It’s not a secret that if you have a particular niche-expertise/focus that you serve very well, it can quickly differentiate you from your competition. However, many businesses succumb to the lure trying to be all things to all people, and as a result never fully realize the benefits of serving a particular vertical market.
On this week's show I share personal experience of how our WSI digital agency made a decision at the beginning of the year to focus almost exclusively on the community banking market. While we’ve done project work in other industries in the past, in retrospect our best work and greatest success has been realized when we work with those that we know the best.
If you're interested in taking a hard look at your own business strategy, especially as so many other things are changing in the business world, now might be the perfect time to do an internal self-assessment and identify what customers you are best positioned to serve. You can take that information and look for consistencies, and when you do you might just be surprised what the data is telling you.
So ditch the strategy of “jack of all trades, master of none” and embrace your vertical market potential today!
This week’s show is a continuation in a series of shows dedicated to sharing detailed information on the various chapters that appear in WSI’s 3rd edition of the best-selling book, Digital Minds.
To reach your desired audience online, you need to have a digital strategy in place. Calling it a “Digital Strategy” and not a “Digital Marketing Strategy” is correct because you should approach the process at the highest level. The digital world should be part of the business strategy, not a subset of the marketing strategy.
It should be an essential component of the mental framework of business owners, as well as C-Level strategists and marketing officers, CMOs. In today’s webinar, we review the Digital Strategy planning framework and convert it into an easy to follow checklist that becomes a very useful tool.
As marketer, consultant, and head of a digital agency, it is very important for me to understand the business strategy of my customer. When working with large companies, we usually find that they have a strategy already outlined which, in some cases, includes the digital component; therefore, we can intervene and define implementation. With medium size and small companies, however, things are a little more challenging, because oftentimes the strategy is not outlined in a document, it resides merely in the owner’s or CEO´s mind, and it doesn’t always include the digital component.
Based on our experience, having a checklist that helps you build a digital strategy is highly valuable. That being said, we’ll help you start to prepare a checklist in a way that will compliment an existing digital strategy. You’ll be able to validate everything has been considered. On the other hand, if you do not have such a strategy, you can think of a set of questions that will help you draft the initial version.
Reviewing business strategy concepts can be helpful to prepare or validate your digital strategy. We’ll talk about some concepts from several published authors and experts in strategy that should be part of your checklist during the webinar.
About the Author - Carlos Guzman Carlos Guzman is a recognized expert within the WSI global community where he holds a badge as a Top Gun. He contributes as a member of the Internet Consultants Advisory Council, the WSI AdaptiveSEO Consortium, the WSI Google Alliance and other groups developing best practices for the WSI system.
He has received acknowledgements for “Outstanding Contributor,” “Top Deal” and “Top Consultant,” and frequently writes and lectures on digital marketing. Carlos also leads Prospect Factory; a top-ranked full-service digital marketing agency in Mexico who works with medium-to-large companies, government institutions, and political parties in LATAM.
Well, my third year of Social Media Marketing World, aka #SMMW20, is in the can and I’ve successfully returned from San Diego with a brain full of ideas and things to add to my already longer-than-it-should-be to-do list. But that’s the best part (and curse) of an event like this - soooo many good ideas and things to learn.
You’ll see from the recap of the show I first share insights by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner, and some of the key nuggets he shared during his opening keynote. Let's just say if you’re not working on becoming comfortable with video, storytelling, and exploring ways to make your content entertaining and engaging… you better get those on your list NOW!
The remainder of the show I share some key takeaways from the first workshop session I attended on Sunday by Cliff Ravenscraft. It was all about creating a mindset to achieve any goal - a great one for me as I’ve got a lot of things that I want to get launched this year!
I’m sure you’ll be hearing much more about other key takeaways from #SMMW20 on future episodes. Lots of great information and once I get it all organized (if that will ever totally happen), I’ll be sure to share other helpful information right here on FWW.
Jack of all trades, master of none (or some). Does that sound familiar? In today’s fast-paced, multi-tasking world you may be wondering if specializing your focus is a good thing - or if it’s even possible with so many things that seem to be important to today’s business owner. Do you suffer from FOMO (the fear of missing out) and thinking that you may be missing something if you’re not trying to be all things to all people?
I started thinking about the pros and cons of specializing after reading a LinkedIn post by a good friend of mine, Ben Pankonin, founder and CEO of SocialAssurance. After over 150 reactions and 20+ comments, I wasn’t the only one who had some thoughts about the idea of specializing.
The good news is Ben and I recently had a chance to connect at the Nebraska Bakers Association Marketing Conference in Lincoln, NE (where he also lives) We kicked this idea around a bit more and thought it would make for a good webinar discussion topic.
Join our next show and chime in on the conversation. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts about specializing.
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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.
This week’s show has a bit of a unique feel to it, as I start off talking about some new technology I’m using (loving my Google Pixelbook) and the pros - and some cons - of the Chrome OS. With me using it as my daily driver for the past week+ and being without my Macbook Pro, it’s got me thinking about my fallback process if a primary piece of technology I’m using fails - and you should too. Certainly something to think about before you “have” to think about it (meaning something failed and you don’t have a Plan B to fall back on).
For my next topic of discussion... and this is where the “bamboo underwear” reference in the title comes to play, I share two great, and one not-so-great, personal customer service experiences to get you thinking about what sort of a culture you’re creating in your business or organization. While I’ve talked about my experience at the Fort Wayne International Airport on past shows, I recently had an even better experience with the Cariloha company stepping up and honoring their lifetime guarantee. They produce amazing bamboo products (yes, like underwear) and started wearing their briefs many years ago. Listen in and you’ll hear what makes them so awesome, and why the next time you see me there’s almost a 100% chance I’ll be sporting their bamboo briefs.
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.
This week on the show, Eric and Jeff will share some recent success with their participation in a mastermind group. If you're not familiar with the concept of a mastermind process, you'll learn about how to structure the meeting for success (and encourage participation), ways to find the right members, how much time it takes to realize results, etc.
One of the great benefits of a mastermind group is the ability to tap into the insight and experience from others to help broaden your perspective on a problem or challenge. Both Eric and Jeff have quickly been able to recognize tangible benefits as a direct result of their participation, so it's certainly an effort worth your time if you're looking for inspiration or new ideas.
We look forward to having you join us for the show!
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.
After a few weeks off, we're excited to be back with another episode of Free Webinar Wednesdays and even more excited to welcome back to the show founder of BEN Global Mentorship and best-selling author Lewis Schiff. When Lewis joined us last time, we talked about his book, Business Brilliant, and received some of the best feedback of any FWW guest... and this week we're expecting much of the same!
This time around, Lewis will be sharing his insights on ways to "rewire your brain" and some of the most effective, accessible and learnable habits proven to lead to wealth creation. In the creation process of this webinar, Lewis reduced 15 years of research into one powerful program, which involves only THREE steps. This simple approach has created billions of dollars of wealth and has lead to hundreds of millions in direct wealth creation by Lewis’ students and clients.
So, interested in rewiring your brain and finding out what habits you'll need to form to start building your success (and wealth)? Be sure to join us live, bring your questions and be prepared to be inspired. We'll look forward to seeing you on the webinar!
More About Lewis...
Lewis Schiff is a founder of BEN Global Mentorship (poweredbyben.com), an e-learning platform that helps up-and-coming entrepreneurs build a company everyone knows about. You know those rockstar entrepreneurs you’d give your left arm for 10 minutes of their time? Poweredbyben.com gives you 8 weeks of mentoring with them. And you get to keep your arm.
Schiff is the author of the best-selling book, Business Brilliant: Surprising Lessons from the Greatest Self-Made Business Icons, which focuses on the wealth-creating behaviors and attitudes that work best in the new economy (Harper Collins 2013) and features in-depth profiles of the success philosophies of entrepreneurial greats such Richard Branson and Steve Jobs and The First Habit: The One Technique That Can Change Your Life (free download link), based on the single most commonly found behavior in self-made millionaires based on Schiff’s interviews with over 1,000 success stories.
In 2010, Lewis Schiff founded Inc. Magazine’s Business Owners Council, a membership organization for top entrepreneurs and owners of closely-held family businesses. In 2015, The Council became an independent organization (www.ownerscouncil.net). Recent speakers to the Council include: Former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Deepak Chopra and Jim McCann, founder of 1-800-Flowers, Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com and Bert Jacobs of Life is Good.
Schiff has co-authored two books: The Influence of Affluence: How The Rich Are Changing America (2006) charts the rise of America's growing affluent middle-class through original research and analysis. The Armchair Millionaire (2000) describes a wealth-creation system that leverages Nobel-Prize winning methodologies. Today, Schiff maintains a blog about behavioral entrepreneurship on Entrepreneur.com.
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.
A couple of years ago we had Adam Broadway, CTO and Co-founder of Near Me, join us for a discussion that introduced the concept of a marketplace economy [recording available here]. The Near Me system is a 'Platform as a Service' that allows global brands and entrepreneurs to create Peer-to-Peer and social commerce marketplaces. DesksNear.Me, its flagship product, was created in 2012 and connects mobile workers to available desk space all over the world. Prior to Near Me and DesksNear.Me, he built Business Catalyst, a SaaS company that was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2009.
This time around, we're bringing Adam back to the show and chat about the constant evolution in this space. While initially the power was for the "little guy" to leverage technology to compete against bigger brands and make a name for themselves, we'll learn from Adam's time with us this week that things are changing. Larger brands are now starting to take note and enter the marketplace, which is an interesting shift. What does it all mean??? Join us to find out!
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.
It's no secret that both Jeff and Eric spend a "little bit" of their time on the road (ok, maybe that's an understatement) at conferences, conventions and on-site client project work. When hitting the road it's nice to make sure that you've got all of the essentials with you so that you can be as productive as possible. But, if you are not someone who travels on a regular basis, the thought of remaining productive while away from the comfort of your office may cause you some anxiety.
Have no fear... the good news is this week on Free Webinar Wednesdays we'll share what makes it in our bags when we walk out the door and are away from the office. As you might suspect, much of what we'll share will be electronic in nature, but there will be other ideas that you may be surprised at some of the other things that you may not have thought of (but will be great to have handy). Of course, if you've discovered any of your favorite travel items, we'd love to hear your thoughts during the show.
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.