Marketing Study Lab - Actionable Marketing Knowledge

Brain food, what food can help you with your studies. We’ll find out later, but first, lets find out what being a virtual assistant is all about as we chat to Louisa van Vessem, who is the owner and VA for Workflow Virtual Assistant. Louisa’s mantra is to run straight ahead at those things that put fear into you. Scared of heights? Why not do a skydive? Introverted and don’t like talking to crowds – do a podcast or stand up on stage! That’s why in this episode Louisa talks about Time Terrorists and Money Laundering, oh and also all things VA.

Takeaways

- A Virtual Assistants (VA’s) job can vary massively from admin tasks to web design. They can even be used as a sounding board – so getting the right fit with a client is hugely important for Louisa, which is great to hear as this means all of her clients will be as much of a great fit for her as Louisa is for them, win / win.

- Admin tasks have changed. We are taking on more and more without the increase of any time (we all still have 24 hours in a day), which can lead to mistakes and missed elements as we can be so focussed on other areas, be it in a business or working on our own thing.

What tasks are critical and are your sweet spot and which should be pushed down the pecking order? Consider this when doing your research and studies.

- Take note of Louisa’s tips for that work-life-study balance and how to stay organised:

- Breakdown your tasks into small bites sized chunks

- Consider using an online project management tool such as Asana

- Don't be afraid to ask for help – and that means your tutors and peers

- Set deadline dates and work out what is essential, cutting out the crap

- Take breaks – we’ve cover it in previous episodes, make sure you take heed as it is as important as the hours you are putting in

Top Tip – Brain Food

If you want to optimise your chances of passing a Marketing qualification, nutrition during studying can play a larger part than you think. Keeping healthy isn’t only good for your…. Health, but also your brain power.

Here is a list of those ‘super brain foods’ courtesy of the BBC Good Food:

Wholegrains – For concentration

Oily Fish – Healthy brain function

Blueberries – Boosts short term memory

Tomatoes

Eggs

Blackcurrants – Reduce anxiety and stress

Pumpkin Seeds – Boost your mood

Broccoli – Improve brainpower

Sage – Boost memory

Nuts – Protect brain function

Enjoy.

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

LinksLouisa van Vessem: https://workflowva.com LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/workflowva/ @WorkflowVA:https://twitter.com/WorkflowVA Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/WorkflowVA/ Insta:https://www.instagram.com/workflowva/

Asana Project Management: https://asana.com Trello Project Management: https://trello.com

App:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

Theory:Douglas McGregor X and Y Theory:

Let’s have a conversation with Hannah Thorpe, the MD of white.net, about all things SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) – and I must apologise as some of the audio may be a little clicky, but let see how it goes. Hannah is an SEO specialist, covering everything from technical issues to marketing campaigns so Hannah has a lot of experience to share with us. This means Hannah is the perfect person to answer that all important question, do you know anyone that uses the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button on Google?

Takeaways

- Any strategy should have objectives attributed to it, especially digital as there is no excuse to not monitor and learn from the findings

- Using an external agency has many benefits and as Hannah points out they can bring the experience that may not be available internally, experience from other sectors that can be invaluable and possibly create a USP for an organisation. Because of this versatility over different markets, spotting trends is also a key ingredient of outsourcing SEO capabilities.

- When building an online presence, especially your website, try using common sense to start to build your site and the content on it. This will give you a solid foundation to build on… as long as you are always putting the user first….. Always put the user first.

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

LinksHannah Thorpe: [email protected] @hannahjthorpe - https://twitter.com/hannahjthorpe www.white.net @whitedotnet - https://twitter.com/whitedotnet

Books:The Human Brand – Chris Malone: https://amzn.to/2vCod5l

App:Citymapper: https://citymapper.com/manchester

We’re talking to Korbinian Lehner, who is a Senior Digital Native for Telekom Deutschland (you may know them better as T-Mobile). Korbinian opens up the world of innovation in a way you may never have considered before and does this through the skills he has learnt and a lot of enthusiasm.

Takeaways- Innovation is crucial to make forward progress, but this must be done in a structured way in order for us to make sense of it all.

- The two digital trends Korbinian will be looking out for as:

- Blockchain and the speed, plus security this software can provide. Conisder moving house and how complex this is, blockchain has the potential to do all this within days if not hours, safely and securely

- AI (Artificial Intelligence), but not in the way we are probably thinking, but using it for the ability to make decisions and from this generate new and better intel

- Social media has the power not only to connect each other, but connect the information we place in it. This combined with the personal touch and emotional context is as empowering as anything, which we sometimes forget

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

Links

Korbinian Lehner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/korbinianlehner/ @KorbinianLehner - https://twitter.com/KorbinianLehner

Harvard Referencing: https://my.cim.co.uk/media/34817/harvard-referencing-v3-2016-final.pdf

Books:Speed of Thoughts – Bill Gates: https://amzn.to/2vDfYG7

App:If This, Then That (IFTTT): https://ifttt.com

Theory:The Goat Theory (The Monty Hall Problem): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lb-6rxZxx0

It's a Marketing Study Lab special! Regular programming will resume shortly but for today, enjoy as we talk all things creative!

Yes, the first special, needs a special guest and I am delighted to be accompanied on this episode by Mr. Dave Birss, who amongst some other titles, which we’ll find out about a bit later on is the author of ‘How to Get to Great Ideas?’ a book all about, well, getting great ideas.

Before we get stuck into the innovative world that Dave has create in this book I just want to let you all know that it is out tomorrow, links in the show notes as always, but forget the notes, just go to Amazon, type in Dave Birss and you’ll see it – its yellow and has squiggles on the front.

Once you’ve pre-ordered it, you will be given an access code that will allow you to listen to the rest of this episode in any language you want – so keep a look out for that code, if you cant find it, not to worry, the default language is English / Scottish so you should be fine if you’ve understood the first part of this intro.

Takeaways

- There are two types of thinking; Creative thinking and doing thinking, where some people are better at creativity and others are more doers.

- Innovative thinking can be taught, it’s not something you are born with or without. Dave describes it as the input defining the output – if your creativity input is minimal the how do you expect the output to be any different. The same with any type of system really.

- And speaking of systems, from a business perspective it is said there can be two types. A stifling system where it is all about control and there are layers of fear dominating the hierarchical structure or there is a system of liberation and freethinking.

For more of the creative stuff, get Dave’s book and lets all start to think about getting great ideas!

LinksDave Birss: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebirss/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/davebirss@davebirss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davebirss/ @davebirss Book Offer: https://upvir.al/58454/lp58454 Books:How to Get to Great Ideas – Dave Birss: https://amzn.to/2qjtgoSIconic Advantage – Soon Yu and Dave Birss: https://amzn.to/2EUh08I A User Guide to the Creative Mind - https://amzn.to/2Q7YRW3 App:Procreate: https://procreate.art

When entering an exam, did you know that if you can understand the time you have and how it is broken down it can help you maximise the potential to gain the most marks. If not, don’t worry, we’ll be covering it later.

Before we get to all that, let’s talk to John Espirian, a freelance technical copywriter who has the nack to make the complex, simple. Not only that, but he shares a wealth of knowledge at every single touch point, just checkout his website – espirian.co.uk, which is jammed packed with guidance on a whole host of topics, not just copywriting, of which some of these topics and a link to the website can be found in the show notes, so you know John will be bringing the same level of knowledge from these to this eposide.

Go check it out: espirian.co.uk

Takeaways

I told you John was full of hints, tips, guidance and knowledge…. So how do you unpack all of this, hmmmmm. Here are my top takeaways from this chat:

- John Espirian’s 5 fundamentals for starting as a copywriter are:

- Find your niche and don’t be generic

- Make sure you have a web presence (obviously ) – choose one social platform and do it well

- Connect with peers and help each other thrive

- Connect with your ideal client (like, comment and share…. Stuff)

- Invest in yourself and learning what you need to learn

- Write down everything  - Even if it makes no sense, then go back and edit as it’s the editing that can be the hard part. John relates this to baking. You need to leave your copy to prove, before going back to edit it to make sense.

- Always be thinking of the call to action while writing. Why are you writing what you are writing and what is the intent behind this? Is it sales, download, contact? And this can be related to your assignments or exams and writing to make it easy for the examiner to give you marks – see we do provide you value as well as stimulating chats!

Top Tip - Time, is on your side (exam timings)

So let’s get mathematical. Say your exam is 3 hours long and is worth a total of 60 marks. If we look at the July exam there were 5 questions in total all with different levels of marks attributed to them.

Now for the science bit (it may be worth looking at the show notes for this one to make some sense of it all) :

3 hours = 180 minutes

180 / 60 total marks = 3 minutes per mark

We can now work out how long we should spend on each question, so:

If the questions is worth the following marks:

10 marks = 30 minutes

15 marks = 45 minutes

20 marks = 1 hour

If you can worth this out in the first few minutes of any exam then it will pay dividends as you will be able to keep on track and shouldn’t run out of time!

I hope that make some sense.

LinksJohn Espirian: https://espirian.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnespirian/ @espirian - https://twitter.com/espirian

Using Social Media to Get Copywriting Work:https://espirian.co.uk/can-social-media-help-you-get-copywriting-work/ Freelancing: https://espirian.co.uk/freelance-copywriting-work/ Writing Tips:https://espirian.co.uk/10-writing-tips/ Proof Reading Tips:https://espirian.co.uk/top-10-proofreading-tips/

Books:Deep Work – Cal Newport : https://amzn.to/2KpcUD2 Selling the Invisible – Harry Beckwith:

Let’s have a little natter with Darren Goldsby, the Chief Digital Officer for The Jamie Oliver Group. But what you think a Chief Digital Officer does and what they actually do are probably two very different thinks as Darren goes on to explain, it’s a lot more than just a website, clicks and followers.

Takeaways

- Digital touches everything, whether you realise it or not. It is available to effectively help a business grow and develop. This doesn't just mean a website. It can be customer focused, internally focused, process driven, supplier driven, but it is utilising the appropriate levels of technology and data within the business that makes it work

- Use examples to sell your ideas, which Darren has to do when trying to convince the digitally uneducated. And this is what I preach all the time, especially when writing for an assignment. Real life examples can help to back up your statements and produce compelling answers. Darren’s  example of searching for commercial property online is a great one as it sounds so archaic to think that it was done any other way now, but that is the power of the example – proof that something works and these are undeniable truths

- The way people find content has changed massively over recent years and this is now predominantly done via a preferred social platform and perhaps one other app, such as a news app. This is why it’s so important to know your audience and where their attention is.

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

Links

Darren Goldsby: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrengoldsby/ @dmgoldsby - https://twitter.com/dmgoldsby

Books:Good to Great – Jim Collins : https://amzn.to/2OJED4z

App:Wood Puzzle: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wooden-block-puzzle-game/id1078160821?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.addswhilessuffers.binds&hl=en_GB

Theory:Here is a great article from the Harvard Business Review about Old v New Power: https://hbr.org/2014/12/understanding-new-power

Let’s meet Tea drinking Tracey Tait, who is an Independent Marketing Consultant based in Newcastle, don’t let her accent deceive you, she is definitely based in the North East.

What should make Tracey’s story compelling to you is the fact she has worked for large global organisations as well as SME’s and will be able to give us all a well-rounded view on all things Marketing. Her methods are Simple, effective and time-saving and who doesn’t want that.

Takeaways

- Tracey provided us with the ultimate 6 step guide to building an ideal client / persona / avatar and this is the one and only takeaway I want to focus on as its so important to get this right. So these six steps are:

1 – Demographic (age, gender, marital status, vocation, level of education, etc)

2 – What is going with them? They obviously have a problem that you can solve, what is that? What are their pain points and challenges? And are they the decision maker, if not who is, as these are the people who will have the final say?

3 – Where are these people – where do they congregate, not physically, although it may well be, but more digitally – what websites, blogs, social do they use and who do they follow?

4 – What is there story and remember to have empathy and consider the emotional side as this can be a powerful tool. Thoughts, feelings, fears, desires – all important!

5 – What is the story after purchase. It doesn't end after the sell

6 – The negative persona and avoiding the clients that you don't want to target. It sounds backwards but it can provide so much clarity in who your ideal client actually is.

Thanks Tracey!

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

Links

Tracey Tait: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceytait/ https://www.facebook.com/TranscendYou/ @transcendyou - https://twitter.com/transcendyou

Seth Godin Podcast Akimbo: https://www.akimbo.me

Books:Tribes – Seth Godin: https://amzn.to/2LYQa1s

App:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com

Theory:Here are some articles about the power of Content Marketing: http://www.marketingjournal.org/the-power-of-content-marketing-jon-wuebben/ https://blog.markgrowth.com/20-stats-that-show-the-power-of-content-marketing-in-2018-c2aaa7e1d13a https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/10/stats-invest-content-marketing/

Let's talk to Louise Shanahan, a copywriter for The Copy Prescription, and I love that name as Louise writes within two niche marketplaces – yep - health and the Government.

Louise is also a fitness nerd and a former civil-servant, which helps as she is writing about these two things A LOT!  Go figure, someone who knows an industry, has a passion for it and has gone niche, actually making a living from these things, well I never!!!

Takeaways

- What is your skill, what is your niche? Louise career has been guided, some would say by her personal life but she always utilised this to her advantage, which is now also the niche she is thriving in. From Wooden Spoon to Gym Fanatic – you make your own future, what will yours be?

- But once you have your niche, how do you thrive in this particular community. Well, Louise maximised her knowledge of Government and Health as well a being very relatable, genuine and trustworthy – and video Marketing can prove to be a great platform to do this as long as the message you are conveying is relative and for good

- Copywriting can help persuade and sell, which is basically good marketing fundamentals. Louise tells her clients that they have a duty to have good copy as they will be doing their customers a disservice if they let then click away. If you have a great product or service – you need to use the right platforms along with the right message to stand any chance of surviving.

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

LinksLouise Shanahan http://thecopyprescription.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-shanahan-b60b70113/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecopyprescription/

Books:Confidence Game – Maria Konnikova: https://amzn.to/2B47aza

App:Podcast Addict: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict&hl=en_GB

EverNote: https://evernote.com

Today we’re going to chat with someone that knows a thing or two about Global Employer Branding, which may sound familiar as back in episode 23 we chatted to Kim Kunze from Siemens about Employer Branding. Siemens we kind enough to let me not only talk to Kim, but also her colleague Andrea Scheerbaum (apologies about the pronunciation)!

Andrea, who believes her English isn’t up to scratch, well Andrea, I can tell you now if this is poor English, I’m certainly no Englishman! Onto the serious side now and Andrea has had many jobs at Siemens including Global Employer Branding, but her passion firmly lies with PRIDE@siemens, but I won’t steal her thunder as we get to that later on in our chat after we’ve discussed global employer branding, encouraging graduates to participate in activities and how it is important to have a mixture of experience and the right qualifications.

Takeaways

- Be curious as it opens doors. Quite simply, if you don't ask, you don't end up getting. Andrea started by trying to understand the products and services Siemens produced and then developed skills along the way by being inquisitive and passionate. Passion goes a long way as long as its pointed in the right direction, so don't be afraid to say ‘I’ll do that’ or ‘I’ll help with that’ to learn something new or expand your current knowledge. 

- Global Employer Branding is all about people, not product. And through this, values are created and if you can develop the right values, you create a culture where people can thrive, not just survive. But each country is different and needs to be tackled in a project by project basis, but the overall premise is the same – tell stories, huh, funny that, telling stories and engaging does work!

- Siemens knows that if you can get the buy-in from students and graduates they are more likely to succeed and this is achieved through mentoring on the job, high level trainee programs, speed dating events with employees and ‘Siemens Stay’, a forum to discuss the recruitment process.

- When looking for employment take your time to read the job specification and if you feel you can achieve at least 70% of it then it could be a fit for you. The other 30% can be picked up along the way through, yep, asking questions, being curious and a continuous desire to learn. Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

LinksAndrea Scheerbaum: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-scheerbaum-226151a7/ Siemens: https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home.html Siemens Diversity: https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/company/sustainability/diversity.html PRIDE@siemens: https://twitter.com/pridesiemens?lang=en Books:The Magic of Cleaning - Magic Cleaning 1: Wie richtiges Aufräumen Ihr Leben verändert: https://amzn.to/2Abdm7M

We need to get back to our interview with Gill Andrews, who is a copywriter and a web consultant placing her in the prime position to discuss all things copy, communications and web design, which we started to do on the previous episode (episode 26). We left Gill discussing why no one cares if you are ‘number 1 in the marketplace’ or an ‘innovate company’, but they do care about how you are going to solve their problems!

Takeaways

- Be careful of new trends and tools that can creep onto your website. Just because it’s new doesn't mean it is right for your audience. Moving parts can be a distraction for users and detract, rather than improve a user experience. 

- It’s not a shame not to know, it’s a shame not to learn – what do you not understand. Any gaps in your marketing knowledge that you may need a little refresh on? Take baby steps, learn the rope and increase your skill set and knowledge.

- Gill went into geek mode for us, describing the future of web design and although some of it may have gone over my head, admittedly, the basic premise is that web design will get easier and easier, yet more sophisticated, which can only be a good thing for the user, the developer and those that aren’t developers but are willing to do it themselves – and this could be the skill that Gill states you should learn that is complimentary to what you already do.

Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License Links Gill Andrews: https://gillandrews.comhttps://twitter.com/StoriesWithGill https://www.linkedin.com/in/gill-andrews-440488121/ Lemmings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Je6pFueYg Jen Simmons (CSS Grid): https://labs.jensimmons.com Books:Pain Free Process for Writing Your About Page:https://www.enchantingmarketing.com App:Buffer: https://buffer.com Theory:Lift Concept: https://www.widerfunnel.com/the-six-landing-page-conversion-rate-factors/