Maze Marketing Podcast

Testimonials are a critical part of any marketing and sales system. The problem? Most testimonials are lousy - and fail to reveal the true value you provide.

Justin DeMers has a different approach to testimonials. Listen now to learn:

• Why your customers have stories your potential customers NEED to hear
• Why a "success story" won't do you much good
• Why the universal thread in any successful story is conflict
• Why perfect testimonials can attract bad clients
• How to ask for great testimonials without feeling awkward
• How to guide your customer through the testimonial
• When to ask for testimonials (not necessarily the end!)
• How to pull customer objections into your testimonials
• Why you should capture your own testimonials
• What format to capture your testimonials in
• What formats to publish in - and why video is king

You can sign up for Justin's workshops at socialproofclub.com.

If you sell based on trust and DON'T have a book, it's time to ask why not. In this episode, Mark Beaumont-Thomas explains why and how to write a successful book in a sensible time frame. Listen now to learn:

• Why the barriers to entry in book publishing are lower than ever
• Why you won't make money out of a book in isolation
• Which formats to publish your book in
• Why self-publishing costs are less than you might think
• Pros and cons of Amazon's print-on-demand service (Amazon KDP)
• How to get constructive feedback on your manuscript
• How long your book needs to be
• How to define the scope of the book so you don't run off-track
• Pros and cons of dictating your book draft
• How we published the first edition of Maze Remarketing in under a month
• Why a non-fiction book should pay attention to the narrative arc
• How long it should take to publish a successful business book
• When to cut off one book and start another

Mark's website is https://lexiconmarketing.co.uk

If like Rob, you're sceptical about the effectiveness of LinkedIn for individual business owners, then listen to this conversation Rob and Jonathan had with Ted Prodromou, author of LinkedIn For Business.

LinkedIn puts your profile in front of 1000s of people each day. So it's worth spending some time updating and optimising your profile.

In this podcast, Rob, Jonathan and Ted talk about...

• The importance of using keywords throughout your profile
• Treating your professional headline and summary like a Google ad
• Why using Groups is more challenging than it used to be
• The power of the 'Insight Tag'
• Why you should be posting content to your company page
• The different types of LinkedIn ads that you need to pay attention to
• LinkedIn is not just for B2B
• And why, even with LinkedIn, you should be building relationships with people not directly sell to them.

You can find Ted online at his website https://yourlinkedincoach.com/

If like Rob, you're sceptical about the effectiveness of LinkedIn for individual business owners, then listen to this conversation Rob and Jonathan had with Ted Prodromou, author of LinkedIn For Business.

LinkedIn puts your profile in front of 1000s of people each day. So it's worth spending some time updating and optimising your profile.

In this podcast, Rob, Jonathan and Ted talk about...

• The importance of using keywords throughout your profile
• Treating your professional headline and summary like a Google ad
• Why using Groups is more challenging than it used to be
• The power of the 'Insight Tag'
• Why you should be posting content to your company page
• The different types of LinkedIn ads that you need to pay attention to
• LinkedIn is not just for B2B
• And why, even with LinkedIn, you should be building relationships with people not directly sell to them.

You can find Ted online at his website https://yourlinkedincoach.com/

In this episode we branch away from paid advertising and discuss how PR can expand your marketing maze. On this call we interview PR expert Neil Anderson. Listen now to learn:

• The key ingredients of a press release
• How to grab attention so your press release is actually used
• How the internet has changed press released
• What impact press releases can have on SEO (organic search listings)
• How to identify the right story
• When to use a press release, and when to run an ad
• What structure to start with
• How long a press release takes to produce, and how much it might cost
• How to expand your PR effectiveness with remarketing

Neil's website is http://www.neilandersonmedia.com/

Google Analytics allows you to sharpen your remarketing strategy. And best of all, it's free! Listen now to learn:

• What remarketing capabilities you get in Google Analytics (beyond native Google Ads)
• How to avoid marketing to the people who bounce from your website
• How to improve your remarketing ads click through rate
• How to remarket to people who interact with particular campaigns, without sending them to unique landing pages
• An advanced technique for remarketing to mobile traffic
• How to remarket based on transaction frequency or value
• Remarketing audiences you'll still want to configure natively in Google Ads

Announcement: in December 2019 we'll be running an online course on Google Analytics remarketing. To join the course notification list, go to www.mazemarketingpodcast.com/analytics.

Chris Davis is a marketing automation expert, and has worked with ActiveCampaign, LeadPages among other companies. Today Chris runs Automation Bridge, a marketing automation training company. Listen now to learn:

• Why it's harder than ever to select the right marketing tools
• The single biggest marketing automation mistake
• How to determine your strategy before selecting tools
• How to get the most from your tools
• When to stick with your tools, and when to change platforms
• What to look for in your marketing service providers
• How to take ownership of your marketing systems

Opt-in free to Chris’ Engagement Marketing course at automationbridge.com/maze.

Paul Fairbrother is the Head of Education at AdEspresso, and an Instagram and Facebook Ads specialist.  

Paul used to be a social media manager, and noticed that all the paid channels are now pay to play.  Paul used AdEspresso’s tools to create and manage ads at scale, before he before an employee. He realised looking back that he had interacted with 70+ content pieces before becoming an AdEspresso customer.

Things we discuss on this call:

• The myth of the funnel – why one ebook or one blog post isn’t enough
• Why there shouldn’t be a divide between organic and paid search teams
• How PPC automation tools can save you hours each week
• How to split test in Facebook and Instagram (and how this could half your advertising costs)
• How to run paid ads successfully if you don’t have hours each day to learn the different platforms
• Why Instagram should be a part of your advertising strategy
• Key differences between Facebook and Instagram
• What sort of images work best on Instagram
• What works on Instagram, and what doesn’t!
• Why Instagram can work well for shopping
• The interrelationship between Google and Facebook ads
• Why Instagram Stories are under-used
• Best format for videos (not landscape!)
• Why use lookalike audiences with your cold Facebook ads
• Important audience considerations for remarketing

Links:

For more free resources go to https://adespresso.com, and select ‘Academy’ from the top menu.

Most online conversations about email marketing focus on tools. Everybody wants to know: which email provider is best?

In this episode, Rob and Jonathan discuss the right questions you should be asking and what features to look for when searching for an email marketing system.

They discuss..

• The difference between Infusionsoft and MailChimp? (hint: there's a big difference)
• Why there are so many different price points
• Why you absolutely should not send emails directly through your domain or with a service like Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail
• The problem with entry-level tools
• The difference between list-based and contact-record-based tools
• The power you can add with correctly used tags and custom fields
• Why you need to consider what your core system is before you even look at which email marketing system to use

If you're interested in seeing how to send an email in 1984, check out this video.

In this episode, Rob and Jonathan are talking to Ben Hunt, marketer, former web designer and author of several books including, "Save the pixel" and "Web design is dead".

Ben shares a sneak peek at a new concept he's developing, called Holistic Marketing. If you sell based on expertise and are tired of the marketing funnel analogy, holistic marketing may be a more robust, ethical way to build your business.

In their discussion of Holistic Marketing, they cover...

• Why web design is more marketing than creative design
• How you 'find your space' and 'find your place in time'
• How to create different ways for people to access what you're offering and why this is important
• Why you should be as generous as you can with your content
• Why you shouldn't simply choose a niche. You must be that niche.
• Getting paid for who you are not what you do
• The power of interviews for generating content
• Looking to the past and the future for content ideas, but inhabiting the present

Link

All Ben's books are available for free on his website, http://benhunt.com/books/.