More than a Few Words

One of the critical elements of building a marketing budget is understanding what a customer is worth.  Why? Because you can't decide how much to spend to acquire that customer if you don't really know the value of that customer. Too often business owners make the mistake of looking at what the customer is spending today and see that is the only value of the  customer. But, if you're in a business...

Content marketing has been around for a really long time.  And it is probably going to be around for a lot longer. But as new tools arise, many people wonder what the future of content marketing going to be like.  Professional writer and a humorist, Erik Deckers joined me to share his thoughts on that topic.  He explained content marketing has be around a lot longer than most of us imagine.  Arche...

One of the most important numbers in your business is your closing rate. The simple metrics tells you how well you are performing when face to face with a potential customer. The better your closing rate is the better your business.  Guest Bruce Scheer shares some of the mistakes companies make as they try to improve their closing rate:  Jumping immediately to price changes .While that may work in...

Like many business owners I defined myself as the founder of my company, Roundpeg.  Lorraine Ball and Roundpeg were intricately linked.  The fact that the business was originally an outgrowth of my personality got lost along the way. I became an outgrowth of the business.  That was fine for 20 years until I sold Roundpeg. Suddenly that cornerstone of my brand was gone. So I've spent the last two y...

If you've been listening to More than a Few Word s for any length of time you know I was born talking. Standing in front of a group of people or facing a microphone is not uncomfortable for me. But it is for many people.  Public speaking anxiety is a crippler for some people and  can get in the way of careers and businesses. Guest Rebecca Jabbar says the key to getting comfortable is to personaliz...

From our archive is a terrific conversation with Kyle Roof about SEO.  In it he addressed some common misperceptions about Google.   For example, many people think Google reads a web page as a human would.  Google is not able to do that, it isn't pulling meaning from your content.  It is an algorithm  looking at your content not from an editorial quality perspective, but a mathematical one looking...

As business owners try to grow their business they assume they have to do it organically.  The problem with the organic approach is you have to be patient. It takes time for the business to mature and grow.  But that is not the only way to grow. Your path to success might include merging with another company or acquiring a business.   Deb Curtis, an expert in SBA-Supported Business Acquisition Loa...

I had the strangest phone call the other day. It was from someone I have known for a long time. I wouldn't call us friends, but our paths have crossed multiple times over the years so we are acquainted.  We chatted for a few minutes. He told me he had moved to Florida. I mentioned I sold my company and I am enjoying the slower pace. He barely acknowledged what I said and proceeded to launch into a...

When I started my agency in 2002, clients and friends called me the Postcard Queen.  I was working with small businesses and postcards were a wonderful way to get noticed.  Then along came email marketing and social media.  Direct mail seemed cumbersome and old fashioned in comparison. Travis Lee suggests as everyone has rushed towards digital it is no longer the bargain it once was. With auction...

There is a cycle business owners get trapped in as they start to spiral toward burnout.  Coach  Linsi Brownson  says the first thing you need to do is recognize, you’re not doing anything wrong.  This is just a phase in your business. This is actually a really great moment to step back and realign the business, by going back to the drawing board and looking at three things: yourself, your business...

These days everyone is talking about Chat Gpt Ai driven content. I find some people are either really excited about it.  Then there are others who are afraid we are the cusp of some dystopian world where the machines take over and we become their slaves. Which is more accurate? Well that is up to you, but Chat GPT  is changing how content is created so you need to know how to use the tools. My gue...

You have to go where your customers are Social media is about engagement. This is something businesses forget when they start to use it as a broadcast tool. Just because you’re posting information out there doesn’t mean that anyone is actually paying attention. So one of the most important things you can do to get the most out of your social media is to pay attention to your engagement numbers.  A...

So you want to be a podcast guest.  Before you start reaching out to potential shows my guest, Joe Matz suggests you need to start with Why do you want to be a podcast guest. There are a number of reasons. Some people, have just launched a book and they want to do a virtual book tour. Others want to get their authority positioning out there. Joe also mentioned, SEO because when you're on a podcast...

From our archive. This conversation with Sharyn and Hank Yuloff was originally released in August of 2021.  If you missed it then you are in for a treat.  This was a fun, lively conversation about the marketing path.   As you drive down the road, you have to be ready to make small adjustments.  The same is true for your marketing. This week's guests, Sharyn and Hank Yuloff,  think you need to stop...

I would love to tell you that out of the gate I was a business genius and everything I did in marketing worked perfectly. Well that's not true.  We all make mistakes along the way, but when we learn from them we have a better shot at success. And if we can get out ahead of some of those mistakes, by learning from what other business owners are doing wrong we can shorten the cycle to success. In th...

We’ve all had that marketing brainstorm sitting alone at a desk. It sounds like a good idea so you bounce it off other people. everybody excitedly supports the concept. You execute it the best that you can, but it doesn’t work out they way you planned. You should give up, but you’ve built this whole program so you double down and you keep pushing and pushing. Eventually you have to accept it wasn’...

Getting up in front of an audience and speaking is how I make a living. Even if that's not your career goal you need to be a good public speaker. Whether you're standing up in front of an audience  or one-on-one with an employee or a customer at the heart of each of those interactions are your communication skills. In this episode, Brenden Kumarasamy joined me for a conversation on how everyone ca...

From our archive.  This conversation with Mike Wittenstein was originally released in August 2021.  If you missed it then, you should definitely check it out now.  Why does your business exist?  If you answered to make money, you are missing the point.  That may be  why your own a business, but the business exists to create value for your customers. As you define your reason to exist consider, the...

You have a great product. That's wonderful. But a product by itself is not enough to guarantee success. Shaun McAndrew believes you need to build a complete offer where you integrate a combination of the product, be it hardware and or software, with the technology, the internet of things, AI and machine learning, with the data analytics and services needed to build a single package that aligns to...

Let’s face it, sometimes mistakes happen and things go wrong. How you handle the situation will often determine whether your smallest mistake becomes a big crisis  Even if you can’t predict what will go wrong, having a plan in place outlining specific steps in case of a mistake will make it easier to respond. This is true in the real world or on social media, where your Twitter or Facebook page ca...

These days so many people are hot on social media and whatever the new platform is this week.  But Nicole Krug says that year after year email marketing works.  It has a 400% return on investment and that has been consistent for many years. One of the reasons is email is more personal than social media.  You have been invited into the inbox. Now the trick is getting people to open your email once...

Maybe you think that when someone says something negative you shouldn't dignify their comment with a reply. According to David Oates, that's actually not the best strategy. The reality is everybody, right or wrong tends to have the same weight and credibility in a social media post or an online review. Now that rubs most of us the wrong way particularly when we get criticism from somebody who may...

Athletes love to play on their home court. Being intimately familiar with every square inch of the field is reassuring, and the supportive crowd gives them the confidence to play their best. In a way, the same is true in sales. If you can get a customer to come to your office or showroom, you’ve already scored the first point. Unfortunately, many home service businesses such as heating and air con...

It is often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  That is definitely true on the journey to master your marketing message. In this conversation Tracey Watts Cirino and I explored the first steps you need to take on your journey to master your marketing message.  1 - Get clear on who you will serve. You can not serve everyone.  When we try to be for everyone we end up...

In this episode I had a chance to chat with Alison K about research.  I know you're sitting there saying I already know everything about my business. Well guess what, you don't! So you need to listen to this short and lively conversation about affordable ways you can conduct market research to make better decisions about your business. Alison explains as businesses owners, especially in service ar...