The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast

To describe a webinar as an "effective tool" would be a huge understatement. They allow you to reach, teach and sell products and services to your target audience in one fell swoop. Webinars provide a vast number of benefits all with the same goal; to boost, support and build your business. They allow you to build your business contacts - and more importantly - your precious and valuable email list. You also get the opportunity to establish your business as an authority in its field, which adds value to your business. All this while maintaining close communication with your target audience, capturing sales leads and promoting your products and services. And best of all, you could even do it from the comfort of your living room couch if you chose to! Kimra Luna is a webinar rock star whose unconventional way of doing business brought her from welfare to a million dollar business owner in just 18 months. Her tips and advice show proven results to grow your business through the power of webinars. www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/125

You’ve just created a website, or maybe your latest blogpost, and you need some visuals to go with it to help grab your audience. But where do you look? Sure, there are billions of photos and graphics online, but how do you choose the best one, and what are the legal ramifications of using those visuals? There are many things to consider when choosing visuals for your projects. For example, are you legally allowed to use a particular image? Once you choose an image and pay for it, are you allowed to use it forever or is there a time limit on it? What resolution works best for your particular project? Where can you find “families” of similar photos to use in the same project to keep the same look and feel throughout? What are some reputable and recommended places to search for and purchase photos from, and is it possible to negotiate the price? Sarah Fix is an expert in stock photography and the rules surrounding usage of online images, in a career spanning over 20 years in the field. She is the current President of the Digital Marketing Licensing Association and has lectured extensively on the topics of commercial content creation and stock library production. www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/124

With so many social media platforms at our fingertips, LinkedIn is an often neglected choice by business owners when considering marketing options. It could be that once you stop thinking of it as just a social media site but rather a bulked up CRM tool, then you can take advantage of the options it offers. It’s clear that more business owners and marketers would utilize LinkedIn more if they were aware of all the aspects it has to offer in regards to lead generation, engagement and relationship building, not to mention LinkedIn’s features, tools and applications to assist with publishing and advertising potential. Viveka von Rosen is the expert when it comes to LinkedIn. Her seminars, webinars and workshops have taught and trained well over 100,000 people on how to best use LinkedIn. www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/123

Whether or not your particular business depends on ratings to get customers, it’s still unsettling to see even one bad review, and even harder not to take it personally. But once that bad review is posted, how do you move on from that, and is it really as bad for our business as we think it is? In the business world, reputation means a great deal. What better way to build that reputation than by encouraging your happy customers to write a review, share their experience and recommend you to others on one of the many online review sites, such as Yelp or TripAdvisor. How you deal with negative reviews is also important, especially if you are skilled in knowing how to turn a bad review into a positive spin for your business - and it is possible! Daniel Lemin was a pioneer in realizing the importance and power of online ratings and reviews, and understands the struggles business owners have with maintaining their online reputations. In this episode he shares his experiences, ideas and strategies for building and maintaining business reputations online, and how to put a spin on the negative ratings that can still make your business look good. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/122

One of the first priorities of any business - especially brick and mortar businesses - is to find and implement a marketing automation system. And with so many out there to choose from, you can just pick one at random and go from there, right? Wrong. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is trying to implement a marketing automation system without first mapping out their processes. What they should be doing is putting the needs of the business first, and then finding the software that will actually achieve that result. Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer, with over 20 years experience in sales training, marketing and consulting with a special concentration on CRM and email marketing sales, support and optimization. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/121

Social media is not only a benefit, but an absolute must for any business. Sure, you can send a few tweets, shoot out a couple Facebook posts and blog like your life depended on it, but it’s actually a bit more nuanced than that. Just because you’re sending content to the people on your lists doesn’t mean you’re connecting with everyone you could - or should - be reaching. Sometimes you need to give people a little tap on the shoulder before they’ll knock on your door. Knowing the right techniques to reach out to your desired audience - and get them to check out your profile in return - can translate to more names on your email list and hopefully future business opportunities. Jen Lehner is a digital marketing strategist who uses her skills and passion to help entrepreneurs utilize all of their marketing tools to grow their business. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/120

We love to receive feedback, comments and questions from our listeners and relish the opportunity to answer any specific questions or pain points that you may have. Recently we received an email from a communications and marketing student from Canada seeking some information specifically around the area of blogging. So we decided to help her out with her school homework and answer some of her burning questions on the topic and offer a few pointers as well. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/119

Podcasts are a great online marketing tool for your business. They are portable, and therefore a more personal way, to connect with your audience. Whether you’re thinking of starting one or just getting into it, there are a few tips you’ll want to follow to ensure your podcast’s success. It’s no coincidence that the number of podcast downloads has increased as more people have gotten smartphones. Now use that to your advantage by making it easier for them to find you by considering getting an app specifically for your podcast. And now that you have a podcast, you need to find a way to consistently attract new listeners - and more importantly - get them to subscribe to and review your show. Finding them, reaching and engaging them, and keeping them is your ultimate goal. And how you choose to go about that will determine the success or failure of your podcast. Rob Walch knows more than a little about podcasting, not only because he hosts 3 of his own shows, but also due to his role as VP of Podcaster Relations at Libsyn. Rob’s knowledge, know-how and experience has helped both aspiring and seasoned podcasters to create and maintain successful shows. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/118

Mixing in pictures, graphics and photos with your content and advertising is nothing new, but are you doing it effectively to get more bang for your buck as far as your audience is concerned? When you can effectively lay out your conversation point for your audience and convince them right away that the content is worth reading, then you’ve won half the battle already. It’s also a fact that the human brain processes visuals much faster than text. Powerful visuals give rise to certain emotions and feelings, which in turn drives a deeper audience engagement. You can develop a powerful marketing program driving your company’s authenticity and cultural relevancy using rich media such as visuals, videos and social media. Think of it as the inverse to “show and tell”, and instead you tell the audience your story by showing them through visuals. Learning how to do this effectively will have a huge impact on your lead generation and allow you greater success while marketing your brand. Ekaterina Walter is an innovator in the art of visual storytelling, and a best selling author on the topic. She has inspired creativity within organizations and proven that a picture really is worth a thousand words, or perhaps even more. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/117

Does just the thought of speaking in public make your heart beat faster, your palms sweat and you feel like you might faint? You’re certainly not alone. The fear of public speaking is the highest ranked fear, even over death. Over death!? The biggest problem to overcome is how to control our natural “fight or flight” instinct. Although we can’t - and shouldn’t - try to eliminate that natural response, learning how to control it is the key to successful public speaking where you remain calm, insight trust in your audience, and in turn, success for you and your business. Andy Saks knows the importance that public speaking can have on you to help you stand out in the crowd as well as help you generate leads for your business. His expertise on the topic - found both in his programs as well as his book, Presentation Playbook Series - has helped many people learn to utilize presentation opportunities to generate connections, leads, sales and more. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/116

We’ve all come across these people - a seemingly rare breed - that either seem to have a knack for being ahead of the next big trend, or come up with amazing and creative ideas with what appears to be an effortless ease. How do they do that, and more importantly, how can we do that? Well, it’s a bit more than just that old, standby advice of “thinking outside the box”. Making sure you’re telling the stories that your audience wants to hear, versus just the ones you want to tell can make a big difference in whether you engage them or not. Making yourself available and open to different people and experiences is a fantastic way to stimulate and nurture your inner creativity. It’s also a great way to discover what really interests you and where you can bring the most value to your audience. Joel Comm is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and consultant with over 20 years of internet business experience and has managed to find success among a variety of niches. He is a creative thinker who lives by the philosophy of embracing every opportunity as it comes. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/115

We’ve entered an age where less people receive their news and current events information in print but rather search for it online. And as the purveyors of news and information, our goal is to deliver this information in the most efficient, concise way, while still providing meaningful engagement to our audience. You could say that social media has come full circle and brought us back to “person to person” business. We see customer service issues resolved in front of our eyes on Twitter and Facebook instead of behind the scenes via an 800 number. Tweets are now playing a huge role in real time search results. Part of realizing that is knowing how to strategically craft the perfect tweet. Some valuable tips that will bump you up in the search results are to use SEO tactics in your tweets and learning how to maximize your tweet real estate by pumping out your keywords in the beginning versus the end of the post. And always, always fill out your Google profile! Amy Guth is a true renaissance woman who also happens to know how to win in social media. Her ideas and techniques have helped make the Chicago Tribune’s social media presence stand out among its peers, while leading the way for news to have an immediate and lasting impact on the way we, as consumers, receive it. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/114

Let’s face it, starting a new business can be time consuming. We all want to start selling our products and services and earning some money as soon as possible. But did you know that trying to rush the process could result in you a becoming an unfavorable statistic of the less than 30% still surviving after the first 10 years? Finding, getting to know and earning the trust from your key audience will translate to success if you take the time and have the patience to craft your content to their specific needs and pain points. Taking the first 12 months to get up and running may seem like a long time to wait, but your patience can and will translate to success.. Joe Pulizzi’s strength lies in helping businesses become effective content marketers, making them stand out among their peers as leaders in their industry. His proven model for success includes just 6 easy to implement steps that will help your business grow like crazy. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/113

Marketing research can give a business a much better idea of if their current business plan is working, what tweaks might need to be made, whether they’re meeting their customers needs and what kinds of new products or services might be profitable for them. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t set aside the funds for this kind of research, or simply don’t see the long term importance of such a task. It’s important to know how current trends are affecting your business, or what your customers actually think of you. You can take the “try, fail and learn from your mistakes” approach, or you can be more direct and simply ask your customers and prospects why they did - or didn’t - choose you. Tom Webster is a thought leader on the topic of market research and an expert in qualitative and quantitative research techniques. He has directed hundreds of studies in nearly every major U.S. and worldwide market. HIs company, Edison Research, has the unique distinction of being the sole provider of official exit polls for every U.S caucus and election. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/112

The significance of inbound marketing is undeniable. Consumers are smarter, savvier, know what they want and have innumerable resources to get it. So it’s our goal as business owners to be wherever our potential customers are looking for us. Pay per click advertising has a proven track record as an effective strategy for inbound marketing. It’s fast, nimble, far reaching and makes managing and tracking your efforts simple. If you find that your SEO efforts are not quite where you’d like them to be, pay per click is a fantastic complement to this, as well as providing a nice boost to your other marketing efforts. Leslie Lewis knows a thing or two about managing successful marketing campaigns. She leads her agency’s efforts in all online marketing, overseeing campaign management and strategy for search, social and mobile media buys. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/111

You’ve heard it a million times from everyone you come in contact with that you have to build your list, you’re nothing without your email list. But what good is a huge list if at least half of the names on it have no communication with you or your business at all? If only there was a way to figure out which of those people were solid leads with a deep, vested interest in your products or services. This is where building a tribe comes into play. When you build your tribe, you’re cultivating and connecting with like minded people that are more likely to purchase your products and services. Think of it as having your own, loyal following of Deadheads, if you will. When you learn how to attract and communicate with the right names on your list, you build a valuable following of quality over quantity. Keith Perhac helps businesses increase revenue from their existing traffic by building authority and trust through their audience and customers. He also helps create online courses that add value to businesses and brands. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/110

A large percentage of the profiles that are currently on LinkedIn are incorrectly utilizing the platform as nothing more than a place to post their resume. First impressions are crucial, and with so many social media platforms out there, these first impressions are becoming more and more digital versus in person. What does your LinkedIn profile say about you? By just spending a little bit of time on your profile, you can be that person that continuously shows up in searches and generates a lot of buzz and attention. Personalizing your profile with things like a professional photo, non-generic headers and a vanity URL will not only get you noticed but it can also strengthen your SEO game. Amanda Healy is a social media rockstar who knows a thing or two about how to stand out from the pack. She runs the corporate media accounts for her employer, TIBCO, as well as leading a team whose job is to devise and execute multidimensional campaigns for lead generation. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/109

Every business, regardless of the size of both the company or the community it is in, faces a certain amount of struggles and adversity. The key in overcoming them is to concentrate on what your strengths and advantages are and use those to leverage success. You need to stand out from your competition, whether you are one of 300 or only 3 of a particular business in your community. A common assumption is that big businesses and corporations have the upper hand over small businesses, and certainly those in very small, rural communities. How could the little guys possibly compete with the big guys, right? Wrong. In the world of technology - and certainly social media - no one is limited solely by their geographical area. Becky McCray doesn’t just talk about small business and rural living, she actually lives it. As the owner of two businesses in a community of only 30 residents, her experience and practical perspective make her an authority on how how small, rural businesses can grow while shaping and greatly impacting their communities. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/108

You’ve just created a shiny, new website for your business, now you just need to “SEO it," right? Wrong. Search engine optimization isn’t something you just sprinkle on at the end, it’s an important ingredient that should be used throughout the website building process. Like an onion, SEO has many layers that make up the whole. It is so much more than just picking some clever keywords and calling it good. No longer is it brushed off as an IT issue, but rather part of the ongoing branding and marketing process. By implementing elements such as optimized title tags, link profiles and metadata into your website, you’ll be well on your way to making friends with Google and ranking through the roof in online search. Thom Craver is a SEO ninja. He has been teaching the finer points and nuances of effective SEO and related digital marketing strategies to business owners, college students and conference attendees. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/107

More than 1.4 billion people use Facebook, and more than 900 million visit every day. That alone is reason enough to consider using Facebook ads as a valuable means to connect with your audience - they’re already there! But how do you connect with them efficiently and promote your products and services without looking like you’re just trying to push sales onto them? There are a few golden rules to follow that will allow you to earn your audience’s trust, promote your products and services and build your ubiquitous email list. Amy Porterfield knows a thing or two about growing businesses. Her vast knowledge and experience as both a content developer and marketer for some of the country’s top corporations has given her the wisdom to know what works and what doesn’t when trying to grow your audience and build your brand. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/106

There are many ways to go about marketing your brand, and with the endless amount of social media platforms out there right now, visual marketing is topping the charts. But how do you connect with your audience through visual marketing in a way that influences and shapes the way they perceive your brand? Most important is to always be true to your audience. Find out where they hang out and be there. Maybe even consider finding ways to include your audience in the marketing with campaigns that include customer’s media such as photos. Steer clear of the trendy route and pave your own road that allows your brand’s voice to resonate with your audience and makes them want to share it with the world. Gregarious Narain is co-founder of Chute, where he helps enable businesses to create visually rich media that influences and shapes the way people perceive their brand. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/105

Loss of focus is a huge problem, not just with marketers but with people in general. Part of what we need to learn to do is to develop the habit or the discipline of purposely simplifying our lives so that we can focus our attention on the things that are most essential and important. When we realize that behaviors such as “multitasking” are actually doing more harm than good for our productivity and performance, we can begin to retrain our minds with more positive habits that we can use not only at work but in our everyday lives. Sir John Hargrave is the author of Mind Hacking, a book dedicated to teaching you how to reprogram your mind in order to change your life for the better. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/104

Mobile is a bigger factor in your small business's success than you might think. The fact that 90% of all social media and email is first viewed on a smartphone means that your business is losing out big time if you’re not reaching your audience where they hang out. Understanding that when your audience is reaching you via their smartphones or other mobile devices, they want a frictionless and more condensed experience. They don’t want to have to scroll through multiple pages just to get a phone number or an address. That risky behavior will get you nothing but increased bounce rates and lost customers. Tim Hayden saw the mobile future coming and used that foresight to help Fortune 50 brands make innovative changes in technology that has brought them bigger and continued success. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/103

You’ve built up an email list and generated a good chunk of leads, but now what do you do with them? So many small businesses are putting all of their focus on generating more traffic through search, social media and digital ads, but they’re putting very little effort into actually converting these visitors into customers. And let’s face it, isn’t that the goal in the first place? Just trying a few simple tricks like tweaking your welcome email, offering some quality freebies, being careful of the words you’re using and doing some split testing, can make all the difference to boosting your conversion rate. As the conversion educator at LeadPages, Tim Paige spends his days helping business owners and entrepreneurs use various data points to increase revenue by converting quality leads into sales. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/102

You’ve taken the leap and turned your passion into an online business. But what do you need to do next to turn it into a success and keep it that way? It’s one thing to get traffic to your website or blog, but how do you convert that traffic and get them to become customers and loyal fans? Figuring out how to keep them interested and engaged is the key. Try breaking it down into multiple steps and funneling your followers through the process. This process can also help weed out the ones that aren’t as serious but will leave you with a loyal band of raving fans in the end. Josh and Jill Stanton said “screw you” to their 9-5 jobs created a successful online business where they encourage and teach other business people how to do the same and take control of their time and expertise. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/podcasts/101

Can you believe it’s been 100 episodes already? For the past 2 years Rich Brooks has brought you experts covering all aspects of search, social and mobile marketing and asked them the tough questions you need the answers to, so that small businesses can get a leg up on their future success. Rich reflects back on some particular topics and guests that he found insightful and helpful, and shares some of the tips that he personally has implemented in his own business practices. And as a special “twist”, the tables get turned on our fearless leader when he becomes the interviewee and one of his podcast listeners gets to grill him and put him in the hot seat for a change. Debbie Rosemont is a professional organizer and the owner of Simply Placed. She has heard Rich speak at her organization’s annual conferences and is a regular listener to The Marketing Agents Podcast. http://www.themarketingagents.com/100

No one wants to lose a job because they quoted a higher price to a prospective client than their competitor did. But in trying to avoid that, we often risk undercharging, just to make the sale. There’s nothing wrong with charging more, but the key is in how you go about selling your proposal and proving that you’re worth the cost. By shifting the conversation from what the client wants to what they’re looking to achieve, then you can start pricing on the value that you’ll provide to them. Brennan Dunn has helped over 14,000 students and freelancers learn how to increase their rates to charge what they’re worth, earn more money and work with better clients.

Perhaps you know and appreciate the value of a good blog these days, but just aren’t a great wordsmith. Maybe you have a great personality but just aren’t having any luck getting that to show through on paper. Why not consider making videos instead? But there’s a lot more involved than just creating a great video. You need to figure out how to create momentum for your video within the first 24-48 hours to give yourself a real advantage over your competitors. Finding creative and successful ways to shine a light on your content and get it out there is the key to video success. Think titles, descriptions, tags, and cross promotion, among other things. Steve Dotto has parlayed his 15+ years of nationally syndicated TV show experience into a wildly popular YouTube channel where he continues to educate and entertain, while also focusing on helping others grow and monetize their own YouTube channels. http://www.themarketingagents.com/98

With so many brands and businesses jumping online in an effort to find their audience amongst all of the social media platforms available these days, how can you find an edge over your competition? The key to successfully finding your online audience won’t happen overnight. You need to create content that appeals to potential customers on a personal level. Insert some of your personality into your online presence, be honest with your audience and give them valuable content that they can chew on. Ryan Hanley knows how to successfully help brands and businesses find their audience, tell their story and win the battle for attention online. With a little patience and a few of his creative tips, your business can also experience an increase in online focus. http://www.themarketingagents.com/97

What’s the curriculum for mobile marketing and social media in colleges these days? How can you teach something that’s moving that quickly, and is there anything entrepreneurs can put to use from the course work? The key lies in giving the students not only what they will need tomorrow to be successful, but to also give them the strategies they will use for years to come to improve their job performance and advance their careers. Dr. Mary Beth McCabe is the lead faculty in Marketing at National University. She has developed a concentration in Mobile and Social Marketing as part of their MBA program, and shares in this episode some of the areas she feels are vital to the students taking this course in order to ensure future success in the field of Marketing. http://www.themarketingagents.com/96

Have you ever felt like you’re stuck with where your business currently is and are in need of a push in the right direction? Maybe you’ve been searching for other like-minded and driven people to inspire and drive you to re-strategize and brainstorm where you want your business to be in one month, three months or even a year, and what steps you need to take to get there. Perhaps a Mastermind group is exactly the type of environment you’re seeking. Think of it as a networking group of like-minded entrepreneurs all struggling with different roadblocks in their businesses, but who also bring creative energy and ideas to share among the group in a supportive way. Using different platforms such as live hangouts, online forums and in person meetups, Masterminds offer daily support and encouragement from peers that are all seeking advice and wisdom from others that share the same mindset and drive for success. Dean Patino runs the Mastermind group associated with Entrepreneur On Fire, as well as his own business dedicated to helping entrepreneurs generate recurring revenue for their online businesses. http://www.themarketingagents.com/95 http://www.themarketingagents.com/crowdfunding

Digital marketing is key in this day and age. But how do you translate what you and your brand really are into what your audience will find interesting and compelling? Online ideo may offer a solution. Once you learn executable steps to discover your brand’s personality and market it across platforms in a way that works with the current trends of bringing stories and personality across, the possibilities are far reaching. Learning how to attract customers with effective content marketing versus just an obvious sales pitch can make all the difference. Amy Schmittauer is the founder of Savvy Sexy Social, and has been helping brands find and show off their personalities online in order to grow awareness and increase sales as part of their social media marketing strategies. http://www.themarketingagents.com/94

At least once on our lives we’ve all found ourselves in a forum or other type of online group in an effort to search for other like minded business owners hoping to share ideas and experiences that you can use to grow your own business. But have you ever considered starting your own group? The idea may seem daunting. There are so many platform choices to consider - Facebook, LinkedIn, a straight up forum, just to name a few. And how do you ensure you have enough interested people to make up an audience? How can you continue to engage and keep your members interested? Do you need a moderator for the group? Kate Erickson is the content and community leader for Entrepreneur On Fire. Her passion and talent for creating engagement and participation within the community has helped make their forums and business pages wildly popular and successful in their niche. http://www.themarketingagents.com/93

Whether you’re a veteran blogger or new to the world of blogging, the same goals apply: find, reach and engage your readers, and turn them into eventual customers. You achieve this success by building your readership and email lists, for starters. But how exactly do we do that? The Marketing Agents Podcast host, Rich Brooks, reaches into the mailbag to discuss vital aspects of blogging including; creating value for your audience, keyword research, consistency, guest blogging, promotion using various social media platforms, as well as weighing in on how much value we should really be putting on blog comments. http://www.themarketingagents.com/92

Have you been considering a podcast to reach more prospects? Build your platform? Generate leads and additional streams of revenue? Shea Gunther has a successful niche podcast with a growing audience and great relationships with his sponsors. Find out how to get started, build an audience, and find sponsors for you podcast in this week's episode! http://www.themarketingagents.com/91

Do you have a strong desire to write a book but aren’t exactly sure where to start? Are you trying to decide whether self publishing or a larger publishing house is the best option for you? Unsure of where to even start with the basic writing process? 81% of Americans feel they have a book in them just waiting to be written. Sadly, the process overwhelms many and the books never get written. But there are people and resources that can help you through the process and guide you not only through the writing process but the task of building your platform of future customers, marketing and building your brand and credibility. Rich Mintzer is a professional ghost writer who has helped many aspiring authors reach their goal of bringing their stories to print. His talent and expertise in writing and publishing books have generated sales and brand exposure for companies and individuals alike. http://www.themarketingagents.com/90

Are you one of those lucky people with a knack for spotting the next up and coming trend? Have you got a great idea but aren’t sure exactly what to do with it? Websites and blogs can not only give you a creative outlet to share your ideas, but you can make money from them, too. Once you figure out what your niche is and who the audience is that you’re trying to reach, you need to figure out how to monetize that to ensure all this hard work pays off. And then when the fad fades or your interest moves on to something else, what do you do with the successful site that you’ve created and spent so much time building up? Chrystie Vachon has successfully launched, built up and sold for profit multiple websites in the financial and pop culture lifestyle spaces. Her gift for trendspotting, coupled with her content marketing and social skills, have made her a successful and savvy entrepreneur. http://www.themarketingagents.com/89

Maybe your small business is doing well, but you just seem to be lacking something that will take it to the next level. Maybe a mentor can help you out. Imagine having an inside track to some of the greatest minds in business today, and the ability to ask them for some of their secrets to success. It may be easier than you think. Mentoring is a fantastic resource that can help change your life by providing you with the best business training and entrepreneurial education tools and building mutually beneficial sustainable relationships. 0 0 1 136 778 flyte new media 6 1 913 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial; color:black;} Clay Clark launched the online mentoring website, Thrive15, with the goal that every entrepreneur and business person can have a mentor in their pocket who is their own success story. Clay enthusiastically shares how he got some of the most influential and respected minds in business to share their stories and advice with him, and encourages you to do the same. http://www.themarketingagents.com/88

Crowdfunding is more than just begging, or asking nicely, for money to assist with financing your next project. There’s a certain finesse that you need to attribute to your campaign in order to be successful. You need to learn how to successfully market your campaign, but instead, try thinking of how to do that from the bottom up. The most important part of any successful marketing campaign is to nail down exactly who your audience is, versus trying to connect with everyone. Once you figure out who your “tribe” is, you need to start a buzz that garners their interest months before you even launch your crowdfunding campaign. As a crowdfunding expert, Clay Hebert helps people fund their dreams, having assisted over 100 entrepreneurs raise over $25 million for their projects. In this show, Clay shares some of his “hacks” and strategies for running not only a successful crowdsourcing campaign, but also setting up an effective “pre-campaign” to set you on the road to reaching your funding goal. http://www.themarketingagents.com/87

If you’re like the large majority of people spending a great deal of time on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, why not consider using them as an advertising tool for your business as well? Digital platforms like Twitter and Facebook make tailoring your advertising content to a specific audience easy and direct. The key is in knowing how to customize your advertising to find just the right people that are going to engage and be interested in your content. By learning a few simple techniques, you can pinpoint the exact audience you need to get your message in front of the people who are most likely to make a buying decision for the products or services that you’re offering. Charlotte Redmann helps savvy brand managers expand their marketing efforts using her vast skills and experience in social media and digital marketing. Charlotte was the first person hired to the internal digital media team at Beam Suntory, and led the digital efforts for Pinnacle Vodka, Skinnygirl Cocktails and Cruzan Rum. http://www.themarketingagents.com/86

Learning how to successfully network, close a deal or even impress a prospective date takes finesse, strategy and confidence. But learning how to do all of that and maintain a personal authenticity is the key piece in the puzzle. Confidence is not simply achieved from name dropping and talking cool, that’s just a mask. Nonverbal communication goes a long way when it comes to exuding your confidence, such as how you carry yourself when you enter a room, and turning all of the attention on you. Jordan Harbinger has made a career out of being charming and teaching others how to be, as well. Listen as he shares his vast knowledge and experience to help you become confident, successful and command the attention that you deserve, whether it be in your professional life or your personal life. http://www.themarketingagents.com/85

Have you ever been to a networking event and witnessed someone truly working the room with such ease that it left you feeling envious? How about just wishing you were better at starting up conversations with people in general? With the right tools you can learn how to leverage the power of social dynamics and psychology and use this to gain the respect of your peers, win friends, excel at networking and maybe even get the girl of your dreams. Jordan Harbinger started a career as a lawyer before becoming a social dynamics expert. He is the owner and co-founder of The Art of Charm, a dating and relationships coaching company and the co-host of Pickup Podcast, a relationship advice and social dynamics talk show. (This is part one of a two-part interview) http://www.themarketingagents.com/84

We’ve all wished at one time or another that we could read people’s minds in order to understand them better. But since that’s unlikely to happen in the near future, how else are we supposed to uncover the secrets of human behavior? The message and impression that we give off dictates the type of clients and prospects that we attract. When we learn how to weed out the clients that aren’t a right fit for us, we’re able to choose our own clients versus letting them choose us. Roderick Russell is a professional sword swallower, mind reader, stage hypnotist and speaker, who is driven by a desire to help others discover their own inner remarkable. http://www.themarketingagents.com/83

Trying to come up with new content on a regular basis can become a frustrating task, especially considering how many outlets there are these days to provide content for: blog posts, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube...the list goes on. Figuring out how to creatively repurpose some of your own content can be the key to not only invigorating new life into your work, but also giving you more bang for your buck. Once you realize it’s not about how much content you can create but rather about doing more research, polishing it more and then promoting it more using some creative techniques, you’ll find that taking one recent presentation that you created can actually provide you with material for a blog post, a podcast, a few Twitter posts and more. Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communication firm in Chicago. Gini is an author, blogger, speaker and proven authority on such topics as creating content, building an online community and developing an online reputation, and is one of the top rated communication professionals on the social networks. http://www.themarketingagents.com/82

We're back with more from Emily Best! In this week's episode we dive deeper into how to create a successful crowdfunding campaign. But asking for money to help fund your project is so much more involved than you might think, if you want your campaign to be successful. And isn’t that the whole point? When you figure out who your target audience is, and how to best identify with them, that’s when your campaign will gain momentum. Emily Best is the CEO of Seed and Spark, the most effective crowdfunding platform in the world. Through launching her own crowdfunding campaign, Emily learned valuable lessons - sometimes the hard way - of what works and what doesn’t, and out of this experience Seed and Spark was born. http://www.themarketingagents.com/81

Begging for money - or soliciting contributions - has been a time honored tradition most commonly identified by organizations such as public radio stations, non profits and even churches. Fast forward to the modern day spin on this and you’ve got crowdfunding. Crowdfunding - in a nutshell - is simply a way to solicit contributions in small amounts via the internet. But asking for money to help fund your project is so much more involved than you might think, if you want your campaign to be successful. And isn’t that the whole point? When you figure out who your target audience is, and how to best identify with them, that’s when your campaign will gain momentum. Emily Best is the CEO of Seed and Spark, the most effective crowdfunding platform in the world. Through launching her own crowdfunding campaign, Emily learned valuable lessons - sometimes the hard way - of what works and what doesn’t, and out of this experience Seed and Spark was born. http://www.themarketingagents.com/80

You've got digital marketing questions, we've got digital marketing answers! It's our first ever mailbag episode. Questions from you, our listeners on how to drive more search engine traffic, how to use digital marketing to beat the competition, how to separate yourself from the competition, and more! If you've got questions about your own business and marketing, let us know at http://www.themarketingagents.com/contact http://www.themarketingagents.com/79

If you’ve ever been to a conference or presentation, you know that not all speakers have the gift of being able to really engage their audience. What is it that makes some speakers have an edge over other speakers, and how can you get that edge for yourself? The brain is designed to think and remember in terms of stories. By being an effective storyteller, you can not only make your point hit home harder, but it will also be more memorable to your audience. By learning new ways to tell your stories, such as personalizing them and making them relatable to your audience, you can engage them in ways that will make your message more memorable. David Lee is an author, speaker and founder of HumanNature@Work. He helps organizations on topics related to leadership, communication and customer service, using his innovative and powerful storytelling techniques. http://www.themarketingagents.com/78

Are you looking for a new way to reach and engage your audience? The answer may be a podcast. In this episode, Jared Easley shares some of his tactics on how to build a successful podcast to grow your business. http://www.themarketingagents.com/77

Whether you’re writing blog posts, scripts for videos, or preparing podcasts, Ann Handley’s tips will have you creating more valuable content for your audience, attracting more traffic, and generating more leads at your site. http://www.themarketingagents.com/76