Hank's Business and Marketing Tips

I am joined by Christi Lowe, an Emmy Award Winning Video Producer and owner of Christi Lowe Productions. Christi and I start by discussing what kind of video works. And that is tricky because it depends on what kind of business you have. It is the kind of video you create that matter. Using brand stories can be powerful. Get people to know you. What is your why? It helps people know, like, and trust you. If you sell products, show your product and tell us how it works.  Rather than going through a bunch of industries, Christi and I played a word game where I mentioned an industry, Christi provided a short answer. It was so much fun! What we proved is that everyone can create videos! If you currently do not create videos, make sure to start small and easy. Harness your knowledge and passion. Start investing time to learn how to create videos and also start with what you have as far as hardware, but upgrade as you go along.  Next, we played myth busters where I asked Christi about audio and video. Which is more important? Christi says the imagery, but also mentioned both are key to great videos.  I showed some hardware I have such as a phone gimbal and Rhode Video Microphone. Again, use what you have and buy new hardware when you can.  If you are currently creating videos, but want to do better, Christi provides four tips. -Do not use shaky video. Use a gimbal or tripod -Make sure that your videos are not blurry. Most cameras have auto focus -Coloring is important. Make sure that your footage has the right color temperature -Use a decent microphone for good audio. As a bonus, Christi mentioned having a plan for your video. Create a storyboard of what you want to say and include. We also discuss using a teleprompter. If you use them right, they are great, but make sure not to sound like you are reading off one! Christi has a five part master course with over three hours of course material, all very practical tips that I’ve learned in her 30+ years of video marketing.  Video Marketing- why and whatVideography - practical hands on tipsAudio basics - hardware and strategiesEditing - basics of editingCell Phone - all the previous classes but specifically geared toward using your cell phone Learn more about Christi and what she does: Website: https://christiloweproductions.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christilowe/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristiLoweProductions/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/christilowe Learn more about Christi’s Master Course teaching SMB owners how to create their own amazing business videos - Pro Tips For Amazing Business Videos: https://christiloweproductions.com/how-to-make-great-videos-for-your-business/ https://youtu.be/TKc-FEUDc6E Audio:

In this episode, I am joined by Traci Philips, The Innate Coach. She is an Executive Leadership & Performance Coach to Visionaries. We discuss the importance of defining your rightful Zone of Brilliance so that you know what seat and lane you are meant to be in. Issues with productivity, culture fit, connecting with your market/ideal client and "job hopping" (job satisfaction/fulfillment) can often happen when we are misaligned and/or don't know where we truly thrive (where our value is most valuable and valued). Is life about what you achieve? Should your achievements define you? Are we human beings or human doers? We should not strive to be valued by our achievements, rather it should be based on our Innate Brilliance. It's possible to excel at something, but not like what you do. Our brilliance is meant to form and inform what we are here to be and do. It allows us to develop passion for what is meant to be meaningful to and for us. By doing what you are created explicitly to do, you will be more successful and happy. Learn where you thrive in order to shine a light on your brilliance. You have to remove the traditional thinking that working hard brings success. Traci likes to ask people what others see in them that they simply don't in themselves. That is one of the key places to start in finding and defining your brilliance. Traci is able to read people through their language to determine both their brilliance, as well as what is holding them back from showing up in it. She then is able to help her clients recognize, understand and own what is core and innate to them. Who and how you were prior to your conditioning and the pressures and expectations of the outside world hold the key to your true brilliance and legacy. In our conversation, Traci defined me as a visionary, and it was an eye opening moment for me to discuss what that means. I have a lot of ideas, but struggle with execution. For me to be effective, I need to work with a company that can benefit and harness my visionary work style, and I believe that I am currently in that type of role. Are you doing what you should be doing? Are you in alignment with what you excel at or are you in your Zone of Brilliance? Some people fall into the trap of the traditional entry level jobs that have linear progression that does not fit the person they are, but does fit the needs of the organization and how it's run. Don’t settle. Get out of your comfort zone and into your Zone of Brilliance. What is it costing you to settle for less than what inspires and drives you? Is it Money? Your health? There needs to be alignment in what you love and what you do. Stop being “fine”. Do what you love so you can accomplish more. The money will come when you do what you love. It is much more risky to live outside your Zone of Brilliance. What do you want to leave as your legacy? You miss 100% of the shots you do no take. It is okay to take risks and it is okay to fail. Life is risky, but you can have great success if you're willing to align with who you're truly here to be and what you are genuinely meant to do. Too many people are playing it safe. Grab life by the horns. Traci has a live show on Facebook every other Wednesdays with co-host Wulwyn Porte. It includes unscripted conversations around life and breakthroughs. Real conversations around real stuff. The show is called Eavesdrop in the Moment. Find them on Facebook and YouTube. Eavesdrop in the Moment: on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eavesdropinthemoment On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV7sqv4v-3fNVVK_tgHM_7g Traci has new book, Looking IN: Discover, Define & Align the True Value of Your Life, Leadership & Legacy coming out later this year. Make sure to check it out when it is available on Amazon. Learn more about Traci on her website www.theinnatecoach.com

For me, it is time for my annual physical. I wanted to take this time to encourage you to set up time to check in on your physical and mental health. With everything that we have going on, including a pandemic, it is easy to become stressed and overworked to the point that we are not taking care of yourself. Most times, your body will communicate with you and let you know if something is wrong, but there are times when people ignore what is happening, or maybe we do not place an emphasis on our health. In order to be successful, you need to be healthy so that you can enjoy your success. Make sure to take care of yourself and make your healthcare appointments today!

Make sure to pay attention to the voice space. Whether it be podcasts, digital assistants, or new apps like Clubhouse, you need to know that this is a growing space.  Sure, you need to create video and text marketing content, but voice is the new frontier. Then there is Youtube Shorts, vertical videos under 60 seconds. Not everyone has it, but it might be work looking at this feature when it is more widely available.  https://youtu.be/L-1K0tgSRHs Audio:

Larry Long Jr. joins me again to talk about leadership and other topics. Larry is the Director of Collegiate Sales at Teamworks and Founder of The Midweek Midday Motivational Minute. Get ready for some mic drop moment because Larry brought his golden microphone this time! Leadership is your actions, heart and mind. Do not get caught up in titles. You need to inspire people and help people on their career journey.  You can be an individual contributor and empower others to do great things. It is our responsibly to be a role model. Look at your sphere of influence and determine if you are stepping up to the plate and knocking it out of the part when it comes to leadership? Do you take care of your mind, body, and soul so that you can lead others? Opportunity is everywhere. Look for the chances to make change and help others succeed. But make sure you are successful before you can help other success.  With the pandemic, it is hard to stay motivated. Larry and I discuss what you can do to stay focused.  There will always be something that happens in live that can deter motivation. Make sure that you turn to things you like to do. For Larry, it is golf. Maybe for you is it yoga or something.  Larry likes to meet with groups of people on Zoom to find motivation. Find a cheerleader in a mentor to give you a swift kick to get out of the funk.  Process what you are going through. Make sure to look for the good, the great, and the wonderful in every situation.  When it comes to Zoom fatigue, think of your camera as a window to the world rather than a spy device. I mention that it is ok to not always be looking at the camera with on a virtual call. You can take notes, it’s ok to do that.  Also, make sure to say yes to more things rather than complaining or saying “but”. There will be so many opportunities this year to become great and succeed.  Larry encourages us to save the day and do not waste this time! Carpe Diem! We never get this time back and life is short. No more Netflix and chill, we are revoking your hall pass from the dumpster fire of 2020. Larry wants you to participate in his #3MinuteChallenge where you should reach out to someone in your network to reconnect with them and make them feel special.  Find Larry on LinkedIn and make sure to mention my show! Larry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7/ https://youtu.be/UvpfEAnreGk Audio:

This week, and next week, I am joined by my old friend Larry Long Jr, Director of Collegiate Sales at Teamworks and Founder of The Midweek Midday Motivational Minute. I am enthralled with Larry’s energy! He might actually have more energy than me. Is that even possible? Other than high energy, we have a lot in common. I have been pushing people to do better and do more. Larry gave us a lot of words of wisdom in the two episodes he recorded with me.  Larry like people that like what they do and are passionate about doing it. Work on whatever day is today. What every day starts with “Y”. I streak starts with one. Just get started! Be a go getter and go giver! We are reminded that we are all in sales. Even as a dad as Larry tells us. Be a match maker rather than a sales person. Match things together. A need and your product or service. Ask questions and listen, then figure out how to make a match.  Sometimes there is not a match, but it is. your job to help a prospect find what they need. Be genuine and caring. You never know, it might turn into referrals.  The difference between contacts and contracts is the letter “R”….Relationships. Build brand equity and brand awareness. It helps nurture business. Go out and plant relationship seeds.  I jump in and talk about learning what makes people successful rather than wondering and being jealous of people that have more than you. Larry said that success leave clues. Look to do things that make you feel fulfilled. Do not do things that make you angry and grumpy. Do what makes you happen. It is not always about the money.  It is important to learn from other people’s success and mistakes. It will help you grow faster.  Later, we shifted gears to talk about leadership, but I only teased it in this episode. Make sure to tune in next week for Larry’s thoughts on leadership and more! Find Larry on LinkedIn and make sure to mention my show! Larry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/longjr7/ https://youtu.be/mFRSfp0GMUQ Audio:

I am joined again by John Espirian this week. Here is a link to last weeks episode: https://hankhoffmeier.com/hmbt-262-winning-the-linkedin-lottery-part-1 He  is the relentlessly helpful technical copywriter, all-round LinkedIn nerd and author of Content DNA. John writes web pages, blog posts, case studies and LinkedIn profiles for B2B clients. Find John at espirian.co.uk or follow him on LinkedIn. In the last episode, we discussed important items that you need to update on your LinkedIn profile. I asked John some strategic questions about using LinkedIn. The first was about using hashtags in posts. Hashtags will help increase visibility of your content. The optimal number of hashtags is between 3 and 9. Mix highly followed hashtags as well as combine them with personal brand hashtags. Next, should we tag people in posts? John says to be careful with “tag walls”. Make sure the content is relevant to who you are tagging. Do not tag simply to tag to try to obtain engagement. If you tag people and they do not respond, you can be dinged by LinkedIn’s algorithm. What John recommends is taking the link to a post and send it in messages instead rather than tagging them in a post.  Here is a breakdown of social media users, as per John: 1% of users are creators, 10% are contributors and about 90% will be silent and not really engaged. Basically, many people are content stalkers and receive value from your content, but may not show any signals. Keep posting, because people see it, they just might not always engage. Be to good to ignore.  Another myth buster is that links posted in the first comment perform better than posting it in the body. As per John, posting the link in the body will not have negative consequences. It used to be popular to post in the first comment, but does not really help much now. Pro tip: Post your content without the link, wait a few moments, then edit the post and add the link. Your content will actually get a boost! Next, we talk about posting similar content on LinkedIn and on your blog. Will Google punish you if you post the same content on LInkedIn that you posted on your site? This is a myth. Best practice would be to post on your blog and then use Google Console to index the page. Once it is indexed, you can post your content somewhere else safely. Google will know that what you posted first is the original.  Another recommendation is to tweak the headline and also add a note at the bottom of the LinkedIn article that tells readers where the article first appeared.  The big value in LinkedIn is that you can treat it like a golf course. Conversations turn into customers. Talk to people on the course, and talk to people in your stream and in messages on LinkedIn. Make sure to use audio messages to send personalized memos. It is a great way to stand out and show people you care about the conversation you are having with them. This was the point where I asked John to hold me accountable to updating my headline and about me section on LinkedIn. I encourage you to find an accountability parter on this. If you missed it, we spoke about updating and optimizing your LinkedIn profile in last weeks episode. Also, make sure to find John’s magic word in his about section! Connect with John! John’s Website: https://espirian.co.uk/blog LinkedIn: https://espirian.co.uk/blog Book: Content DNA: https://www.amazon.com/Content-DNA-consistency-congruence-everywhere/dp/1916206239 Link to last weeks episode: https://hankhoffmeier.com/hmbt-262-winning-the-linkedin-lottery-part-1 https://youtu.be/isFfk7WQYqI Audio:

In this episode, I am joined by John Espirian. He is the relentlessly helpful technical copywriter, all-round LinkedIn nerd and author of Content DNA. John writes web pages, blog posts, case studies and LinkedIn profiles for B2B clients. Find John at espirian.co.uk or follow him on LinkedIn. John and I talk about LinkedIn extensively today. LinkedIn should not be treated like other social networks. You need to put in some work to use it successfully. Make sure that your profile is as optimized as possible. John breaks down some important but overlooked items. LinkedIn should not be treated as solely an online resume. Two items to look at right now is your headline and about section Make sure your headline is Interesting, informative and Intriguing. It should be a conversation starter. Your about statement is just as important to optimize. John tells us about a secret word that he includes in his about statement. Make sure to check his about me section and connect with him. It is advisable to personalize your connection invitation so that you have more chances of a successful connection. Those that know me are aware that I do not accept blind invites.  Only three lines of your about statement are above the fold, before the content is hidden behind the “read more” link. I love this quote from John: “Content tells, but your profile sells”. Go out and update your profile today!  More people are looking more at LinkedIn profiles on a mobile phones. The visible character limit is small, so be short, sweet, and interesting. With the the LinkedIn algorithm, dwell time matters. The longer and more people read content of yours, you will obtain more visibility. Post often, use video and document posts. It will help with engagement and favorable placement in the feed. This was part one of this two part interview with John. Make sure to check in next week for part two! John’s Website: https://espirian.co.uk/blog LinkedIn: https://espirian.co.uk/blog Book: Content DNA: https://www.amazon.com/Content-DNA-consistency-congruence-everywhere/dp/1916206239 https://youtu.be/ZxycWt2RFiI Audio:

Irene Diamond calls herself a “Pain Reliever & Mover-Improver for businesses and bodies” because she helps both get out of pain and moving! In 1995 she founded San Francisco, California’s very first Wellness Center, Diamond Pain Relief & Wellness that enjoys referrals from other health care providers from across the country. Irene leads seminars and trainings for clinicians on the rehabilitation method she developed, Active Myofascial Therapy ~ The Diamond Method so they, too, have the powerful ability to provide fast, effective, life-changing results for their clients and patients. She also mentors and provides consulting services to the massage, physical therapy, chiropractic and other wellness practices to attract affluent appreciative clients through her Dream Practice Mastery Academy. Irene is a frequent guest author for many professional massage, physical therapy and orthopedic publications and associations. She is an in-demand speaker and presenter sharing business-growth strategy; and clinical education. Irene and I talk about standing out from the crowd as well as finding the perfect client No matter what you do, you need to have a marketing mindset to grow your business.  When it comes to finding the right clients you might want to work with anyone in the beginning to obtain some experience to learn who you want to work with.  Irene tells us to use the Client Selection Triangle. A triangle has three points: Do you like themDo they have something you can relieve or help them achieve?Can they afford your product or services If prospects meets all these items, they are the perfect client or precise fit. This will help you in so many ways. More good reviews and a lot of referrals. Clients that are not a great fit may not have a good experience and can have negative outcomes.  Next, we talk about pricing and how it is not always “see you later” if a prospect does not meet your pricing options. Maybe you need to look at market demand and maybe adopt. It is not always specifically the price, there are other factors that we discuss. You also need to work on the Know, Like, Trust factor to crate a better connection with prospects. Make sure to give clients and referees something to YAC ("Unique Appeal to Clients”) (UAC) about. Stand out from the crowd. To do this, find something that makes you different, but it has to be unique. What is unique about you or what you do? Identify who your dream clients are and give them what they want. That will help you give them something to YAC about. And make sure to not verbally vomit on people, which means to be selling all the time and talking for the sake of talking.  Pro tip: Go to Yelp and look at one star reviews for feedback. Find out what your competition is bad at and do that better. People will YAC about that! Irene has a book coming out called Design Your Dream Practice. You can learn more about that and her website at www.IreneDiamond.com. Small business owners and Therapists can enroll in a gift mini course: “How To Attract Affluent Appreciative Clients” at www.IreneDiamond.com/affluent" https://youtu.be/bXWWjy2GEqw Audio:

It is a new year! It should be a new you as well! Stand out from the crowd. Make some changes. Be niche. https://youtu.be/oc0-RehYKGk Audio: