The Marketing Mentor Podcast

Ilise Benun talks with poet and coach to creatives, Mark McGuinness, about his new book, 21 Insights for 21st Century Creatives. ( Download the book here .) The focus in this conversation is on important business insights for creative professionals, including how to get out of your own head, how and why to invest in yourself and how to take ownership of your work so you never need to worry about s...

If you are thinking of writing a book to market your business, listen to Ilise Benun's conversation with publishing veteran, Jane Friedman, on the difference between publishing for money vs. publishing for credibility, the myths about being an author, the rise of self publishing and, of course, how to get your book published . If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and...

Ilise Benun talks with Ryan Gill, co-founder of Communo.com , a new sharing economy platform for creative professionals, about what it really takes to be your own boss. And how his new platform attempts to address some of the challenges and facilitate business development and access to talent. If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Mark...

In the latest "Revolve Conference Speaker Podcast," Ilise Benun, of  Marketing-Mentor.com , interviews Ali Schwanke, founder of Simplestrat , who will be speaking on "vanity metrics" at The Revolve Conference, a gathering of design, UX and marketing professionals this Nov. 12-13, 2018 in Charleston SC. Details here:  http:// revolveconference.com 

Ilise Benun talks with Kevin Rogers, founder of Copy Chief, ( the community and the live event this Oct 23-25 ) about 2 sides of the "bat-signal" coin: what he calls "bat-signal talent" and she calls " bat-signal content ." If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor . 

Ilise Benun talks with Greg Corey, founder of Porchlight , about how started as a freelancer and found the simplest niche to grow into a boutique branding and packaging agency. It's the one where you don't have to prove yourself and you aren't starting from scratch. If you like what you hear, write a review,  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor . 

Today's podcast is highlights from a recent webinar Ilise Benun gave for the Graphic Artists Guild on how to identify your value to your dream clients so you get paid what you're worth and can negotiate the best deals for yourself as a creative professional. Find the entire webinar here . And If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marke...

Ilise Benun and Robert McGuire of Nation1099.com dig into some of the findings from the Career Freelancer Status Report , including the idea that freelancers seem to reach an income plateau after 5 years and the effectiveness of freelance marketplaces for finding quality clients. Also, sign up for our (free) Q&A Livestream on Negotiating Strategies on Sept. 6. If you like what you hear, write a re...

Today's bonus episode is a conversation between 2 unemployables: Ilise Benun talks with Emily Leach, Founder of The Freelance Conference, a free conference for freelancers, Sept. 10-14, 2018 in Austin and Corpus Christie Texas. Details at FreelanceConference.com . If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor .

If you crave less hype and more candor, this episode is for you. Ilise Benun talks with Dave Salanitro, a designer who had it all and lost it, about what happened, what he could have done differently and what he's learned in the process. If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor .      

In this episode, Ilise Benun learns about REACH, a new idea for a business model that provides design services to non profits on a budget and recurring revenue for GDLOFT, a small design firm in Philadelphia.   If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor . 

If you've ever bartered your services, you know it can be tricky. There's an art to it, from deciding whether to do it, to making sure everything is fair and everyone feels valued. In this episode, time lapse filmmaker, Michael e. Stern, and I talk about a recent barter opportunity he pursued and how he made it a win/win for both parties. If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe on...

It's a podcast about podcasting! If you've been thinking about starting a podcast to promote your creative business, you'll learn a lot from my conversation with John Hartwell of Hartwell Studio Works , whose content marketing strategy includes the HSW Sports Branding Podcast . In our interview, he generously shares his strategy, plus nitty gritty details on how he got started with the podcast. If...

  If you've been dreaming about getting rid of your annoying clients and turning your service business into a product business, this episode is for you. My guest is designer/developer, Justin Putney , who has developed a product called In5, that is an add on to Adobe's InDesign. In our interview, he generously shares tips on what you need to get started if you want to launch your own digital produ...

This episode is the audio from a recent webinar with 2X TEDx speaker, Terri Trespicio, on " How to Use Public Speaking to Grow Your Reach & Influence (and get clients!)," in advance of her brand new 2-day workshop, Tapped to Speak, in NY June 7-8, 2018. Details at  http://bit.ly/mmentortix . You can  find the slides here  and  watch the video here   And if you like what you hear, write a review, ...

In the latest episode, I spoke with  That Speaker Guy   Corey Poirier, about the business of speaking, whether it's part of your content marketing strategy or the way you plan to make your living. We covered everything from inspirational vs. how-to content, webinars, online summits and speakers bureaus. If you like what you hear, write a review,  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips fr...

In the latest episode, Chris Leone of Web Strategies, Inc . generously shares in detail the "highly accountable, highly trackable system" that drives his agency's marketing. He shares not only the guts of their process (which tools they use and which are most effective), but also why they do it the way they do. It's another excellent example of marketers practicing what they preach, essential if y...

In the latest episode, I chatted with Carl Smith, former co-founder of nGen Works about the various business models his agency tried, including the 4 person partnership that founded the digital agency. Smith currently runs Bureau of Digital , whose mission is to provide the support system agency owners never had. If you like what you hear, write a review, subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quic...

In the latest podcast episode, Ilise Benun continues the conversation with marketing professor,  Michael Solomon , who literally wrote the book on consumer behavior. Today's topic is the most important currency being exchanged in today's economy (it's not money) and what designers and other creative pros can do about it. Hear more from Michael at the brand new HOW Marketing Live 2018 in Boston on...

It's almost tax time so in this episode, time lapse filmmaker, Michael e. Stern, and Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun, talk big picture about how (and why) creative professionals struggle so with money management – and what you can do to improve things. (Disclaimer: no financial advice is offered, just the sharing of anecdotes and experience.) If you like what you hear, write a review and  subscribe...

If you haven't seen my recent talk, The Worst Negotiating Mistakes…and How to Avoid Them , on the Marketing Mentor YouTube channe l, here's the audio. Also, as mentioned in the intro, learn more about the "Experienced Newbie Accountability Group" on the Marketing Mix Blog . And if you like what you hear,  subscribe on iTunes  and sign up for  Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor . 

If you've been wondering whether you are suited to build a business that employs others, or whether you are better off "just you," this interview is for you. For the first podcast episode of 2018, Ilise Benun talks with time lapse filmmaker, Michael e. Stern, of Build a Better Photograph , about what it takes -- and what it means -- to be an "entrepreneur" and how he decided how big to build his b...

In the next installment of the Experienced Newbie series of interviews, Ilise Benun talks with Andy Brenits of  Brenits Creative   a designer who has gone back and forth between self employment and working in house in big name corporations. He's 2 years into his latest stint on his own, taking it seriously and the success has built his confidence. Listen to the strategy that worked for him. If you...

Many creative professionals give away their strategic services because it's intangible and you don't know how to account for it when you price a project. Tiered pricing is a technique that will ensure you get paid for everything you do. In this week's podcast interview, time lapse filmmaker, Michael e. Stern, shows us how he breaks down his process so we can see how much actually goes into a proje...

If you hate pricing, you'll  love this week's podcast, in which Ilise Benun talks with Ed Gandia about the nuts of bolts of how to do tiered pricing, a pricing strategy that solves most of the pricing problems so many creative professionals struggle with. This interview was also the impetus for the Tiered Pricing Kit: How to Earn More on Every Project, which you can find (probably on sale) in the ...