Marketing Minds Podcast

From a business perspective, aren't you glad December is over? After all, unless you’re in retail, December is typically a slow month. Right? The weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's Day complicate matters. Many entrepreneurs and executives take this time off to see family, which pushes their businesses to the back burner. This year, I vowed to make sure my December played out different -- and it did. In fact, December would have been my highest-billing month, if it wasn’t for a canceled project right before Christmas. But I can't take all credit for the sales surge. You see, the reason for my strong December, in part, came from an idea I swiped from Charlie Gaudet. What's crazy is it only involved mailing a letter to about 12 people. We discussed the entire strategy on the latest Marketing Minds Podcast.

I recently interviewed Ely Delaney, co-founder and lead trainer of YourMarketingUniversity.com about how to become a follow-up fanatic and turn your casual connections into clients. During our 46-minute interview, he shares a step-by-step, follow-up system for attracting joint ventures, ideal prospects and raving fans. What’s more, he explains how to make this system work on autopilot using a combination of online and online tactics. If you regularly attend networking events, pay close attention to Ely’s “slacker” strategy for reactivating old contacts and his Facebook trick for making any message memorable. Also, don’t forget to grab Ely’s free guide that walks you the process for converting connections to clients.

As president of 3D Mail Results, Travis Lee generates huge returns for thousands of businesses each year that use his innovative multi-step marketing approach. His unique, tested methods help add millions of dollars in sales to businesses ranging from "kitchen-table-run" sole proprietors to international businesses mailing millions of pieces a year. He is the developer of the "Done-for-You 3D Mail Direct Marketing System," through which his company provides specialized direct-mail premiums, enclosures and ready-to-use sales letters to thousands of clients worldwide. During this 60-minute interview, you'll discover how to create a successful direct-mail campaign, as well as ... • A simple change you can make to any mailed item that will almost always trigger a higher response. • Copy samples that make the writing process so easy you can literally create a campaign in minutes -- no matter what you sell. • Where to find the most powerful (and often neglected) audience of buyers for your first direct-mail package. • Why response rate is not the best way to determine your mailings' success -- and what factor is a more profitable indicator. • The single best rule to remember when figuring out the "shelf life" of a direct-mail promotion. • How to get a master's level education in direct mail without taking a single class or buying any courses. • A little offer insight that will save you untold money and frustration, while also helping you avoid marketing failures. • And much more.

For more than 23 years, Drew Eric Whitman has taught businesspeople how to use consumer psychology to boost the effectiveness of their ads, brochures, sales letters, websites and more. He's created advertising for everything from small retail shops to giant, multi-million dollar organizations, including Day-Timers, Faber-Castell Corp., Texaco, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Automobile Association, Amoco, American Legion and many others. Drew, who started creating advertising at 11 years old, proclaims he can teach you more about how to create powerfully effective advertising than 99% of your competitors will learn in their entire careers. During this interview, you’ll discover the secrets of advertising psychology that make selling simple, as well as … 8 ways you can tap into your prospects' biologically programmed desires to boost demand for your product or service. How to use statistics in your ads so they're nearly impossible to ignore. The one secret newspaper reps will never tell you about putting together an effective ad -- and pray you'll never discover. Drew's "million-dollar secret" for getting inside prospects' heads and discovering what they truly want. (You'll be surprised to find out it's never your product or service.) The missing component in many ads that causes readers to ignore whatever is written -- even if you have the industry’s best product, price, offer and guarantee. Why some of the best ads ever written received some of the worst responses. Why ad size rarely matters when it comes to response (and why you should instead focus on the amount of copy). An extensively tested ad layout that is remembered best by readers -- and what to include so you can gain even greater readership. And much more.

When Josh Elizetxe started his business, he faced a major obstacle. He was only 12 years old, so he had minimal money. In fact, all he had was $10. Of course, there was no way he could go to a bank and get approved for a loan. So he turned to trial, error and knowledge gained from books to get his business off the ground. Four years later, Josh has built and sold websites, dominated whole sectors of MySpace and YouTube, marketed rental properties, generated millions of dollars in revenue, taught online skills across the globe, and mastered the exploding field of cost-per-action online marketing. During this 70-minute interview, you'll discover how to apply his unconventional marketing tactics to your business, as well as … The exact formula Josh used to record one video on YouTube that generated roughly $80,000 in profit. By the way, it only took him 10 minutes to create the video, which was for a health product. Josh's #1 rule for marketing when you're forced to work with a non-existent budget. (Hint: If you share common characteristics found in most business owners, then you break this rule nearly every day.) The single feature most successful offers share and why greater competition can result in a larger -- and more predictable -- return on your marketing investment. 2 sneaky and perfectly legal tricks for getting more search engine traffic to your offers. How to properly "bait" prospects so you get them to your website and deliver unmatched value, making it easier to generate sales. The single most important weapon in Josh's marketing arsenal. You'll be surprised to know you can have one of these by the end of the day and -- in some cases -- it won't cost you a single cent. Several simple methods for using unusual marketing mediums, such as pizza boxes and gas station pumps, to generate leads and avoid financial risk. And much more.

Nate Kuiper, my go-to guy for insight into the book printing and publishing industry is a former customer service/sales for Bang Printing, a short- to mid-run book manufacturer headquartered in central Minnesota's Lakes Area. Nate now operates his own book printing and publishing consultancy called Compass Book. We worked together when I wrote my first book two years, and he continued to serve as a valuable resource as I launched my second book in May. During this 62-minute interview, you’ll discover the forgotten facts you must never overlook when self-publishing your book, as well as … The hidden variables that can drag out the book-publishing process, including the step that almost always creates unexpected corrections and delays. They key question you must ask when determining what publisher would work best for your book's printing and marketing. Why package pricing can cause you to overpay and get a poor-quality product when printing your book. The common mistake (especially for first-time authors) that can cause you to lose the rights to your book and not be able to fulfill orders from your customers. How to determine if your book is too short to publish for e-readers and why the 3 major digital book platforms must play a role in your book’s distribution. And much more.

As the owner of Stuart Selbst Consulting, Stuart Selbst offers executive-level business coaching for managed services providers and value-added resellers. In the last two years, his partners have seen a $3 million average increase in new recurring revenue. In addition to frequently presenting at his industry's top events, Stuart is a member of the the MSP Mentor 250 and has been named an MSP Alliance Business Advisor and Autotask Rockstar. During this 47-minute interview, you'll discover how to become your industry's obvious expert, as well as ... The key question you must ask to ensure you're viewed by clients as the go-to authority who can solve their most pressing problems. How to use marketing's "politicking" approach to put yourself in front of leaders who can help boost your industry standing. A surprisingly simple strategy for stimulating creative juices so you can come up with fresh ideas for writing, speaking and discussion opportunities (as well as a quick way to ensure you never forget those thoughts). The most overlooked -- and often avoided -- way to better understand and build enthusiasm for your product or service. A simple trick for securing more speaking opportunities at conferences, trainings and workshops How to strengthen your presence on social media, including the critical piece to your website that proves your position as an industry expert. And much more.

A serial entrepreneur, Charles Gaudet, CEO and founder of Predictable Profits, is a widely regarded marketing expert who boosts profits using underused or unnoticed opportunities. He's helped businesses quickly reach some enormous successes, including earning over $200,000 in 24 hours and more than $500,000 in 5 days, as well as experiencing anywhere from 30% to over 1,000% growth in less than a year. During this 85-minute interview, you'll discover how to create predictable profits for your business, as well as ... • Why you're at a disadvantage when you try to develop the best product or service available. • How to use a simple question to create greater demand for your offers, while also developing advantages your competitors can only hope to copy. • The most overlooked shortcut to becoming the recognized leader in your industry -- even if you're an absolute newbie, have a minimal budget and your competitors use brilliant marketing. • A single task you can do each day that will consistently lead to business breakthroughs and why certain problems in your business are a sure sign of success. • 2 sneaky (yet perfectly legal) strategies you can use to generate instant income without doing any marketing yourself. • The best defense when competing against companies offering the lowest prices. • 3 criteria to help you determine if your next “good” idea is bad for your business. • And much more.

How many times have you watched someone conquer one of your most difficult challenges with relative ease? I'm going through this experience right now while following Alan Rudnick's activities on social media. Thanks to his involvement on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as frequent blogging, Alan is often featured in major media and has even secured a multi-book deal with a publisher. And get this ... he's not a conventional social media "guru." In fact, he doesn't even work in what many would consider a traditional business. He's the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa in Ballston Spa, New York. How cool is that? I repeatedly hear business owners and entrepreneurs claim social media won't work for them. Reasons range from the standard "My prospects are different." to "My industry doesn't lend well to social media." But Alan's achievements prove these theories wrong. During my 42-minute interview with Alan, you'll discover several social media strategies that silence skeptics, as well as ... • The best defense against falling into "social media fatigue" and how to ensure automated tools don't cause you to lose your personal touch with followers. • The surprisingly simple key to finding the most beneficial people to interact with on social networking sites (and why prospects aren't the only people needing your attention). • How leveraging a certain type of news event in your blog posts can help you boost readership and attract inquiries from major media. • The surest way to get a quick response from almost anyone you follow, including industry experts and well-known celebrities. • An easy approach to establishing yourself as an authority (and therefore a source media members want to interview) on global news topics. • Why having a large audience on social media can sabotage your success. • And much more.

Thousands of business professionals have learned how to increase sales, profits and retention by reading Justin Premick's articles or by watching his presentations in person or online. As an award-winning e-mail marketing expert and director of education marketing at AWeber, his insight and advice on e-mail marketing has been featured by Inc., BtoB, DMNews, Target Marketing and numerous other business and marketing publications. Under Justin's guidance, the AWeber blog has become a top source of e-mail marketing tips. Read by over 37,000 e-mail and RSS subscribers, it is highly ranked among Ad Age's Power 150 list of top marketing blogs. During this 46-minute interview, you'll discover how ... to increase e-mail open rates, readership and responses, as well as • 3 surprisingly easy ways to create great content for your e-mail marketing campaigns, especially when you don't know what to write. • How to determine with precise detail which e-mails provide the most value to your subscribers and which ones are weak. With this knowledge, you'll know the information you can provide to overcome objections people may have about purchasing from you. • The common marketing mistake that ensures a failed campaign, even before you send your first e-mail. • The most effective place to put your web form on your website if you want to consistently grow your prospect list. (Hint: There are multiple locations and you need to answer at least one critical question in your offer.) • How to determine if you need to include branding elements, such as logos and your company name, in your e-mails. • What your subscribers must see in your From line if you expect them to read and respond to your e-mails. • A simple strategy for expanding the audience that sees your e-mails. This tactics works exceptionally well if you've never used e-mail marketing or you're limited by a small list. • The most productive and surest way to boost your odds of success on social media using e-mail. • And much more.

A former Microsoft employee and founder of three companies, David Aronchick, CEO of Hark, has used search engine optimization and word-of-mouth buzz to help create the world's largest platform for pop culture sound bites. Under Aronchick's leadership, Hark has become one of the 10 largest entertainment/movies sites on the Web. More than 66 million visitors a month go to Hark.com, which boasts partnerships with leading Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros., Universal and Paramount Pictures. The Hark platform allows visitors to share more than 3 million sound bites and other content offerings via digital embedding or social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Additionally, users can upload their own clips to the Hark platform. During this 42-minute interview, you'll discover the traffic tips that took the startup to 66 million monthly visitors in just four years, as well as ... How to use small audiences to bring big traffic to your website. The surprisingly simple key to getting your website visitors to promote your content for you. How to use free and widely available tools to spot gigantic traffic opportunities within your market, acquire visitors and boost site awareness. A marketing practice that is so powerful you can merely "fill in the blanks" and easily find prospects to connect with in seconds. The 2 keys to establishing yourself as a go-to source or trusted authority online. How to harness the power of free social marketing to increase your online presence and turn your website visitors into passionate advocates for your business. And much more.

How often have you seen an idea in action and wondered, "Why didn't I think of that?" It happens often, right? Well, I couldn't help but think this thought several times when I first visited the website for RevZilla Motorsports, an online motorcycle gear retailer. The effort the company puts toward creating exceptional visitor experiences is impressive. Now I'm far from a motorcycle fan. In fact, just the thought of straddling several steel tubes connected to two wheels and a motor is enough to trigger nervous sweats. But I appreciate strong marketing, especially when it delivers extreme value before a sale. So I was thrilled when CEO Anthony Bucci agreed to tell me his team’s strategies for lead generation and customer engagement. You'd be hard-pressed to find a small business interacting more with its prospects and customers than RevZilla. The company is active on social media, with nearly 80,000 fans on Facebook alone. In addition, its RevZillaTV -- where you can "watch, decide and ride" -- boasts an incredible 1,758 videos, 14,789 subscribers and close to 8 million views. During this 22-minute interview, you'll discover how you can build an audience of buyers and eager advocates, as well as ... • How to determine what content your audience craves -- and what are the easiest and most effective ways to share it. • Why avoiding a script when recording videos can help you create a greater bond with viewers. • An easy and often ignored way to get perfect strangers (and even critics) to market your business and, of course, buy your products. • How to use an emerging marketing medium to help prospects overcome buying anxiety. • The key factor that determines if your marketing message is killing loyalty and being perceived by prospects as a waste of time. • The simplest way to connect and quickly communicate with an audience -- at virtually no cost -- that values what you do and eagerly anticipates your next interaction. • And much more.