Totally Hyped - The Small Business Marketing Podcast (Cale Guin)

If you did not know there was a conflict of interest between marketers and your business, you don't know how much better your marketing projects can be.

• Learn to identify when the conflict arises
• Learn to side-step the conflict of interest
• Learn how to turn the conflict of interest to your advantage

Learn how marketing projects are delayed and how to prevent delays.

• Learn from real stories how to identify pitfalls
• Lear processes to automatically avoid delays and costly time-wasting tactics that plague marketing projects

Here are a few important things Wayne said...

"...if their profile is sparse and you're saying, well, I'll just send them a connection request. Listen, this dude doesn't know his password! You are wasting your time, but LinkedIn was still helpful because it gave you the information, right??

"Probably the biggest mistake is not having your profile have clarity for your target audience. In other words, it still looks like the last time you were changing your job."

"Let's start with the company page it. Should you have one? Is it important? The answer to that is yes. You should have one. It is important. If you have a LinkedIn company page, it'll be a page one Google entry." 

Learn where most marketing projects waste money and how to avoid costly, yet common missteps.

• Learn to identify common reasons marketing budgets get out of control
• Hear real stories from over 25 years in the field
• Learn how o keep budgets on track and ensure even better results

If you want a real improvement for your business, learning to define your objectives in a manner that overcomes any barrier is the most compact change you can make.

Learn how to make sure your marketing team is aiming at the same target while simultaneously creating an unshakeable directive that creates an efficient, successful marketing environment.

In today's marketing, SEO is one of those topics that are difficult to wrap your head around. SEO is a little art and a little science. It stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO aims to get a website's pages to show up on page one of search engine results pages organically. It is always changing and nearly infinite in scope. It is necessary if you want to compete. Not all web designers or developers offer SEO, and you should not assume it is part of those projects. SEO has a high ROI, but most small and medium-sized businesses experience a bit of sticker shock when seeking a reputable, proven service.

As daunting as that sounds, there is a lot you can do on your own, and in just a few minutes, you can learn enough to make sure you have the on-page basics under control. 

SEO is based on keywords – the words people type into search engines like Google to find products, services, and content they are seeking. People think they understand and know what customers will type into a search engine to find their stuff. I am here to tell you there is a high likelihood those people might be wrong.

So let's start with keyword research.

Keyword research is the exercise of finding the most used keywords to get searchers to a website. But that's less than half of the story. If you are embarking on an SEO journey on your own or hiring someone, what I am about to tell you is critical. Not many companies do keyword research correctly. 

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is it's more difficult and time-consuming than most understand. The good news is when done properly, your results will be much better, and you won't have to go through the untangling of your first efforts, which is a lot of work.

Some SEO projects only need to focus on a few keywords, and some might require thousands. To find the soft gooey center of your most valuable keywords, you have to break down desired results – whether it be lead conversion or all the way through to purchase. Then you break up the keywords into smaller groups base on the desired outcomes.

The easiest way I can explain it is through an example. Let's look at the process of buying a new car. Here's a fun fact; it takes the average person 108 days to purchase a vehicle from the time they first consider buying. According to Google's research, there are 5 steps in the buying process:

1. Looking at all the best cars
2. Researching which car is the right fit
3. Deciding if the price will work
4. Finding dealers that have the car
5. Getting the best deal

To understand keyword research and keyword strategy, you have to know your customer's buying process. Whether your customer's buying method is more in-depth or less, or whether you are a B2C or a B2B, you still have the same work in front of you. 

Since SEO companies tend to over complicate or over-simplify things, and DIYers have to figure things out for themselves, I have devised 3 simple steps to help keep your project from getting away from you.

1. Identify the steps in your customer's buying journey
2. Determine which steps you must be involved in and understand that the keywords will be different for each step in the buying journey. In general, the keywords will be vaguer earlier in the journey and more specific as they get closer to buying. In the car buying example, they might search for fuel efficient 5 passenger crossover – early in their process, but when they are about ready to buy, they might search for 2019 Ford Escape Titanium
3. Research keywords your customers might use to find your content for each step your organization is involved in. Now you will be organized with smaller, more granular sets of keywords for each step of your customer's buying process.

So, how do you know what keywords people are using? Well, there are many keyword research tools, including Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer,

Website design and website development are key to success in today’s marketing. Your website should be as much your home base as is your brick and mortar location if you have one.

If you’re in the market for a website, a redesign, or you need to re-energize your passion for your company’s website, you owe it to yourself to hang out for a bit and get to know Ansley Fones. If you have seen the Netflix series Get Organized with  The Home Edit, you might be familiar with her work as the designer and developer of their website.

We’ll talk about working with high profile clients, typical challenges in projects, and how to avoid them. We discuss her process, how it can help you get the results you need, and her fascination with fonts.

The question for this episode comes from Ogden, Utah.

The question is; how often should our website be redesigned?

This is a great question in particular because small businesses are not using their websites to their fullest. It's a crime because your website is the place where you get to do everything you could possibly want to do. Social media sounds great, and it is great as a marketing tactic. However, you are limited in your ability to brand yourself. You're limited in the amount of content you can provide, even the amount of verbiage, and the size of images, and everything.

Stakeholders and anyone who has their ear can cause a tremendous lack of focus in any marketing project. If it is not identified and dealt with it will kill many projects. Unfortunately, dealing with it means managing relationships and even your own thinking on how marketing should be tackled.

• Learn how to avoid poor marketing advice before it sends your project in the wrong direction
• Learn how to manage the information and keep your project on budget and on schedule

I talk with Yassir Hassan of The Harris Poll. Director of Brand Strategy and Insights, and an author of a white paper “Striving and Thriving: Startups in the Post-COVID-19 World, Yassir, brings insights into how COVID has impacted Startups in relation to Innovation, Finance, and Talent.

See this episode at - https://totallyhyped.com/insights/

Get the whitepaper here - https://totallyhyped.com/startups-post-covid-19-the-harris-poll/

Easily avoid the budget-killing hype that is rampant in today's marketing industry.

Thanks to Ray Dalio and Adam Grant whose books, Principles (Ray Dalio) and Think again (Adam Grant) inspired me to use my story to help small businesses.

Principles: Life and Work

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Today, my guest is a legitimate expert on Content Marketing who has worked with some of the world's most recognizable brands. He agreed to sit down with me and discuss content marketing related to small businesses' realities and challenges.

Robert Rose is an executive at the Content Marketing Institute and an author of three books on Content marketing.

On top of one of the most inspirational stories about a small business succeeding with content marketing, we'll discuss how to make the process sustainable and less stressful for everyone.

Learn how to cut through the nonsensical jargon and misinformation and get straight to improving your business without having to decipher it all.

Learn to untangle egos, biases, and emotions that get in the way of successful marketing.

Learn how to prevent the most common reason for failure in any marketing project.

• hear real examples of instances where the issue killed projects
• Learn how to articulate your business objectives and ensure successful marketing
• Learn how you can systematically avoid issues in getting successful marketing results

Use a marketing consultant to connect the dots between marketing and advertising and achieving your business goals, Save time and money while avoiding stress.

Your business objectives determine which approaches, channels or platforms should be used. In any given situation, all promotional resources should be at your disposal. The truth is that Inbound and Outbound are not against one another. In fact, they work beautifully together when the situation arises.

Learn how to avoid missing out on marketing bliss.

Do you really need a blog?

Is your company going to produce the content internally?

Will you hire someone to produce your blog content for you?

Are there easy ways to produce content?

According to over 3,000 marketers, marketing projects fail 87% of the time. 

• Learn what causes the failures and how to make sure your projects succeed.
• Find out what to look for so you can see warning signs before your project is doomed.
• Hear about common approaches that most small businesses will fall prey to.

While there may not be a better platform for building brand product and event awareness, radio's often overlooked in today's misguided digital-first world.

In this episode, you'll learn that if you want people in any market to know about your company, product or event, you must consider radio as a proven way to achieve your goals. I met a lot of great people in radio like today's guest Bob Bellini.

TotallyHyped.com to download the white paper and for direct access to Harris Poll

• What's really important to understand about web analytics
• Where to find the most important stats in Google Analytics
• How to track online marketing efforts

Leads, prospects, opportunities, oh my!

If lead generation seems out of your hands and you're at the mercy of 3rd party lead generators, OR if you think you have this whole lead generation thing licked, you need to listen to this episode.

This is the first of several episodes that take you through becoming a lead-generating powerhouse. We'll talk about the magic that happens when generating leads is done well, identifying common problems, the three keys to determine if your lead generation system is working well or not, and what to do to improve.

In the continuing saga of unprecedented moments in time, we are experiencing a worker shortage unlike anything we have seen before. In order to compete for talent today a deeper understanding of what you’re up against is in order.

Today you’ll meet Natalie Forward. Not just a cool name, Natalie is a talent master as adept in recruitment and talent strategies as you’ll find. In this episode we’ll discuss the root of the issue and what SMBs can expect and do about it.

While the business world is bursting at the seams with opinions on metaverse, what are consumers thinking, if anything? Should you be investing, or should you stay away? 

In this episode of Totally Hyped, I’m joined by Jen Musil, VP @ the Harris Poll. Jen and her team did some digging into what consumers think about metaverse, which in turn provides some insight for your next steps. 

The guide to marketing success for SMB leaders is easy to learn. It can be transformative, and it can give you a leg up on the competition.

It all starts with you no matter what your marketing experience is.

The continuing frustrations over aligning marketing strategies with business objectives, and the ambiguity between marketing activities and measurable marketing ROI are wreaking havoc on business leadership and marketers.

Good news! we've got a solution, and we'll discuss it in today's episode "A Business Leaders' Guide to Unusually Successful Marketing Strategies"

For my money, the state of marketing budgets is worse than marketing strategies. The way marketing budgets are typically developed breeds the wrong focus, the wrong conversations, and, ultimately, the wrong results.

There is a better way and we'll get into it in today's episode "Marketing Budgets That Defy Convention and Lead to Measurable ROI"

On today's episode, if I were to ask you why a customer should buy from your company rather than your competitor, would you be able to provide me with a truly unique, compelling reason? One your competitor cannot say?

We're going to talk about the importance of a UVP (Unique Value Proposition) and how it should be your company's soul, it's core.

One of the most transformative exercises I have helped clients with over the last few decades is getting Marketing and Sales teams to work together. Just the common messaging alone is a huge boost to your outcomes, but it goes deeper than that, and at the end of the day, it is a very direct line to making more money.

I get a little passionate in this episode because many companies resist integrating sales and marketing despite its proven track record. My apologies for the cursing.

How can you ignore AI? It will either make our lives better or wipe us off the face of the planet. No matter what you think of AI, you have to pay attention. After all, this is one of those moments when you either keep up or get left in the dust. Today, we'll examine AI-related decisions you'll have to wrestle with, and from a leader's perspective, I'll explain how you can leverage AI to truly improve your business through marketing, no matter how marketing or tech-savvy you are. 

On today's episode - We'll refresh our memory on defining objectives in a fool-proof way, then we'll jump into some specifics on how to place value on achieving your business objectives. This is an exclusive bit of information your competitors won't have and it's a real game-changer. This is the biggest step you can take to accurately measure ROI.

On today's episode - We'll tackle the challenge of multichannel marketing with limited resources. our goal is to help you be extremely efficient and extremely effective despite not having enough time or budget to do everything you want to do. Leading your team to effectively get the results you want - That's what we're doing today on Totally Hyped.

In this episode: Improved revenue and customer satisfaction while reducing risk are some of the hallmarks of data-driven companies. But being data-driven also puts you in the know when it comes to making the right business moves at the right times and lets you see trends as they are happening instead of after. So how can you become data-driven or be better at it?

In this episode - Social media is one of the most misunderstood marketing channels. When you have an audience, it can be an excellent way to communicate and promote your products and services. The reality is, for most SMBs there are mountains of unflattering truths about its costs, results, and ROI. Today we'll work through those realities and help you get a handle on things. Let's use this topic to improve your Sales and your marketing ROI - starting today.

On todays episode I am playing the role of the magician giving away all the secrets - except I am a marketer telling what the marketing industry doesn't want you to know. What they don't want you to know is you are being sold the wrong tactics. I am going to tell you what your marketing mix should look like - which is likely to be a far cry from what it is. I won't stop there, I will tell you how to drive change to get your marketing team on the same page.

On today's episode - I have a very special guest, Natalie Forward, EVP of Business Development at Felix Global. We will discuss how SMBs can compete for top talent and such topics as How to Compensate for Compensation, how the cadence of your hiring process is key to success or failure in recruitment and how do you know what candidates want to keep them happy - it's all on today's episode.

On today's episode - I am giving you your superpower - content marketing. Content marketing is the key to well - everything in digital marketing. It seems daunting - time consuming, expensive if it is outsourced, how do create the right content and create it well. I have some direction for you. I'll also have some motivation for you. Stick around.

On today's episode - I am going to pull everything together from this season so far in order to make you the best damn marketer in the SMB world. Seriously though, the 5 secrets I will give to you today .encapsulate the most important aspects of crushing digital marketing

1. Pointing everything and everyone in the right direction
2. Set Yourself up for Measurable Results
3. A Winning Marketing Mix 
4. Invest in Your Most Valuable Digital Marketing Asset
5. The most efficient and most effective marketing process

On today's episode - I am gonna get real-real talking about Affordable Marketing Solutions, not just in theory, but in practice.

1. I'll tell you about three real options for low-cost and no-cost marketing
2. I'll share some great examples with you
3. we'll talk about measuring results

All of that is coming up today on Totally Hyped - Let's get started on Michelin Star Marketing on a Ramen Noodle Budget.

On this episode, we dive into one of the toughest marketing disciplines to get a handle on - Customer Behavior. While it is tough to wrangle in Customer Behaviors - with their inherent fickleness and changing technologies - when you do get it right, it is a key that unlocks a lot of marketing successes. We'll cover the "Whys" and the "Hows" of conquering Customer Behavior on this episode of Totally Hyped. 

On this episode of Totally Hyped - Get Ready to Dominate Digital in 2025. As an SMB leader, you need to stay ahead of the curve. This guide unlocks the secrets to AI-powered marketing, captivating visual storytelling, and personalized experiences. Discover actionable strategies to boost your brand, engage your audience, and drive sales like never before. Don't miss out on the future of marketing.

On this episode of Totally Hyped - Buckle up! We're about to go on a ride to riches. The most direct path there is through the niches. We'll talk to an entrepreneur that went from burnt-out yoga studio owner to become "The Mother Trucker" Hope Zvara went from trying to be everything to everyone to be one thing to one group of people and is now living her best life - we'll discuss lessons she's learned and her advice on niching down.

I swear on everything holy I get bombarded every day by so called experts telling me they know how a company should be marketed - and they're so off base they don't know how badly they are embarrassing themselves. If you're trying to market your small business you are being sold garbage almost all of the time. Sadly you won't know it's garbage until, well after you've spent the money.

Manage your budget with knowledge and patience to realize faster, more successful marketing results.

Learn how to take one or two extra steps that will result in getting better outcomes, saving money, and getting the results you want in less time than leaping before you look.

Learn how to effectively manage the complexities of comprehensive marketing strategies

Learn how to differentiate BS measurements from measurements that matter - they either achieve results or provide actionable understanding,

Learn about the benefits of creating a cohesive team between Sales and Marketing. Hear a few examples of successful relationships and how can achieve such harmony.

Learn how to add a seasoned marketing executive to your team without the commitment or expense.

Why does digital marketing fail more often than it succeeds?

What you can do to ensure success.

There is a lot that goes into great performing ads, including luck. However, if you want to improve the performance of your marketing and advertising effort, there is one thing that will always work.

As it relates to my mission of simplifying marketing for small businesses, this episode shows examples of catching lightning in a bottle, what it really takes to stand out in more traditional mediums, and one story of how a jingle saved one of the world's largest brands and the trickery used to push it onto the buying public. At the end of this episode, I will break down what it takes to get a jingle to cut through to help your company stand out.

The idea of putting lists together on the internet is, well... not new. In fact, one could argue that the Internet, from Google or Bing's perspective, is a list of lists. It's easy content. However, when you love ads as I do or love the psychology that goes into what makes a good ad or a memorable ad, this list of memorable jingles has a bit more drama. There have been volumes written about how the Coke ad, called "Hilltop" but known more as the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" ad, came to be. I have the youtube version of the commercial and the mini-documentary link about how it came together. There will be a little learning, but it's also ok to sit back and enjoy the fun and nostalgia.

Some of the audio is less than perfect, but you'll have a tough time not singing along or basking in the feelings and memories of some of the older jingles. If you want the links to the ads on YouTube, make sure you check this episode out on TotallyyHyped.com.

First up is a classic most of us know, but the brilliance lies in the entirety of the jingle being the call to action. The phone number. Of course, the melody is catchy as hell but for something like this to work, you have to be prepared for the time and expense in getting an ad like this to work, at this kind of level. It's the 800-588-2300 Empire ad. If your melody is even half as catchy as this you can win big if you understand the level of frequency and the amount of time it takes for this kind of magic to occur. I'm starting with this ad, not because it is my favorite or because I think it is the best or worst. I am starting with this one because there is a lot to learn from it. Aired often, over some period of time, in front of the right audience - how could this not work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwJQQux0TF0

One of the most iconic ads ever comes from one of the most iconic brands. Coke's 1971 "Hilltop" ad, captures the essence of the audience they were targeting. Regardless of your taste in music, the song is great and no matter what year, it feels like a very appropriate message. This post is a few weeks after the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6th, 2021. The word appropriate doesn't seem big enough to encompass this jingle's obviousness, today. I have also included a link to the mini-documentary on this ad, at totallyhyped.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2406n8_rUw

After having a few too many Coke's and the inevitable munchies that typically accompany, you might be feeling a little "iffy." If you are this next ad will serve you well. This is a great ad that makes light of self-inflicted illness. Its rhyme and melody are memorable on a level few can rival and the brand elements on display really connect the dots when appealing to the overindulgent. Not every brand can pull this off, having a cartoon or animated character and a funny song about not feeling well. It's vital that these things align. Sometimes companies need to appeal to different people at different times for different reasons. Alka-Seltzer may have simultaneously run other ads of a more serious nature. Brands today do this all the time. McDonald's might be the best at it with ads for family, new products, mealtime specific menu options, pricing, diversity, and social fit, but other brands like State Farm, Progressive, Spectrum/Charter/Time Warner are also in the habit of producing a mix of messages with varying yet consistent brand elements. I digress. T

In this episode, I talk with and Karl Robe about the importance of an organization's reputation. We talk about reputation masters like Warren Buffet and JJ Watt and reputation disasters like Chik-fil-A and Rudy Giuliani.

If you are wise, you'll listen and start applying some of the wisdom in this episode.

Answers to these questions and more

• Why LinkedIn over other platforms such as Facebook, Google Ads, Bing, etc.?
• How can you control your budget on LinkedIn?
• What made your successful projects so successful?
• Why should someone use a service like yours over those competing with you?

Small Businesses that aren't marketing firms tend to fall into a trap that wastes a lot of money and causes a huge failure in achieving results. You can spot the issue from a mile away when people making decisions notice Competitor A is doing this and then suggest doing the same thing. Sometimes they're a little sneakier, and they exclude the 1st part about it being someone else's idea, and they present the idea as their own.

The oft-quoted Oscar Wilde says, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." In the best-case scenario, copying a competitor will leave you with mediocre results. The worst-case scenario will make you, the imitator, look foolish and perhaps even improve your competitor's results. If you're in business to win and you're the one doing the imitating, my guess is your intention was not to pay homage to, or flatter, your competitor. Your intention was likely to get some of what you believe they have - more business.

If you are imitating, mimicking, or emulating a competitor, you are also an "Also-Ran" in marketing terms.

Merriam Webster, of dictionary fame, defines Also-ran in these three ways: 

1: a horse or dog that finishes out of the money in a race

2: a contestant that does not win

3: one that is of little importance especially competitively

Again, the most important point of all of this is – when you're emulating a competitor, you're simultaneously strengthening their position, and you're losing your opportunity to stand out! By the way, standing out is the whole point of marketing and advertising! If you're trying to fit in instead of standing out - maybe you should stop wasting your money on advertising and apply for a job with the competitor!!

Emulating or trying to be more like your competitor(s) is a textbook example of what not to do. You're improving your competitor's position and worsening your own. Ugh.

Here's another punch to the groinal area - when emulating your competitor, you have no way of knowing if what you are emulating is even working for them. You could by copying a fantastic failure.

I probably don't need to drive the point any harder, but I am going to. To survive the also-ran game, you have to advertise at least as frequently and in at least as many places as the competitor you are emulating and then advertise more just to cut through. Don't be an also-ran!

Don't get me wrong; paying attention to your competitors is necessary. How else will you know if you are standing out? For the love of God, avoid trying to look like a competitor, act like a competitor, or do what a competitor does. 

Don't be an also-ran!

Why does this happen, and how do you stop it from happening? OK. It's time for tough love and brutal honesty. Companies fall into the also-ran trap when inept advertisers or marketers are making or influencing decisions. You can spot these bad influencers because they're good at telling you what they like. They're also great at telling you what's wrong with something without offering alternative solutions or ideas to correct the issue. When people lacking marketing and advertising experience are making the call or influencing the decision, the only real frame of reference they can draw from is the pile of things already being done. That's how you become an also-ran.

Companies also get sucked into the also-ran drain when the product or service they sell is commoditized. Products or services with lots of competition and few clear differentiators have a tough time standing out, so everyone feels like they are following the leader or each other. If you're in the camp that you must follow suit, I would say you don't know your customer well enough. Want proof? On my drive to work, I pass by, or I am near two different McDon