Beetle Moment Marketing Podcast

Why did we pause interviewing guests on this show? This is the one where she cross-pollinates. Topics:A new direction for this show, sometimes. Experiment. Do what feels good and works. Stop what's not worthwhile. Don't be married to a formula.What makes a good podcast episode?Why Emily has taken a few weeks off from this show.Coming up at the end of this episode: hear this month's top five briefings under three minutes each: a sampling from the mini podcast / weekday Alexa Flash Briefing, Voice Marketing with Emily Binder.My top five podcast recommendations:Six Pixels of Separation with Mitch JoelPivot podcast with Scott Galloway and Kara SwisherThe BeanCast Animal SpiritsThe Compound Show with Downtown Josh BrownDesign Driven podcast with J Cornelius, CEO and Founder of Nine Labs See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An update from Emily: Content planning for the year, get the daily mini podcast and Flash Briefing (Voice Marketing with Emily Binder), learn about marketing and tech from new videos at YouTube.com/emilybinder. Donate or leave a review at beetlemoment.com/podcast. Get the Google Action or Alexa Skill for this podcast at beetlemoment.com/podcast. You can say, "Hey Google, talk to Beetle Moment." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Whether you’re pitching VCs, talking to your team, or trying to appeal to your audience and customers, it’s okay to let people behind the curtain. So why do we often put up a front in our business lives in order to appear professional? And how do you send a hug over Zoom? Kate Bradley Chernis, Co-Founder and CEO of Lately joins Emily Binder to break down that front for a refreshing take on being yourself in the business world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Emily and Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken, talk about how to have a unique voice on social media and what that really means. Robert also revealed some surprising advice on email marketing based on his firm's analysis of five million emails. The episode wraps up with some key tips that financial advisors and all businesses need to know about the kind of brand personality that makes marketing successful. Watch this video at beetlemoment.com/podcast-robert or go to: https://youtu.be/zV8yrSeBQeY See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mikal Abdullah is an entrepreneur, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu coach, and competitor, founder of Aces Jiu-Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter. Mikal’s diverse background makes for some fascinating conversation in this latest episode. Emily and Mikal talked about an array of topics, including: entrepreneurship, problem-solving, branding, the military mindset, leadership, and so much more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., data from Acast has shown that podcasts aren’t just for your commute to work. In this episode, Tess Neudeck, Marketing Marketing, Americas for Acast, and Emily Binder talk finding guests for your show, the future of podcasting, and how to monetize your podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John and Emily bring WallStreetBooyah into the conversation in this episode. They discuss the authenticity and democratization of media and how creating unique content on a unique platform can lead to more diverse marketing opportunities. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John Andrews, CEO of Photofy, a community content creation platform, and Emily talk about all things Marketing Post-COVID in this week's episode. This episode has it all: social media advertising, the future of retail, and amazon to eCommerce. See what these two think the future holds for marketing and which tactics have been most successful in the last several months. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Find out why freedom weighting is a powerful way to invest by rewarding freer countries. Watch the video of the conversation on YouTube. Founder Perth Tolle has quantified freedom by country for international investing with her ETF, Life + Liberty Indexes. Perth and Emily Binder discuss the relationships between human rights, economic freedoms, and the strength of markets. Full show notes here: https://beetlemoment.com/podcast-episodes/068-perth-tolle-free-people-strong-markets See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all love a little “good” in our lives. In this episode, Emily and JJ Ramberg dive into the optimism and simplicity that JJ’s company Goodpods offers to its app users. The app provides users a way to give and get recommendations for podcasts from their friends and fellow app users in a world where podcasting is becoming more and more popular. Emily and JJ continue their conversation to discuss the ins and outs of building an app, making money, podcast advertising, the podcasts they’re listening to right now, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Southeast Asian region’s internet economy has hit a key milestone, reaching $100 billion in market capitalization for the first time in 2019. Money is moving in and out of this region in ways never before seen. Audrey and I talked about her mission at Brightwell, a payments technology company whose fintech solutions serve seafarers on the world’s major cruise Iines including Carnival, Norwegian and more. We talked about the war on cash in the US and abroad, combatting fraud, and how Brightwell approaches educating users who are mostly unbanked or underbanked. Plus, the relationship between product and marketing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alison Greenberg is a naming expert, brand strategist, and verbal designer. Alison explained her approach to naming products and brands with a few great examples from fashion to CBD. Plus, should voice assistants have a gender? And what makes a good chat bot? This episode is so neat because it has good old branding, voice and conversation design, startups and women creating long-needed products for women, and the keys to designing a great chat experience for your customers or audience. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jason Fields is Chief Strategy Officer at Voicify, a top CMS (content management system) for designing voice experiences on Alexa and Google Assistant. Jason and Emily discussed the meaning of multimodal design for voice assistants and why this kind of conversation design matters. How can brands create experiences for customers to interact with a voice assistant from different devices with varying screen sizes or no screen at all? It’s all about context.Overall, the question becomes: How do we connect and organize a variety of communicable assets in a way that meets basic (and reasonable) audience expectations? Jason and Voicify have created a free downloadable guide about modality for brands. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How can brands use sound to connect with customers? As voice technology becomes embedded in consumers’ lives, the sound of your brand will be increasingly important. What should your brand sound like on Alexa? Because this is a transitional moment in voice technology, right now there is a real opportunity to be an early adopter, especially for a vertical like FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) as we expect an $80 billion voice commerce market by 2023. Bottom line, this is about using sound to connect with customers and strengthen your consistent brand voice.Emily's guest: Designed in Italy and assembled in Germany, Michele Arnese is a self-driven strategic and creative thinker with a strong entrepreneurial approach. As Global CEO and Creative Director of amp, in the field of audio branding, he's considered one of the world's foremost experts, with clients as Mastercard, Mercedes, Porsche, BBVA, Geberit, BMW, UniCredit, MINI, Triumph, The Linde Group and a range of international awards for his work with amp. Show notes: See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amit Dogra is the Chief Experience Officer at Sanctuary Wealth, which reached $10bn in AUA (assets under advisement) within 15 months after its 2018 founding. Sanctuary is a partner owned firm that brings together an elite group of wealth advisors. Amit and Emily Binder talked about Sanctuary's unveiling of their Alexa Skills and what it means for their business. Voice is symbolic of more than just embracing new technology. What is the future of AI and voice in financial services, and why does this technology matter? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you know the biggest misconceptions about investing? New York Times best selling author Dr. Daniel Crosby joined Emily Binder to talk about the psychology of money. Many investors are mistaken that success in the markets is about being analytically minded, but it’s actually more about self control. So yes, C.R.E.A.M., but emotion rules cash. Daniel shares the three legs of effective investing and why education alone isn’t enough to save us from investing mistakes or weight gain. (Yes, the two are linked.)Dr. Daniel Crosby is a psychologist and behavioral finance expert who helps organizations understand the intersection of mind and markets. A New York Times bestselling author, his most recent book is The Behavioral Investor. Dr. Crosby is Chief Behavioral Officer at Brinker Capital.View the show notes and timestamped topics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Claire Winslow, CEO Best Practice Media discussing an evolving definition of creativity in advertising.Audience segmentation and funnels are the new form of creativityWe should not limit the word “creativity” to a traditional definition of coming up with the ideas - it’s more than the ideas because it also involves the technical skill and strategizing of promoting the message, which can be done creatively even if it doesn't resemble Mad MenThe evolution of language: it always changes. Look at Olde English. Old people always dog young people - it’s the pattern of humanity.Instead of taking slogans from traditional media and putting them on social ads, reverse it and let inexpensive social advertising inform the traditional ads which are more expensive to produce: Case study from Claire's agency Best Practice Media: Buc-ee's Texas road stop, an amusement park/gas station - how Claire’s team is helping Buc-ee's choose effective copy for their road sign using digital (A/B testing 15 slogan options on Facebook to inform outdoor advertising). More info: Buc-ee's, the convenience-store chain with a cult following and 'world-famous’ bathroomsFemale Founders Are Changing the World. Please Stop Calling Them 'Mompreneurs' and 'She-E-Os': Enough with the cutesy nicknames by Lee BuchananGet in touch with Claire Winslow:bestpracticemedia.comSocial Media Week Austin: smwatx.comTwitter: @bestpracticesmmSPECIAL EVENT: Join us at SkillSetters Flash Networking at Project Voice on January 14, 2020!Info:The official Tuesday night event at Project Voice:Increase the discoverability of your Alexa Skill or Flash Briefing live at #SkillSetters premiere cocktail hour!Come share your Alexa Skill or Flash Briefing, speed dating style! 50 Alexa Skill creators have the opportunity to give a short elevator pitch for your Skill in 1 minute to each person in the room. After each interaction, guests can scan each other’s QR code badge that opens their Skill on mobile.You’ll leave with up to 50 new users, new friends, and great ideas! Come network with the #SkillSetters at Project Voice!YOUR HOSTS: SkillSetters and Finalists for the Flash Briefing of the Year Award:-Emily Binder (Voice Marketing with Emily Binder)-Daniel Hill (The Instagram Stories)-Amy Summers (The Pitch with Amy Summers)With featured guest Bradley Metrock, host of Project Voice along with Audiobrain and more great sponsors! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Beetle Moment Marketing Podcast trailer: all about the show, featuring guest voice clips about business, marketing, voice technology, and more.Subscribe free to the show in your favorite podcast app here.Theme music by Audiobrain.Beetles are protein, not fat. It's time to crawl in. :) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amazon is charging users 99 cents to skin the standard parts of its voice experience with a celebrity voice. As we close out this decade, we can see a parallel between these early voice experiences and the beginning years of one of the most successful social media apps of all time (Instagram). Filters - whether photos filters or voice skins - begin as a bolt-on and a novelty. But imagine where they’re headed. Let’s think about rich, contextual experiences.Similar to what Google Assistant has done, Amazon is now giving customers the option to hear some familiar voices in addition to Alexa’s default voice. Today the company kicked off its celebrity voice program, and it’s starting with Samuel L. Jackson. - The VergeEnjoy this mini episode! Our regular interview format will resume in January 2020.Full show notes here.NEW: Get an email when we publish a new episode: click here to sign up free.1-click subscribe free to this podcast in your favorite player. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Writing a book has long been considered a rite of passage in establishing industry authority and a personal brand. Books are powerful. But the traditional publishing industry moves slowly and leaves much to be desired for writers without time to spare or whose content is time sensitive. How can voice technology establish a platform and thought leadership faster - and maybe even better? Amy Summers shares her experiment of creating an Alexa Flash Briefing instead of writing a book. The results may surprise you.Amy Summers is President of Pitch Publicity in New York. Amy launched her company in 2003 and over 20 years her campaigns have resulted in billions of media impressions worldwide. She produces one of the highest ranked Alexa Flash Briefings about PR, management, and communications, The Pitch with Amy Summers.1-click subscribe free to this podcast anywhere See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Audrey Arbeeny, Founder, CEO and Executive Producer of Audiobrain, a globally recognized leader in sonic branding.Topics:What is sonic branding? Why does it matter?Sonic branding definition: the art and the science that surrounds the strategic development and deployment of a consistent authentic sound experience of a brand.Sonic identity is the strategic and creative alignment of this experienceWhere is a brand heard? Everywhere from podcasts, commercials, videos, to IVR, call centers, jingles, transactions, mobile apps, kitchen appliances, cars and moreSonic branding is critical right now because customer experience is paramount. People want to feel emotionally connected to their brands. And they have so many places where they can now hear the brand... when that starts sound disconnected, you are creating a poor experience of the brand.Consistent sonic branding elevates the brand, including its visualsAudiobrain case study a heart health device: Counterpace (a state of the art sensor that syncs your heartbeat and footsteps)McDonald's self serve kiosk sounds - an Audiobrain clientEmily's story - the in-depth process through which Audiobrain created her custom sonic branding for the podcast, Flash Briefing, and Emily's keynotes and speaking events (executive walk-on, room warming etc.)1-click subscribe free to this podcast anywhereConnect with Audrey Arbeeny:audiobrain.comInstagram: @audiobrain_nyTwitter: @audiobrain_ny See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How do we design technology that is both smart for business and good for people? This conversation asks questions about our approach for voice and AI, oncoming voice tech issues such as deep fakes, and privacy issues such as data mining by Facebook and other tech companies. Author and keynote speaker Kate O'Neill is known around the world as The Tech Humanist. Hear her great approach to keeping technology human and what it will take for emerging technology to be successful from a business standpoint.Timestamps:03:15 How do we approach voice design from a human centric way that is also good for business?04:30 Weather skill example - take context about what someone using the skill needs, like an umbrella05:20 Business might build voice tech or other tech in order to check a box but it’s better to build for the person on the other end06:00 Don’t ask “What’s our AI strategy?” - steak back and say “What are we trying to accomplish as a business? 07:00 Who are we building for and how can we serve their needs?”06:20 Create alignment and relevance between the business and people outside it07:10 Avoid unintended consequences of technology as it becomes capable of such scale07:35 Google Translatotron and deep fakes: Translatotron translates spoken word into another language while retaining the VOICE of the original speaker. Read more: https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/translatotron.08:40 Google would now have your voice - what will they do with it? Voice synthesis and deep fakes - the terrifying possibilities (overall: cool but scary)How we should approach technology such as the Babelfish (Hitchhiker’s Guide) - simultaneous translation that does not lose integrity originating from the sound of your voice. But one step further: there is sampling of your voice that is sufficient for ML (machine learning) and AI to synthesize your voice.09:30 Companies must govern themselves (e.g. Google)09:50 Government has a responsibility to regulate privacy and data models10:40 Kate doesn’t have smart speakers in her home because we don’t have a precedent for protecting user data, she says11:20 Facebook Ten Year Challenge (Kate’s tweet went viral in January 2019 over the ten year old photo trend next to current photos of themselves) - she pointed out that this data could be training facial recognition algorithms on predicting aging13:20 We have seen memes and games that ask you to provide structured information turn out to be data mining (e.g. Cambridge Analytics) - we have good reason to be cautious14:40 "Everything we do online is a genuine representation of who we are as people, so that data really should be treated with the utmost respect and protection. Unfortunately, it isn't always." - Kate15:00 Do we need government to regulate tech?16:10 “Ask forgiveness, not permission” is clearly the case with Facebook so why are users so forgiving?20:00 What does a future social network look like where there are fewer privacy and data mining and algorithm concerns?Extra info:Deep fake (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") is a technique for human image synthesis based on artificial intelligence. It is used to combine and superimpose existing images and videos onto source images or videos using a machine learning technique known as generative adversarial network.Deep fakes and voice emulation: idea of voice skins and impersonation for fraud:https://qz.com/1699819/a-new-kind-of-cybercrime-uses-ai-and-your-voice-against-you/"In March, fraudsters used AI-based software to impersonate a chief executive from the German parent company of an unnamed UK-based energy firm, tricking his underling, the energy CEO, into making an allegedly urgent large monetary transfer by calling him on the phone. The CEO made the requested transfer to a Hungarian supplier and was contacted again with assurances that the transfer was being reimbursed immediately. That too seemed believable."Subscribe to this podcast and listen free anywhere: beetlemoment.com/podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Amy HooverShow notes coming soon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Topics:Whether should brands create their own mini voice assistants like Beeb - which kind of brands should consider this? Katherine explainsThe newly announced Interoperability Initiative will strive to ensure that voice activated devices will work with multiple digital assistants like Alexa and Siri at the same time.The two camps regarding what the voice-first future holds:A) People will mainly interact with just one assistant (see Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri Inc.)B) We will all use multiple voice assistantsC) A middle ground of master and mini assistants - Dave explains how Alexa could launch Beeb (BBC's assistant) or Spot (Spotify's assistant) - and Beeb would be the master of that smaller domain / use case, making a better overall experienceAlexa eventually functioning as an App Store - but for voicePlus, how devices like Echo Buds and Echo Frames fit in to a world of mini voice assistantsWhat is the potential of Echo Buds to allow us to access web content we have never thought of as audio enabled? Echo Frames could be quite powerful to usher us into a world where the input is pure voice but the output/response is multimodal (visual and audio) - Katherine makes a great point hereGuests:Dave Kemp, Business Development Manager at Oaktree Products, Inc.FuturEar.co@Oaktree_DaveKatherine Prescott, Founder & Editor at VoiceBrew@kbprescott1-click subscribe to this podcast anywhere See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If a brand plays too much in the reptilian brain, preying on FOMO or jealousy, they won’t create longterm fans or customers. Brian Roemmele explains what brands need to do to build longterm successful customer relationships. Every brand has an emotional connection to the people who use their products. But some covet it better than others. Brian and I discussed brand narratives and personas, touching on archetypes and even the neurochemistry of purchases and loyalty. My favorite part of the conversation is when Brian explained why the female voice is hardcoded by our evolution to be perceived as authoritative. So for everyone wondering if voice assistants being female is a bad thing, Brian will probably change your mind.Brian’s theory:All products, companies, and brands are a relationship with their consumerThey have defining points as any human relationship doesTimestamps coming soon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Brian Roemmele, "The Oracle of Voice"Echo Buds, Echo Frames, Echo Loop, and more brand new products announced last week will take Alexa to new fields: what does this mean? Brian Roemmele is known as the Oracle of Voice for a reason. Over decades he has predicted so many things that came true. The brilliance of these new products like Echo Loop is about getting Amazon into the castle without fighting for spaces that are already occupied, like the wrist or the pocket.A big theme of this episode is getting out of the weeds of the technical features like the carburetor or the exact RAM, and instead looking at better ways to get work done. Bigger picture. We are looking at the beginnings of new use cases in brand new paradigms. When you paradigm shift, the canvas is blank, and that’s where we are with voice.This is Part 1 - tune back in next week to hear more! Subscribe free in your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss it: bit.ly/playbeetleRead more: Amazon Devices Event, September 2019Timestamps and topics:Timestamps and topics:04:00 Amazon’s patents telegraph the future04:50 Amazon did not dominate in smartphone, obviously (Fire Phone failed - and at the time in 2014, people overlooked the first generation Amazon Echo)05:50 Smartphone is an old modality06:10 iPhone is the iconic smartphone06:30 What is the strategy to get into the castle? Content and shopping, largest merchant on planet07:10 Amazon is a retailer not a technology company - this is why Amazon created the voice first experience firstAmazon does not pretend ot be a tech company, they’re a company that produces technology07:50 They don’t have mindshare yet, and that is key07:55 What happens with content and mindshare? How does content creation play in?08:30 Amazon is not going after the smartphone or smart watch (not after the wrist or the pocket09:10 Products that define new categories must be loved and hated09:30 “Talk to the hand” back in vernacular with Echo Loop10:30 Tech companies don’t consider anthropological and sociological impact of products11:10 We ask“can we?” too often and don’t ask “Should we?” enough11:45 Brian’s thesis: Hyper Local11:55 Echo Loop (a ring) is not always on, it has a button. It draws you into the Alexa ecosystem without taking away from Apple AirPods - and that is brilliant13:20 Future of the voice assistant that you talk to like a significant other13:30 Done thumb clawing at screen - that is the future13:50 Echo Frames and Echo Loop are early versions of the ubiquitous voice future14:20 Near field computing, mid-field, and far-field (open room) - Amazon’s secret weapon over the castle wall was to get in the home (with Echo in 2014) - which became the fastest adopted consumer technology in history15:10 The tech leap happened organically with consumers from kitchen to living room - Amazon is doing the same strategy again to get people to adopt this in the near field15:50 People mocked the iPad (menstrual pad?) and look what happened - these products have to be hated or mocked16:30 iPhone was laughed at because it didn’t have a keyboard. What is past is prologue. We always see the future through the glasses of right nowand the past - always view the future through the rearview mirror: 16:40 We defined the new in the words of the old, e.g.: the horseless carriage, flameless candle, talking pictures.17:50 Most voice first experts have nothing to do with the technology world, which irritates folks in tech18:45 Computing is not what it was for the last sixty years, and it will not continue to be what is has been the last twenty - think about this for typing and interacting18:55 Technology gets bigger and bigger until it disappears (e.g. you don’t talk about your carburetor, you just buy a car that works or Jobs saying RAM doesn’t matter, you will only care what the computer does or accomplishes)21:35 There are no killer applications for voice. “Apps?” That’s 2D.21:55 So what are people really looking for with voice?22:30 "The idea of the app is already gone.”- Brian23:40 The intimate relationship that technology can and will spawn is the killer app. We can’t see that world clearly yet24:50 We’re not battling on the grounds defined by prior technologies25:10 We’ve only seen 4 of the 175 modalities that voice first works in25:50 Amazon’s brilliance is great utility to an existing ecosystem (Alexa)25:00 Amazon doesn’t expect Echo Buds to replace Apple AirPods27:20 Echo Buds isolate noise and incorporate multiple VAs like Google and Siri27:30 AirPods are a cultural phenomenon about fashion as much as sound- that is why they won’t be easily replaced by Echo Buds28:05 Brand signaling with AirPods, or whatever product comes next- that is human28:30 Loop and Frames are wise moves29:10 AOL move to open AOL Mail to internet mail is similar to Buds move to open to other VAs29:40 Amazon subsidies for Buds and Amazon Music. Music is a commodity - supplier does not matter.30:10 When you stream music, that streaming service makes almost nothing (e.g. Apple, Google, Spotify) - loss leader. The strategy is about attention, narrative, communication with the customer.30:50 See: Prime. Brilliant. Long term relationship. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Bob Stolzberg, Founder of Voice XPConsider what Amazon might not realize: that brands can use voice as a marketing channel to sell directly to consumers - through Alexa and not with sales going through amazon.com. Think about it.Bob Stolzberg and Emily Binder dug into a great question about where e-commerce is headed: will brands be able to stand as independent ecommerce channels even while reaching customers through Alexa? Will brands really matter in an increasingly AI assisted future? What can brands do today to improve customer experiences for shopping and getting information? Also: how voice will impact the future of advertising. Plus, you'll find out how you can create a custom skill which lets your customers request a call-back from you through Alexa.voicexp.com1-click subscribe to this podcast anywhere See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Dani Fava, Director, Institutional Innovation, TD Ameritrade. Voice technology is a powerful medium for a relationship-centric business like wealth management. In fact, one of the Flash Briefings that Dani Fava launched, TD Ameritrade for Advisors, just won the Custodians: Thought Leadership category of the 2019 Wealth Management Industry Awards. Hear about Dani's experience launching Alexa Flash Briefing skills for TD Ameritrade. With apps across voice assistants like Alexa and Google on both on the institutional and brokerage (retail) sides of their business, TD Ameritrade is a leader in voice for the banking category. And as Director of Innovation, Dani is leading that charge!Plus Dani shared one financial advisor’s emotionally moving story about how the TD Ameritrade Alexa skill empowered a longtime client to once again feel control over her finances through voice.Full show notes coming soon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Dave Isbitski, Chief Evangelist, Amazon Alexa. We discussed Alexa Flash Briefing and the future of AI and how it will teach us about ourselves. The killer app is the connection. Part 2 of 2.Click here for Part 1We also answered a top question among marketers: how do you overcome discoverability challenges with early voice to get your Alexa skill found? Friendly reminder: please mute your Alexa device before listening.1-Click listen in your favorite podcast appSHOW NOTES:1:05 Flash Briefing - a consistent way to engage your customers. Beats a silly CEO email no one opens. This is a better company update.2:00"I want to engage and connect on a human level”Cross modalities to drive enagements2:45 Teri Fisher podcast: using SEO to share and promote all his Flash Briefings. Put all the briefings onto a blog. This is how to harness Flash Briefing across modalities and web as well as helping your SEO. 3:20 You offer customers value. You must give. Pippa is a good tool to get your briefings embedded into your site with a simple widget which is also search-friendly (thanks for sponsoring our show, Pippa!)4:00 What do you see coming down the pike as far as interaction within Flash Briefing? How do we move from passive to interactive, if we do at all - in voice experiences?4:30 Dave: I’m a product person. I love consumer devices. I feel strongly that you want someone to get a new idea or understand how something will work, it must be a physical product. That was Echo. People want devices that work with Alexa. That customer sentiment has evolved - the future will be similar. 7:50 Alexa Conversations8:00 The future of voice8:20 We as humans don't think in terms of TASKS but in terms of scenarios, ideas, and things we want to get done (REmars example)9:35 Burn ur current ideas down. AI will help. Existentialism. 11:00 There is no killer voice app. The killer thing is the relationship and context with AI. Like a long friendship - it’s not any one aspect that makes it meaningful, it’s the entire relationship. Listen anywhere: Subscribe free to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dave Isbitski, Chief Evangelist, Amazon Alexa, on the power of Alexa for marketing, part 1 of 2.Dave and Emily talked about why voice is a departure from previous technology (leaving Tap, Type, & Swipe - entering Voice First) and how you can harness Alexa to learn more about your customers. Plus: how you can use voice as the ultimate frictionless up-sell. Full show notes and web player hereWe also answered a top question among marketers: how do you overcome discoverability challenges with early voice to get your Alexa skill found? Friendly reminder: please mute your Alexa device before listening.1-Click listen in your favorite podcast appSHOW NOTES:2:05: Dave has worked in web and mobile for decades: what is different about voice?3:40- “Voice cuts across all industries. From finance to CPG…” You’ll see people talking about voice in finance, then doctors and healthcare professionals about what does voice mean for patient care? And you’ll see others ask what does it mean for shopping and pay? Brand ask what it means for them and customer?3:32 “Every technology I’ve ever talked about has always had training, we had to teach customers how to do this first before they can tell us what they want.” - DaveDave Isbitksi, Chief Evangelist, Alexa - Amazon4:00 There is no learning curve with voice: it’s natural for everyone to speak5:54 Inclusivity:It’s not about how well you can code, it’s about how well you can converse (Dave mentioned this in his keynote at VOICE Summit 2019)7:10 The marketer’s bottleneck with IT - this is less a problem with voice (Emily)7:50 Ruder Finn / PR Week event where Dave made a point about organizational education about voice - how it’s not really new but is easier:8:30 “There must be a doc somewhere in your organization that can help you with voice” - a group is still responsible for teaching new tech (like with cloud) but getting people up to speed now is much easier9:40 Alexa can learn easily - these are just restful web services passing JSON across SSL request - which we are already doing on mobile. It calls the same API. The magic is that Alexa is taking normal human language and figuring out which function to call, vs you hitting a button or tapping a screen to trigger that call.10:25 Alexa stands on the shoulders of all the tech waves that came before11:00 Let's have a discussion about your customer who engages not in a silo but on phones, tablets, social, and other on-ramps11:10 Alexa Skills Kit enables you to teach Alexa how to have a conversation about things. “Set up parameters of a conversation our customers have with us.”11:45 Alexa Voice Service is why you see Alexa in cars, radio services, Windows desktop, and other mobile devices12:30 Upsell- with voice, this is the moment where your customer essentially already has their money out (movie theatre popcorn and Coke analogy). They’re already logged in. Brands can use their own POS like Domino’s does, or Amazon Pay - so it’s just very simple and natural in the moment to get an additional sale13:00 The real difference with voice is being in the moment. We process sounds differently than other senses - it is in real time14:00 Carl Jung reference - the subconscious collects 11 million but we can only process about 40 things in our conscious despite thousands of inputs coming into our brains at all times16:00 Four years ago, Dave said "Get in early now to figure out what people are asking or saying"16:42 Discoverability: how can marketers get their Alexa skills found?17:00 When you first launched your brand's mobile app what did you do, just submit it to the App Store or Google Play? No! Let customers know it's there and why it's faster or better.17:20 Banking app example - when it went mobile customers would choose that bank for its ease of use17:50 MyFitnessPal Alexa skill - track calories by voice (Dave found out about it through another marketing message on the mobile app)18:40 Remember that customers are multimodal - silo launches don’t work19:00 If you already know the top three things your customers do on your mobile app (via analytics), those are your three functionalities to start with in voice20:00 Reviews - flywheel of customer feedback on Alexa skills for usability studiesListen anywhere: Subscribe free to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Schools are more likely to teach you "Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder than what Roth IRA is. With one in five students lacking basic financial literacy skills, it is clear that current methods aren’t working. Xipi CEO Christine Concepcion and her co-founders teamed up to create a better way to educate people about their finances. Christine experienced poverty at a young age and realized that education was the way out. She attended Columbia for undergrad then for business school, having graduated this past May.Xipi will provide micro-lessons in five minutes or less to teach financial concepts through reading, video, or other forms of content - a voice component is coming soonBeta launch in November 201906:00 Gamification is a big partAccessible language06:25 People with low levels of financial literacy rely on friends, parents, or friends to learn about money06:40 40% of Americans do not have $400 on hand for an emergency expense. They often rely on payday loans to cover costs, which puts them in an even more grave situation with extremely high interest rates.07:30 You see friends living their best life on Instagram but probably don't realize that 70% of young adults (people under 30) are receiving financial aid from their parentsConnect with Christine Concepcion and Xipi:Instagram: @GetXipiXipi Team: https://getxipi.com/teamOur VoiceFirst Sponsor!With Trinity Audio, publishers and bloggers can turn their readers into listeners by turning their written content into lifelike speech. All it takes is a short snippet of code to audio-fy your website. Get started for free at trinityaudio.ai See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Corina Frankie, CEO & Founder of Brand Besties, Certified NLP PractitionerNeuro-Linguistic Programming and Voice Marketing, Communication, and LanguageClick here to play this podcast in your favorite appShow notes:02:25 “NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is collection of practical techniques, skills, and strategies that lead to excellence.” -CorinaNLP helps businesses align their values and organization to build rapport with clients and staff and better understand needs and motivations of their customers03:45 Effective questions lead someone to the answer they may already have04:10 Language matters - how we communicate and interact with ourselves and others04:30 NLP helps us understand how the brain works: how do we process information on the inside that comes to us from outside events or experiences? The internal representations we make about an outside event are not the event itself.05:00 What does it mean if your boss gives you more work than your coworkers? The internal representation (processing) is not necessarily the reality of the event.06:00 How do we create the thinking we have? Where are customers, clients, and staff coming from in specific situations?06:20 How do we get someone to want to buy something?06:40 Everyone has a pain or need. A business tries to solve it. But everyone sees their pain differently.07:00 Car buying example: do you see, hear, or learn about the car by grasping it?07:20 Visual, auditory, or kinesthetic apply to a buying decision - are you applying these across messaging to align with your customer?08:00 Mismatch of enthusiasm and energy (current model of someone’s world) is jarring and can ruin a sale or negotiation08:40 We are hardwired to mirror each other - this helps10:00 With Alexa skills or Google actions and other voice apps brands need a consistent, holistic sonic identity to match the rest of their positioning11:00 NLP 4-Mat System: The basic premise of the 4-Mat system is that we all have different learning styles. Some people are motivated by Why? questions. They want to know why they are listening to this talk. Others by What? questions; they want information…and probably lots of it! The How? people want to get on and do an exercise, get their hands on it and try it. Then there are the What if? people who want to know how this material applies to their life, workplace or environment.12:10 The Charisma Pattern plays on kinesthetic, visual, and auditory pattern) - with a voice skill, how do you create a feeling or experience with the way you speak?13:20 Corina demonstrates slowing down and dropping her voice- like the recommendation for the late night FM radio DJ voice from Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (highly recommend this book! Click here to order on Amazon.)14:02 People will tell you their primary representational system if you just listen to their language - pay attention to predicates and verbs people use14:45-16:04 Corina asks clients their vision for an experience she will create with Brand Besties - she listens for their predicates to find out if they are visual or kinesthetic so she can close the sale by speaking their language, e.g. “Picture this…” vs “How does this feel?…”16:20 Feeling predicatesConnect with Corina Frankie:Brand Besties - Event Staffing and Promotional Modeling AgencyNLP - email corina (at) corinafrankie (dot) comOur VoiceFirst Sponsor!With Trinity Audio, publishers and bloggers can turn their readers into listeners by turning their written content into lifelike speech. All it takes is a short snippet of code to audiofy your website. Get started for free at trinityaudio.ai See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dave Kemp from Oaktree Products is an expert on hearables, which are smart, wireless in-ear devices such as AirPods. And they’re probably the future of voice, more so than smart speakers.Dave and Emily talked about ambient computing from Alexa to wearables to the connected car. And interestingly we touched on the dire need for curated content to replace the noisy and overwhelming experience of social media today. Plus, hear how Alexa Flash Briefing might be the first iteration of that improved content experience.Topics:Hearables including AirPods and competitor products such as Samsung Galaxy Buds, Pixel Buds, Microsoft Surface headset5:10 Amazon hearables in late half of 2019 (competitor to AirPods)Apple's new H1 chip in v2 AirPods shows that Apple is dedicated to AirPods for the long term (beyond using the W1 chip from Apple Watch), now AirPods have their own chip architecture just for hearablesFirst application is "Hey Siri" activation (no tapping required)7:10 Bret Kinsella helped people visualize importance of the smart speaker as training wheels, a conditional device to make people comfortable with the voice assistant, offloading smartphone related tasks to VAs. But hearables are really riding the bike.The near-field voice assistant is key (smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home and Apple HomePod are far field)9:00 We have to recognize there has been a dramatic behavioral shift since 2016It has becomes socially acceptable to wear in-ear devices all the time9:20 Form factors are developing: earrings (fashionable hearables) and Bose AR frames with speakers near the ear could be the future9:40 Hearing aids as a form factor allow for usage that is super discreet - moving away from stigma today and to all-day usagePassively consuming content while synced to digital environment - all day usage is plausible10:30 Emily's Bluetooth headache - how can we minimize exposure to EMFs from a health standpoint?11:00 AirPods case could become the receiver vs streaming content from phone to AirPods. Content could be housed in the AirPod case and streamed in a lower bandwidth from the edge vs the cloud.11:20 Outfitting our bodies with technology - what are the health implications for heavy EMFs? TBD…12:25 Flash Briefing and passive consumption of contentFlash Briefing is such a gemDave’s Flash Briefing is his daily blog post on futurear.co then the briefing is a 60 second tease about the blog post (a promotional vehicle to his blog post)Flash Briefing should be the star of the smart speaker - such a powerful use case14:00 This is the precursor to audio social media, consuming on demand the content you want to consume from your favorite sources (curated feed)Amazon should be featuring Flash Briefing more but now it's relegated to the Settings area of the Alexa appHow can we put the Flash Briefing idea on other platforms?15:15 We are so overwhelmed with social media- what if you could Google Reader / RSS all that content?Ways to better curate your attention and cut out the noiseWe love Twitter but it requires so much parsing - what does the future hold and how can voicefirst make passive content consumption better?Get in touch with Dave Kemp:Twitter @Oaktree_DaveFuturear.coFuturEar Radio - Flash Briefing on AlexaThank you to our sponsor, Trinity Audio. I added the Trinity Audio player to my blog on beetlemoment.com and within two weeks I saw a 16% increase in my engagement rate. Anyone with a website can add the FREE Trinity Audio player to your text with one short snippet of code. It’s a win-win for content creators and site visitors. Meet your audience where they’re headed: a voice first world. Visit trinityaudio.ai1-click subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast app See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I spoke with Austin-based professional voice actor Melanie Scroggins, Owner of Melanie Scroggins Voiceover. Melanie found me based on my tweets about junk skills (Alexa skills with no content that are squatting on search terms). Her story resonated with me because it opens the door to a larger conversation about how we value and pay talent. For voice actors who are providing the important sonic branding that we in the voice community are effusive about, communities like SpokenLayer are underpaying freelancers to a surprising degree. And somehow, no one is talking about it.This is about integrity and hopefully serves as a conversation starter. Let’s openly discuss these things so we can create a better place for everyone, from users and customers to developers, brands, and content creators.Connect with Melanie Scroggins:melaniescroggins.comLinkedIn1-click subscribe on your native podcast app See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest: Ben Thompkins, National Sales Manager- Pro Sales, Blue MicrophonesTOPICS:Ben runs professional sales for Blue in North and South America, has been with Blue ten yearsHe handles B2B business, distribution, and educational salesHow does Blue differentiate in the microphone industry?Blue’s unique history (very music focused, podcasting has been recent)Started as a high end microphone company (many of their mics are still $6,000-$10,000)Took premium sound and made it affordable (see their podcasting mics)Blue’s marketing stands out - fun names like Yeti and Snowball4:34 Story: Snowball was originally called Softball - founder storySoftball (Snowball) was built for GarageBand, per Apple’s request- a simple USB micFounder Skipper turned them downEmily used Snowball on her first podcast (throwback: The Digital Dive Podcast)Blue Microphones are the #1 SKU on Amazon for Music / Musical Instruments (these mics are not in the electronics department)Hear about podfading (half of podcasts fade after 6 episodes) in Emily’s episode with Phoebe Mroczek8:10 Emily asks: are people ready for a more passive media experience (e.g. podcasting and voice - audio content) due to social media overload?"Half the picture is sound" - George Lucas on the importance of audio in filmHigh quality audio is paramount for communication and marketingBad audio on YouTube is worse than bad visualsBlue was acquired by Logitech for $117 millionBen is seeing a trend of XLR mics, not just USB mics (XLR is used at major music recording studios)If you’re paying for an expensive computer and Alienware, it makes sense to upgrade your audio tooVideo games are part of his market - gamers are buying nicer micsJoe Rogan uses a broadcast micPeople are spending more money on higher quality micsInstagram: @bthompkins, @bluemicrophones1-click SUBSCRIBE FREE to this podcast on your favorite player: bit.ly/playbm See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Show notes:The 85+ age group is the fastest growing. There are more people 65+ than under age five. This is a huge missed opportunity for brands not talking to the 50+ cohort.60 million U.S. adults are between age 50-70: lots of spending powerPeter Pan syndrome in advertising worldWendi has been in DRTV since 1997 - and it's a lot of selling to women07:23 We are not data driven only because of the digital age, DR has been data driven since long before there was digital07:30 It has always been women purchasing on TV and in retail so why aren’t we honing in and speaking to them more?Marketers are not reaching mature consumers effectively mainly because ad agencies skew so young9:30 Too many marketers assume people watching CNN are on their way to assisted living9:50 Programmatic - ad fraud - billions wasted per year9:55 Voice is the future - voice is natural for all age10:25 What should marketers do to reach the 50-70 group with voice?10:55 "I've fallen and I can't get up" - famous ad was original voice technology - necklace to send help11:53 As people become elders they need voice to contact loved ones and order prescriptions12:10 Bezos - Amazon pharmacy play - smart12:20 Voice for assisted living - ideas where older people will understand and use the technology12:50 Voice is even more intuitive than an iPad, but who is the teacher? This matters.13:15 50-70 year old market who are thriving - Flash Briefings for this group would be great (Wendi will create one)13:55 How do you market your Flash Briefing? The challenge here is widespread for all ages.14:50 As soon as you are able to create content you can drive people to a destination (e.g. Wendi put the first URL instead of an 800 number in a commercial)15:15 A TV commercial to drive awareness of the 60+ Alexa skill would work - Wendi feels this is necessary to bring mass awareness to voice16:00 Super Bowl ads about Alexa16:10 "Go get the Alexa skill" is the new download the app or visit the website5:11 Wendi is a consultant for the mature audience because brands get it wrongAd agency ageism stats via Ad Age:In 2017, the majority, or 63 percent, of workers in advertising, public relations and related services were under 45 years of age, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median age in the category was 39.2—roughly the same as a decade earlier. (By comparison, the median age in accounting, including tax prep, bookkeeping and payroll services, was 45.) Broadly speaking, age bias accounts for nearly a quarter of overall complaints against employers.Here are some great Alexa skills for seniors from Heidi Culbertson's company Ask Marvee:https://askmarvee.com/alexa-skills-public/Get in touch with Wendi Cooper:wendicooper.com - Speaking of Agehttps://www.facebook.com/cspottalkLinkedIn - Wendi Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendicoopercspottalk/YouTube: Wendi Cooper: https://www.youtube.com/user/cspotrundirect See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Guest Phoebe Mroczek of Unbecoming Podcast and New ToTopic: Podcasting businessPodfading - but the overall mortality rate or “podfade” comes in at a remarkable 50%Unbecoming PodcastNew To (Austin) PodcastEmily's Alexa Flash Briefing - Voice MarketingPhoebe MroczekIn the news:Woman to Watch: Phoebe Mroczek1-click SUBSCRIBE FREE to this podcast on your native player: bit.ly/playbm See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pricing strategy is a key consideration when selling a product or service. Hear a true story about a bizarre pricing model I encountered and what marketers can learn from it.Topics:0:50 Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) - recommended by Tony Robbins: "NSA was created by Dr. Donny Epstein in the 1980s. It's deceptively simple yet profoundly effective. NSA practitioners lightly touch certain parts of your spine to release tension. By releasing that tension, energy is freed up, which the body uses to increase flexibility in your spine and, by extension, your nervous system." Read more: Tony Robbins Says This Little-Known Therapy is One of the Most Powerful Sources of Transformation He Has Ever Experienced"At its core, NSA is an elegant hack to help you reorganize your body and mind, making you more physically and mentally flexible and resilient. It's like a software upgrade for humans." - Sounds great, right? It didn't really work for me.1:30 Pricing model as presented to customer: 25% discount for paying month-to-month (instead of by the session), or 30% discount for paying for all six months at once2:10 Pricing policy is a retroactive price hike if you discontinue before hitting six months2:35 An agreement requires consideration (both parties signing a contract). It later turned out an office assistant mistakenly forgot to present me with the contract. This indicates disorganization, a separate issue.4:52 "Be impeccable with your word" - one of The Four Agreements5:00 Make customers feel they can trust you5:10 Don’t forget to reduce customer anxiety at ALL points in the customer journey, not only pre-purchase but also post purchase. Retention marketing is equally important. Remember, it costs on average 10 times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to keep a current one.5:22 Packaging (one of the 4 Ps) - package nicely to instill post-purchase satisfaction (great brands like Apple have always understood the power of packaging). In a service oriented business, everything about the service experience is essentially packaging, from your office environment to your communication style to your emails and online scheduling tool.5:55 Marketing doesn't end after the cash register closes6:10 Satisfaction guarantees and pricing model must be consistent6:40 Keep your business reputation healthy - this is a priority because local businesses live and die by reviews. Nickel and diming or displeasing customers to scrape extra money out of a transaction is just not worth it nowadays when anyone can post an online review. Plus, having to do this is a sign that your product or service is lacking. Fix that instead of toying with a tricky pricing strategy.The outcome: we parted ways amicably and I got a full refund, after 2-3 weeks of back-and-forth. This was an unnecessary waste of time. I have no ill will toward the doctor here. However I wouldn't recommend her practice with the current pricing model.I made a podcast out of this not to complain or be negative, but to draw a lesson and point out the business takeaway - because that is more interesting and overall productive and positive. NSA is quite effective for some people and I wish them well!1-click SUBSCRIBE FREE to this podcast on your native player: bit.ly/playbm See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Katherine Prescott is the Founder & Editor of VoiceBrew, a digital media company dedicated to helping people get the most out of Alexa. We discussed privacy on Amazon Alexa as well as the future of #voicefirst advertising in light of which tech company's business model has true alignment with the end user, examining Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook.Topics and timestamps:Privacy - Amazon Alexa - is she recording?Amazon Echo Show 5 announcement - new features, especially for greater privacy and user data controlWhen is Alexa recording vs listening?How do I control my privacy settings on Alexa?3.10 This privacy dialogue is healthy - it improves voice assistants for consumersEcho Show 5 has a new camera shutter and the ability to say “Alexa, delete everything I said today”4.20 Alexa app is not the focus5.00 Discoverability is the ultimate challenge5.05 It’s called the 5 but this refers to the 5.5 inch screen - is same as third gen echo5.10 Why the Echo Show 5 is such a big deal - compelling land grab for affordable smart display space6.10 Like the shift from radio to TV, third party Alexa skills will improve dramatically because of multi-modal10.04 Will smart display pave the way for advertising? Banner even? Less intrusive than voice? Alexa diplsay ads?10.50 Emily: sponsorship and brand preference will be paid for - that will be the advertising, unlike previous digital like banner ads or PPC11.30 Katherine: Tech giants are shifting toward privacy as a feature13.15 Business model and alignment - Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook. Great point from Katherine.14.02 Google's pitch: we provide free services and collect your data.14.27 Think of privacy in broader context - we are in the early innings of voice Sources:Echo Show 5: https://www.techradar.com/news/amazon-echo-show-5-everything-you-need-to-know"Buried in this morning’s Echo Show 5 announcement are a couple of new security features worth highlighting. In addition to the inclusion of a built-in camera shutter on the new smart display are a pair of Echo commands that let users delete voice recordings with an Alexa command." -https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/29/amazon-adds-alexa-delete-what-i-said-today-command/Get in touch with Katherine Prescott:Twitter: @kbprescottInstagram: @voicebrewVoicebrew.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How do you capture a brand's audio identity? Emily Binder interviews Brent Barcus of i65 Music based in Nashville. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Emily Binder interviews Phoebe Ohayon, an Audio Branding Strategist and Audio Designer with a background in audio engineering and branding. Phoebe helps brands prepare for a sound and voice-activated future. With her voice-first audio branding approach, she helps brands and companies who are creating voice experiences and want to use the power of audio (voice, music, and sound) to design the best customer experiences.Upcoming Event:Join us at VOICE Summit 2019! Phoebe Ohayon, Audrey Arbeeny, and Emily Binder speak July 25, 2019 on the Sonic Branding panel. See more: Emily Binder - Speaking.Mentioned:Auping Bedtime Skill (Google Action - Dutch version):On October 24, Google launches the Dutch version of voice assistant Google Home. For this smart speaker, which can instruct the user and ask questions, Dutch bed manufacturer Auping developed a so-called 'Google Action'. Auping has developed this Google Action together with voice specialists from Mindshare and Greenhouse Group Conversational .The soundscapeThe story is being narrated by Birgit Schuurman, a famous Dutch actress and singer, who also narrated the Auping commercial. Not only did this create a great connection to the commercial, but she also turned out to be a great fit for this story. A warm and pleasant voice, perfect for narrating a children's story.-https://www.themarketingtechnologist.co/auping-bedtime-story/Connect with Phoebe Ohayon:LinkedInvoicebranding.ai1-click subscribe or listen to this podcast in your native player! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Robert Binder is a Senior Engineer member of the technical staff at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University. He has 43 years of experiencing working in technology on everything from mainframe computers to embedded cyber physical systems, including work in institutions in financial markets in Chicago including the CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange).We talked about how the drivers of economics and business are sending Facebook in the same direction AT&T was sent. Topics include:Classical EconomicsThe Network EffectThe Monopolist's Demand CurveWhen it came to AT&T's breakup in the 1980s, it was not just the new technology that mattered, it was the business opportunities created at that moment. Capital investment and risk taking and entrepreneurial activity that resulted happened at a very large scale.Timestamps:3:15 How Robert got involved with software in 19764:00 2 GTE software project the theory of the firm monopolist's demand curve2.40 Robert's project with GTE Automatic Electric, which operated specialized telephone networks. At the time AT&T operated all the wires and owned all the phones. People leased their home phones from AT&T.The deregulation in 1985 of ATT opened the door for cellular networks and led to what we have today; this is a hugely complex topic. But we discussed a few aspects. 6:00 The Theory of the Firm6:15 In a competitive market, no individual company can control price; they price based on supply and demand6:43 The Monopolist's Demand Curve7:09 Martin Shkreli and high cost drug monopoly- ‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli sentenced to 7 years in prison — says, ‘This is my fault’9:20 AT&T was a monopoly but they made more money by charging less - not gouging customers even though they could10:00 Facebook is the greatest deal in advertising but is quickly increasing in cost11:02 The power of monopoly is a street that cuts both ways for Facebook (privacy issues, scrutiny)11:20 Most users don't realize Facebook owns Instagram or that user data is the product - the model is much more complex than AT&T's monopoly12:20 In the 1930s people realized that if the telephone system was to grow, they would need to employ an inordinate amount of humans to man the switches - not scalable13:20 Was there skepticism about technology like the telephone like there has been for the PC, the smart phone, email, and now voice technology?13:50 Long distance calls were expensive14:15 New technology, when scalable and affordable, can be adopted readily and becomes quotidian14:30 The Network Effect (the value of a network increases to a power of two with the number of connections) - exponential growth See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The key idea with micro moment marketing is to embrace the idea that you have but a few seconds to capture the attention of your target consumer. In those brief seconds, brands are challenged to convey a concise message that is relevant to the consumer. Otherwise, they're on to the next article, tweet, or email and you've lost their attention.On average, 150 times a day consumers experience purchase moments, research moments, and discovery moments, just to name a few. How can marketers be sensitive to these moments in the buyer journey to make our messaging more effective and less interruptive? How are brands from tires to cookies taking advantage of micro moments?Micro-moments are small occurrences throughout the shopper journey during which consumers are ready to act. Google narrows these moments down to four key categories:want-to-know momentswant-to-go momentswant-to-do momentswant-to-buy momentsHow do you market to consumers in a way that takes advantage of these moments in the buyer journey?Timestamps:2:00 It’s the small occurrences in the consumer journey when they’re ready to act - get into your customer’s mindset2:15 The four types of micro moments, according to Google 5.23 Incorporate into your strategy: the micro moment5:30 80% of mobile use in evening6:00 Content shock: consumers are bombarded by information (we spend 4.7 hours per day on smartphones)6:40 Seasonality - tire brand example and micro moment search terms8:05 Serve the need the consumer has based on search and context - even with PPC basics8:38 The want-to-know moment8:55 Oreo marketing with Game of Thrones: embossed cookies for each GoT house, and on Twitter: #GameOfCookies #ForTheThrone10:15 Game of Thrones Oreos10:30 Sunday Scaries - Instagram phenomenon #SundayScaries11:30 Production value is less important than quality and sensitivity to the moment in the buyer's journey12:20 Guardian looked at shiny high production value videos on IG stories and return on effort wasn’t as high, so went for a lo-fi approach which worked better. "Lean into the culture of the internet." Source: The Guardian finds less polished video works better on Instagram Stories13:15 Why lo-fi posts were more popular - on Instagram, people are looking for their friends, so brands who look that way blend in more and seem more naturalAbout Melanie:Digital Marketing Strategist Melanie Touchstone helps fast-growth businesses develop and expand their brand presence through strategic, inbound marketing. Having spent over a decade working closely with the innovation ecosystem, Melanie has unique insight into the needs of early and middle-market companies. She specializes in brand and channel marketing.Connect with Melanie Touchstone:melanietouchstone.comTwitter: @MelTouchstoneInstagram: @TouchstoneMarketingPippa:Check out our sponsor, Pippa.io and get a $25 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for a year of hosting at beetlemoment.com/pippa See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Not every marketing activity needs directly measurable ROI. Most branding tactics have never had clear ROI. But they're still important.Early voice-enabled ads like Unilever’s AXE ad on Spotify hint at the wide open space for a new, frictionless way to access sponsored content or helpful information from a brand.Click here for full show notes.Spotify’s feature, which debuts today, will only work if the person listening has their microphone enabled, the company says. A listener saying “Play now” when prompted by a specific AXE audio commercial from Unilever will cause the streaming service to play a curated playlist from the brand (which come with commercials). Afterward, the mic is turned off, Spotify says. -AdAge, "Spotify debuts voice-enabled audio ads with Unilever"Subscribe to this podcast:NEW: 1-click to subscribe or play this podcast in your native podcast app! or enter: bit.ly/playbm in your browser See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What makes a great Flash Briefing? Daniel Hill, creator and host of The Instagram Stories Flash Briefing is our guest. Daniel and Emily Binder, creator and host of Voice Marketing - Daily Beetle Moment Flash Briefing discuss the top five tips for creating a popular Flash Briefing. Why Daniel has the #1 Alexa Skill for search term “Instagram”:“Others are doing similar things [marketing tips for small businesses] on Instagram, but no one was doing it on Alexa.” -Daniel HillLength - 10 seconds, 90 seconds, or 3 minutes? Don’t waste time on your intro and outro. Use markers. (Emily uses Pippa - click here for a $25 Amazon Gift Card when you sign up for a year of audio hosting). Include sonic branding - be consistent.Schedule / cadence - how often to publish your Flash Briefing? Make a commitment. How many days per week? 5 weekdays, or all 7 days? Should you publish on weekends? Whatever you do, be consistent and let listeners know what to expect. Listenership for Flash Briefings diminishes on weekends but you may want to post at least one or two weekend posts for the ones who stay engaged (Daniel). Consider a weekend edition (something short and simple). Survey your listeners: Daniel used a Google Form, created a bit.ly link to it, and announced it on his briefing - and he gave away an Echo to incentivize listeners to take the survey. Batch record - don’t leave this until the night before (Emily). Daniel: Fresh news briefings require recording daily most of the time. Consider recording early after the gym or whenever you feel most energized. Listeners can hear fatigue in your voice.Content: what to talk about? Daniel: It has to be newsworthy. Emily: Don’t be obvious and basic. Don’t make a briefing about something basic. Add value: “What do I know that other people don’t?” And add your take on the news you share. INSERT - HERE IS A SAMPLE OF NEWS AND EMILY’S TWO CENTS: (Why: this demonstrates authority and subject matter expertise).What to name your Flash Briefing: Daniel: Look for a name or word people are talking about. Capitalize on popular search terms because this platform is so uncrowded. Emily: Look at Google Search Trends or Amazon’s list of top product searches. https://twitter.com/emilybinder/status/1117167808851382274. What’s the point of your briefing? Emily: Public speaking should make your audience feel something, remember something, and do something. Look at your briefing as a body of work over time. You need a central theme or idea that is the backbone of all your content. Daniel: Make a Flash Briefing that is niche: example: not just fishing, not just deep sea fishing, but Sustainable Deep Sea Fishing! Show notes hereSubscribe free to this podcast:Apple PodcastsStitcherSpoitfy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My SXSW interview with Michelle Excell of The Antipodean. Michelle is an innovation strategist in the emerging technology space.Show notes and timestamps:What is an Antipodean?01:41 Discussing voice and Michelle’s clients: what are you noticing with recent briefs?02:25 Brands are interested invoice but unsure where to start02:40 Some agencies are jumping in head first 04:15 Brands must start somewhere: they should start small with voice marketing and smart speakers04:50 Consider voice or AI within chat bots or retail where people will spend more time5.08 Find contextual places where customers really interact05:14 Is it worth doing a single use or delightful skill or should skills be intended for repeat use? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Full show notes and video coming soon!Email marketingSocial mediaDesign, graphics, and what worksPersonalize messagingKeep it simple - black and white can beat flashy design and colorInterview with Melanie Touchstonehttp://touchstonedigitalmarketing.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

1:30 I want to share this on a Wednesday because it matters2:20 Skip the weather and generic pleasantries: personalize2:40 Sample introduction request to Susan3:02 It’s okay that it’s one-sided sometimes3:15 Don't sound entitled 3:37 People love the power of saying “no"4:05 Book: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss - negotiation (thanks for the rec, Mitch Joel)4:44 Give them an OUT. Include two things: A copy/paste blurb about you so they don’t have to write itAn easy out5:17: The easy out: “I would appreciate the intro if possible but if you can’t, no problem and thank you in advance.”5:34 Don’t seem beholden to the outcome and no one will feel trapped. Give everyone room to escape. Then they’ll feel better about not escaping.5:45 Realize that you called in a favor (whether you are the requester or the introducer)6:30 This is a withdrawal from a relationship bank account for the requester and for the introducer See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Announcements - what's happening in February 2019 (first two minutes of show):This week I’ll be on Bradley Metrock’s show, This Week in Voice, which should air February 1, 2019If you’re in Atlanta, come to the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) event on February 6, where I’m moderating a panel about voice technology with Kesha Williams from Chik Fil A (she was the main keynote at The Alexa Conference), plus speakers from Home Depot and 360i: How Voice Will Disrupt the Buyer Journey - Innovation Series presented by Nebo AgencyNext podcast appearance: Alexa in Canada, the Voice Experience with Dr. Teri Fisher. This will air the week of February 11.Social Media Week Austin: #SMWATX Feb 19-22, I’m speaking about voice marketing. Date and time announced Feb 11.Show notes:CPG and FMCG especially need to pay attention to the updates in Alexa: ISP (in-skill purchasing) just got a facelift in the Developer Console, making it easier to upsell. This is just getting started. Skills with very high conversion rates for upsell to premium version (34-50%!): Big Sky (weather) and Escape the Airplane (game)Voice in the car - HUGE opportunity (car is faster growing and has 60% higher MAUs than smart speakers)Today is like first gen iPhone: you can't multitask - only one app at a timeWhere we are with skills now: you can only do one thing at a timeThis will improveVoice is for EVERY brandTyping is unnatural, awkward, and slow. We are computing in computer-ese. Let's talk. We can speak and process so much faster than we can talk or read. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you are a food brand (like an FMCG such as cereal or canned food, or like food delivery such as Uber Eats), what should you consider in creating a voice skill for Alexa, Google Home, etc.?Why A.I. isn’t the best term, but curated intelligence is more apt.Intent matters. Focus on solving one particular customer problem at a time.Mentioned:Domino’s AnyWareBetty Crocker Alexa SkillThe Alexa Conference 2019 (read Emily's wrap-up and see photos and videos)Voice Summit 2019 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.