Monthly Archives: July 2020

How to Get Started in Influencer Marketing

How to Get Started in Influencer Marketing written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Neal Schaffer

Neal SchafferIn this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Neal Schaffer, author of The Age of Influence: The Power of Influencers to Elevate Your Brand.

Neal Schaffer is a leader in helping educate executives and professionals on social media as well as in implementing successful social media strategies for businesses. CEO of the social media agency PDCA Social, social media educator at Rutgers University and the Irish Management Institute, social media keynote speaker who has spoken at hundreds of events on four continents, and author of three social media books, Neal is a true innovator and influencer in digital and social media marketing.

Questions I ask Neal Schaffer:

  • How do you define influence?
  • Is there influencer marketing outside of social media today?
  • Is podcasting interviews influencer marketing?
  • How do you find the right influencers for your business?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

  • The definition of nano influencer
  • How much more powerful leveraging influencers can be than posting digitally
  • How to leverage influencer interviews in marketing
  • How to create a program to kickstart an influencer marketing campaign

More about Neal Schaffer:

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What Problem Does Your Business Solve For You?

What Problem Does Your Business Solve For You? written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Don’t misunderstand the title of this entry – I’m talking about you, the business owner, the start-up entrepreneur, the employee. What Problem Does Your Business Solve For You?

See, at its heart, every business exists to solve problems.

We may choose to communicate the features and benefits of our business and what it sells, but it’s a fact that buyers don’t care what we sell until they understand how doing business with us can solve their problems.

So what does that have to do with you and your problems?

I would like to propose an idea that’s not talked about enough; until you can fully understand the problems your business solves for you and how your business (your job) serves your, life you may struggle to understand how to best build the lasting customer relationships and internal culture you’ll need to grow a thriving business.

Now I know this seems a bit dramatic but ask yourself this question. What problem were you trying to solve when you started your business?

This is a harder question than it appears and this is not the same question as “what’s your purpose in life?”

Let me illustrate.

At first pass, many people would answer the “problem” question with things like, “it puts a roof over my head,” or “it gives me the freedom to make my own choices,” or even things like “it allows me to use my gifts.”

Nothing wrong with any of those answers, but they feel a little more like features and benefits, but nowhere near the truth.

So here’s where it gets tough.

I’ve come to realize that the problem I was trying to solve when I first started my business was low self-esteem.

I certainly didn’t know this at the time, but in many ways, in hindsight at least, it has and continues to color my decisions and daily actions.

See, I never really did that well in the traditional metric of school. I loved learning, had an insatiable curiosity, but “school” didn’t fit how I learned.

I got through high school but never quite finished college. I attended for four years and turned up about 30 hours short of any kind of degree.

I wanted to keep moving, keep pace with my peers, and at the time I was madly in love with a woman who has now tolerated me in marriage for over three decades.

I just took the next step in life, but lacking a degree I never quite felt worthy of or even capable of chasing the traditional career path. So I hid out for a while until I stumbled on the notion of starting my own business.

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I did know I would never have to interview with anyone in order to land the job and that solved a problem for me. Just how long that element lived with me is hard to tell, but I can clearly point the finger at this dynamic in some of the ruts and stalls I’ve experienced in my business over the years.

Now, it’s funny but people often associate starting a business with a large dollop of confidence and self-esteem, but it’s probably one of the greatest misperceptions about entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs often use their business as a mask or a stage for some sort of lack.

That’s not really the point I’m trying to make, but hopefully, it helps illustrate the fact that once I realized that the real problem my business solved initially was to help me deal with my own issues, I could start to see a pattern of decisions that were based in feeding that solution rather than in my own personal or professional growth.

This is the kind of thing that leads us to take a client we know is wrong for us. This is what leads us to lower our prices and undermine our value. This is what keeps us doing what we’ve always done, even if it clearly no longer serves. (And by the way, this applies to any employee out there as surely as it does to a business owner.)

So let me ask you again – Why did you start your business, what problem were you really trying to solve? Does solving that problem feed your growth or keep you in a pattern of something akin to treading water?

Ever feel stuck? Then look for the clues to answer this question.

You cannot reframe the problem your business solves for you until you understand it and define it. Once you gain clarity around this idea you can reimagine your relationship with your business. You can take charge of the problem your business needs to solve for you and you can perhaps finally focus on uncovering and solving the problems that can bring your customers and everyone else who has a relationship with your business the greatest value.

You can do less and be more.

You can develop the confidence to say no, to narrow your focus to only those you are meant to serve, to create far greater impact than you ever imagined.

How to Be Ready for What’s Next

How to Be Ready for What’s Next written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Chuck Swoboda

InnovationIn this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Chuck Swoboda, author, speaker, podcast host, and the Innovator-in-Residence at Marquette University.

He served as Chairman and CEO of Cree for 16 years where his team successfully led the LED lighting revolution not just by creating new products, but by focusing on solving old problems in completely new ways. He has seen what it takes to make the impossible, possible. Under his leadership, the company grew from just over $6 million in annual revenue in 1993 to over $1.6 billion as they transformed Cree from a start-up into a global market leader with 6,500 employees worldwide. Cree was recognized as MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 and as one of Fast Companies World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2015.

Chuck is the author of The Innovator’s Spirt, hosts the Innovators on Tap podcast, and has been a speaker on leading innovation for both corporate clients as well as a number of universities including; Harvard Business School, Marquette University, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University.

Questions I ask Chuck Swoboda:

  • What do you mean by innovation should solve a problem?
  • Which route should you take innovation or invention?
  • How do you convince people innovation is a good thing when it means change and they resist naturally?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

  • How products that solve problems are marketing and sales success stories
  • The opportunity and challenge innovation creates
  • Why it’s so hard for people to change
  • What types of challenges are going to come from current innovation

More about Chuck Swoboda:

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Site domainsThis episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast is brought to you by .site.

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Three Tips to Automate Your Content and Campaigns but Not Alienate Customers and Brand Fans

Content marketing has matured to a point where you need at least some automation. But if you aren’t careful, you’ll turn people off: Your loyalists will notice if your content is lower quality or less tailored. To maintain customer trust while streamlining your workload, use these three tips. Read the full article at MarketingProfs

The Agency Growth Secrets Behind Design Pickle

The Agency Growth Secrets Behind Design Pickle written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing Podcast with Russ PErry

Design PickleIn this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interview Russ Perry, CEO of Design Pickle. Russ Perry has been involved in branding and marketing strategy for over the last decade. He has worked to shift the status-quo with brands such as Apple, Morgan Stanley, Pebble Tec, LG, Botanicare and the Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2015 he launched Design Pickle – the world’s largest flat-rate graphic design platform. Design Pickle has helped over thousands of clients use the Graphic Design Cloud – a unique combination of graphic design service backed with technology and automation. Russ Perry founder Design Pickle from the idea that everybody needs access to seamless, reliable, and professional graphic design on a consistent basis.

Questions I ask Brad Perry:

  • What’s new at Design Pickle?
  • What’s been the secret to your growth?
  • Why is expanding into other areas not tripping you up?
  • Do you have to do some convincing that design pays for itself?
  • How to add value with process?

What you’ll learn if you give a listen:

  • What type of advantage a content calendar can play
  • How top leadership can improve growth
  • What values have worked for growth
  • How to launch new processes successfully

More about Brad Perry:

Like this show? Click on over and give us a review on iTunes, please!

 

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