The Academy - Your source for business growth.

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business.Today, I want to step beyond our usual business growth topics. I want to challenge every community leader to consider something a little more abstract. Investing in the arts isn't just about supporting artists and culture. It's a powerful and necessary strategy for driving business success and securing the long-term prosperity of our communities and our nation.If you're on the fence on this topic, stick with me and let's explore more together.Now... on to the show...

Let's talk about how AI is changing how people search, get answers, and make purchasing decisions, creating major challenges for marketers. Traditional SEO alone isn't enough anymore. AI is now delivering information in new ways, often without sending users to websites. To stay visible and get customers to take action, businesses must adapt to this shift in discoverability.If this sounds interesting, stick with me and let's explore more together.

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business.Today, I want to talk about a concept that's just now gaining traction, and fast, AI Agents. If you remember the movie The Matrix, an agent was considered to be a bad guy. It was a digital person that was designed to do a specific job and operated autonomously to accomplish that job. Agents are now a reality. They're not the bad guy either. If this sounds interesting, stick with me, and let's explore some of the ways that you might be able to mobilize AI agents for good in your organization.

Today, I want to talk about how SEO is hard and getting harder these days. Search engine optimization is no longer just about keywords and backlinks—it's evolving rapidly alongside changes in how customers search and how search engines deliver results. We all need to shift, learn, and evolve to stay visible and competitive. To keep up, it's essential to move beyond traditional tactics and embrace strategies designed for today's search landscape.If this sounds interesting, stick with me, and let's explore some of the ways that you might be able to pivot and stay competitive.

Today, I want to take you on a bit of a journey — part cultural history, part personal branding, part reflection on how we show up in the world of business.Recently, I was watching The Warhol Diaries on Netflix — if you haven't seen it yet, it's highly recommended. It's a deep, fascinating look at Andy Warhol's life, his mind, his art, and honestly, all the weirdness and brilliance that made him who he was.While watching the documentary, there was a moment that really hit me — and honestly, it's been bouncing around in my head ever since: the idea that an artist can become the art.Andy Warhol didn't just create art — he was art. His silver wig, those iconic sunglasses, that monotone voice, and the whole air of mystery that followed him around — all of that was as intentional as his paintings of Marilyn Monroe or those Campbell's soup cans.In fact, for a lot of people, when you hear the name "Andy Warhol," you probably picture him first — before you think about his work. And that wasn't an accident.As I was reflecting on that idea, I realized how incredibly relevant it is for us today as working professionals, especially in this digital world where we're all online, engaging on social media, and putting ourselves out there in some way.If you're a working professional — you are a brand. Andy Warhol figured that out long before the rest of us caught on. How you present yourself to the world matters.

Today, I want to talk about something that gets mentioned a lot within digital marketing and sales, but rarely unpacked in a way that feels practical: being a thought leader. You've heard the term. You've probably rolled your eyes at it. Maybe you've even used it yourself. But what does it actually mean when someone says you should be a thought leader?If this sounds interesting, stick with me, and let's explore more together.

As business leaders, we often feel the pressure to keep looking ahead, chasing the next big idea or opportunity. But what if the key to something truly valuable isn't in the future—but in the past? Lately, I've been reflecting on the power of looking back, not just for nostalgia's sake, but to uncover ideas, insights, and inspiration that might have been overlooked. Sometimes, what we need most isn't something new—it's something we've already discovered, started but never finished–– ideas that are just waiting to be seen in a fresh light.If this sounds interested, stick with me and let's explore more together.

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business.Today I wanted to weigh in on a topic that's on everyone's mind, and one that needs to be top-of-mind in the future, AI. Digital marketing and business is evolving at breakneck speed and AI is set to become a defining force in the way companies market themselves and grow. On one hand, it promises to revolutionize content creation, research, fact-checking, data analytics, personalization and customer service, making marketing more efficient and targeted than ever before. But alongside these exciting advancements, AI also introduces a host of challenges and threats that business leaders and marketing professionals need to be prepared for and adapt to.If you're ready to dive in, let's get started and dive in head first...

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business. Today I wanted to continue on with an argument that I begun to make in episode 1 and 2 of this series. That is, why I think an investment in design is critical to marketing and ultimately business success. If you haven't started with episode 1, please head over there now before you continue on with this episode.  As a designer for over 30 years, I may be perceived as biased. But I am also a business owner, marketer, and consumer. At this point, I can tell you this with absolute confidence: An investment in design in your business isn't optional. Design is a critical part of marketing because it goes far beyond just aesthetics to influence how customers interact with and experience your brand at every level. It's an unspoken message. It's a vibe. It's an emotion or a feeling that can be good or bad. Design can actually be helpful or deeply hurtful. Great design ensures that every interaction with your marketing, products, tactics, and brand is seamless, intuitive, enjoyable, and productive. Without great design, failure in your specific goals is more likely than not – and this may just extend to the success or failure of your entire business. Are you ready to come along and hear more? ... Let's jump into it!

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business. Today I wanted to continue on with an argument that I begun to make in episode 1 of this series. That is, why I think an investment in design is critical to marketing and ultimately business success. If you haven't started with episode 1, please head over there now before you continue on with this episode.  As a designer for over 30 years, I may be perceived as biased. But I am also a business owner, marketer, and consumer. At this point, I can tell you this with absolute confidence: An investment in design in your business isn't optional. Design is a critical part of marketing because it goes far beyond just aesthetics to influence how customers interact with and experience your brand at every level. It's an unspoken message. It's a vibe. It's an emotion or a feeling that can be good or bad. Design can actually be helpful or deeply hurtful. Great design ensures that every interaction with your marketing, products, tactics, and brand is seamless, intuitive, enjoyable, and productive. Without great design, failure in your specific goals is more likely than not – and this may just extend to the success or failure of your entire business. Are you ready to come along and hear more? ... Let's jump into it!

Today I wanted to make an argument. That is, why I think an investment in design is critical to marketing and ultimately business success. As a designer for over 30 years, I may be perceived as biased. But I am also a business owner, marketer, and consumer. At this point, I can tell you this with absolute confidence: An investment in design in your business isn't optional. It's a thread that supports and spiders into every part of your marketing and organization. Without an investment in thoughtful, high-quality design, even the most compelling strategy, tactic, or message can fall flat. Without intentional design thinking, your customer's experience with your brand may leave them disengaged, or simply uninterested. Without an investment in great design decisions, customers may simply have a first impression of distrust or confusion and leave forever without ever reading a word. Design is a critical part of marketing because it goes far beyond just aesthetics to influence how customers interact with and experience your brand at every level. It's an unspoken message. It's a vibe. It's an emotion or a feeling that can be good or bad. Design can actually be helpful or deeply hurtful. At its core, the process of design is about effective communication that's, no pun intended, designed to accomplish a lot. Great design ensures that every interaction with your marketing, products, tactics, and brand is seamless, intuitive, enjoyable, and productive. Without great design, failure in your specific goals is more likely than not – and this may just extend to the success or failure of your entire business too. Are you ready to come along and hear more? ... Let's jump into it!

Hey everyone, this is Chris Auman, President of Sanctuary. Welcome back to The Academy, where you get the tools, tips, and advice you need to grow your business.Today I wanted to talk about customer retention. Retaining customers is how we not only keep our revenue steady, but also create opportunities to increase it. Many businesses mistakenly see a sale as the end of the customer journey, but in reality, it's just the beginning. After that first purchase, our job is to give them what they purchased, of course. But, to really get the most out of that sale and maximize the lifetime revenue of a customer, we have to continue providing additional value. This builds the trust that ultimately enables retention.But, how do we actually cultivate this satisfaction after a sale? It all starts by first understanding and then mapping out their unique customer journey.Sound intriguing? Let's jump into it.

Today I wanted to openly discuss the benefits of choosing an inbound approach to marketing over more traditional tactics that we're all familiar with. You know them well. TV Ads, Billboards, Print Ads, Cold Calling, Junk Mail. While both aim to generate leads and drive sales, their methods are drastically and fundamentally different. What's inbound marketing exactly? It's more than just digital marketing. It's a mindset, and it can not only lead to more new sales for your organization, but it can help you to truly realize the sustained growth that you're seeking over time. Let's break down the key benefits of inbound marketing and explore why it's emerging as the best investment for organizations that are looking to connect with modern consumers and create valuable, lasting relationships that grow revenue over time. Sound intriguing? Let's jump into it.

Today I wanted to talk about a philosophy called The Toyota Way. The Toyota Way is a comprehensive framework that extends far beyond the auto industry, emphasizing efficiency, innovation, and respect for people to create lasting success. At its heart, it's about fostering a culture where continuous improvement and problem-solving are central, with a strong recognition that people—not just processes—are the driving force behind a successful business. Originally developed in post-war Japan to address resource scarcity, the system has evolved into a refined approach that touches every part of an organization, from operations to leadership. Over time, what started as a response to immediate challenges has become a universal framework adaptable to any industry. At Sanctuary, we've embraced many of these core concepts, integrating them into our best practices and even our core values. The Toyota Way's emphasis on empowering workers, encouraging critical thinking, and aligning everyone toward shared goals -- just to mention a few -- have been instrumental in our success. By focusing on lean, adaptable systems that prioritize long-term gains over short-term fixes, Toyota has created a model that you can follow too. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it!

Today, we're going to talk about what a CRMS system is and all the ways you can use this tool to grow your business. Organizations are constantly searching for tools to optimize their operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive new revenue growth across all functions of their business. One of the most powerful tools is a CRM system.  CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and today's systems have evolved from simple contact management tools into powerful and comprehensive platforms that centralize data, customer communications, streamline processes, enhance collaboration, create efficiencies, and enable data-driven decision-making. Ultimately a CRM can benefit every department in your organization by providing the tools and data necessary to improve your team's ability to retain and grow revenue. Sound intriguing? Let's, jump into it.

Today, let's talk about social selling. Social selling on social media platforms has become a cornerstone of modern sales strategies, particularly in the B2B space. It's not about directly selling and pitching, and it's certainly not about generic outreach or spamming. The focus is on starting and building relationships, demonstrating real value, and engaging with potential customers in helpful and meaningful ways. To excel at social selling, we need to adopt a series of foundational practices that not only enhance our approach but also ensure long-term success. Today we'll explore some of the foundational best practices that you should consider when you're engaging with social selling. These strategies will help you to connect more effectively with prospects, build trust, and ultimately begin and nurture relationships that result in actual sales over time. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Today, let's explore how the world of B2B digital marketing is evolving. Our world has changed rapidly over recent years due to several key factors, including technological advancements and new shifts in buyer behavior. B2B buyers are now more informed, demanding, and hard to reach than ever before — and they expect valuable, helpful content and seamless, personalized experiences across all touchpoints along the way. The proliferation of digital channels and platforms has also increased the competition, making it essential for businesses to adopt new, innovative strategies to stand out and engage customers effectively. What has worked in the past is not what will work going forward. Continually adapting to these changes will allow us to meet the rising expectations of B2B buyers, build stronger relationships, and drive better results throughout their entire customer journey. By staying ahead of the curve and constantly refining our approach, we not only enhance our ability to attract and retain customers but also position our organizations as forward-thinking leaders and truly valuable partners. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Today we're continuing the conversation around a concept called visioning. If you haven't heard episode #1 please head over there now. Visioning can be a transformative process that holds immense value for both companies and individuals. At the organizational level, having a clear and compelling vision provides a roadmap for success, guiding strategic decision-making and fostering alignment among team members. But, on a personal and professional level, visioning can be a powerful tool for clarifying your aspirations, setting meaningful goals, and charting a course toward fulfillment and success. By articulating a vision of success and satisfaction, individuals can tap into their deepest passions and motivations, fueling drive and resilience in the pursuit of their dreams. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Today we want to introduce you to a concept called visioning. Visioning can be a transformative process that holds immense value for both companies and individuals. At the organizational level, having a clear and compelling vision provides a roadmap for success, guiding strategic decision-making and fostering alignment among team members. But, on a personal and professional level, visioning can be a powerful tool for clarifying your aspirations, setting meaningful goals, and charting a course toward fulfillment and success. By articulating a vision of success and satisfaction, individuals can tap into their deepest passions and motivations, fueling drive and resilience in the pursuit of their dreams. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

We're well into the fourth quarter of the year, so today on the Academy I wanted to talk a little bit about strategic business planning. If you missed the previous episode where I talked about our final, two day process for planning, check out episodes 53 and 54 now. There are different approaches to strategic planning and ours at Sanctuary is continually evolving. Today I wanted to talk about another part of it...  it's a not-so-well-known technique that you might want to consider in your process: the Clarity Break. In this episode we'll uncover the true value of dedicating an entire day to this practice as you begin annual planning. It's not a mere escape from your regular work routine or a lazy day off; I believe that it can be a fundamental component of your planning process. Sound intriguing? Let's jump into it. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I wanted to compare the traditional approach of selling and servicing customers to a concept that I believe is a better way to grow your organization -- The Flywheel Model. The flywheel model is a strategic approach to doing business that was introduced by author Jim Collins. It describes how businesses can create a holistic strategy to harness the power of momentum, and it's compounding effects, to generate sustainable growth. In contrast to a traditional approach where isolated teams worked to create revenue and service customers, the flywheel model is a continuous cycle of effort across your entire organization, geared to do one thing - create an amazing customer experience. These efforts feed into each other, creating a self-reinforcing loop that, over time, can propel your company's success in big ways. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today is another Academy Quick Tip. We're all busy and need to continually learn. But sometimes we just don't have the time to even read entire articles or listen to a 30-minute podcast episode. This series will be a solution to that problem where I'll challenge myself to give you all the information you need to learn something new 5 minutes or less. So with that... the clock is ticketing. Let's talk about how an SEO SWOT analysis can help you to create more leads and revenue at your company. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we'll talk about a concept that should be central to everything your business does -- The Buyer's Journey. The buyer's journey is your roadmap that keeps buyers' behaviors, information needs, and problems top of mind, and to reduce the friction that keeps your organization from creating more revenue, faster. Closing new sales is just the start. By systematically mapping out the buyer's journey, businesses can not only create targeted marketing strategies that connect with new customers, but also create personalized experiences, and relevant content that resonates with current, and even past customers. This leads to increased engagement, long-term customer satisfaction, and yes, more revenue that ultimately leads to growth. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about having focus in business and in life. If you're continually struggling to achieve your goals, in business and in life, my thoughts here may provide an alternative approach to consider. Do I have it all figured out? Absolutely not. Could you provide another argument that contradicts everything I'm going to say here? Absolutely. So feel free to chart your own course. But, in this episode, I'm going to attempt to build a strong case around why I think some small businesses, and people in general, either succeed or flounder because they simply lack the ability to really focus. "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." - Bruce Lee This quote by the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee emphasizes that extraordinary success is not reserved for those with exceptional talents or abilities. Instead, it highlights the importance of focus, suggesting that being dedicated and single-minded in your pursuits can lead to remarkable achievements. If you remember nothing from this podcast, I hope this simple quote sticks with you. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we'll talk briefly about 5 principles that summarize why Inbound, conceptually, is a game-changing strategy to grow your business. Unlike traditional marketing and sales techniques, which rely on interruptive tactics and one-way communication with people who are generally not interested in what you're selling, Inbound is an end-to-end approach to revenue growth that seeks to align with the way modern consumers navigate their purchasing decisions, and connects with them where they're at within their own personal buyer's journey. If we had to strip if down, Inbound is a methodology that creates revenue. Inbound provides the value and support that potential and current customers crave by offering relevant, informative, and engaging content and experiences that are tailored to solve their unique problems. The ultimate goal is to build trust and strong relationships. Not to just sell more at all costs. This is Inbound in a nutshell, but there is a lot more to it. If you've been a believer in traditional marketing and sales tactics and best practices to this point, this summary of what we're about to talk about may cause you to roll your eyes. But stick with us. Traditional techniques can work. If you've been successful to this point, then feel free to stick with what works and move on. But, an Inbound approach has the potential to take things to the next level instead of just settling for the status quo. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to continue talking about Content Marketing and wrap up part 3 in this series. For those who are not familiar with the term or why it might be the single most important part of your marketing strategy, consider listening to episode 1 and 2 in this series for a solid overview where I'll explain why it's definitely a concept that, as a marketer or business owner, you may want to understand and consider. In this episode, let's continue the content marketing conversation and discuss more of the foundational concepts and tactics that make up content marketing. It will help you not only market your business and attract new customers but sell more and ultimately ensure that your existing customers find success as well. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to continue talking about Content Marketing. For those who are not familiar with the term or why it might be the single most important part of your marketing strategy, consider listening to episode 1 in this series for a solid overview where I'll explain why it's definitely a concept that, as a marketer or business owner, you probably want to understand and consider. In this episode, let's continue our content marketing conversation and discuss some of the foundational ways that content marketing will help you to not only market your business and attract new customers, but sell more, and ultimately ensure that your existing customers find success as well. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about Content Marketing. For those who are not familiar with the term or why it might be the single most important part of your marketing strategy, this episode will explain why it's definitely a concept that, as a marketer or business owner, you may want to understand and consider. Content marketing, conceptually, may seem simple -- and maybe it is. But, understanding what it is, how it benefits you, and exactly how you can do it has many different layers. Let's dive in and explore these layers and you can decide if it's something that you're able to tackle within your organization. Content marketing is the art of creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and compelling content to attract, engage, and ultimately convert your audience into loyal fans and customers. It's not about pushing sales pitches or bombarding people with intrusive ads. Oh no, my friends, it's about building relationships, delivering value, and creating a meaningful connection with your audience that truly grows a company over time. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to continue our series about how to use A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) to jumpstart and improve your marketing content. As Chris mentioned in previous episodes, if you've arrived expecting to hear that you no longer need a talented human to create content, then you're going to be a little disappointed. In episode 1 Chris provided his thoughts on this, so head over there now to hear more. But, if you're looking for ways to stand on the shoulders of A.I. to create better content, faster, then you're in the right place.  And by the way, we have a guest host today! We hope you enjoy this experiment! Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it… About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠⁠w⁠⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to continue our series about how to use A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) to jumpstart and improve your marketing content. If you're here expecting me to say that you no longer need a talented human to create content, then you're going to be a little disappointed. In episode 1 of this series I provided my thoughts on this, so head over there now to hear more. But, if you're looking for ways to stand on the shoulders of A.I. to create better content, faster, then you're in the right place.  If you're a business owner or marketer that creates high-quality written, audio, or video content, you know that it takes a lot of time and a high level of skill. There's also a significant cost associated with producing content.  For this reason, as we've discussed, many people are looking to the promise of A.I. to not only create content quickly and accurately but to do it all for free.  I made my case about why this is not ideal in episode 1. Great content will need a real human touch for the foreseeable future, and there's going to be a cost to doing that. It's also going to take time, and it's going to take skill. So the purpose of the upcoming episodes is to zero in on some of the ways that A.I. may be able to help lift the load.  In this episode, before we talk about actually creating content, I'd like to start off at the beginning with ways that I think A.I. may be able to help marketers and business owners research and strategize faster and better.  About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠⁠w⁠⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠⁠digital marketing services here⁠⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠⁠Learn more⁠⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to kick off a series about how to use A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) to jumpstart and improve your marketing content. If you're here expecting me to say that you no longer need a talented human to create content, then you might as well stop here and move on. A.I. Is not going to replace humans anytime soon when it comes to creating great, unique content that's on brand. But, if you're looking for ways to stand on the shoulders of A.I. to research, brainstorm, streamline, and create better, error-free content, faster, then you're in the right place. If you're a business owner or marketer that creates high-quality written, audio, or video content, you know that it takes a lot of time and a high level of skill. If you're honest with yourself, you'll admit that not everyone can do it well. So, because of this fact, many companies outsource their content creation to agencies or specialist freelancers. This helps them to recoup the time required, and it places the skill on the shoulders of a trusted person that has the required skills. But this approach obviously adds an extra layer of expense in trade. These days, many people are dreaming of how A.I. can remove the hurdles of time, skill, and the expense of creating content. Typing a simple prompt into ChatGPT can quickly produce content — and it's not bad. A.I. essentially creates content in seconds, mostly without error, and, currently, for free. This has sparked fear in many marketers and content creators that they're going to go the way of the dinosaur. All we have to do now is type a prompt… job. done. But I don't believe that this approach is ideal. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it... About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your ⁠w⁠ebsite or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our ⁠digital marketing services here⁠. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. ⁠Learn more⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today's customer is extremely powerful. They're armed with knowledge from technology, social media, review sites, and access to reams of information and data. They have very high expectations too that are combined with low trust in businesses in general. Their willingness to put up with errors and poor service is at an all-time low. Competition is high these days as well. Increased competition in many markets has forced businesses to be more accountable to their customers. Companies that do not provide good customer service are likely to lose customers to competitors who do. An unhappy customer is not only a lost opportunity, but they can work against you and the growth of your company in countless different ways. In the past, many companies considered customers an output of their sales and marketing. You spent money on ads to convince the customer to choose your product or service. You closed the sale through pressure, scare tactics, and propaganda that ultimately created a sale on the books. The company drove the narrative in the past and it was relatively easy for them to influence the customer's thoughts and feelings, as well as the general reputation of the company in the marketplace. But, in our modern world today, it's the customer and more specifically the customer's voice that defines a company's reputation, not the other way around. It seems obvious, but you MUST put your customers first these days. This will result in long-term, sustainable growth. Many companies think they're doing great with customer service. But the fact is, so many companies are still operating from an old, outdated playbook. They're putting their internal processes and profit over their customer's needs and wants. I know this sounds very "touchy-feely". Many businesses are just trying to keep up with customer needs. This is why the old playbook is appealing and even why many businesses think that they're doing a good job. But stick with me and I'll help to provide you with some ways to move beyond the old playbook and service your customers better with a more conversational, contextual, human, and helpful approach to service that will result in not only happy customers but the growth of the company over time. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking again about Instagram. We're diving into part 2 of our series that's designed to help you with the foundational best practices that will help you rise above the competition on the platform. As a marketer and business owner during the day and an artist in my free time, I've mentioned previously that I'm extremely interested in this platform. Instagram is a simple concept on the surface... people posting visually entertaining content. It's obviously a perfect platform for artists to showcase their work. But it can be a highly effective platform for any business to utilize photos, graphics, and especially videos to showcase so many aspects of what you do, who you are, and what you stand for. Techniques and best practices are always changing with Instagram so I won't be going too deep into any technical advice. But I'm hoping that the information that I'll provide today will be foundational and stand the test of time - at least for the near future. If you haven't heard part 1 in this series, head over there now to get started on the right foot. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it! About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about Instagram. As a marketer and business owner during the day and an artist in my free time, I'm extremely interested in this platform. Instagram is a simple concept on the surface... people posting visual content. But, success with Instagram goes far deeper than just posting images. Our goal with this podcast is to provide advice that's evergreen and stands the test of time. Things are always changing with Instagram so I won't be getting too deep into the weeds. But I'm hoping that the information that I'll provide today will be foundational and stand the test of time - at least for the near future. I hope many of these tips will not only apply to Instagram but social media in general as well. Ready to hear more? Let's jump into it! About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about success and happiness in business, work, and in life. As busy working professionals and business owners we all struggle with balance. By that, I mean that we're trying to build and run and grow successful companies, all while working to find happiness and fulfillment along the way. I haven't got it all figured out. I struggle every day to achieve balance. I'll probably be working to improve for the rest of my life. So with this thought to guide us, let me share some high-level concepts that have been helpful for me. I hope these ideas will help you to pursue success as a business leader, while also finding a little more happiness in your work, and ultimately in all aspects of your life. Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about success and happiness in business, work, and in life. As busy working professionals and business owners we all struggle with balance. By that, I mean that we're trying to build and run and grow successful companies, all while working to find happiness and fulfillment along the way. I haven't got it all figured out. I struggle every day to achieve balance. I'll probably be working to improve for the rest of my life. So with this thought to guide us, let me share some high-level concepts that have been helpful for me. I hope these ideas will help you to pursue success as a business leader, while also finding a little more happiness in your work, and ultimately in all aspects of your life. At our company, Sanctuary, the concept of being happy is deeply rooted. We have a simple saying "We Are Sanctuary" which means a lot to us. We strive to be a Sanctuary for all our clients which means that we work hard to make our clients happy and successful. But this statement is also focused inward on our team. By saying "We Are Sanctuary" we strive to create an environment for our team where we can be happy and successful as well. This takes many forms, from working to provide the obvious pay and benefits and the flexibility that everyone needs, to giving our team the support, training, autonomy, and trust that talented professionals crave. Are we always successful? Absolutely not. But as owners in this company, my partner Kelly and I are always seeking out small ways to live up to this statement - We Are Sanctuary. At the end of the day, as business owners, it's not our responsibility to ensure that everyone is happy. That's a bit of an impossible goal. But, as I'll touch on today, we can do a lot and we can always strive to do better. We can learn from our mistakes, then take the next step forward. Becoming "a Sanctuary" isn't something that we'll really ever arrive at. The work of "becoming" is really all we can focus on as we take the next step and the next. Beyond the tangible things that we can do for our clients and our team, we're always seeking to identify and live our top-level, guiding principles and beliefs. Many of these things reveal themselves in our stated values and our trusted best practices that we've adopted. But we've identified even another, deeper layer -- or maybe it's really the top layer -- that guides us as leaders, guides our team as they work, and guides our company and clients to success along the way. In short, we've sought to explore and articulate WHY we do what we do as a company. And when it comes down to it, when you understand your WHY, it can guide you in many different, and important ways too. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today we're going to be starting a new segment called Academy Quick Tips. We're all busy and need to continually learn. But sometimes we just don't have the time to read entire articles or listen to a 30-minute podcast episode. This series will be a solution to that problem where I'll challenge myself to give you all the information you need to learn something new in 5 minutes or less. So with that... the clock is ticketing. Let's talk about a concept that may be new to you... RevOps. RevOps is short for Revenue Operations and it can be the secret sauce that improves your customer experience, creates more revenue for your company, and ultimately scales and grows your business over time. RevOps is all about aligning the people, processes, systems, and data that control how you do business and how you generate revenue. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking again about sales. Sales grow your company. That's the bottom line. But just pushing your salespeople to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There's more to it and in this 3rd and final episode of our series, we'll discover why. We'll be exploring concepts around coaching, education, process development, collaboration within your team, consistency, and how to create a strong culture of learning, training, and certification within your company. Before we get started today I wanted to call out again that if you haven't heard part one or two in this series, please head over there now. You'll get a good foundation about the goals of reducing friction within your sales team and how this can truly help your company grow. Today we're going to be talking about the 3rd step in the frictionless selling framework. Going back through the previous episodes will help you to understand the first two which are enable and align. You won't be able to accomplish step 3, transform if you haven't completed the necessary work in the first two steps. So, let's get started by quickly recapping and reinforcing an important point about selling... For many companies, exceptional service is something that happens after the sale - possibly by a customer service team. But to truly begin to sell more and ultimately grow your company, exceptional service has to start at the very first contact and lead up to the moment that someone commits and makes a purchase. Your salespeople are a critical part of the inbound sales process because they serve as a bridge between marketing and sales, and they seek to provide a seamless transition between being a prospect and being a customer. But it certainly doesn't stop there with sales, and it doesn't stop with customer service. Exceptional service must be integrated throughout all parts of your company -- from beginning to end. These efforts compound and begin to build momentum that feeds growth. These efforts ultimately attract, engage, and delight your customers and this, in turn, begins to create momentum that accelerates on its own, and results in the sales and growth that you seek. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking again about closing sales. But the advice isn't going to be obvious or the traditional things that you've likely heard in the past. Sales grow your company. That's the bottomline. But just pushing your sales people to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There's more to it and in this episode we'll discover why as we explore the buyer's journey of your customer and the process that your sales people should go through to align themselves with their customers along the way. If you haven't heard part one in this series, please head over there now. You'll get a good foundation about the goals of reducing friction within your sales team and how this can truly help your company grow. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about closing sales. But the advice isn't going to be obvious or the traditional things that you've likely heard in the past. Sales grow your company. That's the bottom line. But just pushing your salespeople to “sell more”, at all costs, is not the ideal solution. There's more to it. Over the next few episodes we'll discover why. Most companies want to grow. But growth is found in more than just increasing sales. Growth is a process that requires multiple parts, processes and a discipline that ultimately enables the sales and growth that you're seeking. Real growth is rooted in relationships, and at the core, a strong element of trust with the people you're doing business with. These relationships are meaningful and most importantly, they're lasting. Strong relationships arre obviously important for your customers that you're actively doing business with. But it's equally important for your prospects that you want to do business with. There's a metaphor that's been used to explain the parts, process and discipline required for growth, and that is the flywheel. Listen and let us explain more! About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I'd like to spend a little time talking about what inbound marketing is and why the approach is a great way to reach your target audience and ultimately grow your business. Inbound marketing is different than traditional marketing and advertising. I believe it's a better way to approach your marketing strategy and invest in the growth of your company. As a business owner, you're always working on the never-ending challenge of growing your customers and revenue. You can choose to go about this work in a number of different ways. You can go out there yourself as the business owner and network to drum up new business. You can hire and manage a team of salespeople. You can work your existing network of customers, partners, friends, and family for referrals. And you can spend money on an unlimited number of advertising opportunities and marketing tactics to fish for people who might happen to be looking for a company like yours at just the right time. There are many other ways to get the job done. And honestly, real success comes from having a successful strategy and system to get all of these tactics working together as a well-oiled machine. But today let's focus on one of the parts - your marketing plan. Many business owners simply call this advertising. But an effective marketing plan must be more than an advertising spend. Today we're going to explore how you can make that happen by discussing a concept called Inbound Marketing. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I thought we could spend a little more time talking about yearly planning since we're approaching the end of the year. If you don't actually have a yearly planning session at your company, it's understandable. It's the end of the year, work has been building up, and you're just trying to get things done and settled before taking a little time off for the holidays. Yearly planning is important though. It's your opportunity to take some time and give yourself permission to stop working in the business and work on the business. In this episode, we're going to talk specifically about running the 2nd-day agenda of your annual planning meeting with the leadership of your company. If you haven't listened to part one of this series I encourage you to head over there now. Taking the time to work on your business, instead of constantly working so deeply "in" the business can be highly valuable. Especially at the end of the year when you have an opportunity to rise above the day-to-day work and identify what went well, or what went wrong throughout the year, and then make an effort to do things that improve and move the company, and your team, beyond the status quo, come the new year. This podcast series is all about making sure that you carve out time to do these meetings. Then you need to add some structure to your meetings. High-level planning meetings without structure can lead to a lot of unproductive swirling and distractions at best. At worst you'll just get pulled down into a completely unproductive spiral, that's just a waste of time. To help you run great meetings, I'm going to recommend again that you check out The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, from the great book Traction by Gino Wickman. I've covered this before in a previous episode if you'd like to explore a system to run your business. But today I'd like to briefly summarize the second-day agenda for your annual planning meeting that the author recommends. Then I'll sprinkle in a little advice and specifics about what we've done and learned as a team after years of following the recommended 2-day agenda. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I thought we could spend some time talking about yearly planning since we're approaching the end of the year. If you don't actually have a yearly planning session at your company, it's understandable. It's the end of the year, work has been building up, and you're just trying to get things done and settled before taking a little time off for the holidays. Yearly planning is important though. It's your opportunity to take some time and give yourself permission to stop working in the business and work on the business. In this episode, we're going to talk specifically about planning and running a two-day annual planning meeting with the leadership of your company. This will be a two-part series since the event is run over two consecutive days. Yearly planning is something that many companies skip. I've been there because we all know that running a business can be all-consuming. We're all just trying to stay ahead of the tidal wave of work and responsibilities every day. To actually stop working to work on the business for a day, let alone several days can be impossible and more than just a little stressful. But taking the time to work on the business can be highly valuable. Especially at the end of the year when you have an opportunity to identify what went well, or what went wrong throughout the year and then make an effort to do things to improve and move beyond the status quo come the new year. For those that are able to make time to work on your business, I'm going to recommend that you add some structure to your meetings. High-level planning meetings without structure can lead to a lot of unproductive swirling and distractions at best. At worst you'll just get pulled down into a completely unproductive spiral that's just a waste of time. To help you make the most of your valuable time, let me suggest that you check out The Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, from the great book Traction by Gino Wickman. I've covered this before in a previous episode if you'd like to explore a system to run your business. But today I'd like to detail the specifics around the annual planning meeting that the author recommends so you can add some structure to your planning and ensure that you're maximizing your time with your leadership team. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to do another segment that's quick and direct, but hopefully helpful to those who are working hard to start, manage, market, survive and grow in the world of business. This week is a short holiday week, and because of that, I think my advice today will resonate. It's all about using your limited time wisely. Before we get started, I wanted to just say how thankful I am for everyone that's been a regular listener of our podcast. If you like what you're hearing, please subscribe and provide us with a review wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts. It really helps us to spread the word and help more people to grow their businesses. “You know when you make a copy of a copy... it's not as sharp as the original.” - Michael Keaton, from the Movie Multiplicity As I was preparing the podcast today, I was reminded of the movie Multiplicity. If you haven't seen the movie, it's silly, but a classic flick in my mind. The premise is that Doug Kinney, who's played by Michael Keaton, is just too damn busy. He can't keep up with all the demands of his crazy life, so he devises a plan to duplicate himself. He successfully makes a copy, and this helps him immensely. But then the copy makes a copy of himself because he thinks he's too busy. The responsibilities and work just expand to fill. From there it goes south as more copies are made and they become lesser versions of the previous copies and hilarity ensues. It's a fun movie. And ever since I saw the movie for the first time, I've occasionally kidded with people that sometimes I feel like I need to duplicate myself when I get busy. I could easily use a couple duplicates of myself for work, several for my kids and home life, several for my hobbies... on and on. But, unfortunately, we can't duplicate ourselves. When it comes down to it, we have 24 hours in a day. Ideally, we need to sleep 6-8 hours of the day, which is a full 1/3 of our available time right out of the gate. That leaves us with 16 hours a day to live life, and as we all know, life happens, and that available time quickly disappears. Many of us feel that there is never enough time. We have constant pressure to be all things to all people - especially at work, especially if you're a small business owner. You are constantly stretched thin and overwhelmed by the demands as you simply try to keep things afloat every day. This pressure leaves less time for family, and for many people, there is zero time left for themselves. You end up falling into bed with the challenge of simply shutting down your busy mind so you can fall asleep and start it all over again the next day. This is what many people call the rat race. It's a never-ending cycle that can be hard to get out of, and if you're not careful, it can begin to weigh on you with serious negative effects. It can affect your important relationships at work and at home, and it can even impact your mental health. It can even keep you from being able to make good decisions at work because you're simply unable to rise above the work and stay ahead of the constant, incoming tide of demands on your time. Is there a solution? Yes, I think there is... if you're willing to consider and explore a couple simple principles. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're starting season #2 of our podcast with a series around an important, but misunderstood and undervalued concept: positioning. If you're trying to market your business or a product, or even yourself, proper positioning is a foundational and essential task. But many people don't approach positioning properly, or at worst, they don't even understand what it is, why it's important and how to actually tackle the project in a meaningful way. In upcoming episodes, we'll be exploring positioning and working to help you understand the concept and how you can work through the process. First, In this episode let's focus on what positioning is and why taking the time to solidify your foundation can lead to great things. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about what I've learned and the advice that I have to share after successfully producing 50 podcast episodes. If you're interested in marketing and growing an existing podcast that you've been doing for a while, this episode probably isn't going to be for you. But if you need advice to just get started and take the first steps, or you need motivation and tips to keep going beyond your first few episodes, well then, this podcast is definitely going to be valuable, and right up your alley. As far as podcasts go, 50 episodes are both a small number and a huge number. It's a small number because, compared to the top podcasts that have thousands of episodes, 50 episodes is a pretty small number. But, as far as podcasts go in general, 50 episodes is a big accomplishment because, out of the estimated 2.2 million podcasts available online, only about 700,000 have published more than 3 episodes. Over a quarter only have 1 episode published which essentially amounts to a lot of abandoned podcasts. Most podcasts, even if they've been doing it for a while don't even publish on a weekly or even a semi-regular basis. So, with that said, today I wanted to look back and provide you with my thoughts about what I've learned after producing 50 episodes. I have A LOT to learn and I think we're just getting started. But I think I have some advice and thoughts to pass on that might help you if you're thinking about starting your own podcast. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be exploring the concept of trust in your organization and within your company culture. It's blatantly obvious to say that trust is important. The alternative is simply distrust and nobody wants that. But building and sustaining trust can be difficult, even for the most well-intentioned people. It's a complicated goal that can impact your team, your customers, your partners, suppliers, your culture, and even the growth and viability of your company. In the end, the benefits of repairing and strengthening trust are critical. A recent research study found that companies that are considered to be trustworthy outperform the S&P 500 by levels as high as 30%-50%. So, let's explore further. Once again, I took the opportunity to collaborate and was guided by the advice and experience of my friend Gwen Walsh. Gwen an accomplished corporate CIO, successful small business owner, and executive performance consultant. Gwen left corporate America and started her own company, TechEdge, where she built a career creating and implementing business and technology solutions that redefined the industry standards for both Fortune 100 corporations and entrepreneurial organizations. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be talking about how to really grow your followers and your business using social media. I'm sure you'll be expecting me to unload a lot of specific tactical advice around “how” to do this. But today I'm going to focus on explaining one big idea that I think overrides most others. It's something that goes against the natural inclinations of most people when they start out on social media. But once you realize what needs to be done, it can be a real game changer. My advice comes from a man named Dale Carnegie who published a book in 1936 called How to win friends and influence people. We all know that social media can help us grow our business. But, If you're like me, you've got limited time, limited attention and limited resources. Just “posting” links to content is oftentimes all people can find the time to do, and most of the time we can't even find the time to even do that! Many times if we post content and links, the links aren't even to content that we've created because, well, it's easy. It's so easy to start by doing things that don't take a lot of time to just be “active”. A common line of thinking is that it's all about posting, as much as possible, so you're not lost in the void right? You ultimately have to post to be seen. And when you're seen, people will want to engage, follow and hire your business when the time comes. But I think success on social media isn't about posting all the time. In fact, it's actually about posting less, and this goes against what most people start out doing on social media -- me included. Success can be found by being active. But it's about being active in the right ways if your goal is to grow. Listen to today's podcast to learn more! About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be listening in on a recent community training event that we put on at Sanctuary that was led by our Director of Strategy Lauren Zils. We know that many companies struggle with hiring and retaining employees. It can be quite a challenge these days to get the word out, to convince good people to even show up to an interview and to influence their decision to come on board, and stay. Many companies are trying to achieve these goals but they need a good strategy. They need a good “playbook” that'll achieve all their goals. That's where we'd like to help. Listen in today as Lauren discusses, not only how to get the word out, but what you need to be doing to convince great people to even apply. It's more than just writing a job description and posting openings on job boards and your website. If you haven't thought much past the basics then this presentation is for you. Sound good? Let's jump into it! About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today I thought I'd take a different approach to the podcast and take a minor, but important detour and talk about motivation. Today's advice will be quick and direct, but hopefully helpful to those who are working hard to start, manage, market, survive and grow in the world of business. I'm going to strip away all the production today and just get right to the point and let you get on to the challenges of the day. I think the point of doing this is that we can talk about tactics, strategy, and best practices, we can talk to experienced professionals and successful business people, and we can be focused on the next thing, and the next thing and the next thing that we think will solve all our challenges. But sometimes we just need a little motivation to keep going. And this is what I'd like to explore today. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy I wanted to talk about how to close more sales. Sounds like a great topic right? I mean, who doesn't want more sales? But surprise, I'm not going to talk specifically about sales tactics today. What I want to talk about is how to effectively take the leads, and even the customers that you already have, and close more sales through the process of building an effective customer journey map. In the days before digital technologies like the internet, selling was a very personal process. As a business owner or sales professional, you worked face to face with potential customers in an effort to convince them to make a purchase. Today, of course, most sales processes are digital and automated. So as marketers and business owners, we are removed from the customer, and many people can tend to think of customers as robots rather than people. They are not robots, of course, and the customer journey from awareness on through to purchase and beyond, is just as important now as it ever was. Sure, it can be automated and optimized these days, but you still need to understand that journey just as clearly as you would have when using old-school, face-to-face selling tactics. Today I'd like to introduce you to the concept of customer journey mapping. This is a useful technique to help you understand how customers are going to interact with your brand and how you can help move them through the journey toward a purchase as consistently as possible. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message

Today on the Academy we're going to be exploring the concept of relationship building and going deep to uncover your own, personal relationship-building type. For most people and businesses, relationships are at the heart of what makes them happy AND successful. As a business owner, I know firsthand how important relationships can be to your success and growth. As the old saying goes “It's who you know” and it's continually surprising to me how big things can come from your network of friends, partners, team members, and even your customers. It goes without saying that my relationships outside of business are critical to my own personal happiness. But successfully building relationships in an authentic way is critical. You can't fake it. For many, it doesn't come naturally, even if they have the best intentions. Many people, need to continually work on it. Even if you're genuine, it takes skill, practice, discipline, vulnerability, confidence and honesty. For most people, these things don't always come naturally, even if you're striving to create relationships and looking for nothing in return. So let's take a moment to day to explore further. For this podcast, I'm going to be collaborating with, and guided by the advice and experience of my friend Gwen Walsh. Gwen an accomplished corporate CIO, successful small business owner, and executive performance consultant. Gwen left corporate America and started her own company, TechEdge, where she built a career creating and implementing business and technology solutions that redefined the industry standards for both Fortune 100 corporations and entrepreneurial organizations. With Gwen's guidance, we'll be taking in a continuous stream of valuable, actionable, real-world advice and stories from the trenches. About Sanctuary: Do you need a partner to help you with your website or digital marketing strategy and execution? The Academy is a service of Sanctuary and we can help you with all your digital marketing needs. We'd love to chat with you about how we can help you grow your business. Learn more about our digital marketing services here. Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results. We partner with you to build custom websites and use marketing tactics such as search marketing, social media and email to drive leads and sales for your business. Our team comprises highly experienced and creative specialists in a range of digital marketing disciplines, from marketing strategy and execution, writing, visual design and development to social marketing, user experience design, analytics and more. We've been guiding passionate, thriving businesses like yours that serve owners, employees and communities since 2006. Learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/academy-podcast/message