Traffic
642: Lead Generation and Marketing Strategy: Direct Mail, Search Engine Optimization, and Pay Per Click Advertising with Ryan Cote
Ryan Cote is the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a third-generation family-owned direct mail and digital marketing company based out
of Fairfield, NJ. With Ballantine since 2003, a family-owned business started in 1966 by his great-uncle, Ryan now manages the growing digital marketing division.
From lead generation to marketing strategy for small businesses, Ryan and his company rise above the get-featured-quick schemes so often attributed to digital marketing. He loves to geek out on technical marketing talk as well as work with real-world business owners about growing their book of business in today’s online world.
Quotes
“It's pretty exciting that we can reach people through so many different channels now with the technology available to us.” - Ryan Cote
“Nonprofits use a lot of direct mail because their typical donors tend to be a bit older and often respond better to mail.” - Ryan Cote
“If you're a business owner, you're a marketer. You often don't know what you don't know. I'm still surprised at how many clients we get whose websites are not mobile responsive, and where the calls to action are very weak or missing altogether.” - Ryan Cote
Takeaways
04:07 Repeated marketing touches across multiple channels are crucial for capturing customer attention.
07:29 Direct mail can be highly effective when businesses get creative with formats like video mailers and clear envelopes.
13:39 Integrated marketing campaigns that combine print, email, and social media can significantly improve customer engagement.
16:08 Different industries and demographics respond differently to marketing channels, so understanding your target audience is key.
21:01 A strong website with mobile responsiveness and clear call-to-actions is the foundation of successful digital marketing.
Resources
- Ballantine: If your company is in need of direct mail production, Ballantine’s marketing experts offer strategic consultation and flawless execution to help your brand connect with customers and prospects.
- Connect with Ryan Cote on LinkedIn
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597: How to Go Viral: Conflict, Narrative Tension, Emotional Messaging, Anger, Anxiety, and Awe with Joe Romm
Joe Romm, named one of Rolling Stone’s "100 people who are changing America," has a game-changing new book, "How to Go Viral and Reach Millions." Romm is "the communicator's communicator," blurbs Van Jones, host of CNN’s The Van Jones Show.
"How to Go Viral" is the first book to reveal all the latest secrets for consistently generating viral online content—words, images, or videos that are seen and shared by hundreds of thousands and eventually even millions of people, something Romm and his colleagues in three different organizations achieve routinely.
Joe is here to talk about how to create viral content that grabs attentions, connects emotionally, and has all the correct "mechanics" in place, i.e. winning headlines.
Quotes:
“There’s a massive amount of noise—endless content, countless tweets, and nonstop videos. To stand out and be heard, you need to use the proven strategies and techniques that top social media superstars and viral experts have mastered.” – Joe Romm
“For tens of thousands of years, storytelling has been at the core of human evolution—that’s how our brains are naturally wired.” - Joe Romm
“We’re in an era where two things matter most: capturing people’s attention and holding onto it.” - Joe Romm
Takeaways:
04:45 Storytelling with conflict and resolution is more engaging than flat, fact-based presentations.
12:53 Viral content must work visually, even with sound off, to capture audience attention.
18:19 Headlines and opening lines are critical - they determine whether people will continue consuming your content.
23:16 Emotional triggers like anger, anxiety, and awe make content more shareable.
27:17 Personal stories behind information create deeper audience connection than raw data.
Resources
- How To Go Viral and Reach Millions: Top Persuasion Secrets from Social Media Superstars, Jesus, Shakespeare, Oprah, and Even Donald Trump (Book)
- Rhetoric (Official Site)
- Joseph Romm (Wikipedia)
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561: SEO Affiliate Domination and Content Stretching: Learn By Testing, Scale Up, Take Massive Action, Expand to High-Traffic Marketplaces and Earn Recurring Commissions with Serial Entrepreneur Greg Jeffries
Greg Jeffries from SEO Affiliate Domination describes himself as just a regular guy, who never made more than 20k a year before taxes. He spent years working nights and weekends, spending tens of thousands of dollars learning about online marketing. At first, he failed a lot but he didn't give up! He kept learning and trying and tweaking his methods until last year, when he had a major breakthrough! Last year, Greg pulled in 6 figures purely through affiliate commissions from his knowhow on SEO marketing.
Quotes:
“Looking back, pretty much every single thing I've ever tried, I've succeeded at. I just didn't give it enough time and focus to grow.” – Greg Jeffries
“You can use everything to your advantage. So even if it's kind of a dud course, and you may not make your full money back, maybe you can apply one element that you learned from that course to another strategy or another traffic platform in the future.” - Greg Jeffries
“I don't have some magical system to predict what new product is going to make me tons of money. Either I learn by testing, and then from there, I just scale up.” - Greg Jeffries
Takeaways:
00:00 Success in online marketing comes from taking massive action and building confidence through community interaction.
08:30 Every course or product has valuable nuggets, even if the entire resource isn't perfect.
17:09 Spreading content across multiple marketplaces increases income and audience reach.
31:01 Online business success requires experimenting widely, then focusing on what works best.
37:56 Building an online business can provide exponential income growth compared to traditional employment.
Visit SEO Affiliate Domination to Discover the Latest Passive Income Affiliate Marketing Strategies
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559: Interviews That Convert: Attract and Convince Your Ideal Target Buyer, Master Joint Ventures, and Up Your Networking Game with Nicole Holland
Nicole Holland from Interviews That Convert is a "Podcast Guesting" authority who has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Huffington Post, as well as countless podcasts and virtual productions. She is often called upon to share her expertise from the live stage with business owners across North America interested in leveraging modern marketing strategies in order to increase their visibility, likability, and credibility.
Quotes:
“I would much rather be in front of 100 people who absolutely are looking for the value that I deliver than 10,000 people who are not looking for me.” – Nicole Holland
“When you're dealing with a prospect in a sales situation, you need to spend time understanding what they want rather than what you want, so that you can propose something that they're already desiring.” - Nicole Holland
“I look for hosts with whom I can develop a relationship, so that when I have clients who could be a right fit, I can help connect them.” - Nicole Holland
Takeaways:
02:25 Be flexible with technology and communication tools when scheduling interviews.
08:35 Quality podcast guesting matters more than quantity of appearances.
15:46 Research your ideal audience and their podcast listening habits before pitching.
20:56 Build genuine relationships with podcast hosts instead of sending cold, generic pitches.
24:41 Create a dynamic podcast guest profile page that's easily updatable and informative.
Resources
- Interviews That Convert (Official Site)
- Nicole Holland (Twitter)
- The Nicole Holland Show (Podcast)
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420: Online Advertising: Master Search Engine Optimization and Content Marketing on Pinterest and YouTube with Kellen Kautzman
Kellen owns Send It Rising Internet Marketing and manages a team of over 20 internet marketing professionals. He was the keynote speaker at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas strip and has spoken at Roseman University and the Lance Tamashiro podcast. His book "Everybody's Doing It" was the #1 New Release on Amazon.com in the SEO category.
Quotes:
“If you don't value your own expertise, you're kind of missing the point. What you do on a daily basis, for 99% of humanity, is absolutely outside of their norm—and it's a lot more interesting than you think.” – Kellen Kautzman
“Now is always the best time to start. Now has all the best opportunities. You're not missing out—you're missing out if you're not thinking about what you can do now.” – Kellen Kautzman
“If you don't think your industry is sexy or interesting, you're missing the point. You're probably a lot smarter and better at it than you think.” – Kellen Kautzman
Takeaways:
02:01 Pinterest can be a powerful link-building tool for businesses, even in seemingly mundane industries.
12:44 Google's AI understands content so well that educational, authentic videos are more important than perfect production.
14:53 Small business owners already have strong advertising skills - they just need to learn the digital tools.
19:35 Creating weekly video content builds a valuable web asset that grows in worth over time.
26:19 Don't fear making content - your first attempts will improve quickly, and something is always better than nothing.
Resources
- Everybody's Doing It: Advertising Redefined by an SEO Expert (book)
- Kellen Kautzman (official site)
- Kellen Kautzman on LinkedIn
- Kellen Kautzman on Twitter
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408: Traffic Fountains: Get an Unlimited Number of Clicks, Views, and Sales to Your Website
Do you sometimes feel like you're slaving away at your website? Maybe you built it and they DIDN'T come? When you're looking for "traffic" advice, do you feel like you're told a bunch of shady OR outdated marketing techniques? Even worse, do you feel flooded with lots of "tiny" traffic techniques? If so, today's episode is the relief you've been searching for. We discuss the six traffic fountains you should focus on today:
- Search Engine Optimization & Content Marketing: Fiverr, Rev, WordPress blog, evergreen podcast, LinkedIn, Medium
- Guest Posting: podcast guest interviews (RadioGuestList), Interview Connections
- Video Marketing: YouTube, Facebook Live
- Pay Per Click: Google AdWords, Facebook ads, AdRoll (model, create campaigns daily, break even, scale)
- Upkeep: email marketing & followup campaigns, postcards/thank you's, PushCrew/ManyChat
- Nice to have's: affiliate program (swipe file & contest), Kindle books (your best material), outreach (find customers that use competing or complimentary products), under the table payment (podcast sponsorship, signature ad, Facebook page ad)
Quotes:
“Think of the 80/20 rule: spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% of your time marketing it. You need to spend more time marketing than creating the content.” – Robert Plank
“The real problem with traffic is that things change so much. The rules change all the time—the Google rules, the Facebook rules—for both the free stuff and the paid stuff. Things change all the time.” – Robert Plank
“You need to have a better mindset. You need to put 20% of your income back into ads, in whatever format that is.” – Robert Plank
Takeaways:
04:40 Creating content is only half the battle; spending 80% of your time marketing that content is crucial for success.
11:20 Building a list of buyers is more valuable than collecting free email subscribers who may never purchase.
23:15 Consistently creating new ad campaigns and being willing to experiment is key to finding successful traffic strategies.
35:50 Retargeting and understanding audience targeting can significantly improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
46:30 Breaking even on ad spend is a win, as it allows you to build a list and potential customer base for free.
Resources
- Video Sales Tactics (Facebook Live Streaming)
- Podcast Crusher (Create A Podcast)
- Make a Product (Publish A Book)
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407: Generate Leads, Drive Sales, and Grow Your Social Outreach Using Interactive Quizzes with Josh Haynam
Josh Haynam is the co-founder of Interact Quiz Builder, a tool used by more than 30,000 businesses including The American Red Cross, Home Depot, and Forbes. He's probably seen more quizzes than any other human on earth right now.
We speak today about why you need quizzes to get traffic to your site, best practices, as well as do's and dont's for your own interactive quizzes. Josh's tool has 175 pre-existing templates to choose from, sorted by conversion rate, so you can begin engaging with your visitors in this new way, starting today.
Quotes:
“Instead of asking people for their information so quickly, you guide them through a whole scripted conversation using the questions in the quiz, creating a back-and-forth interaction.” – Josh Haynam
“The thing that's annoying about marketing and advertising is when we keep getting messages sent to us that we're not interested in.” – Josh Haynam
“We process images much faster in our brains, so it's important to include visuals to help people avoid feeling overwhelmed.” – Josh Haynam
Takeaways:
02:46 Interactive quizzes are a powerful tool for generating leads and growing your business across multiple industries.
07:33 Seven-question quizzes with image-based answers can double your email opt-in rates compared to traditional lead magnets.
17:55 Successful quizzes focus on helping people learn something about themselves, not just collecting data for businesses.
20:49 Personalization through quiz results allows for more targeted and meaningful marketing follow-ups.
23:53 The key to a great quiz is starting with what your customers want to answer, not what you want to know about them.
Sign Up for Interact Quiz Builder
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329: E-Commerce Traffic and Conversion Using Heatmaps and User Testing with Jon MacDonald
Jon MacDonald is President and Founder of The Good, a conversion agency that believes in removing bad online experiences so that only "the good" remains.
Jon and his agency prefers to work with e-commerce websites with at least 15,000 visitors per month. Their job is to remove barriers that web browsers experience. They come to a website with a specific paid or need, and they need to find the solution they're looking for in order to convert.
He installs simple tools (on any platform) to track cursor movements, clicks and scrolls to see where users navigate and uncover sales leaks. He combines that information with real live user testing to back it up, and then runs multivariate tests to improve conversions.
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Quotes:
“Conversion rate optimization isn't about doing one thing to your site that will double your conversions overnight. You have to think of it like interest in a savings account—it compounds over time and continues to grow.” – Jon MacDonald
“Marketing is really just to get people to the website. Once they're there, the marketing has done its job. Now it's about serving the needs of the consumer once they're on your website.” – Jon MacDonald
“Usually, when price is a challenge, it means value is a challenge—it's not being articulated correctly.” – Jon MacDonald
Takeaways:
05:34 Marketing teams often create cluttered websites that fail to serve customer needs effectively.
09:30 Data-driven testing through heat maps and user testing can reveal hidden barriers to conversion.
16:11 Emphasizing product value is more powerful than offering discounts to increase sales.
22:46 Conversion optimization is an ongoing process that requires consistent small improvements over time.
25:34 Websites should function as sales tools, not just marketing platforms.
Resources
- The Good (Score Your Site)
- Diane James (Faux Floral Client)
- CrazyEgg (Website)
- HotJar (Heat Mapping)
- Google Analytics (Google Analytics)
- Peek User Testing (Website)
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282: Get Attention, Traffic, Leads and Sales from Podcasting
Are you familiar with Mr. Jackass? I think you are...
Haven't you ever scrolled past a Facebook video, or maybe a YouTube video, or even listened to a podcast, and thought to yourself...
"THAT jackass (Mr. Jackass) is getting all kinds of popularity and I could do way better than that"
Then this is the most important course you'll ever join today -- price increases at 11:59pm Eastern time TONIGHT:
Join Podcast Crusher: $127 Now, Soon to Be $147
(Seriously, the price increases in just a few hours from $127 to $147, so you are about to lose 20 bucks just because you waited when we both know you should have jumped on this.)
And here's why it's important that you create a podcast (iTunes radio show) even if that means a couple short (5 minute) audio only episodes this year:
First, the Popularity of "Mr. Jackass" Is On the Rise
And you're probably wondering... what can I do to get that sort of attention on my marketing and my websites, if not more?
What can I do to avoid being passed over, lost in the crowd?
Second, You May Have Been Told to "Get Out More"
They tell you to network more, or maybe even land yourself some affiliates or joint venture partners...
This is just my opinion, but in the last few years, offline marketing events have been either too small (just a handful of people so you don't get to meet the people you need to meet) or THOUSANDS of people, and it's such a huge event that you and "that next partner (or client) of yours" never get a chance to meet just because there are so many dang people in attendance!
Also, many of those social groups (cliques) have already been established, so those people who would be a perfect match for your business might not give you the time of day. Heck, even if you find that special someone (business-wise)... what the heck do you say to them? "Here's my URL, mail to my stuff?"
Here's what's always worked for me: I tell the person, "When you get home, email me and we'll record a 20-minute podcast episode talking about you and what you do." (They usually have a business card to give me, so I can follow up if they forget.)
You don't even have to attend offline events if you don't want to. Email marketers you know, and even people who are guests on other podcasts. Good luck sending a "cold email" to get someone to buy from you. But a cold email to land a podcast guest to help THEM promote their business? Easy...
This is what's great about this strategy: if they flake and the interview (over Skype) never happens, that "candidate" just weeded themselves out. If the interview goes great, you have an "in" with them and they now owe you a favor, because you promoted them first. And, if you decide that person was a dud or you're just too busy to partner with them, you have an "out" (to not do business with them) because you already did your part to get your word out about them...
Just imagine, just for fun, if you had landed a young Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Gary Vee, Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, Jeff Bezos or Grant Cardone on your show for a quick 20 minute chat? Before they were famous and while they were still on their way up?
Doesn't it make sense to interview someone now (in 2017) who grows up to be the Ryan Deiss of 2019 or the Armand Morin of 2021?
Here's the best part: are you nervous and awkward on the phone? Great! Me too. With podcasting, YOU are interviewing THEM so THEY are doing all the talking. That guest is 10 times, if not 100 times more nervous than you because THEY are trying to impress YOU (and your listeners with their thoughts, ideas, insights, takeaways, and websites).
We show and tell you what kinds of questions to ask in the Podcast Crusher course, but for the most part, ask about what they do, what makes them different, what valuable lessons would have saved them years of mistakes, and maybe even what mistakes they see happening in the marketplace...
Third, Even If You Don't Want Guests to Create Content For You (For Free)...
I guarantee that you can speak out a podcast episode if you type out three questions your customers might have (no matter what niche) with three sub bullet points for each to guide you along, then talking for 5-10 minutes is easy.
And, once you've recorded that episode, you have a blog post, a podcast episode in the iTunes app, a link from Apple to your site, a new listing in Stitcher Radio and the Google Play store, plus, if someone is SUBSCRIBED to your podcast, that episode will auto-download to their device.
Creating a podcast is free, you can create unlimited podcast shows, publish as little or as often as you want, with short or long episodes, in any niche, talking about any subject, alone or with guests...
BUT! Creating a Podcast is "Hard" If You're "Just Fumbling Around"
There are a few technical steps, and like most technical things, there are about 1,000 different people giving you conflicting advice about how to do it...
And I want to give you the fast, fun, easy, inexpensive way using Podcast Crusher:
Claim Your Access to Podcast Crusher
P.S. But again, click through to that link NOW because the price goes to $147 in just hours from now.
Quotes:
“With podcasting, you are the host, so no one really cares how you sound. You are interviewing them, so the guest is doing all the talking—and that guest, I guarantee you, is 10 times, if not 100 times, more nervous than you.” – Robert Plank
“Creating a podcast is free. You can create unlimited podcast shows and publish every day, five times a day, once a month, or once a year—as little or as often as you want.” – Robert Plank
“There is no shortage on the internet of people taking something simple and making it complicated.” – Robert Plank
Takeaways:
00:10 Starting a podcast is simple and doesn't require perfect audio quality - just create content that matters.
02:38 Podcast interviews are an effective networking strategy that can help you connect with potential business partners without attending expensive offline events.
05:27 Interviewing rising stars or up-and-coming professionals can create valuable future connections and opportunities.
07:32 A single podcast episode can generate multiple content formats, including blog posts and listings on various podcast platforms.
10:18 Podcasting allows for flexible content creation, with no limits on episode frequency, length, or topic.
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153: Be Persistent, Consistent, Relevant and Visible with Bestselling Author and Radical Influence Expert Jill Lublin
Jill Lublin from Publicity Crash Course (phone number: 415-883-5455) tells us how to use publicity to heighten our profile and increase our own visibility. It's done with press releases, local business journals, and fitting into the news.
[showhide type="transcript" more_text="Display Transcript" less_text="Hide Transcript"]Robert Plank: Jill Lublin is an international speaker on the topics of radical influence, publicity, networking, and referrals. She's the author of 3 best selling books, "Get Noticed, Get Referrals," "Guerrilla Publicity," and, "Networking Magic." Her latest book, "Profit of Kindness," comes out soon. She's a master strategist on how to position your business for more profitability, and visibility in the marketplace. Glad to have you here Jill, how are things?
Jill Lublin: I am really doing great, thank you Robert, glad to be here too.
Robert Plank: Cool, so I understand we're talking about publicity and PR, is that right?
Jill Lublin: Well yeah, because the truth is everybody needs it no matter what business they're in.
Robert Plank: Right, and I think that we all fall in this trap, and I think that I fall in this trap, except for the times that I remember to get myself out of it. It's really tempting to kind of be the artist, and I say, "Okay, well I have my skill. Maybe I'm good at making websites, making products, making videos." I think, "Oh, wouldn't it be so great if I just made a website, and everyone just somehow found me? Everyone somehow noticed me, everyone found me and bought from me?" Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, unless you have a secret, unless there's some kind of secret way around that.
Jill Lublin: Well as you say wouldn't it be so great if? Yes, it would be so great if that were the truth. The truth is that every business owner, whatever phase you're in, in business. Starting midway, halfway, 10 years to even 20 years of business, you need publicity to get your word out there. It's really key, and that can be simple things like having ongoing visibility building activities where you're networking, and have a great message. It's really important that people know your name, and have familiarity and trust with name recognition. Whether it's of your product, or your business. Whether you're a brick and mortar, or a consultant or coach. Publicity applies to all.
Robert Plank: Know, like, and trust?
Jill Lublin: Know, like, and trust, that's really what it does. You're building familiarity in the marketplace, you're building credibility, you're building visibility, you're building what I like to call the, "I've heard of him somewhere syndrome." That people know who you are is essential, absolutely.
Robert Plank: When we're talking about publicity, just to make sure that everyone's on the same page and even to make sure that I'm on the same page, what does publicity entail? What are the sub categories or the actions with that?
Jill Lublin: Well a couple things. I have a very broad view of publicity. I wrote the book, "Guerrilla Publicity," so my feeling is publicity happens from the minute you walk out your door. You're doing publicity, so what it entails is having a great message that's consistent, and persistent in the marketplace that people understand and appreciate what you do. Even if they don't appreciate it, they certainly at least understand it and know it. I'm really a big believer in what I like to call, "5 year old language," that making sure that people are talking in 5 year old language, and putting your message in front of people as if it's an ongoing theme so that you're consistent. That's really a key to success is consistency in the marketplace, big key.
Robert Plank: What is this 5 year language? Does that mean that I'm using the same words that I used 5 years ago?
Jill Lublin: No, 5 year old language.
Robert Plank: Okay, so explaining things so that a 5 year old could understand it?
Jill Lublin: Simple. Exactly, being very simple. Keeping things simple, that's a big clue that you're mastering your message. That's really what I'm talking about here is mastering your message so that other people know who you are, and they can repeat it. For you, you can repeat it so that it doesn't matter what's happening that day, what's going on, good bad day, bad day, that really, it's all about getting your message heard, that's really what we're after here.
Robert Plank: In what kind of ways can people get their message heard? I've heard of press released, and podcasts, and blogging, and I guess I could do guest blogging, or post on Facebook or on LinkedIn, what's been working well publicity wise lately?
Jill Lublin: A couple different things. All that you mentioned is really good. Your social media needs to have a great message on it, and again your message is consistent whether you're on social media, whether you're on Instagram, whether you're on LinkedIn, whether you're on Twitter, Facebook, I want your message to be consistent. I think that's really important. Number 2, that press releases still work. Press releases are not dead, they are very much alive. Media is very much alive. If you turn on the TV you can see that. If you listen to the radio you hear that. If you're receiving magazines, which most of us are still. Is their CNN.com? Absolutely. Is there .com's in every news outlet you know of? Absolutely. It's an and, so the news is usually on that news outlet, and the traditional turn on the TV set media outlet. I just want to say... and the truth is whether you're viewing news through your computer, it's all the same. It's still news, it's still a segment, it's still somebody's interviewing you for your business, getting your name out there.
What I love about publicity is that it builds your credibility so that you get more prospects, and more clients. This my friends makes you more money. Simple easy things to do for instance also include getting in your local business journal. There's a wonderful section in their called the, "People section." In the people section, well guess what they need? People.
Robert Plank: People, yep.
Jill Lublin: People just like you, who are listening to this podcast. I want you in the news, particularly on the people section, fabulous way to get your name out there to announce anything. A new coaching program, a new website, a new employee you hired. Maybe you're sitting on a board of directors, you want to announce that. These are great places to do that.
Robert Plank: Awesome, and that makes a lot of sense because I mean, people were still doing things 20 years ago, and events still happened 20 years ago and people still needed a way to get the news 20 years ago. Maybe what we have now is more efficient and crowded, but it sounds like they still need to get at that news.
Jill Lublin: Absolutely. I mean the reality is news is news. One of the things I wan you to do is look to see how you fit into the news. An etiquette expert I work with, she actually wrote a book about college students, and how to have more etiquette. She teaches in corporations, she teaches managers how to have better etiquette, she speaks on the topic. When Donald Trump came on the scene we did a whole story about his lack of etiquette, which of course is relevant for what's happening in the marketplace. We skipped that story of what some of the other things she was doing, and shifted it. I want you to pay attention to what's relevant in the marketplace. How can you be seen and heard in a different way? How do you fit into the news, if that's a possibility at all. How can you make a comment on something going on? Whatever you think. It doesn't almost matter because what you want to do is get into the news so that your voice is heard, so that people start knowing the name of your business, your service, and what you're up to.
Robert Plank: I saw some YouTube clip from years and years ago of a famous marketer named Grant Cardone, and he was on talking about Sarah Palin's daughter years ago. 1 of my coaching clients, he's a doctor, and then there's been some controversy about Hillary Clinton feinting and stuff like that, so he went in and made some internet commentary about that. Whether that leads to being on the news is up to him, depending on how far he wants to push it. I've been seeing that, i've been seeing how people kind of instead of trying to force their own message down the mass medias throat, they just find news worth thing that's happened lately. With politics usually, or some kind of big item, and then try to ride the coat tails of that. Is that right?
Jill Lublin: That's exactly what I'm talking about.
Robert Plank: Awesome, so get yourself listed on local business, figure out how you fit into the news, what else has been working well for you lately?
Jill Lublin: Those are the main things. I mean I teach a publicity crash course and 1 of the things I have my clients do in that course, and we teach it live webinar, live events, and people are writing these announcements that go into the people section for the small business, your small business journal. Boy, that's been working really well. Then people are knowing your name, and that's a beautiful thing.
Robert Plank: If I was going to look into being in a local journal, would I Google search the name of my town local journal people's section? What am I exactly running a search for here?
Jill Lublin: Usually there's 1 related to the town where you live. This is really just for where you live, and for where you work. If you live and work in 2 different counties for instance, they will have it. Take a look, it's called a business journal. This is international, and what they are is a journal related for small business usually. I just think it's a great resource, but there is a particular section called the, "People section," or something like, "Going on." In Marin County they call it, "Movers and shakers." It's a little bit different each... but mostly the people are people on the move. That section is always looking for great news, from people like you who are listening. Just make any announcement of anything that's happened from the past year that you haven't announced, maybe a big conference you're going to, make some news my friends. I'm sure something you've done recently is newsworthy.
Robert Plank: Interesting, so if you Jill Lublin were going to attend an upcoming conference, that's a newsworthy item that you could put in your local business journal?
Jill Lublin: Well, for instance I'm on faculty at something called, "CEO space," which is an international group, which meets in Orlando 5 times a year. After I teach or go, I would be announcing that. For instance I've got a new book coming out called, "The Prophet of Kindness." We just sent out an announcement that says, "Jill Lublin recently announces her new book, Prophet of Kindness, coming out on Career Press January 2017." Now it's coming up, so I can announce... I've got a book contract, I can announce the dates coming out in, and then in January we will be sending out a lovely another announcement that says, "Jill Lublin released the Prophet of Kindness on Career Press." Then the rest of the announcement is your bio. That's a great way to do it, keeps it really simple and easy.
Robert Plank: You mentioned that the book is coming out, you mentioned when the book is out, is there any kind of follow up? Do you keep on posting in later months, or do you need to update the book in order to have an excuse, or even just that the book has been out is good enough reason?
Jill Lublin: That's enough reason. Perhaps who those aren't authors, you have a new coaching program, a new consulting program, those are all great things to announce, absolutely it works.
Robert Plank: Is it possible to post too much, or is it possible to be spammy with this?
Jill Lublin: Well with the announcement strategy I just gave you, no absolutely not. As far as I'm concerned, the posting... I mean listed, I'm fairly out there and I post maybe 2 to 3 times a week. I send out my easing twice a month, I think it's enough. People got a lot to do, and I'm a little bit more of an advocate of less is more these days because I don't want people just skipping over my email. If they only see it every other week or once a month, or if I'm posting things that are valuable... like I did this cool montage, publicity is like a gardening process, you plant your seeds in different times, which is something I really believe. Well, guess what? What's fabulous about this is people respond in different ways, and I believe in giving value, here's how, and like the 80/20 rule, 80% of the time you're really giving value and content. Then maybe 20% of the time you can make an offer, I'll tell them about my publicity course, or I'll invite them to an event, something like that. That's great.
Robert Plank: Awesome, I like how within that you mentioned how you're planting all the seeds, and you don't necessarily see the result of something you do today might take a few months to pay off, it might lead to 1 connection that leads to other things. That's I guess kind of a breakthrough for me lately in the last few months is that I used to... you know, back when like article marketing was a thing. I used to put out articles and think, "Okay well great, I'm seeing all these clicks back to my site." Is that kind of a better mindset to have is that you're doing all these things, and some might pay off and some might not, but you're just counting on those times it pays off but you don't quite know yet what will pay off?
Jill Lublin: Yeah, you know you're doing things to create exposure in the marketplace. The truth is not everything's going to hit right away, or even grant you great results right away. That consistent persistent marketing in the marketplace is what's going to absolutely draw people back to you and create that all important, "I've heard of you somewhere syndrome." They will keep seeing you on social media, on your own easings, and your article marketing, in a quote from the media, that's what we're after. To create that ongoing visibility, building campaign. That includes networking I think at least twice a month. Then people know you and it makes a big difference.
Robert Plank: All right so you say network twice a month, and there are all these other actions to take. Do you have any kind of a routine or a method to the madness? On Monday do you say, "I'm going to knock out these things, on Tuesday knock out these things?" Do you say, "Every week I need to do at least 1 of these." Do you have anything like that?
Jill Lublin: Well every 60 days I send out an announcement, so that's 6 times a year. Then I create the local media list, that's an important... I make sure that I'm speaking 4 to 6 times a month, so that's part of my system. I do have a social media team who logs and creates all of my social media accounts, which is driven by my books. They're out posting at least 3 times a week, and that's what they've been instructed to do. I have team, just because I'm busy speaking, and traveling, and running my publicity courses, and consulting, all of which I totally love. Then I have team who takes my content and puts it out there. I think that's a beautiful thing.
Robert Plank: Awesome, so you focus on the fun stuff that you like to do like the writing, and the speaking, and making the courses. Then your team deals with all the other traffic stuff?
Jill Lublin: Exactly.
Robert Plank: Awesome, so when people are out there and they're doing their best to be visible, and stay relevant, and all of that good stuff, do you see a number 1 mistake happening with everyone trying to improve their publicity?
Jill Lublin: Number 1 mistake is they don't do anything. I mean honestly that would be the number 1 mistake. You must do something, you must take baby steps, get out in your community, but that's really the number 1 mistake, not to do anything. Other than that I'd rather you ready, fire, aim instead of do nothing.
Robert Plank: I mean, makes a lot of sense to me. That was 1 of those things that held me back too was for year and years I thought, "I don't know, what if I mess up? What if I have a typo?" I like your answer and your attitude there, that anything's better than nothing. If the average person isn't doing anything to get their name out there, then if I do something then automatically I win against a lot of people who just aren't even aware.
Jill Lublin: Absolutely. We just want your name to get out there, we want visibility ongoingly. It is key to just keep putting yourself 1 foot in front of the other. It doesn't have to be huge stuff, we don't have to go overwhelm anyone, we just create ongoing simple building campaigns, and what a difference that makes.
Robert Plank: I mean yeah, imagine if someone just took a couple of these steps just once a day, even 10 minutes a day, imagine after a year how many 10 minute chunks times 365 that would add up to.
Jill Lublin: Exactly.
Robert Plank: Cool, we need to do publicity, we need to do a lot of little things, we need to do a lot of things consistently everyday. I understand that along those lines you have some kind of a freebie prepared for everyone today?
Jill Lublin: I do, as my creation of a publicity, more tips for you. What I did was I created a free gift, which is an audio download, of more simple tips that you can use for your publicity, ongoing visibility building, keeping it really simple but value packed. Definitely download that at PublicityCrashCourse.com/FreeGift. If you'd like to talk to me about your own needs, and Robert I think you can put that in the show notes too, right? PublicityCrashCourse.com/FreeGift. If you'd like to talk to me about your own specific needs for publicity, or book publishing, I'm an expert in that too, please feel free to give our office a call at 415-883-5455 and we can support you with consulting, my publicity course, or anything else that would be relevant for you.
Robert Plank: Awesome, so PublicityCrashCourse.com/FreeGift, and can you repeat that phone number one more time to make sure everyone has it?
Jill Lublin: Absolutely, it's 415-883-5455.
Robert Plank: Awesome, we're going to do just like the infomercials, right? They keep repeating the number. The number is on their twice, on the show notes, all that good stuff.
Jill Lublin: Yeah, and there's a good reason for that. You have to be ongoingly consistent.
Robert Plank: Makes a lot of sense to me, and that's the message I've been hearing from you over and over today, that consistency wins. Thanks for being on the show on the show Jill, thanks for telling us about publicity, from getting in a local business journal, fitting into the news, doing all of these social media things a few times a week, networking, and just all the things that are simple to do. You might have heard that they're important, but we need to be doing them because they work, it's how the news media functions now. Thanks for being on the show Jill and sharing the things you had to share with us today.
Jill Lublin: You're welcome, have a great day everyone.[/showhide]
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