Podcast appearances and mentions of Chris Marr

“This is a liberating moment for us—and for the enterprises we serve. We're combining forces to scale fast and deliver smarter CX solutions.” — Chris Marr, Pronetx Live from Enterprise Connect, Chris Marr and Yasser El-Haggan of Pronetx joined us for a special Technology Reseller News podcast to share big news: the merger of two AWS customer experience (CX) powerhouses—Pronetx and VT Team—to create a stronger, faster, and more specialized Amazon Connect services firm. AWS-Certified, Cloud-Focused, and Ready to Scale Pronetx, an AWS Service Delivery Partner specializing in Amazon Connect, helps customers—including Fortune 25 companies and federal agencies—migrate contact centers to the cloud and unlock the full potential of AWS technologies, including generative AI, chatbots, case management, and advanced analytics. “Many customers think they're on the cloud—but they're not truly leveraging it,” said El-Haggan. “We help them do more with their AWS investment.” With the merger, Pronetx is not only growing in capacity—it's expanding its focus. Together, the combined team will accelerate software development, build tools for CX teams, and help enterprises infuse generative AI into both front-end and back-office operations. A Boutique Partner, Backed by Deep Tech Expertise Unlike broad SIs, Pronetx operates as a boutique CX firm focused solely on Amazon Connect—a strategy that enables deeper specialization and faster time-to-value. “We're not generalists. We're laser-focused on customer experience, and that's what makes us an ideal partner—for enterprises and for SIs and GSIs,” said Marr. As one of AWS's launch partners for Amazon Q, Pronetx has already begun helping customers use agentic AI and natural language processing to deliver more intelligent, efficient, and personalized support. CX Trends, Real-Time Data, and GenAI Readiness One theme echoed throughout the podcast: AI won't work without great data. Marr emphasized that with the merger, the team now has expanded capability to understand, organize, and apply customer data to maximize GenAI performance. “It's impossible to succeed with GenAI without understanding your customer data. This merger gives us the team to do that at scale,” he added. With CX trends evolving fast—and customer expectations even faster—Pronetx is positioning itself as a partner of choice for cloud-first transformation. A Platform Built on Experience The announcement comes on the eighth anniversary of Amazon Connect, launched at Enterprise Connect 2017. El-Haggan, who helped lead that launch while at AWS, noted the full-circle moment. “Amazon Connect was born right here eight years ago. Now, we're taking it even further with this merger.” Learn More Visit pronetx.com

Becoming an Authoritative Coach and Speaker with Chris MarrSummaryIn this episode of Present Influence, host John interviews Chris Marr, author of the book Become An Authoritative Coach, to discuss the importance of owning authority in coaching and public speaking. They explore themes like the struggle with people-pleasing, developing a unique brand, and the distinction between confidence and arrogance. Chris shares insights on how to present oneself authoritatively, both on stage and in a coaching setting, and emphasizes the value of frameworks, deliberate practice, and having a service-oriented mindset. The episode provides actionable advice for coaches and speakers aiming to establish their authority and effectively engage their audience.Check out Chris' book and be sure to visit his website and take the assessment. https://theauthoritativecoach.comChapters00:00 Welcome and Introduction00:32 The Authoritative Coach: An Overview02:22 People Pleasing and Authority03:40 Confidence vs. Authority04:27 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome07:07 People Pleasing in Leadership08:17 Engaging the Audience: Tips for Speakers14:55 The Inner and Outer Game of Authority22:02 The Journey to Becoming Analytical22:53 Levels of Learning: Study, Practice, Teach23:36 Developing Frameworks and Insights24:39 The Importance of Personal Frameworks26:19 Creating Effective and Tested Frameworks30:48 Engaging Your Audience with Stories37:00 Balancing Authority and Arrogance41:28 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsGo to presentinfluence.com to get your copy of my guide to building authority through podcast guesting and for speaking enquiries or connect with me on LinkedInThanks for listening and please give the show a 5* review if you enjoyed it.

Embracing Humour and Preparing for Standup: The Journey to Episode 200SummaryHost John Ball is excited about the upcoming 200th episode, which will feature an interview with Chris Marr. He also gives an update about his recent solo venture, which was inspired by a previous episode with Judy Carter. John discusses the importance of humour in presentations and his leap into stand-up comedy, including a planned open mic night performance. The episode touches on techniques for incorporating humor, personal storytelling, and the role of comedy in building trust and engagement with audiences. John also reflects on the podcast's evolution and invites listener participation. If you'd like to ask John a question, email john@presentinfluence.com or visit the website/LinkedIn profile at the bottom of the show notes.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Schedule Update00:20 Inspiration from Judy Carter01:51 Preparing for Standup Comedy04:58 Comedy Techniques and Observations07:44 The Power of Humor in Presentations12:42 Podcast Journey and Future Plans16:32 Conclusion and Upcoming EpisodeGo to presentinfluence.com to get your copy of my guide to building authority through podcast guesting and for speaking enquiries or connect with me on LinkedInThanks for listening and please give the show a 5* review if you enjoyed it.

After 7 Years and 344 Episodes it is time to say:  Thank you and goodnight Today - February 25th 2025 - marks the seventh anniversary since the first episode of this podcast went live to the world on February 25th 2018When I first launched the podcast I was advised that the vast majority of new podcast launches don't make it beyond episode seven.So to have reached 344 episodes in seven years of podcasting seems like a reasonable achievement.It also feels like the perfect time to draw halt to the Better Presentations More Sales podcastI started listening to podcasts around 2014 and I remember one of the shows I listened to was a social media marketing podcast hosted by Chris Marr up in Scotland.On one of his episodes the guest was a chap called Pete Matthew who revealed that he was from Penzance in Cornwall.Not too far from me in Truro and the first time I've heard anyone from Cornwall on a business podcast.Pete revealed on the episode that he'd been podcasting himself for quite a number of years.Knowing I needed some help to get started with podcasting I contacted Pete. He generously gave me his time back in the summer of 2016 and eventually after much procrastination I finally launched the podcast in February 2018. Ironically Chris Marr would end up being a guest on my show in 2024.The first 78 episodes were without guests before I worked out how to use Zoom and I interviewed Claire Boscq Scott from Jersey who I met sitting next to at a seminar at the London Business Show in 2019.Juanita Wheeler from Australia was my final and 130th guest.I do intend to return with a new podcast linked to presenting skills sometime maybe in the autumn but until then I'm very much focused on developing my on demand presentation and sales pitch training courses.I would like to say a few thank you's to all the people who made this podcast run for as long as it did.Firstly Pete Matthew who provided me with the knowledge and encouragement.My daughter Beth who edited most of the first year or two episodesHer friend Lauren who provided the voice introduction for the first batch of episodesMy son Jim who provided technical support when I first set up all the recording kit and his friend Robert who created the podcast logosThe 130 guests who have appeared on the showIt often felt like I was getting a one-to-one coaching masterclass so I'm very grateful for them sharing their insights, advice and expertise.And finally you the listeners of the showI can't believe it's been seven years - I've had a fantastic time and I will be back.So until then enjoy presenting and speaking and remember don't put too many words on your slides!I can help you transform your business presentations, create and convert sales opportunities and win more sales pitches. Click on the links below to find out more and book a free 15-20 minute Zoom call with to discuss what you might need help with. Presentation TrainingSales Training 15 Minute Free 'How can I help you' Zoom callTrevor Lee Linked Trevor Lee You TubeMy latest book: 7 Steps to Successful Presentations

If you're a leader, entrepreneur or executive looking to level up your leadership brand, this episode with Chris Marr, author of "The Authoritative Coach", is a must-listen.In his book, Chris shares his framework for building a strong coaching practice rooted in authenticity and service. And in our conversation, he brings that same level of clarity and insight.As someone who helps experts turn their brilliance into sustainable revenue, I know how important it is to have a strong personal brand rooted in authenticity. And Chris embodies that completely.Here are three key takeaways from our conversation:

Send us a textChris Marr is a client communication expert and the founder of The Authoritative Coach. He wants us not to be people pleasers. As a coach Chris encourages his clients not to be people pleasers - instead to challenge those they are working with. The same applies to your presentation. Don't make it a people pleaser make it a people challenger. Your audience will get so much more from it if you take that approach. Chris's top tip: What is your first question going to be when you present? - one that will both engage and challenge your audience from the start. We talk about why it's a good idea to bring up early a potential resistance or objection, why as a presenter you need to be respected before you are liked and why you need to adapt your presentation for your audience. So many presenters use the same presentation for every audience. Chris has found that as a coach people want to be challenged and as a presenter you need to challenge your audience.Chris shares his four step approach to presentations and speaking to audiences: Question : Story : Result : ChallengeYou can find Chris at The Authoritative Coach and on Instagram under the same name. I have 3 copies of Chris's book ‘The Authoritative Coach' to give away. Simple use the ‘Send a Text Message' at the top of these notes and I'll put you in the hat. Make sure you include your name and mailing address for the book. Please be aware that I can't reply to these messages and they contain no contact details for you. Click on these links if  you want help with a key presentation or sales pitch - I'll help ensure you don't waste these golden opportunities. Check out my new online training platform OnlinePresentationCourses.com - this is where you find courses which will help you become a better, more confident, more successful presenter at your own pace in your own time. The main course is 'Transform your Business Presentations' - flows the 7 Steps to Successful Presentations model with all modules in video, audio, summary notes, checklists and slide PDF formats. As a podcast listener you can enjoy a 50% reduction by using the code 7steps50 at the checkout.  There is also a free taster course which will help you deliver your first ‘big' presentation. To fI can help you transform your business presentations and win more sales pitches. Click on the links below to find out more and book a free 15-20 minute Zoom call with to discuss what you might need help with. Presentation TrainingSales Training 15 Minute Free 'How can I help you' Zoom callTrevor Lee Linked Trevor Lee You TubeMy latest book: 7 Steps to Successful Presentations

In this podcast episode, we'll be talking about how to stop people pleasing and how to challenge your clients and become indispensable.Our guest today is Chris Marr, a distinguished coach from Dundee, Scotland. Chris, known as the Authoritative Coach, has extensive experience in coaching and mentoring businesses of all sizes. He has a rich background in leading training and coaching initiatives worldwide and is deeply interested in human behavior and continuous learning. Today, Chris shares insights from his book, Become an Authoritative Coach.Key Discussion Points:Understanding the roots and impact of people pleasingThe significance of effective communication in personal and professional growth.Strategies to stop people pleasing and why it's crucial for long-term success.The concept of asking questions first and the importance of curiosity.Techniques for maintaining authority and respect without dominating.How to handle high-stakes situations and difficult conversations.Insights from Chris's book and how they apply to everyday professional interactions.Relevant Links: TheAuthoritativeCoach.co.ukRecommended reads:10x is easier than two x Deep Work by Cal Newport The Business of Expertise by David C. BakerEveryone Communicates, Few Connect by John MaxwellThe Inner Game of Tennis by Timo Transform your professional relationships and become indispensable by challenging people-pleasing tendencies and developing authoritative coaching skills. Buy Chris Marr's book, "Become an Authoritative Coach," today to master effective communication and leadership.

What if the only thing standing between you and your highest potential is the right kind of guidance? Dive in as we chat about the role of coaching, its challenges, and how it intricately intertwines with teaching. ✅ Get frameworks & mental models for high achievement: https://go.ryanhanley.com ✅ For daily insights and ideas on peak performance: https://www.instagram.com/ryan_hanley/ ✅ Hire me to speak at your next event: https://ryanhanley.com/speaking ** Connect with Guest ** ✅Chris Marr's Book: https://amzn.to/46a7DsW ✅Chris's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theauthoritativecoach/ ** More about this episode ** With our guests providing us with an intriguing perspective on the egocentric aspects of coaching, we seek to elucidate how the right balance of guidance and space for clients to self-discover can be pivotal. As the conversation unfolds, we shift gears to talk about imposter syndrome, confidence, and the perils of perfectionism. We examine how market acceptance and support can fuel confidence and discuss how a dash of self-awareness and anxiety can be healthy. Using the success story of Tim Ferriss, we reflect on the importance of tinkering and experimenting to achieve success and how overthinking can be detrimental. As we steer our conversation toward personal identity, manifestation, and action toward goals, we unravel how we can bridge our inner thoughts with the external world to drive our ambitions. We also share some tips on striking a balance between aspirations and personal values, while exploring the realm of new hobbies and the importance of mindset growth. Listen in, as we explore how becoming a coach-like communicator and worker can lead to transformations and breakthroughs. #findingpeak #confidence #innerthoughts #outerthoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if the only thing standing between you and your highest potential is the right kind of guidance? Dive in as we chat about the role of coaching, its challenges, and how it intricately intertwines with teaching.✅ Get frameworks & mental models for high achievement: https://go.ryanhanley.com✅ For daily insights and ideas on peak performance: https://www.instagram.com/ryan_hanley/✅ Hire me to speak at your next event: https://ryanhanley.com/speaking** Connect with Guest **✅Chris Marr's Book: https://amzn.to/46a7DsW✅Chris's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theauthoritativecoach/** More about this episode **With our guests providing us with an intriguing perspective on the egocentric aspects of coaching, we seek to elucidate how the right balance of guidance and space for clients to self-discover can be pivotal.As the conversation unfolds, we shift gears to talk about imposter syndrome, confidence, and the perils of perfectionism. We examine how market acceptance and support can fuel confidence and discuss how a dash of self-awareness and anxiety can be healthy.Using the success story of Tim Ferriss, we reflect on the importance of tinkering and experimenting to achieve success and how overthinking can be detrimental.As we steer our conversation toward personal identity, manifestation, and action toward goals, we unravel how we can bridge our inner thoughts with the external world to drive our ambitions. We also share some tips on striking a balance between aspirations and personal values, while exploring the realm of new hobbies and the importance of mindset growth.Listen in, as we explore how becoming a coach-like communicator and worker can lead to transformations and breakthroughs.#findingpeak #confidence #innerthoughts #outerthoughtsLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tight US labor market has prompted several Republican-led states to roll back child labor laws, which are aimed at protecting teenagers by restricting where and how long they can work. Bloomberg Industry Group reporters Rebecca Rainey and Chris Marr join this episode to talk about where this is happening and who's pressing for these changes. And labor historian Betsy Wood explains how today's arguments about whether kids should be put to work mirror the same fights going back decades. Read more: States Look to Ease Child Labor Laws as Federal Scrutiny Grows Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK  Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at bigtake@bloomberg.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Intellectual property litigator Terence Ross, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman, discusses Netflix suing the creators of "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert” for copyright and trademark infringement.Chris Marr, Senior Correspondent for Bloomberg Law, discusses 18 states passing CROWN Acts, laws banning race-related hair discrimination.June Grasso hosts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Intellectual property litigator Terence Ross, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman, discusses Netflix suing the creators of "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert” for copyright and trademark infringement.Chris Marr, Senior Correspondent for Bloomberg Law, discusses 18 states passing CROWN Acts, laws banning race-related hair discrimination.June Grasso hosts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

His background and what his business does His beliefs on Content Marketing and why should we bother? His thoughts on financial services and how they can use content marketing with some good examples. Where he would start as a younger planner

This week's guest Chris Marr, is a former Australian Army officer who spent 20 years in service, including 10 years as a leader and commander in the special forces; during which time he led Australian soldiers on complex missions all over the world, with the consequences for failure very high. Having worked on the front line all his life, Chris was motivated to contribute to something bigger than himself; so along with his two best mates, he created Sonder - the app making the world a safer place by matching emergency service providers to those who need help, making people feel safer across the world. Whether you're being followed walking to your car at night, dealing with an aggressive customer and worried for your safety or having mental health issues, Sonder are there, 24/7 to give support. I ask Chris why purpose was such a strong motivator for the business and how Sonder is a disruptor with a conscience. Join the Facebook Group. Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. Want to grow your business and stay ahead of the pack? Access Mark Bouris' Masterclasses. Got a question or comment for Mark? Send an email.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we have the amazing Chris Marr on the podcast. As an expert when it comes to becoming a ‘Wikipedia’ in your industry, Chris and I look at how to create content that leads people to buy. Although you may create content that is well-written or nice to look at, you need to think about how you’re going to use content to get people to buy into your product or service. Whilst we’ve spoken about this before, this episode goes much more into depth when it comes to creating valuable content. Grab a pen and a notepad, the episode is going to be filled with great snippets of information! Key Takeaways Covered in the Podcast ·      Your customers and prospective buyers should determine the content that you create. Often, people create content for their peers instead, whereas, if you want to be an authority in your market is to create content that shows that you understand your customers. ·      If you can serve your customers better, you will be seen as an expert in your industry. ·      When creating your content, you need to think about how people go through the buying process. What problems do they have? What objections do they have? The content that answers this is the content that will perform well in terms of conversions. ·      Buyers are doing research online before they make a buying decision so you need to step away and see the world as a consumer. On average, 77% of a buying decision is made online before a buyer contacts a company for the first time. ·      The people that are vulnerable and honest in their industry effect their consumers in a positive way. If you’re not confident about your product and service, you’re going to hold back when it comes to creating content. ·      If you’re worried about creating content in a different way to everyone in the industry then try to overthink it. You need to create content exactly how you want to. It will help you stand out! ·      Although you should be keeping an eye on what your competition are doing, you need to have a unique approach to your content. ·      Content is not about virality in your industry it is about your buyers making a buying decision. If one person has the ability to buy something and your content helps them make this decision, it is a success. Being famous to buyers is powerful. ·      If your buyers have a question, it is your responsibility to answer it. ·      There are 5 main topics that buyers want to have answers to when it comes to content. Those are price, cost, problems, reviews and comparisons and best of. ·      You need to become the ‘Wikipedia’ of your industry. This means people use your website as an information resource to figure out what they want – whether they buy from you or not. ·      By typing the questions you get from your buyers into Google and looking at the suggested searches, you will be able to get a snapshot of what your customers want to know. Once you’ve done this, you need to work out which questions have already been answered. ·      You need to let go of the need to look smart. ·      There are no secrets in any industry, so don’t worry about sharing them online. Let go of the need to control. ·      It is not about being the first, it’s about who can do it better. One thing you need to remember above all else… Traffic to your website doesn’t necessarily mean leads. You need to differentiate between the two and ensure you’re writing content that leads to sales. Highlights you Simply...

Chris believes content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing. He is raising the bar on talent curation, leadership, personal development, and community building. His pioneering work has changed the lives of hundreds of businesses, all through the power of Content Marketing. In this episode we discuss Stoicism, philosophy and content marketing - and how they're all linked together.

How can eCommerce businesses reduce their time to first purchase by 10X? This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, WordPress developer and eCommerce expert Jason Resnick shares the process he uses to help eCommerce businesses dramatically reduce the time from first touch to first purchase. And while Jason works primarily with eCommerce businesses, the advice he shares is equally applicable to businesses in other verticals. From visitor segmentation, to behavioral analytics and content personalization, Jason goes into detail on the process he has used to help one client reduce time to first purchase from 40 days to 8, and for another client from 9 days to 1.  Some highlights from my conversation with Jason include: Jason is a WordPress developer and eCommerce marketing expert. According to Jason, one of the keys to reducing the time to first purchase is to capitalize on the positive emotion that a visitor feels when they discover your site for the first time and get them to explore further. One way to do this is by adding a widget to your site with related blog articles. Asking your visitors a qualifying question is a good way to learn a bit more about them and then use that information to tailor what you show them. With these types of questions, and then behavioral information like the articles and pages your visitors are looking at, you can create a lead scoring model. Based on the topics that a visitor is consuming content on, you can use that information to change the copy on your CTAs to make them more relevant to your visitors' interests. In eCommerce, the first 90 days are crucial. If you can't convince a new contact to purchase something with the first 90 days, the odds of ever selling to them drop dramatically. When Jason works with new clients, he begins by taking baseline measurements of how long it takes for a new contact to go from first touch to first purchase. By using segmentation, intent awareness, and personalized copy, Jason has been able to reduce time to first purchase for one client from 40 days to 8, and for another client from 9 days to 1.  When it comes to converting new leads into customers, Jason says it all comes down to trust, and you need to build trust into every interaction you have, from your website copy to your email marketing. Resources from this episode: Save 10% off the price of tickets to IMPACT Live with promo code "SUCCESS" Visit the Rezzz website Follow Jason on Twitter Connect with Jason on LinkedIn Listen to the podcast to learn exactly how Jason helps his client shorten their sales cycles - and how you can too. Transcript Kathleen Booth (Host): Welcome back to the Inbound Success Podcast. I'm your host, Kathleen Booth, and today my guest is Jason Resnick, who is the founder of Rezzz. Welcome Jason. Jason Resnick (Guest): Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Jason and Kathleen recording this episode together . Kathleen: Tell my audience a little bit about what Rezzz is, and your background, and how you came to be doing what you're doing now. About Rezzz Jason: Sure. Rezzz is my business, it's what I've been doing for, this August will be nine full years, full time for myself. I am a solopreneur. I don't have a team behind me, but it's a web development business. I've always loved the eCommerce space, and the human behavior behind all of eCommerce. Where most developers and designers shy away from eCommerce so early on when eCommerce was ramping up in the early 2000s, I flocked to it, I was attracted to it. I built my business around helping online businesses, and I call them eCommerce, it could be anybody taking a transaction. I have nonprofit clients. I have online coaches. I have clients that sell physical products. Basically anybody taking a transaction, to help them get anonymous visitors into being customers, and then customers into repeat customers, and then repeat customers into raving fans. I do that through a number of different strategies and tactics, which most of them revolve around what's called behavioral marketing, or email automation, but also a mix of onsite personalization, that's where my skillset as a web developer come into play. Kathleen: Yeah. You know, it's funny that you say that about marketers shying away from eCommerce, because I've worked with a lot of marketers in my time. I was an agency owner for 11 years, and of course now I'm at Impact. It's true, I know a lot of marketers, and a lot of them say, "I don't touch eCommerce." It's almost like they're afraid to. I know one or two who do it, and the ones I know who do it have like gone deep, I think because there's such an opportunity, or a vacuum left by everybody else. Why do you think it is that marketers shy away from it so much? Jason: I think it really stems from there's so much tech involved with it, and it's so close to the bottom line that it's easy, I mean, and this is going to come out bad, but because there is a direct correlation that business owners see X dollars coming in per month, per day, or whatever it is from the site, when you say that you can affect that, they're going to see that result immediately. Most marketers, and obviously when we build campaigns sometimes those things take some time to build up, and sometimes you have to have those difficult conversations with clients a little bit earlier on in the eCommerce space than, let's say nonprofits, or standard brochure type websites, those things. I think that because of not just that, those difficult conversations that you might have to have, but also the tech side of things, if something goes wrong, if you're the point of contact and you don't necessarily know at a deep level what those technical bells and switches are, then you're going to be like, "Uh." With your hands raised and saying, "I'm not sure. Let's go see what we can find out from the tech team." I think at least from my experience, that's what customers tell me when they come into my ecosystem. They want somebody that, they may not know all the technical aspects of things, but they do understand that some things do take time, and they just want somebody that can take care of all of it for them. They don't want that ping pong match like, oh this is the host, and this is the developer, and this is the marketing side of things. They don't want that ping pong match, and they kind of just want that holistic point of contact person to be able to say, "Yes, there's a problem." Or, "Yes, this is what we need to do." At least from my experience I think that that's the reason why a lot of people shy away from it. Kathleen: Yeah. It's interesting because web design, development, et cetera, in general comes with a lot of high stakes, especially in this day and age when so many people find your business by your website. With eCommerce, as you rightfully pointed out, it's like way, way, way higher stakes, because your business is your website. Jason: Right. Kathleen: Your website is your business. Either way you look at it, if you break something, you're breaking the entire revenue stream of the business, not just like, oh our customers couldn't see our website today, or we didn't get another form fill. Jason: Right. Kathleen: Yeah, it's not an inconvenience, it's a major, major risk. I can totally see that. Now, and I should say, you came with very high marks, because I met you through one of my past podcast guests. This is one of my favorite ways to get new guests, is when former guests reach out and say, "Hey, I have somebody you should talk to." That actually happened in your case when Val Geisler, who I interviewed a few months ago, wrote to me unsolicited and said, "I really think you should talk to this guy." Val, for those who either didn't hear her episode or don't know, is an amazing email conversion copywriter, mostly for B2B SaaS companies. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her, and as soon as she wrote to me I said, "I'll talk to anybody that you think I should talk to." Jason: Thank you very much. Kathleen: Yeah. No, that was a good introduction. You do a lot of work, because you're in eCommerce, and what is interesting to me about you is that you're not just a web developer/designer. You work on some of the other aspects of eCommerce businesses, personalization, conversion optimization. How did you get from web design and development into these other areas? Jason: I think actually it, well my career took me in that path, but I think as a person it was the other way around. I've always been interested in human behavior. I got a minor in psychology in college. For me, and I went to college in the late '90s, and that was the advent of the internet. I mean, I remember going to the computer lab and building my first webpage. That was in like '96. Kathleen: I remember learning Basic. Jason: Right. Yes. Me too. Kathleen: I'm not going to say any more, because then that'll really date me. Jason: For me, when the advent of the internet came along, that was intriguing enough, because I was actually going for computer science at the time. At that time it was a lot of compiling code, and waiting for things to happen. Yet the web was like, I put code on a screen and I hit save, and I refresh and boom it's there. Hey, that's pretty cool. That intrigued me, but also my human nature side of things, just being perceptive of the world around me and kind of how people interact with certain things, and why they do what they do, and why they don't do what they don't do, always intrigued me. When the eCommerce world hit, pre Amazon, all the rest of it, people were afraid to put their credit cards in. Even online, let alone cellphones weren't even really a thing at that point in time. I was working for a consulting firm at that time, and we dealt with a lot of startups, and all of them wanted some sort of eCommerce in some sort of fashion. For me, it was always interesting to say, okay, if we use certain buttons in a certain way, and certain text in certain colors, we could create this, I don't want to say an artificial, but a perceptive environment of being safe. Where they can submit their credit card and not feel that they are sending it over and somebody's copying that down and running away with their identity. For me, that was the genesis of where I am today. I've always just kind of had that snowball effect, and really focus in on that specific part of my development skills. Because as you said, a lot of people were shying away from it, and I always knew that I wanted to work for myself. I had to find that niche, if you will, that sweet spot to really plant my flag in, and fit into a market that I could become known for. That was how I started all that. Just as the web evolved, now with email marketing, and how much data you can collect on somebody just by asking them a few questions, you can segment, you can promote certain things based around where a person is in their journey and their awareness. You can do all these things and marry things like your email marketing platform with your website with a little bit of code. Now there are services out there that can do this too, that your website can look completely different with two different people. It's all based around what you know about that person, where they came from, demographics, or even just what you know they clicked on in your last email. That's always been interesting to me because that's like the mom and pop of like the early 1900s, where somebody would walk into the store and you would have all your stuff ready because they knew you came in every Thursday. They knew who you were. For me, having that personalization and segmentation is what allows you, as the business owner, to know where your potential customers are, where your customers are, where your repeat customers are, and know how to cater to them in the best way possible. Kathleen: You know, it's fascinating that you just brought that up, because I literally just, as we're recording this, this morning published my latest episode, which was a conversation with Shai Schechter, who's the founder of a company called Right Message. That's exactly what he talked about, was his platform that he's built lets you ask your visitor a simple question like, what brings you here today? He actually equated it to the conversation you have when you walk into a shop. Like nobody is saying, "What industry are you in?" It's, "What brings you here today?" Jason: Right. Kathleen: Based on the answer to that, you can dynamically then update the copy on the page. He was seeing like 10x improvements in landing page and CTA conversion rates from that kind of like small amount of personalization. I definitely think there's something to it. Jason: Yeah, absolutely. I know Shai, I've known him for a couple of years. We've met at some events and things of that nature. Yeah, he's built a great platform. His platform's called Right Message, and I use Right Message as well for some assets of my business. Yeah, I mean it's that idea of, we've gotten away from that broadcast everything to everybody. Now we want to really cater to the one on one. That is what's going to increase conversions, and that's what's going to help you convert non customers to customers as quickly as possible. The more you know about them, the more that you can speak their language, the more that you're serving up the thing that they want at the right time, that's going to help you with your conversions. Reducing The Time to First Purchase Kathleen: Yeah. Now you, as you said, you do a lot of work in eCommerce, and one of the biggest areas of opportunity for optimization in eCommerce is how long it takes from first touch, if you will, with a lead or a prospect, to getting them to purchase. Time to first purchase. You've done some interesting work on shortening that time period, can you talk a little bit about that? Jason: Sure. Yeah. As you said, any time somebody sees you for the very first time, there's this innate human factor inside of us that, hey, we like this thing. This is awesome. There's this emotion, this euphoria that you get on the human side. What you want to do is, from a technical perspective, is to be able to capitalize on that euphoria, that feeling of good that somebody sees in you. What you can do nowadays is just ask them a couple of questions, or in the behavioral marketing side of things, see what they click on, what is interesting to them, what do they not click on? Those kind of things, prior to them even being in your email list. When they're in your email list obviously there's more details that you can get to, but with code snippets and things of that nature you can actually change your website around what they're reading on your blog. What you can do with your own blog, if you will, and I'm sure many of you have seen it, is that you have this "widget" that says, "You may also like ..." Or, "Here's other content that might be interesting to you." Because what you're on, the article that you're reading at this point in time, there is related articles in that same category on that same website. What they want you to do is, hey, if you're interested in this, then go check out this as well. They're trying to move you along in that journey to know that if you have a specific problem, well we have some resources and we know how to solve your problem. What you can do in the background of things is you can do "lead scoring". If somebody, let's just say on your website you have a bunch of articles around pricing or things of that nature, pricing, let's say you also have things on sales, or marketing. If somebody hits a couple of articles on your marketing side of things but they never look at pricing, then you could potentially change your website around that a little bit more. Make your calls to action to talk about marketing versus pricing. I do this on my website plenty of times. If somebody comes to me from, because I specialize in convert kit and drip, if somebody comes to me from the convert kit consultation, or convert kit experts they call them, if that webpage, then my services page gets reflected on that. I don't even mention drip, I just mention convert kit, because that's where they came from, so I'm assuming, based on their behavior, that that's what they're interested in. They're not interested in anything else that I do. You can be mindful of these sort of things, and just talking their language allows you to then get them to the next stage faster. Because if I can echo what they're saying to me, based on their actions what they're saying to me, then just us as humans we're going to say, "Hey, that's what I'm looking for. You know what I'm talking about." What I'll try to do in that respect is to be able to then grab their email address, and then market to them in that end. Talk to them about convert kit. Talk to them about potentially segmentation and those kind of things, or automated workflows if that's what they're looking for. All of this data really just gets passed over into my email marketing platform and my welcome sequence tailors to that. What that does is, like for my clients, is to be able to then baseline how long it takes for someone to first opt into your email list and then buy from you, because that window of opportunity is finite. Once you go past about 90 days, and obviously this depends on the type of product or service that you're selling, but on average 90 days, then you're not going to convert, or you're a lot less likely to convert. You want to be able to then, especially if you're selling multiple things, sell quickly. You want them to get that first purchase because that's always the hardest, and then get them to repeat buy after that. With just some small tweaks, and some small segmentation, and intent awareness, because we can dive into that a little bit more. Just based around some of those things you can then shorten that time frame greatly. I have some results where I've done for my clients, take their baseline of 40 days to the first purchase, and gone down to eight. I've had another client where it was nine days down to less than a day. Kathleen: Wow. Jason: It's just a matter of knowing and understanding the actions that somebody's taking, and then putting the right promotion, if you will. I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to be a buy, it could be an email opt in or whatever. Putting the right promotion in front of them. How To Measure Time To First Purchase Kathleen: Let's wind back a little bit. Let's say I come to you and I'm an eCommerce company, and I'm interested in focusing on this time to first purchase kind of metric. You talked about how the first thing you have to do is establish a baseline of how long is it actually already taking people to get from first touch to first purchase? Walk me through exactly what you're doing to measure that. Are there certain tools that you put in place? Tracking tools, what is it you're looking at in order to determine that? Jason: Sure. I think only one person was tracking this that came to me, which makes my life easier. Most times what I look for is really I look for obviously their customer list, and I take their email addresses. Then unfortunately there's no tool to marry this stuff. I basically take a spreadsheet, an export of that, of all their customers, and then I go to their email service provider and I see when they opted in. Then I try to figure out, based on the dates around them becoming a customer and when they first opted in, and I kind of take a baseline, if you will, "baseline", on what their metric is. Then I have a conversation with the business owner to kind of gauge what their sales team sees, if they have that data, and try to come up with the best possible estimation that they have for this. A lot of times, I mean there's obviously a percentage plus or minus, but a lot of times it's pretty accurate if you know the data that's there. Because we all know when they purchased their first thing, we all know when they came onto the email list. If it happened to be that ... I try to discount those that have zero day initially, because a lot of times people in the email marketing world, and I'm sure a lot of your audience knows this, a lot of times people will opt in with a different email than they'll actually pay with. Kathleen: Yeah. Jason: If they opted in on the same day they purchased, for the baseline I take that away. Kathleen: Yeah, there's a lot of XYZ@123.com. Jason: Right. Kathleen: Don'temailme@pleasestop.com. It's amazing how creative people get with those fake email addresses. Jason: Absolutely. Obviously there's some experience factor in there for where I try to come up with that baseline. Then what I do once I have that, then I go into their email marketing platform and I essentially create rules that store when they become an opt in, but also when they actually purchase. Which is just a custom field that really just does some math to say, okay, they subscribed on this date, they became a customer today, let's minus the two, how many days are there? Over the first month or two of doing that, I kind of gauge whether that baseline estimation that we first did is accurate enough to go off of. Then we move from there more into the optimization, asking certain questions, things of that nature to try to shorten that time. Jason's Process For Shortening Time To First Purchase Kathleen: Let's talk about that stage next. I've come to you, I say, "I need help with this." You calculate those initial baseline metrics. Then what? It sounds like you're using personalization and targeted offers in order to pull people through that customer buying journey. Is there any kind of like discovery process or research that you're using in order to determine what the right offer is, or the right way to persuade them? Jason: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of it is, in my own research anyway, is looking at their analytics first. Seeing what people are actually looking at on the website, because a lot of times it's not what the owner thinks. I want to make sure that I have the data, because for me, I'm a data geek and the numbers don't lie. If the business owner tells me one thing and the data tells me another thing, then we have a conversation to try to reconcile it in some way. That's first things first, is really looking at Google Analytics, or any other metrics that they could possibly have. A lot of people use Hotjar and some of these other tools out there that help you with the customer interaction on your website. I start there. Then I have conversations with the business owner as well as certain key members on their team, if they have those kind of people. People like marketing, sales, people that are closer to the customer, if you will. Support teams, those sort of things, to really start to get an understanding of, and it's not even technical, it's just what kind of words do you hear all the time? What pain points people are struggling with. What opt ins do you have on your site that actually can map to a product? Because a lot of people, especially in the eCommerce space, they say, "Hey, we had a discount for this. Sign up on your first purchase." Is that working for you, or is something else working for you when you run a holiday sale instead? I try to gauge what that customer is thinking. Because we can assume that we're putting the best foot forward, but if the customer is coming to you depending on the product or service obviously, they're coming to you with two things in mind. One is their intent, they're intent on solving the problem. Is the page that they're on, or your product, or service, actually going to solve their problem that they have right now? Two, what's their motivation behind solving that problem? I really want to get down to those two things. It's not scientific in the way where there's actual numbers, at least initially. I want to make assumptions on that, and put campaigns out, look at welcome sequences. Look at all of these kind of things that they're already doing that we can inject some questions, or inject some relative links to blog posts, or products, or whatever, os that we can get a better gauge on what their intent is and what their motivation is without actually asking them. Kathleen: Now you talked about nurturing sequences, and onboarding workflows, and things like that. I do find it's very easy in this day and age to overwhelm audiences with email particularly. Do you have any rules of thumb that you use as far as like, how soon do we email them and how frequently do we email them? Anything as far as even style of email, because I know there's a lot of different opinions on very designed emails versus plain text. I'd love just on the topic of email to hear your thoughts. Jason: Yeah. I mean, that's a whole nother episode. Kathleen: I know. Jason: Yeah. To answer the first part of the question about how often, frequency, those kind of things. First I have to know what they're doing already. If you came to me and said, "Look, I do a once a month promotion." If you just switch that up to a daily, then your list is going to be obliterated and they're going to be like, "I don't even know who this person is." They're going to get high on subscribe rates. If you have a pretty regular cadence, say once a week or something of that nature, it's really just throw it out, if you want to add another email. Because for me, my business when I send emails, I get paid. I will always try to mix in emails where I can. For how I like to do it, I try to do it in a human way, not just like let's just keep sending links to podcasts and blog articles, or products, or services, or stuff. I try to have the subscriber opt into those things. You can do that in a way where if you had, let's just say you had a cadence of every single week on Tuesday you send out an email to your list. You could just send out an email on Tuesday saying, "Hey look, we're going to add another email, or two emails, we're going to have it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday now, and we're going to talk about this. And if you're interested in that, just click this button." They're automatically opted in. You could do things in a more human way, and it goes back to that whole mom-and-pop philosophy is, I want the subscriber to tell me. All of this stuff allows you insight into them, into the subscriber at an individual subscriber level. If they're excited to hear more from you, then you know that, hey, well they may be interested in a product or service that I have that's outside of the free level. You could do those kind of things. You can surely incentivize people with discounts and all of those other things. While that stuff does have its place and works, for the long term, creating those raving fans and repeat buyers, it's all based on trust. The trust factor comes in where you're actually genuine with them and, "Hey, I have an offer, I'm going to do this. If you're interested, all you have to do is let me know." Kathleen: You talked earlier about some examples of results in terms of shortening that time span. I would love to hear a little bit more about that. Do you have a couple of maybe specific examples of it started out at this long, went to that long, and like what led to those key changes? Jason: Yeah. I mean, specifically with some of those results, the one that's interesting is that one that was almost two weeks and I shortened it to a day, inside a day. That was really based around, it is a digital product company, but they also had a service on the back end of it too. What it was, was the funnel was very linear. It was somebody opts in and we promote this product to you, and it was a flash sale. It was like within 24 hours you can buy this for 99% off. That kind of thing. If they didn't take you up on that, then you go into this long term nurture sequence, which was basically two emails a week. Out of that it was pitching that same product over and over again, but at full price. It was, I call it a soft pitch. It's more like, hey, you've seen them in the bottom of your emails I'm sure, like in the P.S., like hey, we also if you're interested in this, we have this product. Which worked fairly well, I mean, nine days to opt in to convert to a customer is good. What they wanted to do was they had a lot of different products that served a couple of different audiences. Immediately when they opted in, unless they opted in via a specific opt in, they didn't know which audience they were. What I wanted to do was I wanted to basically put that front center. I mentioned it a little bit earlier on beforehand, is we can know before they opt in what they've already looked at, through JavaScript and cookies and local storage on their browsers, and that's all in the tech world. If we know what they looked at, then we kind of know what audience they're in. Instead of just pitching them that one thing on the back end of the opt in, let's pitch them the product that makes sense to them. That was the first step, was to really try to put that in place, which made a huge impact. I mean, that was just, that initial just, hey, let's look at the blog posts that they're looking at, and store that data. How many did they look at? How frequently did they look at? Based on that, let's position that product offering that's that tripwire product, if you will, for the next 24 hours at that discount, that's the product that makes sense for that audience. That shortened it almost to three days immediately, because people were more receptive to that offer because it made sense to them. Then there were some tweaks we made to the landing page, to the copy, based on some feedback that we got from those people that actually bought the product during that time. We made some optimizations, and that even shortened the time to first purchase. Kathleen: It's interesting to listen to you talk about this, because obviously the examples are eCommerce, but in my head I keep asking myself, is there anything here that doesn't apply to another type of sale? For example, like a complex B2B sale. I'm not hearing anything that's so specific to eCommerce. It's really just, if I'm understanding you correctly, it's really just about looking more closely at their behavior, and using that behavioral information and those patterns that are created to serve up information that's more directly relevant to their interests. Is that right? Jason: Absolutely. I mean, it just goes back to business in general. If you go to a conference, let's say you go to a conference with all colleagues of yours, they're in a similar business or industry than you are. You're going to talk to them in a different way than if you're going to a higher level conference where your customers might be. It's also a matter of awareness of the person that's viewing your online store or your website. Have they never seen you before, or are they intimately familiar with you and they know your name, they know your services? It's that buyer journey that happens with everybody, whether they're buying a pack of gum or they're buying some service that's going to cost them $10,000 a month. Obviously there's sales cycles, and that all comes into play, but it's the same business. You want to earn that trust. You want to speak their language. If you know the problem that you're proposing a solution for, then that person's going to be more receptive to hearing you. When you hear, that's where the conversion is. It's a matter of just taking them along that journey in a proper way, whether it is a complex B2B or whether it's a transaction where you just pull out your credit card and put it in. How Difficult Is It To Implement? Kathleen: This sounds straightforward on the one hand, the concept is straightforward. Then on the other hand it sounds really intimidating in terms of being able to execute it. Can you talk through how complex this is, and is this something that the typical business needs to hire a developer to do for them, or are there tools out there that make it really easy to do this? Jason: Yeah. I mean, it's as complex as you want to make it really. I like to try to keep things as simple as possible. I mean, I even, I have a thing on my white board, what would this look like if it was simple? Because we can over engineer everything. Once you start thinking one thing, it leads you to another thing, and you're going down this long rabbit hole, and you're like, "Oh my god, I don't know how I'm going to even do this thing." What I try to do is, if you come to me and you have decent enough traffic, you have decent enough sales, and we can have a conversation that's around potentially segmenting your audience better, if you don't do all that already. By segment I mean more so than customers versus non customers. If you're actually doing anything in regards to helping your customers move along the journey, meaning are you doing regular email sequences? Are you blogging? Are you doing these other things? If you are, then it's as simple as starting to think about what problems or what products are related? Let's just say you have a product that solves a problem that, let's say a developer has. As a developer I might have a problem where I need more RAM, or more compute power. If I go to a website and it just says, "Hey, buy this hard drive, or buy this RAM, or buy this monitor." Okay, but if I clicked on a blog post of theirs that talked more about compute power for my computer, and then I went to their product page and then it gave me three products that could help me there, I'm more likely to buy from there because they've already positioned a couple of things based around what I know, and I didn't sign up or anything. You can just start thinking about the product that you have and what problems that solves. That will help you start to build these things out. Keep it simple. Write it down in a notebook, or write it down in a document. You don't need a overbuilt tool to do all this stuff, at least initially. We mentioned Shai before. Right Message is a tool that you can build these. You don't need code. They give you a piece of code to put on your website, but you can build these in a visual editor. There's other tools out there as well. Initially it's really just even that widget we talked about earlier about, hey, you might like this content. On a lot of WordPress websites you can build that. There's plugins out there that would help you do that stuff. You don't necessarily need the code for that either. Keep it simple if you haven't done it yet, and see what sort of results you get. I mean, if you come to me, and usually people that do come to me, they already have this idea, they have the traction. That's why I said it earlier on, it's an established online business that I help, because they have the traction, but they want to increase more sales, they want to increase better brand relationships with their customers. They kind of have an idea that they can do this, they're just not sure what the strategies and the methods to go about doing it. What Kinds Of Results Can You Expect? Kathleen: Yeah. Are there any rule of thumbs that you use for like what kind of improvements that, on average, you think businesses can expect to experience if they go from not being contextual or using personalization to once they've done it? Jason: Yeah. It's hard, it's really based around what the price point is, to be honest with you. I feel like if it's a sub $100 product and/or service, people are more impulsive and you could probably see a quicker uptick in the percentage based around that. If it's north of $100 thing, then it's going to be a slower growth. You kind of need a little bit more time and data to see what's actually going to work and pull the triggers. On the other side of that is that those that are north of $100, you could ask existing customers certain things, which I would suggest things like, where were you when you bought this? What problem did it solve? How has it been since? By asking those questions of existing customers, you can help shorten that on the front end of it. I mean for me it's such a general rule, but I always say you could get 3% to 5% of anybody you talk to, to buy something. Obviously that's a very general rule. I always want to push that a lot higher than the 5%. What I try to do is I try to get the pages in which people are landing on for the purchase like 30% or more. Trying to get the messaging right, trying to get the distractions away from the page, because that's what a lot of eCommerce sites do. Just case in point, look at Amazon, they don't do a lot of that. Once you start going into their checkout process, the closer to your wallet that you get with Amazon, they remove everything. A lot of people don't even realize it. A lot of customers anyway, don't realize that the navigation goes away, continue to shop goes away, contact us goes away. All of these things go away as you start moving closer and closer to actually paying. Who better than Amazon to follow? Because they have the traffic, they have the data, and they publish a lot of these experiments for people to look at. I always try to, obviously depending on the price, I try to figure out what their baseline is. I want to always try to 10x the ROI that they put into me for their business. Kathleen: That makes sense, yeah. I kind of figured the answer when I asked that question might be some form of, it depends, so thank you for humoring me and answering that. Kathleen's Two Questions Kathleen: Well I'm curious to hear your answers to the two questions I usually ask my guests. When it comes to inbound marketing specifically, who do you think is doing it really well right now? It could be a company or it could be a person. Jason: Yeah, I mean, as far as inbound marketing, I'd have to say somebody that does it really well is Chris Marr. He runs the Content Marketing Academy, and he's a marketer that obviously he runs workshops for larger companies. What he does well and how he talks about what he does, it's always it's like the softest sell possible, and then you're just like, "Hey, yeah, I want to go to Chris, because he knows what he's talking about and he gets great results." His methodology and everything he talks about, it makes perfect sense. For me, I've known Chris a few years now. I've had him on my own podcast. It's just, I don't know, it's simple but yet so highly effective that it's sometimes like, hey, this is easy. Kathleen: How did I wind up buying from him? Jason: Yeah. You wonder what's going on. Yeah, if it's somebody, I would recommend checking out Chris Marr if you haven't already. Kathleen: That's a good one. I'll put that link in the show notes. Then with digital marketing changing so quickly, and especially the field that you're in, it can be very hard to stay up to date on all the new developments. How do you personally stay educated? Jason: That's a tough one. I try to, because I toe the line between tech and marketing, there's a lot of noise. What I try to do is I try to curate a lot of what I see. For me, Twitter is my home away from home, if you will. I get educated through Twitter, and who I follow there, and really put together lists on my profile that are really targeted to specific people that are knowledgeable in the space. I'll go to Twitter first to just see what people are talking about, and things of that nature. If it comes up one, two, three times more than the first time that I see it, then I'm like, okay, let me see if this is something of interest. Then what I'll do is I'll sign up to specific newsletters. Some of the newsletters that I sign up to, I may only sign up to it for a month or two and the unsubscribe, but it'll get me the information that I really need at that given point in time. I really try to reduce the amount of noise and distraction, and so I kind of use that just in time learning strategy where, okay, Facebook's changing something in their ad algorithm or whatever, now while I don't do that, my clients do, so I want to be up to date on what they're doing, at least knowledgeable to have some sort of conversation if they ask me a question. I'll go check out that for a little while. I'll talk to some people that I know in the industry, say, "Hey, what's going on over here? Is this something I should pay attention to, or is this just noise?" It's really curated, and it's more outreach for me than letting it all come to me in a flood. Otherwise, I would never get any work done. Kathleen: Yeah. I hear that. Who are your top, let's say three favorite people to follow on Twitter? Jason: Well, that's tough. For business and products, I would say Justin Jackson is probably, he's always interesting to follow because he learns out loud. He tries things. He owns a product business himself, and he's been in the product game for a long, long time, and he knows about that space. In the online world for me, business wise, as far as product goes, Justin Jackson. Chris Marr I follow. He shares a lot of interesting content, marketing links, and strategies, and that sort of thing. I follow him. Then one that I've always followed for a long, long time, probably since day one of me signing up to Twitter, is Paul Jarvis. I've tried to model my business after what he does, which is I'm small potatoes compared to what he's able to do at this point. He's always remained small, and he's built his business designed around him and his lifestyle. That's how I've built my business over the past nine years, is around the life that I want to live, and so if I start going down the rabbit hole of thinking of scaling up, and hiring, and agencies, and growing in that world, while it's attractive, it's not actually what my long term game is. Seeing Paul saying, "Hey, I'm going offline for a couple of months. I'll see you in December." Whatever it is that he does, it's like, oh yeah, that's why I do what I do. He's kind of almost like a grounding rod for me. Kathleen: That's interesting. I'll have to check him out. Any particular newsletters? You mentioned that you subscribe to a few newsletters. Are there any that have stood the test of time, that you haven't unsubscribed from, that you really love? Jason: Val's is one. Kathleen: Yeah, Val's great. Jason: Yeah. She's one. Another one that I really like is Margot, what's her last name? (Margot Aaron) She's a straight shooter. She kind of pokes, she's a marketer herself, she's a copywriter, but she pokes fun at marketing. She's one that I follow because it's like, hey, here's a headline that you're supposed to read, and here's a button that you're supposed to click, but if you don't really want to, you don't have to. It's kind of like allows me to inject my own personal brand into what I do. Because as a business owner, I know that my customers come to me, they could get what I do by going to anybody that does a similar thing, but they come to me and they become a customer of mine because there's something that I'm putting out there that they jibe with. My personality comes through in a lot of what I do, my website and all that. I wear being a New Yorker on my sleeve. I'm a pretty straight shooter too. I try to over communicate in some respects with my clients. They sort of appreciate that, and so I call my clients on certain things, I wrangle them in when they need to be wrangled in, and I challenge them. That is what most of my clients have said that that's why they stay on with me, is because I don't just do what they ask me to do. I help them along the way. Kathleen: Yeah. That's great. If you remember Margot's last name, let me know, because I'll put that link in the show notes as well. Jason: Will do. Definitely. You Know What To Do Next Kathleen: Sounds like a really good one. Well if you're listening and you like what you heard or learned something new, of course I always love it when you leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. If you know somebody else doing kick-ass inbound marketing work, tweet me @workmommywork, because they could be my next interview. Thank you so much Jason. This was really interesting. Jason: Yeah. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.  

Chris Marr is the founder the Content Marketing Academy. I’ve been a follower of Chris and a consumer of his content for years so I was really pleased to spend some time getting to know him, his business and most strikingly his, philosophy for life and work. About Chris Multi award winning Entrepreneur Chris Marr believes content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing. Chris is the Founder and driving force behind CMA, the UK’s largest membership organisation of its time. He is raising the bar on talent curation, leadership, personal development, and community building. His pioneering work has changed the lives of hundreds of businesses, all through the power of Content Marketing. Links and mentions : Chris’s website : https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk) Visit the show website at www.bobgentle.com (http://www.bobgentle.com) Download > 7 Keys to unlock success in your digital agency : Free download @ www.bobgentle.com (http://www.bobgentle.com) Follow on Instagram and Twitter @bobgentle Join the Gravity Agency Facebook Community : https://www.facebook.com/groups/533887233740170/ (https://www.facebook.com/groups/533887233740170/) Please take a second to rate this show in iTunes. ❤ It will mean a lot to me.

Chris Marr from the Content Marketing Academy (also known as CMA) joins Callie Willows for this episode of Behind the Membership. Chris launched his membership in 2015 after running a six month in person masterclass and it's now a major focus of his business. Here, he talks about the importance of customer experience in creating a community culture, using free in-person workshops as a way to attract new members and how he has recently launched a very low cost price tier to help those who can't afford his full membership fee yet. We also talk marketing challenges, how Chris is successfully using Slack for his members community and how the membership has enabled Chris to create the lifestyle that he wants, as he's undergone the transition from flying solo to being a father of four and family man.

You've heard that content marketing is an essential part of business, but you might still be wondering how to use content marketing to get you actual customers. Chris Marr is a content marketing expert and founder of CMA (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/) (The Content Marketing Academy) – pretty impressive stuff! In this episode Chris talks us through how to map out your content marketing journey, and the critical steps to making killer content…

In this episode, the final episode of 2018 I'm bringing back one of the most popular interviews since the start of the Engage Video Marketing Podcast. Chris Marr is the founder of the Content Marketing Academy in the UK and is a leading voice in the world of Content Marketing and Video Marketing. In this replay episode (first published in Episode 52), we chat all about what's working now and what's next in the world of content marketing for business and dive deep into the role that video should be playing in a content marketing strategy. Support this podcast

Today I'm delighted to reintroduce you to my friend Chris Marr from The Content Marketing Academy, one of my favourite people on the planet. Chris has built sustainable, recurring revenue business over the past six years after being made redundant from his job. It's a belter.

Listen, read, watch, learn. Review, listen again and learn. Again. Chris Marr isn't a perfectionist, but is certainly an advocate of self-improvement. As a teacher of content marketing, Chris' approach is one of support, assistance and inspiration. As the founder of the Content Marketing Academy, he's spent most of his professional career teaching others how to improve their content. The feedback from his community is incredible - membership numbers and attendees at CMA's events are testament to that. Fortunately, Chris is also a humble guy and willing to share his own experiences with others and offer foresight into what's coming next. In this episode, we talk to Chris about what content actually means, what purpose it serves and how you can improve your content just by watching this video. MARKETED.LIVE 2018 TICKETS: www.marketed.live Information on the speakers, agenda and discounts available for hotel accommodation and travel available on the website.

"Content is key" but without actually marketing what you have created, how do you even get eyeballs on it in the first place? Meet Chris Marr of the Content Marketing Academy. He shares with us common misunderstandings about and how we can create an effective content marketing strategy. If you are creating content but are not entirely sure how it is helping you grow your business... you need to listen to this episode. Full show notes: https://agencytrailblazer.com/podcast/how-to-market-your-content/ --- OUR EVENT: Do you want to make real change in your business? Join us at our in-person event Agency Transformation Live Meet Troy Dean; Lee Jackson, Chris Ducker, Kelly Baader, Amy Woods, Paul Lacey, Dave Foy and other legends in this fantastic conference focused on actionable steps that you can use to transform your agency. --- See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, I want to talk about a simple principle you hear thrown around a lot in business marketing. “Know, Like, Trust.” What does it actually mean? Let's break it all down. Know Do people really know your backstory, how you got to be this expert, and what fumbles you made along the way? Can you peel back the curtain and show them a little more? Like It's not about being popular. It's about finding like-minded people who will chuckle at your jokes, vibe with your vibe and appreciate you sharing things about the path you're on. Trust Your prospective clients are thinking: “Can I trust that you will do the thing you promised?” “Show up consistently?” “Bring great value?” If you haven't listened to episode 023 with Chris Marr on content marketing, I highly, highly recommend going back and downloading it. So many businesses get this wrong and it all ties back in with Know, Like and Trust. It's time to take the next step. You can do this, I believe in you. It's time to SIMPLIFY. Show notes available with all LINKS mentioned here: https://thesimplifiers.com/podcast/bonus-020/  

I have a confession to make… I thought I knew what the term “content marketing” actually meant, but then I totally got schooled on this episode. But in the nicest way possible. In a way that really helped me better understand how and why our customers buy from us. You know, how to do the thing that actually works! Because Lord knows, none of us want to inadvertently create more NOISE with our blogging, social media updates and how we show up in the world. It's exhausting and it serves no one. My guest, Chris Marr, is going to simplify what content marketing can do for us. In this episode, you will learn: The real definition of ‘content marketing' and why so many businesses get it wrong How to clarify your buyer's journey through your sales process, and what to keep in mind all along the way What is the “Zero Moment of Truth?” Chris' brainstorm process for generating ideas for content that's simple to follow What are the first five steps we can take action on today to boost business growth? Think about the last big ticket purchase you made. What were the steps you went through before laying down your credit card and making the purchase? Did you research competitors? Did you look at testimonials? How long did you lurk around before making actual contact? Your prospective customers and buyers are doing the exact same thing with you right now! Chris teaches how to build trust with them in simple, simple ways. Show notes available with all LINKS mentioned here: https://thesimplifiers.com/podcast/023-chris-marr/

In today's episode, we are talking all things content marketing with Chris Marr from Content Marketing Academy. We also dive into the world of video in this conversation. We talk about the idea of getting over the fear of video and using video strategically in order to drive sales. Chris is the leading voice of the growing Content Marketing movement in the UK. His pioneering work has helped countless organisations grow through content marketing. His drive comes from a desire to help people break free from the world of interruptive marketing. In this episode What led Chris to content marketing The definition of content marketing What makes for good content marketing How content lead to sales What’s changed in content marketing over the last year Where Chris sees most businesses struggling Return on investment What Chris thinks is next in content marketing. Links mentioned in the show Content Marketing Academy (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/) CMA Live (https://www.cmalive.co.uk/) Chris on Twitter (https://twitter.com/chrismarr101) Episode Sponsors Convertkit - Get your 30 day free trial of the world's best email marketing provider and support the podcast here. # Please note, episode sponsors are affiliate links. If you happen to purchase any product sponsoring the show, I may receive an affiliate commission at no cost to you. I only accept sponsorship from tools, programs and services that I have used and truly believe in - I want you to be in good hands! Support this podcast

In BEN'S BUSINESS PODCAST episode #18 I interviewed Chris Marr of The Content Marketing Academy(CMA). Chris and I discussed Simon Sinek's concept of Starting With Why, Creating your own "quotes" and the main challenges business owners are having when it comes to making sales from their content marketing efforts.

Content marketing is a strategic and commercial activity in businesses, not just something reserved for marketers. It is potentially the thing that can light the fire under sales. On this episode, Chris Marr, the founder of Content Marketing Academy, a membership organization for marketing pros and entrepreneurs who want to better understand and utilize content marketing, breaks down some content marketing key components and misconceptions. Content marketing plays an ever increasing role in the way people make educated buying decisions.

We are honored to be talking to the multi-award winning entrepreneur, Chris Marr. He believes content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing.  Chris is the Founder and driving force behind CMA, the UK’s largest membership organization of its time. He is raising the bar […]

Are you truly creating content that’s helpful to your potential clients? Does the content you publish bring new customers to your door?Chris Marr of the Content Marketing Academy joins us this week to talk about the importance of content marketing, creating relevant content for your potential clients, how it affects clients’ buying/booking decisions, and how it’s not just a strategy -- it’s actually a philosophy.Here is a rich episode all about content marketing and how it has helped many people, including our business, get more clients and bookings. We hope it helps yours.QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE“Marketing for today’s environment that we live in - the culture, the way that consumers make decisions to buy now is truly through the internet and information they find and educate themselves on.”“Content marketing is who you are as a company. It’s how we communicate.”“75% of the buying decision is made online before someone contacts the business for the first time.”“Content can play a big role in helping - it plays a huge role - in increasing confidence and trust, and helping people make a buying decision.”“It’s not about what your competition thinks about you… at the end of the day, this is about your business, your customers, and your prospects feeling confident about buying from you.”“We don’t need more information; what we need is better information, better quality information.”“There are thousands and thousands of blog articles getting published everyday; the challenge for everybody now is to create the best version of that article that exists online today.”“In most cases, it’s not just that they want an answer to a question - they want a solution for a problem.”“When it comes to content marketing, ideas is the currency.”“This isn’t about who’s the smartest; this is about who can be the most helpful.”MENTIONSGrow My Clinic online courseChris MarrThe Content Marketing Academy“The Zero Moment of Truth”They Ask, You Answer (book) by Marcus SheridanBLOG ARTICLES RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE:How to measure the return on content marketingHow does content marketing lead to salesHow to improve your blogSHOW NOTES[0:00:16.8] Introducing Chris Marr of the Content Marketing Academy[0:00:56.3] About the Content Marketing Academy and how Chris got into content marketing[0:03:27.5] What is content marketing (according to Chris)?[0:05:38.9] What differentiates content marketing from other tactics such as Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, etc.[0:06:09.3] Content marketing as a philosophy[0:07:36.3] Does content marketing work for brick and mortar type businesses, or is it only exclusive for online marketers?[0:09:04.6] Chris explains “The Zero Moment of Truth”[0:14:28.6] What if you’re afraid of creating content because you’re afraid of criticism?[0:18:44.2] Advice for creating better content[0:19:35

If you are struggling with content marketing either for your own business or your clients’ business, then Chris Marr gives 7 ideas for you as well as 7 mistakes to avoid. Let's stop having discussions around content marketing and talk about the consumer buying behavior, science, psychology and how a blog article, podcast, a video grow a business.

About Chris Multi award winning Entrepreneur Chris Marr believes content marketing is the only way to set business leaders free from the world of mediocre interruption marketing. Chris is the Founder and driving force behind CMA, the UK’s largest membership organisation of it’s time. He is raising the bar on talent curation, leadership, personal development, and community building. His pioneering work has changed the lives of hundreds of businesses, all through the power of Content Marketing. I chat to Chris about... His ultimate content marketing definition - If there is any confusion surrounding what content marking actually is, this'll clear it up! How content marketing is directly related to sales The no.1 mistake he sees people making in their content marketing efforts Connect with Chris Visit his website Twitter (https://twitter.com/chrismarr101) LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismarr101) Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/chrismarr101) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thecontentmarketingacademy/)  (CMA) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/chrismarr102) (Chris) Resources Here's the link to Chris's blog post 15 things I'm fed up teaching you about your blog . I highly recommend you give it a read, some great advice in there. Subscribe to the podcast on i Tunes

Being Creative and Creating Content for Future Generations!What does being creative and creating content have to do with living a life of abundance? More than even I considered to be honest. But Chris Marr brings up some great points and shares a few powerful ideas with you in this conversation. Meet our Feature GuestChris Marr - Founder & Director, Content Marketing Academy Ltd Chris Marr is a teacher and student of content marketing. He’s the founder and driving force behind the Content Marketing Academy. Dad to Spencer. Connect with our Feature Guest https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/ (TheContentMarketingAcademy.co.uk) https://twitter.com/chrismarr101 (Twitter) Wally's Take Away:Creating content and being creative is not just for marketers. By creating some sort of content, you're leaving a part of you behind for future generations to learn from. Create a journal, blog, music or what ever your creative mind can conjure up. Your great grandkids will share it some day at show and tell. How amazing would that be? Do you feel you're ready to finally start living your life of abundance in family, faith, finances and fitness?Do you feel there's so much more untapped potential in you? Do you feel like you're always struggling? Do you want an amazing relationship with your wife again? Are you ready to start actually enjoying your life before it's much too late? Then I invite you to request a 30 minute coaching call with me. We are simply going to have a conversation to work out a few things. At the end of the call, we may discover you and I can work together. We may even get you a path you've been looking for. https://menofabundance.com/coaching/ (Request your 30 Minute Call with Wally.) Support this podcast

Chris Marr is the Founder of the Content Marketing Academy. Chris is a ‘no bullshit’ kind of guy and through CMA he wants to help you to understand how the dramatic shift in consumer behaviour impacts how you communicate, get new customers and grow a profitable business. In this episode we explore Chris’ early working life inside a large University and why he vowed never to work for anyone again; Chris talks about the importance of learning everyday; we dig into the rebrand of CMA in the summer of 2017 - an event that Chris describes as the most important decision he’s made in business. We also learn about his Jonny Cupcakes obsession, and what makes the brand such an influence for Chris. https://johnnycupcakes.com/ And finally Chris shares the reason why he does what he does with us. Find out more about CMA at: https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/ Connect with Chris on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/chrismarr101

In this episode, I talk to Chris Marr, founder of Content Marketing Academy; the membership-based business which help other to grow by using the power of content, but also looks at other essential areas such as leadership, sales, email marketing, social media, etc.

Lets look at what it takes to keep people with you and not look anywhere else, with Chris Marr from the CMA. The post Show 4 – How To Build An Audience By Going Above And Beyond. With Chris Marr appeared first on The ID Group.

Chris Marr has a vast background in events.  He started out in a venue that hosted events, so he learned the ins and outs of events of all kinds. Events organization has been drilled into him for a long time. His first business started off as an agency and he always did events. His first event was a marketing workshop that started for - How he's grown his event part of his business from a small 12 person workshop, to now events that host hundreds of people. - Why live events were such a huge part of his business right away - How free events can build your business - The most important thing you need to do to get people to come to your event. - Chris' prediction on the one thing people will pay money for in the future. - How to build anticipation and sell out your event far in advance - How to create not just an event, but an amazing experience Recommended Books --> Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley Interested in learning more about the Content Academy? Visit here --> Content Marketing Academy Interested in getting your first event together? Download our free budget worksheet to start planning -> Epic Live Events Worksheet

Chris Marr, Founder and Director of the Content Marketing Academy, joins the Social Pros Podcast to share how he uses social to sell-out events well before they have even been launched. Special thanks to our sponsors: Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Magic Moments: How to Create Inspired Marketing to Amaze Your Customers: candc.dl/amazecustomers) Convince & Convert (Experience This! Show: experiencethisshow.com) Yext (The Everywhere Brand: http://offers.yext.com/everywherebrand) In This Episode Why creating great social means starting with great content How careful marketing to people outside the room leads to a successful event the following year Why generating online buzz means keeping live, in-person events on the calendar Why ensuring a full room of attendees means continual remarketing to people with tickets Resources Chris Marr on Twitter: @chrismarr101 Content Marketing Academy 365Days Event How Gary Vaynerchuk Uses Micro-Content to Drive Social Media Results Gary Vaynerchuk and The Currency of Attention Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

The wonderful world of content marketing may well be an online-focused industry, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t space for some face-to-face interaction.   It’s very clear that events such as these can produce leads, brand exposure and some incredible results. Hosting your own digital marketing event takes it to the next level, with people attending purely to see you and your company in action. You create a more personal connection with those in attendance and can turn fleeting visitors into fully-fledged members and supporters of your brand. But, for it to be a success, you need bums on seats – and a way to spread the word to interested parties about the event. Sounds like a pretty expensive advertising job, right? Well… In this podcast episode, we chat to someone who defied this logic. Chris Marr is the founder of Content Marketing Academy, along with its popular annual live event CMA Live. The event brings CMA’s members together, offering them some invaluable advice and insight, along with the chance to exchange tips with fellow members. The true beauty of CMA Live, though, is how Chris has spent barely a penny on advertising the event. No paid ads. No expensive deal with advertising networks. Nada. Yet, Chris has managed to take CMA Live from a gate of 25 or 30 members and friends, to an annual sell-out show of returning supporters, in well under five years. Chris tells us how content marketing played a significant role in this rapid growth, spreading the word organically through targeted content and consistent outreach. He talks us through how the “Oversubscribe” technique has been used to great effect, creating a sense of scarcity and urgency that has catalysed interest. He also stresses the importance of networking and growing a community of passionate people has helped drive that success. “Build it and they will come” is an expression that rings true in the case of CMA Live, as they have built an event so beneficial that members want to make their own contribution to the event, as well as implore others to come along and be a part of it. If you’re looking for more cost-effective ways to generate exposure than throwing money at paid ads, listening to our chat with Chris should give you plenty of inspiration. For show notes and to get a free review of your website and digital marketing, complete with a tailored plan to increase your leads and sales online, head to https://exposureninja.com/episode67

Your Content Marketing Academy Founder & Co-Host: A human being and Dad to Spencer. Your latest co-host enjoys doing more of what makes him happy. He's an award winning community creator from the United Kingdom. 2009 – 2011 was a transitional time for Chris. He was studying academically and non-academically, Chris started blogging and was fired up about the potential of social media and content marketing. This is when he started to help small businesses in his spare time, cutting his teeth with social media and content for commercial enterprises. It makes sense now, looking back, that when he left his job to go to the university, that he decided to never work for anyone else, ever again. "So, my story isn’t that dramatic – I didn’t quit my job to become an entrepreneur. I simply decided to not get a job after university." - Chris Marr CMA was registered in 2012 and Chris become a Director the day he graduated from the University of St. Andrews in June 2013. "No one has ever asked me about my degree, and no one has ever asked me for my CV. This stuff doesn’t matter anymore." - Chris Marr Click and Read about Chris Marr of Content Marketing Academy... (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/about/)   On This Episode You Will Hear: [spp-timestamp time="01:00"] Intro [spp-timestamp time="10:30"] Obsessed with the customers you have vs the customers you don't have. [spp-timestamp time="11:05"] Get customers for "less than free". [spp-timestamp time="17:25"] Allowing mistakes to happen and to learn from them. [spp-tweet tweet="The biggest killer in most businesses is complacency isn't it? @hellocma @LIVETHEFUEL "] [spp-timestamp time="20:50"] The biggest killer of most businesses is complacency. [spp-timestamp time="24:40"] Chris loves to teach. [spp-timestamp time="32:00"] Creating speaking freedom by building lifestyle freedom into his business. [spp-timestamp time="35:20"] Chris' first "real job" at 19. [spp-timestamp time="38:35"] Massive influence from Marcus Sheridan aka The Sales Lion. [spp-timestamp time="40:00"] Being a great speaker doesn't just come from having a successful business, best-selling book, etc. [spp-timestamp time="44:20"] I lot of people don't know what they don't know when it comes to public speaking. [spp-timestamp time="44:35"] The World Class Communication Workshop at CMA and creating the World Class Communicator Podcast coming soon. [spp-timestamp time="50:00"] Final Words     [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYLhiy-4C0]   Links and Resources: CMA (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk) CMA Podcast (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/podcast/) CMA Membership (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/community/) CMA on Twitter (https://twitter.com/hellocma) Chris Marr's Blog - Be Less Busy (http://www.chrismarr.co.uk/be-less-busy/) Chris Marr on Twitter (https://twitter.com/chrismarr101) Chris Marr on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismarr101) Chris Marr on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/chrismarr102) Chris Marr on Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/chrismarr101) People Mentioned: Mark Asquith (https://www.excellence-expected.com/) Marcus Sheridan aka The Sales Lion (https://www.thesaleslion.com/meet-the-sales-lion/meet-marcus-2/) Ryan Holliday (https://ryanholiday.net/) Final Words: You have to live for yourself. You have to stay true to yourself. Don't get distracted by too many other people, your competition, etc. Keep moving forward all the time. Embrace those mistakes. The quote, "The Obstacle is the Way" from Ryan Holliday. Action Steps: Please  Submit an iTunes Show Rating & Review (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/livethefuel/id1150969758?mt=2) , we need more reviews to increase...

Did you know that you are an authority in your field and you have already written content that proves it? Folks like Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Ducker, and Chris Marr have become HUGE authority figures in their field and have people flocking to them for their next piece of content every single week. In this episode, you will see how your experience and what you do daily will allow you to push that publish button quickly and often so that you produce authority content and become that go-to person your potential clients want to work with.

What Adam discusses with Chris:His background and what his business doesHis beliefs on Content Marketing and why should we bother?His thoughts on financial services and how they can use content marke

#27: Content Marketing is a hot topic, but it’s also a confusing one. As if you ask different people, you probably will get different answer. So I thought why not let me invite my good friend and the leading voice of the growing Content Marketing movement in the UK-Chris Marr come to the show to share his perspectives with us. After all, he has built his entire business based on Content Marketing, well, he even hosts annual conference in Scotland called The Content Marketing Academy, which is happening in June. I will be there, and I hope to see you as well. In this episode, we are learning some key lessons such as Chris’ journey to become entrepreneur, how to overcome imposter syndrome, how to create the content that converts, and how to build a vibrant community for your business. It’s gem-packed as you can tell! Now, let’s chat with Chris. Key Lessons: How Chris burned the boat to start his own business from the get-go. What’s Content Marketing in his perspective -Show vs Tell -Assets Spending vs Assets Building -Relationship building vs short term transactional behaviour How to conquer the thoughts of “Who would care about my content?” How to build vibrant community for your business Tweetable: @chrismarr101@kellybaader Trust is the true currency of today’s business world. Links: Chris’ website: https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/about/ (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/about/) TCMA 2017: http://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/2017/

Chris Marr is a teacher and student of content marketing. He’s the founder and driving force behind the Content Marketing Academy, the UK’s largest membership organisation of its type. Chris is the leading voice of the growing Content Marketing movement in the UK. His pioneering work has helped countless organisations grow through content marketing. His drive comes from a desire to help people break free from the world of interruption marketing. Through workshops, events, coaching and, of course, a ton of freely available content, Chris has become a respected Content Marketing educator. Like all educators, Chris is also a dedicated student. He’s interviewed and facilitated events with many of content marketing’s most notable thought leaders. The knowledge he’s learned from the likes of Jay Baer, Ann Handley, Marcus Sheridan and Mark Schaefer has been shared freely with the members of his growing community Chris has also connected with many content marketing practitioners who have achieved remarkable success. By shining a light on these businesses and sharing the stories of their success, Chris perfectly blends the theory and practice of content marketing. His passion for content marketing is surpassed by one thing – his family. Chris is married to Andrea and together they made another human – Spencer, who was the perfect Christmas present in 2015. You can also connect with Chris on email chris@cmauk.co.uk or social media his links are below Snapchat  (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismarr101) Recommended Book: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (http://amzn.to/2fYQM4l) Favourite App: Slack (https://www.slack.com) **COMPETITION** Email your definition of Success to me, and the winner will receive a copy of The 10 Second Philosophy by Derek Mills, the winner will be notified in December.  Good Luck. If you have found anything useful on this episode, then please leave a comment and rate the show.  If you would like to ask Geoff a question or suggest a topic to cover on the show, please email him at podcast@geoffnicholson.co.uk You can find more information about Geoff at www.geoffnicholson.co.uk or on the following social media links YouTube (http://www.twitter.com/gncoach) I have also created a Facebook page for the show, would love you to join me over there as well.

Inbound is finally over :( Welcome to our Day 4 Summary & event wrap-up of Inbound 2016! We talk Alec Baldwin, Rand Fishkin's SEO 2017 predicitions PLUS two very special 3-in-3 interviews. The first is with UK's leading voice in Content Marketing, Chris Marr, founder of the Content Marketing Academy and Annual conference of the same same. Check TCMA here: https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/ The second is with Iliyana Stareva, Principal Channel Consultant at HubSpot! Hear from someone actually representing the brand that organises Inbound, Iliyana talks to us about 'Inbound PR' plus key things that have worked for her clients in 2016 We'll be back with our regular format for episode 41 to discuss all things digital and inbound marketing!

Just because you're self-employed doesn't mean you have to go it alone in business. Joining or building a network of fellow professionals can be hugely beneficial to you for a number of reasons. Despite this, many people still shy away from networking events. Some common excuses for this include… I'd feel awkward I wouldn't know what to say to anyone The people there aren't my target customers The people there aren't in my line of work I'm too busy, it would be a waste of my time It would cost me money as I wouldn't be working I'd rather spend this time on marketing I do all my networking on social media So what are some of the benefits of networking? Building relationships Increasing visibility Becoming known as the go-to person in your own line of work Giving and receiving advice Being around others who know what it's like to run your own business Reducing feelings of isolation Leading to sales and other opportunities Social events and friendships Cross promotion and collaboration In this episode we're taking a deep dive into business networking. We'll be hearing the opinions and experiences of our returning friends Laura Lucas, Alison Colley, Chris Marr, Julie Christie, Andy Brown, Patricia McGuire, and Pete Matthew. On top of that we're joined by business networking expert Stefan Thomas, author of the Business Networking for Dummies book. Stefan brings a wealth of knowledge and advice on his specialist subject, and I'm certain you'll hugely benefit from it going forward. Transcript It can be difficult because a lot of people find it hard to go into a room full of strangers and just start talking to them. But I think if it's something that makes you nervous is just remembering that probably most people feel nervous as well. I'm Colin Gray, and this is UK Business Startup. This week we're getting into one of those areas of business that really splits the crowd. Some people love it, and even more hate it. But there's little doubt that, if you do it right, it can be one of the best ways to grow your business. And, it has a bunch of benefits besides that. You might have guessed by now. Of course, we're talking business networking. Stefan Thomas: A lot of people think that networking is just that thing which some of us who are quite odd do at seven thirty in the morning where we meet up at formal networking events and have breakfast with other people. But networking is about every connection you make along the way. That was Stefan Thomas – author of business networking for dummies. He's one of the top UK experts in this area, so he knows how to get networking right. We'll be hearing plenty from him on this episode, along with a few old friends. Talking of which, here's Alison Colley again from Real Employement law advice on how she sees networking. Alison Colley: When I set up my business actually going to networking and meeting people who had either set up their own businesses or who were providing the sorts of services that I needed as a business was crucial. There's no better way of building trust than at networking. Then you can tap into those resources Chris Marr: It's a bit cliché now but it is true that people buy from people that they know they can trust. Not only that. People refer business to people that they know they can trust as well. The only way to get known by people and for people to like you and to trust you is to build a relationship with people. That was Chris Marr, founder of the Content Marketing Academy. He talked a lot about trust on our marketing episode, and here it is again. This ties back to what Stefan told us – it's those connections, and the trust you build with them. Those are the people that send you clients, or might even become clients themselves. Now, at this point, you might be thinking – this just doesn't apply to me. It's only for b2b companies isn't it? Well, Chris has a good way for you to figure it out. Chris Marr: We look back over the last six months, look at where our business has come from, and we always write down two or three names. That piece of business came from that person, this business came from that person. What you start to realize actually is that people are massively involved in your business. If people just don't know who you are, then you're less likely to get business. We do coaching calls, especially with people who are just starting their business. One of the big things that always comes up is, well, they say to me, “We're not getting enough business.” I immediately ask them, “How big is your network? What are you doing to actively grow your network,” and they're just simply not doing enough to get out there and to be known by people. So, it's not just trust, it's visibility, isn't it? No matter what type of business you have, you can always be more visible. The problem is, this personal connection caper is pretty time consuming… How do you make sure you're making that time worthwhile. Chris Marr: I don't mean going meeting everybody, not going to have a coffee with every single person because it can be a massive time suck. What you need to be good at is qualifying people that you want to connect with, people who have influence, people who clearly are good at introducing people to other people, and people who have quite big networks are the people you're looking to spend time with. What you're not trying to do, and I guess this kind of like the next question is, is not just about spending time with people that could be potential customers, because that's sort of like thinking quite small. You've got to think quite big. You actually want to meet people that have bigger influence. They may never ever buy from you, but they might be … They will probably introduce you to other people, they will probably recommend your services to other people. It's well put – you might well find some direct clients through networking, but the big wins are in the wider viral effect. You get to know 10 people in a networking group, and suddenly you're the ‘roof repair guy' not only for them, but their entire network. When their friend says, Man my roof just fell in, who do you think they're going to tell them about? So, that makes sense – looks like the time's well worth it, as long as you're smart about how you spend it. Remember too that time's just another kind of currency. Here's how Stefan sees it. Stefan Thomas: I treat my networking as part of my marketing spend. That's an investment to my business because I know that an awful lot of the big opportunities that I've got coming up in the coming year and that I've had in the last couple of years have come from a little conversation at a networking event, and if I go to networking events, conferences, seminars, whatever it happens to be, then I'm more likely to start more of those conversations which lead to big opportunities. So, Stefan knows it's worthwhile for him. He's tracking those opportunities and where they lead. But, then, Stefan's a pro. What about mere mortals like us? Here's Julie Christie from Tea Break Tog: Julie Christie: I didn't do anything like that for about three years, and then when I did that everything changed. Pretty much over the course of a couple of months I realized that everything was changing because of the people that I was meeting in this group, just expanding my network, but also encouraging me to think about my business differently. People who were having successes in different areas from me I was able to question them and learn from them and vice-versa. So, this is interesting. She's pretty clear that her network brings big direct benefits. But, she's also starting to delve into the other upside. Because we know that, for all the things we love about running a business, it's not all shiny rainbows. Other Benefits Laura Lucas: I was a bit worried I might be lonely when I first started my business working for myself, but because of the networking I've done I've meet amazing people actually. People who I feel are much more likeminded and much more attuned to the sort of ambitions I've got and where I want my life to go than maybe people who I would happen to work alongside. I always enjoyed going into work and having good relationships with my colleagues and so on, but I feel like there's something that people who have their own business have in common. They've got that vision and that ambition. It's just great to be around those sort of people. It's actually about developing those relationships to see how we can help each other and how we can collaborate and who we can introduce each other to. Is a huge, huge benefit of having a business that I hadn't expected. Julie Christie:  Every week you're with these people who are passionate about their businesses and we're all talking about our business and how we can move it forward. But because you're meeting them the next week you're really motivated to go back and work on those things that you've been talking about. I've meet some amazing people through that, and doing that it has changed the direction of my business and improved my business and made me think with a lot more clarity about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. For me it's been absolutely huge, huge part of growing my business. Stefan Thomas: But also in business I think that networking helps you to build the structure, to build the support structure around you, and a network of supportive people which to my mind is just as important to sales. There's no doubt that running a business can be a pretty lonely, isolating job. If you're working yourself, who do you turn to for help, for support, for some simple feedback on something? Well, for Laura, Julie and Stefan, it's their network. As they all said there, they've met people through networking, built relationships, found support, and  they've really grown their business as a result. Alright, I'm hoping you're at least a bit convinced, but there's a good chance you've still got a few reservations. Networking does carry a lot of baggage…. I got a sign of this when I asked Pete Matthew if he sees any value in networking: Hating Networking Pete Matthew: Absolutely, though it can drive fear into the hearts of a lot of people. I'm a natural introvert. If I go to a party, you will usually find me in the corner on my cell phone. But I've taught myself to be better, because it's important to have relationships. It's amazing where relationships can go. I even found out that Stefan, our networking Guru, took a while to find his feet. Stefan Thomas: Not only have I covered it hundreds of times but of course I've been there myself. This wasn't something that I was born to do. My very first networking event I really did stand awkwardly in the corner. That was sometime in 2005. There's an awful lot that I've learned since then. It's definitely makes me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one who feels like a lemon every time I walk into an event like this. I always find myself making a meal over pouring a coffee. It's my way of delaying that moment when I have to turn around and try not to look panicked, hoping someone will come over and talk to me. The thing is, it's natural to feel like that, but it's always fine. Laura Lucas: If you're not sure if it's for you or not go and find out basically. It can be difficult because a lot of people find it hard to go into a room full of strangers and just start talking to them. But I think if it's something that makes you nervous is just remembering that probably most people feel nervous as well. You've got something in common with everyone and just really being open to having those conversations. You'll hopefully find, I know I've certainly found that networking events I've gone to are very open and welcoming and people are interested to hear about you and they're keen to tell you about them. It's not as hard as you might think it is. Ok, we'll get over the fear and give it a try. First step, I suppose, is finding a group: How to Network Stefan Thomas: The very first thing that I would do would be to google networking events in your town, wherever your town happens to be. Look for the local chamber of commerce. They are very likely to have some sort of networking event there. It's pretty likely in most towns in the UK that you will also have networking organizations such as 4Networking of which I'm a member and BNI and other networking organizations that exist. Thanks Stefan – simple enough. So, once we're there, how do we get over the fear and make that first introduction? People I think look for some clever answer as to how to start a conversation with someone, and what I have found works best is to go for the lowest common denominator. If you've grabbed a cup of coffee, it's very likely that there are other people grabbing coffee at the same time. Talk about coffee, talk about parking, talk about the fact that everyone got caught in traffic this morning. You're in that enviable position working event, or conference, or seminar, that you immediately have something in common with everyone in the room. An awful lot of my early sales training was about finding that thing that you have in common with someone so that you can start talking to them on common grounds. My usual one is just to catch someone's eye at the coffee table as say, ‘Hey, how's your day been?'. It's simple, easy and usually gets people talking about something they're interested in. It also tends to give me a clue on whether it's sometone I can get on with too, because if they just start moaning about their day, then they're obviously not the most positive of people. Laura Lucas: One thing that helps me on those times when I do feel a bit self-conscious is just to try and find someone that looks more nervous than me and help them feel better. That can be a really effective way of actually forgetting about your own hang-ups. If you make the conversation about the other person you're much more likely to have an impact. Sometimes we'll go in and we'll feel like we're supposed to have this perfect elevator pitch and you should go in, say the elevator pitch and walk out with a client. Well that's not really the purpose of it. It's just begin to know people and it's really about just looking for things that you've got in common. Chris Marr: Be the person that introduces yourself to other people. Don't go sell. Don't sell to people. Just go and meet people. Make friends with people. That's what I always use to say when I go to event, is like who can I make friends with today. That's one of the best things you can do because people hate being sold to, and they can see a mile off, they can see you gearing up to hand your business card over and people hate it. They just absolutely hate it. The best thing to do is to almost forget that you are selling anything at all and just try and meet people and make friends with people. Laura and Chris are spot on here, for me. You can always spot the serial networkers – those folk that see it as nothing more than a chance to push out as many business cards as they can. I really don't know how they can't see what a turn-off that is. They're not building any kind of relationships, and that's where the value lies. Now you might remember Andy Brown from Triple Your Clients. He takes it a step further – he doesn't just think about building relationships – he gives even more value to one of his business groups. Andy Brown: I'm on the committee there and also on the committee of the St Andrews merchant association, even though I'm not actually a merchant, I don't have a shop or anything in St Andrews. I joined the committee because I'm all about being useful and giving value, particularly in the local area. It's not a me, me, me situation. It's just I think you do get a lot of benefits from just giving. You've got to be mindful of your own time, but I say that I've got these skills related to the internet. I can probably help even though you've got a presence on the High Street. I can help for instance the association. Then with the business club we have a website. I update that. Just by definition that I'm updating that I get in contact with all the people that come and speak at the business club. So, part of Andy's networking is doing just a little bit of work for the clubs – stuff that he finds pretty easy – but it helps grow that trust, that reputation, that makes him more prominent in the network. It's all about giving, really. What's the cliché – you get what you give. Stefan sums it up well: How to Talk to People Stefan Thomas: The way that I treat any networking event is to ask a lot of questions, to find out a lot about the other people in the room, and to get to know them. I very rarely try and push my services on people at networking events. Right, we've been along to an event, we've beaten the fear, and we've made some friends. But what we do we do next? What happens after that first conversation? Next Steps Stefan Thomas: If you think about this for a second, when you I and finish this conversation a number of things will happen. You've got your next appointment to get to, you've got your client you've missed a called from, and those little conversations that you have at the event start to slip out of your memory. Now the same happens to everyone else in the room, so it's your job to continue to remind them that you exist. It's not their job to continue to remember you. Chris Marr: Bring the business cards home with you. Ping them on email. Just say, “Hey it was great to meet you today, and I'm looking forward to catching up with you sometime in the future,” and then stay in touch. That's the big thing. Stefan Thomas: There are two things that I talk about a lot in terms of follow up: active follow up. That's when someone said, “Stephen, I'm really interested in what you do.” In that case I make a point to actively follow up, to phone them the next day and say, “Really like that you're interested in what I do. Can we talk about it more?” Passive follow up, passive follow up is I think when most people lose because actually keeping gently in touch with people over weeks, months, and in my case sometimes even years, that's the thing that has often led to the hidden opportunities, the opportunities that I would never have spotted that come out of the woodwork a few months or even years later. I know myself how easy it is to miss this out. We talked earlier about making sure it's worth the time you invest. Well, the problem is, without the followup, it doesn't really matter how well you do in person, nothing's gonna come of it. You need to get yourself a system – Chris mentioned the business cards there – put them somewhere you'll always find them. When you get back to the office, put it in your process that you always look in this place after an event. And you always do it right away. Like Stefan says, this stuff fades from your memory really quickly. Stefan Thomas: With all of the tools that we have in 2015, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email, the telephone, all of these ways of keeping in touch with people, and yet there's a staggering statistic that 87% of people never follow up after networking meetings. If you just do that, if you just make an effort to keep in touch with people in a very gentle non-sales-y way, then you're immediately putting yourself ahead of the competition. A trick I often use is just to write a few words on the business card. Just something that'll remind you who this person is, what you might have in common, what's worth following up on. Having those little nuggets in the follow up contact really separates from the rest, as Stefan said. And if nothing else, it reminds you who the card belonged to. I've found many a card, weeks later, and had no clue where I got it! Now, Stefan mentioned a bunch of mediums there, so it's worth digging into that a bit. Email, for me, is still the first stop. I'll do that for the main followup. But, social media can be a great addition. Social Media Stefan Thomas:  I also treat all of my social media activity as networking as well, because all the way along I'm either making new connections or I'm strengthening my existing connections. Pretty much everything that we do in our day-to-day business is networking. So for Stefan, actually, social media can support his existing connections, and it can be a first contact for others. You'll remember Patricia McGuire from Purple select – she had a few thoughts on social networking. Patricia McGuire: Sometimes when I look at the way my staff network I think really they spend too much time on social networks and the online platforms doing this. To be honest with you they're really, really valuable. Again, you need to think where are the people you need to talk to, what platforms are they on, and start building relationships with them. If you're using online platforms, so if you're using Twitter or Facebook or whatever, it's not enough to be on those platforms. You need to interact with people, offer advice, tell people when they've given you some advice that's really worked, just interact like you would do in a normal everyday life and you will find that that works very well and business will start being referred to. But I still believe that you cannot beat face-to-face relationships. So, for Patricia – you can build a network online, as you'd expect. But it doesn't replace face to face. I'd say it's a valuable part of your networking, not the whole. Laura Lucas: If you're into offline networking I think online networking can really enhance that, because I'll give you a great example actually. A great friend of mine is Kate McQuillan who has Pet Sitters Ireland. She's a really keen blogger. I met her briefly at the Content Marketing Academy Conference in 2014, so I met her once. We meet. She talked to the conference and I was very impressed with what she'd achieved through blogging. We didn't really get much of a chance to speak to each other, but I really got to know her in the Content Marketing Academy Facebook group. Then I really got to know her personally on Facebook, just from like chatting and interacting, and it's developed into a full bloomed friendship now. She's as much my friend as anyone that I've known since school days or anything like that. She's business friend and she's a personal friend as well. I love that story in that it shows the value of putting long term effort into your network. It's not just those one-off meetings, and it's not even just that follow-up, right after it happens. It's beyond that, making sure that you're building relationships long term – not just for your own benefit, but really creating a partnership with everyone in your network. Stefan Thomas: The process doesn't stop. In 2015 when you and I are talking it is so easy to keep in touch with people, and it's the biggest mistake that most people make is not to keep in touch with people. Laura Lucas: I think sometimes when it's business networking we can think it's all about business but it's actually all about just building a relationship. It doesn't matter what you build that relationship on. I think just take the pressure off yourself and enjoy getting to know people really. Pete Matthew: Find half a dozen people who are like you, small business owners like you but maybe in different markets and just help each other. You'll be surprised where that will end up. This is Colin Gray on UK Business startup, hoping that I've given you the motivation you need to get out there and start building your own network. I promise you, it'll end up being one of the most valuable assets in your business. Now, we're nearly at the end of the season. We'll be tying it up next week with some key takeaways from the series, and giving you an insight into what's coming next. We're also going to be running a little competition leading up to the launch of season 2, so do make sure you tune in next time around. Also, a wee request, in the spirit of this episode, I'd love to ask you for a little referral of your own. I hope we've helped you figure out some of this crazy journey we can business, and if you feel like that's built a bit of trust, then I'm proud to call you part of my network. If that's the case then could you do one small thing. Have a think about one person you know that might like this show. Fire up your email and send them the link, copying us in if you think it'd help – we're on info@thepodcasthost.com. It'd mean a huge amount to me, and it'll help us to get this out to more people, hopefully helping as many folk as we can in the long run. Ok, that's it for this week – this show is created by The Podcast Host, produced by Matthew McLean, written and narrated by me, Colin Gray, and we're a part of the 3B Podcast Network – that stands for British Business Broadcasting. You can check out the other shows on the network at 3bpn.com. Thanks and we'll see you next time.

Going from employee to self-employed means you are now in charge of what you do, when you do it. Whilst this can be liberating, it can also be intimidating, and lead you towards working 14+ hours a day because there will always be something that needs done. On the one hand you need to be doing enough to be earning enough to pay the bills, keep your clients happy, and generally make sure your business is ticking over. On the other hand, you're still going to need time off. Not just holidays, but at evenings and weekends where it's good to switch off from all thoughts of work. If you neglect to do this, it can put a strain on relationships at home, as well as lead to higher levels of stress and potential burnout. You also need to make sure that you're getting the most out of the hours when you are working. This doesn't necessarily mean being as busy as possible, but planning tasks so that you're getting the best results from the work you put in. On this episode we're introduced to a new guest, business coach Laura Lucas. She's joined by our regular contributors, AdWords specialist Andy Brown, photographer Julie Christie, and recruitment consultant Patricia McGuire. Recommended Reading There's a couple of very good books on focus and general productivity that are well worth a read. The first is The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan. This book drums a new way of looking at tasks into you, and encourages you to ditch multitasking, unnecessary work, and to take things one step at a time. The second one is The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Don't be fooled by the title, you probably won't end up working only 4 hours a week, but this book is an incredible manifesto against procrastination, doing pointless and unnecessary work, living in your email inbox, and generally doing too much on your own. Transcript I think because I enjoy my work so much as well, it's hard not to just work when you have spare time. I have to say, I'm not really there with that yet. I'm Colin Gray, and this is UK Business Startup. Where we're about the get productive. If you've been following along, there's a chance you've made the leap by now. Are you already working for yourself? Or your own company of course. If you are, I want to ask you this: how many times have you been asked about whether you work in nothing but your pants? It always seems to me that 99% of the working world think that the main advantage of self-employment is not having to wear clothes. And of course that is part of it to be fair. But the other part, the more serious one, is suddenly being in control of your own working life. Now you can choose what you do, and when you do it. It's freedom, at last! Or is it? The problem is, businesses tend to be more than a job. They're 3 jobs, 5 jobs, even 10 all rolled into one. Especially in the early days, you're doing everything. Suddenly freedom looks like 14 hour days, 7 days a week. Because there's always something to do.That's why, this week, we're talking about your working life. That means schedule, priortities, productivity and making sure you have a real life alongside it all. Let's look at the small view first – one day. When no one's telling you what to do, how the heck do you make the most of it? Laura Lucas: I was quite used to that from sort of my corporate job I suppose. I was always a team leader and had to plan the direction of the department. Not just plan my own days, but plan the days of my teams and things like that as well, so, it wasn't something that was completely new to me. That is Laura Lucas, a new guest on UK Business Startup. She's a business coach at Inspirential and works on her own. This is how she starts to plan her day. Laura Lucas: I know that I want to help as many business owners and leaders as I can. That means I need to find those business owners and show them what I can do to help them, and get them on on-board with me. That's then broken down into a number of different activities, so putting up information online that's going to attract those sorts of people, going out and meeting people proactively through networking. Then getting them into meetings and showing them my expertise and making sales ultimately. I've got to make sure I'm doing those sorts of activities every, single day. That helps knowing what the overall goal is. So, this is it – our days aren't really our days. They're just one small part of the wider goal. Patricia McGuire: I think you have to be quite strict with yourself that you set aside some time just for you, and not only time just for you, but time to think, because it's very easy to get bogged down in your day-to-day business. A business needs you to stop and think about what's coming next, and the mistakes that you've made and how you can rectify them. Don't worry, we'll get back to the real detail on how to plan your working day, but this comes first. The only way you're going to have an effective day – and to grow your business – is by having each day move you just a little bit forward towards your main goal. Patricia McGuire said it well there – it's really easy to get bogged down, to end up doing busy-work that doesn't push you forward. It sounds ridiculous when your income depends on avoiding that, but it happens to us all. Laura Lucas: I started to fall into that trap probably early last summer. I had a period when I was really, really busy. Then I have two times in the month when I do my accounts, because I don't have masses of transactions in my business. I just sit down for half-an-hour, twice a month and do that. I sat down and realized that I hadn't brought in any new business for three weeks, even though I had been really busy. That gave me a real wake-up call. It was quite lucky that I did that. You can be a busy fool can't you? Laura has a good method there. She's got a system in place, every fortnight, where she checks her progress. Her aim is clients – she wants to help as many people as she can, and earn an income from that of course. So, she sits down – fortnightly accounts – what's my goal? New clients? Have I brought any in? No! Well, damn… Let's see – what can I do to change that? Once you've got your overall goals, how do we start to break it down so it leads us to effective days? Laura Lucas: I'll make a sort of three month plan really. For making detailed plans, I find three months is about the right timescale for me, and I'll know what I want to achieve in that three months, and break it down into step-by-step tasks. Then each week, I try and batch task and stick to the same sort of activities. Julie Christie: I would say, have a schedule for every day or for every week. Plan your week ahead and schedule in all your tasks, and give them priorities. What's the most important? What's the least important? Put them in that order. Schedule them into your diary. That was Julie Christie from Tea Break Tog joining the show, and giving a good example of where the long term planning leads us. Once you have your 3 month plan, you break than down into monthly goals, and then weekly goals. Once you have that level of detail, you're ready to really schedule in the work. Laura Lucas: Mostly on a Monday, I'm in the office doing things like, writing blog posts, writing social media posts, writing new material for clients and things. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, are a mixture of seeing clients and meeting new, prospective clients and things. On Friday, I generally only work the morning on a Friday, and that's more for projects, and really thinking about moving the business forward. I stick to that as much as I can, it doesn't have to be perfect, but each week with my three month plan, I sit down on a Thursday afternoon and plan what my next week's going to look like. All the activities that are coming up, I actually put them into slots in my calendar. I do the same – monthly goals, to weekly goals, to small tasks. Those are then scheduled into the calendar on Monday morning. You're probably thinking it sounds a bit of a pain to stick to that – a bit onerous – but it's exactly the opposite actually. Laura Lucas: When I'm sitting at my desk, I never have to think about, “Oh what should I do next?” I know what I have what I have to next because when you have that uncertainty, that's when procrastination can creep in. But if you know exactly what you're going to do, you can just get your head down and do it. It's ironic, because one of the big attractions of going self-employed is the chance to be your own boss. But, the thing is, that freedom comes with a big price, and procrastination is a big one. This type of scheduling is kind of like creating a little boss in a spreadsheet – someone who's telling you what to do every minute of the day. And with that discipline comes a whole new type of freedom. The freedom that comes with knowing that you're not missing things, you're not wasting your time. You're moving forward, just a little bit, every single day. So, what if you want to start off a little easier. You're not ready to go full-schedule. What's the alternative? Andy Brown: It's always a tough one isn't it, the productivity, getting it in order? This is Andy Brown from TripleYourClients.com whose helped us out before. Andy Brown: I use products like Allthings and Slack and Evernote to control and also a pen and paper comes in very useful at the end of the evening when you're trying to work out, right what's a priority of the next day? I'm a strong believer in having all that technology, but sometimes you just need to sort of reach back and think, “Right, what have we got on my plate?” I've got some sticky notes all over the place and bits of paper. I put it in an Allthings list or I look at an Evernote, things to do file, and I'll work through that. Generally, to make sure that I'm getting the stuff done, I need to prioritize, and so I need to work out what the top three things are the next day. Andy's method is a good start. At a minimum, at least finish the day by planning your next one. What are the next 2 or 3 jobs that'll move your business forward? Get them down on a sheet of paper, and get them done first the next day. Laura Lucas: I also tend to use a timer, quite a lot, as well. I'll set the Pomodoro Technique, I don't know if you've heard of that one? It basically works on twenty-five minute intervals. You set a timer for twenty-five minutes, and you work for twenty-five minutes, then you stop and have a five minute break and do another twenty-five minutes. What find's good about it is, you can sit there and think, “All right, I need to write this blog post,” and maybe it's going to take as long as it takes, and then you'll get half way through and you'll be like, “Oh, I'll just have a wee look on Facebook,” or something like that, but if you've got twenty-five minutes, you think, “Right, I'm going to focus on this for twenty-five minutes,” and I'll kind of race myself in that twenty-five minutes to get the first draft of the blog post written. If my mind starts to wander, I'll think, “Oh, I'm at seventeen minutes, I've only got eight minutes to finish this,” and it just keeps me on track. The Pomodoro technique is pretty well known in productivity circles. It's a great way to break up your day and stay productive. Chop any task into 25 minute sections and have a wee 5 minute break at the end. That's your reward for a good chunk of focus, as Laura says. The problem is, this is all easy said, not so easily done. Your business tends to have a life of it's own and, in my experience at least, it fights against the work I do to manage it. I've already mentioned the long days and the 7 day working week. It's an easy trap to fall into. So how can we deal with that? Patricia McGuire: When you're thinking about your workload as a new business or an entrepreneur it's very important that you make some time for yourself within the week, because you will very quickly become burnt out. Starting a business, running a business, owning a business takes up practically every second of your time, your mental space. Andy Brown: The lifestyle I have, if I'm feeling stressed, or feeling as if the world's on top of me, or on my shoulders, then I can just open the door and walk the dog. As simple as that is, it means that I can get out there and then get back, and I'm in a better frame of mind to attack the day. You knew it was coming – this is the eternal struggle with work life balance. It's bad enough when you're working for a company, but as soon as you're the ultimate boss, it jumps by a factor of 10. How do you keep the endless task list under control, but still have a life? Julie Christie: I am not good with boundaries between work and person life. It's something that's on my to-do list, is to try and be better at that. I work from home, so it's really hard to create those boundaries, and to keep them, because I can see my desk. Everywhere I go in my house, it's all open plan, I can see my desk, and that's really hard to stop yourself from working. I think probably having a separate workplace from your living quarters is a really good idea, which is something I don't have yet, and I hope to have. I think that will really improve that situation. I think because I enjoy my work so much as well, it's hard not to just work when you have spare time. I have to say, I'm not really there with that yet. Julie's situation is really common – A lot of people that start working for themselves have no office so you're just taking up a desk at home. The problem is, you love the work, you're passionate about it, so it doesn't feel like a stress to just get something done when you have a spare minute. But that means evenings, weekends, and as much as that doesn't bother you right then, long term, that's not good. You need the downtime. And, of course, that's not even considering others in your life yet. Andy Brown: It is tough because you don't want to be working all hours. You've got to respect the hours of the people that's around, your children and your partner or your wife, whatever, you really need to be respectful of that because if they've had a hard day working, they come in and you're still working, then you've got to acknowledge that they're in a down time, and then you might still be in a project. It can get tough. Laura Lucas: I started to more and more schedule my down time, which sounds a wee bit sad actually, but I find if I schedule things, I schedule fun things in. If I know I've got loads of fun stuff to do at the weekend, I don't have time to do it housework, so I know I need to do housework in the evenings. Julie Christie: When work is over, it's over. You close that computer down and you leave. I would definitely say, try and have very clear boundaries, physical boundaries. If you work from home very physical boundaries, where you work and where you play, so that you can close that door and forget about it. That's something I can't do. However, I do try and schedule what I'm doing each week, and what I'm doing each day, so that I can get through that work and hopefully close it down at the end, and leave until the next day. I mean, it's all common sense, but it's also commonly ignored. And there's always situations where you HAVE to ignore it. I mean, if that client job needs finished tomorrow and it's not quite done, then who else is going to do it? In situations like that, Andy's suggestion is good – he mentioned respect for the people around you. Talk to your partner, your kids, tell them the situation. Communication really is key. If you do that, the occasional (or not so occasional) late night won't be quite so much trouble. Now, let's have a quick look at the other type of overworking. And this one's a lot more insidious. Laura Lucas: I do a lot networking via social media, and that's where the boundaries get really blurred, because I really enjoy it. It's a fun social thing, and it's a work thing. Sometimes I can be telling myself, “Oh, I'm doing this because it's a work thing,” but I'm actually, pretty much, just wasting my time and wasting the energy, and not being present for my family. It's something I've been conscious of, certainly the last week or so. I actually have times when I go and put the phone away in a different room, switch it off for an hour or so, and make sure that I'm taking breaks from it. I'm a bad one for this. My wife's watching something on TV, I'm not that bothered, so I'll pull out the laptop and just fiddle away with a few easy tasks. Get a few things out of the way. Laura's right, though, I'm not present, and it's cuts out any chance of chat, whether it's about the program or life. It also means I'm not really relaxing, and after a few days of that, you do notice it. It keeps that base level of stress and anxiety much higher. I can tell you from experience, it's really not good for you. Keep working time deliberate, and don't let it bleed over. Laura Lucas: Sometimes I make a conscious choice to spend an hour, usually what I'll do in the evenings, because I'm a morning person, by evenings I'm not really up for doing much hard work, but I'll maybe do a bit of research or I'll do a wee bit of sort social media networking with a work head on, kind of thing. For me, it's a mixture between work and fun. It is a conscious decision to do a wee bit of work some evenings, and if I've got a project going on. Yeah, it's definitely planning in the things, the fun things and the family things that you want to do. Then you have to make the work fit around that. A conscious decision, that's the key. Plus, of course, we're not ruling out a flexible schedule. That's one of the reasons we do this, after all. Work whenever you like, as long as there is some downtime in there. Andy Brown: I've never found it difficult to pick up the pieces late in the evening and get on with three or four, five hours more work. A lot of people would struggle with that. They would find it almost impossible. Like anyone, I enjoy TV, films, just chilling out in the evening, but I can chill out in the evening, and then still go back to work afterwards. That's a sure sign that I enjoy what I'm doing, and when also there's a pressing need to get the work done, but everyone would make an excuse about that, even if when it's their own business and that might be a reason why they fail. That's the second time this has come up, loving your work. “a sure sign I enjoy what I'm doing” as Andy said. That's usually the biggest benefit of running your own business, and it makes up for all of the downsides, for me. But, as we've heard, you've got to watch it doesn't lead you into the trap of never quite switching off. Ok, I know the objection that's popping out of your mouth right now. And it's something that's both the lifeblood of our business, and the bane of our existence. Yea, I'm talking about clients. Laura Lucas: Yeah it is really tricky. For me, it's not been so much an issue of accessibility. I've set pretty firm boundaries with my clients that, yes, they can contact me, but I'm often with other clients, so I tend not to take phone calls. It tends to mostly be through email unless it's by prior arrangement. They're usually clear that I might not even answer them that day. For example, someone might be emailing me right now, I'll go home from here, I'll be straight into kids and chaos, and then it's evening. I might answer them this evening, but they already know that it might be tomorrow before I answer them, so that's not so much the issue. Laura's spot on there – clients are trainable. They'll expect what you lead them to expect. So if you answer an email, even once, at the weekend, then they'll expect that from then on. It's the clichéd advice – communicate with them, set those boundaries that Laura mentioned, and coach them to expect a reasonable amount from you. I've often found that being less available actually makes a client take you more seriously. It shows you're running an established business with real systems and processes. Laura Lucas: I think that's all right, especially because I coach my clients on setting clear boundaries, and not always being completely on, and completely accessible, so it's up to me to kind of set that example as well. So, when I say, “I'm taking a week off, off the grid,” I think people get it. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Some of you might have more than just clients. You might have an audience. If you're putting out great quality content – like a blog, a podcast, videos, even printed materials, how do you deal with a break there? Laura Lucas: So if I'm not there, then there's maybe blog posts not going out. There's maybe stuff on social media not happening, but I can schedule those things in advance. I can either decide to check in with them while I'm on holiday, just interact with social media posts and things like that, or I can just make it clear to my audience that I'm actually taking a week off. Again, it's communication! Tell people what's happening and – funnily enough – they'll understand! If they like youre material, they know you're a human being. And that means time off, every now and again. Ok, I'm going to start to tie this up. The final thing I want to cover is about something a bit deeper. Not only managing the work you do, but CHOOSING the work you do. Laura Lucas: I was actually listening to Michael Hyatt's Podcast this morning. He was talking about, now what was the phrase he used? “Doing less to achieve more.” He talked about how when we say, “Yes,” to something, we're actually saying, “No,” to something else. For example, I've said, “yes,” to coming here and doing this podcast, it means I'm saying, “No,” to going home and writing another blog post, for example. It's just being very conscious about these things. This is huge. Especially when you're starting out, you feel like you have to say yes to everything. You can't pass up an opportunity. But, remember what Julia said in the marketing episode? She talked about finding the right clients, and how beneficial that is in the long run. Laura's mentioned a good method there, and the way I do it, something I heard years ago, is the No or Hell yes! Test. If someone asks you to do something, and the answer isn't a massive hell yes, then it should be a no. Don't take on anything that makes you less than excited. Chris Marr, who you've heard on previous episodes, does the ‘tomorrow' test. So, If I was asked to do this tomorrow, would I say yes? We let a lot of average or time sucking things sneak into the diary because they seem far off at the time. But then, when it actually is tomorrow, you often end up thinking, why on earth did I say I'd do this… Ok, I know, easier said than done, and we've all taken on work in the early days just to pay the bills. But keep what Laura said in your mind – everything you say yes to, is saying no to something else. Laura Lucas: For me, certainly, in my business, I have to be not worried about money, so that I can be present to solve my clients problems. If I'm at the back of my mind thinking, “Where am I going to get the next client?” I'm not actually doing a good job for them. Yeah, I actually set money goals every month and set activities around those money goals that are daily. I make sure I'm taking proactive action to make money every, single day. That's just it – that one action, every day, helps to ease any anxiety about money. It needs to be built into your long term plans, as well as your daily schedule. That's what brings in more clients, more work, more sales, all of which helps you to do the work you love. In the end, it's a combination of everything we've talked about that leads to a healthy business. Long term goals which lead to clear tasks. Tools which shuffle them into productive days. Clear boundaries around when you're on and when you're off. Deep thought about what work you actually take on. No one gets this right straight away, and even with years of experience, you'll fall off the wagon from time to time. But, keep it all in mind, and you're already ahead of 90% of the businesses out there. This was UK Business Startup, and thanks for following on with another episode. As always, you can find a summary and everything we've mentioned here at podhost.me/startup. Something I'm wondering about this week – is there anyone you know who would find this show useful? If there is, it would be amazing if you could pass it on. Tell them about the show, tell them how to subscribe – I'd really appreciate it. It helps us to get the show out there to more people – help us many people as possible. Feel free to copy us into a tweet to them if you like and I'll do my best to talk them into it too! You can get us @thepodcasthost on Twitter. This show was produced by The Podcast Host and you can check out all of our work on how to podcast at thepodcasthost.com Next time on the show, we're talking about Networking. How the people you meet and get to know have a huge effect on your business, and I'm talking much more than just clients. I'll see you then!

How do you know when you're ready to take on staff in your new business? Are you ever actually “ready” to take such a step? That's the basis of this episode, as our assembled panel of experts and business owners offer you their own tips and advice for taking on staff. Whether you're a sole trader who needs an extra pair of hands for a few months, or the owner of a limited company looking to employ several people, the process is fairly similar across the board. There's also the danger of putting off hiring staff because you don't think anyone can do the job as well as you. That might be true, but is this approach sustainable in the long term? What happens if you fall ill, or want to take a two week holiday abroad? On this episode you'll hear from recruitment consultant Patricia McGuire, content marketing guru Chris Marr, photographer Julie Christie, employment law specialist Alison Colley, accountant Gordon Howes, and financial planner Pete Matthew. Recommended Reading There's a couple of excellent books on this subject that are worth checking out. The first is a classic called The E-Myth Revisited (Why most small businesses don't work, and what to do about it) by Michael E. Gerber. This one is primarily aimed at small business owners who are trying to do everything themselves. The second is Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker. Again it deals with the problem of trying to do it all yourself, but this one is a guide to hiring and managing virtual staff, rather than on-site employees. Transcript It becomes very apparent that you can't do everything and that's another piece of advice. Don't be a superhero. You cannot do everything. I'm Colin Gray, and this is UK Business Startup, where this time, we're talking people. Do you remember that quote from Chris Marr last time around? Chris Marr: You need to pick out a time in the day where you are spending an hour or so working on your business. You need to have a plan for that. What are you doing every day to build your business? This is one of the biggest mistakes new businesses make. They forget to think big. They forget to make time for planning, for strategy, for figuring out how to make the business a success. Instead, they just keep doing what they're good at. The gardener keeps gardening, the programmer keeps programming, and the baker just bakes! The problem is, that's not building a business. That's building a job. And it's a really terrible job at that. It relies on you to run, it relies on your time, so when you're not baking, you're not earning. That means no breaks, no holidays, no time to get sick! And it means no time to bring in more customers or grow a business. That's what Chris from the Content Marketing Academy was talking about. So, what's the way out? Well, building a business that doesn't just rely on you. That's what. And that means staff. So, this is where it can get really scary. Julie Christie: I have two employees. I didn't necessarily feel ready to do it. I just knew I had to do it. For two months, I couldn't afford it. I definitely took a hit because I was training her and I was sitting beside her all the time and we weren't taking on more work. Within two months, she was paying for herself. It was a very, very scary move to make but it was the right move and it allowed me to work on the business. I no longer was having to phone clients, go back and forth with anyone, design albums. All the admin was taken away from me so I was able to then do more shoots and more marketing to get more shoots. That's the bit that surprises most new business owners. The admin. There's so much to do, from logging receipts, to paying tax, to handling bills. And that's just the general stuff. There's bound to be tonnes specific to your industry too. So, this is where a lot of people start, as you heard there from Julie Christie, the founder of TeaBreakTog.com. She's still doing some of the main work – photography in her case – but he's using the time that's been freed up to do the marketing too. As Chris mentioned at the start, and even more in the last episode, that's your big job as the founder. Marketing and growing your business. You can still do a bit of the technical work, but you need to find time for the high level stuff. Generally, that means staff. So, how does it work when you're starting out? Let's look at Bill the gardener again. Patricia McGuire: As a sole trader, Bill can take on a temporary member of staff. Certainly, Bill could advertise and take someone on just for a seasonal period of time so he could offer a seasonal contract to them which would be fixed, which means there's no obligation to keep them on after that or he could give something like a zero hour contract just to see how things go. If things work out well, he can tell the employee that he will increase the hours. That's the way in for a lot of people who start out working for themselves. They take someone on for the busy periods. No long term commitments, just getting a bit of help when it's needed. It is a great way to build confidence and learn a few of the processes. And it gets you used to managing people – something most of us aren't used to! So, once you make the decision, what's our responsibility here with the tax office? Chris Marr: He needs to inform the Inland Revenue that he's going to become an employer before he engages anyone. He will register for PAYE as an employer. He will receive his employer's PAYE reference as well as his Accounts Office reference. This is easy enough, and it's the same for a limited company. In fact limited companies tend to do this right off the bat! Either they'll be taking on staff right away, like a café, or you want to get paid as the founder. Either way its' really easy to register on the HMRC website – honestly, quick as anything. Pete Matthew: One thing it's really important now is you've got to report to HM Revenue and Customs now when you pay your employees. You need to pay your employees on a certain day and that will need to be reported to the Revenue on that day, and any tax and national insurance due to the Revenue will need to be paid at the same time. That's called real-time information. Okay, this might sound a bit complicated, but don't worry, there's technology out there to help. Remember on episode 2 when Pete was talking about managing your finances? Pete Matthew: There are, again, software systems usually very often a part of the general accounting software systems that you can buy and they will do all that for you, so you'll need to register with the Revenue as an employer so that you can submit your real-time information, your payroll information as you go. Both Pete and I have mentioned it before, but FreeAgent, is the one I've used in the past. It handles both invoicing and payroll, working out all of that stuff around tax and national insurance. There are plenty of other apps out there that can do it too. So, don't let this part put you off – help exists! Talking of which… Julie Christie: When I decided to hire Fiona, I spoke an HR consultant who talked me through everything. He also put together a contract of employment and all the paperwork that we had to have in place and he advised me on insurance issues and things like that as well. That was all taken care of and then my bookkeeper, she took on payroll as well as keeping the books. It wasn't too bad at all and has been worth that's weight in gold. We talked about bookkeeping and accountants in the finance episode, and Julie highlights it here. They can take on payroll for you, handling all of the fiddly work. And contracts – that's a tricky one, and well worth getting some help with. You'll find HR consultants all over the country, and you could get contracts and handbooks made up for just a few hundred pounds. In most cases, as Julie says, it's worth every penny. Ok, we've dealt with the prep. Everything you need to do to get set up as an employer. That's a bit dry, but the next bit's more exciting – that's actually having them on board, getting the help, the input, the expertise they offer. Saying that, before we get too excited, I guess we need to think about what they want in return… Pete Matthew: Paying staff isn't massively different whether you're in a limited company or you're sole trader. They are your employee and so you have certain responsibilities. A key one, of course, is paying them. They're not going to work for you very long if you don't pay, so that's a drain on cash flow. That needs to be planned in, always a good idea to have two or three months cash flow in reserve if at all possible, so you know you've got at least two or three months' worth of payroll that you can pay your staff so you're never sort of going right to the wire. This ties into those questions at the start of the episode. When do you know you're ready to take someone on? As Pete says, money plays a part. If the work dried up tomorrow, how long could you pay them for? Now, don't let this scare you – it's planning for the worst case. And with the help of someone else, it's even less likely to happen than it is right now. You'll be freed right up to search for more work after all. But, it's worth a think. Next, what about frequency? Pete Matthew: I would err towards paying people monthly for the simple reason that most people pay things out on a monthly basis. They're paying house and car insurance and other things on a monthly basis. It can be easier for your employees to budget on a monthly basis. Having said that, I have been paying on a weekly or fortnightly basis since I was at university and part-time at McDonald's. It's a long time ago. Some people may prefer it. I think the world is increasingly moving towards monthly though. It just seems more logical to me. This depends a lot on industry too – the leisure industry always tends to pay weekly, but the finance industry doesn't, for example. This isn't a big deal, just choose what's right for you. And then? All that's left now, is finding the staff themselves! Alison Colley: If Amy is looking to take on staff, there are various routes that she could take. She could take the traditional route of putting an advert in the newspaper but in my experience with my clients, that can be quite expensive and quite a timely process. Another way of looking for staff would be to use somebody specific like an agency, somebody who she can trust to make those initial findings for her and to try and find the right member of staff, so do the initial interviews and things. From experience, vetting and interviewing takes a long long time… Agencies charge a fair bit for this, but sometimes it's worth it… Alison Colley: The other way of doing it is to look within her circle, within her network, see if there's somebody who she trusts and likes who might be looking for work. I find that way with my clients who were taking on their first member of staff, this is normally how they find them rather than going down the traditional advertising route because it would be quite daunting to bring someone into your new business especially when you've worked so hard on it, so finding someone that you trust and know in the first instance is probably a good way of finding staff. Interviews can only tell you so much, so that personal connection can make a big difference in finding someone you trust. AND someone who's right for the business. You're going to have to live with these people, day in day out, so personality matters. Pete Matthew: These are not just payroll numbers after all. They are people and they come with issues to deal with, things like needing to take time off to go to hospital appointments and emergency, things which might happen to him for family reasons, in inverted commas, that you've got to sort of be able to cope with these things. And that's when things get complicated. Because real people ARE complicated. But here's how Pete thinks about it. Pete Matthew: Certainly, a key thing for me here in my practice is culture. We obviously need people who are competent. They need to be able to do the job but I would rather have somebody who I need to train but who fits in well with me and what I'm building here rather than have someone who is superbly competent but is a bit of a pain to work with. Company culture is huge, and it's all your job at the start. You're the founder, you set the tone. Small companies always have a culture based on the founder's personality, their values. As Pete says, the plan is to find people that fit that culture, and for you to reinforce it every day. If you live and breathe the values of your company, then that's infectious. It improves the morale, the productivity and the work that everyone does. Now, there's one last option I want to go through, before we're done. Just incase it still seems too daunting. There is an easier way, and we've already alluded to it… Virtual assistance – that means working with people OUTSIDE of your business to do the work of an employee. Julie mentioned earlier that her bookkeeper does payroll for her – that's a virtual assistant. The bookkeeper isn't employed by Julie, but she does work for the company. Work that needs done on a regular basis. So, How would that work with Amy, our café owner, for example? Alison Colley: This is certainly something that Amy should be thinking about for things like her marketing and social media whether she goes to somebody using a service like Upwork who provide virtual assistance or whether she goes for someone more local, would be down to her to decide. Certainly, with virtual assistance, you can give them a try without having to commit anything in the long term. You can try a couple of people and see how it works out. I would say that it would be better for a small business to try and do it virtually for those sorts of things initially than taking on an employee and having the additional costs and expense of things like PAYE and national insurance. Great advice there from Alison Colley whose an Employment Law Specialist over at alisoncolley.co.uk. Whether they're in the UK or abroad, working with a VA gives you a tonne of experience in managing tasks and staff. And that's without a lot of the HR or admin headaches. I know a lot of new businesses that used virtual assistants to grow to a certain point and then they've graduated to in-house staff. It lets you get that work off your hands without worrying about long term commitment. Of course, the downside is that they might not be as bought into your business as an employee. And managing staff at a distance can be tricky. But, for most people, especially sole traders or really small companies, it can be a stepping stone to much bigger things. So, are you ready to take someone on? Are you Set for that leap? Patricia McGuire: I think you know when you're ready to take on staff. It becomes very apparent that you can't do everything and that's another piece of advice. Don't be a superhero. You cannot do everything, but there are worries, obviously. How are you going to pay them? How are they going to settle into your business? How are they going to reflect your business? But actually, you know when the time is right. You know when the money is right. You just have to do it. If your business is going to grow, you have to employ other people to help you grow it. This was episode 4 of UK business startup. You can find links to everything we've mentioned on the show at the Startup website at podhost.me/startup/. Thanks too to all of our contributors, and you can find out more about what they do at the same place. If you've enjoyed this show, please do pop over to the iTunes store and give us a review. It helps in a huge way to get the show out to more people. And if you're not on an apple device, then tweet us @thepodcasthost – we'd love to hear what you think. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time!

There's a good chance that you're going to have to act as a marketer in your new business along with all the other hats you'll be wearing, at least in the early days. But without drumming up interest in what you have to offer, letting people know your out there, and ultimately making sales, you won't stay in business very long. That's why it's important to make sure you get your marketing right, and that's the purpose of this episode. Our assembled panel of experts and business owners give their opinions on what works, and what doesn't work so well nowadays. In this episode you'll be hearing from AdWords specialist Andy Brown, photographer Julie Christie, recruitment consultant Patricia McGuire, financial planner Pete Matthew, and content marketing guru Chris Marr. Some of the key tips are; Know your audience. Who is your business for, and where can they be found? Look after your existing clients, get this right and they will tell others about you. Create content. Use the questions potential customers ask you and answer them on a blog, podcast, or video series. Transcript It's about putting out stuff that people can use, which entertains them, educates them, and powers them to take action and ideally, to take action with you. I'm Colin Gray, and this is episode 3 of UK Business Startup. So far, we've had a look at some of the big bits, the intimidating bits. That's company structure, finances, business plans. It's the stuff you imagine you need to speak to the experts about. But, hopefully the first two episodes got you started, and helped make a few of the decisions. Well, today's topic, for most people is a bit more clear. And that's, talking about your business, promoting what you do. Otherwise known as marketing. But really, when it comes down it, it's just finding customers. Or, helping them to find you! So, let's start off with Julie, our friendly, and her early adventures in marketing Julie Christie: When I started I just did everything I thought you were supposed to do to market myself, so I got hundreds and hundreds of flyers run off, and I distributed flyers all around my hometown, offering my photography services. I asked all my friends and family to tell everyone they knew. Really, it didn't work. It didn't work. So you know, Julie's not alone here. It's the way it's always been done isn't it? So it must work? Well, you'd think, but when was the last time you bought something off a flyer? It's so common that we're just blind to that type of marketing now. If that's the case, how do we reach people? Often, it starts really local. Julie Christie: I reached out to people who I knew, who looked like target client, and I offered to do work for them for free, in return for them allowing me to use their photographs, but also allowing me to reach their friends. I'd give them vouchers to give to their friends. I reached out to someone who was a bit of a mover and shaker in the area and she wrote a blog post about me. I tried to reach out to people who would talk about me and I reached out to the right people. The people I knew I wanted to work with. That's the beginning for a lot of businesses. Family, friends, local networks. And it works. Treat them right, and things can snowball. Julie Christie: We really look after our customers. When we get a customer, we send them little gifts in the post. We have a really good relationship with them. We phone them. We have lots of conversations before the shoot. We touch base with them after the shoot, every year at least. We give them Christmas cards. We keep up with them on social media, and we find that they then, because we have such a good relationship with them, that they do our marketing for us. And I think that is a good, solid way to build the right client base. It's a slow burden though, and you have to be brave, and stick it out, and keep working at it. I know a lot of businesses who thrive just on that. Just around word of mouth, referrals and you can do great from that, just like Julie. Let's think wider though, outside of our network. How do we start to find people further afield? You'll remember Patricia, who runs a recruitment company. She had some thoughts about finding people in another kind of network – the one I bet you've wasted at least a wee bit of time on today. Of course, I'm talking about Social media. Patricia McGuire: Talk to your customers and find out where they're living in the digital space because you can waste an awful lot of time trying to cover too many of the digital options, the social media options. Once you know where they're living in this space, start becoming expert in those areas. It might be Facebook, it might be Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram. In my particular case, I use LinkedIn, a great deal. LinkedIn and Twitter would be my two major marketing tools at the moment. I'm also developing podcasting as a tool for marketing my business, too. It's great advice – depending on your sector, your audience is bound to have one or two networks they hang around on most. Do you know which one it is already? If not, take Pauline's suggestion – start talking to people, ask them directly. It's the easiest way. Of course, social isnt' a natural fit for us all. Some are really comfortable interacting online, but what if you're not? Patricia McGuire: So, my main advice would be, don't be afraid. You're going to make mistakes. Everyone does, but you will learn very fast because your bread and butter depends on it. Right, that was outbound – that's you going on the hunt for customers. Finding them where they live, and building that relationship. But, maybe there's a smarter way? What if you could attract customers to you? What if you could do something now that might attract customers to your company for years in the future? Well, that's inbound marketing, and it's all about making yourself easy to find. Chris Marr: No longer are traditional marketing efforts working. You think about paid ads, radio ads, newspaper ads, all that kind of stuff. It might work to a certain degree, but it definitely aren't as powerful as, for example, having a website, having a blog and being found online because to be honest, that's where people are making buying decisions. Yea, but what if you're a care home – we gotta think demographics don't we? Say, my target audience is over-60, so I'd imagine that traditional advertising works best for them, doesn't it? Well, you'd think so, but Chris Marr thought otherwise! Chris Marr: It used to be that people would say like there was a demographic there, that weren't online. Everybody is becoming more online. Even people in their sixties, seventies, and eighties. My granddad is eighty-six years old and has an Ipad and WIFI in the house. It's true, and you're always reading about the grey-pound now – that's the amount of disposable income out there in the older generation and retirees. And, like Chris say, a whole lot of which is online. That means it doesn't matter who you're targeting, the web has gotta be a major priority from now on. It helps too, that the web is the king of cheap, or free, inbound marketing. It's all about the search – and that means Google! And that's the big question every business has – how the heck do I get myself high in the search results. Well, here's Pete Matthew's thoughts on that. Pete Matthew: Definitely content marketing, I think is how it is increasingly being done. It's not the be-all and end-all but it has many advantages. One of them is cost. It's relatively cheap to put out good content consistently. Cheap in terms of money, it's not cheap in terms of time and that's very often the objection that I get from people. You can be targeted, you can reach a very wide audience or you could be locally targeted, if you're in a sort of brick and mortar business where you want to reach your local community, then you can do that just as well. So, content marketing – what's that? In simple terms, it's just publishing good stuff on the internet which ends up attracting people to your website. But what do you publish? Seems like that's a question Chris Marr gets a lot. Chris Marr: He's going to say, “That's great, Chris, I've got my website up and running but I need content. I need information there. What is the best type of content I should have on my website to be A, found in Google, for people to stay on my website and be interested in what it is I'm doing.” You really have to be creating valuable, usable, helpful content that people are searching for. So, not rocket science here. It's helping people, it's showing your expertise by being hugely useful. And that means answering questions. Let's think about Bill again, our imaginary Gardener, how's he gonna approach this? Chris Marr: For example, I'm not a big gardener, but they might say something like, “What's the best way to look after my lawn? Or my grass?” Or “What's the best flower feed for a type of flower?” Here comes my gardener experience. Basically, what I'm trying to get across is, they've got a problem and they're looking for a solution. At this point, I know what you're thinking, but this is what people pay me for? I can't give it away! But that's where the shift is – that's what's separating the businesses that are killing it online just now from the ones that are trying to sell sell sell, and failing. Chris Marr: You're trying to build a relationship with people, so the best content a gardener can do is stuff that people are needing help with right now. They might not want to hire a gardener, but if you're the one that educates them and the one that builds trust with them, when they do need a gardener the person that they're more likely to go to is the person that they've been educated by, the person that they've been building the relationship up with online. You've got to think to yourself, just to strip away from Bill for a second, is what are people searching for on Google? What problems do people have? How can we help them with those problems? How can we answer those questions? That's what people are searching for on Google. That's how you're going to build a relationship with people and that's the type of content that I would advise someone like Bill to do. So it's all about the relationship. They're interested in a topic, you help them, they grow to trust you, and even to like you. In a lot of ways it's about sideways thinking. It's about figuring out who exactly uses your product, and what type of content they'd be interested in. Pete Matthew: Here at my financial advice practice, we want people who are serious about making decisions with their money, they want to achieve their goals. So, my podcast is geared to people like that. We're giving them good information that they can act on themselves while at the same time saying, “Look, a lot of this is really complicated, you might want to see an advisor. Hey, here we are.” It's about putting out stuff that people can use, which entertains them, educates them, and powers them to take action and ideally, to take action with you. It's lots and lots of things you can do, certainly it's working for us. The classic take on this is, give away the what and the why, then charge for the how. OR, another way of putting it – information is free, charge for implementation. That means, no matter how much you tell people, there's always a big group who need more help, some handholding or, even though they know, just want it done for them anyway! And who are they going to turn to. Well, the guy that told them about it in the first place. Looking further, there's another pretty interesting benefit. And that's The fact it can become a really valuable tool in your in-person selling as well. Andy Brown: When I get a prospect comes in to my space, they e-mail me asking a question and I will reach out and say, “Look, I've already answered that question.” In a nice way. You're going to get more value by listening to the show, listening to this episode. That's great because it conveys my personality and my voice and maybe they could get to know me by that vehicle. So that was Andy Brown from tripleyourclients.com. And he's talking about the fact that his customers get to know him through his content – that means trust. That means credibility. That means loyalty. Not to mention the authority he's building by putting out these really useful resources. Articles that seem to directed straight at that person. It's like you're in their head, seeing right through to their secret worries. Andy Brown: I think every business needs to have content marketing strategy, where they're answering questions that their consumers ask. When I've done that, it's been really successful. Page one of Google for the specific search term that I'm targeting. You need to do more of it, I think that you can never end. It's not complicated, the audience asks questions and you answer them. A lot of small businesses, they assume that all those questions can be answered on the phone when someone contacts you, but as we know, that's no longer happening. People are making the decisions before they contact you. They're basically doing the research online. If they can't find the answers on your site, they're going to go somewhere else. Right, we know what we're doing – we're answering question, squashing worries, we're becoming the most useful person in our industry. But how do we get this stuff out there? Julie Christie: We also blog, we have a blog on our website and we do write a lot of content surrounding what you should wear to your shoots, things to think about before your boudoir shoot, how to look after your skin before your boudoir shoot. We try to get found by potential clients through writing content for our blog, as well. Blogging is a great one to start with – that's just writing articles on your website. No kit required – just you, your keyboard, and the last few questions you were asked by a customer. Blogging's also the most direct way to get found in search – Google lives on text after all. But, the downside is that, because it's so easy, the competition is huge. It's still something you can crack if you find your niche, and what's unique about you. But blogging's well supported by the other methods, and ones that might seem a bit more cutting edge. Andy Brown: I've done a lot of video in other businesses that I've had over the years. Not done so much in the paper click space I'm working in at the moment. When I was in the golf industry we relied heavily on them, as you can imagine. On golf tips in small one minute, two minute videos. I still think YouTube is such a massive opportunity for small business. So, if you can offer out evergreen content, you should really take the time and you'll see the results. It's astounding. Video's great for being found, because it gets you visible on the second biggest search engine out there. That's YouTube. It's also an even better way to get your personality across – people can see you, hear you, really get to know you. But, one downside, video can be tricky to make, especially if you want it to look good. Something above the standard selfie stick guerrilla filming. But then again, that's raw, that's honest, and a lot of companies have made it work really really well for them. The other thing about video is that it's a hugely busy medium, and attention spans can be pretty low, people flicking from video to video. So, there's an alternative, and since you're listening to this show, you've probably heard of the humble podcast. Chris Marr: I loved doing video but I began to find myself listening to mono podcasts. I just thought I'd give it a go. The level of interaction from listeners is sky-high compared with video. I think it's because, podcasting particularly, can be passively consumed. You can be doing something else while you are listening to a podcast. Walking the dog, cutting the grass, you can be on the commute, you know? We've all got these smart phones with us these days, which automatically downloaded the latest episode of whatever we've subscribed to. I get to speak into people's ear drums for half an hour every week and there's thousands of people listening. I get to fill a good size local sports arena every week and speak to that many people and they're giving me their attention. I just think that's staggering. Because of that ability to consume it passively and because of that very intimate nature, I think, of having somebody's voice in your ear, it's certainly driven a lot more interaction, inquiries about doing business with us. I wish I'd done it earlier. Andy Brown: I think podcasting has really worked well for me and will work for others because of the fact that you're having a conversation. You can actually talk personally to the listeners, a one-on-one experience. It's not like an e-mail, where the reader's feeling that you're talking to everyone. This is a one-on-one conversation. That connection is what you're really going for in your marketing. We talked earlier about relationships, about building trust, building loyalty – that's what you're looking for. All three of blogging, video and podcasting can do that, and really, good marketing means doing at least two of them, if not all three. Podcasting is a funny one because it's a little bit behind the other two in terms of take up, but that might be a bit of an opportunity. When I asked Andy what he thinks the future of podcasting looks like, he was pretty emphatic. Andy Brown: It's going to be everywhere. Well, if you're sort of nerd-techy like me, it is everywhere but the mainstream will see it in a couple years time. You talk to friends, more and more they're going to be recommending podcasts. The same way that they talk about what they enjoyed on Netflix, for instance. That wasn't around a few years ago. Fast forward to three years from here and it'll just be, “What's your favorite podcast?” Even better, depending on how you do it, podcasting can be the easiest content of all to produce. Andy Brown: It's not a big deal, I record mine on my iPhone and then use an app to produce it. It goes automatically onto my feed, which is hosted on Sound cloud. It's the simplest set up you can have and it's very inexpensive. Marketing is a huge subject – it could be a series on its own – in fact I'm pretty sure we'll do just that, creating a whole season on it for this show. But, when you're getting started as a small business, less can be more. It's really easy to take on too much, to tackle every marketing method out there. But if you cover everything, just a little bit, then it's pretty likely you won't make a big impact anywhere. Sometimes it's best to choose a few key approaches and hit them hard. Concentrate your efforts and you'll see a big impact, then you can move on to the next technique. Or just double down on what's working! Whichever route you take, there's one thing that's even more important – that's' consistency. We all struggle with this. Everyone hammers their marketing in the early days, to grow their customers. That's when you've got lots of time, and not many contracts. But, what happens when the marketing works? Chris Marr: The gardener, for examples, he's got loads of gardens, he's filling up his schedule and all of a sudden, he hasn't got any time to market his business. Now, the biggest mistake that Bill could make is to not plan in time to build his business. The worst case scenario for Bill is: he stops marketing, all of a sudden he starts losing clients for some reason, or customers stop needing him. The next thing he knows, he's got no customers left or he's only got a few customers. Then he starts marketing. Marketing doesn't take effect immediately, it's something you need to be building. It's a foundational thing in your business, something consistent. It's about awareness and it's about staying top of mind and about … Reminding people you exist, basically. I love that – reminding them you exist. Chris's highlighting the fact there that big brands don't assume they can do one big campaign, and that's them in your mind forever. That just doesn't work. You fade in their minds, other brands get themselves out there and overwrite the work you've done. SO, you need to keep doing it. Keep marketing. Every day. Every week. Chris Marr: You need to pick out a time in the day where you are spending an hour or so working on your business. You need to have a plan for that. What are you doing every day to build your business? The most successful people do this….. you've got to realize that actually, you can't just do the gardening. You need to do the marketing, as well. Remember, though – that effort is so worth it. Consistent marketing helps you keep the work coming in, or the sales going out. Not only that, but GOOD marketing, makes sure those sales are to customers you actually like. Customers you WANT to work with. Remember Julie was talking about relationship marketing earlier? If you find customers that fit your personality, your values, your brand, then everything is so much easier. First, your customers stay longer, become more loyal. Next, you get more referrals because they actually like you! Ever better, you can charge more, because you're in demand and you have the social proof to justify it. Last of all, probably the most important one, it makes your work more fun. And what's the point of going into business if it's not to do work we love? Julie Christie: It's really hard to follow this advice, but my advice would be never forget who your target client is and never get desperate. I think that's when you go down that slippery slope and you start working for less money, you start working for the wrong clients. Try and stay strong, try and find that right client. It's easier said than done. This was episode 3 of UK Business Startup, and this time around I want to ask a little favour. If you enjoyed the show and it helped in just a small way in your own business adventure, would you mind popping over to the iTunes store and giving us a rating and a review. It's a huge help in getting the show out to more people. You can do it either in the Podcast app on your phone, or through iTunes on your computer. If you're not on an apple device, then, forget about this itunes caper – instead, just fire us a tweet letting us know what you thought of the show. You'll find us @thepodcasthost on Twitter. Thanks as well to everyone that helped in this episode – all of our interviewees. And you can find out more about what they do at the shownotes today which is at thepodcasthost.com/startup/103 Thanks for listening, and see you in the next one!

Chris Marr - Content Generation for Success Chris grew up and remains in Scotland with his growing family. He began his successful entrepreneurial journey in 2010 when he wrote his first blog. Find out how your entrepreneurial journey can be successful with Chris Marr - Content Generation for Success. Share Chris's Episode 69 on Twitter He began Content Marketing Academy as a general marketing company in 2013. As the company grew, he realized the company needed to educate. The more teaching they could do, the more money businesses would be willing to spend for marketing. CMA started with the thought of educating and teaching but it's more about building a community. Delivering Content Chris Marr's company does speaking, videos, podcasts, blogs, podcast interviews and is out there as often as possible to get exposure for CMA. CMA is changing the way their clients do business. Chris Marr says Scotland is behind compared to the United States in marketing. CMA is ahead of the curve. They are leading the industry forward in Scotland by changing the way their clients communicate forever through content marketing. If you are not creating content today, blog, video or podcast, you don't exist. When people search for solutions and you have not created content, you won't be found. Business marketing is no longer about who is shouting the loudest. Consumers have more choices and think about buying choices differently. Community Acknowledgement Chris compares this to being in a crowd. If you say something and no one acknowledges you, what is the point. Providing or receiving feedback on your content is vital to getting people to like you and building a community. If you would like to learn what Chris Marr says next about content generation, listen to the episode by clicking on the download or the play button at the top of this article. To connect with Chris Marr - Content Generation for Success, check out his links below and remember he welcomes all questions, comments and inquiries! Don't forget to mention you heard about Daniel on Stop Riding the Pine:-) Email Chris Chris on Facebook Instagram Connect with Chris on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube Here are the highlights of my conversation with Chris Marr - Content Generation for Success if you are in a hurry: Who is Chris Marr? (3:51 Mark) Why is content vital for business? (13:20 Mark) Why build a community? (26:40 Mark) What does Chris say about scalability? (27:45 Mark) What was Chris's break away moment? (31:56 Mark) Special Mentions: (iTunes Shout Out) Jeff Augustine. Thank you to Alexis Ayala, for providing the incredible editing for this episode. If you need to find an audio editor, send Alexis an email at lex@slapshotstudio.com. Thank you to our awesome sponsor, Interview Valet, A professional concierge guest booking podcast service for hosts and guests - You be the Guest, We do the Rest! Check out their new website at InterviewValet.com. This episode of Stop Riding the Pine Podcast was brought to you by Done4YouWP.com Are you a busy coach, professional or agency looking to have your WordPress website headaches handled by your very own development team for wholesale prices? Then you should visit Done4YouWP.com to find the solution that best fits your current challenges with a full-scale approach to managing your WordPress website. Stop Riding the Pine is a lot of fun and we love sharing the shows we've done. We would greatly appreciate your assistance in helping us grow this show by not only downloading the episodes, but also sharing them. Leave comments and rate our show so we can make the show even better.

Creating and hosting a live event is an incredible opportunity for you and the people you're serving. If you've ever considered hosting your own, or just wondered why in the world anyone would ever take on such a momentous task listen in to today's episode! Chris Marr of The Content Marketing Academy in Scotland joins us to talk about why he started doing live events, how his company is creating the demand for content marketing in the UK, and what some of his greatest struggles and successes have been with his own live events. On episode 158 of Youpreneur FM Chris and I delve into all of that and more; it's an eye-opening look at the mindset needed to carry out consistently high quality events and why those events matter to us as entrepreneurs. Essential Learning Points From This Episode:Does Chris have days when he doubts what he is doing? What it really means if you say you don't have time. How did he get speakers to present at his first event? Why the little things at a conference matter so much. How I sold out my London mastermind event with no advertising. Much, much more! Important Links & Mentions From This Episode: Content Marketing Academy event website (https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/#) Chris Marr on Twitter (https://twitter.com/chrismarr101) Build the Business of You (http://chrisducker.com/launchpad) The Virtual Freedom Book 2 year anniversary (http://virtualfreedombook.com) (www.youpreneuracademy.com) Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose mine, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes (https://www.chrisducker.com/itunes) , they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to (https://www.chrisducker.com/itunes) , to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Isn’t there enough content out there already? How can business owners find time for social? What does “letting go” of content actually mean? How can we ensure we keep it human online? I speak to Chris Marr of the Content Marketing Academy to get all the answers. Questions for Chris: Tell us about the Content Marketing Academy and what you do? There is a lot of content out there already. Remind us, why is content marketing essential? Why can’t business owners the find time for social and for content marketing? What does “letting go of content” mean? What social and digital channels do you think work best for content marketing? If you could only use one platform, what would it be? Why do business people struggle to adapt new channels such as Snapchat or Instagram? What’s the best way to make an impact with storytelling on social? How can business owners project their personal brands on social? What are the best tools and apps for content and social marketing in 2016? What made you switch away from MailChimp to ConvertKit? What brands inspire you on social? Article: http://linkhumans.com/podcast/human-content-chris-marr Write ups: http://linkhumans.com/podcast Subscribe on iTunes: http://bit.ly/smknowhow

Let's review the week ending March 18th, 2016. We had a great week, with guests Remy LeGuin, military transition expert, and Chris Marr, one of the UK's leading content marketing experts, who both just blew us away. I also had a special discussion of how entrepreneurs can get support, often without spending money. You'll definitely want to check it out. For a video of this interview: https://youtu.be/w_dyE0KL3MM Or Visit BOSS Academy Radio at http://bossacademy.com

Content marketing is a critical tool for successful businesses today. If you're not currently leveraging a content marketing strategy, I'd argue that it's imperative that you do. Our guest, Chris Marr, walks us through why it is so important and what it means to your business.    Chris Marr is a teacher and student of content marketing. He's the founder and driving force behind the Content Marketing Academy, the UK's largest membership organisation of its type.   Chris is the leading voice of the growing Content Marketing movement in the UK. His pioneering work has helped countless organisations grow through content marketing. His drive comes from a desire to help people break free from the world of interruption marketing   Through workshops, events, coaching and, of course, a ton of freely available content, Chris has become a respected Content Marketing educator.   Like all educators, Chris is also a dedicated student. He's interviewed and facilitated events with many of content marketing’s most notable thought leaders. The knowledge he's learned from the likes of Jay Baer, Ann Handley, Marcus Sheridan and Mark Schaefer has been shared freely with the members of his growing community.   Chris has also connected with many content marketing practitioners who have achieved remarkable success. By shining a light on these businesses and sharing the stories of their success, Chris perfectly blends the theory and practice of content marketing.   His passion for content marketing is surpassed by one thing - his family. Chris is married to Andrea and together they made another human - Spencer, who was the perfect Christmas present in 2015.   Learn more about The Content Marketing Academy by visiting: https://www.thecontentmarketingacademy.co.uk/ Chris Marr's personal page is http://www.chrismarr.co.uk/ Chris can be followed on Twitter @chrismarr101

MPAF80 – Chris Marr on Content Marketing, Educating and Communicating without Selling You might hear traditional marketing described as "interruption marketing". An advert stopping you from watching your favourite TV show is an example. But you don't have to shout at your customers, interrupt them or get on their nerves to engage with them. What if marketing could be about: Education Entertainment Fun Help In this episode I talk to Chris Marr about content marketing. And he describes the principles of content marketing just like that. Education. Entertainment. Fun and help. Listen to Chris expand on these principles and how it could work for your business. Hear how you could create content cost effectively, engage potential clients and have them come and find you. That's all right here in episode 80 of the Marketing Protection and Finance Podcast. Who is Chris Marr? Chris Marr is a content marketer, blogger and podcaster. He helps businesses in and around Fife in Scotland to embrace content marketing principles and improve their communication. Chris is also the founder of The Content Marketing Academy, Scotland’s first and only annual content marketing conference, and is the founder and host of The Content Marketing Academy Podcast, both of which are great examples of Chris’ commitment to promoting marketing and guiding business owners. Links and Show Notes. For links to the books and apps mentioned by Chris, please visit http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MPAF for the show notes. What is the Marketing Finance and Protection (MPAF) Podcast? It’s the Podcast for Financial Services Professionals looking to share business ideas and inspiration in the world of Marketing, Protection and Finance. The MPAF Podcast is a 30 minute audio show you download from http://rogeredwards.co.uk/MPAF, iTunes or Stitcher Radio. Each week I’ll be interviewing financial services providers, advisers, experts and journalists. Interviews to listen to in the car, on the train or on the treadmill. The main focus of the podcast is on what we can do to make protection and finance more accessible to the consumer and how financial services professionals can develop and promote their businesses. We’ll look at financial services products, interesting business models and campaigns with an emphasis on the following: Marketing – talking about how financial services professionals can develop and promote their businesses using traditional marketing tools but focussing on modern content marketing and social media techniques. Protection – talking about life insurance, critical illness, income protection and other protection products Finance – talking about pensions, platforms, savings and investments My aim is to make sure that you will get one or two big business ideas that you can apply to your own business.  Whether it is a sales idea, advice idea, product tweak or simply an app that is worth looking at. I’m your host, Roger Edwards. A marketing guy from Edinburgh I help people like you with your marketing strategy, content and social media. Until I set up my own business I was in and out of senior marketing roles in UK Financial Services Companies for two decades. Some of you might remember me as the Marketing Director and Managing Director of Bright Grey and Scottish Provident. Please subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes and I’d be grateful if you would leave a review. http://rogeredwards.co.uk/itunes Fancy Appearing on the Show? Would you be interested in appearing on the MPAF Podcast? Are you working on a new proposition, campaign or a business model you want to talk about? Do you fancy drawing out some inspirational business and marketing ideas that MPAF listeners can take away to use in their own businesses? Do please contact me if you want to get involved. http://rogeredwards.co.uk

In episode 40 of the Graduate Job Podcast, I am joined by content marketing guru Chris Marr, as we explore all aspects of getting a job in content marketing. As the founder of the Content Marketing Academy and Host of the Content Marketing Academy podcast, Chris is ideally placed to share exactly what you need to do to get started in this booming field. We explore the basics, from what exactly content marketing is, how and why you need to start building your brand online, to the key hints, tips and skills that will get you ahead as you start your career. It doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie to content marketing, or already have your own online platform, there is something in this episode to inspire you. As always, all links to everything we discuss and a full transcript are available in the show notes at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/content. Before we start a quick request from me, your feedback helps me to create the episodes you want to hear, so I’ve set up a super simple and very quick survey, as I want the show to best serve your needs. It’s got 5 questions and will take you a minute, so please check it out at http://www.graduatejobpodcast.com/survey/. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. But in the meantime, let’s crack on with the show. MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT: What exactly content marketing is Why now is the perfect time to get started in content marketing How you can get involved at university and begin to build your brand online Why you need to start a blog to get ahead in content marketing The key skills that will set you apart when you apply for content marketing jobs How you can move from being a consumer on content, to a curator, then creator of content Why the number one thing you need to do is to START!

Can Social Media really be used by small businesses to find and win customers locally? In episdode 11 of TubbTalk, I talk with Chris Marr, a Social Media and Marketing expert. Chris and I discuss:- Overcoming the common objection "We don't use Social Media because our customers don't use it" Why Social Media is worthwhile for local businesses The perils of not prioritising Social Media (or any type of Marketing) in Small Business Examples of Social Media opportunities for local businesses The mistake of using Social Media to sell to people Who your competition really is on Social Media Joining the dots - How the principles of off line networking successfully work in social networking How a small business can build a following on Social Media The power of Twitter lists Why should businesses seek out Twitter chats Details of The Content Marketing Academy event in Edinburgh, 

Show Notes In this episode we invite back the content marketing evangelist. Chris Marr is the Founder of Learning Everyday, which has been established to assist small businesses with content marketing and business development. Chris’ up-coming event The Content Marketing Academy – Content Marketing Conference.   Also in the show What the true definition of content marketing is and how to apply it to build a thriving community. Chris laments on the 3 big issues facing conference delegates passive response to taking action after an event. (And what event companies should do to see a return on investment) Discover the crucial elements of Hosting Live conformances and workshops so delegates can’t stop raving about it. Find out about Chris’ super smart secret for pre-selling conference tickets a year in advance. With no allocated speakers, designated venue or tickets prices set (outrageously simple) Chris shares why he changed his content strategy from (posting curated content to more bespoke content) Listen to how Chris got world class speakers to show up at his first event (For zero money) with a little outside of the box thinking. Hear why Chris spent 20 hours building a 10 part email course after being challenged at a recent mastermind event to scrutinize his email metrics. The revelations are fascinating. Did you want to know what quadruples engagement on almost all social media platforms? If you do, press play now and listen to this week’s show. Connect Blog – www.learning-everyday.co.uk Twitter – @chrismarr101 Podcast – Podcast Facebook – facebook.com/marketingacademypodcast

What is content marketing? How can your business take advantage of it? How can you learn more about it? More importantly, what can it do for your audience, influence and profitability? People are becoming more and more passionate and excited about content! Content marketing is a business’s ability to communicate a message to an audience… The post https://www.excellence-expected.com/episode70/ (Building An Audience that Will Buy with Content Marketing Secrets from Chris Marr) appeared first on https://www.excellence-expected.com (Excellence Expected, by Mark Asquith).

My today's guest is Chris Marr. Chris Marr is a content marketer, blogger and podcaster. He helps businesses in and around Fife to embrace content marketing strategies and improve their communication. He is content marketer, blogger, Director of Learning Everyday Ltd, Founder of The Content Marketing Academy and Host of The Marketing Academy Podcast. Interview Highlights Content Marketing: the ability to communicate with people without selling to them. Go with the platform your audience resonates most and you feel comfortable with. The best thing is to stick to one main platform in the beginning. You can create community around your content. It is very important to connect on a personal level with your audience. Building audience takes time. [spp-tweet "Build your audience piece by piece, one person at a time."] You don't need to create more content. You can engage with other people's content that is already there. [spp-tweet "There are thousand and one ways to get your message out there."] The mistake that people often do is they try to do too much. They get overwhelmed and spread themselves too thin. Because of that they do the next mistake and become inconsistent with their content. The best way for anyone to differentiate is by being as personable as possible. [spp-tweet "One of the best ways to connect with your audience is being yourself."] People remember the lessons through stories.

Chris is the founder of The Content Marketing Academy - Scotland's first and only annual content marketing conference. He's also founder and host of The Marketing Academy Podcast. You can find him over at Learning-Everyday.co.uk. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss what is content marketing, with topics including: How would you define content marketing to a small business owner? Does content marketing include private correspondence like email? Does every business that has a website need to be involved in some form of content marketing? The importance of leading with your personality If you only have 3 or 4 hours per week, should you just focus on one type of content marketing? Is it important to publish your content at the same time every week? Is it wise to have a schedule to produce your content before the publishing date? What is the biggest learning experience that you have come through as a result of publishing your podcast? What can you learn by editing your own podcast? What are some of the biggest mistakes that businesses make with content marketing? Why you shouldn't think of content marketing as a 'campaign' Is it possibly to measure the impact of content marketing? What are some of the newer content distribution opportunities in 2015? [Tweet ""My biggest mistake was not getting offline enough" @chrismarr101"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? AllThings [Task management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Team communication] Meet Edgar [Social media management] Sprout Social [Social media management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Find a way to get your customers closer to you. Pull them in. Find a way to build a community with this one thing that you all have in common.

In This episode we Interview leading UK Pod caster And Content  Marketer Evangelist Chris Marr about his  18 month roller coaster ride from been employed in a Senior  management position to accepting a  severance pay off and then  deciding to go back  to  university as a mature student to further enhance his career prospects. Chris shares the story of how after reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s book "Crush it" he made the conscious decision to turn his back on climbing the corporate ladder for the option of blazing his own entrepreneurial trail. Success Quote “Instead of doing the best you can, do it the best it can be done.” Gary Keller   Entrepreneurs and Business Owners ENJOY.

“You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn In episode 12 of the Changeability Podcast we talk about making goals happen with entrepreneur Chris Marr.   Yes, we’re super excited to have our first guest on the show, because Chris is a real-life example of someone who takes massive action when it comes to using goals in his life and business.   Chris set out two years ago with a mission to become an expert goal setter and in this practical session he shares the challenges and successes he’s experienced, and gives us a fascinating insight into the system he uses. We’ve been looking at goals and vision in the last few episodes of the Changeability Podcast, and it’s great to hear today from someone who’s making goals happen in such a real and positive way in his life and business.   This episode is full of actionable tips and techniques for anyone who wants to change or achieve something and have a positive outlook in their life and business. All this and more with Chris Marr, host of the popular Marketing Academy Podcast and founder of Learning Everyday and the Content Marketing Academy conference.    As we delve right into Chris’s take on goals you’ll find out about: Why goal setting works – and the evidence Chris found to prove it 3 major goals Chris has achieved in life and business The 8 step system Chris uses to create his goals and become an expert goal setter Some of the challenges and difficulties of making goals happen Thinking big and small Logic and creativity Why SMART goals are a great place to start Why goal-setting is a number one success principle What is a goal cash up The hardest thing about goals (and it’s not the goals) What stops us achieving our goals Finding your own way and being yourself Chris’s formula for staying in an optimum mindset to achieve what you want Some harsh advice (it’s not that bad really) The power of being around great people Why Chris doesn’t watch the news anymore Why you should never moan about Monday mornings if you’re a friend of Chris’s How to stay positive