It's one thing to tell you on this podcast about small business marketing tactics and strategies that should work, but it's another thing to actually show you a real-life example of a case where they have worked.  That's exactly what I do in today's episode, as I interview one of my clients--Jimmy Dedmond, the owner of Odds & Ends Home Improvement.  Jimmy's handyman business has really taken off since we began working on creating a marketing system for him earlier this year, and in our interview we tal.ked about how tactics like search engine optimization and reputation marketing have helped him get new customers.

One of the most important skills a local small business owner must master is that of capturing and holding the attention of their ideal customer.  That topic is the subject of the book Captivology by Ben Parr, which won a 2016 Small Business Book Award in the category of marketing from Small Business Trends magazine.

Ben is a widely acclaimed tech journalist who has advised many well-known brands including Lufthansa, Rebelmouse, and AngelHack.  He has served as the Co-Editor and Editor-at-Large of Mashable and has been named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30.

In his book, Ben defines three types of attention that marketers must be aware of and take into account–immediate attention, short attention, and long attention.  He also identifies seven “triggers” that we can use to capture these types of attention.

In my interview with Ben, we discuss how a local business owner can use these seven triggers to make their marketing more effective.

This week, Google announced that they will start allowing businesses to advertise on Google maps via "promoted pins".  In today's episode, I go over what they mean by that, and speculate on how the program might work and what it means for the typical local business owner. 

This week, Budweiser announced what has to be one of the stupidest marketing ideas in history.  They said that they will be changing the label on cans of their flagship beer this summer so that instead of saying "Budweiser" they say "America".  Apparently the Belgian-owned company thinks that this will help them sell more beer.  While I think that this particular idea should have never made it out of the boardroom, there is validity in the idea that simply changing the way you package or brand your products or services can increase sales.  In today's episode, I suggest some ways that small business owners can do some creative branding to help grow their business with little to no expense. 

In my most recent episode of the Small Business Marketing Podcast, I interviewed Chris Risse from Mediaryte about how to create a compelling story for your business that inspires your customers and makes them loyal to your brand.

The book I wrote last year has been nominated for marketing book

In today's episode, I teach you about "contact marketing", which is a term coined by Wall Street Journal cartoonist Stu Heinecke, who recently wrote a book called How to Get a Meeting With Anyone.  Contact marketing is all about connecting with someone who could transform your business.  This could be a major client, an influential strategic partner, or a famous mentor.  Listen to the episode to find out when you should use this type of marketing and get some ideas you could use in your own contact marketing campaign.

I find myself covering this important topic once again as I continue to encounter small business owners who just haven't gotten the message yet.  Enough is enough!  Take control of your digital assets like your domain name, website hosting, and social media profiles NOW before you are faced with a situation like the real-life example I give in today's episode.