The Ictus Marketing Podcast

The Ictus Marketing Podcast is coming back. Stay tuned.

Tom Casano is the founder of Sureoak, a full-service SEO firm dedicated to helping purpose-driven organizations achieve remarkable, long-term growth to make the world a better place to live in. We do this with SEO.

The Sureoak team specializes in getting you more targeted organic traffic to help grow your company. We not only help big-hearted organizations reach more people; we also help searchers find what they’re looking for.

Podcast celebrity. Get used to the term, because there will be more of them in the future as podcasts continue to gain traction in people's media routines.

With the success of Criminal, Lauren Spohrer is a bonafide podcast celebrity. She and her team produce one of the longest running and most successful true crime podcasts out there.

Lauren says that one rule of telling a good story is to avoid giving it all away at the beginning. It's a great characteristic of the Criminal Podcast. When I'm listening to it, I find myself leaning in and waiting to hear what happens next. They are masters at building tension in a story. 

Jake Scanlan runs Wiild Creative, a creative marketing agency out of Pasadena, CA. Scanlan's training in user experience gives him a unique viewpoint on how to build a strong brand. He specializes in helping companies figure out what makes them unique, and encourages his clients to be themselves in the market.

Josh Steimle is speaker, writer, and entrepreneur. He has written over 200 articles for publications like Forbes, Inc, Mashable, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, and Time, and is the author of Chief Marketing Officers at Work, which includes 29 interviews with CMOs from organizations like GE, the Harvard Business School, Spotify, Target, and PayPal. Josh is the CEO of MWI, a digital marketing firm he founded in 1999 with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and the U.S.

I think a lot about the convergence of my faith with my profession. In my conversation with author and publisher, Darren Shearer, we talk about how Jesus used some fundamental principles of marketing to change the world.

Tom Hunt, the creator of VirtualValley.io is helping business owners and entrepreneurs get more done by connecting them to a global talent pool of virtual assistants.

People love to hate advertising. It’s interruptive, intrusive, offensive, and 90% of the time it’s irrelevant. But there’s one day in the year that advertising is celebrated.

Marc Koehler is the President of Lead with Purpose, a company dedicated to helping people lead more purposeful lives. He brings over 30 years of business and life experiences that include US Navy Submarine Officer, Interim CEO/COO, Entrepreneur, Husband, Father, and Soccer Coach.

Erin Youngren is the better half (I think Jeff will forgive me, and probably agree) of the Youngrens photography studio based in San Diego.

Through ten years of photography together, Erin and Jeff have learned a lot about what it takes to grow a sustainable business. They own and operate three photography businesses in San Diego and actively teach other photography entrepreneurs how to get started in a crowded market. By sharing their challenges, Erin believes they can help others learn without experiencing the same pain.

Fear is one of the greatest issues in most businesses. Many of us fear that someone will come along and take business away from us. Erin combats these fears with generosity. Instead of having their acquired knowledge taken from them they give it away freely, and in doing so the Youngrens found success.

Jeff began his photography career through the generosity of a mentor – another highly successful photographer. Wedding photography allowed Jeff to combine his love of photography with his passion for telling emotional stories.

Wedding photography was not a simple business start up. The Youngren's received help from surprising sources along the way, and this help will never be forgotten by Jeff and Erin. They discovered that wedding photography is a unique and collaborative industry. Photographers have come together to share and make the industry stronger and better.

The Youngrens noticed that other photographers were willing to share their tips and tricks. Leaders would put on workshops. They noticed that giving was a huge part of the wedding photography atmosphere. Jeff and Erin realized that when they give, they build credibility and trust. Their business began to thrive.

Generosity in their business is not without its problems. Jeff and Erin discovered some who would take and not give back, but they realized that that is their problem. It is not a reason to stop being generous.

When people took advantage of the Youngrens' kindness, fear would sometimes pop its ugly head to the surface. When this happens, Jeff and Erin talk with each other and ask, “What are we so afraid of?”

Erin believes that generosity has not only helped their photography business, but has helped the wedding photography industry as a whole. Here are some of the ways that Erin has grown their business:

Writing prolifically on their business blog – not always about business, but about cooking and their life together. This is a strategic decision to give their audience a way to develop a personal relationship with them.

Erin works to connect with their target audience through shared values = Marketing! 

Erin has written a precise profile of their ideal client. Her name is Emma. Erin has conversations with her when no one is watching.

Erin and Jeff established themselves as industry leaders by being open about their business practices and actively helping other photographers be better. 

Speaking of generosity, Erin created a guide just for Ictus listeners on How To Run A Generous Businesswhich you will find at theyoungrens.com/ictus. Check it out and send them a compliment on Twitter (@theyoungrens)!