More Than A Few Words

Like many business owners I defined myself as the founder of my company, Roundpeg.  Lorraine Ball and Roundpeg were intricately linked.  The fact that the business was originally an outgrowth of my personality got lost along the way. I became an outgrowth of the business.  That was fine for 20 years until I sold Roundpeg. Suddenly that cornerstone of my brand was gone. So I've spent the last two years realigning, adjusting and figuring out who I am and what my brand is. The funny thing is that I have come to the conclusion that who I was when all of this started is exactly who I am today. My brand is the sum total of what I know about marketing and what I've done as a marketing professional over of these years. This is a lesson for every business owner.  Never lose sight of the that you are your brand. 

If you've been listening to More than a Few Words for any length of time you know I was born talking. Standing in front of a group of people or facing a microphone is not uncomfortable for me. But it is for many people.  Public speaking anxiety is a crippler for some people and  can get in the way of careers and businesses. Guest Rebecca Jabbar says the key to getting comfortable is to personalize the message with two very simply pieces of information explaining why you care about a particular topic and having an example ready to support your message.   About Rebecca Rebecca Jabbar is a coach and trainer with 25+ years’ experience in helping over 400 international professionals and 130 brands successfully deliver their media messages, she works with senior leaders on not only what to do to be a successful spokesperson, but how to do it. Founder of The Brand Champion Bootcamp, Rebecca is passionate that everyone required to represent their business should feel confident, and be engaging, authentic and credibl

As business owners try to grow their business they assume they have to do it organically.  The problem with the organic approach is you have to be patient. It takes time for the business to mature and grow.  But that is not the only way to grow. Your path to success might include merging with another company or acquiring a business.   Deb Curtis, an expert in SBA-Supported Business Acquisition Loans & Smooth Ownership Transitions shares a few tips and things to consider before you jump into acquisition mode 

I had the strangest phone call the other day. It was from someone I have known for a long time. I wouldn't call us friends, but our paths have crossed multiple times over the years so we are acquainted.  We chatted for a few minutes. He told me he had moved to Florida. I mentioned I sold my company and I am enjoying the slower pace. He barely acknowledged what I said and proceeded to launch into a pitch on his new venture. Unfortunately, I have no interest since, as I told him, I sold my agency. By the time I got off the phone I was annoyed, because he clearly had no interest in anything I had to say. Then I felt sorry for him. Not only had he failed to sell me, but he completely blew the chance to sell to my contacts. There was no way I was going to introduce him to anyone I actually liked.  So, before your hop on your next sales call, maybe you should brush up on your listening skills.  Pay attention to your body language. Make sure that you are facing your customer, making eye contact, and nodding your hea

When I started my agency in 2002, clients and friends called me the Postcard Queen.  I was working with small businesses and postcards were a wonderful way to get noticed.  Then along came email marketing and social media.  Direct mail seemed cumbersome and old fashioned in comparison. Travis Lee suggests as everyone has rushed towards digital it is no longer the bargain it once was. With auction style bidding for advertising the cost of click has increased dramatically, while the return has dropped.  So as everyone has rushed to digital, there is an advantage to considering alternatives, like direct mail. We are living in this digital world, but we are inundated with digital and there is much less competition in the mailbox. Everyone still collects their mail so it is still a great way to get in front of your ideal prospect.  About Travis Travis Lee is known as the expert in getting direct mail delivered, opened, and read. As co-founder and president of 3D Mail, he generates huge returns for thousands of bus

There is a cycle business owners get trapped in as they start to spiral toward burnout.  Coach Linsi Brownson says the first thing you need to do is recognize, you’re not doing anything wrong.  This is just a phase in your business. This is actually a really great moment to step back and realign the business, by going back to the drawing board and looking at three things: yourself, your business position and your operations. LOOK AT YOURSELF Take time to understand your energy capacity  What do you find energizing and what do you find draining. Then look at the lifestyle you want, not just sometime in the future, but now.  Then look for ways to align your business model so that it actually supports you as a person and  your lifestyle DEFINE YOUR UNIQUE POSITION Look at your actual business model to identify your biggest opportunities. Outline the the things you offer which make me the most money, are the most popular with clients and create the biggest impact for customers. Double down on those activities. Th

These days everyone is talking about Chat Gpt Ai driven content. I find some people are either really excited about it.  Then there are others who are afraid we are the cusp of some dystopian world where the machines take over and we become their slaves. Which is more accurate? Well that is up to you, but Chat GPT  is changing how content is created so you need to know how to use the tools. My guest Jules Dan seems to have cracked the code with Chat Gpt and it boils down to three simple steps:  Cloning the Voice Steering the AI Back on Course Fine Tuning the Prompts.

You have to go where your customers are Social media is about engagement. This is something businesses forget when they start to use it as a broadcast tool. Just because you’re posting information out there doesn’t mean that anyone is actually paying attention. So one of the most important things you can do to get the most out of your social media is to pay attention to your engagement numbers.  Are people liking, sharing and commenting on your content? Are they interacting with you? If they’re not, it’s a good time to stop and change your approach.  Create more content designed to engage people. Ask questions, comment on content other people are sharing. If you do that, and you still aren’t getting the response you are hoping for, it is possible that you’re trying to talk to the wrong audience. While Facebook has the most monthly active users, your product may or may not fit there. As you’re planning your strategy and evaluating your results look at who’s on the platform and decide if this is the right place

So you want to be a podcast guest.  Before you start reaching out to potential shows my guest, Joe Matz suggests you need to start with Why do you want to be a podcast guest. There are a number of reasons. Some people, have just launched a book and they want to do a virtual book tour. Others want to get their authority positioning out there. Joe also mentioned, SEO because when you're on a podcast, you get links back to your website. So the podcast increases your backlinks. Other reasons might include reaching new audiences. If reaching new audiences is you goal, start by looking at what podcasts are they listening to? That's where you want to go!   About Joe  Joe is a Certified Professional Coach who excels in building value and developing a plan for success using a systematic approach to create a unique business that stands out from the crowd, delivers results, and transforms a business into a money making machine. His goal is straightforward – to help serious business owners see a dramatic and immediate in

From our archive. This conversation with Sharyn and Hank Yuloff was originally released in August of 2021.  If you missed it then you are in for a treat.  This was a fun, lively conversation about the marketing path.   As you drive down the road, you have to be ready to make small adjustments.  The same is true for your marketing. This week's guests, Sharyn and Hank Yuloff,  think you need to stop thinking about your marketing as if the plan was carved in stone.  Instead, you should view it as a path that will need to be adjusted along the way.  You need to keep your hand on the wheel, so you can make the small changes to your program as conditions change.   About Hank and Sharyn Hank and Sharyn Yuloff bring a very unique perspective to clients who wish to have their marketing efforts reach new focus. Hank is a targeted marketing tactician with a background in advertising and public relations who has helped small businesses get bigger for over 35 years. Sharyn’s path went through the business affairs and huma

I would love to tell you that out of the gate I was a business genius and everything I did in marketing worked perfectly. Well that's not true.  We all make mistakes along the way, but when we learn from them we have a better shot at success. And if we can get out ahead of some of those mistakes, by learning from what other business owners are doing wrong we can shorten the cycle to success. In this conversation with Lori Highby, we discuss the three most common mistakes new business owners make and how to avoid them. 1 ) The We We syndrome where owners think all their marketing needs to be about them.  2) Defining too broad a target 3) Describing what makes them uniquely qualified to solve a problem.    ABOUT LORI  With a core personal value of lifelong-learning, Lori Highby has shared creative and strategic digital marketing, personal branding, and entrepreneurship lessons with people and organizations from allover. Her 20 years experience, education, and involvement range from currently owning a digital ma

We’ve all had that marketing brainstorm sitting alone at a desk. It sounds like a good idea so you bounce it off other people. everybody excitedly supports the concept. You execute it the best that you can, but it doesn’t work out they way you planned. You should give up, but you’ve built this whole program so you double down and you keep pushing and pushing. Eventually you have to accept it wasn’t as good an idea as you thought. It is always painful when you realize you have made a mistake, but the longer you pursue an idea that isn’t working, the more you delay your ultimate success. Now I’m not suggesting abandoning ideas after two or three months, but if you give it your best, investing time and effort and it just doesn’t click, you have to prepare to try something else.. That’s where I have right now. I created a private Facebook group for the Digital Toolbox.  Private, because I thought that would give it a little bit of prestige by making people feel they were joining something exclusive. But Facebook

Getting up in front of an audience and speaking is how I make a living. Even if that's not your career goal you need to be a good public speaker. Whether you're standing up in front of an audience  or one-on-one with an employee or a customer at the heart of each of those interactions are your communication skills. In this episode, Brenden Kumarasamy joined me for a conversation on how everyone can improve their communication skills. He started by explaining that good communication is like juggling 18 balls at the same time. One of those balls is body language, one is storytelling and another is remembering to smile in the right way and there are lots more balls. So he thinks you need to start with the three easiest balls to juggle because if you can juggle those three you can get results really quickly and build momentum. One of the skills you need is the ability to think on your feet. He shared a simple exercise  where you start with a random word such as light bulb like home like doorknob. Then crate prese

From our archive.  This conversation with Mike Wittenstein was originally released in August 2021.  If you missed it then, you should definitely check it out now.  Why does your business exist?  If you answered to make money, you are missing the point.  That may be  why your own a business, but the business exists to create value for your customers. As you define your reason to exist consider, the value you create, who you create it for, and what the customer will ultimately do with  your product or service. Mike Wittenstein says those three elements comprise your “reason for being” which can become the North Star, or guiding principal for your business. About Mike Mike is a 5-time professional services entrepreneur and IBM’s former eVisionary. Global business/creative executive who speaks four languages. Leaders, Chiefs of Staff and Boards call on Mike to help them find profitable opportunities, sharpen their ideas, win support from their teams, and create more value for their customers. An expert at definin

You have a great product. That's wonderful. But a product by itself is not enough to guarantee success. Shaun McAndrew believes you need to build a complete offer where you integrate a combination of the product, be it hardware and or software, with the technology, the internet of things, AI and machine learning, with the data analytics and services needed to build a single package that aligns to customer outcomes.   About Shaun McAndrew Shaun is a Navy Veteran, the VP of Business Development for The Service Design Group and keynote speaker.  Shaun honed her leadership skills as a helicopter pilot and Commanding Officer in the U.S. Navy before diving headfirst into conveying the stories that build business relationships and create personal transformations. Learn More - https://theservicedesigngroup.com/learn-more/

Let’s face it, sometimes mistakes happen and things go wrong. How you handle the situation will often determine whether your smallest mistake becomes a big crisis  Even if you can’t predict what will go wrong, having a plan in place outlining specific steps in case of a mistake will make it easier to respond. This is true in the real world or on social media, where your Twitter or Facebook page can absolutely blow up. Keep these things in mind as you develop your crisis management plan  Appoint a team leader. Have one person identified who will be in charge of coordinating all of the public responses.  They may not need to be the one crafting all the messages, but should serve as a clearing house for all statements. Personalized apologies are great, but be sure to create a blanket statement  you can use if you start getting lots of comments all at once. Remember if customers have legitimate grievances, the very best thing you can do is encourage them to connect with you directly and take the conversation off

These days so many people are hot on social media and whatever the new platform is this week.  But Nicole Krug says that year after year email marketing works.  It has a 400% return on investment and that has been consistent for many years. One of the reasons is email is more personal than social media.  You have been invited into the inbox. Now the trick is getting people to open your email once you land there. Data suggests only about 20% of emails are opened, so in this conversation Nicole shares some great tips on how you can improve your open rate.   

Maybe you think that when someone says something negative you shouldn't dignify their comment with a reply. According to David Oates, that's actually not the best strategy. The reality is everybody, right or wrong tends to have the same weight and credibility in a social media post or an online review. Now that rubs most of us the wrong way particularly when we get criticism from somebody who may not have ever been a customer or who had realistic expectations when they walked in our virtual or actual physical front door. You know they're out of line and you feel like all you're going to do is to give them some credibility if you reply.  Responding with empathy and action allows you to take control of the narrative.  You may not get the naysayer to change their mind but you are telegraphing everybody else who matters to you; customers, partners, employees and the general public that you take things seriously.  About David our guest David Oates Dave possesses more than 25 years of strategic public relations exp

Athletes love to play on their home court. Being intimately familiar with every square inch of the field is reassuring, and the supportive crowd gives them the confidence to play their best. In a way, the same is true in sales. If you can get a customer to come to your office or showroom, you’ve already scored the first point. Unfortunately, many home service businesses such as heating and air conditioning, plumbing, landscaping or roofing rarely have the opportunity of selling on their turf, so they don’t have that home court advantage. The sale is in the client’s home, where they are most comfortable, and you aren’t. That isn’t likely to change, but there are ways to use information, brochures, web content and emails to move the game to a more neutral setting. Use Your Website to Level the Playing Field in Every Selling Situation What kind of information can even the playing field in your next selling situation? Here are a few examples. This content can be a blog post, the text of an email or even a video.

It is often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  That is definitely true on the journey to master your marketing message. In this conversation Tracey Watts Cirino and I explored the first steps you need to take on your journey to master your marketing message.  1 - Get clear on who you will serve. You can not serve everyone.  When we try to be for everyone we end up being for enough for no one This doesn't mean you're not going to do different types of things for different people. But when you're really clear about who you want to serve it aligns so much more beautiful in your marketing message. 2 - Speak directly to your audience. Create messages that are relevant for the people you want to serve 3 - Finally talk about your product.  Don't lead with this.    About Tracey Tracey Watts Cirino is a 5-time #1 bestselling author, podcast host of Beyond Common Business Secrets, and certified success and mindset coach. She helps business owners and leaders discover their own power so