode of your favourite small business podcast is Hani Mourra, the creator of Simple Video Press and Simple Podcast Press, WordPress plugins that have made content management easier for thousands of entrepreneurs around the world. Hani’s approach is one that all small business owners could learn from as he treats every customer and potential customer as a friend. His customer relationships start well before a transaction takes place and continue long after.

It sounds like a great way to do business, but surely this approach would take up a lot of time? Well, according to Hani, it doesn’t need to. A few minutes here or there, pointing your customers in the right direction can build trust and create invaluable good will for your business. Customers who have received your help and understanding in times of need can often become brand ambassadors for both you and your product. This ambassadorship could have a powerful influence on your business’ growth.

Let’s dig in to this together and see how you can forge customer relationships built on trust that will help your business prosper.

Issue Challenged in this Small Business Podcast:

How can we build trust with our potential customers?

About Hani:

Hani Mourra is a video marketing guru and the software designer behind Simple Video Press and Simple Podcast Press. Hani’s plugins have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and hobbyists around the world take some of the headaches out of managing their content on their sites.

Hani has built a customer base built on trust by always treating customers as friends and building relationships that continue long after a transaction has been made. His customers have become his brand ambassadors and helped his business grow.

Actionable Tips:

* Be approachable. Always let people know that they can reach out to you if they need something. It doesn’t cost too much time and it builds fantastic good will.

* Produce valuable content. Content that will help people and give real value is important before any sales are made and to continue relationships after transactions have taken place. Find out what your customers problems are and create content that will be helpful to them.

* Help as many as people as you can without asking for anything in return. You don’t have to spend hours and hours, you can sometimes point someone in the right direction in a few minutes. They will remember and appreciate your help.

Top Quotes:

* “I was approachable and accessible. Whatever they needed, whatever they wanted. If they wanted me to login to their site and help, I was very accessible. This was very important in building trust. Always be approachable and people love that one on one time.”

* “By building trust, you end up with brand ambassadors, people who will come out and fight your corner.”

* “When you help someone solve problems, they become ambassadors. They appreciate your time and they talk about you and the product.”

* “When customers know you are there for them, whether they are buying something or not, it makes a world of difference.”

* “The small things make a difference. All the customer’s experiences, especially the first, should be pleasant and easy-going. A simple example would be how they feel when you greet them as they walk in the door.”

* “Always empathise with the customer or the person you’re working with. Their ultimate goal is to be using your product...