theADSagency's podcast

You wouldn’t necessarily think there’s much you could learn about business from a guy who’s a forester. Growing up (and even now), my dad loved tromping around in the woods, tackling the nation’s largest forest fires, prescribing forest fires and probably so much more I have not a clue about. He’s now the pastor of a small, humble AME church in Union Springs, AL and teaches agriculture at one of the world’s greatest HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities): Tuskegee University. So what can this global marketing gal learn from her Smokey-the-Bear-like dad about business? Plenty. Apparently, he’s always been smarter than the average bear. 😉

8 BUSINESS LESSONS LEARNED FROM DAD:

1. Do not be quick to hire employees.
2. Save your money.
3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
4. Do the job right. Train others to do it right.
5. Be dependable.
6. Communication is everything.
7. Remember who you are and whose you are.
8. Believe in yourself.

Read the full details on our ADS Blog. 

Also, check out What Moms Can Teach Us About Marketing. 

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• How to Create a POWERFUL Business Name
• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

• CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES
• SUBSCRIBE TO ADS YOUTUBE
• SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Music Credit: Samba Isobel Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In the wake of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain's suicides last week, it made me think about the value of life and the state of mental health in America. We do so much to treat our physical bodies and quite little attention to our mental states and health. Not doing so lead can lead to deep depression and ultimately things like suicides, mass shootings, homicides and more.

I'm no expert in mental health, but what I do know is that we need to do more to care for ourselves and others. And the biggest lessons from all of this? (1) Be kind to others because you truly never know what they're going through and (2) Know your purpose in life. That's a serious pathway towards the richest and most meaningful life possible.

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• How to Create a POWERFUL Business Name
• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

• CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES
• SUBSCRIBE TO ADS YOUTUBE
• SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Music Credit: Samba Isobel Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Looking for something that helps make Twitter make sense? Do you not get Twitter? Just not your most fun platform (or your best ROI platform)? Anybody can use a social media management platform like HootSuite, Buffer or Sprout Social to manage and schedule social media posts, tweets, etc. But what if you manage several social media accounts? What if you want to do some real engagement with your Twitter followers without taking forever to scroll through that Twitter home page (i.e. like your Facebook timeline)? What if you want to quickly be able to scan what's happening in national / global news versus local news, the business arena, your top engagers, etc.? This is a tool you absolutely need to check out. TweetDeck is a tool that's free and easy to use - plus it works so seamlessly for your main Twitter account (and any others you happen to have to take care of). Here's a few tips to use it:

1. First go to TweetDeck.Twitter.com to access your own free account. It helps if you've already logged into Twitter. It will walk you through how to set it up from there, which only takes a few minutes. Maybe 15 max. 
2. Go back to Twitter and set up your lists. Lists are interests of yours. Want to see what your competition is doing? Set up a private list that only you can see where you can monitor their tweets. Want to keep up on the latest in industry news? You can make a list for that. The point is, whatever it is that you want to track in Twitter (hashtags for a conference, etc.) - make a list for it in Twitter. Do this on a laptop.
   • Just hover over your profile image (i.e. "avatar" as some people call it) on the top right corner of your Twitter homepage, scroll down to the "Lists" option underneath "Profile."
   • From there, it will easily walk you through setting up new lists. Just click create a list, name the list, then select whomever you want to be a part of that list.
   • Then select if you want it to be public or private. You can add on a description to the list if you like (more helpful if you want the list to be public and are interested in getting people to subscribe to that list). Boom - done.
3. In TweetDeck, create a new "column" where you can monitor your list whenever you like. Just click "add column" on the far left, dark grey column-bar, find your list and follow the steps from there. Easy-peasy.
4. Organize the lists as you like! Now, you can easily organize your lists by clicking the "toggle" looking button on the far right of any list column you have in TweetDeck. If you click that, you'll see a drop-down menu where you can click left / right arrows to move the column to the left or right in TweetDeck, you'll see options to edit your column or delete it, etc. 

That's it! You can search for hashtags using TweetDeck and easily create a column to monitor any hashtag you like. Follow your competitors using TweetDeck. Follow your top customers / clients. Follow your top fans / engagers. It's a great tool for social listening as well as engaging with those who matter most to you. Try it out and see how you like it! Any questions? Just ask here.

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• How to Create a POWERFUL Business Name
• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

• CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES
• SUBSCRIBE TO ADS YOUTUBE
• SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Music Credit: Samba Isobel Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

How do you create a powerful business name? You start with (1) homework, (2) brainstorming with friends (preferably with a bottle of wine), (3) remembering what NOT to do and (4) following these 6 best tips on how to name your business. Some of these you might be surprised by! Check this out and share it with a friend before they name their business.

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

• CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES
• SUBSCRIBE TO ADS YOUTUBE
• SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

MUSIC CREDIT: "Hard Boiled" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Last year to the day, I chatted with my sister, Nicole Smith-Hall of Charleigh Rocks, all about what it's like to be a mompreneur and the things she struggled with balancing it all (especially from a marketing / branding perspective). This year, we're leaving the conversation up to you. What should we chat about? Tell us in the comments below - we'd LOVE to know. Also, should we do this YouTube live? Traditionally, we've only gone live on Facebook, but if you think it's worth it, we'll go live here too! Up to you. Cheers and thanks!

VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:
The BEST Secrets of Networking: https://youtu.be/ruWSqCSBGrg
ELEVATE Your Launch Parties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjgkwMVlikk&t=23s

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:
Marketing 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8QXQNWiY-M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGak4zU_CJtVsIPlRpUFv4u

ADS Chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruWSqCSBGrg&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGxur4jZYvzZZo42vY5E_7O

Career Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFRVVKfq56M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCFkcHhIDBc1mDVAWDRxIQDM

CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/theadsagencys-podcast/id1366370725?mt=2

SUBSCRIBE! https://tinyurl.com/adsyoutubesubscribe

SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS!: https://tinyurl.com/ADSemailsubscribe

ABOUT A.D.S.
Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals
Website: https://theadsagency.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theADSagency
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theADSagency
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/theADSagency
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ads-agency/

MUSIC CREDIT:
"Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

LET’S TALK GDPR | SORTING OUT GDPR
Feeling overwhelmed by GDPR? We get it. Let’s talk it out.

If you have a business page on Facebook, you might’ve noticed several notifications all about GDPR on your page over the past few weeks. You probably checked it out and then became a bit confused about what it really is. Then you might’ve started digging around about it and started to see how much there is to it.

1. WHAT is it? GDPR = General Data Protection Regulation. Designed to increase protection of EU residents’ personal data. Also gives EU citizens more control over their data.

2. WHAT is the definition of personal data? Name, email, phone number, ID number, location data, IP address, online identifier, company registration number, date of birth, cookie, tag, pixel, religious info, ethnic info, biometrics data, health data, financial data, kids info.

3. WHY is it? Its core premise is that privacy is a fundamental right. It’s an update to an existing regulation from the 90s. So it has to evolve as our technology evolves. I actually lived in the UK before and I can tell you one thing: the Scottish and British alike are quite skeptical, suspectful. They’re very careful about their information. Everyone uses chip cards now instead of the “old school” slider cards, but whenever they have to input pin information at a register, ATM, etc, they ALWAYS shield their hands. I actually lived there just before America started adopting the chip cards so living over there with a “slider card” - people thought we were such “in the dark ages!!” I think it’s part of European culture to be quite skeptical of what data is being used for. Truthfully, as you might imagine due to their history and how data was used against them in the past, the most careful and skeptical country of all in the EU is Germany. Therefore, they have the strictest rules. So prior to GDPR, every country kind of had their own DPA’s (Data Protection Authorities)

4. WHERE is it? It’s for the EU but it effects anyone who does business / could potentially collect any kind of personal data from EU citizens.

5. WHO does it effect? Anyone who sells to, targets or could come across personal data from EU citizens. EU = 26 countries. Currently includes the UK. Once Brexit hits, we hear they will have their own version of GDPR.

6. WHAT does it effect? What does it change? This completely changes the way data is handled. Everything needs explicit consent now. We can now only process data we REALLY need! Now you need legal justification for why that PD is being processed. Will force us to focus on the critical data (not the nice-to-haves). Hard for us because we want it all “just in case” – for future segmenting, etc. We will also have to radically re-engineer our processes for data handling.
a. Email Marketing: Your email lists
b. Social Media:
c. Facebook custom audiences: need separate consent form from the individual for their email to be used for promoted social media posts.
d. Requests for data access: people can now request that you give them a full report on any data you have on them at any given time. When, how, to what they consented, plus the data you hold.
e. CRM Platforms (Customer Relationship Management)

7. WHEN is it? Deadline of May 25.

8. WHY should I care?
a. THE NEGATIVE SIDES: The penalties are nothing to laugh at. Fines can go as high as €20M or 4% of global revenue (whichever is higher). So if you end up sending emails without appropriate consent, guess what happens? You’re going to get fined. Honda and Flybe got fined £83K for the emails they sent back in March 2017. Could cause you to lose customers. Could cause you to lose trust. Consider the cost of obtaining a customer in the first place.
b. THE POSITIVE SIDES: Opportunity for transparency and trust, deepen relationships. Competitive advantage.

9. WHAT should I do?
a. Don’t be slick.
b. Analyze your data collection process: how do you currently obtain consent? “Positive opt-in with CLEAR affirmative action” (no pre-ticked boxes anymore). True opt-ins.
c. People also need the ability to withdraw consent for each distinct processing activity (no blanket consent) – e.g. email signup forms that pre-tick everything.
d. Can’t make people do it before they’re able to receive your service / product (unless it’s a newsletter).
e. No grandfathering: applies to ALL personal data you currently have, not just data obtained after May 25.
f. Provide clarity: Give as much detail as possible on what their data will be processed FOR and WHO will be processing it. Clearly communicate to your audience about this. What’s happening with their data – when, how? Tell them what you’re collecting, that you’re going to protect their data and do what you say you’re going to do.
g. Have a response plan & proactive plan: speed matters. Prepared comms ready to go.

When we're little, we never really realize how important, special, marvelous and INCREDIBLY wise our mothers actually are. Of course, it's not until we get much older that that begins to make sense to us. In this latest video, we're chatting all about the marketing lessons we can get from our moms. Check it out and share your favorite mom-marketing, business and life lessons here! We'd love to hear them. Cheers and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! You are supremely adored.

6 LESSONS MOM CAN TEACH US ABOUT MARKETING:

1. Be a Master Delegator
2. Pick your battles
3. Be the master of delight
4. Create a sense of community
5. Be selfless
6. Be the Master Planner

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:
The BEST Secrets of Networking: https://youtu.be/ruWSqCSBGrg
ELEVATE Your Launch Parties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjgkwMVlikk&t=23s

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:
Marketing 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8QXQNWiY-M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGak4zU_CJtVsIPlRpUFv4u

ADS Chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruWSqCSBGrg&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGxur4jZYvzZZo42vY5E_7O

Career Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFRVVKfq56M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCFkcHhIDBc1mDVAWDRxIQDM

CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/theadsagencys-podcast/id1366370725?mt=2

SUBSCRIBE! https://tinyurl.com/adsyoutubesubscribe

SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS!: https://tinyurl.com/ADSemailsubscribe

ABOUT A.D.S.
Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals
Website: https://theadsagency.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theADSagency
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theADSagency
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/theADSagency
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ads-agency/

MUSIC CREDIT:
"Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

So you've hired your first marketing person ever. Congratulations! Now what?? What should you expect? How should you work together? Well there are a LOT of things to know there, but here are 3 simple things you can do right away to make sure you're getting the most out of your new relationship.

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

• CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES
• SUBSCRIBE TO ADS YOUTUBE
• SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website
• Instagram 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

MUSIC CREDIT:

"Backbay Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

If you're a new business owner, you already know: you're the chief cook and bottle washer, main sales guy, marketing guru, CFO and everything else all in one. But exactly how DO we get people to buy something? What is that journey that we as consumers or even B2B (business-to-business) buyers go through in order to make a purchase? Well here are some basics to give you a framework to work with. In this episode, you'll learn the following fundamentals of customer journeys:

1. AIDA
2. The 5 A's
3. Know, Like & Trust

ADS VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

The BEST Secrets of Networking: https://youtu.be/ruWSqCSBGrg 

ELEVATE Your Launch Parties: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjgkwMVlikk&t=23s 

ADS PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

Marketing 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8QXQNWiY-M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGak4zU_CJtVsIPlRpUFv4u 

ADS Chats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruWSqCSBGrg&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCGxur4jZYvzZZo42vY5E_7O 

Career Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFRVVKfq56M&list=PLc4rRgg2QMCFkcHhIDBc1mDVAWDRxIQDM

CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON ITUNES:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/theadsagencys-podcast/id1366370725?mt=2

SUBSCRIBE! https://tinyurl.com/adsyoutubesubscribe

SIGNUP FOR ADS EMAILS!: https://tinyurl.com/ADSemailsubscribe

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency

Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

     Website: https://theadsagency.co/  

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

     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theADSagency 

     Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/theADSagency 

     LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ads-agency/

MUSIC CREDIT:

"BossaBossa" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Two of the biggest enemies of success: Analysis Paralysis and Perfectionism Paralysis. We have so much negative talk and artificial roadblocks in our heads that keeps us from starting or finishing something: a business, that website, our book, that song, that album, the company app. We end up endlessly tweaking - never finishing. How do we get around that? Perhaps the concept of "done is better than perfect" can help with that - but when is that appropriate and when is it not? Do we sacrifice excellence for productivity? Do we trade off the time it takes to master a craft for the sake of churning out projects? Come chat with us about it here and let us know what you think! We're tying our thoughts into the famous poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling and another concept around the French word "Bricolage" - plus we have two book recommendations for you from Jon Acuff. From this, we've extracted 3 tips for you: 

1. Set a firm deadline
2. Be comfortable with flaws
3. Remember every master was once a beginner

• “Finish”: https://amzn.to/2GMkmLy
• “Start”: https://amzn.to/2JsRx4h

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

• The BEST Secrets of Networking
• ELEVATE Your Launch Parties

ADS VIDEO PLAYLISTS TO CHECK OUT:

• Marketing 101
• ADS Chats
• Career Tips

CHECK OUT OUR ADS PODCAST ON iTUNES:

SUBSCRIBE TO ADS:

• Our ADS YouTube Channel (so you n ever miss a beat).
• ADS EMAILS

ABOUT A.D.S.

Andrea D. Smith, The ADS Agency
Marketing & Branding Tips for Entrepreneurs & Career Professionals

• Website: (you’re on it!)
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

MUSIC CREDIT:

"Hard Boiled" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/