Good Morning, Market

Have you tapped into the $16B industry that is influencer marketing? Want to know if research shows your customers are being influenced on social media, and which channels drive the best results?

It's time to discuss influencer marketing! Join Phillip as he covers the latest data and industry research on one of the most engaging marketing tactics.

OpenAI released ChatGPT less than a year ago, yet it has thrown the marketing world for a machine-learning loop. For small and mid-sized businesses, should they be using AI right now? If so, how (and to what ends)?

Join Phillip as he documents his interactions with the trendiest tool on earth, and shares the outlook for this new industry as it approaches its first birthday.

The first step to customer-centricity is a customer-base audit. Join Phillip as he interviews book co-author, Peter Fader, on how to analyze the actual customers generating the numbers on financial statements. 

Peter Fader is founder of analytics and research firm, Theta, as well as a leading professor of marketing at The Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). The book he co-authored starts business leaders on the path toward really getting to understand your customers’ buying behavior as well as the health of your overall customer base.

An unprecedented amount of customer data is at your finger tips. For decades, everyday businesses could throw their hands up given a lack of software, data sets, and resources. No more.

Join Phillip as he explores a needed revolution in the way small businesses understand customer behavior...and grow accordingly.

(Special announcement enclosed)

Earlier this year, Phillip highlighted the business lessons from Moneyball, the story of small budget Oakland As using analytics to maximize value and thus, changing an entire industry.

Fast forward to August, and two MLB teams are playing this lesson out in real-time: The New York Mets and The Atlanta Braves.

Join Phillip as he breaks down the business lessons on these parallel stories and discusses the accessible methods for hunting and maximizing value in your own business.

Adam Tsang has started many a business. When he and his team decided to get creative with TikTok branding, some posts got hot, and his retail business blew up.

Join Phillip as he learns the marketing and commerce power of the hottest social media channel from a serial entrepreneur who has unlocked the key to leveraging TikTok power for business profits.

From the depths of a porta potty mishap in 2004 surged a revolution in the portable restrooms industry. Outdoor event guests everywhere needed a sensible portable restroom alternative, and two innovative guys with an idea had the solution.

Join Phillip as he talks with co-founder Robert Glisson about the birth, old-school growth, and franchising success of Royal Restrooms.

Business requires money, but smart funding requires wisdom on the right sources during the appropriate stage of the business life.

Jen Bonnet has been starting businesses, funding businesses, and consulting businesses for decades. As Executive Director of The Creative Coast, she has seen the good, bad, and ugly of funding in the fast lane of commerce.

Join Phillip as he finds the "smart money" strategy in scaling a business.

Printing services have been around for over a century. There has long been strong competition in that business, and then COVID hits and reduces overall demand as digitization accelerates.

For Kennickell Group, they had two choices: wade out the storm and settle in the new reality, or innovate and get aggressive. Andrew Smith, VP of Sales, shares the journey of how a 100 year old business strategically set itself up for long-term success amidst pandemic, recession, and a shocked industry.

VicTreeFi was busy delivering financial literacy education to young people, when suddenly the multi-billion dollar college sports business got turned on its head. With Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy changes unleashing a new industry for student athletes and business brands, VicTreeFi decided to jump into a brand new market.

Hannah Whitehead joins GMM to share how Nillie.IO (the child brand of VicTreeFi) is adding value, and winning market share in this new market with its unique approach to CX.

Big businesses have Research & Development (R&D). Every-day businesses have taste tests. Inspired by the guidance of Google’s Chief Strategist, Phillip decided to help some retail companies venture into digital targeted advertising via a first-time, small scale campaign.

Join Phillip as he dives into the taste test experience - what to expect, and why your business should be allocating significant budget to this important business practice.

Rachelle left Savannah, Georgia and her family's business to go strike her own path as a strategic marketer for the TV industry. Having acquired experience and marketing savvy in metros like Atlanta, Los Angeles, and London, Rachelle ended up coming full circle to Carver State Bank, one of the few African-American-owned banks in the United States.

Rachelle and Phillip discuss her experiences in big media and the challenge of taking that experience to a mid-size market, a smaller family-owned organization, and marketing team of one.

Special announcement in this episode! At the core of a strong business brand is a great personal brand.  Victoria Baylor, mindset and clarity coach, shares the importance of  personal branding for business leaders and how to position that image to  your target market.

Supply chain constraints, long-term labor shortages, and a complete transformation of the industry products are some of what Neal Wilson and his team have faced. How does a single business gain success in such a climate?

Neal joins the program to share how they overcome major forces beyond their control with organizational development, customer service, and agility.

Business gets done on LinkedIn. The World's most professional social network has a bevy of tools for recruiters, sales executives, marketers, and thought leaders. Yet many "every day" businesses are doing the bare minimum. Enter Lisa Kanda.

Lisa Kanda has been working the power of LinkedIn for well over a decade and is one of the leading consultants and instructors on the social media ecosystem. Learn from Lisa on how to up your game in the World's largest, never-ending networking event.

Businesses struggle to be data-driven not for lack of data, but for overload. With so much data to organize and so much noise to filter, how do everyday businesses effectively (and efficiently) find insights to grow? From Charleston, South Carolina, there is a team which offers a key piece to this puzzle.

Ian Schenkel (Director of Marketing) and Mitch Ballestero (Lead Consultant) of Bear Cognition join the program to discuss the challenge facing us all in business analysis and how actionable intelligence can simplify this increasingly complex data world.

Coca-Cola. Apple. Walt Disney. Nike. Such brands evoke affinity in unparalleled manner. Garrett Clark founded an ice cream retail front in a small market, and has proceeded to shape and inspire an entire community...by using the same secret sauce as the famous brands previously mentioned.

Amazing brands promote much more than a product or service - they evangelize a mission. Garrett takes us through the journey of harnessing a powerful mission that attracts leaders, employees, customers, and entire communities.

Nearly every business is "on social media", but few are strategically adding paid media to the picture. Nadia Osman of small business consulting and coaching source, the UGA SBDC, shares over a decade of test cases on how to up your game in social media marketing.

Phillip chats with Nadia to cover this discipline from Facebook to TikTok, organic to paid, attraction to engagement and conversion, and even more! Hunker down for social media marketing 2.0.

Too many companies have a short-term strategy when it comes to data: focusing on the point-of-purchase moment with a customer, rather than building their business around long-term relationships. A Senior Fellow at Wharton and Google’s Chief Measurement Strategist, Neil Hoyne has led over 2,500 engagements with the world’s biggest advertisers—helping them acquire millions of customers, improve conversion rates by over 400 percent, and generate billions in incremental revenue.

In his book Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts, he shows us how to sharpen our long-term marketing strategy and unleash true value. Join Phillip as he discusses the implications of CONVERTED on everyday-businesses with Neil.

In any organization, your most valuable asset is your people. But as the labor market continues to remain lean, employers are being challenged to find, develop, and position their human capital in the best possible positions.

Dr. Julie Olsen has been developing leaders, teams, and organizations for decades, and launched her consulting/coaching firm back in 2017. Dr. Olsen joins Phillip to discuss how business pros, leaders, and owners can each find their leadership leverage to maximize long-term joy and productivity.

Billy Beane was a small-market general manager of a small-market baseball club facing the looming loss of his best players and a severe lack of funds to build a competitive, marketable team. A chance meeting with a young economics graduate led Billy to change the way the Oakland Athletics built their baseball teams. Once this statistics-driven organization left their mark, all of Major League Baseball would be forever changed.

From the baseball/business story that inspired the 2011 film, discover how your business (like the Oakland A's) can use analytics to drive win streaks.

Every business wants more sales and profit margin, the king (lagging) success indicators. One marketing stat that the best brands in the world have been living by for years is unknown to most every-day businesses.

In this special edition of GMM, Phillip explains Customer Lifetime Value and how small and midsize organizations can follow its insights to next level profits. Also, listen closely for a special offer from Sol Insights in the episode!

In 2023, shoppers are super savvy. Not only can they compare your product to alternatives across the world...they increasingly can track how you've changed prices over time (per product). New research has shown some telling patterns in what drives shoppers away and what drives them to buy now.

Join Phillip as he breaks down the latest industry research on how your pricing tactics are influencing the buying decisions of shoppers everywhere.

There is a plant called a sugar beet that, when combined with an entrepreneur on a mission to lead a business, body, and beauty revolution, can create a new kind of community. Michelle Peth shares the BEETTAN story, from her sister's skin care scares to her new podcast, as BEETTAN creates new business owners and a healthier tanning alternative.

For the United States, the economy looks to bring an end to the post-pandemic bounce-back as the Federal Reserve focuses on curbing inflation. As most business owners brace for a mild recession, Coastal Georgia may actually expand with new developments in manufacturing, logistics, and construction.

Dr. Michael Toma, Professor of Economics at Georgia Southern University and principal author of the Coastal Economic Monitor, takes us through the year ahead for the region and the nation.

Subscribe to the Coastal Economic Monitor: email mtoma@georgiasouthern.edu 

Growing businesses have a trait in common: laser focus of resources on a specific target. Stephanie Dammen-Morrell has spent over a decade learning how to harness the synchronized powers of service, sales, and marketing as Director of Business Development at prominent design firm, Hussey Gay Bell.

Stephanie joins GMM to discuss growth hurdles, leading a business development team, avoiding "unicorns", and gaining efficiency through automation in a jam-packed finale to Season 2.

Contact Stephanie Dammen-Morrell: sdmorrell@husseygaybell.com

When you are a one-person business, you learn about your abilities and your limits, and you learn from a plethora of mistakes. Solopreneurs also have some strong practices from which any business professional can take a page.

Bri Salley has been the solopreneur, running her own marketing agency and managing large marketing budgets across the world. The marketing & communications director of Telfair Museums reflects on the solopreneur life - how we all can be more visionary and greater self-leaders.

With a recession looming ahead in 2023 and prices continuing to rise, Black Friday was supposed to be somewhat understated. This has impact for the economy as Black Friday shopping is seen as a bellweather of overall consumer spending.

Shoppers didn't get that memo this Black Friday weekend, and it has impacts and insights for everyday businesses. Phillip breaks down the performance.

When Marjorie Young got a call to come help her dad's business in Virginia (on the brink of bankruptcy), she had to figure out how to grow that business with a $0 marketing budget. The result became known as the Reputation Matrix. 

For over 25 years Marjorie has been using that system to increase visibility, credibility, and positive word-of-mouth for organizations of all sizes. The CEO of Carriage Trade PR joins GMM to share some insights from the Reputation Matrix book.

Pre-COVID, the Coastal Empire was growing at significant rates. Post-COVID, the Savannah Metropolitan Area looks primed to explode. Heather Booth brings decades of experience working the Hostess City area in real estate - sharing what we may expect from recent growth catalysts.

Start-up expenses. Equipment upgrades/expansions. Working capital for operations. Everyday businesses find themselves needing large sums of money; yet, they often get turned away from traditional lenders.

As business capital gets even tighter, entrepreneurs need options to keep their business progressing. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are designed to solve these problems. Nate Wayne of SBAC brings his decade of banking experience to share how CDFIs can help businesses of every stage.

Personal experience can spark "opportunity vision". When Scott and Amy Pierce saw serious health care gaps for their own loved ones, they decided to bring a new type of service to the market. Learn about the story of seizing opportunity as the Coastal Care Partners organization grows through global pandemics, massive vaccine roll-outs, and "Shark Tank" competitions.

Business is about capitalizing on opportunities, and buying and selling organizations is how many of the best win the in the market place.

Brian Judson brings his 15 years of experience to the podcast – revealing what you need to know about one of the least-discussed aspects of business.

Do you want to grow your business into something more than yourself? Erik Reagan and his business partner at Focus Lab decided they wanted to do just that...but it didn't happen over night.

Fresh off his launch of coaching organization, Built On Purpose, Erik shares key planning, principles, and processes in scaling an organization beyond the ceiling of its owner.

As we reflect on the pursuit of excellence and prepare for scaling your business beyond yourself, Phillip shares his struggles and battle scars as an entrepreneur since starting Sol Insights in 2020.

Launching a little-known firm providing a "new" service in a historically lagging market, the first-time business owner certainly chose a steep climb. Strap in for some honest reflection on the challenges in pursuing rarefied air and scaling a business.

How do you achieve the exceptional - be it as a business or professional? Reaching the mountaintop can be overwhelming, but Catherine Grant and the ExperCARE organization have made tremendous progress in a relatively short span.

Co-founding and leading the preeminent urgent care organization in a healthcare industry hub, Catherine shares her trials and triumphs in achieving rarefied air...the space with the least competition.

Jennifer Abshire is the Founder, CEO of Abshire Public Relations, a premier agency in the low country.mpire as it has been slowly but surely changing. With a new wave of transformation underway, Jennifer shares her insight on the potential to lead the region's growth inside-out.

Jennifer Abshire is the Founder, CEO of Abshire Public Relations, a premier agency in the Southeast coastal region.

COVID changed the way we had to work. The subsequent demographic shifts, habit developments, and technology acceleration are changing the way we choose to work. Mo Hamzian, CEO of the new VEL premium work cafe, shares his perspective on the changing productivity landscape and how both employers and remote workers can optimize their productivity.

How do you make customers that like you, love you? How do you then develop those fans into your street team of promoters to get that hallowed word-of-mouth growth?

Hot off their new ESPN+ series and transition to full-time Banana Ball, Phillip brings the president of The Savannah Bananas to the plate. Jared shares how the Bananas do the basics consistently well and then add the little things to plus their way to raging fandom.

Get your notepad out for this one - it's time to make customers go bananas over our businesses.

The July inflation numbers came in lower than analysts expected. Congress just passed an "Inflation Reduction Act". Is the tide turning in favor of business?

Phillip investigates across the board to highlight why we are likely in for a long, hard road...and how businesses can be prepared.

All customers want effortless, low-friction shopping experiences, right? Recent research highlighted in Harvard Business Review shows customers aren't that monolithic in their shopping desires. 

Phillip details the four major customer journeys, and how you can map out greater wallet share of your core customers.

How do you take a fragile substance like honey and scale a boutique honey brand to national prominence...all while retaining character and advocating for the noble honeybee?

Phillip hosts a round-robin with Founder Ted Dennard, President Mark Haney, and Creative Director Libbie Summers to discuss Tupelo honey, COVID, delivery models, Ukrainian-sourced honey, the Bee Cause project, and more.

By whatever circumstances, you come up with a unique product idea - it shows promise. How do you turn this good idea start-up into a growing, scalable organization? That's exactly the journey Jesslyn Rollins took when her dad developed a new electrolyte supplement to help her mom during chemo treatments.

Jesslyn went from selling BIOLYTE out of the back of her Toyota SUV to transitioning the growing food & beverage brand into a expanded facility as they enter mainstay retail chains, including Kroger. 

Hear the BIOLYTE story (so far), including the lessons learned and how to scale your own small business.

Are your customers satisfied with your service? Would they leave you if the right offer came along? How does your actual delivered experience stack up against your expectations?

The answers to these questions can mean the difference between great success and death by attrition. Matt Selbie founded Oberon3 in Portland, Oregon to get businesses these answers in an intuitive, convenient manner for their customers.

Buckle up for a strategic discussion on customer experience.

Gas prices have been at historic highs recently - eating at consumer pocket books and driving up the cost of the supply chain. Why is gas so expensive right now? Can small businesses count on prices to come back down to earth this year?

Phillip deep-dives into the major forces impacting oil pricing and highlights the latest forecasts on what may be coming down the pipe for Main Street U.S.A.

Inflation has been the number one economic headline for sometime now, but how is it impacting small businesses specifically? How worried are small business CEOs about inflation? What are they doing to combat rising costs?

We do a full deep dive into SCORE's recent Megaphone of Main Street: Inflation & the Economy study, which seeks address these exact questions on a national scale. Phillip also adds his insights on how to maintain profitability in a high-pressure market.

Google is changing shopping - here’s what you need to know. All businesses (especially product sellers) need to understand Google's latest move via the 2022 Marketing Live event.

The COVID crisis has impacted retailers of all sizes and ages, but imagine supply chain challenges to a food & bev brand starting in the thick of it. Zach Broome dared to dive into a saturated market during a huge supply-side crisis  - hear his story, business philosophy, and how Vitamin Bar is penetrating a niche lane with broad potential.