The Marketing Muscle Podcast with Vicki Morris

Join me as I talk with my friend Tish Hardric of Tish Hardric and Associates. She specializes in helping non profit organizations (NPOs) get funding.

Tish shares her insights on what makes NPOs different from for profit businesses and some of her special tactics to help businesses of all formations find funding they didn't even know they could qualify for!!

This episode is all about AI and in particular, ChatGPT!!

I talk about how I use it and I share some best practices on how you can use it in your business. I even used AI to help me develop the content for this episode!!

In this episode I share some insights I gained along the way on how to be a great boss. This is a moving target. I hope that I am always improving in everything that I do. As a small business owner who is in a growth stage, I see several entrepreneurs struggle with this very topic, so I thought I'd share my experiences and a bit of what I learned along the way.

Being the boss is never easy, there are always tough decisions to make and you become the accountability 'police'. This is another thing that makes entrepreneurship a lonely place to be. But I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world!! I hope this can help you in some small way as you navigate this aspect of business ownership.

If you'd like to connect with me to learn more about my management style or you need to bounce some marketing ideas off me, I would love the opportunity to connect 😎.

This episode is all about Personal Branding. We're covering what it is, what it's not and how to leverage your personal story for the benefit of your brand.

In this episode, my guest John Gumas, founder of The Gumas Group, joins me as we talk marketing strategy. We dive into his unique look at Challenger Brand Marketing ®. This breaks down into 5 main catergories:

• Discovery
• Strategy & Message Development
• Creative Execution
• Distribution
• Manage / Monitor

This episode is all about the relationship between social media and an well planned website for oyur business. We're talking about about SEO, pain points, goals, and capitalizing on a customer centric approach.

All great stuff!! This is an absolute must if you want to grow your customer base. When you provide value based on what's important to your customers, you are developing an engaged audience that is very interested in what you have to say.

Today, we're going to be talking about one of the most important aspects of email marketing – subject lines. As marketers, we know how important it is to get our emails opened and read. And, the subject line is the first thing that a recipient sees when they receive an email. So, it's crucial that we get it right. In this episode, I'm going to share some tips on how to choose great email subject lines that will help you get more opens and engagement.

Today we’re talking with my friend Mickie Kennedy about navigating the media for the benefit of your small business.

Mickie Kennedy is an expert at helping small businesses, authors, and startups increase their visibility and credibility. 24 years ago, Mickie founded eReleases after realizing that small businesses desperately need a press release service they can afford. Mickie created eReleases to give small businesses access to the media and to a national newswire – all with a personal touch.

In this episode we talked about Credibility Marketing.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREDIBLE? 

To first understand what is credible, we can understand what is not credible. It is not credible to pay someone to talk about our brand in most cases.

“If you pay a lot of money to have a famous person talk about how Don Miller is the best person in the world who has written the best book in the world, that’s not real. Real credibility is putting it in the hands of the customer, of the client, of people you’ve worked with, who don’t have a financial incentive to say nice things about your book,  and who have really experienced your services or worked with you.

Business owners should find customers who love the brand enough to write a review or testimonial simply because they want to. All you have to do is ask them. The person who does not have bias (is not paid or incentivized) is going to be perceived as being much more credible. To be credible, we have to be honest and real.

Some other great credibility-marketing tactics include:

• Endorsement quotes by industry influencers and customers

• Customer case studies or customer logos on your website

• Publishing of white papers with valued content

• Sponsorship of industry events or surveys

• Product and company awards

• Participation on panels at industry events

The focus of this podcast is SEO for B2B organizations, where we are discussing the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Business to Business companies. This is also what is commonly known in the Marketing industry as B2B companies.  SEO is the process of optimizing your website to improve its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), and it's crucial for Business to Business businesses to have a strong online presence in today's digital age. In this podcast, we will cover the following topics:

Show Notes from this episode:

• Keep your ABOUT Section simple and straightforward
• Highlight Your Unique Value Proposition
• Tell YOUR Story
• Use Visuals
• Make it Easy to Read
• Include a Call To Action (CTA)
• Update this section regularly

This episode is all about networking and how it can help you grow your business. Here are some of the high points about joining a networking group and how they help you grow your business.

Today we did a deep dive on Email Marketing and how it can be an excellent marketing strategy tool to grow a business of any size! Here are the topics we covered in this episode about Email Marketing:

• Email Marketing is Personal
• Email Marketing is Cost-Effective
• Email Marketing is Measurable
• Email Marketing is Versatile
• Email Marketing is Effective

Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses looking to connect with their audience and drive results. Whether you're a small business just starting out or a large enterprise with an established customer base, email marketing should be a key part of your overall marketing strategy. So, start building your email list, creating targeted campaigns, and measuring your results to unlock the full potential of email marketing. If your business needs help setting up a great email marketing campaign strategy, let’s connect!

1. Determine Your Objectives

2. Choose the Right Platforms

3. Develop a Content Strategy

4. Engage with Your Audience

5. Utilize Paid Advertising

6. Measure Your Results

7. Use Video Content

8. Collaborate with Influencers

9. Stay on Top of Trends

10. Have a Strong Visual Identity

Here are 10 Essential Elements to a well planned website:

1. A Clear and Simple Layout
2. High-Quality Images and Graphics
3. Responsive Design
4. Good Color Scheme
5. 5. User-Friendly Navigation
6. Quality Content
7. 7. Fast Loading Times
8. Call to Actions
9. 9. Accessibility
10. Consistency

A professional logo design can benefit small businesses in several ways:

1. Brand recognition: A well-designed logo can help a small business establish brand recognition, making it easier for customers to remember and identify the business.
2. Professionalism: A professional logo conveys a sense of professionalism, trust, and competence, which can help small businesses establish credibility with potential customers and partners.
3. Marketing tool: A logo is often the centerpiece of a company's marketing materials, including business cards, brochures, and websites. A well-designed logo can help small businesses effectively market their products or services and make a positive first impression.
4. Differentiation: A unique and memorable logo can help a small business stand out from its competitors and differentiate itself in the market.
5. Consistency: A logo provides visual consistency across all of a small business's marketing materials, ensuring that the company's brand is consistently presented to customers.

Continual learning in your industry / profession

Never rely totally on what you learned early on in your career to carry you throughout your entire career. Learning can come in a variety of formats. It can be additional degrees and certifications; it can be industry seminars / webinars; it can be reading articles and white papers or even informed Google searches on industry topics.

The Marketing Mastery for Entrepreneurs Course enrollment details:

Today’s podcast is all about your website. Yep, that’s right, we are gonna talk about your website, not about the design, but about the content you choose to put on it and the job of your website.

If you’d like to get a copy of my ebook, How to Rock Your New Website, it goes into more detail on the items I talked about and its workbook format! Check out the show notes of this episode for a link to get your copy of the ebook.

Today’s podcast is all about developing an overall marketing strategy. So let’s start at the beginning, where I start with any of my Done for you clients. Who is your ICA?

Know your ideal client.

• Who do you most want to work with
• Is your messaging connecting with your desired audience?
• What marketing mix will you use? What can you commit to consistently

How do they like to receive information? Social Media, Blogs, e-books, email, mailers, articles, podcasts, TV/Radio interviews, etc?

• What social media platforms make the most sense for your message and your audience?
• Are you good at writing articles, blogs, social media descriptions
• Do you have your CTAs ready for each medium?
• How many social media posts should you do per month? How long should they be?

When will you communicate with your audience? Monthly, weekly, several podcasts, etc

• Decide each quarter how often you will do general communications and specialized communications.
• Will you do it yourself / in house or will you hire someone to do it

Our new initiative at FTF is the Marketing Mastery for Entrepreneurs Masterclass Series

In this master class series, you will go from feeling overwhelmed and unsure about your marketing and communication strategies to confidently developing targeted and specific content that literally brings your ideal clients to your doorstep!

This Masterclass is not for everyone. If you are:

• A business owner or corporate or Community leader
• a professional who simply needs a roadmap to help you achieve the goals and dreams you have for your business or organization
• a team member responsible for the marketing for your organization and you need relevant and results-oriented guidance

Then this is the master class you've been waiting for!!

The introductory price for a limited time is only $66 per month or if you pay in full for 12 months, you get 2 months FREE and a few more freebies and bonuses along the way. You can join anytime for any 12 month stretch. You get access to all recordings of each training so you can learn at a time convenient for you.

Plus these awesome bonuses when you choose the pay in full option

• 2 months free ($200 value )
• copy of the rock your new website ebook ($50 value)
• website checklist
• social media content calendar
• Holiday and special observance calendar

It was my sincere pleasure to interview Stephanie Mell, owner of several fine casual restaurants in the Huntsville AL area. She and her husband are business partners and that have made a significant impact on the dining experiences in the area. Today, our conversation centers on all things marketing and branding as you run a series of successful restaurants. Stephanie absolutely understands the power of marketing and messaging and she and I talk shop and share lots of tips and strategies that anyone can use to help grow and establish their business. 

If you're in the area be sure to stop in one of Stephanie's restaurants and tell them you heard about it on the Marekting Muscle podcast!

As a marketer my job is to help my clients guide their customers through the buying process. Some people could think this is completely random, but I am here to tell you there is a formula. And when used correctly, l can help my clients see immediate and measurable results in their conversions and ultimately their sales.

Today I want to walk you through this formula and really hone in on one component of the formula.

Step One: Identify the problem

Before a customer is ready to think about a purchase they need to have a legitimate reason for the purchase. Or they want to be at point D, but they are stuck at point B, and they have no idea how to get themselves to point D. THIS IS THE PROBLEM YOU ARE GOING TO SOLVE.

Ask questions of your ideal client community:

1. Where do you want your company in the next 6 months?
   1. Secure the IP my company owns
   2. Larger office space for a growing team
2. What are 3 obstacles preventing you from achieving this?
3. What are your sales goals, new client contract goals, etc for X timeframe?

Step Two: The Information Search

The next component in the formula is INFORMATION. My job is to position my client as an authority on the subject. Take steps to establish yourself as an authority in this field. Set yourself up to be the ‘go to’ person in your industry. Create awesome and engaging content that makes your audience smarter!!

Step Three: Detail Your Unique Selling Proposition

Lay a foundation of why your service or product is better. Or why your potential customers need to buy from you. What makes YOU unique. Set yourself apart from the competition, to the extent your industry allows.

Step Four: The Purchase Decision

Send encouragement to your potential clients. Give them assurance they are making a solid decision. Do this by sharing testimonials from some of your best clients! And you have to ask for the testimonials to get them.

Also, this is a time to pay particular attention to people who abandon carts, delayed in paying a depositor signing a contract. You send them an email reminder, make a phone call. Reinforce why you or your company is the best choice.

The next steps in the buying process are about the actual purchase decision, the purchase experience, and the post purchase follow up. Our time won’t allow for us to dive into this, but you can tune into my podcast to hear my tips on these steps in the process.

Step Five: The Actual purchase.

Make sure the process of making the purchase is simple and easy.do they pay online, by check, or cash. Make sure your system of invoicing is easy and appropriately branded.

Step Six: Post Purchase Follow up

Did the customer have a great experience? Ask them for a review. Offer them information about other products and services you offer that they may be interested in. Offer discounts for additional purchases.  Main point, if they had a good experience with you or found a good value in working with you, invite back into your sales cycle.

As a marketer my job is to help my clients guide their customers through the buying process. Some people could think this is completely random, but I am here to tell you there is a formula. And when used correctly, l can help my clients see immediate and measurable results in their conversions and ultimately their sales.

Today I want to walk you through this formula and really hone in on one component of the formula.

Step One: Identify the problem

Before a customer is ready to think about a purchase they need to have a legitimate reason for the purchase. Or they want to be at point D, but they are stuck at point B, and they have no idea how to get themselves to point D. THIS IS THE PROBLEM YOU ARE GOING TO SOLVE.

Ask questions of your ideal client community:

1. Where do you want your company in the next 6 months?
   1. Secure the IP my company owns
   2. Larger office space for a growing team
2. What are 3 obstacles preventing you from achieving this?
3. What are your sales goals, new client contract goals, etc for X timeframe?

Step Two: The Information Search

The next component in the formula is INFORMATION. My job is to position my client as an authority on the subject. Take steps to establish yourself as an authority in this field. Set yourself up to be the ‘go to’ person in your industry. Create awesome and engaging content that makes your audience smarter!!

Step Three: Detail Your Unique Selling Proposition

Lay a foundation of why your service or product is better. Or why your potential customers need to buy from you. What makes YOU unique. Set yourself apart from the competition, to the extent your industry allows.

Step Four: The Purchase Decision

Send encouragement to your potential clients. Give them assurance they are making a solid decision. Do this by sharing testimonials from some of your best clients! And you have to ask for the testimonials to get them.

Also, this is a time to pay particular attention to people who abandon carts, delayed in paying a depositor signing a contract. You send them an email reminder, make a phone call. Reinforce why you or your company is the best choice.

The next steps in the buying process are about the actual purchase decision, the purchase experience, and the post purchase follow up. Our time won’t allow for us to dive into this, but you can tune into my podcast to hear my tips on these steps in the process.

Step Five: The Actual purchase.

Make sure the process of making the purchase is simple and easy.do they pay online, by check, or cash. Make sure your system of invoicing is easy and appropriately branded.

Step Six: Post Purchase Follow up

Did the customer have a great experience? Ask them for a review. Offer them information about other products and services you offer that they may be interested in. Offer discounts for additional purchases.  Main point, if they had a good experience with you or found a good value in working with you, invite back into your sales cycle.

As a marketer my job is to help my clients guide their customers through the buying process. Some people could think this is completely random, but I am here to tell you there is a formula. And when used correctly, l can help my clients see immediate and measurable results in their conversions and ultimately their sales.

Today I want to walk you through this formula and really hone in on one component of the formula.

Step One: Identify the problem

Before a customer is ready to think about a purchase they need to have a legitimate reason for the purchase. Or they want to be at point D, but they are stuck at point B, and they have no idea how to get themselves to point D. THIS IS THE PROBLEM YOU ARE GOING TO SOLVE.

Ask questions of your ideal client community:

1. Where do you want your company in the next 6 months?
   1. Secure the IP my company owns
   2. Larger office space for a growing team
2. What are 3 obstacles preventing you from achieving this?
3. What are your sales goals, new client contract goals, etc for X timeframe?

Step Two: The Information Search

The next component in the formula is INFORMATION. My job is to position my client as an authority on the subject. Take steps to establish yourself as an authority in this field. Set yourself up to be the ‘go to’ person in your industry. Create awesome and engaging content that makes your audience smarter!!

Step Three: Detail Your Unique Selling Proposition

Lay a foundation of why your service or product is better. Or why your potential customers need to buy from you. What makes YOU unique. Set yourself apart from the competition, to the extent your industry allows.

Step Four: The Purchase Decision

Send encouragement to your potential clients. Give them assurance they are making a solid decision. Do this by sharing testimonials from some of your best clients! And you have to ask for the testimonials to get them.

Also, this is a time to pay particular attention to people who abandon carts, delayed in paying a depositor signing a contract. You send them an email reminder, make a phone call. Reinforce why you or your company is the best choice.

The next steps in the buying process are about the actual purchase decision, the purchase experience, and the post purchase follow up. Our time won’t allow for us to dive into this, but you can tune into my podcast to hear my tips on these steps in the process.

Step Five: The Actual purchase.

Make sure the process of making the purchase is simple and easy.do they pay online, by check, or cash. Make sure your system of invoicing is easy and appropriately branded.

Step Six: Post Purchase Follow up

Did the customer have a great experience? Ask them for a review. Offer them information about other products and services you offer that they may be interested in. Offer discounts for additional purchases.  Main point, if they had a good experience with you or found a good value in working with you, invite back into your sales cycle.

So here’s the challenge for you

Be sure to follow up with interesting people you come in contact with!

Be bold and ask them to join you for a cup of coffee one day.  There is soooo  much value in connecting with people in a comfortable and casual environment. This is truly an opportunity to get to know the other person. Ask them questions like:

• How did you get started in your business?
• How long have you been in this industry
• Is there anyone you are wanting to meet / connect with?
• Tell me what excites you most about your business!

As you are getting ready to add this to your monthly business growth routine, here are 3 things you should do:

• Write out a base email introducing yourself and asking to meet with them. Include why you are interested in meeting with them. Don’t be salse-y
• Make a list of the people you would like to meet with and add them to a spreadsheet.
• Add a simple graphic to the header of the email that has a picture of you.
• Include a link that makes it easy for people to schedule a meeting with you
• Just for kicks, be prepared to buy them their cup of coffee 😊 ☕️.

Thanks for listening today. Tell a friend about this podcast, and leave us a 5 star review, (if you think we did a good job, of course!)

Want to work with me?

Our topic today is Networking. I'm sharing a few insights and lessons learned along my professional journey, related to networking.   This is the conclusion of a 2 part series on the power of networking. In part 2 of our talk, we cover tips 5-7.

The 7 Networking Tips we're diving into are:

1. Be a good Listener
2. Have a Positive Attitude 😊
3. Operate with a spirit of collaboration
4. Always be authentic
5. Follow up
6. Be trustworthy
7. Be Approachable!

Our topic today is Networking. I'm sharing a few insights and lessons learned along my professional journey, related to networking.   This is the start of a short series on the power of networking. In part 1 of our talk, we cover tips 1 - 4.

The 7 Networking Tips we're diving into are:

1. Be a good Listener
2. Have a Positive Attitude 😊
3. Operate with a spirit of collaboration
4. Always be authentic
5. Follow up
6. Be trustworthy
7. Be Approachable!

Connect with Wayne here:

This is part 1 of a conversation with Jay Newkirk.

Today’s episode is all about video and filmmaking. I’m joined by Joseph Morris, owner of SEON Media. Our conversation is really about being a business owner in a creative space in an engineering world. Joseph has a very interesting perspective when it comes to the science of filmmaking and the attention to detail that is required to capture the moments that convey the story you want to tell.

Some of the key points Joseph and I discuss in this episode:

• Understanding you brown Emotional Intelligence
• How word of mouth works for him & when it was time for another plan!
• The ever present Imposter Syndrome
• Learning how to delegate
• And of course ‘Youtube University’

This episode is a continuation of my conversation with my friend Deidre Wright, who is an award winning CEO of Strategic Stories and Personal Brand Advisor helping professionals elevate their visibility, career and income as seen and sought after leaders. Deidre’s been a public speaker over 40 times for TV, podcasts and events. Previously she was a Director of Engagement and Marketing for Business Insurance Magazine, organizing events, booking speakers and judging award nominations promoting diversity and inclusion within Fortune 500 companies. Before that serving as a Commercial Insurance Broker at Marsh and Aon for household brands and billion dollar companies.

This episode is a conversation with my friend Deidre Wright, who is an award winning CEO of Strategic Stories and Personal Brand Advisor helping professionals elevate their visibility, career and income as seen and sought after leaders. She's been featured on Essence.com, Savoy Magazine and 4 viral LinkedIn posts receiving up to 96,000 views. Deidre’s been a public speaker over 40 times for TV, podcasts and events. Previously she was a Director of Engagement and Marketing for Business Insurance Magazine, organizing events, booking speakers and judging award nominations promoting diversity and inclusion within Fortune 500 companies. Before that serving as a Commercial Insurance Broker at Marsh and Aon for household brands and billion dollar companies.

Today’s episode is all about media; in particular earned, owned and paid media. There are all different schools of thought on the relevance of this mix. Some people fully believe that you should never need to pay for media exposure, some people believe that you should only and always use your own media channels that you control. Bottom line, there are several schools of thought on this, and together, we’re going to get to the truth of the matter and lay out a process that can help you make the best determination on this for your marketing needs.

We should be adding photography and videos to our social media our websites and our overall branding and marketing strategy. But of course there is a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this. This episode explores a few tips and strategies I use in my business and for my clients, to better communicate the message that want to convey. 

In this episode, I mention several sources I use for stock images for marketing and branding for my own businesses, and for my client projects. The list of sources is:

• Adobe Stock Images
• PixiStock
• Canva
• UpSplash

In this episode, I talk about the 3 big pillars for any organization's marketing effort; websites, social media and email marketing. We explore the function of each, and how they interplay with one another, and why your ideal client groups need to see each one in your marketing arsenal.  

Have you had this question before: why is knowing my target audience important? I don't want to leave people out so I want to market to everyone!!

I’m so glad you are joining me for this episode because this is by far the most important fundamental piece of your business. You have to get this right. If this is off, or not clearly defined, nothing and I mean nothing about your business is going to be sustainable. In this episode, I talk about 2 important steps or exercises every business owners needs to take when defining their ideal client audience. Here are teh steps broken down for you!

Step One: Define the demographics of your ideal client

• Male or female
  
• Where do they live
  
• What type of job do they have
  
• Are the married or single
  
• Education level
  
• Where do they typically shop
  
• Do they own a home, rent an apartment
  
• City / rural
  
• Corporate life / entrepreneur / business owner
  

Step Two: Define the psychographics of your ideal audience

• Are they analytical or creative
  
• What colors resonate with them
  
• What emotions do they need to experience to make a purchase
  
• Are they impulse buyers
  
• Do they need a long nurture sequence before they make a purchase
  
• How do they like to receive content
  
• What are their goals: financial independence, retire early, job satisfaction, etc.

In this episode we’re going to pick up where we left off from our last episode and finish out the list of a few key elements in a well formed marketing strategy. Just to review, we talked about

• Creating your SWOT analysis (Strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats)
  
• What is unique about you and the way you do business, your USP
  
• Define your target audience or ideal client avatar
  
• Define what pain points you solve for your ideal audience
  

Now let’s wrap up the list:

• Describe how you will reach your ideal audience
  Social media plan, or Email marketing, or Seminars / webinars, or Pop up shops
  
• Define your product / service, where is your distribution channel, how will you promote, what price will you charge
  

In this episode we lay the foundation for building your marketing strategy. This is something really good to have on hand when you're planning to apply for a business loan, a meeting with an investor, or working with a mentor. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the elements that anyone could possibly ask you to include in your marketing strategy, but it does lay a very solid foundation for you to add to  along the way.

We talk about these 4 elements in this episode:

• The SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). The first 2 are internal to your business. The last 2 are external and more environmental in nature. You can control the first two and make immediate adjustment to correct or continue on the established path. The latter, you can possibly forecast, and make a plan for, but you cannot control them.
• What is unique about you and the way you do business, your USP. What makes you special and stand out from your competition?
  
• Define your target audience or ideal client avatar. This is the person or client person you most want to work with. Understand thier demographics, and psychographics. How do they make buying decisions? (Be sure to grab free downloadable Client Avatar Builder below!)
  
• Define what pain points you solve for your ideal audience. What do your ideal clients struggle with? Does your offer sufficiently release them from that worry?
  

Click below for your FREE download

Thanks for tuning in to our brand new podcast, The Marketing Muscle Podcast with Vicki Morris! 

This is the first episode, #007

Here's what you can expect from each episode:

• Each week or so, my team and I will share a new podcast
  
• Each podcast will have a show notes section where you can find important notes from the episode, and downloadable content to help you implement the strategy we discuss in the episode.
  
• When I have new trainings and webinars coming, you’ll get special early access
  
• Most of all, you’ll get an energetic and friendly marketing expert each and every time eager to share tools, tips and strategies with you to help your business grow!
  

Do you have a marketing, branding or messaging question you'd like me to cover on a future podcast? Just click the link here to connect with me, request a show topic, or to be a guest on a future episode!