エピソード

  • Episode 986 – Superman vs The Boogeyman

    Episode 986 – Superman vs The Boogeyman
    2024/10/02
    I confess that I try to simplify things down to binary choices: good and evil, easy and hard, the boogeyman and Superman. But I think that in our ever-polarized world, there is becoming a blurred line between truth and opinion. When it comes to marketing, I tend to think of Google and Search as the boogeyman and content marketing as Superman. Yet, like energy, they are a symbiotic and correlated existence that exists and has to function to help businesses market to their audiences and prospects. I believe you have to think like a superhero like Superman to overcome the erosion in website traffic. I know companies are hoping to find a superhero to help them overcome the challenges of getting their content in front of the new and right set of eyes to help them maintain and grow their business. I believe that you have to be either the actual superhero or at least the sidekick like Batman's Robin. I believe that superheroes are not just fictional characters like Batman or Superman. I know that they are more like you and me. We are heroes if we learn and grow from our experiences and use them to help others better their lives.
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    12 分
  • Episode 985 – What’s Old Is New

    Episode 985 – What’s Old Is New
    2024/09/26
    A question often asked is whether it was easier to reach your buying audience in the past or today. My answer is both. Less choice meant you had less to learn but took a more significant risk. With more choices, you have more to learn and often have to use more marketing platforms to reach the same audience, but you run the risk that multiple could fail simultaneously. The one thing that has never changed is the audience. What you were selling in the past and what you are selling today may have changed, but people are still people. People may have changed where and what they are paying attention to, but little has changed in what attracts and motivates them to act regarding ads and messages. It may seem that AI is making email and websites less relevant, but due to the evolving landscape in search and answers of AI, I am here to tell you that I find them more important than ever before. I wish I had a crystal ball to help predict what next new technology will help make your business more successful, but alas I don't. As I hinted early on, the one thing that does not change is people. They may change what tools they use or how they consume content, but they are still people. They have needs, biases, and emotions that can be directed and affected by what and how you communicate to them.
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    13 分
  • Episode 984 – FACT: Two Things Could Be True At Once

    Episode 984 – FACT: Two Things Could Be True At Once
    2024/09/19
    There is a debate about whether and when AI content will be as good or better than human-generated content. I believe that it will always be a mix of both. Two Truths The two lists above (the binary choices and 3 options) were generated by AI. I rearranged and edited them to my liking so they fit better with the concepts I am trying to get across today. Although there are people in marketing who will use AI to generate content and post that as humans, I believe that both are needed, necessary, and can co-exist in marketing to help create awareness, educate, and generate sales. Artificial Intelligence compiles content that was primarily generated by humans, so it is both computer and human content. You can use AI to rewrite your human-generated content and use your personality and experience to enhance and add your signature to it. You can use AI to generate ideas and concepts that you can use within your personally written content. If someone is an expert in websites or social media, they will argue that they are more important. Then, people who work in the AI world will say that AI is faster and more cost-efficient than the human version of content creation.
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    11 分
  • Episode 983 – Visual Impact – The Rights and Wrongs of Images In Marketing

    Episode 983 – Visual Impact – The Rights and Wrongs of Images In Marketing
    2024/09/11
    One of my all-time favorite jokes is about babies... "How many babies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" "None - they neither have the cognitive or motor skills to perform such a task!" You could imagine a baby holding a lightbulb and trying to insert it into a lamp or socket. But if you wanted to see it, you could log into an AI image generator to create one. AI opens some interesting conundrums about the use of images. Who owns the copyright? What if you use a well-known person? Can you be sued? Images are assets. These assets can be bought and sold. What once was a free image that you picked up from free image sites like Pixabay or Pexels can be sold to a paid-for library. Those libraries can use tools like Google Lens or a metadata search to find that specific image. At this point, I feel safe creating images with Firefly because I have a paid account with Adobe for their creative suite and their Stock Images (two different accounts). I would not be as confident using anything I am not paying for. Even if you win the battle, you are spending your time trying to ward off what I consider an attack.
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    10 分
  • Episode 982 – Best Of – Seconds… Chance Interactions

    Episode 982 – Best Of – Seconds… Chance Interactions
    2024/09/03
    If you manage your own or other business websites, I imagine you are using Google Analytics or another data manager to explore the traffic to your website. Generally, you measure how much traffic you get, how long people stay, and which pages or posts get the most traffic. Another key indicator is where the traffic is coming from. This includes organic search (Google searches), direct (typing or clicking a URL), referral (link from another website), organic social (multiple social media sites), and something called unassigned (catch-all for all others). I have seen customers and clients who pay attention to numbers that have little to no connection to reality. What I mean is, how can you tell when a human is really getting to your website and spending quality time? Google considers engagement as someone spending at least ten seconds on a page or post. Considering that is what most people need to read a headline, look at a picture, and decide if this is for them, that's a pretty low bar. Most content is posted once, and then forgotten. That assumes that it was only right for the audience who was following your business at the time it was posted. What you have is an asset. That asset can be reposted to social media more often than once. It could be posted 10-15 times and seen by a different set of eyes each time. That's what happens when I repost my Baconisms. I post the same 30+ image sayings every month. I see random comments and likes each month that I have not seen before. “Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.” – Charles M. Schulz In this episode, we will explore how to increase views on your content by the right audience... at the RIGHT times! . Want To See How To Market BETTER? - Click Here
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    10 分
  • Episode 981 – The PATH to Profits

    Episode 981 – The PATH to Profits
    2024/08/28
    I could easily take my old blogs and ask AI to rewrite them to reflect today's business environment better. That would certainly be faster than my two-finger typing, re-working sections, and asking a VA to proof and post, but would it or could it be more successful or effective? Most businesses will ebb and flow between profit and deficit, and you sometimes have to cut expenses to offset a deficit of profits. When it comes to marketing, outcomes are profits and content creation and distribution are part of the expense. As long as those outcomes lead to financial profits, marketing goes from being an expense to an investment. Businesses have a longer and more chartable P.A.T.H. to purchase. They go from Awareness to Engagement to Inquiry to Purchase. By chartable P.A.T.H., I mean there are data points you can track and measurably follow from send to sale.
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    12 分
  • Episode 980 – All Marketing (and Sales) are Personal

    Episode 980 – All Marketing (and Sales) are Personal
    2024/08/21
    I was listening to a podcast interview with comedian Mike Birbiglia. I was not familiar with him, but I found his take on comedy interesting. He believes that comedians have a one-on-one relationship with their audiences. Social media and podcasts can help to create a more intimate relationship with fans. Some influencers lose that connection because they become an outsized version of themselves. They get lost in the audience's abyss and lose the connection with individuals. They become unapproachable. I find the same thing with marketing. We tend to lose sight of that one-on-one relationship and get lost in the abyss of the avatar. A comedian is selling entertainment with jokes. You, on the other hand, are selling profits or solutions through hardware, software, and services. As a sales and marketing organization, you need to craft a story around your products and services that will resonate with individual buyers. Getting potential customers to know, like, and trust you is a journey. Each has a unique place in the Customer Journey.
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    9 分
  • Episode 979 – Why?

    Episode 979 – Why?
    2024/08/14
    I want to do something a little different today. I want to share with you my why. If you can figure out your why, I believe you are halfway to success. Simon Sinek tells us to start with why. But I believe that why is not all-encompassing and as simple as finding one why on your way to the top. I believe there are a series of whys. Why are you in or running a business? Why are you in the niche or market that you serve? Why do you offer the specific products or services you sell? The other thing I have found is that, over time, your why can change and evolve as you change and evolve. I believe that understanding the “why” questions and how others may perceive you is not only useful but critical in business. It can help you get a peek into how clients, prospects, and vendors may perceive you before you start to interact. Then, the rest is up to you to collect data from interactions.
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    12 分