Small Business Speaker

June 22, 2009 | 2 Comments

I do not think of myself as a Small Business Speaker.  But I am a Marketing Speaker that has a strong appeal to small businesses and non profits. Sometimes the market chooses what you are more than you do.

So as a small business speaker, I am presented with a variety of challenges.

  1. Small Business is too wide a category.
  2. Small Business Owners are too pay much attention online.
  3. An individual small business is unlikely to bring in a small business Internet Marketing Speaker.
  4. Many events have cut back due to economy.

So with that, I have launched a serious effort to attract more speaking opportunities via my personal marketing speaker website and I am using Buzzoodle’s lead generation engine to build visibility.

This is the first time I am really focusing on the web for speaking leads and I have high expectations, because without trying hard in the past I have done rather well.

I know a lot of speakers and small business owners read this blog, and we have already signed up 5 speakers for their own lead generation engines - so this is going to be a hot area for us.  I will update this blog on future progress.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzzoodle 

Wordpress Subscription Site

June 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

Wordpress is the best content management system I have ever used.  It seems to combine just the right amount of easy stuff and geek access to the back end that it is super powerful.

And is it also the easiest way to build a membership site on a low budget.  Your Wordpress Subscription Site can be set up with a great tool called Wishlist Member.

The wishlist member plugin enables you to set up a  Wordpress Subscription Site in a matter of minutes.  I bought the multi-site version and have used it on several sites to make money already.

It is also a great way to build a private membership portal, even without charging, because membership management is easy and Wordpress as a publishing platform is super easy.

One of the best things I did with Wishlist Member is to build a private membership site as a free bonus to another product I was selling.

My favorite thing about Wishlist Member is the job they do on the video before you ever decide to buy the wordpress membership plugin from them.  I spent over an hour on the free videos before I decided it was the right tool for me.  Also, since they have a money back guarantee, you really can be sure that Wishlist Member is going to be great, or you should really ask for your money back.  Had I not loved it and thought it was the best way to set up a Wordpress Subscription Site, I would have not hesistated to ask for a refund.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Lead Generation Marketing Speaker

June 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A while back I took a hard look at the value I was bringing to clients.

Understand, I have never felt it was a bad value or I would not have been doing it.  Period.

But there were issues around selling people software that they simply did not use to it’s full potential.  So the product was good but the average outcome was less than ideal.  -  By the way, I think Microsoft suffers from the same thing.  I want less, not more.

As a Marketing Speaker, I get a strong feel from the audience on what they want, and that is usually less as well.  Just tell me the couple of most important things - not a long list of things I will never do.

That is why we built our Lead Generation Product.

It is simpler than anything else I have ever built.  And it is more valuable.  It generates massive leads for clients that use the system.  And since the whole thing is automated, there is nearly nothing to do.  You only need to either write short articles or pay someone to write short articles.  Then leads find you and request information from you.

I often get hired as an SEO Speaker but most people do not want the details - they want to know how to get the maximum results for the minimum effort.

That is why I now do Web marketing workshops around using SEO, Social Media and Lead Generation Strategies to build your own lead generation engine.  You need to contact me if you are interested as we customize it to your industry and goals.

It is high, high value and I have never felt better about what I have to offer.  You should take advantage of it before your competition does.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Internet Marketing, Marketing ROI 

FaceBook Username

June 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Tomorrow (Saturday, June 12th 2009) Facebook is launching a feature so that you can have an easy way to forward people to your profile with a username.  If you have a common name, you want to be ready to grab yours tomorrow before and of your competition does.

I honestly think that not having that in place years ago greatly reduced their impact and audience.  Is FaceBook still huge?  Yes.  But, while I always refer people to my Twitter Account and LinkedIn Account - I never refer them to my FaceBook account because it was too hard.

It will be interesting to see how this changes thing.  I know I will have my button up as soon as I grab the name.

PS:  As an aside, I just went to an event that I found in FaceBook that had 100’s of people at it - and the people I met said they found it through FaceBook as well.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Successful Inbound Marketing Techniques

June 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

Inbound Marketing is the strategic creation of content to increase targeted visitors to an offer on the web.

It can include video, articles and any other kind of content that someone can create to help them be found and encourage people to take action.

Inbound Marketing is simple for people that have been doing Internet Marketing in the past, but can seem like a lot of voodoo to someone that has only ever had up a basic webpage.  Let me spell out how to do Inbound Marketing in a simple, step by step plan.

  1. Have a great call to action.  When someone lands on your website, they are not necessarily going to call you or buy your product.  Create a good call to action - maybe with a free give away - that will collect information and turn your visitor into a lead.  For example, I offer a free lead generation course.
  2. If you know your call to action is good, then you need to start building bridges from the big Internet world into your call to action.  This is a critical step:  Identify the problem your product solves and think about what people are searching on to create content that will rank high and attract attention.  Do keyword research to find those words that are not too difficult to get but have good traffic.
  3. Create a business blog and hire someone to do blog writing if you cannot do it.  This is going to be your inbound marketing engine that will generate a steady flow of leads for you.  Make sure your business blog software is designed for automatic seo and is 100% ROI focused.
  4. Create Content Often - The search engines love fresh, relevant content.  If you set it up and forget it, you will not be very likely to have an Inbound Marketing success.  The trick is to keep building and growing your effort, which is why business blogging is the best Inbound Marketing technique today.
  5. Know your sales funnel - Leads are just where you start.  Make sure you know how your online lead generation feeds into the sales process and do not drop the ball on leads that are coming in daily once things get going.

Find Out More: Inbound Marketing with Business Blogs

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzzoodle, Internet Marketing, Small Business 

Pittsburgh Marketing and Networking

June 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

I believe strongly in the two hour rule, which is ideal for my location.  I have many big cities within two hours driving and my goal is to build a strong network in all of those places.

Ask yourself, other than LinkedIn and Twitter - how big is your sphere of influence?

I am near Akron Ohio, which is within one hour of Cleveland, Youngstown, Canton, Alliance, Hudson and many other smaller cities.

If I extend that radius to two hours, I have an incredible number of cities:  Add Pittsburgh, Toledo, Columbus, Erie and maybe Detroit, although it is more than two hours.

The funny thing is that I enjoy and succeed at International Networking.  I know a lot of people and distance is nothing.  I also and very strong in Akron/Cleveland as person to person networking.  But obviously I am leaving a lot of opportunities on the table.

So this week, I am going to Pittsburgh to see an author I enjoy and I know his event is going to be all about meeting people and building bridges to succeed.  I am going to be gone really late, but this is my first focused effort on Pittsburgh, where I do have clients but do not have a network of people I know well.

I am writing about this here because I am not just going to an event, I am launching an effort to increase my influence, parters and resellers in the city and it should be kind of interesting.

Some questions you might ask yourself.

Do you have cities within 2 hours of you that are left untapped?

If you were to get the same results you get from networking in your city in another city as well, how would that change your business?

Do you have a lot of connections in FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn from a nearby city that you have never met in person?

I will update the blog on how my experiment goes, but ultimately it is not a question of how one meeting goes or does not go.  It is about making an effort to build a team of people that care in a place a little farther than usual from your home.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzzoodle 

Purpose of Business

June 5, 2009 | 1 Comment

When you start talking about strategy, business plans and marketing plans it can seem overwhelming.

But what are you really talking about?

You are talking about the purpose of your business.  Why does your business exist?

Then, each action you take in your business must have a purpose that supports the overall purpose of your business.

So when you buy an advertisement in a magazine, you have to ask yourself, “Does this ad spend contribute to the purpose of our business?”

Now if your business is a for-profit business, the obvious purpose of your business is going to be to create wealth and security for the owners and employees.  Seems obvious, right?

But think about all the problems going on today.  Most of those problems were created by over reaching and over spending.  Some companies were buying things because their competitors were, others were looking at short term wealth creation at the expense of long term wealth creation.

In every instance, ask yourself what the purpose of your action is.  How does it contribute to purpose of the business?  If it is not crystal clear, it probably is not something that you should be doing

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Small Business 

Free Lead Generation

June 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Even if you have joined our other email lists in the past, consider going over and taking our free lead generation course.

It includes videos and tools for online lead generation and collection.

We have shifted our focus from Buzz and Social Media to be specialists in developing a lead generation engine that will get ranked well in search engines and utilize social tools - but most importantly it will improve the lead generation from the web and create a positive ROI fast.

The free lead generation course shows you how to do it, but of course wel also mention we are here to help and we have automated most of the steps.  Whether you want to build your own or have us set one up for you, take the lead generation course and find out if you think that the process is one that will work for you.

>> Free Lead Generation Course <<

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Akron Ohio Marketing Firm

June 3, 2009 | 1 Comment

If you live in Akron Ohio and are looking for a Marketing Firm, do not start out looking for someone selling themselves as a marketing firm.

Instead, understand what you want and find a specialist in that area.  For example, there are some great Akron Ohio Marketing Firms that do many things very well.  But a marketing firm that does everything is either going to be looking for big clients with big budgets - or they are not going to be good at everything that they do.

That is why knowing what you want to achieve is important before you start shopping around for a marketing firm.  If you are looking for a web and SEO expert, then Buzzoodle is the best choice.  If you are looking for lead generation via the web, Buzzoodle is the best choice.

If you are looking for a specialist in Direct mail or print, Buzzoodle is a terrribe choice.

It is good to work with someone locally.  In fact, I am writing this post just ten minutes before running off to see one of my local, Akron based clients.

But before you pick a local marketing firm, make sure you know what you want and make the firm prove to you that they have the skills and expertise to get the outcome you desire.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog, Buzz with Blogs, Marketing ROI, Small Business 

Marketing Education

May 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This article is not what you think.  You saw the headline and thought I would talk about how to do marketing for educational products.

Instead, let me use a moment of your time and ask you a question you may have never thought about before.

Can Marketing Change Education?

Marketing is all about making a human being take action and buy something because they believing in an outcome.

Marketing sells makeup that makes you believe you can be more beautiful.  Marketing sells cars that make you seem more successful. Marketing makes you believe you can lose weight.  And really, belief is a big part of the battle.  If you do not believe you can do something, you are not going to do it.  If you do believe it, and you keep at it long enough, your odds are significantly higher of succeeding.

So can marketing make kids believe they are all good at math?

Could marketing techniques be used to make a school of normal kids believe that they are in fact all gifted students?

What would happen if we marketed learning to students - not the purchase of learning, but the act of learning?

What if our most talented sales people became teachers and sold the kids on how brilliant each one is?

What if teachers became required to take sales training courses - how to sell concepts to adolescence?

Not only would students learn more, but they would have a different level of enthusiasm about the future and they would better be able to sell their ideas in the future.  Huge.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

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