Curiosity Key - listen to innovators, change-makers and curious thinkers making the world a better place

Are you a reluctant storyteller? Are you keen to use stories in your marketing but you're not sure where to start? Dr Simon Raybould is a presentation consultant and uses his experience as a research scientist to help people create more impact when they present. In this episode Simon shares lots of tips and strategies you can use to tell stories in your marketing and presentations to reach more of the right people and stand out more.

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to using LinkedIn but there is a FRAMEWORK you can follow. This episode explores how to leverage LinkedIn for B2B Marketing for people that are responsible for not only generating their own leads but also turning them into sales too. I share lots of tips I've used over the years to win millions of pounds worth of business across multiple industries using my personal profile and some curiosity.

Doing your own marketing can sometimes be overwhelming, frustrating and it can be hard to know where to start or what to focus on. This episodes explores Charlie Whyman's OTTER framework to help you prioritise and focus and shares some lessons learned throughout an accidental career in technical sales and marketing. For the show notes visit www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/

Events and Networking have been key marketing and business development strategies for years so how do you translate this and get results online? Bradley Hatchett was faced with a challenge at the start of Lockdown in March and had to completely rethink his business model.  Bradley and his team are now creating a storm in the online eventing space and are doing so using a tool called Remo. In this episode we discuss the benefits of networking as a marketing strategy as well as some key dos and don’ts when it comes to doing it online.  Bradley talks us through the decisions he made at the start of lockdown around how he adapted his business so quickly, how he handled objections from regular clients as well as seeking feedback at every step of the way. To download the free pdf that was referenced in this episode visit: http://www.charliewhyman.com/resources/ (www.charliewhyman.com/resources/) or view the show notes on the website http://www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/ (www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/)  

Podcasting is a hot topic at the moment and our guest this week saw so much value in podcasting he decided to set up not one, but four companies all about podcasting.  There are many marketing opportunities to be gained from podcasting even if you don’t want to start your own show - you can always find a show to be a guest on and use that as a key asset in your business. Mark Asquith goes by the name of that British Podcast Guy and has a wealth of knowledge and experience about podcasting - we talk about what got him into podcasting in the first place, his goals and vision for his tech companies and his thoughts on where podcasting is going in the future. 

In this special bonus episode you'll hear the usual interviewer turn into the interviewee - Charlie is in the hot seat this time and she's talking about how curious thinking can benefit your leadership style, your business and your marketing. Plus it will help you have more fun and get better results to boot.

Elizabeth Clark is an incredible force of nature and inspiration. If you’ve read Elizabeth’s book - Flirting for Dummies you may be wondering how she went on to start a tech company that delivers results so good that she struggles to get clients to believe they are true. Elizabeth shares her tips around business, marketing, mentoring and sales - she shares lessons learned, some inspiring stories and also raises some eyebrows around how wasteful the advertising space is today. Dream Agility has been listed in Forbes as one of the most 29 exciting AI scaleups in the UK and is one of only 200 Google Technology Partners Globally. There is lots to learn in this episode for anyone thinking of starting or growing a tech business or anyone doing any kind of advertising. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do.

As we adopt more and more technology, it's never been more important to be more human in the way we conduct business. In sales, marketing and leadership and from the top down and the bottom up. The amazing Bryan Kramer, founder of the H2H concept - Human-to-Human is my guest on this episode and he shares so many valuable tips around how you can be more human to both attract and retain top talent and ideal clients too.

You know a problem is big when it makes you come home early from a cycle-tour around North America... Sophie Walker and her partner are on a mission to solve a significant challenge in the way consumers and businesses process and manage waste - so much so they set about creating a tech solution to do it.

Sisters Elaine and Elly ball are taking the geospatial industry by storm and have taken an idea and marketing campaign to solve a key industry challenge and turned it into a business that has its own comic book. Get Kids Into Survey has really shaken up the industry and is creating excitement and intrigue in the next generation of surveyors as well as inspiring technology companies to think a little bit more creatively about their own marketing.

Susanna Lawson is a woman on a mission and so far has grown a tech start-up of 2 people from a spareroom in Manchester to a multi-million pound, award winning company with over 85 employees. Susanna didn't come from a tech background but found a way to turn her idea to solve a problem into a globally adopted tech platform called OneFile, she shares her story in this great interview.

If your children asked you if you're working on something that will make the world a better place what would you say? This is the driving force for best selling author and entrepreneur Daniel Priestley Dan was curious to support entrepreneurs to stand out, scale up and make a dent in the universe and as a result founded Dent Global. He joins me to talk about using business as a force for good, why starting a business is a bit like planning to rob a bank, predictions for the future of business and more

With over 100 different marketing disciplines out there how do you know how to build an effective strategy for you and your business and how do you know who to work with when you're ready to outsource and get help from the experts? Stephen Knight is the founder of Pimento, a virtual marketing agency that works with over 200 specalist agencies, freelancers and consultants around the world and joins me on this podcast to talk about how to create a successful marketing strategy.

Ben Findlay and his brother were on a mission to change the way the world buys and sells its industrial machinery - that was until tragedy struck and Ben lost his brother suddenly to cancer. In this episode Ben shares his incredible story around how, despite a major personal setback, he turned an idea and opportunity into reality, found investment and is working towards the vision him and his brother started years before.

Lee Robertson had a vision to launch a new solution to the market. Instead of hiring a team of developers to bring his vision to life, Lee set about and researched what was already available on the market and partnered up with a software provider to whitelabel a solution he could use himself. Lee and I talk about his journey from idea to reality and why branding is so key when launching a new product. Lee also shares some of his most successful marketing strategies that you can use yourself.

What do you think happens when two entertainers from the North East of England come together to develop and launch their own tech start-up as a means to solve their own marketing challenges? In this episode I speak to the wonderful Rob and Kennedy, Founders of Response Suite and The Email Marketing Show. We talk about lots of things in this interview from learning how to get better at marketing to launching your own marketing software tool, from running out of money and the various mistakes you make when launching a tech start-up to launching a profitable product that creates a pipeline of prospects for your software and more. This is an episode you’re NOT going to want to miss. Show notes are available on my website: www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/ (http://www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/)

Clare Stead is an incredibly inspirational and motivated educator who's on a mission to help parents create well rounded, happy, confident children that love to learn via the medium of play.  Clare has developed an app that parents can use in the first 1000 days of their child life from conception to birth. The app delivers daily activities with references to the science behind it benefitting both the child and the parent. Clare shares her journey from idea to MVP and then to product and how she's using a B2B model to reach more people. 

In this episode I speak to Jonathan Thirkill who has a relentless enthusiasm for providing memorable customer experiences through marketing.    He started his software company to solve a problem he faced whilst working full time as a web development manager - he couldn't find a good enough solution so decided to develop one himself.    Jonathan has a great story to tell about how he launched his tech-startup Boostify and he shares his insights around what it takes to develop your own software from scratch and how to create a great product by developing around the needs of the customer instead of making assumptions.

Scott Leiper is the founder of innovative new card game Cognitize by Imaginocity - a tool that encourages people to transfer their learning into cohesive action.  At the time of recording we are experiencing a whole new way of doing things and interacting with others and in this episode Scott and I explore ideas around how you can adapt, pivot and thrive. 

Tim Wade is a global conference speaker who motivates teams to embrace and lead positive change. In this episode of The Curiosity Key podcast, Tim shares awesome tips to help business owners and leaders to:  better engage their people increase their public profile to grow their business  increase their personal productivity and...  be like Batman!  Find out more in on this episode.  

Steve Pipe joins the Curiosity Key Podcast for a special bonus episode. Steve talks about how all businesses can make a positive impact on the world by giving back and becoming a business that is a force for good.  Learn how giving can be built in at any stage of your business, how it can improve the lives of others, and the positive impact it can have on your business. Plus how to demonstrate it with an impact card. 

Officially the world’s most highly-rated Accountant and advisor to Accountants, Steve is a best-selling author, dynamic speaker and founder of Accountants Changing the World and the AVN association of proactive UK Accountants. He is also a former UK Entrepreneur of The Year As he now approaches retirement, Steve Pipe is giving away for free all of his time and intellectual property to help accountants and their clients run successful businesses. 

Javed Khattak has an interesting story to tell and a huge amount of experience to share in this episode of The Curiosity Key Podcast.  His goal is to change the world for the better and is doing so via mentoring and his tech start-up Zisk Properties - a blockchain driven PropTech company.  He shares his experience launching start-up companies for large firms backed by lots of funding v launching a start-up which is entirely self funded and provides lots of tips for any business looking for investment themselves. 

Jana Dowling, Founder of MyArkeo is on a mission to get everyone taking mental fitness and wellbeing as seriously as physical fitness. In this episode of The Curiosity Key Podcast, Jana talks us through her journey and how she turned an idea into reality. She shares her experience creating an app, launching an MVP (minimum viable product) pitching for investment and helping people realise why mental fitness and wellbeing is just as important as physical fitness and wellbeing. To read more and access the show notes visit my website - www.charliewhyman.com/podcast

Branding is a very misunderstood topic in the B2B and tech space and this interview with brand consultant Matt Davies aims to break through some of these myths and show you how to create a brand that stands out, grabs attention and is remembered. There are lots of tips and tricks to take away from this episode, we talk about agile strategies for brand planning, adding purpose at the heart of your business and also why you shouldn't just 'outsource' your branding to an agency or the marketing department.... Watch the full podcast interview here or search for #TheCuriosityKey on your favourite podcasting platform. You can also visit www.charliewhyman.com/podcast for more info.

In this episode of The Curiosity Key Podcast, I interview Adam Oldfield, CEO of UK based, Marketing Automation Software company Force24. Adam shares his experience setting up a marketing automation software company, how he's used simple yet effective customer-centered strategies to continually innovate and meet the ever growing needs of the modern day marketer and some tactics on how to focus on the right data that will help your tech company grow instead of vanity metrics that look impressive but don't always serve you. He also talks about how to compete against large tech giants such as Hubspot and Marketo and shares some great tips on how to grow a software company.

In this podcast episode Richard shares his insights around selling ground breaking ViDAR technology which saves lives and also prevent illegal activity at sea. This technology is a complete no brainer because it creates such a significant impact to the people and organisations using it however it does come with some pretty lengthy sales challenges. Richard shares some great insights and learning around his approach to innovative technology sales as well as how to best manage the expectations of many in a long sales cycle and also how to overcome the usual marketing related challenges innovative tech companies face. Not only will you learn what ViDAR is and how it's changing the game but you'll also learn a few things about International technology business development, sales and marketing. For more information visit www.charliewhyman.com/podcast/

Global waste management is a huge industry worth $400Billion a year but it’s not very transparent. There's a lot of waste is ending up where it shouldn’t and the outcomes are not great. Michael Groves and Topolytics saw an opportunity to mix data with reporting to create a smart grid for the worlds commercial and industrial waste. #WasteTech "Our goal is to create a global, granular high quality dataset on what the waste material is, where is goes and what happens to it so people can make better quality decisions and we’re managing our waste more effectively. We need to take more responsibility as to what happens to our waste."

How to get your tech solutions through the door and into the hands of your ideal clients. In this episode Russell shares his experience and tips on how to get your foot in the door and grab the attention of your ideal clients using the power of stories. Following years of feeling frustrated as a buyer of high value technology, Russ believed he was missing out on the best products, services and suppliers because their approach to sales and marketing was too confusing. Russ is a Navy Pilot and Engineer by background, he has worked for many years as a technology buyer and in business development and in recent years he has pursued his curiosity and desire to help others by setting up Clarified Marketing - a consulting company that helps tech companies clarify their message so they don’t confuse their ideal customers and can therefore win more business - a subject I also feel strongly about! There are so many tips and strategies you can use from listening to this podcast that will help you simplify your messaging, win more business and grow your visibility in your industry.

In this episode of The Curiosity Key Podcast I'm joined by the wonderful Paul Dunn from B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1) where we talk about how to use the 'Power of Small' mindset for business growth, how both large and micro businesses can incorporate business giving into their strategy and create a wider impact and also lots of other tips to better engage with your clients, your team and your market. Paul also shares how B1G1 are using apps and online widgets to help increase engagement and how running a purpose driven business will win in the long term and do a lot of good in the process. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do!

Have you ever wondered why other people who aren't involved in your industry have no idea what you're so excited about or what's going on? Do you wish they shared your excitement and interest in your industry and knew about all the amazing products, services and solutions on offer ? Lena Gothberg is a wonderful human being with a huge passion for her industry - the shipping industry and decided to start a podcast in 2015 to share the amazing things that are happening with others and give some of the key movers and shakers a voice and a platform to talk about what they are doing. Now with over 110 episodes, Lena is a force to be reckoned with and has a real desire to help others succeed. In this episode of The Curiosity Key Podcast, Lena shares her journey into the world of podcasting and why it's important to share the great things that individuals and companies are doing in the shipping industry. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do!

We've all got a voice and have something to contribute in life, in business and when working in a team - we're also very creative and curious beings even if we don't acknowledge it all the time! Rebecca Godfrey PhD is my guest for this week's podcast and is a magician when it comes to helping leaders and teams communicate clearly and explore creative thinking for business growth. Rebecca shares my enthusiasm for innovation and impact and was the perfect guest to come and talk about how clear communication and ensuring everyone in the team has their voice heard is vital. One of Rebecca's many talents is using LEGO as a tool to help teams communicate and explore their inner creativity and she recently came to one of my LinkedIn Local events to run a LEGO Serious Play workshop which was a huge success and still talked about even month's later! There's a lot you can learn from this episode and I hope you love it as much as I do - Enjoy!

Iain Woodhouse is a man on a mission and aims to eradicate deforestation entirely by 2030! This is his personal wish anyway! He is a Professor of Applied Earth Observation at The University of Edinburgh and also the CEO and founder of Carbomap. In this interview he talks about how Carbomap is using high-end laser scanning technology and drones to map forests to better understand the effects of climate change and deforestation. He shares his advice on how to collaborations and partnerships to help you grow your business and also incorporate high-end technology into your start-up business. He shares lots of insights and lessons learned as well as sharing some great information about how laser scanning technology is being used in this way.

Rick Rowan is an entrepreneur on a mission - to help more people live a life without pain as he once did. His personal experience with bioelectrical medicine to manage chronic back pain created a curiosity around what could be done to help more people manage pain more effectively and this interview is around his journey to founding tech start-up NuroKor and bringing it to where it is today. Rick shares his advice to anyone wanting to explore opportunities themselves and also a few lessons learned along the way. We talk a lot about misconceptions in the industry and overcoming hurdles to bring a product to market. 

Will Richardson is a man on a mission with an incredibly curious mind and desire to change the way we do things.  In this episode I talk to Will about his journey in launching a new tech start-up - compareyourfootprint.com with no prior tech or development experience. Will is the Director of Environmental Management Consultancy Green Element and wanted to discover a way to stop having to spend valuable time and money reporting on Carbon Emissions and instead free up their clients budget to make the important changes needed instead.  The solution - a cloud-based software that can calculate your carbon emissions automatically!  

Carol is an incredible woman on a mission - to empower women in business with digital literacy skills. Carol has a fascinating past having unknowingly set up a CRM system on 'one of those computer things' before the internet was talked about and was hooked on digital technology since. Women on the Web is a project that she founded as an affordable membership platform that brings together female contributors to share their skills in bitesized tutorials to give women in business the skills they need to succeed in today's digital world. I hope you enjoy this podcast episode and can learn a lot from Carol. If you'd like to be one of the founding 500 members of Women on the Web and access free membership for life then head to www.womenontheweb.co.uk pronto and sign up before this opportunity disappears!

I'm thrilled to bring you this week's interview with Natalie Jameson, founder of The Heroworx Institute. Natalie is what I would call a power connector and since meeting her at the Business Mentors networking meetup at Tech Manchester she's since connected me with some really wonderful people. Natalie is a naturally curious person with a fascinating background and has used her curiosity to identify a big gap in the market and use technology and education to equip and empower female leaders in enterprise positions.

In this episode I interview Nile Henry, CEO and Founder of The Blair Project, a social enterprise based in Manchester, UK.  Nile is an incredible human being with heaps of energy and a true passion for helping others. This is a great episode where Nile shares his journey into the world of entrepreneurship to recently celebrating 5 years in business. 

I've wanted to launch a podcast for a long time now to share with the world the amazing things that the people I meet are working on, developing and changing.  Working in tech and travelling around the world to various conferences and trade shows has enabled me to meet many wonderful individuals and businesses that are doing incredible things that in my opinion, not enough people know about. As a naturally curious person myself I also wanted to delve a bit further into the details about the questions these people were asking that made them start businesses, develop new products and technology and lead change in the world. I felt that the insights these people would share would interest and benefit many people too so this is why The Curiosity Key Podcast was born. In this episode, my good friend Shirley Wakelin volunteered to interview me to find out more about why I wanted to start this podcast and what to expect from now on. I hope you enjoy!