The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast

Many small businesses offer their products and services to a specific geographical market. To be successful, they need to make sure they're being found quickly in search engines. That's why incorporating strategies specific to local search and SEO is an important part of creating a well-rounded and comprehensive online marketing strategy. To help increase your chances of getting found by customers...

After 21 years in business, I finally decided to take a sabbatical. If you've been wondering if you can take a sabbatical, or how to make it happen, I'll share my process in this episode! And, if you're not sure why you should take a sabbatical, I'll share with you why I'm taking mine, and maybe it will resonate with you. https://www.theagentsofchange.com/255

As a business you always want to be building loyalty and trust from your clients and prospective clients. The best way to do that is by telling stories that they can relate to personally.  You should think of storytelling as tribe building.  And if you put out your story, you're going to attract like-minded people for your products and services. And the clearer you are with story and the better yo...

Businesses are always looking for ways to cut costs and improve customer engagement, and chatbots have become the newest shiny object on the block that have filled the hole as an alternative way to engage conversationally with customers. More importantly, chatbots are available to companies of all sizes, so it allows the small guys to compete with the larger, more established brands. Chatbots have...

Your prospects and customers are researching and buying online, so you need to focus your marketing to them on digital channels as well. The way to do that is to be specific in who you're trying to reach, know where they're hanging out online, prove to them that your brand is trustworthy, and be able to measure your efforts so you're only spending your time and money on the efforts that are actual...

Many of us have these grandiose dreams of having it all, the family and the career where we're our own boss. Well it doesn't have to be a dream, you can make that a reality if you take the right approach. The key could lie first in finding your perfect community.  This is where you get support, tools, resources, connections, and even collaborations. Some people try to go too hard, too fast, but sl...

If you're already creating content for your own business, why would you want to seek out guest posting opportunities for other sites? Well, because guest posting is a creative and important strategy for growing your own blog readership and community. Guest posting builds relationships, it's great for search engines, it introduces you to a whole new audience, it associates you with other influencer...

If you're a business owner, chances are you're already using Facebook ads as part of your marketing strategy. And the last thing you probably want to do - or have time for - is add yet another social platform to your repertoire. But don't overlook the many benefits of Pinterest and what it can do for your business. Pinterest offers an abundance of benefits for businesses, and the best part, it doe...

It's pretty common these days for businesses to use Facebook ads for business, but have you considered the power of YouTube ads? Everyone knows that video is a powerful way to capture your potential audience's attention, and even more than Facebook, people turn to YouTube to find answers to problems they're having. If you have answers to their problems, YouTube is a great place to find your target...

Really, AI has been around as long as computers have. But over time, AI and machine learning have been able to take over certain functions in more concise, error-proof, and productive ways than humans can. We have benefitted from this in ways that encompass Netflix being able to recommend the kind of shows we like based on our viewing history, all the way to bidding on PPC ads on our behalf based...

Businesses are always looking to find creative ways to target their audience, and geo-fencing fits that role perfectly. By setting up a geo-fence - or a virtual boundary - it allows businesses to access mobile device user's WiFi/cell date/GPS to trigger push notifications, text messages, alerts, and even targeted advertisements, to deliver location-based marketing data. Think of the possibilities....

Not all entrepreneurs and business owners are also financial wizards. That's why it's vital to make sure you have a person on your team that can pick up that task and do it in a way that shares your business growth vision, understands your needs, speaks to you in a way you understand, and doesn't just throw around fancy accounting jargon. But where do you start? Do you hire an accountant, a bookke...

What happens when you let a Pinterest expert take over your business account?  Rich Brooks found out the answer when he let Alisa Meredith do that very thing. The result: she helped him turn his dumpster fire into a well-oiled machine. If only more businesses saw Pinterest as the search engine that it is, instead of just a social site to pin crafty ideas. Pinterest can help build brand awareness a...

You don't have to look far to find influencers. They're the people that have established their own following through their use of tools like blogs and social media to let their followers know when something is good (or less than stellar). It's amazing what people will do when they get something above and beyond what was expected.  As a business, when you treat those customers in a way that makes t...

Improvisation on stage can be a scary, intimidating thing. Sure, you have some rough guidelines and an end goal, but you're never quite sure of the twists and turns you'll take in the middle. Well, isn't business a lot like that, too? And just like the way an improv performer can reel in an audience with good storytelling, the same is true in business. We, as business owners and marketers, can bor...

Let's say you've already heard about the benefits of Facebook groups from other business owners and now you want to try your hand at using it to promote your brand, products, and services as well. Once you decide why and how you'll use the group, it's a good idea to set up some rules and parameters for potential members to adhere to. You can even require they answer a series of questions before yo...

Almost all of the major social media platforms have added a live streaming feature, and marketers should be considering this an excellent addition to their toolbox. Given the way online users view content, video has skyrocketed to the top, and businesses and brands should be taking advantage of this. What better way to communicate with your audience and gain their trust than by speaking directly t...

There's nothing quite like a live event--a conference, expo, or business networking gathering--to learn a connect with like minded people. However, too many people don't take full advantage of the opportunity.   In today's episode we're going to talk about how you can get more out of any business event with a little bit of preplanning, whether you're a newbie or an old hand.    Also, I'm going to...

When you're starting out with your business you're doing it all; making phone calls, fulfilling orders, handling social media, accounting, making travel arrangements, and everything else in between. But one of the main reasons we take the leap into entrepreneurship is to have more time, not less. One way to achieve that without bringing on a full-time employee is to utilize the benefits of a virtu...

A Facebook Group is a great way to create a community of like-minded individuals to create and keep a conversation going with little to no effort. The key is in setting certain ground rules and policies that will best serve that particular group for the long-term. Specificity and a shared goal amongst the members will go a long way in the success of Facebook Groups. Regardless of whether you choos...

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) are the strategies and tactics that create an experience that allows you to convert visitors into customers on your website. To do this effectively you need to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack, and you can do that with things like building brand affinity and creating offers that differ from everyone else. Making your marketing decisions based on a...

Facebook is changing their algorithm again. This time you'll be seeing less public content from businesses, brands, and the media, and more content that promotes meaningful interactions between people (get ready to see more pictures of your great aunt's cat showing up in your newsfeed). This means businesses are going to have to work harder than ever to get their customer's attention and be a litt...

A Facebook Group is a great way to communicate and share common interests, information, and opinions around a common cause or goal. Anyone can setup and manage a Group as small or as large as you want. Facebook groups also offer many options to suit a particular Groups needs; you can make it public, private or secret, you can make admission limited or open, you can set guidelines for admission as...

Every dollar counts in today's world of digital marketing. Our businesses are utilizing so many different platforms and technologies that we have to be able to effectively deploy these in a way that is both cost effective to you, and provides an optimal user experience for those visiting your website and apps. The way to do that is with tag management tools. Essentially, these tools allow marketer...

There's a whole lot more to Facebook ads than just "boosting" a post. Just throwing money at Facebook isn't the answer. Your business should have an end goal, and then a strategy in place for how to reach that goal, including where within that process to use Facebook ads. Otherwise, you're just wasting money. You first need to understand how Facebook ads work, and where in your personal business f...