Power to the Small Business | Branding / Marketing Plans & Ideas / Social Media / Customer Experience Design / Digital Market

With only one chance to make a first impression, you're tempted to cram all of your product or services benefits into that small pitch. But instead of bragging, why not reel in your prospects with something unexpected, interesting, and creative? A marketing message is that main line of communication with new customers, so capturing their attention through a message that reflects your personality, gives the customer value, and is unexpected may give customers that so called "love at first sight". The Dean of Marketing Know-How shares his three "Hitches" to get people to pay attention to your marketing message. Give people your personality + Add your brand’s promise + be clever and say something that is unexpected Chapter Five of The Marketing Plan Podcast will guide you through three principles to create the perfect brand message. Also in this chapter two guests on how to be creative with your advertising. Luke Sullivan, author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, and Tom Altstiel, Author of Advertising Creative.

One goal of your marketing plan is to get people to have conversations about you. How do you earn word-of-mouth in the Age of Social Sharing and Connectivity? Special guest Andrea Goulet Ford joins us to earn customer conversations through brand engagement. In Chapter Four of the Marketing Plan Podcast, it’s time for us to discuss earning the trust and recommendations of your customers. We discuss how to engage your customers, to start the flow of word-of-mouth conversation for your brand.

In Chapter 3 of The Marketing Plan Podcast we will consider the main character of the story the customer.  Looking at most business models, we can see that the customer is a target. Something to be captured. Customers are often considered transactions to be acquired, trophies to be won. This is the essence of transaction hunting, but I think that’s running the wrong way. The goal is an emotional bond between your brand and the customer, this transcends product and service. When you establish this bond, sales happen. And while the key to sustainability and growth is sales, creating a relationship does not come from sales tactics. I believe they arrive through four, simple relationship principles. Principle 1: Understanding Principle 2: Empathize with Action Principle 3: Give Unconditionally Principle 4: Safety

Chapter 2: Four Questions to Create Your Brand Story My new show, The Marketing Plan Podcast focuses on transforming your business into the brand you've always dreamed it could be. In Chapter 2 of The Marketing Plan Podcast, I will guide you through four, Level 1 Branding Questions. These will drill down and reveal the  essence of your brand to help you build your brand story. Below you will find a worksheet, listen to Chapter 2 for complete guidance through the questions, and examples of answers.

It's Time for a Transformation Plan This is my new show, The Marketing Plan Podcast. It focuses on transforming your business into the brand you've always dreamed it could be. Power to the Small Business is no longer being produced. This feed will continue until June 5, 2015, and then it will shut down. If you like the new show, you can subscribe in iTunes or your feed reader at http://MarketingPlanPodcast.com/subscribe But now, I'd like to treat you to the premiere episode of my brand new show: It's Time for a Transformation Plan. ...because it is time. If you find yourself in a continuous search for the answers to take your business to the so-called "next level" then I invite you to give Chapter 1 a try. My special guest is Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software and LivePlan.com. He's a pioneer in business planning software and online businss planning. Complete show notes are available at http://MarketingPlanPodcast.com/Chapter1 Included in the show notes is one free month of business planning at LivePlan.com Thanks for listening!Jay EhretDean of Marketing Know-HowThe Marketing Spot

This podcast will reformatted and premier as a brand new show next week, April 24, 2014. But don't unsubscribe! I will post the new show in this feed for the first month so you can get a taste and see if you like it. It will be a focused, marketing podcast with lots of actionable ideas, AND a plan for you to become the business you've always dreamed you could be. Big promise, right? Tune in next episode to see if I can deliver. Meantime.... I invite you to enjoy the most popular episode in the history of the previous 99 episodes: Megan Duckett of Sew What: An Entrepreneur's Take on Marketing Megan has a great philosophy on branding. Take a listen and see why listeners made this the most popular episode of all time. For a list of the top 5 episodes of all time check out this link: http://themarketingspot.com/?p=6354 Thanks for listening!- Jay Ehret

If you meet ALL customer expectations, congratulations the customer considers that to be an average customer experience and they are only 42% likely to be a repeat customer and only 32% likely to recommend you to their friends and family. In this episode, Jay takes a deep dive into the Customer Experience Wow! formula to show you how to create customer loyalty and spark word-of-mouth conversations about your business. He will introduce two tools to you to help you take your business' customer experience from ordinary to Wow! Download-able worksheets are available in the show notes at website: TheMarketingSpot.com/blog In this episode: Customer loyalty and word-of-mouth statistics What is customer loyalty? The Customer Experience Formula How to take your experience to the Wow! level The two biggest factors that determine experience Wow! Tools to improve your customer experience.

Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer joins Jay to discuss the news that Facebook is ratcheting back the exposure of content posts from brand pages. Now, as few as 1-2% of your fans will actually see your posts organically. Jason Falls and Jay Ehret discuss:- Is this the end of small businesses using Facebook?- How will brands, both big and small react to this move?- It will not be important to be great at content marketing- Businesses who are proficient in PPC (pay per click) advertsing will have the advantages.- Was there every really such a thing as marketing 2.0?- Advice on how use Facebook now that pay-for-play is required. Get complete show notes and links at the blog website: http://themarketingspot.com/2014/03/small-business-ditch-facebook.html

This episode is about better brand communication. Do you feel like customers have a difficult time "getting it" about your business? Then you may have an explanation problem. Lee Lefever is the voice behind all the Common Craft videos that changed how we explain things on the internet. His videos have had more than 50 million views. Lee is also the author of The Art of Explanation and he joins host Jay Ehret to discuss how to craft a better explanation for your business. Topics Discussed: What a good explanation is. What you should be communicating about your business. The curse of knowledge and how it hinders your brand. The formula for a good explanation. Is creativity necessary? How Common Craft got started. Are those Lee's hands in the videos? Get complete show notes on The Marketing Spot blog at: http://themarketingspot.com/2014/03/how-to-explain-your-business.html **Please review and rate this podcast in iTunes**https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/power-to-small-business-branding/id272405020?mt=2

Jay Ehret, Dean of Marketing Know-How at The Marketing Spot.com answers the most common marketing questions and gives advice and tips to small businesses on how to handle these marketing issues. Questions answered are:   - How do I get my name out there with impact? - What local marketing tactics am I neglecting? - How do I know my tagline is good? Jay also previews how to get a discount on his new virtual workshop: Create a Custom Marketing Plan to Transform Your Business Use discount code 97 to get the entire workshop for only $97 atTheMarketingspot.com/plan

In this episode, how to used LinkedIn to market your business, network and directly go after business. Josh Turner, founder of LinkedSelling.com and LinkedUniversity.com joins host Jay Ehret to discuss beginning, intermediate, and advanced LinkedIn marketing tactics. Also in this episode:- How effective is social media marketing?- New online workshop announced: How to Create a Custom Marketing Plan to Transform Your Business.Get more details on the workshop at TheMarketingSpot.com/plan See the show notes and links at themarketingspot.com/linkedin-marketing-solutions.html

Responsive web design is the hot new trend in websites. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, web developer Cory Webb joins us to discuss the pros and cons of using responsive design for your site, or whether you should create a mobile site, or maybe nothing at all. And if you decide to go that route, how to hire a responsive web developer. We also discuss content management systems and compare the three major CMS's: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Your content is being accessed by a wide array of devices from desktop PCs, to laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Responsive web design is being heralded as the solution that takes all your content from one website and makes it accessible to every device. But you may choose to create a mobile website instead, or maybe just stay where you are. We will help you decide in this episode. Get complete show notes and a responsive web design cheat sheet at PowerToTheSmallBusiness.com TOPICS DISCUSSED: Responsive web design pros & cons The difference between mobile websites and responsive design Tips to hiring a responsive design web developer Content management systems WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal

According to Denise Lee Yohn, there are seven principles, seven things, that a selective group of businesses do to make themselves a great brand. She lays out those seven principles in her new book: What Great Brands Do. Denise joins Jay Ehret to talk about her new book and those seven principles. They also discuss if it's possible for an existing business to shift gears and become a great brand. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Brand influence in business strategy What is a brand? The role of marketing and advertising in shaping brand perception How to operationalize a brand. For complete show notes and links see the podcast website: What Great Brands Do

Flinging ads at a problem does not a marketer make, not in today's business world. That's the opinion of Gareth Kay as he joins host Jay Ehret for a discussion on radical marketing. What is radical marketing? What should be the role of a marketer, CMO, and marketing agencies going forward? TOPICS DISCUSSED: A Radical Approach to Marketing The Role of Marketers Today Hacking and Doing Things Differently The Unimportance of Brands The Ineffectiveness of Advertising See complete show notes and links on the website:www.PowerToTheSmallBusiness.com

Brian Clark of GMD Studios mixes philosophy with experience design to create and amplify customer stories. The result is a powerful form of word of mouth that gives potential customers a vicarious taste of your business. Clark joins host Jay Ehret to discuss the application of phenomenology is experience design to enhance brand meaning. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Phenomenology Experience Design Storytelling Making Meaning Get complete shownotes on the podcast website:Create Customer Stories by Creating Phenomenal Experiences

Search Engine Marketing is out topic on this episode of Power to the Small Business. John Gagnon of Bing Ads discusses both Bing Ads and dispenses search engine marketing advice, then Joe Kerschbaum of 3Q Digital compares Bing Ads to Google Adwords with some surprising results. TOPICS DISCUSSED: Bing Ads Google AdWords How to Approach Search Engine Marketing Tips for success on Bing Ads Landing Pages Get complete show notes and links from the podcast site: Two Sides of Search Engine Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is about passion, but not just the customer's. First, businesses must love their customers. Say what? John Moore and Geno Church from Brains on Fire, co-authors of The Passion Conversation, join host Jay Ehret to discuss the two-way conversation between businesses and customers and how the results can inspire passionate word of mouth. TOPICS DISCUSSED Word of Mouth Marketing The relationships between customers and businesses Being a talkable brand Inspiring customers to start conversations Can any business do this? For complete show notes and links, see the podcast site: Inspiring Word of Mouth Through Passionate Conversations

Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence, joins Jay Ehret to discuss neuromarketing and marketing tactics that just don't make sense. Get ready for some of your most cherished beliefs to be challenged. Trust your gut and market by shooting from the hip? Hold on there, cowboy! Topics Discussed Neuromarketing Consumer behavior Decoy products Paradox of choice Elevator pricing and anchor pricing Emotional vs. rational marketing For complete show notes and links, see: Counterintuitive Marketing: When not to trust your gut.

Would you like to know the three most important steps to improving your business? Sorry, but you won't find them in this episode. What you will do, however, is start to examine your beliefs, and the desires and beliefs of your customers. Perhaps you will begin to adopt a new way of thinking that will lead you to develop your own A-B-C's of how to be a better business. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, Tom Asacker, author of The Business of Belief, joins host Jay Ehret to discuss what drives your customers' actions. But also, and maybe more importantly, your own actions and how they are guided by your belief in your business. Guest: Tom Asacker, author of The Business of BeliefHost: Jay Ehret, Dean of Marketing Know-How at TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed What drives customer actions? How do you know what your customer really wants? Should you try to be a leader in your industry? Why aren't you the business you think you could be? For complete links, see the podcast website: Belief in Your Business

Your customer is receiving the best-of-the-world customer experiences and they are judging you against those experiences. Your competition is not just your competition. It's time to exceptionalize your customer's experience. Lior Arussy, President of the Strativity Group joins host Jay Ehret to discuss how you can turn your customer experience into a loyalty-building asset. Guest: Lior Arussy, President of Strativity Group Host: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: Customer Loyalty Customer Expectations vs. Your Beliefs Exceptionalizing Customer Experiences Customers Paying You Back Your Real Competition

There's marketing prudence, and then there's marketing foolishness. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, Spike Jones of WCG joins host Jay Ehret to discuss how business get caught up in the wrong marketing. It's a fun, post-holiday look at what not-to-do. Spike Jones is Group Director, Engagement at WCG in Austin, Texas and is author of Brains on Fire. Guest: Spike Jones of WCGHost: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: Crowd-sourcing misteps Hijacked Hashtags Great Content is Great Advertising Looking for the Next Big Thing Relying only on Free Tools Not having a website.

Brand Advocacy and Word-of-Mouth Marketing Author and Social Media Marketing CEO Rob Fugetta joins host Jay Ehret to talk about your most powerful word-of-mouth marketing weapon: your brand advocates. In this episode you will learn a simple way build a natural and effective word-of-mouth marketing plan. Fugetta is CEO and founder of Zuberance and is author Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force. Guest: Rob Fugetta of ZuberanceHost: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: How to identify your brand advocates. The ultimate question for customer loyalty. How to use the advocate marketing playbook. How to get advocates to recommend and share.

Business book expert Todd Sattersten joins host Jay Ehret to discuss the trends that are shaping the future of business books. Sattersten also gives his business book recommendations for entrepreneurs and shares how to find a good business book to read. Guest: Todd Sattersten of Biz Book LabHost: Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot  Topics Discussed: The Business Book e-book Trend The Length of Business Books The Role of the Retail Store The Definition of a Book Top Business Books for Entrepreneurs How to Choose a Good Business Book Complete show notes and links can be found at the podcast website: What's going on with the future of business books?

Local search expert Mike Ramsey joins host Jay Ehret to discuss the shift in the top local search ranking factors. Local SEO continues to evolve and this years rankings have shifted significantly in some areas. Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing reviews this year's survey of top local search factors and then gives the results of his own study. Guest: Mike Ramsey of Nifty MarketingHost: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: The different types of search engine results The top five local search ranking factors Mike Ramsey's study of the correlation and causation of local search factors Google Places pages Inbound links Online citations Complete show notes and links can be found at the official websie of the Power to the Small Business website: Local Search Ranking Factors

Conversion Scientist Brian Massey joins Jay Ehret to talk website conversion. How to convert website visitors into customers. He discusses conversion strategy for the five major patterns of business websites. Guest: Brian Massey, The Conversion Scientist Host: Jay Ehret, TheMarketingSpot.com  Topics Discussed: What is conversion? The key to a website conversion strategy. The five major patterns of business websites. Conversion strategies for the five patterns. Complete show notes and links can be found at the official website of the Power to the Small Business website: Website Conversion Science

Author and advertising expert Luke Sullivan joins host Jay Ehret to discuss the role of creativity in advertising, and how to create great advertising. Sullivan also answers the burning question: What is great advertising? Guest: Luke Sullivan, author of Hey Whipple, Squeeze ThisHost: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: What is great advertising? The advertising creative process The importance of creativity in advertising Rules for creating great advertising Complete show notes and links can be found at the official website of the Power to the Small Business podcast:How to Create Great Advertising 

Social media and branding lessons learned from 140 Characters Conference in NYC, organized by Jeff Pulver. Host: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com Topics Discussed: Being trapped in the now by social media. Allowing for differentiation between businesses. Using "Hybrid Higor" to create a "Corridor of Opportunity." Using social media to network instead of marketing. Premium webinar: How to create, write and leverage a blog. Complete show notes and links: Hybrid Vigor and the Corridor of Opportunity   

What should you definitely do and what should you avoid when marketing your business? In this episode of Power to the Small Business I analyze five marketing traps and five marketing treasures for the small business.  Marketing Traps: Discounting Facebook Business Pages Letting a media sales rep handle your marketing. A good idea. An industry specialist Marketing Treasures Google Local Listings Reading marketing books. A tagline or hook. Google Analytics / Webmaster Tools A meaningful brand identity Show Links Complete show notes can be found at: Marketing Traps and Treasures Blogging Webinar: How to Create and Write a Blog  Discount Promo Code: Power40

Author and social theorist John Gerzema joins host Jay Ehret to talk about local business share of local spend. The time is right for local businesses to gain a larger market share. Consumers are losing trust in larger institutions. They want to spend more money with locally owned businesses, but the business must still earn it. Guest: John Gerzema, co-author of the book: Spend Shift.Host: Jay Ehret of TheMarketingSpot.com  Topics Discussed: The virtuous circle between local businesses and the community Why consumers may be willing to pay a premium to local businesses The three keys to earning local business spend shift Complete notes and links: Local Business Market Share

The WordPress for Websites episode. WordPress trainer Bob Dunn joins Jay Ehret to discuss control and content management for small business websites. How much time do you spend managing the content of your website. A typical small business owner either spends too much time or not enough time. That's because managing a website is not easy. But that has changed in the past couple of years with WordPress, the free, open-source software that is a user-friendly content management system. WordPress allows any entrepreneur to take control of their website content. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, WordPress coach and trainer Bob Dunn joins host Jay Ehret to discuss how any small business can use WordPress to manage and control their website, while saving time and money. Guest: Bob Dunn - WordPress Trainer and Coach at BobWp.comHost: Jay Ehret - Small Business Marketing Specialist at The Marketing Spot Topics Discussed: What is a content management system? Can anyone put up their own website? Why should WordPress be the choice? How much should it cost? What are the basics of getting a website up? Should you use premium themes or not? What plugins should you use? Complete Show Notes and Links: WordPress for Small Business Websites

Podcast host and small business marketing specialist Jay Ehret discusses "Marketing Magic," both the good and the bad. The importance of magic moments in the customer experience and why the search for magic marketing pixie dust is fruitless. Topics Discussed: Why quality products, good service and a fair price are not enough. How to become more than just a bullet point to customers What is customer experience magic. Also: What you get from the hyped-up online providers of magic marketing pixie dust Why there are no marketing secrets Success is not determined by a secret, it’s guided by a plan. Host: Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot Free Recorded Webinar: Creating a Remarkable Customer Experience Complete Show Notes and Links: Power to the Small Business - Magic Marketing

A double shot of word of mouth in this episode with two guests. First Ed Keller of Keller Fay Group joins podcast host Jay Ehret to discuss where most word of mouth conversations are sparked. Then, John Moore of Brand Autopsy discusses his concept of "Deliberate Intention" and how businesses can bake word-of-mouth into their business everyday. Topics Discussed: The roles of social media and advertising in word of mouth. How to use advertising to spark word-of-mouth conversation. Why word of mouth is important to the marketing mix. How to give customers a reason to talk to you. Injecting personality into customer touchpoints. How to use the 4 P's to create conversation. Guests: Ed Keller, CEO of Keller Fay GroupJohn Moore, Marketingologist at Brand Autopsy Host: Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot Free Recorded Word of Mouth Webinar: Creating Conversation Get Complete Show Notes Here:Power to the Small Business

Former Marines Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Fortunato joins host Jay Ehret to glean branding lessons from one of America's best brands: The Few. The Proud. The Marines. Mr. Fortunato shares how The Marines built, and then maintained a powerful brand. Topics Discussed: The foundations of a strong brand  Brand positioning The rules of branding Taglines Adapting brands to demographic shifts The role of pop culture in branding Logos? Guest: Andrew Fortunato - Marketing Consultant, former Chief Marketing Officer at U.S. MarinesHost: Jay Ehret - of The Marketing Spot.com  Local SEO and Google Analytics Webinar:http://budurl.com/LocalSEOpod See the show notes:www.PowertotheSmallBusiness.com 

Special Marketers Rountable episode: Marketers Tamsen McMahon, Kyle Lacy and Ken Briscoe join host Jay Ehret to discuss the biggest marketing impact of 2010, and what will have the biggest marketing impact in 2011. Topics discussed: The Social Media Barrier Business Operations Mobile Marketing Facebook Pages and Places Guests: Tamsen McMahon of Sametz BlackstoneKyle Lacy of MindframeKen Briscoe of A6 MediaJay Ehret of The Marketing Spot (podcast host) Complete show notes and links are available at:Marketers Roundtable - Marketing Impact Episode

Creative Director and author Tom Altstiel joins host Jay Ehret as they discuss the creative process and the benefits of creativity in your advertising. Jay shares some tips on how you can generate creative ideas. Topics discussed: What is real creativity in advertising Benefits of creativity Creative avenues Creative process Generating creative ideas Creative advertising examples Guest: Tom Altstiel PKA Marketing AgencyHost: Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot http://www.TheMarketingSpot.com Complete Show Notes: http://www.powertothesmallbusiness.com/?p=447 Facebook for Business Webinar:http://budurl.com/FBbizwebinar

Consumer behavior consultant and author Philip Graves joins Jay Ehret to discuss the psychology of shopping and how customers make purchase decisions. What you think about how consumers decide to buy may be totally wrong. Jay and Philip discuss how you can better tune in to the customer to help them buy. Topics discussed: The role of the conscious and subconscious mind in making purchase decisions. Why customers decide not to buy anything at all. How much information and how many choices customers need. How to get the data you need to make decisions about the future. Guest: Philip GravesHost: Jay Ehret Complete show notes can be found at the podcast website: http://www.powertothesmallbusiness.com/?p=429 

The complete rundown of Facebook tools for business. Mike Whaling of 30 Lines joins Jay Ehret to discuss how businesses can set up and use Facebook Pages, Facebook Places and the new Facebook Deals. Also a discussion on the role of Facebook for business and the relevance of websites. Guest: Mike Whaling - CEO of 30 Lines, Online Marketing - http://www.30lines.com Host:Jay Ehret - The Marketing Spot - www.TheMarketingSpot.com

Three marketers join host Jay Ehret to discuss what the lack of traditional marketing discipine has done to today's generation of marketers. Guests: Stephen Denny, Emanuel Brown and Mike Wagner. Topics Include: Why advertising and marketing is so bad How to test new ideas and products Why good ideas are not the best way to advertise How to build brand value over time The affect of social media on marketing discipline Bad marketing campaigns like Old Spice and Dodge Journey Guests:Stephen Denny of Denny Marketing and author of Killing Giants (April 2011)Emanuel Brown, Creative Technologist, Portland, OregonMike Wagner, CEO of White Rabbit GroupJay Ehret (host), Chief Officer of Awesomeness at The Marketing Spot Complete show notes and links can be found at: The Decline and Fall of Marketing Discipline

Brand-building clinic. Podcast host Jay Ehret delivers a mini-branding seminar. Learn what a brand is, how it works, and how to build a brand for your small business. Included is a brand-building checklist. Topics include: Definition of a brand How a brand gives customers choices Unique selling proposition Inside-out thinking Why you need a brand How you can build a brand for your business. Guest: Podcast host, Jay Ehret goes solo on this one. No guests. Get complete show notes, links and the Brand-Building checklist at the official podcast website of Power to the Small Business: Small Business Branding Clinic

Facebook business page optimization. Host Jay Ehret talks with technology consultant Thomas Umstattd about Facebook best practices and how to optimize your Facebook business page for marketing efectiveness. Topics include: Having a personality on your Facebook page Facebook page optimization Best practices of starting a Facebook page for your business B2B marketing through social media Moderating the online conversation Guest: Thomas Umstattd, Technology Consultant Complete show notes and links can be found at the official Power to the Small Business podcast website: Getting Your Business in the Facebook Game

Customer experience expert and best-selling author Shep Hyken joins host Jay Ehret to discuss building amazing customer experiences through what Hyken calls "The Cult of Amazement." Topics Include: The 5 Phases of the Customer Customer Loyalty Creating "Moments of Magic" Being better-than-average The advantage of small business access Employee engagement Guest: Shep Hyken, Customer Experience Expert Complete show notes and links can be found at the official Power to the Small Business podcast website: Shep Hyken & The Cult of Customer Amazement

Marketers talking shop and debating hot marketing topics. Marketers Shashi Bellamkonda of Network Solutions, Scott Ellis, Erica Campbell of ForRent.com and host Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot. Topics Include: Using office as a networking tool Organizing your online content Social media contests and consumer loyalty The current online coupon and discount craze Marketers Roundtable Guests: Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami at Network Solutions in Washington D.C.Scott Ellis, translating technology in Dallas, TexasErica Campbell, Senior Manager of New Media Marketing at ForRent.com in Norfolk, VirginiaJay Ehret, Chief Officer of Awesomeness at The Marketing Spot in Waco, Texas Complete show notes, quotes and links can be found at: Power to the Small Business 

Christopher Penn of Blue Sky Factory talks email marketing with host Jay Ehret. Penn shares tips and best practices for harnessing the power of email marketing. Topics discussed: Where email fits in the marketing mix How to avoid spam problems Free email tools Email best practices Get extended show notes and links here: Email Marketing Featuring Christopher S Penn Host: Jay EhretGuest: Christopher S Penn  For special VIP registration at Optimization Summit, click the image below.

Jay Ehret and Eric Brown discuss the keys to changing your brand into something that achieves differentiation. A preview of their Transformation Branding presentation at Optimization Summit. The Keys to Transformational Branding Reframing your business into a different class (second-order change). Analysis and alignment of key business function. Elimination of functions that don't contribute. Changing the rules. Discarding the old rules and creating some new ones. Conquering the fear of becoming a business that’s different. Get extended show notes and links here: The Keys to Transformational Branding Host: Jay Ehret of The Marketing SpotGuest: Eric Brown of The Urbane Way Transform your business. Register for:

Author and business instructor Stephen Woessner talks about using social media marketing to increase conversion sales rates of online products with host Jay Ehret Real results from social media marketing are difficult to quantify. Can you actually generate sales through social media marketing? There's one man who believes he can, and for good reason: he's done it. Through research, practical application, and trial and error, he's come up with a formula of sorts. Meet Stephen Woessner of the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and author of the soon to be published book: Increase Online Sales Through Viral Social Marketing. Woessner joins host Jay Ehret on Power to the Small Business to discuss: The social networks you need to join How often you should post The correct ratio of posts that pitch your products How long does it take What kind of results you might expect Complete show notes and links for the episode can be found here: The Social Media Marketing Formula

6 guests, including 5 best-selling authors in this special episode of Power to the Small Business. In five years you will be the same person you are today, except for the books that you read and the people you meet. In this special episode of Power to the Small Business, I present my small business marketing essential reading list, and will features five of the authors of books on that list. Guests on this episode: Jack Trout - Co-author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind T. Scott Gross - Author of Microbranding: Build a Powerful Personal Brand and Beat Your Competition Jackie Huba - Co-author of Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force Charline Li - Co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies Joe Sugarman - Co-author of Advertising Secrets of the Written Word Brad Shorr, standing in for David Ogilvy, discussing Ogilvy on Advertising Complete show notes, including links to all the books featured in this podcast can be found on the podcast website: The Essential Small Business Marketing Reading List

Marketers talking shop and discussing current marketing issues. Marketers Jay Miletsky, Rich Becker, C.B. Whittemore and Jay Ehret sit down at the Marketers Roundtable to decide the future of marketing! Topics include: Marketers giving advice on social media. Are they dealing in reality? What is the best way to manage and measure the marketing mix? Can it be done? How do you blend online and offline marketing? Do companies really want to be different, or are they just trying to be better? Marketers Roundtable Guests: Jay Miletsky, CEO at Mango Marketing in New York Rich Becker, President of Copywrite Ink in Las Vegas C.B. Whittemore, Chief Simplifier at Simple Marketing Now in Kinnelon, New Jersey Jay Ehret, Chief Officer of Awesomeness at The Marketing Spot in Waco, Texas Complete notes can be found at: Power to the Small Business

Author and customer experience consultant Shaun Smith joins host Jay Ehret as they discuss the power of instinct in creating remarkable customer experiences. Smith shares advice and practical examples from his book See Feel Think Do. Click the play button below to listen. Complete show notes are available at this link: Using Your Instinct to Create a Remarkable Customer Experience

Online video expert and author Steve Garfield joins host Jay Ehret to reveal some of his online video secrets. Garfield has written a book called Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business. In this episode, you will get tips on cameras, audio, lighting, editing, uploading to YouTube, and more. For complete show notes and links from the episode, see Getting Seen with Online Video

Host Jay Ehret discusses ideas and tips to spark word of mouth by making your customer better.Cultivate the Customer - Growing the customer by making the customer better. Developing them and improving them...for free The Objective: Stimulating word of mouth and enlisting customer evangelists who recommend your business, even if they've never purchased from you. In this episode, host Jay Ehret, small business marketing coach, tells how to decide what you can offer the customer that will make them better, then gives you tips to put the cultivation into usable form. Finally Jay will brainstorm ideas and give you practical examples of real customer cultivation. For complete show notes, and to comment on the episode, see; The Marketing Spot Blog Recommended Event: Optimization Summit

Business-law attorney Danny Bronski discusses trademarks, copyright law and intellectual property. Dive into the murky waters of the legal side of marketing it this episode of Power to the Small Business. Host Jay Ehret speaks with Seattle attorney Danny Bronski. The discussion includes: What should you trademark? What is your obligation with a trademark? What protection does a trademark provide? Also What should you copyright? What are the differences between copyright and trademark? What are the legal costs involved. For complete show notes and links on The Marketing Spot Blog, see: The Legal Side of Marketing Check out Jay Ehret's Facebook Page: The Marketing Spot on Facebook Recommended Event: Small Biz Social Media Summit