The Agents of Change Digital Marketing Podcast

The world of marketing is ever changing and you need to keep evolving with the changing times in order to not only just keep up, but to also succeed. What worked 10 or even 5 years ago is almost obsolete now. What can you do to entice your audience to make you stand out from your competitors? Some people will tell you that you need to be everywhere that your audience is, and although that's a fairly industrious undertaking, it just may not be possible depending on the size of your business and the manpower you have to dedicate to that. Remember that movie Field Of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come"? Well, the same is true for digital marketing. If you create something great, they will come to your channel, regardless of what that may be for you. It really does boil down to the content you create and send out. And that doesn't necessarily equate to quantity. Try quality over quantity to differentiate yourself from the masses. For over 20 years, Robert Rose has been helping businesses tell their stories more effectively through digital media. His expert strategic marketing advice has boosted both small and global brands and assisted them in creating experiences that their consumers fall in love with. www.agentsofchangecon.com/150

So you've got yourself a blog, and like everyone else with a blog, you're looking for ways to use it to increase traffic and generate leads for your business. Naturally, you keep pumping out new content and sending it out to your email list and other social channels. But is that really enough? It's true, new content is important. But what happens to the older posts you've written, do you just let them collect dust and keep moving forward? The answer is "no!" By revisiting and carefully optimizing your older posts, you're taking advantage of the content that might still be generating traffic by invigorating new life into it, while at the same time providing great search results by updating information that very possibly has changed since it was originally written. Pamela Vaughan is HubSpot's blog optimization expert. Over the last year she has helped HubSpot double their conversion rates by optimizing their historical (older) posts. Her creative and innovative ideas on the topic can help your business's blog do the same thing. www.agentsofchangecon.com/149

Maybe you're an entrepreneur looking to start selling yourproducts or services online, or maybe you already have a brick andmortar store but are looking to expand your business online.Ecommerce offers many advantages, especially if you follow a fewsmart tips.Ecommerce is more than just slapping some pictures of yourproducts online. Smart and precise advertising is key, you need toknow who to target and how to drive that traffic to your products.So is gaining your potential customer's trust, prove to them thatyou're the one they want to buy from. And what do you do if theytake their shopping cart to the checkout but never follow through?There are ways to save that sale!Steve Chou followed his dream of entrepreneurship and startedhis own successful ecommerce business. Through trial and error, aswell as some pretty cool tricks, he has built a successfulecommerce business that has grown steadily since he started it in2007. www.agentsofchangecon.com/148

Does the thought of putting on a live webinar scare you? Or maybe you've been hosting some live webinars but just aren't getting the attendance or conversion rates that you're hoping for. Don't give up, maybe your structure just needs a little tweaking. By just following a few key tips and utilizing some handy tools - from platform selection, to creating valuable content, to follow up after the event - it can help you to better navigate the ever evolving world of webcasting. Your goal should be to create valuable and interesting conversations that convert to sales, all while respecting your audience's valuable time. James Hilliard counts Fortune 500 companies as just some of the clients that he has helped in all aspects of webcasting, assisting them in delivering compelling presentations that audiences appreciate. http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/147

When it comes to writing web copy, you probably thank your lucky stars you can hire a copywriter to do it for you. But if you can’t afford that luxury, or are just determined to do it yourself, you may have sorely underestimated how difficult it can be. The first thing you need to remember is that you’re speaking as your brand, product or service, not yourself. And although there may be some overlap there, don’t fall victim to the rookie mistake of forgetting how to talk to your audience in the voice of your product, while still sounding human. And then once you get your words on paper, you need to be able to edit that sucker within an inch of its life without getting attached to your own writing. It’s not as easy as you may think. Beth Dunn is passionate about good writing and offers her tips and tricks to writing and editing persuasive copy that speaks to your audience in a language they trust, understand and respect. www.agentsofchangecon.com/146

If you asked yourself to name one thing that all successful companies have in common, you might answer, “marketing”. But even before that, they spent a great deal of time on their branding. Branding - in essence - is developing an image, with the results to back it up. And this certainly doesn’t just apply to businesses, there are plenty of personal brands making their mark in the world as well. Unfortunately, all too often not enough time is spent on branding before the marketing starts. But to truly have a successful marketing strategy, you need to have a solid foundation in place with your branding, and that’s more than just a cool logo. By following five key elements to build and define your brand platform, you will have a strong foundation to work with. Adrion Porter is a leading authority on brand building and personal brand development. His popular podcast, Gen X Amplified, empowers and inspires people to be leaders both in business and in life. www.agentsofchangecon.com/145

A common misconception surrounding Google AdWords is that people think no one ever really clicks those ads that show up on the right hand side of the search page. But whether you personally do or not, someone sure is, as those ads account for 90% of Google’s revenue from advertising as a direct result of people clicking those exact ads. In order to get in on the action, your business needs to navigate the many choices and options offered by AdWords to best work with your specific business campaign’s goal. Quality is going to go a long way here, so making sure you are on point with your target audience will translate huge. Knowing where your audience is, attracting them with concise and helpful ad copy - think strong and concise keywords - as well as refining your targeting strategy (beware the automatic default settings), will all help you win big in the end. Ross Kaplan-Winn loves helping businesses learn, test and implement online strategies, and has been managing PPC accounts since 2008. His knowledge and expertise is continually evolving as he stays up to date in the ever changing world of paid advertising. www.agentsofchangecon.com/144

This is a special announcement for AOC listeners! Make sure you head on over to http://www.agentsofchangecon.com/register to take advantage today!

It is possible to build a business around your passion, people are doing it everyday. But aside from passion and commitment, what separates the successes from the failures? Making sure you are not a carbon copy of other businesses in your niche is a great first step. Think about how you can differentiate yourself, even if that is just by taking a different angle or “spin” on the same topics as your competitors. Other tips such as maintaining an editorial calendar and making sure that you are doing your research will go far in helping you reach your goals. By taking what he was truly passionate about, Scott Niswander was able to earn an income, and amass a large following with his YouTube videos, all originating from his love of the comic book genre. www.agentsofchangecon.com/143

Do you know who the influencers in your business, industry or niche are? Do you know where to find them? These are the thought leaders that have built trust and credibility among their audiences through their products or services by creating great value. When you connect and engage with these influencers, you can begin to increase awareness of your own brand and increase your own reputation in the process. But learning how to properly connect in a way that’s mutually beneficial to you both is the key to creating and nurturing a lasting relationship. Fabienne Raphael is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build their businesses. Her knowledge and expertise at creating and nurturing influencer relationships - as well as her mantra, “Connect, Build, Automate” - has helped her to successfully land big name guests for her podcast, “Marketing To Crush Your Competition." www.agentsofchangecon.com/142