Stacy calls Monica the “idea factory”. And blog topics just happen to be her favorite thing to produce in idea factory mode. In this episode, she’s firing up the factory to give you blog ideas out the wazoo AND share her framework she uses to make sure organizations are blogging about the right thing to meet the right people where they are.  Join us in this “what to blog about” workshop style episode designed to transform you into a purposeful blog idea generating machine! Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: [link to episode on MayeCreate.com] Thank you to our featured resource sponsor:What to Put on Your Website https://mayecreate.com/resource/what-to-put-on-your-website/

We’ve been honing in on our “why” at MayeCreate this year.  Studying the concept introduced by Simon Sinek, reading the Power of a Positive Team, redefining our core values, and updating our mission statement.   It’s been an incredible way to learn about each other and why we do what we do. MayeCreate’s “Core 4” (our senior team) has been together for over 10 years so we know in our gut why we keep at this business and website building thing.   But as we bring on new team members and refine our marketing efforts, we felt like we needed a documented why and purpose to guide us.   So with all this self-evaluation we’ve been doing, when Monica heard about Ian Chamandy, owner of Blueprint Business Architecture who helps organizations define the one thing that makes them uniquely remarkable – in 7 words or less…   She had to know…HOW!?!   Monica has a virtual stack of Google Docs piling up with all of her notes from this year, so HOW ON EARTH could she break it down into 7 words or less?   In this episode, Ian explains how it all comes together in 3 easy steps and morphs into a talisman to design how your organization is managed and how it will communicate.   Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: [link to episode]

In a world dominated by flashy visuals and fleeting social media trends, you might wonder, "Is blogging still relevant?"    9 out of 10 marketers use  blogging to achieve their content goals (SEMrush, 2023). That’s because it works. Blogging drives traffic to your site and traffic drives leads. Companies that blog have an average of 67% more leads each month than companies without blogs. (DemandMetric).   I know what you’re thinking, “But Monica, search is changing, right? So will blogging still work?”   True, back in April with our Guest, SEO expert, Nina Gibson cautioned that, search is changing but blogging is rolling with the punches. 75% of marketers believe that AI-enabled search engines will positively impact their blogs. (HubSpot State of Marketing Report, 2023).   So, bloggins is far from dead. Blogging isn't just about churning out boring AI generated paragraphs of text either; when done right blogging establishes expertise, drives traffic, and powers your marketing.  In this episode I’m breaking it down and covering the most common questions I hear about blogging like: Do you really have to blog and how often should you do it? How do you set it up? How to attract visitors. Ideas for monetization. Mistakes to avoid and even how to measure success.

Monica’s brain turned into an idea factory while interviewing this week's guest, Shannon Houchin, owner of Roadside Republic. Yes, this episode is all about the success of roadside stands selling peaches, which is really fun all on its own. AND it’s also packed with ideas to locally market your business or organization. So. Before you do another carwash or bakesale for your nonprofit… Before you choose the next location for your business… Before you decide on a marketing tactic to connect with a local audience… You need to listen to this episode.  Because Shannon promotes her 200 roadside produce stands across three states so she is a master at hyper-local marketing. Monica almost shut down her company and started selling peaches after talking to her (and she’s only kind of kidding). Shannon explains everything from exactly how she chooses the right location, to what to say on Facebook to get people excited and coming back for more. Come hang out with Shannon and Monica and get those ideas flowing!   Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/hyper-local-marketing-shannon-houchin/   Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestringhttps://youmayecreate.com/marketing-on-a-shoestring/

I hear alot about nonprofit boards.  (Sometimes as web designers we get mistaken for marketing therapists…aaaaand tech support…) But while we work with boards to build websites…I don’t have to manage one. My advice in that area is limited at best. I do, however, see first hand how an engaged board could make marketing your nonprofit a WHOLE lot easier. I sure do wish I had a magic board motivating fairy godmother I could loan out to you. A lovely little winged creature to pixie dust your board right on into shape. But alas, my access to board managing fairy godmothers is limited…actually it’s pretty negligible. So today I’m bringing the next best thing… 11 inspiring nonprofit leaders — sharing their actionable advice on the best ways to get your board involved with your marketing efforts.  Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/nonprofit-board-marketing-engagement-strategies/ Featured Resource: Year End Campaign Planning Checklist https://mayecreate.com/resource/year-end-campaign-planning-checklist/

Choosing the colors for your brand is a combo of art, psychology and science.  Aaaaand unfortunately there aren’t hard and fast rules to follow. There are, however, quite a few things to consider before putting the final stamp of approval on your logo and brand colors. And that’s what this episode is all about. Monica talks you through choosing the right logo and brand color combo to: Reflect your brand personalityProvide reliable design optionsAllow you to set yourself apart from the competition Read the fully formatted blog post AND watch a quick tutorial on planning your brand pallet in Canva at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/good-logo-colors-best-combinations/ Happy coloring! P.S. If you want to know more about color theory - how colors work together, affect your emotions and how you perceive things - check out our previous episode/blog post combo!   Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestring https://youmayecreate.com/marketing-on-a-shoestring/?utm_source=mayecreate_CTA

Have you ever stopped to think about why red dominates fast food chain brands while banks gravitate towards green?  It’s because colors impact everything from our mood to our appetite. And those branding pros know color is just one more tool in their marketing tool box. Between 62% and 90% of a product’s first impressions are determined by its colors. If you've ever wondered why your logo's color matters or what they mean, this episode is just for you!  MayeCreate’s co-art directors, Monica and Tyler, teamed up to plan this long anticipated and totally dorky chat explaining the basics of color theory and how different colors make people feel. Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/color-theory-for-brands/  P.S. Stay tuned for our next episode too!  We’re putting all this color theory into action explaining how to choose good logo and brand colors with a tutorial to do it yourself!   Featured Resource: Marketing on a Shoestring https://youmayecreate.com/marketing-on-a-shoestring/?utm_source=mayecreate_CTA

If you have a really small marketing department, (like maybe just a quarter of a person ) this episode is for you. MayeCreate's own marketing team waivers between a half and full person (and at least one dog) depending on the day, so when Sarah said she had tips to get it done faster, we were all ears. In this interview Sarah shares her 4 C framework to get organized, get results and most of all…get it done: Core Content: Think of it like the bread and butter of your content strategy - stuff like regular podcasts, blog posts, or live streams. It's what keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more.Campaign Content: This is all about promoting your latest offers or products. Content tailored to support your marketing campaigns and grab your audience's attention.Collab Content: Where you team up with others, like doing guest spots on podcasts or co-creating content with industry experts. It broadens your audience, builds relationships, and taps into the expertise of others.Curated Content: All about sharing existing content that your audience will love. It could be compiling podcasts, articles, or videos from different sources into handy lists or guides. It saves you time and provides value to your audience at the same time. Dig into each of the 4 C’s with Sarah and I, PLUS get the skinny on the tools she loves that keep her marketing running. Get the full transcription and show notes for this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/4c-content-marketing-method-sarah-block/

Tyler and Rebecca, MayeCreate’s lead developers, are super, mega smart. Everyday we find new reasons to be thankful to have them on our team. And in today’s episode you get to meet them as they lift the hood to peer inside the websites at MayeCreate and document the WordPress plugins they deem good enough to make the cut.  They explain: Using plugins responsibly.Must have plugins to make your site show up on Google and load quickly.The best compliance and security plugins.Plus plugins that solve problems and put websites to work.  Monica shares her favorites as well and jumps in from time to time and translate their tech awesomeness for our less techy listeners Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode with links to all these awesome plugins at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/good-to-great-wordpress-plugins/

A pretty website is one thing. One that sells is quite another. And writing copy that sells is not easy! It’s a marriage of education and psychology, both an art and a science. In this episode, our favorite sales copywriter tells just how she does it, workshop style! Tiff Carey digs deep into levers we can pull for major conversions including: How to use sexy bullets to entice window shoppers to become long-time buyersUsing social proof/testimonials to carry prospects through the sales conversationWhen to replace emotional appeals with data/factoids to gain reader trustUsing buttons - how many is too many and how many isn't enough Transform your copy from pretty to profitable with Tiff's advice! Get the full transcript and links to Tiff’s contact info on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/creating-a-sales-page-that-sells/

We promised you in Podcasting 101 Part 1 that Monica would flip on her tech switch and now she's here to deliver. She geeked out (and loved EVERY minute of it ) explaining the ins and outs of: Hardware: We start with the basics - microphones. Then dig into essential accessories to enhance your recording setup and minimize background noise.Software: Navigating recording and editing software can be daunting, but fear not. We outline options for beginners along with tips for remote interviews to maintain audio quality.Podcast Hosting: Hosting service comparison complete with checklist to help you pick the one that’s right for you.Podcast Website: The best ways to share your podcast on your site from simple to SEO boosting.Production Management: Tips to save time and streamline your podcasting workflow plus our favorite tools. Join Monica in this Podcasting 101 Part 2 episode to put your podcast startup tech worries to rest! Read the fully formatted blog post and download the PDF guide to accompany this episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcasting-101-podcast-startup-tech-talk/ Make sure to hop back over to part 1 of this series for our podcast start up checklist to guide you through 3 strategic pre-recording decisions: Your human resources (for set up and production), publishing schedule, and show details.

We’ve fielded a lot of questions about starting podcasts lately. Enough questions we started to think the universe was telling us we should do a few podcasts about starting a podcast.  Luckily, with over 200 episodes under our belt, we're getting this whole podcast thing figured out. We cataloged our misadventures and advice into two podcast focused episodes starting right here with: Podcasting 101 Part 1: Getting Started Checklist  A practical checklist to guide you through the essential 3 pre-recording decisions: your show's human resources, frequency, and brand details. Read the fully formatted blog post and download the PDF guide accompanying this  episode at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/podcasting-101-getting-started-checklist/ Stay tuned for Podcasting 101 Part 2: Tech Talk  (This publishes in a few weeks but you can listen now on our website!) In this episode we go full tech geek on you and explain the ins and outs of choosing the right equipment, technical aspects of recording, editing, podcast website set up, podcast host comparisons, and production management tips.

Monica is a website builder by trade…you’ve probably figured that out by now.  But a website that can’t be found is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.  Which makes her a student of SEO…FOREVER. Because it changes faster than a Nascar pit crew.  And it’s not one dimensional either, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is mutli-faceted. The MayeCreate team’s responsibility is to build a website Google can be friends with. Which is a huge part of the SEO pie. But what about all the other things? That’s where Nina Gibson comes in. She’s done SEO for some big brands…Yankee Candle, Caboodles, Orvis, National Geographic to name a few. Monica got to pick her brain in this episode and ask questions like: How does SEO work?What common mistakes do we need to avoid?What changes is Google making right now that we need to know about?How is AI affecting SEO? She took a lot of notes from this episode…so grab a pen and paper (or just download the transcript) and let’s get to some SEO business! Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/seo-fundamentals-2024-forecast-with-guest-nina-gibson/

Domain Hosting Website   Sooooo intangible…yet so important for your business. We talk about these things everyday but for normal humans they’re a question factory… What even is a domain? How do you get one? How do you connect it to everything?And what the heck is hosting? Do you need it?How do you know which one you need? So if you’re up to your neck in questions, this episode is for you. Together we'll unravel the role of domain name and domain registrars then move on to decode hosting for you—shared, VPS, dedicated—so you can know which is right for you. Let's get to business! Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-domain-hosting-and-website/

The latest episode of Marketing with Purpose, features none other than Chris West, President of West Contracting. ️ Chris and his team spent the past year in a cycle of change, reevaluating their internal structure, figuring out what works and what doesn't, and charting their course for the future.  As part of their marketing team, it's been awesome to be a part of the journey! Today we’ll dig into: How they are continuing to strengthen company culture through recent changes but keeping what works, including their employees, who have an average tenure of over 10 years!What it's like working in a family business (Chris is the 3rd generation to manage West Contracting) and how they transitioned from each generation to keep the company strong.Tap into Chris's never-give-up attitude. Even if you're a steadfast procrastinator like him, he's got some wisdom to share on how to still get things done and find success. We've been lucky enough to get to work with Chris for many years now and are proud to share his story through the West Contracting marketing. Now, we're excited to get to share it with you in this episode!  Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/paving-the-way-insights-from-three-generations-of-success-with-guest-chris-west/

In this week’s Marketing with Purpose episode we're tackling a topic that hits close to home for many of us - quite literally. Working from home with your spouse and managing to: Not go nutsGet your work done AND stay married Tyler and Christi Ernst have been remote working from the same ROOM for the past 4 years…and they still like each other!   So we had to know their secret. Tyler is our lead developer and co-art director at MayeCreate, and luckily he and his wife, Christi, share an office - because we regularly consult Christi for a second opinion! In this episode Tyler and Christi delve into: The communication patterns that allow them to harmoniously work and live in the same spaceChallenges to expect when working from home with your spouse and how they overcame themTheir secret test to tell if a couple can work the same space And, of course, like any other normal episode, we discussed powerlifting and sourdough baking ️ ! Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/how-work-from-home-with-your-spouse-and-not-go-nuts-with-guests-tyler-christi-ernst/

You know how Monica LOVES to geek out about podcasting? OK, not quite as much as she loves geeking out about websites…but close ! And recently, on the Marketing with Purpose podcast, Monica had the pleasure of geeking out WITH another podcasting veteran with over 300 episodes under his belt, Khalil Benalioulhaj. He likes podcasting so much he started a business to help people run their podcasts. Now, that’s taking it to a whole new level… Here's a sneak peek of what they covered in the episode: Remote recording benefits and production efficiencyUnderstanding podcast analytics and measuring successLeveraging podcasts as a sales and marketing toolPlus, expert tech solutions to make your life easier! Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: http://mayecreate.com/blog/podcasting-lessons-from-khalil-compelling-content-guest-tips-roi-more/

When MayeCreate opened the new Camdenton office, Stacy and Monica needed a spot to meet up in between. They lucked into a relatively new co-working space, Jefferson and High that rekindled Monica’s belief that customer service is your number one marketing tool as a small business. So Monica invited owner, Chris Galloway, to give us a rundown of the seamless tech integrations, onboarding process and snacks that keep his customers coming back time and time again. If you’re craving customer service inspiration, there’s a thing or two to learn about this growing co-working space. (Warning…this episode may result in a craving for Cheetos .) Get the full transcript and episode summary on our website: http://mayecreate.com/blog/how-one-co-working-space-markets-through-great-customer-service-with-owner-chris-galloway/

How are you at saying, “No”? Monica always says, "it took birthing two kids and attempting to run a business at the same time" for her to get her head on straight and master her ‘no’ game.  See, ‘yes’ can be a dangerous game for a busy human. Each yes has to align with your priorities. ‘Yes’ is about putting your energy where it matters most. ‘No’ is about protecting that energy for the next opportunity to say ‘yes’. So really…No is it’s buddy Yes’s superhero!  In this episode, Stacy, a self-proclaimed yes-gal, and Monica turn the tables on the guilt of ‘no’. Talking through their internal dialogue, and how they reason their way to the answer that uses their energy where it counts. Giving tips on: The consequences of yesThe art of saying no nicelyStrategies for feeling OK about saying noDealing with negative feedback from your decision to say no Read the fully formatted blog post to accompany this episode on our website: https://mayecreate.com/blog/saying-no-in-a-nice-way-and-feeling-ok-about-it/

Over the past 18 years change is the one of the only things that has remained constant as in our business. And some people love it…other people…not so much.  That’s why we talk about it so much on the Marketing with Purpose podcast. Because to make marketing and business decisions with purpose we have to be able to embrace the idea that things WILL change and then figure out WHAT the heck needs to change and make a plan to pull it all together. In our latest episode, Monica sat down with Paden Squires, CPA & CFP at WR Tax Planners, who while helping our company evolve…has changed his company just as much. They covered everything from: Paden quitting a cushy job to do taxes in his living room. How Paden’s the only tax accountant we know who wears a hoodie in his website photos.The importance of self-awareness in business.Struggles with delegation and perfectionism.And our favorite…transitioning from the warrior to king stages of success. Get the episode highlights and full transcript at: https://mayecreate.com/blog/the-power-of-persistence-from-tax-consulting-to-triumph-with-guest-paden-squires/