Rocky Mountain Marketing- Digital Marketing for Entrepreneurs

In this week's episode, we have Kelly Lemon, a one-armed wedding and elopement photographer based in PNW. Her story has inspired thousands of people and gave a big reason for everyone else not to give up. She is the epitome of dedication and hard work. The car accident she was in when she was 12 years old has transformed her life in many ways than one. A huge part of her body was paralyzed. She survived and tried living with only one hand. But this didn't stop her from pursuing what she really wants, and that is photography. Kelly decided to enroll in a photography class despite her challenges. she experienced rolling the film in the darkroom using her feet. It was only last 2018 that both her hands are fully functioning. She does photography as a side hustle and loved it. It was when a NY Times photo editor saw her shots that pushed her to go full time. She started her photography business and got clients from all over the US. In the middle of her success, her arm did it again. She was driving when she felt her arms fell off. No one knew what happened but she definitely can't stop where she is right now. She dealt with her clients and hired assistant photographers that helped her achieve what she wants. Surprisingly, her clients understood and still chose to go with her. She said the secret here is communication. Listen in and discover how Kelly managed to face all these challenges and come out stronger, bolder, and definitely a winner! Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Kelly's website: https://kellylemonphotography.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellylemon/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kellylemonphotography/_created/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we have Humaira Akhter, a personal brand strategist who helps businesses harness their unique identities to generate revenue. She sees herself as someone who is used to being thrown into tough situations and be able to come out the other way. She recalls her experiences when she flew from Bangladesh to the US to study. The plan was to go back after school but that didn't happen as she found herself working tirelessly in the corporate world. It became monotonous for her and that she no longer enjoys what she does. She wanted to do something that doesn't only makes her happy but can also impact others. Humaira believes that by knowing your core identity you will easily scale your business' efficiency. Understanding who you are, and what's your biggest strength, will allow you to align your product, mission, and values all together to achieve the life you want. Humaira's goal is to help her clients be on top of mind whenever people need their services. That's why it is important for business owners to have this clarity to be able to serve their clients with confidence. She answered the controversial question - which comes first - branding or marketing. Listen in and see her take on this hot topic.Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Humaira's website: https://www.brandwave.consulting/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/authoritypositioningforcoachingandexperts/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/humairaakhter/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we have Tim Fitzpatrick. Tim is the president of Rialto Marketing. He is based in Colorado but grew up in the Bay Area in California. His story started from working in a wholesale distribution company to selling houses and then finally, digital marketing and business growth. He believes that most people make marketing complicated which, according to him, should not be the case. He believes in working smart rather than working hard. For Tim, being laid off opened an opportunity for him to focus on what he enjoys doing. He founded Rialto Marketing with this in mind last 2013. Their mission is to help businesses breakthrough their marketing roadblocks with the use of their 90-day marketing plan. The idea is to go back to the fundamentals of the business and identify specific goals and target market. He follows a 6-step structure in navigating through one's digital marketing strategy. When asked about his advice to other business owners, he said that being able to adapt to change is important. Given the events last year, the ones that were able to pivot survived, and those who didn't fail. Another strategy he shared is to break down the task or project into smaller pieces and finish each small task before going on to the next. The point is to simplify the method by focusing on what's working at the moment before moving on to the next strategy or platform.Listen in as we deep dive into simplifying digital marketing for businesses. Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Tim's website: https://www.rialtomarketing.com/Podcast: https://www.rialtomarketing.com/rialto-marketing-podcast/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Sarah Curcio. Sarah is a marketing manager to coaches and a coach to virtual assistants. Her business is called Sarah's Social Strategy. She's been very passionate about helping consultants write compelling content and market it through different social media channels. She believes that working with different social media platforms requires a different strategy to be more effective.Sarah is also very good at writing blogs. She stresses the importance of writing to businesses. Blogs, unlike articles, do not require so much formality. Some blogs are even written in a diary form. She said that the SEO component of a blog is so important. She enumerated these three components such as SEO title, meta description, and focus keyword."Everyone wants to land on the first page", she said. However, according to her, it takes time and a lot of work. Choosing the right set of words to use and optimize plays a big part in this. Research on what your target audience is using to search your niche, and then work out those keywords in your blog. Contrary to what some people say about keywords, she recommends not using a focus keyword repeatedly. Learn more about top blogging strategies from Sarah in this episode.Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKS:Visit Sarah's website: https://www.sarahsocialstrategy.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahcurcio/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we have Denise Liebetrau. Denise is the founder and principal HR consultant of Prosper Consulting LLC. She helps employers with hr and compensation issues. She grew up on a farm in Kansas and got her degree at Kansas State University. She moved to Colorado last 1998 and loved it here since then. Her journey from corporate to being an entrepreneur started when she was laid-off. She said that her biggest investment was when she decided to take a mastermind on how to define your niche, how to do the marketing, and the sales components related to running a small business. This helped her develop the skills needed for her to run her own business. She also joined Denver Women's Group who supports fellow business owners who are experts in finance, marketing, and many others.Denise's nature of work is quite unique but is very significant to both the employers and the employee. She's coaching individuals about how they can charge more. According to her, there are 2 points differentiators, one is developing emotional intelligence, and the second one is mastering the executive presence. She said that there's a certain level of presence that you have to be in so you can get your hiring manager's trust. Last year, she helped few people who were laid off by Coca-Cola to start anew. She was able to help them land a new job with not just a base pay increase but also sign-on bonuses up to $50,000. Her knowledge of how HRs and business leaders decide on offers for new hires and promotions has helped her make this success happen.Listen in as she gives out more tips on how you can level up your game in this side of the business. Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Denise's website: https://prosperconsultingllc.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseliebetrau/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProsperConsultingLLC/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we have Aaron Pearson as our guest, who is the Co-founder and Managing Director of BitBranding. He's a marketing guru who provides stability and flexibility to online businesses. He says that video marketing is one of the best in getting your clients "know I can trust" factor. In his observation, people are going to spend more on brands whom they trust, and at this time when most of your clients are online, the best way to show that you can be trusted is to get yourself in front of the camera. One effective video strategy is thought reversal. This is when you challenge common misconceptions or beliefs about a certain product or industry and positions yourself differently.He talked about getting your audience to stop scrolling, and then getting them to stay and come back more often is what you should aim for. The more we offer value, the more they will come back and purchase. He also discussed email marketing being your best asset. Small businesses can personalize their approach through different segments via email marketing. Your email list is something that you can call your own compared to your social media accounts.When asked about the best advice he got for his business, he said, "It is not the who but how.". He believes that in our lives, we can always hire somebody to help us do what we want. And this allowed him to help other businesses as well. He believes that success should be defined by using your God-given talents and not what society dictates.Find out more about what he does and his take on marketing trends this year by listening to this episode.Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Aaron's website: https://www.bitbranding.co/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pearsonaaronj1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitbranding/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Suzanne Tulien. Suzanne is a brand clarity expert who helps businesses and solopreneurs find their competitive advantage by discovering who they really are and what they really want. She is also an author and international speaker. According to one of her books, Personal Brand Clarity; Identify, Define & Align to What You Want to Be Known For, all of us have a brand and we're not just conscious of it. As solopreneurs, it is important that we take control of our business, and we can only do that when we have a clear understanding of what our core is. She said that people are like chameleons. We tend to compare ourselves to others, and eventually copy what we perceive as good. We become vulnerable. Our actions become transactional. We become like everybody else. In order to avoid this from happening, we need to be clear about who we really are. Having a strong understanding of our core values, mission, and vision, we can be confident that we will attract the right type of clients. Those clients who keep on coming back, who buys from us and promotes us.Learn more about the importance of brand clarity and how this helps in gaining control of your business. Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Suzanne's website: www.BrandAscension.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandascensionconsulting/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is Alyson Lex. Alyson is the former Marketing Manager for Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle where her first salesletter generated nearly $9,000 in 3 days. She lives and breathes effective marketing without selling your soul. She's been writing copies for over 13 years now allowing her to help business owners to grow bigger and reach more. She believes that sometimes when you do the writing yourself, you get caught up and fail to represent yourself well. As business owners, there are a lot of aspects that you need to focus on in order to run your business successfully. Creating an effective copy for your website or social media accounts requires a lot of time. There's a ton of research needed to formulate the perfect strategy and get your audience hooked. Telling them what's in it for them, their greatest benefit will help convince them in believing in you. Alyson shared a number of key points to consider in creating an effective copy.Know the secrets and step-by-step process in creating an effective copy by listening to this week's podcast.Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Alyson's website: https://alysonlex.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlysonLexCopyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alysonlex/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, we have Summer Asturi. Summer is the founder of Summer Productions, a Denver-based production company specializing in commercial advertising content. She grew up in her father's tattoo shop in Las Vegas. Her early years were spent watching her dad run the business. When her father is finished with one client, she and her sister will then discuss the after-care process. Her father is someone she looks up to. She saw him struggle but admire him for keeping his spirit up. This is how she managed to build her production company from the ground up. Being able to turn her modeling gig into an opportunity to learn more about the industry. She started with volunteer work, oftentimes unpaid, and then after a year persevered to on her own clients. She said that networking helped her a lot in scaling up. Summer further talked about her journey and the biggest lesson she learned from the other successful people in the business.Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Summer's website: http://www.sumprods.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sumprods/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/contentproducer/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Nicole Saunders. Nicole is a business coach whose mission is to empower womxn entreprenuers. Her strategy is to tap on one's personality and strength, and help them work out the best and most suited business model for their business. She loves hiking with her husband and dogs. Her obsession with personality tests is helping her communicate well with her clients. She became a Pinterest Manager last 2018 and has been winning clients since then. It was an absolutely fun and successful journey but she still felt looking for something more. She finally manage to free up some time and take in more coaching clients. This allowed her to pivot to do what she really love. "You can be whatever you want to be in the internet. You can change what you do.", she said. Nicole is big in showing your authentic self. She believes that when you fully embrace who you are, people will trust you. Her greatest advice is just for people to not hold back, to quit trying to make things perfect happen. She heard once that "Perfectionism is the highest form of self-abuse.".Learn more about how she transitioned from being a Pinterest Manager to a business coach. Like the show? Keep Katie running and show her your support!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/katiebrinkleyEPISODE LINKSVisit Nicole's website: https://saunderssays.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saunders_says/Learn more about Katie and Next Step Social Communications: Clubhouse: joinclubhouse.com/@katiebrinkleyhttps://www.nextstepsocialcommunications.comlinkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyhttps://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.