In this episode you will learn the 4-step process to get the best out of your branding efforts.  Social selling and the power it can provide  - Tweaking your profile that tells the story you need it to - Your prospects and anyone to that you meet will be checking out your LinkedIn Profile - Aligning your message with what your product offering provides. Four-step process 1. Skills Gap Workbook – what do you want to accomplish 2. Review your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) for your business 3. Fully defined Target Market demographics 4. Recommendations to fill the gaps of what has been identified. This process is important for any business – small to large. - Ideation of where your business is and if it aligns with your mission and values. - New businesses will get a leg up in building a successful company. - Existing businesses who are developing a new product that is going to market. - This process will work with any industry focus. - Repurpose your content to attract prospects. Tools that assist you building your brand: - InMail feature in LinkedIn - Events on LinkedIn - StreamMart - Grammarly - Audacity for podcasts - Canva Connect with Grant via LinkedIn. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by Coach AP and Dangerous Diva to discuss their company The Black Tube and how they are empowering content creators. They discuss what The Black Tube is, how it came to be, why it is important, and how you can benefit from using it.  Who can benefit from TheBlackTube.com? The Black Tube was created to empower people of color who were not getting treated by other content creation platforms. Everyone can benefit from The Black Tube, especially content creators.  What makes The Black Tube different? The features on The Black Tube are similar to those of other platforms, but the system is different.The Black Tube puts the algorithm in your favor so that you see more views than on any other platform. You can also become a pro-member to receive other benefits.  Book and podcast recommendations The Bible“Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki“The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick WarrenVisit theblacktube.com This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by Georgee Low, they discuss a method that Georgee has successfully used to help her clients make difficult decisions called Why Discovery.  What is Why Discovery? It is based on the work of Simon Sinek, and it gives you a decision making filter for everything that you do. George recommends this method to anyone who wants to create a business that really matters to the world.  The process Analyze 3-6 moments in your life that were truly impactful, a moment that you can really feel. Look for common themes from those moments and then create a statement. This statement will help you to recognize your values, which should be actionable. Use these actionable values to drive your decision making process.  Who can benefit from Why Discovery? Individuals who are struggling with finding their purpose and feel like they can’t articulate what is missing. Those who want their career to be about more than just making money. People who lack motivation.  How is this different from other similar processes? Oftentimes people think of purpose as WHAT you are doing, this process is about WHY you are doing it.  How can we ensure this works for you? For it to be useful, you have to use it. It takes effort. Georgee recommends that you write down your big why statement and review it at the end of each day. Once you create a habit, it becomes natural.  Georgee’s book and podcast recommendations The Power of Giving Away Power by Matthew Barzun Trailblazer by Marc Benioff and Monica Langley From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. BrooksThe Infinite Game by Simon SinekFind Your Why by Simon Sinek The Monk who Sold His Ferrari by Robin SharmaRich Roll PodcastThe Futur Podcast If you would like to learn more about Why Discovery process and meet with Georgee visit www.decideyourlife.com. You can also follow Georgee on Instagram and LinkedIn.  This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Harold is the CEO and founder of the Underground App. On today’s episode of MORE podcast, Ricardo talks with Harold, the CEO, and founder of Underground App, about his new app and an email service provider that he has used along the way, SMTP2GO.  Why does Harold use SMTP2GO? Any organization with a marketing system in place that is sending emails can benefit from SMTP2GO.You can try it for free and if you want access to more features the subscription starts at $15 a month. It easily integrates directly into your backend application.Great customer support. Harold found that many of the emails he was sending were going to spam. Once he started using SMTP2GO that stopped happening.  What are the integration opportunities that exist with SMTP2GO? Easy to integrate with CRM, Java, and PHP. Their website has sample code and great tutorials.  How has Harold stayed in business through recent difficult times? Continue communication with your clients. Make sure that they are happy and that you are providing them value. Harold always makes sure that in his communication everything is clear and transparent. He has kept clients coming back for many years with these principles. When you are truly providing value, your clients will refer you to others.  Other information from Harold His application is coming out on android within a few weeks. Check out underground.app to sign up for a newsletter and get involved. Harold recommends reading the books The Last Lecture, and Proof of Heaven. To connect with Harold, find him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and subscribe to his newsletter.  This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Email marketing can increase your ROI by 40x. On today’s episode of MORE podcast, Ricardo talks with Valerie K, an email marketing specialist and manager who helps strategize and develop email marketing collateral. They discuss two email service providers, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact, and how you can utilize them to improve your organization.  How did Valerie get into her role? She was a teacher for several years, and she was a professional development coach at her elementary school. While great with students and parents, she was beginning to get burnt out.A mentor teacher helped her get a position at a school in Abu Dhabi. She traveled the world and learned a lot. She made traveling a part of her lifestyle, and she learned that she had the power to learn and accomplish anything.She took some free coding courses and decided she wanted a change of career. She enrolled in a coding boot camp and was exposed to tech.After graduating from the coding boot camp, she quickly dove into email marketing. What are Mailchimp and Constant Contact? In Valerie’s opinion, these are two of the easiest email service providers to use. They are intuitive and have many templates already in place. It’s good to have great imagery in your emails. Try using free image sites such as pixels to add beautiful images to your emails. These services will help you to craft a great subject line. They give you tips on how to increase your open rate.Great analytics. These ESP’s give you great analytics so that you can improve your email marketing by knowing what works and what doesn’t.  Where do you get email contacts to add to your ESP? If you have a website, you can add a pop-up that prompts users to submit their email and join your email list. Social media is a great way to get contacts. If your business is more in-person, offer discounts in exchange for email addresses. Use a QR code to make it easier.Some people buy lists, but Valerie doesn’t recommend it because of legal issues and the risk of getting put in spam. It’s not about how many people you have, it’s about having people who really want to hear from you. Quality over quantity.  Who would benefit the most from using an email service provider?  Small business owners. They can use these ESP’s to develop your email voice and connect with your customers. Influencers. It is a great idea for influencers to be able to connect with their followers away from social media as well. Most everyone should be investing in email marketing.  How are these ESP’s different from others? They are intuitive. They are easy to use for individuals who aren’t comfortable coding. If you aren’t very tech-savvy you are better off using Mailchimp and Constant Contact. They have simple layouts that make it easy to style your emails.  What can users expect once they start using these services?  Figure out how to use the program and ease yourself in. Start small and make sure you are saying things that are meaningful. Mailchimp and Constant Contact integrate well with your website along with Canva. They are also more affordable than other email service providers.  Last advice from Valerie and Ricardo Optimize your subject lines. The subject lines are gold. Avoid too many graphics. Imagine you are writing a note to a friend. Something personal.  Valerie’s book and podcast recommendations Jasmine Guillory  Find me: A Memoir by Viola David Becoming by Michelle Obama To connect with Valerie, find her on Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, and her website.  This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

If you can’t sell, you can’t make money. So, what’s the secret to building an effective source of leads ready to purchase? In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by marketing consultant Patty K to learn how to implement a 7-stage marketing system from Duct Tape Marketing capable of helping any business in any industry gain more sales. Patty specializes in working with advisors and experts, selling their time to clients.  She helps get their content out of their heads and into the world so people can see how it’s valuable.She started as a self-employed software developer but was stuck with the sales and marketing elements - getting people to buy her code.Patty became fascinated with marketing and soon learned the 7-stage system from Duct Tape Marketing to help clients develop more sales. Think about marketing not as a funnel but as an hourglass. Marketing doesn’t end when you have a client - current clients are your best clients.The most high-level elements of the hourglass are the completed clients who can refer and buy again.Four of the stages people go through - Know, like, trust, and try.Put yourself inside the head of the marketing person and put yourself out there, whether that’s social media, advertising, and other ways to make sure people know who you are. Have people form an opinion about you: Utilize reviews, testimonials, and indicators of trust as professional designators to give people a reason to trust you.Consider offering a trial period or a limited quantity of functionality on a site to encourage people to purchase. People don’t buy what you sell; they buy who you are. Everybody can use the system. It’s an absolute requirement for people like trusted advisors, but restaurants and other industries are also missing out.Many marketing funnel methodologies aren’t complete because they stop at the initial sale.Marketing professionals often put too much weight on the top of the funnel. Practical applications with the seven stages: Look at the seven steps and determine which facet of the stages you’re neglecting.Is there a way to get more positive reviews or variables to supplement the neglected stages?It works well with other tools and systems. Often the change required is the messaging within the system. Patty’s parting advice? If you want to be successful in marketing, get in the head of the person buying your product and present what you do as the solution they’re looking for. To learn more about the methodology, visit Duct Tape Marketing’s website at https://ducttapemarketing.com/ for more information and free resources. If you’re a trusted advisor, visit PattyK.com for resources and materials specific to your industry to help you find and retain more clients.  Patty’s book and podcast recommendations: Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller Built to Sell by John Warrillow Pricing Creativity by Blair Enns The 2Bobs Podcast with Blair Enns This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Modern marketing isn’t just for tech-savvy coding experts, especially if armed with the right tools to be successful. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by the founder of creative agency Underbelly, Anthony Lagoon, to learn the tech tools and platforms he uses to be successful.   The primary platform for today’s discussion? Airtable.  Airtable helps automate processes within the company and links several different tools together.From sales funnel requests and client touchpoints to project management and potential roadmaps, Anthony maps out timelines a month in advance with Airtable. This helps his team plan for their workload, PTO, and hiring opportunities.Airtable is much more robust than a spreadsheet. It creates automation without needing a developer. Who is Airtable for? It can be used by any business professional looking to move beyond the spreadsheet. If you get an email, it can scan it to determine the email type and then place it in the appropriate workflow.Spreadsheets store information, but Airtable is the backend that can support more facilities of your organization.If you have a website, it’ll be good as a content management system to automatically publish to a website and workflow. How is Airtable different from comparable platforms? Its competitors could be a time-tracking tool or no-code software like GlideApps to create custom applications. While it can get complex, there are simple integration opportunities with Google Sheets and similar platforms. Using Airtable helped Anthony cut 3-4 other tools from his current toolkit because of the wide variety of features Airtable offers. Practical applications: Anthony wanted a SaaS, but they had a limited budget.With AirTable, they used Airtable as their background to make an Admin interface, which has been incredibly productive and allowed them to scale quickly.Twillio is a third-party texting service. Anthony’s final takeaways? As a business professional, he likes to learn something new each day. By focusing on his and his employees’ growth, he can plan for long-term success. Anthony’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Great Leaders Ask Great Questions by John C. Maxwell The Advice Trap by Michael Bungay StanierCraig Groeschel Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify  This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

All it takes is one tool to dramatically shift how you and your organization operate. In today’s episode of the MORE Podcast, Ricardo is joined by producer and visual storyteller, Miguel Lloyd, to discuss a tool he uses to perfect virtual meetings and video production.  In the virtual world, Zoom is wildly popular for coordinating calls and video feeds. However, Miguel found Zoom too low-quality for what he needed.After looking for alternatives, he discovered Ecamm, which offers more potential, qualities, and features that help him in multiple situations, meetings, and events.  Who is this tool for? You don’t have to be a media expert, and it’s excellent for process-oriented individuals who want more viability in their video recording platform.You might not need that level of production capability the platform offers, depending on what you need from the platform. So evaluate your business needs and determine if it’s the right solution for you.The main limitation - you have to be a Mac user. Practical applications with Ecamm: If you have a call with many people, you can block other people from running other things on their screens. You can fully control the output other people see.You can easily place overlays and visuals in your video feed to make the video seamless and professional. What integration is possible? It can be used in tandem with multiple video recording elements, both software and hardware. Any platform that allows a virtual camera can utilize and connect with Ecamm. Miguel’s parting advice? Don’t be afraid to do what you can and then outsource that talent to other people. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, but the 9-5 workday just isn’t for everyone. There’s a market for everything and everybody. Whatever content niche you love, there’s a community behind it. Miguel’s Recommendations and Resources: Lamar Tyler’s Traffic Sales and Profit Will by Will SmithAnthony O’Neal’s YouTube channel, The Table With AO This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Content creation is a necessary marketing component for almost any organization. Despite this, the nuances and specifications that can make content marketing effective are often lost in production. In today’s episode of the MORE Podcast, Ricardo is joined by the VP of Growth at Codeless.io, James Scherer, to discuss how he approaches content marketing and what tools he finds effective for content marketing professionals. Ahrefs.com is a powerful tool for SEO site performance optimization: This website can give insight into competitors’ and your own site’s Google rankings. Whether you actively create content or not, this site helps you determine how quickly you are projected through Google searches. You can use it for competitive and keyword analyses to determine the best words your content should target. Frase.io helps you drive keywords into a seamless content reporting tool:  It will tell you what articles rank with that keyword and what those articles look like.That’ll help you writers understand what to include in that content, and it’ll help writers take SEO-oriented content easily with foundational confidence. Wordable.io won’t save your life, but it will save you 15 minutes a day. It takes a google doc and sends it into your CMS, formatted and updated to make your life easier.Once the content is uploaded onto your site through wordable.io, you can use Ahrefs.com to track and gather analytics, making it a full-circle situation that benefits from the other tools. Other tools for content marketers: Loom is a great tool that allows a manager to have conversations with remote workers and engage with them face-to-face.Asana, Trello, or another project management tool that can assign content to team membersDrip.com, Leadpages, and Salesmate feature integration and distribution opportunities are available for content marketers.  James’s parting advice? Don’t be intimidated by the initial investment of content marketing or the slow growth. For more content and information from James, connect with him on LinkedIn. James’s book and podcast recommendations: Rethink Lead Generation by Tom Shapiro Backlinko by Brian Dean is a fantastic experiential and evidence-based marketing blog. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Whatever type of business you run, there are basic tools and systems that can make running your business a more (pun intended) seamless process. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by solopreneur-turned-brand consultancy founder, Ari Krzyzek, to discuss three universally beneficial tools companies should utilize, regardless of industry.  Entrepreneurs figure things out. They find a way to stay on track and figure out what they want to do.Ari and her partner have been in business for 11 years, now with 12 people in their company, and she collaborates and works alongside both her team and clients.Three tools Ari recommends: Salesmate.io, Plutio.com, and Flowmapp.com. Each of these apps interconnects and facilitates a complete sales cycle. Salesmate.io: Salesmate is a CRM platform that houses lead generation information.What sets Salesmate apart from other CRM platforms? It connects with other systems. Ari’s website connects through Calendly, but there are limitless options a company can use.Salesmate connects with email and syncs emails to know when they open or click on email content.  Flowmapp: Flowmapp is a UX tool that gives a visual map that tracks certain channels and touchpoints, showing what you can expect users to do on a particular page.By using Flowmapp, you ensure a user gains the right interactions during the sales cycle, especially automated steps that support the user’s sales journey.If you have a website, consider getting a free Flowmapp account (which is free for one project.) Plutio: Plutio has a lot of features you can leverage. It is central to contain projects and tasks within your organization to ensure everyone is on the same page. Integration beyond the three: Many day-to-day apps like calendly, Gmail, and other common tools can be integrated, which is pretty standard. Zapier is an option for almost anything if you need to integrate certain software to accomplish certain things.Flowmapp offers a free account, Salesmate offers a 14-day trial, and Plutio is an affordable price for the value it provides. How has she stayed in business for so long? It takes grit and resiliency, and Ari wouldn’t have gotten through 11 years in business without the support of her family and network. Ari’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Big Magic by Alicia Gilbert Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller 2Bobs Podcast with David Baker and Blair Enns Connect with Ari on LinkedIn for more great content, insights, and information. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Did you know that determining a basic advertising strategy for your small business can be as easy as taking a five-minute online quiz? In today’s episode of the MORE Podcast, Ricardo is joined by Brian Gregory, CEO and founder of Admanity. Tune in to learn how you can garner agency-level information about your company’s emotionality, messaging, and advertising strategies through his simple five-minute quiz. Visit admanity.com/more for a free report on your business, with no obligation! Admanity is a solution for any company: 99% of small businesses will never see the inside of an ad agency because of the cost.You can stumble and find a formula that works for you, but multiple attempts can result in wasted money.Admanity is based on the last 100 years of well-performing ads, and it matches companies with the formulas and concepts proven to work.No other company can give you actionable information within five minutes, making it an interesting and exciting prospect for any small business owner to implement. Practical applications of admanity: Admanity’s research of the last 100 years of well-performing ads showed that any ad boils down to just 15 emotions, which have sold everything on the planet.Combinations of emotions work best for different brands, and Admanity’s report reveals the emotions that best cater to your brand.People buy on emotion and affirm with logic, so catering to specific emotions can immediately create better emails, ads, and marketing or communications collateral. Admanity offers multiple integration opportunities: Admanity is partnering with a leading stock photo supplier to help curate photos that evoke the emotion a brand should convey.BrandCannon is a newly-launched program that nurtures businesses through one-by-one email builders to help garner high open and click-through rates.Their website, Admanity.com, also hosts a free webinar to teach you everything you need to know about the strategy and why it works. They also offer B2B consultations to help business owners determine which solution is right for them. Brian’s entrepreneurial advice: Small businesses should advertise just like billion-dollar brands because ‘small businesses’ doesn’t mean ‘small tactics.’There is no royalty on emotion, formula, words, color, or photos. Look at what big guys in your industry do and copy it. Trigger the same emotions as them, and you’ll start to see success.  Brian’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone How to Sell Anything to Anybody by Joe GirardWhile he doesn’t have a specific show, Brain encourages listeners to hear stories about entrepreneurs. Hearing how they needed to pivot until they found the right direction for themselves can be excellent motivation. For more information and content from Brian, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit admanity.com/more for a special offer for podcast listeners for a free Admanity report. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

Welcome to the new season of the MORE podcast! After a short break planning and developing the next season, Ricardo is ready and thrilled to announce the arrival of season two. Prepare for many in-depth interviews, discussions, and tools you can leverage to find growth in your company’s sales and marketing performance. Thank you for tuning in to today’s episode of the MORE podcast! Feel free to leave us a rating and review, and be sure to check us for future episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and wherever podcasts can be found.  This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Group: MI Group is a tech company that assists you with billing technology solutions, full-service digital marketing, and hosting and maintaining your digital assets. With over 12 years of experience and a team of over fifty passionate business professionals, MI Group is your key to taking the next step to success. Visit migroupco.com to learn how we can help you and your clients reach your business goals. This podcast is brought to you in part by mMessenger.co: mMessenger.co is the ultimate SMS software that allows you to send messages to people in over 100 countries across the globe. Notifications, alerts, or any message you want to send can be done from the comfort of one website. Visit mmessenger.co for a free trial and to learn how you can use SMS to reach more customers. This podcast is brought to you in part by MI Digital Hub: MI Digital Hub is the all-in-one digital experience to help you improve your digital marketing experience. Suppose you want to understand your current online positioning and how your presence appears. In that case, MI Digital Hub gives you a high-level view of SEO, performance, listing, social media, and any online presence that might impact your business. Get a free snapshot of your performance by visiting midigitalhub.com to see where you are now and where you need to go.

In today's modern world, video content yields far more engagement and views than other forms of content. But how do you know what type of video content to make? In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by Andrea TheoJohn to share a tool that can help you become a better YouTuber. How did Andrea get to this point? She never planned to start a business; she was just in-between roles. It wasn’t until a good friend told her to do her own thing (and offered to be her first client) that she took the leap.She threw together a website and social media, and she thought it was a solid side hustle.When a friend offered their company as another client, she realized she could make it a career.  The video tool you need to use: TubeBuddy! TubeBuddy is a powerful keyword search tool that determines titles and tags that accompany YouTube videos.When Andrea started creating video content, she wasn’t using keywords or tags.But, thanks to TubeBuddy, she now determines video titles to inform her of solid content ideas. (Ipso facto, she creates content about very searchable terms.)Anybody who creates YouTube videos, particularly small business owners, can see many benefits from using it. While there are other competitors like VidIQ, Andrea hasn’t used them. Leverage TubeBuddy to Make Better YouTube Content: Use TubeBuddy to identify content gaps for an industry, and then be the company that creates that content.In addition to identifying search terms, you can identify questions and struggles your ideal audience might have that you can answer.This is for the long game. YouTube is worth it to make evergreen content that people will always watch.Video content can be used across multiple channels and forms, so starting now is a great strategy! Visit tubebuddy.com to install it; it walks you through connecting your YouTube. Andrea’s business takeaway? Don’t operate in a silo. It’s very easy to stay in your lane and not interact with new people, but it’s great to network. To see Andrea’s work, visit her company website theadsagency.co/ and find Andrea on LinkedIn. Andrea’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss The Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn NPR’s How I Built This with Guy Raz

For many small business owners, all it takes is a shift in mindset to see dramatic change. And on today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by someone who knows exactly how to facilitate that change. Joe Siecinski, co-founder and owner of BrainSHARE, helps businesses become profitable enterprises, and today he’s going to share what he knows. Building a system is like building a house - you need a blueprint and a foundation. Until you have a foundation, it’s difficult to determine your target market, USP, and strategic marketing.Joe helps companies lay these bricks to build profitable businesses that grow. Anyone can utilize this framework to embrace change. Businesses floating around the 10M mark usually see more success because they’ve learned some of the challenges associated with their companies. (In his experience, you aren’t ready to learn until you get some scars.)But his teachings apply to everyone, and the specific levels might not be as relevant for you, depending on your ultimate career goals. BrainSHARE offers a beginner, intermediate, and advanced stage. Joe started the beginning level as the foundation that builds up depending on where the client is at the moment.Best of all, he created his framework into bite-sized chunks so anyone can easily digest the information.  There are practical applications with Joe’s system: When we break our modalities and think strictly in terms of operations, sales, or marketing, we’re going to fail. Entrepreneurs need to be adaptable and need to see the whole picture.If you just look at one or two pieces of a puzzle, it won’t make sense. You have to use the whole picture as a guide.  Joe’s final takeaway? Set short, medium, and long-term goals, and celebrate when you achieve them! Your business is meant to support your personal life, not BE your personal life. Joe’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Secrets of Question-Based Selling by Thomas Freese The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt Profit First by Mike Michalowicz Slicing Pie by Mike MoyerAnd anything by John Maxwell (like The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.)Most importantly, check out Joe’s book, Brainshare: What Small Business Owners Need To Think About! Joe is offering listeners a free consultation to anyone, and his system is available by visiting brainshare.online. Joe is also offering a gift certificate to a podcast listener! To enter, simply send us an email at gmpodcast@mico.com.

Did you know that 85% of people prefer to receive texts over emails? Yet only a fraction of businesses integrate text messaging in their marketing strategy. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by the CEO of Mobile High 5, Barbara Casey, to discuss why every business needs to introduce this channel into their current practices to retain customers.  Every client is unique in their objectives.  Because of this fact, her team designs specific programs to fuel each specific objective the client has.Some clients just need a simple text reminder, while others need integrated messaging systems that are much more complex.Her agency uses highly robust analytics to refine messaging over time to ensure messaging is well-received and catered to its audience. Text messaging is for all industries: While Barbara likes retail, text messaging can and should be used across all industries. Her customers typically value marketing, but they simply don't have time for it. For example, retail requires an ongoing conversation to maintain engagement. That ongoing engagement can be a struggle to maintain.Because it takes multiple touchpoints before a client even remembers a company name, text messaging can be a long-term strategy for long-term scaling growth.  Text messaging is more than an email blast:  Texting falls into two camps - a blast subscription list or a loyalty component that adds additional value. Her messaging systems utilize the latter.With this strategy, you have an ongoing conversation with customers to get them back in the door.You can use different metrics to create segmented and unique sequences that differentiate people’s goals. What are some of the practical applications? If you currently ask for a person’s birthday during the opt-in process, what do you do if they don’t fill it out?Using text messaging, you can build a list of people who didn’t answer, asking them if they’d like to receive $25 for a gift for themselves. You can also use text messaging to remind people of expiring rewards, remind people they have items in their eCommerce cart, and many other uses. Are there integration possibilities? Mobile High 5 can integrate anywhere with open APIs. They also use Zapier, depending on where other platforms are located. Many POS softwares are a closed ecosystem, so they cannot integrate directly in all instances. But they use a kiosk system in brick-and-mortar locations that can be customer-facing or staff-facing with cloud-based software. What do customers need to do to use it? Mobile High 5 offers 250 messages for free to help build your database, and you can contact them if you’d like to be set up for messaging success. For more information, visit mobilehigh5.com or email Barbara at barbara@mobilehigh5.com to get started. Barbara’s final takeaway? If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, stay nimble and keep your ear to the street. If you rely on social media and email, open your eyes to what’s next (and that’s text marketing.) Barbara’s Book and Podcast Recommendations:  The CEO’s Digital Marketing Playbook by Thomas DonahoeThe Dropout  How I Built My Business with Dave Carlsen

For many sales and marketing professionals, you are your own bottleneck; there are only so many tasks and projects you can complete in the day. Because of that, it’s critical to strategically automate projects and functions to help you accomplish everything you need. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by solopreneur and founder of Direct Connection Khalil Stultz to discuss Khalil’s marketing tool that helps you grow your business. Khalil is a growth strategist and consultant who helps companies grow. He does this through a combination of training, business development, strategic partnerships, really doing whatever helps the business grow as effectively as possible.Khalil started his career in logistics making 150 cold calls each day. And because of his competitive nature, he wanted to grow even further. Over the years, he developed and ultimately transformed his strategy into a formula anyone can apply to their own business (the foundation for his company later down the line.) The tool: DirectKonnection DirectKonnection helps business owners hyper-effectively target and craft messaging for their unique audiences.It then helps disseminate and track that messaging across platforms, including text, email, or LinkedIn messages. It also has training features to help business owners and their employees learn the foundational principles behind their outreach strategy.This platform is excellent for any entrepreneur who wants more opportunities in their pipeline (or needs a pipeline in the first place) or just wants to grow and expand. How is DirectKonnection different from others? With DirectKonnection, you get a platform beyond tactics helpful for both strategy and development.From a development perspective, they stay ahead of LinkedIn changes, so you continue to see success.DirectKonnection uses integration and a multi-channel approach, incorporating email, text, and other tools and platforms like CRMs to create full-fledged solutions.For example, Khalil’s client owns an app that helps people organize their financials and discover additional cash flow. In working with Khalil’s platform, he got a go-to-market strategy for both prospects and strategic partners. Khalil’s secret to staying in business: Diversification and adding new profit centers - entrepreneurs need to understand how to leverage existing solutions into new uses and solutions.Whether you’re a solopreneur or enterprise, strategic partnership stimulates growth.People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Therefore, tap into companies that already serve your audience!He’s huge on investing in others through teaching and education, challenging ways to find your business without “grinding” or overexertion.  Khalil’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham Launch by Jeff Walker Trillion Dollar Coach Bill Campbell The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon The Ultimate Entrepreneur Podcast with Jay Abraham Visit DirectKonnection to view monthly plans and features, and connect with Khalil on LinkedIn for more great content.

Digital marketing is a constantly changing field. Yet, with new tools and strategies proliferating, one necessary component remains the same - content. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by Dadpreneur Alex Oliveira to discuss writing tools to help in anyone’s digital marketing efforts.  Alex’s journey into digital marketing is complicated.   After moving to the U.S. from Brazil in 1988, he became an entrepreneur in multiple industries, from construction to financial.In 2000 he dabbled in buying and selling internet domains, and he loved the ability to constantly try new things and adopt new strategies - both things the early internet allowed. After graduation, he ran his mom’s textile company for three years before joining his uncle at his construction company. About six months in, Alex bought out the company and ran it himself for five years. In this position, he learned how much money was available in lead generation (and it was a lot.) His favorite lead generation tool: Jarvis.ai Everything online comes down to content. Look at competitors using SEMRush (or another platform) and see how you stack up to your competition.The salesperson is not as key to the purchasing decision as they once were. The internet allows customers to inform themselves about the product or service.Assuming you’ve performed keyword research with Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush, Jarvis.ai is artificial intelligence for content creation. Whether creating blogs, product pages, Facebook ads - Jarvis will write based on the keywords you want to implement. Who is Jarvis for? Alex has yet to come across an industry that isn’t good for Jarvis. While the articles it creates will need editing and changes, it gets the ball rolling far faster than a physical writer.The free tool gives you up to 10,000 per month, which is enough features to make it work for most businesses.The largest challenge for most small business owners when writing ads is being creative. Jarvis.ai creates mock-ups that simulate the creative process without spending a ton of time. A key caveat- know your stats: Using Google Analytics or some platform is critical to ensure an effective content marketing campaign. You can’t state your efforts lack results if you don’t understand the numbers. Alex’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: The Tipping Point by Malcolm GladwellThe Journal hosted by Kate Linebaugh and Ryan KnutsonThe Daily hosted by Michael BarbaroBankless hosted by Ryan Sean Adams For more content from Alex, connect with him on LinkedIn or listen to his podcast, The Dadpreneur Podcast, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And be on the lookout for his upcoming book, “If You Build it, Would They Come?” published early next year.

One of the most underappreciated (but necessary) skills for business professionals is communication. It can be the difference between landing a sale, earning that promotion, or securing funding for your next venture. In today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by MasterTalk founder Brenden Kumarasamy to understand how we can master communication for professional success.  Brenden’s passion for communication started in CASE competitions. What he called “sports for nerds,” Brenden essentially competed in the art of presentations. In doing this, he became skilled at coaching his teammates (and mastering the skill himself.)While later working as a management consultant, he realized the information he taught his fellow classmates wasn’t available to the professional world. So, MaterTalk was born.  What does it take to be in the top 1% of communicators? You need to have direction. We have goals for the important aspects of our professional and personal life -  but do we have communication goals?Write down three speakers you admire in your industry, invest 30-45 minutes each week analyzing not their content but their communication style. MasterTalk clients typically fall into one of three categories: Managers and executives in the corporate world (typically IT space.)Entrepreneurs who want to build a movement, not just a business. (Think Gary Vaynerchuck.)Professional coaches who wish to better serve their clients. What makes MasterTalk unique? Most speaking coaches offer a 1:1 consultation in which you practice once per week.MasterTalk offers small group calls of 7-9 people who coach each other and offer feedback. Additionally, group members are paired in accountability teams, thus offering additional practice hours to see more rapid results. Brenden’s favorite speaking drills: In the random word exercise, someone selects a random word and then gives a 60-second impromptu speech about the word. Once you’ve mastered that, a speech about a topic you actually prepared for seems like a breeze.In his question drill, group members ask hundreds of questions to an individual about a topic, often to the point of exhausting the subject. This helps the speaker feel prepared to answer any question they might encounter in a board room. Brenden’s business secret? Deliver value nobody else delivers - that’s how you acquire customers with zero input.There are three ways to change someone’s life substantially: change their wealth, change their health, or change the lives of their children.Have your product or service change one of those pillars to find success.When structuring his business, Brendon decided to coach executives and offer free coaching to their kids.This creates a unique relationship with the client where he knows their entire family, and they all know him. Brenden’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Thirst by Scott HarrisonSchool of Greatness with Lewis Howes Brenden’s parting advice? Be insane or be the same. It’s fine to be like everyone else. But true success arrives when you get to the point where the only person who understands your decisions is yourself. The easiest way to get more content from Brenden is by visiting MasterTalk on YouTube for free videos and resources.  You can also register for free communication teachings at rockstarcommunicator.com.

Audio content has and is a great opportunity for all people to expand their network, educate their audiences, or fulfill marketing objectives. And it’s probably easier than you might think to get involved! On today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by managing partner of Business RadioX Stone Payton to discuss his work and the opportunities in it to develop relationships with people in your community. But first, how did he get involved in radio? Over 15 years ago, Stone worked in consulting, where his work led him to complete small radio interviews. While in this work, he met his future partner Lee Canter. Stone loved the environment and opportunities created within the station. Within six weeks, he became a client himself, eventually becoming a partner with Lee at Business RadioX.Now Business RadioX is in 29 markets with 19 studios, and they serve 171 media properties mostly in the B2B world. Building relationships with audio is a fun and engaging process. Most people don’t need 10,000 new Facebook followers; they need ten genuine relationships with people who matter.WIth specific audio content, show hosts can support and celebrate people in the community who do great things.Business RadioX invests time and resources in designing shows that serve people while helping hosts generate green-dollar ROI.Clients with Business RadioX are in all types of B2B industries, from marketing to commercial real estate. How is Business Radio X different from alternatives? Besides branching out into “virtual studios,” Business RadioX places a focus on its methodology. They’ve built a methodology because it prioritizes what works, and what works in relationships building.The station is focused on delivering green-dollar ROI. They have little interest in unimportant metrics. What can a partner do with the data and content they’ve built: Most shows broadcast live, and people can enjoy them on-demand. So, in terms of leveraging appearances, the guests of shows can repurpose their content for multiple uses.There are no material restrictions - to educate their market, promote their work, whatever content is best for the guests and clients is fair game.With this audio content, the opportunities are endless - audio whitepapers, traditional whitepapers, social media posts, and much more! His advice to business owners? Get on the other side of the microphone. Creating a platform based on serving others is a great way to generate ROI. It’s totally free to be apart of guest spaces, go to businessradiox.com, and there are tons of options to share their story. To schedule a meeting with Stone, visit his bookme account or send an email to stone@businessradiox.com.  Stone’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: His own book, Never Fry Bacon in the Nude 13 Fatal Mistakes Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them by Steve Brown Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John Miller  Acres of Diamonds by Russell ConwellHe listens to a lot of Business Radio X shows, (and you should too.)

Marketing is predictable in its unpredictability. So how can you best set yourself up for success? On today’s episode of the MORE podcast, Ricardo is joined by co-founder and CEO of Hawke Media Erik Huberman to learn a methodology that’s helped Erik grow over 3000 brands successfully.  Erik’s goal is to make marketing accessible and effective. He got his professional start by building e-commerce companies. He eventually moved to marketing but soon realized the problems with both the agency and in-house models. So, he built his own marketing agency. The Hawke Method- Three Principles of Marketing Awareness - Find new audiences and bring them into your business.Nurturing - There is a time period between when someone first sees your brand and when they finally purchase something (and that process can take months.)Trust - 75% of consumers will not buy from a brand they don’t trust. If you don’t have credibility yourself, that means utilizing third-party validation and reviews.Think of it as a tripod - you have to use these elements equally, or the whole thing will tip over. Who is the ideal customer or user of the methodology? These three legs apply to virtually every company, so anyone can implement this methodology in your company's marketing. In terms of who is the right fit for Erik’s company, there is an opportunity for anyone, regardless of vertical. Practical application of the Hawke Method: It’s a framework - you can’t just make a laundry list of tasks and be successful.Use the framework to analyze and pivot your marketing strategy to adapt more easily and make more successful changes.For more information and strategies for the Hawke Method, pre-order Erik’s book The Hawke Method on Amazon or his website (hawkemethod.com.) Erik’s Secret to success: Be financially disciplined and be urgent. People like people who get stuff done.To get in contact with Erik, find him on all social channels at @erikhuberman. If you’re looking to revitalize your company’s marketing efforts, visit hawkemedia.com to get a free audit. Erik’s Book and Podcast Recommendations: Appetite for Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper HawkeTalk (A shameless plug for his own podcast)The Joe Rogan Experience (perfect while training for his half-marathon)