How to Create a Great Blog Michelle Gately from The Unfinished Bookshelf - Episode 147

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  LMS Collective Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LMSCollective Intro This week I had the honour of chatting to Louisa van Vessem in her LMS (Learn Motivate Succeed) Collective Facebook Group (link is in the show notes if you fancy joining) about the Customer Journey, one of my favourite topics. It’s so important as todays journey is sporadic and anything but linear as it has been in the past. You may remember Louisa from episode 35 (https://marketingstudylab.co.uk/episode-35-the-time-terrorist-and-money-laundering-louisa-van-vessem-va-workflow-virtual-assistant/) where we chatted about how VA’s (Virtual Assistant) can help you run your business and claim back some of your most valuable asset… time! In this episode we cover; - The customer journey - How to map your own customer journey - The importance of knowing your touch-points - And I’ll be hopping on my soapbox a few times (soz in advance) Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/-8DridnBtT8  Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Doug Marshall Website: https://www.achieveb2bmarketing.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/dougsmarshall  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougmarshalllinkedin/  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro For the majority of Marketers, they will find themselves within the B2B (Business to Business) Marketing space rather than B2C (Business to Consumer), but as we all know there are many blurred lines here in terms of the strategies and tactics we should be using. Enter Doug Marshall the MD of Achieve B2B Marketing a company well within the B2B space when it comes to strategic planning and marketing communications. Doug has a wealth of Marketing experience, with a background in the publishing industry rising to Group Head of Marketing before becoming a Marketing Consultant. In this episode we cover; - The difference between B2C and B2B Marketing - What you should focus on first - The details behind a Marketing plan - The biggest frustrations within B2B Marketing Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/xjJSsJa8eyM  Takeaways Top Tip It sounds crazy that some companies don’t consider this, but when you are entrenched in something sometimes it’s hard to see above it. When Doug stated that you need to ask the customers what they want!, it made perfect sense. Our businesses are there to solve a problem and we need to know what problem needs solving the most! Favourite Quote ‘Think of the emotions someone in the B2B space is going through’ and it’s so easily missed as we often see B2B as transactional, but there are still people involved here, real, physical people and we can’t forget that. Get to know them as well as you know the business as you’re selling to them, not to the business. And Finally, the Most Important Takeaway from this Episode We’ve got to remember that measuring and monitoring our activities is fundamental for future improvements and success. Using the NPS (Net Promotor Score) and review sites provides a really good overview of how well a company is doing from both the qualitative and quantitative. Do this over a period of time to see trends and patterns to help you in the future. Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

This is a recap episode with one of my first ever guests, but an important one - PR Smith, creator of the SOSTAC Marketing Planning System. Why so important? SOSTAC is one of the most important and fundamental models that I promote and actively use. Basically, if you are in Marketing and don't know or use this model.... are you REALLY in Marketing? No. The answer to this is NO. For further information on this episode, check out the show notes: https://marketingstudylab.co.uk/episode-10-sostac-pr-smith-paul-smith/

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Richard Moore https://therichardmoore.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjamesmoore/  [email protected]/  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81 Part 2 of 2 Just a quick reminder that this is part 2 of a 2 part chat with Richard Moore and how to Master the Sales Process. If you haven’t already, check out the first episode from last week. Last week we ended by talking about how using video is a much better way of communicating than using the standard telephone (they still exist I’ve been told). Now let’s get back to Richard and all things sales. Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/9YTc1TY6YuA  Takeaways Top Tip Richard discussed thinking about the objectives and outcomes and making them realistic to your position. For example, if it’s your first day in a sales role and you are inexperienced, then the objective is to make those calls rather than be a closer. You’re one step closer to moving to the next level and a successful sales process. It’s exactly the same in Marketing, you’re not going to revolutionise the world or even a company on day one. Take it one step at a time. Favourite Quote If your rejection rate is high due to the price point, then it’s best to pre-qualify that the pricing you offer isn’t an issue before moving forward. ‘You need to deliver a little nugget of information in the first 30 seconds of the conversion as to why you’re premium, and then that doesn’t come up so much’. Pre-qualification thought the customer journey is imperative as to not waste your time or your potential clients. And Finally, the Most Important Takeaway from this Episode Take note. Content forms gravity. Powerful words indeed. You need to build you bank of content that is helpful to the people you are looking to serve. The more you push out into the world, the more your ideal clients will start to notice you and gravitate towards you. Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Richard Moore https://therichardmoore.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjamesmoore/  [email protected]/  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Part 1 of 2 Just a quick note that this is part one of two of this interview with Richard Moore. He provided so much value that I decided to chop him in half and serve him up over two weeks for you. And now that odd and a little scary intro. Here’s Pete with the official intro and remember to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss part two next week. Intro Sales and Marketing, two opposites. But opposites often attract and in this case they should and do. I always like to think about sales as the end result of good Marketing and I stand by that. That said, understanding the sale process, how it can work in tandem with Marketing can be the difference between closing a sale and getting the door closed on you. It’s about time we put some clarity around this and who better than Richard Moore, or The Richard Moore as his domain names states. Richard has gone from 60-hour work weeks in the City of London to setting up his own business to help others gain momentum as they launched their own. Richard also runs a weekly live Q&A and creates courses such as Basics of Sales and his flagship product: the LinkedIn Client Accelerator programme and has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Inc, Thrive, Influencive as well as on podcasts just like this. In these episodes we cover: - Getting into the right mindset - Gaining the attention of the RIGHT clients - Warming-up leads - Dealing with objections - Closing the sale - What to do next? Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/9YTc1TY6YuA Takeaways Top Tip Richard discussed thinking about the objectives and outcomes and making them realistic to your position. For example, if its your first day in a sales role and you are inexperienced, then the objective is to make those calls rather than be a closer. You’re one step closer to moving to the next level and a successful sales process. It’s exactly the same in Marketing, you’re not going to revolutionise the world or even a company on day one. Take it one step at a time. Favourite Quote If your rejection rate is high due to the price point, then it’s best to pre-qualify that the pricing you offer isn’t an issue before moving forward. ‘You need to deliver a little nugget of information in the first 30 seconds of the conversion as to why you’re premium, and then that doesn’t come up so much’. Pre-qualification thought the customer journey is imperative as to not waste your time or your potential clients. And Finally, the Most Important Takeaway from this Episode Take note. Content forms gravity. Powerful words indeed. You need to build your bank of content that is helpful to the people you are looking to serve. The more you push out into the world, the...

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Stacey Brown Randall  https://www.staceybrownrandall.com/  Take the Ninja Quiz: https://www.staceybrownrandall.com/quiz  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro Referrals, no matter how much we like to think that our own communications tactics alone is what will drive our success, this type of Marketing can be very successful. We all know how much word of mouth and the opinions of others can influence our decision-making process, so if we can have some sort of control over this, some way of building a referral system, then surely this would be a long-term tactic that will pay off. Enter Stacey Brown-Randall. Stacey teaches small business owners and sales professionals how to generate referrals without asking, without the dark arts of manipulation and even through being your authentic-self. Why should we believe her? Because this is how Stacey built her own business up and now she’s here to walk us through the Referral Ninja Master Framework™. In this episode we cover; - Old school referral tactics and why they don’t work Go through the 6 integral elements to a great referral strategy: 1 - Laying the ground work 2 – Referral source identification 3 – Building a referral experience 4 – Planting those referral seeds 5 – Planning and implementation 6 – Tracking results and improvements - And explore the mentality of play the long game Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/RnKsqNb_1aQ  Takeaways Top Tip Stacey mentioned ‘referral seeds’ which are the touch-points where consumers come into contact with your business. I’m a huge fan of knowing and understanding your touch-points and improving these to improve your overall referral success rate. Favourite Quote When Stacey looked back at the old school tactics getting referrals which were ‘you have to ask for them…. You have to pay for them… You have to be overly promotional or gimmicky’ which can lead to the falsehood of viewing these as the only tactics that work. Don’t let that happen! And Finally, the Most Important Takeaway from this Episode If you want to improve your referral rate, think of the quality not the quantity. If you do this, you’ll see your closing ratio improve. So, let’s start to put some thought behind our referral tactics. Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Marc Champagne Website: https://www.behindthehuman.com  Book: https://www.baronfig.com/personal-socrates  Behind The Human Podcast: Apple: https://apple.co/2qX2YfS)  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H3VNU8UiKPxzyM82KXKiT?si=4zwYZxEiRV64KDb2gIcj5Q  Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8zX2RDUnE2Yg%3D%3D  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/behindthehuman/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-champagne-14767b17  Twitter: https://twitter.com/marcchampagne  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro It’s easy to take our mental state for granted, until we realise how much this might be affecting us in terms of reaching peak performance or being at our best. This episode isn’t a ‘mental health’ concern conversation, it’s about those elements we need to be aware of and how to tackle them daily to get you performing at your best. So you can Make things better, by making better things as Seth Godin would say. And who better to talk us through this than Marc Champagne, Mental Fitness Advocate and host of the podcast Behind the Human. Marc was responsible for co-founding the journaling app KYO, reaching over 86 million people without any paid advertising. But that’s now in the past. And after studying mental fitness practices for over a decade, Marc now works with motivated humans, implementing personalised rituals, practices and mental fitness while also leading the mental fitness program for THRIVE Performance & Regenerative Medicine. In this episode we cover; - Why is our health so important - Why many don’t see it as a top priority - Top tips for better mental fitness including - Morning routine - Dealing with micro and macro stresses - What to do before you go to bed Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/3Q2BQfiUKII  Takeaways Top Tip I loved the nightly ritual that Marc told us about, writing down a question you can’t answer just before you go to bed and in the morning seeing it in a whole new light. I’m definitely trying that one. Favourite Quote This was actually a failure that Marc discussed, to some extent, and that was when he mentioned the app KYO ‘the app itself, we reached 86 million people…but we didn’t have a flow to the content and to the experience… to build a successful financial model’ which goes to show how important getting all the tactical elements correct in your Marketing Plan. I’m talking of course about the Marketing Mix. And

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Guest and Episode Links Michelle Gately https://theunfinishedbookshelf.com/  https://www.instagram.com/unfinishedbookshelf/  Analysing Headings: https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer  Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro It’s easy to forget how powerful a good blog can be - Even WordPress started as a bloggers best friend. But now we have more social apps than ever, it’s easy to create audio and videos and some say that many can’t even sentence a string together! That’s why we all need Michelle Gately in our corner. Michelle has been blogging since 2012, for laughs, but now takes it a little more seriously and helps businesses create engaging online content and build deep relationships with their audience. And who doesn’t want that? In this episode we cover what you need to consider to develop a successful blog; - The heading, content and layout - How to incorporate SEO - Is there a perfect number to post? - How should we be repurposing this blog content - How to get people to read it - Continual mistakes people are making Watch the episode video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxE_VlHg_0w  Takeaways Top Tip As headlines are hugely important and we use these in attracting and persuading people that our posts are worth reading, using tools such as Coschedues headline analyser can help to boost the power of your headlines. https://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer  Favourite Quote ‘A sentence should be a labour to write, not to read’ attributed to Joe Moran from his book ‘First You Write a Sentence’ which typifies what writing is all about. Write for your audience. And Finally, the Most Important Takeaway from this Episode Is about repurposing your blog content. A great way to do this (or at least to start to understand how you can repurpose it) is to chop each blog post into sections, with each section becoming mini pieces of content that can be either elaborated on or used to entice readers to the whole article. This should provide you with enough content to fill anyone’s calendar. Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro This podcast is part 2 of 2 from the recording of a workshop I was delighted to present at the end of last year around customer personas for Cambridge Social Media Day (part 1 can be listened to by downloading episode 145 of the Marketing Study Lab Podcast). In the first part we took a look at where your personas fit within your marketing strategy and where you can find the facts and figures you need to develop them. In this episode we cover; • The issues with just relying on data • Why you need to get creative with your personas • Discover what a B2B persona is all about • Take a look at a how to build a persona using a template • And finally, I’ll take some Q&A’s from the audience to answer those burning persona questions There are also some cheat sheets to go along with this workshop, which can be found on the Marketing Study Lab website: https://marketingstudylab.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Fact-or-Fiction-Sheets.pdf One further note. The live video recording of this workshop will be available along with all the other amazing workshops, seminars and presentations that featured over the two Cambridge Social Media Days soon. Sign up to get a reminder of when they will be available at; www.cambridgesocial.media/csm-day-2020 Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/xhqPxIRcsgo Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License

Subscribe: Let us do the hard work and send the podcast to you: https://bit.ly/2NZjODA  Review: Share the love and leave a 5* review from your phone: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1375904962  (from anywhere else hit the ‘Write a Review’ button in the Apple Podcasts app or iTunes) Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing! Website Thingy: www.marketingstudylab.co.uk  The Professional Bit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/  Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/  Tweet Tweet: https://twitter.com/cousinp81  Intro At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to be asked to conduct a workshop into the importance of and developing customer personas for Cambridge Social Media Day. This podcast is the recording from that presentation and it comes in two parts. In this episode we cover; • Why you shouldn’t play Guess Who? with your personas • Where your persona fits in with your Marketing Strategy • Where to find all the facts and figures • Why sentiment analysis can play tricks There are also some cheat sheets to go along with this workshop, which can be found on the Marketing Study Lab website: https://marketingstudylab.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Fact-or-Fiction-Sheets.pdf One further note. The live video recording of this workshop will be available along with all the other amazing workshops, seminars and presentations that featured over the two Cambridge Social Media Days soon. Sign up to get a reminder of when they will be available at; www.cambridgesocial.media/csm-day-2020 Watch the episode video: https://youtu.be/xhqPxIRcsgo Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de  Creative Commons License