Free Webinar Wednesdays

Facebook's "Boost Your Business" Experience and Top Tips for Success

Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2019

This week I am joined by yet another WSI team member, Madison Barner! Madison will share her personal background and how she got involved with WSI these past couple months. As part of the WSI team, Madison has taken on the role of gaining exposure and brand awareness for our agency, primarily through social media tactics. As part of her efforts with the company, she recently attended the Facebook ‘Boost Your Business’ conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. This week she dives into all the new and exciting features she learned, and how they can be applied to your company! 

The Facebook ‘Boost Your Business’ event focused on gaining awareness and exposure for your brand through the many outlets Facebook and Instagram Business provides --sounds like a good match with her role on the team, huh! Madison talks about how to engage your audience through video content creation, as well as how you can track the progress and success of your posts through Facebook’s analytics platform, called Insights. Facebook gives you the ability to track demographics, and Madison shares how you can properly utilize this information to target your intended audience. To wrap things up, she explains the importance of the Facebook Pixel function that can be used to gain insights on your customers as well. 

If you are looking to expand your reach or knowledge on the Facebook Business Profile for your company, tune in this week to hear all the great tips she will share! If you are not able to join live, check back to the website and view the recording of the webinar! 

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by WSI Digital.

No Live Show This Week...

Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Hey all... Sorry to say no live show this week. I'm away at the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI this week and unable break free at our normal time. however, next week we are "good to go" and will be introducing you to another awesome member of our team - and talking about a recent Facebook event that she attended. Lots of great ideas for small businesses to be thinking about, so be sure to join us on August 14th! 

~Eric

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by WSI Digital.

 

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by WSI Digital.

The Power of Video, Social Dashboards and Google Data Studio Reporting

Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

First, a bit of an important announcement… From the beginning of Free Webinar Wednesdays way back on April 1, 2009, myself (Eric Cook) and my good friend Jeff Simpkins have been conducting weekly (for the most part) webinars to help educate business owners and professionals on all things digital, strategy, productivity, etc. As you may have noticed, this past year Jeff has been absent from the live shows, as his business demands and other commitments have caused him to put FWW in a back-seat role.

Today it’s bittersweet to announce Jeff’s “retirement” a co-host of the Free Webinar Wednesdays series (but I still consider him as a co-founder, and a super friend)! With that being said, I want to personally thank him for all of his contributions and hope to have him on in the future as a guest!

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This weeks episode I welcome a new guest from the WSI team, Elle Humphries! Elle shares her background and all that she does here with our team at WSI over the past past three years. Recently, she has been working with a video content creation platform called Wave.video to create our “how to” videos, and working closely with clients to build engaging content. I’ve asked her to share how she puts these videos together, the best way to communicate video generation to the client, and how she pushes these videos through to each social media channel using one of our posting platform tools called Cloud Campaign. Elle touches on the different functionalities in Cloud Campaign, everything from content creation to scheduling to analytics.

Finally, the episode wraps up with the discussion of Google Data Studio, a free service from Google that helps the visualization of data to better recognize trends and measure digital performance. Together, we discuss the capability of the platform, how you can link multiple social media channels your business, and track web analytics, making the process of communicating results to a client (or your boss) much easier!

As you can tell, this episode shares a ton of crucial information related to your digital marketing strategy. So if you are looking to increase your visibility online and better track your results, this is a great episode. Also, a big thanks to Elle for being part of the show. It was great to have you on as my guest!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

The 12 Elements of a Digital Strategy - Digital Minds Chapter Review

Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019

You’d never go on a road trip without a map (or let’s be honest - you’re likely using the GPS on your phone, right?). So why try and navigate your business online without one? In the world of digital marketing, there are few places you can find a written “how to” on the challenges of navigating the many options that are out there - but it’s hard to know where to start. This industry is one that is often inherited or learned through the many experts in the field sharing their experiences, successes and failures. As an expert in the field, Eric Cook from WSI discusses the road map to digital marketing using the 2nd edition of their book ‘Digital Minds: 12 Things Every Business Needs to Know About Digital Marketing’. 

The 12 chapters of this book are available individually for free as PDFs, so you can get access to the full content at no cost. During today’s session you’ll hear about everything from conducting competitive research, the power of Google Analytics, tips for improving email marketing, the key elements of a landing page, and more! 

Join Eric, where he actually joins the show from the comfort of his RV while spending time Pennsylvania - on his way to teach at the PA Bankers Advanced School of Banking. There’s a good chance as soon as the webinar concluded he was off to the trails with his mountain bike - check out the WSI Cycling site for even more details on how . Be sure to share your comments or questions regarding this webinar and any past shows below!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2019

You’d never go on a road trip without a map (or let’s be honest - you’re likely using the GPS on your phone, right?). So why try and navigate your business online without one? In the world of digital marketing, there are few places you can find a written “how to” on the challenges of navigating the many options that are out there - but it’s hard to know where to start. This industry is one that is often inherited or learned through the many experts in the field sharing their experiences, successes and failures. As an expert in the field, Eric Cook from WSI discusses the road map to digital marketing using the 2nd edition of their book ‘Digital Minds: 12 Things Every Business Needs to Know About Digital Marketing’. 

The 12 chapters of this book are available individually for free as PDFs, so you can get access to the full content at no cost. During today’s session you’ll hear about everything from conducting competitive research, the power of Google Analytics, tips for improving email marketing, the key elements of a landing page, and more! 

Join Eric, where he actually joins the show from the comfort of his RV while spending time Pennsylvania - on his way to teach at the PA Bankers Advanced School of Banking. There’s a good chance as soon as the webinar concluded he was off to the trails with his mountain bike - check out the WSI Cycling site for even more details on how . Be sure to share your comments or questions regarding this webinar and any past shows below!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

The 12 chapters of this book are available individually for free as PDFs, so you can get access to the full content at no cost. During today’s session you’ll hear about everything from conducting competitive research, the power of Google Analytics, tips for improving email marketing, the key elements of a landing page, and more! 

Join Eric, where he actually joins the show from the comfort of his RV while spending time Pennsylvania - on his way to teach at the PA Bankers Advanced School of Banking. There’s a good chance as soon as the webinar concluded he was off to the trails with his mountain bike - check out the WSI Cycling site for even more details on how . Be sure to share your comments or questions regarding this webinar and any past shows below!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

Targeting Your Customers Online via Profiling Technology

Date: Wednesday, July 17th, 2019

Have you ever wondered why ads are popping up on your browser for things you were looking at yesterday? Maybe the shopping cart that you have open on tab 12, is shly giving you a reminder that you NEED those items? The reality is, advertising technologies have changed a lot over the years, so in this week’s episode, Eric talks about how your business can understand and utilize the tools of consumer tracking programs to maximize relevancy and the effectiveness of your online advertising efforts. 

Much of the power of online advertising is powered by cookies, and we’re not talking about a website is sending you a cookie basket in the mail for visiting their site (although that would be a tasty surprise). While the tracking knowledge can make some people uncomfortable, this episode’s underlying theme is “using our powers for good” when it comes to leveraging tracking data to be as effective as possible when it comes to your online advertising message. Good data optimizes success, both for the customer and your business and we’ll dive into the three steps that you need to take in order to fully take advantage of this tracking (known as remarketing) technology. 

This week’s episode also highlights Search Engine Marketing, known to many as “SEM”. The first step in any marketing plan is to produce a Situational Analysis: the who, what, where, when, how. Answer the questions for your business, determine your target audience, and adjust to their preference of communication channel. There are three main areas within a Situational Analysis; under this term you have demographics, geographic areas, and positioning strategies. From there, you can develop an advertising campaign to get your message in front of the right target audience!

If you are looking to increase your customer engagement and retention, learn more about browser tracking programs, and delve deeper into the different advertising channels, you need to be sure to watch this week's episode. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, that’s ok. There’s a lot to know, but the good news is that there are agencies out there (like WSI) who are here to help and partner with you to help achieve success online.

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

 

The Amazon “Effect” and Getting the Most out of Your Twitter Experience

Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2019

In today's online world, there are few things that you cannot purchase digitally at the snap of your fingers (and most of the time, it’s on Amazon). This global marketplace is creating increased competition and a multitude of consumer choices, making it even harder to differentiate yourself online.

Knowing this, how are you positioning your brand/business to stand out as a strong competitor among those in your industry? On this week’s episode of Free Webinar Wednesdays, Eric joins from Wichita, Kansas where he is delivering a keynote presentation based on the ‘Amazon Effect as it relates to the community banking sector. He breaks the strategy down into five categories, all of which could serve as advantage points to your business (yes, even if you’re not in banking).

This week’s episode also highlights some of the new features on Twitter, as they are updating the desktop version of their website, making it a cleaner and more “mobile-like” experience for users. Eric discusses the importance of the Lists functionality and how you can use that to improve your engagement by sorting those you want to follow into organized groups (so you don’t miss important updates). In previous webinars, Eric has emphasized the need for engagement among your followers/website users, and this function is one way to accomplish that goal.

He also hops over to TweetDeck, an optional interface to use your Twitter account, with the ability to create separate columns with feeds of key tweets, Lists, Mentions, etc. and see even more from one screen to work smarter (not just harder) when building your brand on Twitter. Whether you work on your mobile, the new desktop version or give TweetDeck a try, you’ll discover the platform offers an abundance of opportunities to obtain and retain followers, use these to your advantage and push the limits of your industry to stand out among the crowd. So if you’re looking to increase engagement and learn more about the tools Twitter provides, be sure to check out this week’s webinar with Eric Cook! 

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

Facebook Introduces Their Own Cryptocurrency - Introducing Libra

Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin, Etherium, and others), which is basically “electronic money,”, used to be something the mainstream had typically avoided. But with Facebook’s recent announcement to release their own payment method, it may become more reality than you ever thought. The instantaneous digital exchange of payment, makes the convenience factor sky rocket above the alternative methods of sending money. A couple of years ago a check sent through the mail was the norm; now that norm has evolved into a non trackable, instant form of digital money. Facebook plans to launch their own form of cryptocurrency, which will be calledLibra. Once released, it’s their plan to allow users to pay for goods and services through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and potentially other apps - and even traditional merchants. While it’s not here yet, they are hoping for a release in the first half of 2020. 

This week's episode, Eric breaks down the Webster's dictionary definition of cryptocurrency and shares how it could make an impact on community businesses--as well as financial institutions. If you are looking for some insight into the world of cryptocurrency and what its evolution could mean to your business down the road, this week’s episode is for you; log on and dive deeper with Eric Cook! 

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

 

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

One Man’s Birthday Story, Social Networking Insights, and the Power of Cookies

Date: Wednesday, June 5th, 2019

Social media platforms were once optional, but now are a crucial component to your business strategy. Being able to post articles and share content online is the first step in your brand building efforts; letting others know who you really are and what you know. Why should I choose your company? 

The “quick” solution--Social Media. Through online social engagement you can provide your clients with a peek into your business, what you provide, why you are better than your competitors, and what your relationship is like with your clients; the many outlets of social media platforms give you an abundance of opportunities for brand expression. 

 

We all have been that person on hold with customer service, hands clenched, tongue bitten, only to be greeted by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) “bot”; exactly the opposite of what you wanted (a “real person”). While AI and chatbots are getting better, if not properly designed they can leave you begging for someone to answer your questions.

In this week’s episode Eric talks about the importance of providing your clients (or potential clients) with the ability to chat online with someone in your business. Sure, having a real person on the other end may be ideal, but if it’s after hours or there are routine questions that AI can take care of, leveraging a chatbot can be a powerful way to serve your clients and prospects more effectively, and make yourself available 24/7/365. During the webinar, you’ll hear insight about how online message/chat functionality can enhance your business model and communication stream. 

We hope you enjoy the show and if you find yourself in need of a personal guide in your social journey, feel free to connect with Eric directly on any of his social channels (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook). He’s always up for a conversation about “all things digital” and would love to chat!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCI and WSI Internet Consulting.

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCI and WSI Internet Consulting.

The Relationship Between Content and Engagement

Date: Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 

We have all heard the saying that “content” is the King in the social media world; what you may  not realize is “engagement” is the Queen (and she holds the keys to the castle). That’s a bit of a paraphrase to the Facebook expert, Mari Smith, but you get the idea. On social media, most people often only work to produce great content, but end up missing out on the opportunity to connect (and engage) with their audience. We forget that engagement with your platform’s followers or audience is crucial to the success of your brand reputation. Without engaging content the numbers, statistics, and overall functionality of your pages will serve on a steady decline. 

In this week's episode, Eric discusses information found in Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report, which can be found on online at www.socialmediaexaminer.com/report2019. 

He also dives in deeper into the the relationship between content creation and engagement, while also discussing the different platforms that have sparked popularity recently. He also talks about the benefits to engagement and how to utilize different tools found in the many different platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram.

What is important to keep in mind while discussing the Industry Report is the results and findings are not based on customer preference. They actually are responses from marketers and what their plans are for usage on social media platforms and strategies for the coming year. 

If you are looking to increase your social media engagement and learn more about the tools to utilize in the different social channels, check out this episode! This will give you the low-down on your businesses social success and discuss where other marketers are going to be spending their time over the next year. Once you know, you can either join along - or go in a different direction to stand out from the crowd!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.

The Relevance of Web Accessibility Today

Date: Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019 

When you think about “accessibility” the obvious first thought is the automatic door button on most buildings; or the larger stalls in public restrooms. These are physical infrastructural changes that have been implemented into society to accommodate those with disabilities. 20 years ago, these changes may have solved the problems companies were facing, however that’s  not the case in today’s digital world. 

Given the state of the Internet and how much we rely on websites, many companies have received demand letters from law firms representing individuals with disabilities for their inaccessible websites or pages, which can be a result of many different things.  You may not realize it, but 12.8% of Americans (that’s roughly 42 million people) identify under the classification of living with a disability, whether that be mental, physical, temporary or permanent. 

In this week's episode Eric talks about the manifestation of technology in the world today, and how we are beginning to see a continued shift in the importance towards accessible websites and making sure this segment of the population can easily go online to get their information and interact with business. If you’re wondering how to tell if your website is at risk of receiving a demand letter, or maybe you received one and now need to know what to do, this show will be a huge help!

Register Today

If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays

Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by CBCi and WSI Digital.