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

Will the social media bubble burst? What's the real value of inbound marketing? What's the effect of price advertising? Should you be pitching journalists? Marketers at the Roundtable: Spike Jones of Brains on Fire Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot (host & moderator) Chris Wilson of Fresh Peel Joan Stewart the Publicity Hound Get complete show notes on The Marketing Spot blog:  http://bizy.be/stOEe SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Coming to The Marketing Spot Blog in January, "Building a Better Brand" series of articles and webinar. Be sure to subscribe to the blog to receive details: Receive The Marketing Spot by Email or Get The Marketing Spot in a blog reader

Featuring customer experience expert John DiJulius and host Jay Ehret. DiJulius is author of the book: What's the Secret to Providing a World-Class Customer Experience. Discussion about the customer satisfaction crisis and how your business can provide a world-class customer experience.John DiJulius is hired by some of the top companies in the world to help them provide one-of-a-kind customer experiences. Companies such as: The Ritz Carlton, Lexus and Panera Bread. But John is also an entrepreneur. He founded John Robert's Spa, one of the top 20 salons in America. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, DiJulius discusses key takeaways from his book on how you can prepare your employees to deliver a world-class experience. And when you do, you can charge customers and 'experience tax.' See the complete show notes, including links and selected quotes on The Marketing Spot Blog: What's the Secret to a World-Class Customer Experience?

My recent appearance on Fred Castaneda's Finance 4 Startups & Struggling Entrepreneur podcast. We discuss the importance of having a marketing plan and how it's constructed using the four essential spots of small business marketing: Branding, Experience, Conversation, and Promotion. Struggling Entrepreneur Podcast: http://www.strugglingentrepreneur.com/ Finance 4 Startups: http://finance4startups.com/

My recent appearance on Matthew Ray Scott's The Stategic Incubator show. We discuss my take-aways from the BlogWorld and New Media Expo, SXSW what to get out of conferences and conventions. The Strategic Incubator Podcast: http://strategicincubator.com/updates

Guests: Al Lautenslager - Author of Guerilla Marketing in 30 Days, Stephen Denny - President of Denny Marketing and author of the Note to CMO blog, Connie Reece - Chief Community Officer of New Media Lab and blogger at Every Dot Connects. Host: Jay Ehret - Chief Officer of Awesomeness at The Marketing Spot and author of The Marketing Spot blog. Topics discussed: Marketing Plan, their importance, purpose and direction Social Media Strategy and the mantra of "Listen First." The effectiveness of social media marketing The Marketing of books by authors and publishers. Complete show notes, including links and quotes, can be found on The Marketing Spot blog at this link: http://bizy.be/mPrNN

Tom Hopkins joins Jay Ehret to discuss how sales and marketing work together in the small business. Hopkins is recognized as the world’s leading authority on selling techniques and salesmanship. He is author of the best-selling classic: How to Master the Art of Selling. Sales and marketing must work together in every organization, no matter what size. Tom gives some perspective and advice on how that can work in your business. He also addresses the sales profession and the myth of the natural born salesperson. His message is that anyone can, and must, sell. Complete Show notes can be found on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://bizy.be/tD958

Megan Duckett has a great perspective on marketing, but she's not a marketer, at least not professionally. Megan is an entrepreneur and she owns a pretty cool small business called Sew What that makes custom theatrical curtains. She was recently the winner of the Dell Small Business Excellence Award and has some really sensible thoughts about marketing. Take a listen as host Jay Ehret discusses marketing with Sew What owner, Megan Duckett Complete show notes are available on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://bizy.be/fRsf9

Simon Salt of IncSlingers joins Jay Ehret to discuss strategy and tactics for your online brand. How do you build an online brand, protect one that already exists, and prevent damage to your online brand? Complete show notes, including links, can be found on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://bizy.be/eZBCQ Subscribe to The Marketing Spot in iTunes: http://bizy.be/ZgRdM

Impact of economic uncertainty on marketing, spam and social media, customer service is the new marketing, social media blindness. Four marketers sit down at the Marketers' RoundTable to discuss important small business marketing issues. Guests are Paula Pollack of the Pollack Marketing Group in San Francisco, Steve McKee of McKee Wallwork Cleveland in Albuquerque, Esteban Kolsky of ThinkJar, and Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot Show notes & links: http://budurl.com/MRT1

Mitch Joel discusses digital marketing and his new book, Six Pixels of Separation. Joel says that everyone is connected, so connect your business to everyone. In the book he makes the case why your company should be marketing online and why it's not too late to start now. Mitch Joel joins host Jay Ehret to talk marketing in the world of new media, while not forgetting the traditional ways. Complete show notes and links are available on The Marketing Spot Blog at this link: http://budurl.com/6PixelsPod Press the little play button in the lower left-hand corner or subscribe to the show in iTunes and listen any time you want.

Guest: Sri Nagubandi. Basic search engine tactics to improve results in organic and local search: he Fundamentals of SEO, Most important on-site elements for SEO, Getting started with SEO for your website, Local Search. Plus advice on analytics, WordPress and content creation. See complete show notes http://budurl.com/BasicSEO To get started listening, click the little, tiny, itty bitty green play button in the lower left hand corner or do it from this link: http://budurl.com/BasicSEO Remember to subscribe in iTunes and let the show come to you!

On the 10th anniversary of The Experience Economy, authors Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore analyze the state of the customer experience in today's economy. They share tips on how small businesses can stop being a commodity and charge premium prices by participating in the experience economy. For complete show notes and links: http://budurl.com/ExpEco

A lively discussion on what local businesses can do to market more effectively. Local marketing specialist Bob Lauck and host Jay Ehret discuss 5 areas of focus for small businesses. You can see show notes and links on The Marketing Spot blog: http://budurl.com/localmkt

Personal branding is not right for all businesses. But it is very appropriate for businesses when the personality is the center figure. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, Peter Montoya joins Jay Ehret to discuss personal branding: 1. What is personal branding? 2. What are the steps to building a personal brand? 3. What tools do you need to build a personal brand identity. Complete show notes and show links are available on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://budurl.com/PerBranding

Word of mouth may be the most powerful form of marketing for your small business. But it's becoming the forgotten marketing discipline because of the attention being focused on the sexy social media tools. In this episode Jay Ehret hosts Word of Mouth Enthusiast John Moore as they discuss John's recipe for sparking conversation for your business. John shares practical examples, timely advice and startling statistics. Get the links and complete shownotes on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://budurl.com/WOMpodcast

Are you wasting your time on social media? Facebook and Twitter are all the rage, but are they really viable marketing tools? Bryan Person, social media evangelist for Live World discusses the best use of your social media time with host, Jay Ehret. The time you have to spend on marketing is limited. You must choose wisely and that means choosing the right social media channel for you. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, Jay Ehret and Bryan Person discuss how to avoid wasting time on social media marketing. Get complete show notes on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://budurl.com/dytb

It's time to take the mystery out of email marketing because it just might be the most cost-efficient marketing tool for small businesses. For this episode of Power to the Small Business, we've assembled a panel email marketing experts. They will share their advice on email marketing best practices. * How to get started. * How to collect email addresses. * What to say in your email. * What service to use. This podcast is a panel format with three excellent email specialists sitting on the panel: Stephanie Miller of ReturnPath.net, Julie Niehoff of Constant Contact, and Chad White of Smith-Harmon.com You can find links and show notes on The Marketing Spot Blog: http://budurl.com/EmailMktng

Congratulations! You're a new entrepreneur. Now what? Best-selling author Jason Jennings says you should get after it, Hit the Ground Running. Jennings has written four books for entrepreneurs. His latest, Hit the Ground Running gleans the battle strategies of 10 of America's top CEO's. In Episode 28 of Power to the Small Business, Jennings gives three rules for new entrepreneurs. It's not about tactics, it's about strategy. See complete show notes and links on the blog: http://budurl.com/RulesforNew

In the online world, Internet riches are often talked about, but rarely achieved. The conventional wisdom is to tell your story and to tell it loudly. Websites and social media channels are filled with gurus, experts and blowhards trumpeting their own greatness. And that tactic fails miserably. So what's a business to do? Best-selling author David Meerman Scott says people get it backwards. Rather than raving about yourself online, create a World Wide Rave. The most powerful way to get your story out there is to let people tell your story for you. If you people are going to talk about you, you have to be interesting and create content that people want to talk about. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, David Meerman Scott tells us how to get a world-wide rave started. He also shares examples of local businesses that have authentically tapped into online riches. See complete show notes and links on the blog: http://budurl.com/WorldWideRave

Small businesses are marketing in a great period of transition between the old traditional media, and the so-called "new media." Do the traditional platforms still work? Or are TV, radio, newspaper and outdoor dead? Then there are the social media evangelists trumpeting its magic marketing curative powers. The result is confusion. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, I talk to four small business marketing practitioners about the state of small business marketing. Where are we today and what does the future hold? You may find some of their answers surprising. Complete show notes for this episode are available on The Marketing Spot blog: http://budurl.com/hutc