Our friend Cynthia LaLuna tells you what to do with your website
Seriously, this is what happens when two web designers get together in a room full of microphones. I had our friend Cynthia LaLuna of Rowboat Media in-studio this week, talking about the good, bad and ugly that comes with building websites for businesses.
We talked about Flash, we talked about SEO, we talked about WordPress and lots of stuff in-between.
This is definitely a good listen for anyone in the market for a new web design who just isn’t sure where to start or how to make sense of all the advice (and sometimes conflicting) being dispensed by the web people they talk to.
Thanks for being an awesome guest Cynthia!
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Intelatext’s Andrea Busse schools us on mobile marketing — MUST listen!
Is marketing truly “going mobile” or is it just a fad? Does text message marketing work? Are QR codes EVER going to really catch on? Andrea Busse and her company Intelatext work with companies big and small, helping them achieve incredible results through mobile marketing campaigns. Mobile messaging tools like SMS and MMS are in her toolkit as are mobile landing pages and even QR codes.
And what’s the deal on QR codes by the way? I’ve been on the record as saying that despite the incredible potential of QR codes as a marketing tool, they may never hit the mainstream. Never hit the mainstream? Andrea says they’ve already arrived.
Want to hear some practical, real-world examples of how mobile marketing really works? Listen to the podcast below. We’ll see you next week!
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Mike Lorey and Crop Mob ATL teach us the value of good old-fashioned hard work
We had a really cool guest in-studio, my friend Mike Lorey who has been managing social media for Crop Mob ATL in his spare time for the last year. As you’ll gather from the interview, Mike is a humble man. But the results speak for themselves.
Building on nothing but the model established by Crop Mob in North Carolina, the Atlanta group has amassed over 1100 fans/friends/likers on Facebook and met their volunteer recruitment goals for every event they’ve done, about one a month on average since they started last spring. And along the way, they’ve earned media coverage from Atlanta INtown, CNN, Atlanta Magazine, Good Day Atlanta and others along the way.
So what, you may ask, does Crop Mob ATL actually do? Glad you asked. They recruit volunteers — mostly city folk — to spend a day doing hard labor on a farm. For free. The thinking is that with so many small, sustainable farms within driving distance from Atlanta metro, the greater community should want to support them by coming together and helping to work the land for a day. Just like farming communities used to come together. And yes, the only reward is the satisfaction of an honest day’s work and a shared meal to celebrate a successful day in the field. No money changes hands.
By the way, Mike is also an accomplished brewer of beers and meads. His mead will soon be for sale at Montaluce Winery in Dahlonega, GA so be sure to check that out as well.
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How can a wedding photographer compete in a crowded marketplace? Mark Tioxon has an answer for us…
It’s so nice talking to a business owner who really “gets it.” Mark Tioxon of LeahandMark.com runs a photography business with his wife Leah and they understand what’s important: a quality product, customer service and building meaningful relationships with clients and their team of interns.
Mark talked with Jim Hodgson and I this week and gave us the secrets to his success in a highly competitive field that’s only become more crowded with the influx of hobbyist photographers armed with high-end consumer equipment.
They have also implemented one of the most inventive internship programs I’ve seen in a small business which is probably worth a show on its own. Listen to our interview with Mark below and we’ll be back next week!
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Hanging with Stephanie Frost and talking about SXSWi and Digital Atlanta
Was group texting really all the rage at SXSW this year like the Mashable guys predicted? What was new and interesting? Who might you expect to see chilling in Austin if you were at SXSW this year? Well, Stephanie Frost was there and she’s got answers to all these questions and more.
Most importantly, Stephanie gave us the inside scoop on what’s going on with Atlanta’s emerging interactive festival, Digital Atlanta and what we can expect to see in year two of this conference when it kicks off in November.
It’s an entertaining show so have a listen to the podcast below and we will see you next week!
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Vincent LaMantia of WhosOn tells us how to make online chat work on your website
This week, Jim Hodgson and I talked about online chat with Vincent LaMantia of WhosOn, a chat platform by Parker Software.
As online chat has increased in popularity, a lot of business owners are trying to decide if this is a good solution for their firms but might not know what to look for or what the best practices are. Vincent gave us some really good tips though on how chat can be used effectively and how to avoid misusing or abusing it on your site.
We talked about applications for chat both in sales and support situations and Jim issued Vincent his biggest challenge of the interview — a very important conversation for anyone interested in running chat on their website should listen to. Check out the podcast below!
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Josh Linkner teaches us how creativity can be integrated into ANY business (even yours)
Josh Linkner is creative. He founded ePrize the groundbreaking promotions firm who were among the first to help brands bridge the gap between online and off. He is an accomplished musician. He is a venture capitalist bent on returning his community in Detroit to its past economic glory.
By contrast, many people do not consider themselves creative, especially when it comes to business. But Josh believes that EVERYONE can be creative… All it takes is a push and the right process. His new book, Disciplined Dreaming provides that push and that process and, if my opinion counts, it’s a terrific read and chock full of good advice and wonderful anecdotes.
Buy the book, and by all means listen to this interview — Josh has great insight on how we can all harness the power of creativity for profit.
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2/7/11: Talking marketing with Kelley Hagen of Mindframe Marketing
We had the privilege of speaking with Kelley Hagen of Mindframe Marketing this week. It was definitely a fun show and I definitely encourage listening :) Kelley’s experience is mostly focused around restaurants and entertainment, which definitely gives her a unique perspective on the challenges of growing those types of businesses.
Kelley also shared a particualrly heartwarming story about her experience working with an entrepreneur starting a dog-walking business in Atlanta. This show may be worth a listen just for that.
Oh, and if you do get in touch with Kelley, be sure to ask her what you might consider getting your sweetheart for Valentines Day. Just trust me on this.
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1/31/2011: So where’s all this location-based mumbo jumbo headed? Pete Reilly of Retality tells us…
I have to say this was one of my favorite shows of the last few months. Jim Hodgson and I had Pete Reilly of Retality in studio and we talked about everything from location-based services to augmented reality to Groupon and many things in between.
Although I love Foursquare, I’ve always questioned its relevance from a business perpective. Pete feels the same way and his firm is actually in the process of working with big brands to help them develop proprietary location-based loyalty platforms to keep customers coming back.
Later in the show we talked about online couponing, augmented reality, QR codes and how the whole thing may fit together. Great show overall and MANY thanks to Pete for being an incredible guest.
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1/26/2011: Erik talks blogging with Atlanta Business Radio
We didn’t have an official show this week, but I did get a chance to talk blogging and Bloggernaut with Lee Kantor and Stone Payton on Atlanta Business Radio. The interview was terrific — there was a LOT of good information and discussion about blogging (along with the common pitfalls). And, of course, we got to go into all the details about what makes Bloggernaut by Zero-G Creative such a great tool for busy entrepreneurs. You can listed to the podcast below.
We’ll be back with a new edition of GFR next week. Seriously.
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1/3/2011: The SEO show with Sean Hakes that very nearly wasn’t
This week’s show with SEO expert Sean Hakes of iClick Creative almost degenerated into sort of a twisted performance art piece as we struggled to get our phone system to cooperate. But if you like terrific SEO insight mixed in with periodic frustration and the occaisional awkward silence, this is the show for you.
But in all seriousness, this was a terrific show even with all the malfunctions. I would encourage you especially to listen for what Sean says about watching out for “Black Hat” SEO and how you might get more bang for your buck in online advertising by spending with Bing or Yahoo! pay-per-click rather than on Google adwords where competition has inflated pricing.
Thanks to Sean for bearing with us through all the technical issues and thanks as always to Jim Hodgson for having a fantastic sense of humor. See you next week!
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12/20/2010: Colleen Jones teches us how to build “Clout” online
It was our final show of 2010 and we couldn’t have had a better guest than Colleen Jones. An online content strategy expert, Colleen has just released a new book entitled, Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content. The book is a remarkable read and provides a wealth of information on crafting content that gets results.
In studio, Colleen gave us wonderful insights on how content could and should be brought to the forefront of a firm’s online strategy, ethics in writing and how all the different types of online content your company may create (i.e., marketing, SEO, social media, PR etc.) can be engineered to work together.
Thanks so much to Colleen Jones for joining us and thanks as well to Jim Hodgson for continuing his glorious tenure as guest co-host. We’ll see you in 2011!
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12/13/10: Author Ben Hudson teaches us how to find work when there are no jobs
This week Jim Hodgson and I spoke to Ben Hudson, author of “How to Find Work When There Are No Jobs.” Ben’s philosophy is simple but exactly on point: the job market is hopelessly broken and the best hope for unemployed professionals may be in circumventing it altogether.
In his book and in his lectures, Ben teaches corporate exiles how to reinvent themselves as consultants which saves them from being lost in a thick stack of resumes while improving their earning potential and putting them back in control of their own destinies.
This book is a must have/must read for any unemployed professionals — it may very well change your whole outlook. This show is also definitely a must listen, there is a lot of very helpful material.
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11/29/10: High Gravity Radio with guests Stone Payton and Todd Schnick
It’s always interesting when Stone Payton and Todd Schnick the hosts of our RadioX lead-in High Velocity Radio stop by on GFR. This week, the guys crashed the studio to chat about how they are planning for the new year and how they maintain good marketing habits. Along with guest co-host Jim Hodgson, we had a great chat and there are a lot of good nuggets in there that business owners can use.
For example, if you’re just thinking now about 2011, you’re a few weeks behind the 8-ball. Get going and get serious before you blink and it’s New Year’s Eve. Todd and Stone also reiterated several times the importance of documenting both your business and marketing plans for the new year. These don’t have to be big documents, a simple checklist stored on Google Docs where you and your associates can contribute, update and check things off can be more than adequate and much better than nothing.
GFR is off next week but we’ll be back on Monday, December 13 at 11:30 AM.
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11/22/10: Our pre-Thanksgiving bash with Jim Caruso from MediaFirst PR
This week guest co-host Jim Hodgson and I were joined by Jim Caruso of MediaFirst PR and our topic of discussion was near and dear to all our hearts: what makes a good website?
We talked about a variety of topics including conversion rates, SEO, social media integration and more but the highlight of the show was really around content strategy and developing an editorial calendar for your website that coordinates with the rest of your marketing. Jim also put a 2010 context around “integrated marketing” which was a very valuable contribution to the discussion.
Thanks to Jim and Jim and to Lee our producer for another terrific show and I would like to wish a VERY happy Thanksgiving to all our listeners and friends!
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11/15/10: Justin Daniels and Dave Chambless give us the inside scoop on “getting out.” That’s right, we’re talking EXIT Strategy on GFR
We had our friend (that’s right, we’re very careful to call all the lawyers we know dear, dear friends) Justin Daniels on GFR this week along with Dave Chambless, an expert in the buying and selling of businesses. Jim Hodgson was there too, admirably filling his role of guest co-host while Stephanie Frost recovers from last week’s Social Media Atlanta conference.
Our topic this week was Exit Strategy… We all got into our businesses but what do we do when it’s time to get out? Justin and Dave definitely gave us an education in this department and we probably could have gone on a full hour longer without even realizing. We talked about a lot of very big do’s and don’ts that come with preparing to sell your business and quite a few that were VERY surprising and maybe counter-intuitive.
If you are a business owner and are considering selling your business one day (and really, that should be all business owners), grab a cup of coffee, put your phone on silent and listen to this broadcast, it could change your whole outlook.
Our thanks go out to Justin, Dave and Jim for joining us this week and we’ll see you again next Monday!
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11/8/2010: Deep inside the minds of Erik + Jim
Life is funny sometimes. Truth is we had a KILLER guest lined up but he had to cancel at the last minute. So with no guest to interview, guest co-host Jim Hodgson and I just, um… talked. But truth is, this wasn’t a bad show and there are really some nice gems mixed in there with the rest of the inane babble. Ever wanted to know what web designers REALLY hate? Want to hear how Jim gets over blogger’s block? Is your logo too complicated? All the answers are here.
We’re back next week as always though with guests and everything.
Enjoy!
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11/1/10: Marna Friedman tells us about “Strategic Self Publishing” and Stephanie Frost phones home LIVE from City Hall’s Proclamation on Social Media Atlanta
Did you ever want to write a book but didn’t know where to get started? Marna Friedman knows self-publishing inside and out and she’s going to be sharing her knowledge with Atlanta business people this Wednesday 11/3 at her day-long Strategic Self Publishing Seminar. If you’re interested in self publishing, step one is listen to this interview. Step two is sign up for Marna’s seminar TODAY (and use promo code ZEROG to save $48 on the registration fee). Marna and her guest speakers — including GFR’s Erik Wolf — will be going through the entire self-publishing process soup to nuts, from strategic to tactical. And Marna’s interview on GFR (below) is a GREAT sneak preview of what you’ll learn.
We also heard from our regular co-host Stephanie Frost who phoned in live from the City of Atlanta’s proclamation for Social Media Atlanta, making the (hopefully first annual) week-long technology festival an official city event. Social Media Atlanta kicks off next Monday 11/8 and runs through Friday 11/12.
Thanks to our guests and especially to Jim Hodgson who took the co-host seat for the second straight week and lived to tell the tale. We’ll see you again next Monday!
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10/25/2010: Author Jamie Turner tells us “How to Make Money with Social Media”
Spoiler alert! It turns out it IS possible to make money with social media and our guest Jamie Turner told us all about it. For those of you that don’t know Jamie, he is not only a frequest guest on GFR (you can hear him here, here and here) but also the Chief Content Officer for and excellent marketing blog 60SecondMarketer.com and author of the new book “How to Make Money with Social Media.”
Jamie joined us in studio along with special guest co-host Jim Hodgson to give us tons of great tips including the framework for a successful social campaign, tips on how social media greenhorns can get started and where social campaigns go wrong.
This is really a MUST listen for anyone running — or thinking about running — a social media campaign for their business. Thanks as always for being an incredible guest Jamie!
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7/20/10: Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, Guest Host + Interview with Paige Hall
Today we were joined by one of our favorite marketing folks, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk as a guest host. She and Stephanie were joined by Paige Hall of About Face, a company focused on customer experience, business research, and consulting/training.
We learned all about how “secret shopping” can help companies improve their customer experience and ultimately their bottom line. It’s not always the most popular practice amongst employees but if implemented in a constructive way, it can really have a positive impact on the way a company delivers its products or services to the public.
This show is definitely one worth listening to as Paige is really understands what it takes to help businesses succeed.
About Paige Hall
Paige Hall, founder and CEO of AboutFace™, is an acknowledged innovator among her
contemporaries. Her passion, sense of humor, discipline and creativity combine to make her
a favorite in the business community.
Under her dynamic leadership, AboutFace™ has evolved from a company providing secret
shopping and customer experience research to a respected leader in customer experience
insight, innovation and strategy. Clever, pioneering services like Secret Shopping On-Demand”,
Customer Experience Profile & Action Plan, Guestumentaries”, Spin-to-Win and AboutFace
Education” are but a few of her visions that have become reality.
Hall is currently developing Working Girls Productions”, a company dedicated to making busi-
ness ideas visual, fun and creative. The series, How to Score at Work” will include provocative
conversations with female executives that are certain to get your attention.
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6/8/10: Guest Host Laura Scholz is joined by Shameeka Ayers and Jennifer Shields
GFR guest host Laura Scholz of Scholz Communications and CRAVE atlanta interviewed two amazing lifestyle entrepreneurs—Shameeka Ayers of The Broke Socialite Media LLC and Jennifer Shields of Posh Tot Events. Both women are featured in CRAVE: Atlanta, a guide to the city’s savviest and gutsiest female entrepreneurs.
Shameeka, who started blogging four years ago, has turned her “fabulous and foo foo on a dime” philosophy into a social media and lifestyle empire, complete with foodie tours, classes for budding entrepreneurs and the upcoming Lavish!, an “unconference” experience for the lifestyle social networker. If that’s not enough, she’s also an author, and her novella, Instantly: How Quickly I Realized I Hated My Job, will be released this fall.
Jen’s foray into event planning began with her son’s lavish first birthday party, and she’s now the go-to children’s party planner for Atlantans, including celebraity clients like Nicole Ari Parker and Boris Kodjoe as well as Bert Weiss of Q100’s The Bert Show. Posh Tot Events has been featured ing the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Points North Magazine, Daily Candy Kids and Atlanta based Q100’s “The Bert Show” and on CBS Better Mornings.
Both women talked about turning a hobby into a business, making the leap from corporate to solopreneur and marketing and building successful lifestyle brands, all while balancing a home life. Plus, they give some great tips for new entrepreneurs. Tune in to learn more!
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5/25/10: Jacqui Chew Talks Marketing Strategy, Mike Schinkel and Marna Friedman on The Business of WordPress Conference
Jacqui Chew of iFusion Marketing
GFR interviewed Jacqui Chew of iFusion Marketing today. Jacqui is an expert on developing and executing go-to-market strategies for emerging and established brand that produce results. During her career, Jacqui has accumulated 15 years of experience delivering multi-channel marketing, public relations and business development programs to global companies in the enterprise software, Internet, information security and consumer products and services sectors. Previously, she held leadership positions at CoreCard Software, Manning, Selvage & Lee, PeopleSoft, Silverpop and Stonesoft. She has also consulted at such Fortune 1000 businesses as Chupa Chups USA, eBay, IBM e-Business Services and SSL International. Jacqui had some great advice for startups and small businesses. Definitely listen to the interview.
Mike Schinkel
Next up we were joined by Mike Schinkel and Marna Friedman. They are the organizers of The Business of WordPress Conference coming up on June 22-23rd. We talked a little bit
Marna Friedman
about why WordPress is such a great platform and content management system for small business owners. The Business Of WordPress Conference is for non-technical business people who need a marketing roadmap for improving their organization’s web presence and who have chosen or are evaluating WordPress for their web platform. Find out more about what is being offered at this great conference or visit their website for more information.
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5/18/10: Andrea Arena shows us how to be in “2 Places at 1 Time,” Johnny Knatt prepares us for the new the new Avatar work culture and Chris Colston has advice for tech businesses
We had an ACTION PACKED show this week! Three great guests, and three great insights on how entrepreneurs can build successful businesses.
First up was Andrea Arena, owner of 2 Places at 1 Time, a corporate concierge serving cities throughout the U.S. and Canada — and she started the whole thing (literally) from her car. And what was the big “ah-ha” revelation that propelled her from local entrepreneur to national multimillion dollar enterprise? Instead of selling her service to individuals, she went direct to large corporate clients and convinced them to offer her service as a benefit to employees, making them more productive during the business day. As a secondary market, she also offers her services as a loyalty program for companies serving high net worth clients. Andrea’s business is the perfect example of how taking an existing, proven business model and giving it a little “tweak” can equate to incredible success.
Johnny Knatt is one of the principles at ODHR Consultants and works with companies on a lot of HR-related activities. The focus of our discussion though was on personnel development, building an organization that fosters the right kind of culture in an increasingly virtual workplace. It’s also very important, according to Johnny, that companies work hard to build cultures that are not only willing to change but also encourage change. This interview is an absolute MUST listen for anyone who is in a management role in their business.
Batting third on GFR was Chris Colston, who has spent his career working in management roles in large technology businesses. Now an entrepreneur, Chris has started his own firm, the BizTech Group, whose objective is to bring multiple technology businesses together for mutual gain. His group of tech entrepreneurs and managers meets once a week and Chris and his partners use the sessions to facilitate group mentoring, networking and accountability. Chris acknowledged that a lot of technology firms keep themselves in “silos”, isolating themselves from the business world at large and Chris is looking to change that, one group of businesspeople at a time.
Thanks to all our incredible guests for joining us this week!
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5/11/10: Brand Strategy with Dorian Usherwood
This week we were joined by Dorian Usherwood of branding consultancy Dauhaus and he offered some insights on branding. The first great tip he gave was that good brands are based on a solid foundation of values; branding can’t be faked and it can be difficult to try to impart a deeper meaning on a brand after the fact.
The worst mistake you can make when naming your company? Dorian says it’s never a good idea to give your business a name just because it sounds cool, or because you like it. There needs to be a connection between your name and your brand and what you are trying to achieve as a business.
This was a terrific show and thanks so much to Dorian for taking the time to join us!
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