Smart Marketing Show

The world is changing fast and the tools and platforms you need to do your job as a marketer continuously evolve. How do you keep up as a marketer? What are the best practices when everything can change overnight?

WPwatercooler network is sponsored by ServerPress makers of DesktopServer. Be sure to check them out at https://www.serverpress.com

Join us on an upcoming episode of Smart Marketing Show by visiting our Participant guidelines page. https://www.wpwatercooler.com/joinus/

#smartmarketingshow

Michelle Keefer of MKConsulting joins Jason Tucker and guest co-host Jen Miller to discuss how you can smarten up engagement strategies with personal touch points, swag, and meaningful conversation. Plus get tips for reducing digital distractions in your marketing, business, and daily life.

Join us on this episode of WPblab by visiting our Participant guidelines page.

WPwatercooler network is sponsored by ServerPress makers of DesktopServer. Be sure to check them out at https://www.serverpress.com

#smartmarketingshow

Effective marketing includes considerations for your audience and their needs. This is why accessibility matters from your website to social media hashtags.

Joe Simpson, Jr. joins Jason and Bridget to have this important conversation. Be sure to tune in.

Learn about Joe from his website. Definitely watch his presentation at WordCamp Long Beach.

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at serverpress.com.

A question and answer show for 38% of the web. Jason Cosper answering your WordPress questions. Got a question?

You could be a show sponsor. Especially now, let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your in-person conference budget. 

Accessibility adds to your value as an entrepreneur and improves SEO. Everything starts on your phone; design for small and think about how we communicate. Plan for the worst-case and then you will make it easy for everyone.

Get someone else to use your website to see how they use it; this is a basic UX principle, Joe reminds us.

"Accessibility is about making your services and your business available to all people." Joe Simpson, Jr.

It is worth noting that if your business comes under litigation (class action) for ADA (physical) issues they can also add digital issues. Yes, they can throw your business website into the class action on path-of-travel and other ADA issues with your property.

"The great things about WordPress is that a lot of themes are accessible out of the box." Joe Simpson, Jr.

"When I think about accessibility, I ask people to open up their website, close their eyes, and hit the tab key three times. Do you know where it is supposed to be?" Joe Simpson, Jr.

https://twitter.com/Highforge/status/1270067227304185856

"With alt tags, context of the tex hat is around the image [is important]." Joe Simpson, Jr.

If the image is decorative, then mark it as such. The WP Admin now has that feature.

Accessibility and Search

Good semantic HTML is good for accessibility and SEO efforts. Don't forget all of the great voice assistants that everyone uses.

"When I heard that people are listening to their emails [I knew accessibility has a larger audience]." Jason Tucker

When you CamelCase a hashtag it's not only easier for the sighted to read it, but screen readers will read it to a user as two separate words. CamelCase is capitalizing the first letter in each word. Remember that punctuation isn't

https://twitter.com/redcrew/status/1283388363714826241

Whenever possible, use alt descriptions for images that you use on social media as well. This helps you reach a much larger audience. Twitter allows you to write alt tags for your photos as well as GIF library images you post.

Your ad could have been here. Just sayin'

Joe recommends Buddhify to help you meditate on the go.

Jason recommends Grabatar to sync your contacts with their Gravatars.

Bridget recommends Sarah Beth Yoga for anyone interested in yoga.

In this episode, Jason and Bridget have q conversation with Keith Besherse about how to make the best use of print media in a digital world.

Strategy, tactics, getting it done on time and on budget. What would you like to know?

Sponsored by ServerPress and WPSiteSync
https://www.serverpress.com https://www.wpsitesync.com

#smartmarketingshow

Landing Page Strategies – Continuing the discussion of the why and how of landing pages, tackling the questions that go deeper. How do landing pages impact SEO? Are landing pages a requirement for conversion? When does a subdomain make sense? How do you build an audience through the use of landing pages? In this episode, Jen Miller of Next Door Marketer joins Jason and Bridget to deliver the reasoning behind the use of these types of webpages.

Panel: Jason Tucker, Bridget Willard, Jen Miller

Join us on this episode of Smart Marketing Show by visiting our Participant guidelines page.

WPwatercooler network is sponsored by ServerPress makers of DesktopServer and WPSiteSync. Be sure to check them out at https://www.serverpress.com and https://wpsitesync.com

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an unstable economy, the most important way to market yourself as a freelancer isn’t your rates. In this episode, Jason and Bridget are joined by Rhonda Negard of Fat Dog Creatives to discuss the marketing angles freelancers always forget — reliability and delivery.

This episode was inspired by The Futur’s “How Much Should I Charge as a Freelancer” video. It’s a great listen for five minutes.

Panel: Jason Tucker, Bridget Willard, and Rhonda Negard

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at serverpress.com.

You could be a show sponsor. Especially now, let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your in-person conference budget. 

Rhonda sees herself as a rebranding specialist. Though she can (obviously) make a logo from scratch, this is her gift. (Definitely check out this case study. Because of that, she charges by the project, not by hour.

The opposite is also true; it’s important to know your weaknesses. Once you start outsourcing, you have a bit of project management that is unavoidable.

Whether your networking is on LinkedIn, Twitter, or in person, it’s important to account for this time as work. Start a relationship and “get curious about other people,” Rhonda says, but not to your own detriment.

Whether you are hired as a freelancer or outsource work to freelancers, you need to keep your bench warm. Connect with people on “as many platforms as you can,” reminds Rhonda. This way, they are sure to stay top-of-mind.

When looking for vendors, Rhonda wants to know the full total of the project. This way, she can add in her margin as an agency.

When bidding, account for your time that includes networking, going through emails, and research and development, Rhonda says.

When it comes to how long something takes, well — that’s up for debate. Does it take an hour? Or is it an hour after you’ve been thinking about it for a week? You need to know this so you don’t overload your production schedule.

It’s a slippery slope when you’re pricing too low. You take on more work and miss deadlines. It’s okay. We’ve all been through it. The important thing is to understand how much work you can really handle.

Your ad could have been here.

Rhonda recommends Nail It! by Ted Leonhardt. This helps you shift your mindset from employee to entrepreneur.

Jason recommends Tappy Card. You can share any website with this special QR code. And it’s under $15!

Bridget recommends keeping kindness in the form of grace at your intention right now.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Email list management is key to ensure your email campaign is delivered. Many people focus on open rates without realizing their deliverability is sub-optimal. Working hard on email campaigns only to end up in spam is a bummer. But how old is your list? Email lists go stale like old bread.

Amy Hall joins Jason and Bridget to discuss how to stay out of spam! It’s pretty technical but we believe in you. (Even Bridget did her homework — which took about an hour.)

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at serverpress.com.

You could be a show sponsor. Especially now, let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your in-person conference budget. 

The first tip has has “nothing to do with the email that you’re building, it has to do with your own email address,” Amy says. If you’d like to stay out of the junk or spam folders, then be sure to authenticate your domain name with your email marketing provider.

Maybe you were like Bridget and were sending email campaigns from Gmail. It’s okay. You can fix that. (She did right after this episode). This is really important for email deliverability (staying out of the spam folder.)

Let the receiver’s inbox know that your email is a real and valid address and not being spoofed. This is why you use DMARC markers on your DNS server. Mailchimp is a great resource for soft and hard bounces. Mailchimp has great instructions for DKIM and SPF.

Most email campaign providers like ConvertKit, Active Campaign, and Constant Contact have these services or help articles.

Then, ensure you send emails consistently. Whatever you promise in your welcome message (every week, twice a year), do that.

This is where automation can be your best friend. If an email subscriber hasn’t opened an email in 6-9 months, send them a re-engagement campaign asking them to take an action. Then send them to a “thanks for sticking around” type of landing page.

You can clean your list through a service separate from your campaign provider. Amy recommends downloading the CSV, cleaning the list, then uploading the CSV. It’s better not to have that ding in your account.

It’s easy to add people to your lists. Bridget does it. We all do it. If you do, have an automated welcome email with the reason why that person was added and the ability to unsubscribe.

“It is against the law to send an email without an unsubscribe option,” Amy reminds us. If you see these, report them as spam in your email reader (email client).

This Tool or Tip of the week is brought to you by Cloudways. Is your website slow? Or are you looking for a reliable host for your WordPress projects?

Whether it’s an existing website or a project on your drawing board, Cloudways offers a hosting environment with all the features you need to succeed online.

Cloudways is optimized for speed and delivers outstanding performance and security, all supported by 24/7/365 support by expert cloud engineers.

It is an ideal platform for WordPress projects because of the choice of FIVE cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Linode, DigitalOcean, and Linode. The best part – your managed server and WordPress websites are ready in a few minutes.

Once the app is up and running, you can add more power to your business operations, thanks to exciting features such as free SSL certificates, CloudwaysCDN, automated and on-demand app/server backups, and custom-built Teams features to onboard distributed team members.

Cloudways extends your in-house team and takes care of all server management issues, and lets you focus on building amazing websites for your online businesses.

If you like what you have heard, start with a 3-day free trial of Cloudways now!

Amy recommends Kickbox to clean your emails.

Jason recommends Timerly for Toggl.

Bridget recommends wordhtml.com for cleaning HTML.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s important for businesses to understand how to engage with the current political climate as their brand. Brands are often considered tone-deaf when they say nothing. Amber Pechin is the diversity and inclusion lead for Phoenix Startup Week and will help us navigate the conversation on this episode.

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at https://www.serverpress.com https://www.wpsitesync.com

Is your website slow? Or are you looking for a reliable host for your WordPress projects?

Whether it’s an existing website or a project on your drawing board, Cloudways offers a hosting environment with all the features you need to succeed online.

Cloudways is optimized for speed and delivers outstanding performance and security, all supported by 24/7/365 support by expert cloud engineers.

It is an ideal platform for WordPress projects because of the choice of FIVE cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Linode, DigitalOcean, and Linode. The best part your managed server and WordPress websites are ready in a few minutes.

Once the app is up and running, you can add more power to your business operations, thanks to exciting features such as free SSL certificates, CloudwaysCDN, automated and on-demand app/server backups, and custom-built Teams features to onboard distributed team members.

Cloudways extends your in-house team and takes care of all server management issues, and lets you focus on building amazing websites for your online businesses.

If you like what you have heard, start with a 3-day free trial of Cloudways now!

https://www.cloudways.com

You could be a show sponsor. We think it is a great idea to let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your WordCamp Swag budget.

https://www.wpwatercooler.com/sponsor

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here’s the situation. “Your parents went away on a week’s vacation.” Just kidding. No, for real. You just got a great lead. Super awesome lead. But the client needs work that is out of your wheelhouse. What do you do? We suggest partnering.

On this episode of the Smart Marketing Show, Jason and Bridget will be joined by Jen Miller of Next Door Marketer to gain some insight on how to find those magic partnerships.

Panel: Bridget Willard, Jason Tucker, Jen Miller

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at serverpress.com.

You could be a show sponsor. We think it is a great idea to let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your WordCamp Swag budget. 

Being a freelancer or an agency of one is great until you want to make more money. You either need to charge more or do more. That only works for a while. Then you have another choice: hire or partner.

Know yourself. If deadlines are important to you, then partner with a vendor who feels the same. In fact, Jen Miller suggests building in a weekend. Give your vendor a date that is before it’s due to the client. Time marches on and waits for no vendor and sites don’t build themselves — even with Gutenberg.

Growth is good until you fall asleep while you’re typing. (Never publish without editing, by the way.) Networking (in-person, Slack Channels, etc) is so important. Get to know people and how they work. Ask questions. You never know when you’ll need a qualified referral (handoff) or a partner.

Checking in with a potential vendor or referral on their production schedule before recommending them to your client is just plain smart, Jen suggests.

It’s like on a dating app when everyone says they value communication until there’s a communication problem. Part of good communication is open communication and frequent communication. This is where networking and systems meet.

“Check in to see how the partner is doing on the project,” Jen Miller says. After all, it is your client. In the end, the work is your responsibility. If you don’t want the responsibility of managing the partner-vendor, then you’ll need to handoff the client to someone. Even then, you may want to check in.

Project Management Systems are a huge part of successful communication. Choose a tool and use it consistently. Have a system. Sometimes a Google Sheet is good enough. A system only works if you use it.

It’s even a good idea to create a short training video to quickly onboard partners. If both you and your partner-vendor use a project management tool (Jen likes Basecamp 3), choose yours. It’s your client. 

This Tool or Tip of the week is brought to you by Cloudways. Is your website slow? Or are you looking for a reliable host for your WordPress projects?

Whether it’s an existing website or a project on your drawing board, Cloudways offers a hosting environment with all the features you need to succeed online.

Cloudways is optimized for speed and delivers outstanding performance and security, all supported by 24/7/365 support by expert cloud engineers.

It is an ideal platform for WordPress projects because of the choice of FIVE cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Linode, DigitalOcean, and Linode. The best part – your managed server and WordPress websites are ready in a few minutes.

Once the app is up and running, you can add more power to your business operations, thanks to exciting features such as free SSL certificates, CloudwaysCDN, automated and on-demand app/server backups, and custom-built Teams features to onboard distributed team members.

Cloudways extends your in-house team and takes care of all server management issues, and lets you focus on building amazing websites for your online businesses.

If you like what you have heard, start with a 3-day free trial of Cloudways now!

Jen recommends his Clarity.fm.

Jason recommends the Google My Business app.

Bridget recommends Seconds. It is an app for interval training timers.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hoards of people have signed up for every course they can, hoping to use their time well during the "New Normal of COVID-19." But, they are also overwhelmed. They've got 99 courses but your course ain't one. So, how do you appeal to them, stand out, and market your online course?

This episode, Jason and Bridget are joined by Chris Badgett of LifterLMS. He's very active on Twitter as well as YouTube. So if you're thinking about designing an online course, go check those resources out. You can even watch his 13 video playlist of starting an online course.

Thank you for being a preroll sponsor, ServerPress! ServerPress is the maker of DesktopServer, WPSiteSync, and so much more! Check them out at serverpress.com.

You could be a show sponsor. We think it is a great idea to let people know you’re still in business and supporting your products. Supporting podcasts is a great way to repurpose your WordCamp Swag budget. 

Historically, we've had revolutions and evolutions: the enlightenment age, the industrial revolution, the information revolution. Now, Chris says, we are in the integration age.

We all have access to thousands of libraries -- free, thousands of courses -- free. Yet, how many of us take advantage? Few. We're overwhelmed with information. We need to know how this information is relevant to our lives.

Supporting the learning journey with your online course means you design the course with the end in mind. What are the expected results?

Being overwhelmed is a factor of motivation. Why is the learner taking the online course? Is it to get a certificate? There are two types of motivation when it comes to learning: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation could be a monetary reward (raise at work) or earning respect (credentials on LinkedIn). Intrinsic motivation comes from a desire from your soul to improve. Knowing what motivates your learner, helps you design your course.

Adding a map for your online course, reverse engineering it from the end result, with milestones helps with course retention.

An easy way to do this is to have a challenge. They lend themselves well to steps and pre-training/gamification.

Not every course needs to lead to a caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation. Most of the transformations we see, in nature or otherwise, aren't overnight anyway. Rather, they are a series of steps, completed.

When it comes to marketing your online course we tend to pitch transformation. But when it comes to any kind of product, the marketing has to revolve around one question:

"What's in it for me?"

Creating early wins and adding support for the learner as well as community will help retain learners to your online course. You can even move to the coach model with weekly office hours in a group format. You spend the same hour a week, with many learners.

Information is great. But if you create 10 courses that is simply a vault of your information, without any coaching, you won't have a high course completion rate. Further, you're not supporting the learner in their journey.

An important part of coaching is the right fit. This isn't about a good fit for your online course. It's a fit between the learner and the coach. Do their personality and communication styles match? How about the learner's style of learning? What about loyalty?

We tend to have these types of courses that circle around and around, like a spiral road going to the top of the mountain. There is no personalization or way to test out. That's frustrating for the learner.

When your online course includes personalization, you are supporting the learner's journey and reducing frustration. When you can tell a client to take this course over that one, then they are no longer overwhelmed.

This Tool or Tip of the week is brought to you by Cloudways. Is your website slow? Or are you looking for a reliable host for your WordPress projects?

Whether it’s an existing website or a project on your drawing board, Cloudways offers a hosting environment with all the features you need to succeed online.

Cloudways is optimized for speed and delivers outstanding performance and security, all supported by 24/7/365 support by expert cloud engineers.

It is an ideal platform for WordPress projects because of the choice of FIVE cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Linode, DigitalOcean, and Linode. The best part – your managed server and WordPress websites are ready in a few minutes.

Once the app is up and running, you can add more power to your business operations, thanks to exciting features such as free SSL certificates, CloudwaysCDN, automated and on-demand app/server backups, and custom-built Teams features to onboard distributed team members.

Cloudways extends your in-house team and takes care of all server management issues, and lets you focus on building amazing websites for your online businesses.

If you like what you have heard, start with a 3-day free trial of Cloudways now!

Chris recommends his YouTube Traffic System course.

Jason recommends Descript.com. It allows you to edit the transcript and the video. Super cool.

Bridget recommends her blog post with a tool to calculate your in-house rate (Google Sheet).

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.