Being a business owner or entrepreneur can be lonely. Not everyone thinks like us.

Whether you are a “solopreneur”, or the owner of a business with employees, you probably find yourself surrounded by like-minded people less often than you’d like.

Our brains don’t tend to think like others. Surrounding ourselves with like-minded, goal-sharing individuals can be extremely valuable.

Running a business is stressful. Our minds are going in a hundred different directions.

I have found being in a mastermind group as one of the biggest boosts in my business. I get to meet with others in the same situation, and who are going through some of the same crazy emotions and struggles as I am. They are trying different things, having different experiences, and can provide value that I cannot get from family, friends, or employees. They can motivate me, validate ideas, save me from mistakes they’ve made, and vice versa.

In This Episode:

This week is a short podcast I recorded while driving home from a mastermind meeting. I was stuck in traffic and decided to record while the topic was fresh on my mind.

The audio might not be great but it is raw and right from the heart. I was fresh off of a couple rough business days and talking with a friend who was having the same experience.

Here’s an article I mention in the episode:

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201309/jessica-bruder/psychological-price-of-entrepreneurship.html

What is content marketing and why is it so important today?

Search engines used to be a directory of websites. You search a topic, you find sites about that topic. Today search engines are more about finding content to answer your questions.

You are more likely to self diagnose something before searching for the obvious solution. Rather than searching “auto repair shop”, you might first try “clicking noise in steering wheel”.

This is typical in a variety of industries. Finding the site that has the answer to that question, can sometimes lead you to contact them first.

As a local business, you can utilize content marketing to get answers out on the web, to questions your market is searching for. Positioning you ahead of the competition.

This is why content marketing is so important today. If you have the answers, you get the business.

In This Episode:

* What is content marketing?

* Why is content marketing so important?

* Examples of content marketing you can use.

For a few years, it has been a good idea to have a mobile friendly website. In the next month or so, it is a must have.

While traffic from mobile phones has been growing over the years, it has been a good marketing practice to have a mobile friendly site.

But Google recently announced that they will now do what has been suspected for quite sometime, use mobile friendliness of a site as a major ranking factor. They already had been to some level, but now that is increasing on April 21st.

This changes having a mobile friendly site from being a good idea to being a requirement.

In This Episode:

* The Google announcement

* Mobile friendly vs mobile site

* Responsive Web Design

* Mobile First Web Design

Responsive Web Design video mentioned in Podcast.

Our Blog Post on the announcement.

Is Direct Mail dead? I guess that depends on who you ask. Many businesses are still thriving with it. And many will tell you they have never had success with it.

I find that to be more about how they are doing Direct Mail rather than a true statement about it’s efficiency.

Right now is a prime time to be doing direct mail. Mailboxes are empty compared to the past.

So let’s take a look at how you can succeed with your Direct Mail efforts.

In This Episode:

* We’ll discuss the types of direct mail that exist today.

* How to properly identify your market.

* How to craft a proper message.

* How to choose what type of Direct Mail to use.

* Tips on how to get your envelope opened.

How did last year go for you? Are you planning an increase this year? If so, how are you getting there? Have you mapped out a strategy to achieve your goals for this year?

In This Episode:

Too often, business owners will go into the year hoping it is a better one. But never really plan out goals and strategies to achieve them.

At the beginning of the year is a time I normally sit with clients and go over the previous year while setting goals for the upcoming year. After defining the level of growth they want, we plan strategies to achieve that.

It is really important to have goals and plans to meet them. Don’t go into the year hoping the market just increases automatically for you.

If you need help planning out a strategy, just contact us and we will see where we can help.

Where is SEO going in 2015? Is it dead? Dying?

In This Episode:

Every year the “SEO is dead” crowd gets going. Every year more people repeat the same misinformation about SEO going away and being irrelevant.

But it is just as relevant as ever.

As long as there is a search engine, there will be a way to optimize for it. So it is best to know what is working, how to do it right and how to stay on Google’s good side.

In this episode you will hear about what is working, what you should focus on and when you may not want to bother with SEO.

Sometimes finding the wrong way to do social media is as easy as finding any business page. Too often it’s just a stream of offers and “Me, Me, Me” type of posts.

But the audience is ignoring it. They don’t care. They care a lot about themselves though. People use social media to escape life. They are looking for fun. So treat it like a cocktail party to get the best engagement.

In This Episode:

Imagine you are at a cocktail party. Who do you want to meet? Who do you want to talk to? Who do you want to avoid?

Chances are that if you spotted someone handing out business cards or offering the latest work from home opportunity, you will be avoiding them.

You’ll see out who has a crowd. Wondering what could be so interesting. You might find someone sharing an interesting story. Or someone who takes interest in you.

That’s exactly how you want to be on social media with your business. Be the person people want to talk to. The one who draws the crowd. Not the one who sends people looking for the exits.

In this episode we will look more into this idea of treating social media like a cocktail party.

Let us know what you think of the podcast and what changes and results you get from it!

We’re back and ready to rock 2015.

To kick off this episode, we are going over 15 ideas to increase profits in 2015.

These topics will address common problems in many businesses today, as well as trends for 2015.

In This Episode:

Here’s a quick look at some of the topics:

Reviews – Can’t stress enough the importance of embracing review systems. Don’t run from them, encourage customers and clients to use them!

Web – It’s 2015! Make sure your website is designed and runs like it. And take advantage of all the unique web properties out there to use for your site.

Communicate – Talk to your market and customers. The tools are all there. And it is now the common thing for good businesses to do. Don’t be left behind.

Work on Your Business – Working IN your business is a must at times, but don’t forget the importance of working ON your business.

There’s tons of great advice in this podcast to make your 2015 the best ever.

Let us know what you think of the podcast and what ideas you will be using in your business this year.

 

It’s Christmas time! Customers are happy and spending money, are you taking advantage of that?

This is a great time of year to draw attention to your business. Reward customers and employees. And just have fun celebrating Christmas and extra sales.

In This Episode:

In this episode I discuss some ideas that clients have used to celebrate Christmas and bring in more business. I mean, literally having customers go out of their way to visit. Kids begging parents to pull in.

I also cover some business my family visits every year just because of the way they do Christmas.

Valuable lessons and still time to implement some in your business!

Instead of getting a customer to make a sale. Make a sale to get a customer.

Following up with your customers (and leads) is vital to seeing business growth. Don’t let anyone even remotely interested in your business go on without following up with them.

There are lots of ways to do good follow up. And to keep it simple and cost effective.

In This Episode:

3 Areas to Start Follow Up

Leads – Any lead who shows interest in your business should be put into a follow up sequence. Offer them something for their contact info and stay in touch with more info and offers.

Customers – Sale or no sale, have a system in place to follow up with them.

Customer Retention – Staying in touch with your customers will increase the frequency they use your business. It will also increase the likelihood that the refer you more business.