Is part of your team virtual and not resident in the same physical office?

Are you using VA's (Virtual Assistants) or long-term contractors?

How do you hire when you can't physically "meet" and interview someone?

It's all about digital techniques to vet potential hires in this digital age!

In this episode of the Halftime Mike podcast I dive into my techniques for vetting and hiring digital workers.  These are workers that will not be physically in the same location as me.  I go through my process and share stories from experiences for why I do what I do, and what matters for you.

See full episode here >>

How's your business first impression online?

Are you aware you often have more than one avenue for a first impression online?

Often we think of a company website as the first impression online, and rightfully so.  However, in today's social media day, a first impression a potential customer may have with your business may be through your employees activity on social media!  Are you thinking about that?

Digital first impressions is the topic today in this Halftime Mike interview with Jeff Korhan.

View full show notes >>

Is your business targeting the right leads online?

Do you know how to speak to that ideal customer audience?

Are you Buyer Personas sharp for your business or do you need to know more about creating them?

If so, this show is for you!

What exactly is a "buyer persona"?

I'll outline it as a refined demographic of the attributes of your ideal target customers.  It's a fictional "character" that represents the keys about the client/business/role you are trying to reach with your product or service.  It's basically pulling together the common core traits of your best ideal clients and then putting a specific "personality" to that ideal client.

Are you a solo entrepreneur with dreams of growing?

Are you a small social media agency looking to scale and build your team and clients?

Listen in as we cover the Digital Matchbox story with Liz Azyan.

Liz Azyan is a UK based social media PRO STYLER.  She'll say more about exactly what that means but suffice it to say she helps rising entrepreneurs "style" and leverage their online presence to attract the right clients and build their brand online.

Liz started out as a PhD candidate turned solo entrepreneur and has now grown Digital Matchbox to be a strong multi-team digital agency.

Go to full episode notes and video replay >>

Can Instagram work for manufacturers and B2B?

Isn’t Instagram primarily geared for business-to-consumer and used by young people?

If your business builds products and relies on channels like dealers and distributors to sell your end-goods, is it worthwhile to be on Instagram?

If your business is asking these types of questions, then this post is for you!

I interview Instagram expert and social media consultant Jenn Herman of Jenn’s Trends.  In a unique livecast Blab format, I take the position of a skeptic and question Jenn from my starting point of not being able to potential in Instagram for business.  Listen in as I play the role of a RV (recreational vehicle) manufacturing exec who is not convinced that Instagram has any value for our business!

More than just a interview on Instagram, this talk is a guide to Instagram for those companies that are product oriented, not direct-to-consumer, and in industries that are not geared to a single person being the “face” of the company.  Think of it as a guide to Instagram for practical industries!

VIEW THE FULL BLOG POST >>

Are you doing local and regional business?

Are people and businesses coming to your location to do business?

How are you appearing in local search engine results?

Keys for local search are coming up for your website but ALSO IN KEY LOCAL DIRECTORIES!

How do you do this?  I dive in and explain a way...

Location-based online searches are popular among consumers using mobile devices. Local SEO has the potential to help local businesses stand out in search engines and be found by potential customers.

One vital local SEO practice involves creating and maintaining business listings on the key directories, apps, and websites that factor most into the local search engine results.

Do you have a online business?

Is your website generating solid monthly income?

Do you wish you were earning $200,000 a month from your website?

One man is doing just that!  Listen in as I interview online entrepreneur and author Matthew Paulson!

Matthew Paulson comes across as quiet and unassuming.  Yet underneath that layer of tranquility is a business mind and business success story that thousands would love to have! From Zero to 200k a month in revenue: Scaling an Online Business is the story of Matthew's rise in the web world to a powerful and massively successful website in the stock and investing industry niche  (Links to those below!).  You'll learn about his strategy, methods, and keys he feels helped the online business explode the last 2 years.  In 2015 revenue was $1.75m and it is projected to be at $2.6 this year, all while keeping the team small and nimble!

Does your business have a strong online presence?

Is your team dispersed and not all in the same office?

Are you having communication gaps as you grow?

We tackle questions like these as we hear from Tyler J. Anderson and his story of the growth of Casual Fridays.

Tyler J. Anderson is founder and CEO of Casual Fridays, a pro social media team headquartered in San Diego, CA.  He's a social media marketing entrepreneur, and host of the Social Media Social Hour Podcast, as well as Executive Producer of Social Media Day San Diego.

Businesses that are growing and have team members in different physical locations have much different experiences that businesses did 5 years ago.

Today there are tools and ways to communicate online that didn't exist cost-effectively even 3 years ago!  The ability to communicate in real-time with remote teams makes scaling a business in other states a much more "doable" situation than it was just a few years back.  Of course, just because you can and just because tools exist doesn't mean every business does it well.  Communication for remote teams and team building, team synergies, etc, are all important factors to success.

Tyler J. Anderson breaks down the story of Casual Fridays and how they have scaled in 6 years from 2 to over 22 team members spread out across the United States.  Listeners will learn about what Tyler sees as keys, and the tools that Casual Friday's uses for success.

Things online move fast!

Is your business keeping up?

Does your business need too?

We dive into this question and more as we tackle the Growing Digital Divide: Helping Businesses on the Outside of the Leading Edge!

Businesses can struggle to keep up with the fast changes in the digital world.  Just this spring we were all talking about the need to use video on Facebook as the "leading edge."  That hasn't changed, but some changes by Google+ have made that network less of a "social media" tool and more of a utility.  In my mind, Google+ is declining in value.  Were you using Facebook video yet or trying to ramp up your Google+ use?

Add to that the rage of live streaming and the onslaught of Meerkat and Periscope this summer and business marketers could feel they were behind.  I confess I didn't really jump in on Periscope or Meerkat that much.  I experimented but it wasn't a clear fit.  I'm glad I didn't because (1) my audience wasn't really there and (2) both of those livestreaming apps was then (in my opinion) superseded by Blab!

Blab, to me, made more sense primarily because of efficiencies.  I have a podcast audience.  Some listeners wanted that podcast to be video.  Video works well on Facebook.  So I could do a "Blab" and use their tools to then convert it into multiple pieces of content:

BOOM! I was sold!  That's five distinct content options from one live event.  That's what I needed!  A way to reach my audience in multiple forms where they are at.... and for me to do if efficiently!

Some businesses in the leading edge of digital flow with all these online changes easily.  Many businesses, however, don't.  They are lost in the digital overload.

In this episode, I sit with Jessika Phillips of Now Marketing Group and Donna Gilliland of MOS Training to discuss this trend.  Along the way we invite in my friend Vicki McLeod from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, and we

The web is changing how we work!

According to a infographic from Highfive, there was a 79.7% increase in the number of remote workers between 2005 and 2012, and that number just keeps jumping higher today (Infographic below)

The key is how you collaborate and communicate...and with the web, that often means tools.  What web tools for collaboration, project management and interaction help your business proceed?

I dive into my tools for remote team collaboration and communication.