More Than A Few Words

Join Roundpeg's Lorraine Ball and Lydia Thurston while they discuss the new updates to the Facebook stream algorithm that drastically changes the way that marketers use Facebook. If you are not aware, on Thursday, January 10, Facebook announced changes to its algorithm to increase engagement by showing more content from friends and family members and less from publishers and businesses. We can expect Facebook to almost completely stop showing posts from brands, news outlets, and businesses.  It will be painful but you do have options. Essentially, in order for your content to be seen by your fans, you will need to be more human, more responsive, more interactive, and engaging. And yes, you will need to advertise. More Than a Few Words is a production of Roundpeg.

The questions on every business-owner's mind: how should I blog? Am I blogging enough? Why is blogging important? Join Roundpeg's Lorraine Ball and Sam Von Tobel as they discuss the basics of blogging.  The Blogging Guide mentioned in the podcast can be found here. More than a Few Words is a production of Roundpeg.

Customers are likely to believe what other people say about your business.  That's why reviews are so important.  In today's podcast, Lorraine chats with Bryan Caplan of BJC Branding about how to collect reviews and what to do when you get them.  Learn more about BJC branding and their new review monitoring tool.  MTFW is a production of Roundpeg, and social media agency. 

You wouldn't get in your car and drive without a map, if you didn't know where you were going, so why do you think you can drive your business without one? 

For more than a decade images have ruled the internet, but 2018 is shaping up to be the year of the video.  With cameras in everyone's pocket,  it has never been easier to create a video to market your product. This week we explore some of the trends on how and why you need to be thinking about video.  We also talked about a new tool, Promo by Slidely, which will make it easier than ever to create professional looking short videos.    More than a Few Words is  produced by Roundpeg, an Indianapolis Social Media Firm

Everyone knows the best place to look for a dead body is on page 2 of a Google search. Why? Because no one will actually look there. To avoid a fate worse than death, small business owners need to embrace and active SEO strategy that includes:  Research - Think like your prospective customers, then check your assumptions using the Google keyword planning too.   Relevance - Use your keywords in all parts of your website to increase its relevance.  That includes in titles, subtitles, urls, and meta descriptions.  Realistic Goals - In a crowded marketplace, it may not be realistic for you to try to dominate broad terms. Narrowing your focus and concentrating on niche keywords may help you drive more traffic in the long run.  Revenue, not Rankings - At the end of the day, winning search and driving traffic is only half the battle, you must be ready to convert visitors to prospects when they arrive at your site. Want to learn more about this topic? Check out the full-length webinar   

It doesn't matter how good your email newsletter is, if you don't have enough people to send it to you won't have a chance to share your information.   In today's program, Lorraine shares an excerpt from a longer presentation on how to grow your email list.  Find more email resources from Roundpeg, an Indianapolis email marketing firm. 

Julie Kratz, a highly-acclaimed leadership trainer, speaker, and author, joined us for a conversation about male allies. We talked about what they are - Supportive, but not necessarily a white knight  Why women need them - Because there are still too few women in leadership positions What is in it for men - Being a male ally has benefits for everyone involved.  Julie is the author of the book  ONE: How Men And Women Partner For Gender Equality! and the founder of Pivot Point an organization devoted to developing leaders.     

These days everyone is pumping out content. There are blog posts and pictures and video that all follow a predictable formula.  After a while, every company looks the same.  One way to stand out in the timeline, particularly on Twitter is to create a hashtag and use it consistently. At Roundpeg we selected #OHatThePeg as a way of infusing a bit of fun and personality into our timeline. As we share funny snippets of conversations heard around the office it is like letting the world eavesdrop on us. This week, Lydia and Lorraine talk about some of their favorite tweets along with a few tips for starting a hashtag of your own. More than a Few Words is a production of Roundpeg, a social media firm in Indianapolis. 

Last week we made hand turkeys.  Sure it is a silly thing for adults to do, but as Sam explained,  there are several good reasons why every business should.    Lorraine Ball and Sam Von Tobel are part of the turkey making team at Roundpeg, an Indianapolis marketing firm. 

At Roundpeg, we love all our customers, but we definitely enjoy working with our food clients a bit more.  Why? Well, of course, there are the products, but also the creativity and the opportunity to promote product customers really enjoy interacting with. So if you manufacture or distribute a food product, or run a restaurant  or shop sit back and enjoy today's podcast.  More than a few words is a production of Roundpeg, a food marketing firm.   

Today, Erik Deckers is recognized across the country as a humorist, author, and marketer. But just a decade ago, that wasn't the case.  So how did Erik make that transition, and build his personal brand?  That is the subject Branding Yourself, (3rd Edition) by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy.   I had a chance to sit down recently with my good friend Erik to talk about the book, what's new and the relevant lessons for anyone looking to build a personal brand.  From social media profiles to face to face networking tips, Erik firmly believes you need to brand yourself as someone who is willing to share what they know, learn from others and add value to every interaction.  More than a Few Words is hosted by Lorraine Ball  

Advertising is easy.  For a relatively small investment, even a novice marketer can reach a wide audience.  but when you are ready to go beyond the basics, then Lindsey Anderson has some solid tips for you.  From building an audience by "Carpet Bombing" or retargeting your ads from landing pages used in your Google Adword campaigns, she explains how you can reach the right people at the right time.  Want to learn more about Lindsey?  Check out her podcast at trafficandleadspodcast.com or her website oneclicklindsey.com   More than a Few Words is a production of Roundpeg, a digital agency in Indianapolis  

Albert Kaufman considers himself a lifelong networker. In this conversation, he shares his opinions and tips for making the most of your networking activities.  Learn more about him at www.albertideation.com   More than a few Words is a production of Roundpeg, a marketing and web design firm in Indianapolis. 

Your website has to do more than just look good, it needs to be filled with keyword rich, recent and relevant content. In the second of a four-part series, Lorraine looks at some of the most common content mistakes and how to avoid them.   These podcasts are excerpts from a webinar on the same topic.  To view the webinar, click here.    More than a few words is a production of Roundpeg, a web design firm. 

Wordpress is promising us that Version 5 of the popular software is going to be packed with some pretty significant changes.  The biggest is Gutenberg, their new text editor.  The developers are promising that the Gutenberg editor will revolutionize how we edit content, but is it really the best thing since sliced bread? While some users are excited, others include plug in developers are concerned the changes are being rushed.    MORE THAN A FEW WORDS is a production of Roundpeg, and Indianapolis-based Wordpress development shop. 

When was the last time you looked at your website - really looked at it the way a prospective customer might.  If it has been more than a few months, it has probably been too long. In today's episode, we begin a conversation about auditing your website and outline the design elements you should keep in mind.  Be sure to check out the complete audit your website webinar and companion workbook. 

As a marketing professional, my attention is usually focused on generating leads.   While leads are important, at the end of the day, your business runs on sales, not leads.   Unfortunately, too often business owners focus all their attention on the top of the sales funnel making sure they are generating lots of leads. Then they are unprepared when the lead converts to a sale. They and their sales team don't have a repeatable process which converts leads to sales. Sales coach, Matt Nettleton of Sandler Training, shares simple tips on how to convert those prospects into customers.    More than a few words is a production of Roundpeg

Your customers on looking for information when they are at their desks, from mobile devices when they are on the go and even in real life.  Do you have tools to reach them wherever they are?    Corey Trojanowski, of Delivra shared his thoughts on how and why we need to look beyond just a simple email or direct mail strategy.    More than a Few Words is hosted by Lorraine Ball, founder of Roundpeg a digital agency 

Trying to get prospective customers to engage with you on Facebook or your website?  Josh Haynam of TryInteract.com suggests you ask people questions which help them learn something about themselves.    Polls and quizzes allow people to talk about their favorite subject, themselves.  At the same time, they let you, the business owner learn more about them so you can personalize your marketing.    More than a few words is a production of Roundpeg, a digital marketing firm, which just might have a few questions for you.