Media Heaven on Earth Meets Internet Marketing

Garry Jones, President, Full Sail University.

Media Heaven on Earth
The Full Sail campus is located in Winter Park, FL and is comprised of 190 acres. There is almost one million square feet of sound stages, recording studios, computer animation labs, green screen rooms, motion capture suites and just about any type of environment to create a video, a movie, sound track, animated feature, a game, etc. There are 9,000 full time students studying in 30 degree programs. Some students are campus based and some are online. The students are all passionate, driven story tellers interested in learning the tools of their trade. They are matched with teachers similarly passionate about these tools and story telling. The result is a hip learning environment where people are super charged and where sparks fly in the creative process.  Full Sail attracts students from around the globe. Though, the main campus is in Winter Park, FL (near Orlando) there are sister schools in the Los Angeles Film School and the Los Angeles Recording school as well as outside Denver, at The Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.

The Harvard of the Media and Entertainment Education
Garry recently attended the Grammy’s in L.A. along with 18 staff members. Over 100 Full Sail graduates participated in Grammy nominated projects. The Full Sail staff toured graduate’s studios, Warner Bros Pictures and visited with many Full Sail graduates catching up on their lives and careers. Full Sail has captured the attention of much media. Rolling Stone Magazine has named it one of the five best music programs in the U.S. Electronic Gaming Monthly, named its Gaming Degree one of the top 5 in the world. Shift Magazine named it the #3 new media school. Unleashed Magazine named it one of the top 5 film schools in the U.S. Rolling Stone magazine, also dubbed Full Sail one of the Schools That Rock, naming it one of the best music business departments in U.S. Full Sail’s recognition is growing because their graduates are performing great results in the entertainment and media industries.

Internet Marketing Curriculum
Full Sail launched an online Bachelors and Masters degree program in Internet Marketing in October 2008. The Masters program is a one year long program and the Bachelors degree is a two year program. Under the leadership of Carol Cox, the students get a well rounded education in Internet Marketing including, SEO, PPC, analytics, consumer behavior, branding, mobile advertising, social media and consumer behavior. Each course is four weeks long.  All the instructors are located on campus. They work very closely together to share information to keep the content current. They keep up to date through web news, webinars, podcasts, conferences, blogs and other online sources of updated content that can be added to the curriculum as needed.  Course content is sometimes up to the minute fresh….They don’t use any textbooks. They use trade publications and other relevant industry articles. The Internet Marketing curriculum continues to grow as they attract students from varying backgrounds including entrepreneurs, corporate marketing departments and stay at home moms starting a new business or working in a family business.

Full Sail Marketing Strategy
The university market is a very competitive market with over 4500 colleges plus 3000 proprietary colleges in the U.S. Full Sail does a fine job of articulating their core message and value proposition in all their marketing communications. Under the leadership of Andrew Solberg, Full Sail’s marketing strategy includes many of the Internet marketing techniques they teach including SEO, PPC, display ads and email marketing. Additionally they use traditional marketing including outdoor, television and print. All their traditional media includes links to their website or a landing page for tracking purposes. When someone visits the Full Sail website they quickly get exposed to the student experience and the breadth of their educational credentials. Not surprisingly, their website provides a very rich media experience that is noticeably different than most college websites. A visit to their website allows you to experience a tour of their campus.

A Launch Box Moment
On the first day of classes at Full Sail each new student experiences The Launch Box. Full Sail accelerates their learning curve by putting a mobile, digital studio in their hands on day one. The Launch Box includes a MacBook Pro with all applicable software for each student’s degree program. From day one the student has tutorials to get set up and running. The famous moment on the first day of class is when the instructor says to the class “Welcome to the the next chapter of the rest of your life. Turn on your launch boxes!” At the same moment everyone powers up their customized MacBook Pro and they end up in wild applause.

I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast interview with Garry Jones, Carol Cox and Andrew Solberg of Full Sail University and encourage you to listen to it (above or from iTunes). The next time you watch the Grammy’s or the Oscars, know that Full Sail graduates had a hand in some of those works of art as well as many others in private industry that may not appear in awards but nonetheless have a powerful impact in their respective market segment.

The education provided by Full Sail University allows students to earn a living in current economic conditions whether as an entrepreneur or as an employee in media, entertainment, gaming and Internet marketing fields.

As a Floridian, I’m proud to know Full Sail University is based in my home state. As a digital citizen and marketer I’m thrilled to see the economic impact of this fine institution of specialized learning and their commitment to students through tools, technology and devoted instructors.

B2B Content Marketing for SMB Business

Kim Albee on B2B content marketing.

Kim Albee is founder and President of Genoo, a marketing automation software company serving B2B SMB companies mostly in the U.S. Genoo provides tools to build micro-sites, do lead nurturing, lead tracking and it integrates with Salesforce.com. I met Kim on LinkedIn when I was looking for case studies for my book. This podcast interview is an update to that case study.

Kim launched her Genoo product in June 2008 in beta. It became available to the public in Sept 2009. As an entrepreneur launching a new marketing automation software product with no marketing budget Kim got very creative. She started playing with social media tools, most notably LinkedIn. She joined some relevant groups in 2008. But, at that time LinkedIn didn’t offer the “discussion” feature, so there was no ability to create conversations in groups.

Kim wondered how she could find and engage people interested in B2B marketing. She didn’t find any B2B groups on LinkedIn, so she created a B2B Online Marketing group and invited others to join it. But, without a discussion feature, the group didn’t have much value. Then, Kim set up a free forum for conversations on B2B marketing. But, no one joined. By now, Kim was getting frustrated by her limited ability to engage with other B2B marketers online.  Then, it happened!  LinkedIn started offering discussions in groups and everything changed.

Kim created a LinkedIn group called B2B Online Marketing and she also created a dedicated website which shares and re-purposes content from the group.  BTW, do a Google search for “b2b online marketing” and you’ll find this website in the first 5 search results. Kim started discussions in this group on relevant topics such as lead generation, SEO, how to create great content, how to create and use micro-sites and other topics of interest to B2B marketers. Initially, Kim emailed the members of the group each time a new discussion was started using the email feature in Genoo. The group has grown to over 3,200 members and it’s still growing, fostering great conversations among B2B marketers.

Kim blazed a new trail with this approach. She was willing to experiment with something new. She was very persistent and resourceful. Her leadership is apparent as she created a new group and has been willing to maintain it with active interaction with the group members.

Some B2B Online Marketers Still Skeptical
Kim hears the same objection I often hear from B2B marketers. Many are simply skeptical that marketing online is effective for narrowly defined B2B niches. The truth is that most people search online when they need to find a product or service. B2B marketers must ask themselves, how do their websites perform in searches pertaining to their niche? Many B2B websites are just a “blow-horn” for their products and services with no meaningful calls to action, or limited opportunity to engage (if any). The reality is most B2B prospects want to get to know a business before they call them or fill out a form. They want to check you out first. And, the way to allow them to check you out is through great content!

Niche Marketers Take Notice
I’ve written before in my blog and in my book how marketers in any market segment should draw a circle with two concentric circles around it to define their target market. The smallest circle is the bulls-eye target market. The two outer circles contain demographics who reach and influence the bullseye. Marketers should target each of these groups through great content.

No matter what business you’re in you have a USP (unique selling proposition). There is  a story there. Share your story. Your target market may not currently be on Twitter or Facebook every day, but when you share your content there you will get better search results. SEO is all about the long-tail now. If you don’t start now, you won’t be there when your audience arrives.

Email Challenge
Kim met someone online who challenged her to write one email every day for 30 days on a relevant marketing topic. He offered to subscribe to her email list, in return for Kim subscribing to his. Kim agreed and sent her first email to her list of about 5000 people, many of whom she did not email frequently. She had low expectations but was willing to experiment. Remember, Kim is not afraid to take some risk. She started her first email with a cheesy email heading: “Hello Fellow Marketers.” She explained her plan to send one email each day for 30 days on a marketing topic. To her surprise, she got 218 people to sign up to get an email from Kim everyday for 30 days on relevant B2B marketing topics. After her final email, she did a survey which received a 38% open rate. Kim took some risk with this 30 day email challenge. And, the results were impressive.

Content Marketing & Relationship Building
I couldn’t have scripted this interview any better. In my book, Marketing 2.0 I boil everything down to having a terrific content marketing strategy and building relationships online. Kim’s daily email was great content, not to mention her B2B Online Marketing group on LinkedIn. Kim built relationships with her 218 subscribers through a personal response to replies she received which built relationships with her subscribers. After the 30 day experiment Kim got several new customers without ever once making a pitch for Genoo. Her great content was her marketing. How measurable is that?! Very!

Kim is a  terrific example of Marketing 2.0 in action. She is willing to take risks. She succeeds a lot more than she fails. But, if we don’t have some failures along the way we’re probably not trying hard enough. Kim is proof positive of this.

To engage with Kim (and why wouldn’t you want to), here are several ways:

Genoo Marketing Automation Software

Kim Albee on LinkdeIn

Kim Albee on Twitter

Marketing Automation Resources

If Kim Albee’s content marketing strategy story inspires you, please add your thoughts below.

Unconventional Marketing by Nadine M Rosin

Happy New Decade!

As I kick off a new year with my podcasts I want to reiterate the mission of my podcasts.

I seek to bring you interesting people that are doing interesting things in marketing in order to share their experiences with marketers around the world for education and inspiration.

My first podcast guest in the new decade is Nadine M. Rosin. Nadine is an unconventional person in several ways. It’s her unconventional approach to life and marketing that offers great inspiration. Nadine is a certified therapeutic body worker and a non-denominational minister who performs weddings in Tucson. Nadine is the author of a book titled The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood. The book was inspired by the loss of her dog Buttons. Buttons was diagnosed with cancer when she was 8 years old and was given just 6 weeks to live. That’s when Nadine got unconventional…

An Unconventional Person
Nadine is less likely than most people to accept the conventional way of doing things. She subscribes to the cliché “necessity is the mother of invention.” When the veterinarian gave her dog Buttons 6 weeks to live, Nadine sought and found the causes of the cancer. Rather than deal with the symptoms, Nadine took a holistic approach to Buttons’ cancer. Over the next four months Nadine cleared out all toxins in her home. Essentially, she cleansed Buttons’ environment inside and outside and strengthened her body nutritionally so her dog’s body would heal itself. It worked. Buttons lived another 11 years and died of natural causes at age 19.

The Marketing Lesson in Mourning
Nadine observed that people (especially in the U.S.) are encouraged to keep sorrowful emotions bottled up. She points out that it’s not healthy to hide these powerful emotions. It’s not how we heal. An example Nadine offers is how during President Reagan’s funeral the esteemed media praised Nancy Reagan for not showing her grief in public. It’s a normal human emotion to mourn over the death of a loved one. It’s authentic and healthy to grieve. Grieving gives us a healing process.

What does this have to do with marketing you ask? Good question. Keep reading…

Create Content About Which You’re Passionate
The experience Nadine had with her own pet coupled with the observations of how people need to grieve even after they lose a pet, inspired Nadine’s book. Her book helps “pet parents” to grieve and heal after the loss of their pets.

Nadine never had a budget to market her book. She doesn’t have a warehouse of books to send out for promotion. But, Nadine does have a warehouse full of passion. She started her marketing plan with a 3 minute video, which serves as a trailer about the book which she posted on YouTube. Then, she searched for videos on YouTube for “pet memorial” and found people offering tributes to a pet which had recently died. Nadine would leave a short, authentic and sympathetic comment in her handle: authorgirlpetparent with a link to her video. Many people would click on her video and find her book and buy it. Eventually, many people came back to her video to comment on how helpful the book was to them in their healing process over their pet loss.

Shoestring Marketing

Nadine designed her website herself with no prior experience. She just learned how to do it. She found and visited online pet social sites to find conversations with people about their pets and engaged them. Two such sites include Dogster and  DoggySpace. The people she encountered on these pet social sites actually speak in the persona of their pet.  She started making friends on all these social sites and establishing her brand in her own persona of Authorgirlpetparent. This marketing strategy cost no money. It did “cost” her about 6 hours each day after work, which she admits flies by because she is so passionate about the topic and her online relationship building. One such online connection got her an invitation to be flown to an event where she was the keynote speaker.

Nadine is very focused on the details of her online relationship details. She sends a personalized direct message (DM) to every new follower on Twitter and Facebook. She also gives free help to other pet parents who have holistic questions. She offers a 30-minute one-on-one consultation. No one is turned away who can’t afford one.

Marketing 2.0 at Work

Nadine’s content marketing and relationship building strategy is intuitively exactly as I wrote in my book, Marketing 2.0. Nadine has developed a content marketing strategy and prioritizes the connections she makes online with people on pet social sites and through Facebook and Twitter. Nadine also blogs regularly on her pet parenthood blog and accepts, speaking engagements where ever possible.

Experiential Marketing
Nadine is creating experiences with people when she connects with them. She shares her own personal experience through her story about her deceased dog Buttons. For example, someone on Facebook contacted Nadine about a friend who had just lost a pet. This person posted Nadine’s video on her friend’s profile. This person turned out to be Yvonne DiVita an active social media expert who supports women in business and pet owners (pet parents). Yvonne bought and read Nadine’s book.  She contacted Nadine to help her market it. She offered Nadine valuable social media advice to accelerate her social media marketing on Twitter and Facebook.

Results in Motion
When I asked Nadine how she measures results, I could tell she was a little uncomfortable with this topic. As an author of a book, I understand that conventional results measurement is all about measuring book sales. But, until Nadine’s book sales gets into in six figures, she won’t be excited measuring that result. So she ignores the numbers. Instead Nadine measures the results in motion, which includes:

What kind of emails is she getting from readers?
How much are other people trying to connect and help Nadine?
What’s the value of her new connections?
Do her connections offer value that can contribute to book sales in the future?

There Are Many Inches in a Mile
The unconventional path to book sales for Nadine wasn’t so unconventional after all. Nadine figured it out as she went along. Her passion and commitment combined with her authentic approach to connecting with people has allowed her to learn successful marketing strategies as she experimented with them.

Nadine is measuring milestones. As I state in my book, marketers can measure the outcome of relationships developed online. These milestones are stepping stones to end results. You don’t get from an inch to a mile in one step.  It’s ok to measure the inches you achieve on your way to the mile.

One small example of measuring inches for Nadine is the way we met. I found Nadine when she was featured in a newsletter article put out by our mutual publisher, Wheatmark Publishing. I was impressed by her story so I contacted her to to be a guest on my podcast. Who knows what doors may open from this podcast interview.

I hope Nadine’s story as a pet parent and as a marketer inspire you in some way. I invite you to learn more about Nadine and her book here. I’m sure Nadine would enjoy connecting with you, to share common interests in marketing or pet parenting.

Bernie Borges
@berniebay

P.S. To learn more about developing content marketing strategies like Nadine’s check out my book, Marketing 2.0.

John Jantsch Duct Tape Marketing a Lesson in Branding

John Jantsch, calls himself a 25 year overnight success. After spending some time with him, I understand his point. John started his own marketing agency about 22 years ago which he started after spending some time working for one. The first few years his agency did typical marketing campaigns for companies. John really enjoys working with small businesses. He realizes their needs are very similar to larger companies but they don’t have the same resources.  He struggled with this challenge early in his agency’s life.  Eventually, John set out to create a turnkey, curriculum based approach to marketing for small businesses that could be delivered by other marketing professionals. As John says, it’s a marketing plan that explains to a small business “here’s what you need to do, here are the results you can expect and here’s how much it costs.” Most of his clients are services businesses, resellers and construction/home services. They all need marketing but struggle finding it from a traditional marketing agency largely because the traditional agency’s fees are often not palatable to a small business.  John has found a niche by turning marketing services into a product.

The Power of Duct Tape

In the early days of John’s marketing agency it was called Jantsch Communications. As he began to develop his turnkey marketing system, he realized it was time to rename it and develop a brand for it. He was looking for a name that would represent the value of his turnkey marketing program. His daughter gave him the inspiration he was looking for.  One night she had a few friends over and as teenagers sometimes do, a minor incident occurred to the family car. She tried to cover it up by using duct tape to repair a damaged bumper on the car.  It almost worked. But, she left the roll of duct tape out which is how John discovered the cover up. But, the light bulb went on for John that duct tape is very strong, so he re-branded his company to Duct Tape Marketing. When, I suggested to John that the meaning of Duct Tape Marketing is marketing that sticks, he said I am not the first to say that. Bummer…John has created a memorable brand thanks to his daughter’s cover up attempt. And, who said teenagers aren’t helpful!

Marketing That Scales

John was an early adopter of online marketing. His Duct Tape Marketing blog has received press coverage and even led to his Duct Tape Marketing book. His Duct Tape Marketing podcasts are also very popular. John’s passion for helping small businesses inspired him to duplicate his model so it would scale. His long term goal became the creation of a network of coaches that can install the Duct Tape Marketing system in small businesses, and giving other consultants the ability to have a brand they can embrace. At the time of this interview John has about 60 certified Duct Tape Marketing coaches in the U.S. and about a dozen coaches outside the U.S. John is optimistically expecting to triple the number of coaches in 2010.

Evolution of Duct Tape Marketing

While many fundamentals in marketing haven’t changed much, the platforms have evolved quite a bit and continue to. John provides an online component that is modular and allows coaches to deliver training/consulting efficiently. His coaches use the Duct Tape Marketing planning software with a client, plus a series of programs which a coach can use with an online component. The modular program approach gives a coach many ways to keep clients engaged in an ongoing relationship.

Earning the Right

Duct Tape Marketing teaches small business marketers to share great content which can build awareness of their expertise. When a marketer builds awareness, trust and credibility it’s perfectly acceptable to occasionally make an offer pertaining to their products or services. A recent study by Razorfish shows that many consumers are looking for deals from the brands they follow online in platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The key is for marketers to build a good relationship with their followers in order to be well received with online offers. The old adage applies here: people buy from brands they know, like and trust.

2010 Small Business Marketing Trends

More small businesses are embracing a blog as their approach to a website. A blog is a terrific SEO tool. It can create a hub of content, create awareness and build authority for any business. Smart small business marketers are starting to look at their online marketing as a way to enhance their offline marketing. It will not replace their face to face (offline) marketing, which is very important to a small business. Online tools allow small business marketers to complement their offline marketing. John predicts small marketers will continue to embrace Facebook as a platform to build their online presence. I like the fact that Facebook is both social and business. It’s a hybrid social media model that allows small businesses to be more human. John points out that even search optimization will be affected by the growth of social platforms like Facebook. I agree and I’ve blogged about this before. It won’t be long before Google will provide search results that include recommendations from people in your network. We both agree that Google Wave has a lot of potential but, at the time of this interview it’s too early to predict its adoption. But, it sure has a lot of potential.

Duct Tape Marketing is both a lesson in branding and a fine example of how small businesses can build very successful marketing plans with offline and online components using a proven approach that has become an overnight success in 25 years.

Linking In to Pay it Forward by Chuck Hester

Paying it Forward with Chuck Hester.

In this podcast interview, we get to meet Chuck Hester. Chuck is Communications Director with iContact, an email marketing software service. Chuck considers himself a LinkedIn maven because he so willingly imparts his knowledge with others. Chuck has been active on social media for about six years now. Obviously, Chuck was an early adopter of social media, in particular of LinkedIn. He got very involved in social media when he joined iContact and became communications director and he started to use social media for PR and relationship building. Chuck’s social media strategy is all about engagement.  He is an listener through iContact user groups in LinkedIn and through Twitter which Chuck started using about two years ago. Chuck actively listens to the iContact community and responds to their needs.

Linking In to Pay it Forward

Chuck was implored to write this book by many who experienced his outreach. Has his own humbling story when he and his wife went through an economic disaster during the dot com bubble burst. Chuck lost his house and really needed. And, he got it. People reached out to him and his wife Stephanie and helped them get back on their feet. He realized that social media is a platform that allows anyone to help others, not a place to broadcast your message.

NOT Your Daddy’s Business Book

Chuck’s book is an easy read. It’s inspiring, it’s humbling and it’s full of valuable tips. If you read between the lines of Chuck’s book you find that it’s a book about living life the way it should be lived. The book typifies humility. It’s filled with treasure bits of information and lessons learned. It’s conversational and simple, yet powerful and to some, maybe even life changing. The greatest compliment you can give Chuck is that you applied some of his wisdom and got blessed for it either personally or professionally.

Building Your Brand

Chuck is all about personal and professional branding. He shares my sentiment that you should be able to find someone by searching their name on the web. We all want to deal with people, not with a logo. Chuck implores everyone to be transparent, be straight forward. When I first met Chuck, he handed me two cards. He handed me his  iContact card and his Chuck Hester card. Chuck believes in the halo effect. iContact has benefited from Chuck and Chuck has benefited by iContact. That’s the power of personal branding. Of course, if you’ve read my Marketing 2.0 book, you know I’ve devoted an entire chapter to personal branding. It’s that important.

Treat Them Like They’re Right in Front of You: Online Social Media Etiquette

In this chapter Chuck emphasizes that there is a real person behind their computer or device. Just because you’re interacting with someone on LinkedIn or another social media application is no reason to act differently. We should always be authentic in our interactions with people. In other words, we should treat people online like they’re standing right in front of you. I agree!

LinkedIn Live Raleigh

People in Chuck’s network started expressing interest in meetups about three years ago. Chuck set up the first LinkedIn Live Raleigh event in July 2007. About 50 people came together for the first event which was three hours of solid networking. He met with many people he was connected to in LinkedIn. Today, most events draw about  250 people. Each event has sponsors and door prizes. At one recent event, they raised $1900 for Soles for Souls, a local charity. Chuck has heard many great ROI stories about these events. He know there about 40 people that gotten employment or contracts from these events. One person won a $50 food card door prize. He approached Chuck to let him know that he was unemployed and that door prize allowed him to by flowers and a dinner from the grocery store for his wedding anniversary. Wow!

Take the Meeting

Chuck’s advice to doubters is to get out and meet people because people are so interconnected. The chances of something good happening are so in your favor. Social Media is one of the most amazing pay it forward platforms in history. It’s easy to find someone who needs help, or needs to buy my widget. The marketplace has no geographic or time constraint boundaries.

How to Pay it Forward

Chuck’s advice for anyone who doesn’t know how to pay it forward is this. It’s easy to return a favor. So, just go out and help someone out without any expectation that they will help you out. The blessings are plentiful. You will be repaid somehow. Just don’t expect it. Helping someone can be as simple as re-tweeting or introducing someone online. Do it often and it will become habit and you’ll want to do it over and over. Remember that no matter how small it may seem to you it could be big for someone else…

I hope you’ve been inspired by Chuck as I have been. Check out Chuck’s book, Linking in to Pay it Forward, as well as his blog or LinkedIn or on Twitter.

A Lesson in Personal Branding: Brent Britton “Attorney 2.0″

Attorney 2.0 Brent Britton

One of the success stories in my book, Marketing 2.0 is about Brent Britton. Brent is an intellectual property attorney. Though he’s not that old, Brent has been on the Internet since the stone ages. He’s a former math and science nerd who graduated from MIT. He went to law school then went to Silicon Valley to practice law and help companies manage their intellectual property.

One of the Oldest Industries (not that one…)

Brent is definitely an exception, not the norm. Not too many lawyers use the social web. Brent is quick to point out that the legal field is a bit stodgy.  The legal profession in general is made up of technology laggards. If you ask most law firms “why don’t you use social media” most will say “that’s not where we get our clients.” But, Brent’s use of the web has been second nature. I give Brent a lot of credit for his personal branding. I asked Brent how he does it while being part of a law firm and complying with strict industry regulations.

Brent is Human Before He’s a Lawyer

What’s brilliant about Brent’s social media strategy is its simple logic. Brent’s use of the social web is nothing more than an extension of his personality. He points out that we are all social creatures. The Internet has become a communication tool for him.  And, since he’s been on the Internet since its commercial inception, it’s truly second nature to him.

Brent’s Social Media List

Brent’s blog is his primary communication platform on the web. But, he also podcasts, is active on Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn and guest writes for publications. Brent is also a regular speaker at events. His witty personality has earned him several emcee roles at events and conferences.  Brent emphasizes that he has never been hired because because the client likes the firm he’s with. He is hired for him. Therefore, it’s important to allow his personality to be available and the social web is a natural platform for this.

Brent’s Advice to Lawyers Considering Using Social Media

Brent’s advice to other lawyers is simple. He says don’t obsess about getting on Facebook and Twitter every day. Just be natural. Brent posts as thoughts come to mind. He understands that our lives are mult dimensional but they can become one dimension on the web if you allow it. He advises to know who you’re speaking to when you blog, Tweet, or post on Faceook. Brent uses the same philosophy I advise in my book about your approach to using the web: educate, enlighten or entertain them.

Brent’s Blog Strategy

Many lawyers have not yet embraced social media. Brent’s blog strategy is very interesting.  On his blog, Brent discusses intellectual property. Lawyers must play by the bar rules. Brent’s blog is not intended to give advice. It is meant it educate, enlighten or entertain. He admits it does require a careful balance. But, he also knows that most business people don’t understand patents, copyrights and trademarks. Therefore, Brent’s blog takes a lay person’s approach to explain what it’s about. You won’t get legal advice on his blog, but you may learn something about these topics. If you want legal advice, you’ll just have to contact him. The blog is where Brent can communicate his knowledge through informational content. People who like his content call him for real legal advice. The blog also has his picture, his Twitter handle and other tidbits about him that humanize him. Imagine, meeting a lawyer who is actually normal and even likable?! This brings it full circle. Someone who calls him at his firm for legal advice that got to know him on the web has actually begun a relationship with him before they have met him. That’s what his strategy is about.

It’s All Organic

Brent does not apologize to say that all his activities have been done simply and naturally over time without much effort on the technology side of things. For example, Brent has ignored SEO and analytics best practices on his blog. He doesn’t measure anything other than he gets phone calls from people who have read his blog.

Which Social Tool Would You Use?

I asked Brent which social communication platform he would use if could only use one? Brent said he would choose his blog as the medium. The blog is where he can communicate his knowledge and generally portray his personality.  You just might say that a blog is the “mother” of all B2B social media communication tools.

For those in B2B who doubt the power of social media marketing, just ask Brent Britton. Or, listen to this podcast (above)…

Podcasting for your Business: Interview with Chuck Palm

Podcast interview with Chuck Palm recorded live from Barcamp Tampa at the University of South Florida.

Chuck Palm is the Chief Podcasting Officer at the Internet Podcasting Network, aka IPN. If you’re new to the Find and Convert podcast you may not know that Chuck was my co-host for the first year of my podcasts and IPN actually hosted my podcasts during the first year of my show.

In addition to helping businesses create great podcasts as part of their marketing strategy, Chuck also hosts a show called Podcasting for your Business.  This show is for people who want to learn about how podcasting can be a valuable communication medium for almost any business (Chuck would argue that podcasting is great for any business).

State of Podcasting Industry

There is limited data available (that doesn’t cost a mortgage payment) on the size of the podcasting industry. But, we know it is growing in popularity as evidenced by growth in popular podcasting networks such as BlogTalkRadio and PersonalLifeMedia. If you have more current stats on the podcasting industry, please share them in the comments below. But, we definitely know that the podcasting industry is evolving. There are more new podcast shows posted every day. However, the low barrier to entry has produced many low quality podcast shows. The secret sauce to successful podcasting is quality content and quality audio.  After all would you listen to a radio show that either doesn’t interest you, or the audio quality is so poor that it makes the listening experience a painful one?

The Strategic Value of Podcasts

I asked Chuck what is the strategic value of a podcast show to any business? His answer: “It’s all about building a fan base!” I agree…Building a fan base is not only measurable, it’s also very valuable to a business. A good podcast show will reach a very targeted audience and engage them. It will give them a connection to you. Why wouldn’t any business want that?

How Do You Monetize a Podcast?

There are many ways to monetize a podcast.  One way is the value of relationships built through your fan base. If you want more tangible methods consider what products you have to sell. You can make offers on your products available only to your podcast audience by offering a coupon or discount code. Regardless of how you monetize a podcast show, focus on creating quality content consistently, share it and distribute it through your social channels and syndicate it through RSS. The biggest distribution channel for podcast shows is still iTunes. But, remember that the content in your podcast becomes your marketing. Calls to action are great. But, you must have quality content for a successful podcast show. BTW, I make an offer in this podcast not included in this blog post. To learn about it, listen to the podcast.

Other Reasons to Podcast

While most businesses podcast to market their company’s products and services, there are many other reasons to podcast. Organizations such as churches, associations, entertainers and user groups podcast just to get out their message. Podcasting is an effective way to broadcast a message with broad reach and word of mouth (WOM) potential. Even if your target audience is local, the global reach through online syndication can have a very positive impact on your message.

Educate, Enlighten, Entertain

As I point out in my book, Marketing 2,.0 a good content marketing strategy should strive to achieve the three E’s. Podcast content is a medium that allows any marketer to deliver on any of these three E’s. And, anyone can do it. Every business has much to talk about. Think about how your business or organization can deliver on the three E’s. But, many businesses are intimidated by the notion of podcasting. The best advice is to just be real. Be yourself. Tell stories. Deliver on the three E’s and you’ll create fans.

Podcasting Strategy Process

Chuck shared his secret sauce to creating a successful podcast strategy. Here it is…..Write down the top 20 things that are interesting about your business. Then, create a show around the top 5 or 10. Tell stories about them.  That’s it. It’s not rocket science. But, it’s very important to commit to a podcast as a series of shows, not just one. A podcast show should be a  minimum of 6 shows. Make it a series. Break it up into multiple parts. You’ll engage your audience by breaking it up. And, you’ll start to create a fan base.

Measuring Podcast Analytics

This isn’t one of Chuck’s favorite topics. He points out that too many marketers want instant results. While some podcasts can provide instant results in one way or another, it’s usually not the point. A good podcast show takes time to build an  audience and build a relationship with them. If you have good content and quality audio, and you give your podcast show at least 6 or 10 events, you will be able to measure analytics that track meaningful data about your show. Some of the analytics tools to consider using include PodPress, Blubrry and Volomedia.

Targeted Audience

People listen to your podcast because they want to. Most podcasts are summarized in a blog post which is index-able by search engines. For example the stats in my WordPress blog tell me which podcasts are the most popular. These stats are important but should not be overshadowed by the value of building a fan base and the impact on your brand.

Podcast Consumption

The global phenomenon of smart mobile devices allows people to download and consume audio and video content anywhere. The iPhone and the Google Android devices are just two examples of mobile devices that allow people to consume podcasts (audio and video). It’s believed (depending on the research you read) that most people still consume podcasts on their computer by clicking the play button (as you can do in this blog post). When you consider how we all multitask, that’s very easy to believe.

Want More on Podcasting?

This blog post summary doesn’t capture the entire interview with Chuck Palm. Are you going to click the play button or download it or subscribe to it in iTunes?

You can connect with Chuck Palm on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn by his name as well as at his podcasting company at IPN, The Internet Podcasting Network.

P.S. Take the Marketing 2.0 Challenge.

Epic Change, Cause Marketing on the Social Web

Interview with Stacey Monk. Founder, CEO of Epic Change.

If you’re not familiar with this story, get ready for some goose bumps. In addition to warming your heart, this story is a great example of cause marketing with many valuable lessons for marketers.

Epic Change is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization founded by Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel. They help social entrepreneurs who are change makers share their stories to get funded for a charitable cause. Their current project is partnered with (change maker) Mama Lucy in Tanzania to build school classrooms in the Arusha district of Tanzania, Africa. First, a little background on Stacey Monk (herself an impressive change maker).

A Life Changing  Trip

Stacey always had the inspiration to work in the non profit sector. After graduating from college, she needed to repay student loans so she joined the workforce as a management consultant working in change management. She consulted for businesses and public sector clients on this discipline.  In 2007 Stacy took a life changing trip to Africa where she volunteered at Mama Lucy’s Shepherd’s Junior school. When Stacey returned to her consulting practice, she learned that the landlord sold the land that Mama Lucy’s school was on. That motivated Stacey to act on her life long dream of working in the non profit sector. She and Sanjay founded Epic Change and took on Mama Lucy’s school as their first project.

Using the Social Web to Raise Funds

Epic Change adopted social media out of the gate as a way to reach people for donations through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. They had a zero dollar budget. Stacey started using Twitter without any idea why. She connected with interesting people around the world which couldn’t have otherwise happened. One of those people is Sam Lawrence who has a popular blog called Go Big Always.  One day Sam said he didn’t feel like writing a blog post. Stacey volunteered to write it for him. She knew that Sam has a large following.  So, Stacey wrote a guest blog post about how she is going big to build classrooms in Tanzania through her non profit Epic Change. Sam shared that blog post on Twitter and it wound up reaching hundreds of new followers. It quickly struck Stacey how she could reach many influential people through Twitter and blogging.

That experience was a huge light bulb. Stacey figured out the power of the social web by connecting with influential people who can spread the word. Stacey’s connection to Sam Lawrence was game changing. His network turned out to be a huge door opener for Epic Change even though Stacey didn’t have a personal connection with Sam. Many new donors and new relationships came from that one connection with Sam Lawrence.

TweetsGiving 2008

Stacey started spending more time on Twitter as a result of her “going big” blog post and her new found connections on Twitter. This inspired Stacey to create a fund raising event called Tweetsgiving. Avi Kaplan, a new friend she met on Twitter, wrote a touching blog post thanking her for mentor-ship and passion for giving.  She was moved by his gratitude. So, Stacey invited the Twitter community to participate to show their gratitude. She asked influential bloggers like Jeff Pulver and Chris Brogan to invite people to give thanks for whatever they were grateful for and invited them to donate to TweetsGiving. The TweetsGiving event took place over just two days preceding Thanksgiving 2008. The goal was to raise $10,000. Over $11,000 was raised in just two days! TweetsGiving alone enabled Epic Change to build a classroom for Mama Lucy’s school in Tanzania.

TweetsGiving Success Factors

Why was TweetsGiving so successful? One reason is clearly stating the financial goal of $10,000 and stating what the money would be used for (to build a classroom). The call to action was to donate $10 for one brick. All the donators are listed on the wall of gratitude in the school.  The wall of gratitude was painted by local artists.  It reads: “This classroom was built from gratitude…Thank you!” All the donors are listed by their Twitter handle as shown in the picture below (that’s my Twitter name in the callout).  The entire classroom is enveloped by the wall of gratitude.

Five classrooms have been built as of this writing. And over $75,000 has been invested to secure land, a school bus, install flushable toilets and implement solar power. Over 300 children are now attending the Shepherd’s Junior school under Mama Lucy, which is triple the size since the beginning of the project! Equally important, this model is now proven which allows it to scale. Mama Lucy has also been certified now in national exams. Her school recently scored #1 out of 117 schools in their district in Arusha, Tanzania!

Building a Technology Lab is Next

An online vote has been mobilized to build a technology lab. Twitter people got involved in the voting along with the local people in Tanzania by going to internet cafes in town to cast their vote to get the funds for the technology lab. For many of them it was their first experience using the internet and they got to use it to vote to get more resources for their local community. On Stacey’s next trip they will teach people how to use the internet. The local people in Tanzania will also get to participate in TweetsGiving 2009.

TweetsGiving 2009

I asked Stacey about plans for TweetsGiving 2009. She was not ready to announce the financial goal when I conducted this interview. But, I’m sure we’ll learn about it very soon. She assured me the goal will be bigger than the 2008 goal. And, I have no doubt it will be exceeded once again.

Experiment that Paid Off

Stacey Monk’s story has so many inspirational lessons for us as humans and as vocational marketers. The main lesson I want to emphasize for marketers is to be willing to experiment. When Stacey launched TweetsGiving 2008 she didn’t know what to expect and she wound up exceeding her goal. She reached out and engaged influential people who helped her exponentially reach many more people. Stacey also produced content every step of the way. Her most successful content was user generated content, especially content that is produced in Tanzania in the way of photos and video.

Inspiration to Others

Many others have been inspired by Epic Change including me. I wrote a story about Epic Change in my book, Marketing 2.0.  Shel Israel has also covered Epic Change in his book, Twitterviille. Stacey was invited to speak at South by Southwest Conference where she learned that others have been inspired by her as a result of TweetsGiving. Many are frequently reaching out to Stacey for advice on raising funds on the social web for a charitable cause.

Stacey’s Advice to Marketers

Stacey is very grateful for the attention she has received, not for self serving reasons, but rather for the positive impact it’s having on Epic Change. Stacey advises marketers to consider partnering with charitable causes to make a difference. Along the way, you can reach influential people who align with the charitable cause. When for-profit businesses adopt a cause marketing mindset there are several winners. One of them can be the marketer. But, the biggest winner is the cause.

Thanks for advice Stacey!  I can’t wait to hear about TweetsGiving 2009.

Bernie Borges on HubSpot TV

I recently had the privilege of being a guest on HubSpot TV. If you’re not familiar with HubSpot TV, it’s a weekly video podcast that airs live each Friday at 4pm Eastern, U.S. The show is also syndicated on iTunes. HubSpot TV is hosted by Mike Volpe and Karen Rubin. Each week Mike and Karen discuss news items of the week pertaining to marketing topics, most notably Internet marketing topics. And, they have a lot of fun doing it!

The week I appeared on the show Karen Rubin was on vacation. Rebecca Corliss filled in for Karen. And, she did a mighty fine job, I might add! The premise for my guest appearance was to promote my new book, Marketing 2.0.

I am honored that Mike Volpe wrote the foreword in my book. So, when Mike asked me on the show why I wrote the book, I think he was a little surprised by my answer. He also asked me to summarize the key take-away message from my book, and what makes my book different than other books on social media marketing.

Of course, I was happy to answer these questions. We had a boat load of fun during this interview. We even sipped a little beer during the show, which is SOP on HubSpot TV. Of course, we also discussed other topics pertaining to Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter and measuring online marketing results.

During this interview we announced a special book giveaway offer available only for a limited time, as well as how to buy Marketing 2.0 on Amazon. Check out the video below and let me know if I should have gone through with my promise to dress like a certain singer/celebrity and what that might have looked like.

BTW, I kidded Mike off the air that if you search “inbound marketing” in iTunes, my inbound marketing podcast ranks #2 behind HubSpot TV. I’m keeping the pressure on.

Podcasting Tips From Master Host Susan Bratton

Podcast Interview with Susan Bratton, CEO of Personal Life Media.

As a podcaster, I have long been a fan of a handful of other podcasts that cover the topics that I cover, namely web marketing, new media, online marketing, and all related topics. One of my favorite podcasts is produced by Susan Bratton, called DishyMix, a podcast show where Susan interviews interesting and accomplished guests in and around marketing, advertising and new media. So, I invited Susan to be interviewed for my podcast and she graciously accepted…Boy was it fun!

Susan has many attributes I enjoy and I will share them with you in this blog post. But, you should listen to the entire podcast to learn how Susan is making an impact in our economy and how you can too by following her tips. No matter your industry, Susan’s advice can be applied with measurable results.

Susan is the co- founder and CEO of Personal Life Media, a media publishing company for people on the leading edge of culture. Susan is a Silicon Valley exec who knows everybody in new media, advertising and anything marketing. Susan is widely adored and recognized as a “super connector” among interesting and influential people in the web 2.0 and new media world.

PLM is about helping people change their lives. Susan calls it edutainment. Each one of Susan’s DishyMix podcasts make me a little smarter.  She interviews fabulously interesting people. In each of her interviews she seeks to bring her audience “brain science,” personal growth and leadership examples. She brings her guest’s deep expertise to her audience while also about allowing you to get to know each of them as a human being. This combination of professional expertise and human interest makes DishyMix a very engaging podcast show!

From 16 to 40 and Counting

Susan launched Personal Life Media with 16 shows. Now PLM is comprised of 40 shows and growing. Susan recognized that podcasting is a communication platform that allows anyone who views herself as a publisher of content (an individual or a business), to do just that. Publishers have always produced a profit through paid sponsors, paid advertisers and paid subscribers. That’s exactly how Personal Life Media exists in our eco system. Susan has transferred this economic model to the podcasting medium with success that isn’t slowing down.

In addition to the 40 shows PLM is launching a new category called “online information products.” These will comprise ebooks that offer their target audience multiple benefits through a combination of audio lessons, video lessons and text based content. PLM has 15 information products in the hopper!

Podcasting as a Business

In December 2008 Lee Odden created a list of the top podcasts. DishyMix came in first in social media podcasts and my Find and Convert podcast came in third in the fan voting (Susan referred to it as a bake-off).

Susan is quick to point out that podcasting is a medium for marketers to get their message out to a target audience. Susan’s advice to businesses is to consider podcasting when one or more people in their business are comfortable in front a microphone and/or camera and a commitment can be made to producing regular podcast shows. Most businesses have plenty of content which can be re-purposed into a podcast. Interviewing interesting guests is a common approach in any industry. While monetizing podcasts can be achieved through advertising, sponsorships and a subscription model, most often a business can monetize their podcasts by using it as an effective way to communicate to their customers and surrounding community. In short, podcasting is an effective medium to build relationships with your customers and differentiate your business.

Susan’s advice on business podcasting includes the suggestion that a podcast can be better than a blog if the podcaster is one who doesn’t like to write but likes to speak. “You must love it. If you like to talk rather than write and you can sustainably do it, it’s a great communication medium,” says Susan.

Any business can tap into an existing or new audience through iTunes, which is a free distribution channel for podcasts. Businesses who create a podcast show are using new media as a corporate communications vehicle.

Talk Show Tips: 72 Secrets “Master Host” Techniques

Susan’s new e-book was inspired by her rapid success in podcasting. She humbly realized that her success qualifies her as a “master host” and she set out to create a package of information sharing tips. And boy did she ever! Talk Show Tips is packed with audio, video and text based tips that will make any podcaster, no matter how experienced, a more effective show host.

Talk show Tips provides podcast show hosts practical ways to organize a show. It offers awesome preparation tips for each interview so that your guest sees how prepared you are for the interview with killer questions and background. It also offers communication guidelines with your guest so they feel prepared for your interview. The ebook also shows how to conduct and promote a flawless podcast interview.

I suggested that Susan come back on my show in the future after I have finished consuming all the content in Talk Show Tips. I was truly blown away by all the content in her ebook but I didn’t finish it in time for this interview. She agreed to come back to see the difference (before and after)…

Measuring Results

I asked Susan how she measures results for all PLM shows, including DishyMix. Susan uses a service from VoloMedia. This service measures how many people have downloaded a show with ads in it. It measures completed downloads, not just clicks on a podcast file. Their numbers are reliable allowing her to measure the penetration of her shows.  Volomedia allows Susan to say that there are about 1 million downloads per month of her 40 shows on Personal Life Media. Of course, the ultimate measurement is the revenue she produces through her advertisers and soon from subscription sales and online information products.

Memorable Show Guests on DishyMix

I asked Susan to name some memorable guests from her DishyMix show. That’s a tough question with sooooo many fabulous guests. But, here is a short list she mentioned:  Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element; Dacher Keltner, author of The Science of a Meaningful Life; Linda Resnik, author of a new book, “Rubies in the Orchard: How to Uncover Hidden Gems in Your Business” is half marketing genius and half auto-biography of an amazing billionaires.  Other notable guests include Steve Wosniak, Marcus Buckingham and Bert Decker.

A Memorable Speaking Experience

Susan emceed a conference called Happiness and Its Causes. Susan was a little nervous before the event due to the anxiety from some of the organizers.   A friend advised her to imagine a golden chord extending from her body as a tap root anchored into the earth. She advised Susan to take a deep breath and blow it through the grounding-chord to relieve all the stress. It worked and Susan went on to emcee a very successful event, which is a common occurrence for her.

Susan’s Three Pillars of Social Media Marketing in Business

Listening: The most popular action in social media among businesses. You can learn a lot about your customers, your market, your competitors and your employees by listening.

Appvertising: As Susan explains “Brands who create useful aps or sponsor useful aps for their target consumers are brilliant players at a high-level of sophistication in the social influence marketing sphere.” She cites examples such as ClearSpring, Gigya and RockYou! as well as SocialMedia.com and ContextOptional.

Participation: Facebook fan pages such as the Find and Convert fan page and the DishyMix Fan Club where Susan gives away all kinds of goodies to her listeners (I could learn something from this – huh).  Susan also cites consumer generated content experiences like HP on YouTube described in an interview with Daina Middleton as well corporate Twitter accounts like Personal Life Media’s Twitter account.

Inspiration, Entertainment, Education

My interview with Susan Bratton was inspiring, entertaining and educational. I guess I can say it was edutainment! Susan’s passion and intellect are enjoyable. Her advice is commendable. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

Susan is simply a fun gal with a ton of wisdom and success to share with you and me. I hope you enjoy the podcast. I’d like to hear from you with your comments about this interview including questions for Susan for the next podcast.

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