Bradley Waldrop, Author at Digital Main Street Media

9 Posts Reveal How To Get More Engagement On Social Media

July 20, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop 1 Comment

Let’s face it, nobody has time for social media marketing – especially auto repair shops! Right? Or, would you like to see how these “9 Posts Reveal How to Get More Engagement on Social Media“, even for the sites and shops that don’t have a social media specialist?

That’s right, in this quick post, you’re going to get:

The best Auto Repair Shop Facebook posts of July 2018
The anatomy of a successful social media post
The top 3 things you can do to boost engagement

So, if you’re looking to make the most of your online effort, then you’re going to want to dive in below.

The Best Auto Repair Shop Facebook Posts of July 2018

It isn’t every day that someone does the research for local businesses like we have. We’ve scoured the internet and Facebook for the best posts by 43 auto repair shops around the country. We examined 429 posts and the results are in!

Number 9 (South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 9 - Best Auto Repair Shop Facebook Posts of July 2018 — This clever post builds curiosity.

Number 8 (South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 8 - Best Auto Repair Social Media Posts June 2018 — This unusual post allows you to get into an exclusive club.

Number 7 (KC’s Paint Shop: Hot Rods & Restorations – Fort Worth, Texas):

Number 7 Auto Repair Shop Most Engagement June 2018 — This post is a simple and effective “call to action”

Number 6 (South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 6 Best Auto Repair Shop Facebook Posts of July 2018 — The joke post – sometimes it’s best not to take ourselves too seriously!

Number 5 (South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 5 Best Way to Get Social Media Engagement — The “Play on Words” Post

Number 4 (South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 4 More Engagement On Social Media — The “If you’re one of us – we’re one of you” post.

Number 3 (KC’s Paint Shop: Hot Rods & Restorations – Fort Worth, Texas):

Number 3 Get More Social Media Engagement — The “Let’s Get Together” Post

Number 2 (KC’s Paint Shop: Hot Rods & Restorations – Fort Worth, Texas):

Number 2 More Engagement On Social Media — The “Dare to Be You” post

Number 1(South Main Auto Repair – Avoca, New York):

Number 1 Way to Get More Social Media Engagement for Auto Repair Shops — The “Tongue in Cheek” Post

There you have it, the world’s best Auto Repair shop Facebook posts for June 2018. Now, let’s take a minute to understand the anatomy of a successful post.

The Anatomy of a Successful Post To Get More Engagement On Social Media

Here you can see two primary elements that help you get more engagement in social media. They include the casual and familiar (almost irreverent) text introduction. Here is a great example of how the personality of the shop owner shows through. And, others like it, share it and comment on it. As you can see in the bottom statistics, it was liked 953 times, commented on 130 times and shared 49 times. And, this single post got 1,132 engagements. That’s amazing!

The second element that’s really helping boost engagement is the candid real-world photo. This should give you the confidence to start taking photos and videos from your phone to get them out there on social media. If you’re waiting for the perfect shot and the perfect light, then you’re going to be over-thinking it.

The Top 3 Ways to Get More Engagement On Social Media With Your Posts

Lead with Curiosity – as you can see in these highlighted posts, the more curiosity is built in the image and the text, the more engagement you get.

Use Images The Fulfill Dreams – take a quick look at the number 2 post above. It gives the viewer a way to live out their dreams in the life of someone else. It’s painting the picture of a future their best customers want and appreciate. It’s simple and effective in boosting engagement.

Put Yourself In a Photo – businesses are run by real people. It is the people, we’re hiring to do the work. Don’t be afraid to get on camera. And, you don’t have to be a supermodel. Just be you!

Boost your business by reading these articles:

Going Deeper With The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Part 1…

[Infographic] Local Lead Generation, An Ultimate Guide

May 28, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

(This is a developing post for local lead generation…)

Inside, you’ll find:

What is Local Lead Generation?
How Does Local Lead Generation Differ From Local Advertising?
How Do You Apply Direct Marketing Concepts To Local Businesses?
How Can You Present An Offer They Can’t Refuse?

What is Local Lead Generation?

Let’s face it, there’s one thing that’s more important than location when you analyze local business success. That one thing? It’s customers! That’s right. Without customers, you’re business isn’t a business.

Let me explain what I mean here for just a second.

What if you had a business with the best products on the planet in the worst location on the planet. Do you think your customers would come and get it if they knew where you were?

Absolutely!

The reverse is true too.

If you have a product or service that nobody wants, it doesn’t matter what location you have. You’ll be going out of business in the very near future.

So, what’s the answer?

A list of your best customers that you can talk too any time you need more sales. And, do you know the easiest way to do that?

That’s right… through local lead generation!

In this article, we’re going to walk you through the process of taking control of the cash flow in your business by generating leads at will. And, when things get slow…you’ll have the power to send an email, write a letter, hire a sky writer, or even pick up the phone and call your best customers to tell them about the next best offer you have for them.

In a nutshell, local lead generation is the process of building your potential customer list with highly targeted prospects that match the characteristics of your best customers. They have the same income. They are the same gender. They have the same interests. And, they struggle with the same problems.

How Does Local Lead Generation Differ From Local Advertising?

Local advertising, when done right is local lead generation. But, most marketers are only interested in the work that pays them over and over again; not results. This means hiring a local marketer is much like going to the doctor these days. You have to be your own advocate. You have to know what to expect. And, you must demand results.

One of the biggest fallacies in local maketing is that “brand awareness” is as important or more important than any other advertising.

Hogwash!

The mostly important type of advertising is to generate sales and local leads. This means that you’re going to want to focus on direct reponse theories to advertising.

How Do You Apply Direct Marketing Concepts To Local Businesses?

I know, direct reponse marketing sounds special and weird. But, all it means is that every advertising dollar must answer for itself in the response of sales for your business. So, if you’re going to spend money, you want that money to return more sales than it cost to create, mail, and manage the campaign. This includes the fees you’re paying to your marketer.

The process looks something like this:

Step One: Develop a Lead Generation Offer That Prequalifies Prospects

Step Two: Build a List of Leads From Your Lead Generation Offer

Step Three: Present a Product or Service to Your Ideal Leads

It’s really that simple. And, you can track every dollar. You can track how much it costs to get a lead. You can track how much it costs to turn a lead into a customer. And, you can track the lifetime value of your customer to know that you’re spending on the right things.

How Can You Present An Offer They Can’t Refuse?

Let me expand a bit on the info graphic above.

1. A Low Threshold Offer – direct response lead generation campaigns are designed to give you a list of prequalified leads with which you can follow up. And, since they don’t know you or your offer, the easier it is for them to learn about you and the science or the unique mechanism behind your offer, the better. Unless you’re doing a product giveaway, the lowest barrier is usually information. This means, there’s no risk involved for the lead. It’s simple, they trade contact details for the information. But, watch out for asking for too much information. If you’re online, test email addresses only against names and email addresses. Typically, the more valuable the offer, the more comfortable your lead will feel about giving up information.

2. A Reason to Respond Immediately – if your leads life will change immediately or if there’s a limited supply of the thinks you’re giving away, then this sense of urgency will add to your ad’s effectiveness. So, somewhere in the text, or in the image, indicate what happens if they miss out. This “fear of missing out” is a valid tool that most effective copywriters use to help boost ad performance.

3. Prove It! – look, these days there’s more skepticism in the world than ever before. And, it is because unscrupulous marketers have taken their customers too many times. So, remember this… as soon as you make a claim, you’ll have to prove it. And, if you’re being factual in your ad, then you won’t have any problem providing proof. Proof can come from experts, testimonials, screenshots, videos, quotes, etc. Just remember, if your offer sounds too good to be true, then you prospects will be running for the hills!

4. A Strong Call To Action – Okay, okay, I can already here you saying… I’ve put a coupon on the page or “there’s an optin”, why aren’t they following through? Well, it’s because they get distracted, they get confused, they’re only half paying attention. And, that simply means you have to spell out exactly what you want them to do. If you’re wanting to building your local leads list, then tell them to put in their information and push the button. Or, have them fill out a form and send it in. Or, put a sign-up sheet next to your cash register and have people fill it out on the spot. All they need is clear and simple instructions and they’ll be signing up in droves.

Viral Marketing: The Ultimate Guide (2019)

May 16, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop 3 Comments

In this “Viral Marketing: The Ultimate Guide” you’re going to learn:

What’s The Difference Between Traditional Marketing and Viral Marketing?
How Do You Design a Viral Campaign?
Examples of Viral Internet Marketing Campaigns (developing)
How to Find a Viral Marketing Expert? (coming soon)
Best Viral Marketing Tools (developing)

What is the Difference Between Traditional Marketing and Viral Marketing?

While there is a description, I decided to shoot a very quick video that lays out the difference between traditional and viral marketing. I’ll be adding more text, but I’ve had this question so many times that I thought I’d just get something up here and walk you through our infographic that’s also down below. Keep coming back because we’re going to be adding a ton of content to this page!

Traditional Marketing:

In traditional marketing, as a local business owner, you match your target market with your best marketing message using the most appropriate media. And, for every dollar that you put into the campaign, you can track how much money you are making. This is a simple Return on Investment calculation.

Once you calculate your return on investment, you pick the most appropriate media and winning message to scale your business. In traditional marketing, you simply add more money into the campaigns that give you a positive Return on Investment and you can predict the total earnings over time. The result is a linear improvement to your bottom line.

Here’s a Quick Example:

For instance, if you invest $1,000 into your best campaign, which is giving you a 2.0 ROI, then you can expect that the campaign will give you $2,000 in return. And, as your business grows you can invest more of your profits back into advertising. And, assuming you can now invest $2,000 into your winning campaign, you can count on a return of $4,000.

Viral Marketing:

Viral marketing used to be called “word of mouth” marketing, but some brainiac wanted to make a name for himself and change it up. And, as a business owner, I’m sure you’re very familiar with word of mouth advertising. It’s the best kind!

Why?

Because it takes advantage of happy customers spreading the word about your business and giving you a recommendation. That recommendation is instant credibility, which boosts that money in your cash register.

This is how it works…

You put $1,000 into your marketing campaign to generate the same $2,000 in return as traditional marketing (in the above example), but those raving fans tell 2 friends each. That means you’ve now multiplied your reach by 3! And, there you have it… you’ve gone viral!

traditional marketing vs viral marketing infographic — Traditional Marketing vs Viral Marketing Infographic

How Do You Design a Viral Campaign

In this section you see an infographic that shows 3 successful viral campaign designs. And, below there’s a little discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each. In fact, I thought it might be easier to understand by recording a quick video for you to review:

In this infographic we talk about the 3 successful structures of viral campaigns that anyone can create – even if you don’t have a website.

Design One: Giveaway Loop

This allows everyone entering to be a winner! In fact, it is simply a viral modification of the traditional lead magnet funnel found in most online businesses today. You simply create your front end lead magnet. Then, when your prospect opts into your list they are taken immediately to a thank you page.

On the thank you page, you simple provide them with the giveaway item (instant access) and incentivize them to share your offer with their friends and colleagues via social media or email. This means you’re giving away a bonus to whomever shares or earns a minimum number of points. And, typically you give away points for sharing and for referred sign ups.

The incentive for the bonus creates the viral buzz and all of a sudden you’re getting prospects sent to your page by those already on your list. There is no better way to leap over the trust hurdle than have your new subscribers recommend your offer to others!

Design Two: Sweepstakes Loop

This loop is designed with a biggo offer nobody can refuse. It reminds me of the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes idea. You have to enter to win! And, the winner is drawn at random at the end of the sweepstakes. But, there’s one really cool thing about this loop…

When your new lead comes through the front door, you offer up an opportunity for them to stuff the ballot box with more entries.

How?

They get extra sweepstakes entries for sharing and even more for sign-ups that came from them! How cool is that!?

The buzz that’s created by the opportunity to stuff the ballot box helps take the campaign viral and you’re off to the races…plunking fresh names on your list that are targeted to your offer and your niche!

Design Three: Affiliate Loop

This loop has proven to be the most powerful of all three in our experience. It’s all about setting up a contest with those that have already entered to win.

What I mean by that is…

You give your new leads a way to earn a bonus or more importantly, win the “grand prize”. The grand prize goes to the person that has the most leads sign up from their links and email sharing. So, if you’ve got a super-affiliate or someone with a massive email list, they get rewarded with an uber-prize that keeps them competing for first place.

We’ve seen this structure outperform the other two by a factor of 10!

Examples of Viral Internet Marketing Campaigns

So, by now I’m sure you’re wondering what a real campaign really looks like aren’t you?

Well, here goes nothing!

Video Walk-through:

In this video I walk you through the critical components of the screen capture and infographic below. This video is going to unveil some of the critical secrets we’ve discovered during our testing of viral campaigns.

What you’re looking at now is a sample campaign I ran for a very specific niche in the ecommerce space, using a physical product:

Viral Marketing Lead Capture Page Example — Example Lead Capture Page for Viral Marketing Campaign

After your prospect registers, he (or she) is shown the thank you and share page. Here we’re using a share page that incentivizes sharing through a bonus prize:

Example Viral Share Page for eCommerce Campaign — Example Viral Share Page

Now that you’ve seen one of our campaigns in detail, you might like to see how these campaigns can be hosted on your own site with some special conversion boosting features:

Example Two: ClickFunnels Big Brand Self-Hosted Giveaway

In this example, you can see that hosting a campaign on your own site can look very much like just having an optin page set up. This online tool does generate a ton of search traffic by itself, but they’re using a viral campaign to make it even better:

ClickFunnels New Editor Launch and Viral Campaign

Best Viral Marketing Tools

We’ve compiled a quick list of what we think are the best viral marketing tools. Keep coming back to see updates to this list and links to reviews.

UpViral – an easy to use application that netted 114,485 qualified leads in only 30 days.

KingSumo – One of the most effective ways to grow your business. If you want more email subscribers or customers — and you don’t want to waste money on expensive marketing — using KingSumo to launch a viral giveaway can be an epic solution.

Interact – A tool for creating online quizzes that generate leads, segment your audience, and drive traffic to your website. It is built for businesses and has all the features you’ll need to create your own lead generation quiz that grows your company.

Viral-Loops – A revolutionary template-based viral & referral marketing solution for modern marketers.

Other Related Articles:

Avoid These Three Mistakes That Are Killing Your Response

The Teddy Ruxpin School of Business…

Hey Dummy! They Already Read Your Proposal!

Chumming The Water With Click Bait…

The Blind Date

March 13, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Tuesday March 13, 2018
6:15 AM Pacific [ROSEVILLE]

When I was in college, I had my fair share of blind dates. I had friends that were always on the lookout to set me up. And, some went well while others…

Let’s just say, I wish it was the era of the cell phone “rescue call”. But…

My parents DID meet on a blind date. And, they’ve been married over 50-years.

I think that the success in that blind date was “who” did the setting up.

They both had two common friends that were also dating (also married over 50-years) and they absolutely understood my parents and what they were looking for…

So, over 50-years ago, in San Ramon California, you had two people looking out for each of their friends.

Watching their dating habits.

Listening to what they liked.

And just when the moment was right…

They made the introduction!

And the rest is history as they say.

That story from my past reminds me of how important it is to have rock-solid relationships in life and in business. It reminds me of how important it is to have partners looking out for me and my success everyday.

And, 27-minutes and 40-seconds into last week’s podcast (right near the end) you’ll hear how this works for my business so that I end up with highly-valued longterm customers.

And you can listen to the whole conversation by clicking here!

Talk tomorrow,

-b

6:28 AM Pacific

PS: Blind dates can work out wonderfully if you’re clear about what you’re looking for…. AND your friends really do care about you.

>> Why not subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by visiting the iTunes store? All you have to do is go here >>Across The Pond, Live!

The Local Pickup Joint

March 12, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Monday March 12, 2018
8:08 PM Pacific [ROSEVILLE]

Imagine for a minute you walk into the local pickup joint – lookin’ for love!

What are you looking for?

For the guys…. what does she look like?

Can you see her?

For the ladies… how about him?

Is he a tall drink of water? Does he have a strong chin and square shoulders?

What are they wearing?

What do they do for a living?

What are their hobbies?

Can you picture them?

Can you smell their cologne or perfume?

Can you imagine their voice?

** You’ve Just Been On a Journey **

A journey where you’re able to picture your ideal mate.

What about your ideal customer? Can you picture them? Do you know the pickup joint they’ll be in?

Well… let me tell you about something a friend of mine and I just put together for you.

A raw, uncut, live WEEKLY podcast.

Just for you.

And, in our first episode, we dive right into the pickup joints you’ll be wanting to discover for your business.

Don’t take my word for it – listen here!

Talk tomorrow,

-b

8:35 AM Pacific

PS: Let’s make your trip to the Pickup Joint something that happens regularly! And, with a podcast… what happens in the headphones stays in the headphones 😉

>> Why not subscribe to the podcast here: Across The Pond, Live!

4 Things to Automate & 2 Things to Leave Alone…

February 21, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Tuesday February 20, 2018
6:10 AM Pacific [ROSEVILLE]

A recent Harvard Business Review Article “The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated” (Ryan W. Buell Feb 19, 2018) points to the few things that we should simply leave alone.

Today I’m just gonna give it to you straight…. the list of 4 things to automate and 2 things to simply leave along.

So, here goes:

Let’s face it, as a business owner, you don’t have time to do everything manually in your business. And, when you focus on manual labor, the only way to scale your business is to add more manual labor. But…

when the labor market get’s tight, you might have to move or open a new branch, just to get the critical assets you need to have your business thrive.

And… if you believe the Harvard Business Review (which I don’t normally), then here’s a quick list of those things that you can automate:

1. Transactional stuff – this makes it easier for customers to get the goods and services they need. In today’s society, we see this with self-checkout at the grocery stores, swipe your card for coffee and just put money in the till and grab your sandwich to go. This reduces friction and keeps your customers moving through the sales process. In fact, you can even use this tip with delivering information or having them sign up for your mailing list. Simple. Effective. (and one reason we’re in the Digital marketing business)

2. Non-Human Resources – that’s right… I said it. A lot of the human resource requests are actually requests for information, filing claims, signing up for this or that. These are non-human resources because they don’t actually require a human to provide the information. Automate this and you’ll have extra energy for the real “human resources”.

3. Giving Your Customers Transparency – Something special happened when Michael Dell moved out of his dorm room and into a factory to build computers…. he gave customers visibility into the process. He had a special system developed that took the anxiety out of ordering a computer because you could know exactly where it was in the process. And, taking it a step further, have you been in an Uber lately? It makes hiring a ride super easy…. tell us where to pick you up, we’ll ping you as the ride gets close, and then if you want to watch your ride go turn-by-turn… then you’ve got that too. By they way, you’ll know the name of your driver, what he/she looks like and the type and color of the car they are in. Now, that’s transparency!

4. Special Offers and Appreciation – While not every special offer or token of appreciation should be delivered electronically, it does provide a simple way to get the best offer into the hands of your best customers. It’s one of the reasons why I like sending you an email (almost daily). If I didn’t, I’d have only a few ways of telling you about the great things you can do to boost your bottom line in your business today. And, if the communication is too much for you… you have the option of opting out (it’s the unsubscribe link at the bottom).

** Now Onto The Things You Should NEVER Automate **

1. Getting wound up! Let’s face it… business can and should get emotional. It’s inherent in what we do. We get excited, scared, anxious, angry, etc. And, if we do our jobs right… we’re whipping up those emotions in our customers too! The best testimonials I get are from super-excited people like this:

“Wow! That’s an amazing comparison Bradley! Awesome Man! Thanks for posting!” Tim Verdouw, Re-Engager

So… when this happens, we need to interject ourselves and be geniune. If you see the thread this is in, you’d be going on and on about how I appreciate the shout out and the kudos. It’s very personal! So… of coarse, it’s not automated. Machines can’t express emotion (yet).

2. Riddle Me This Batman! Yep. Sometimes our customers actually need help solving a problem. Solving a problem with the product, with the service, or with something that’s not even related to either of those. There’s no way a computer can process the way a human can in these situations. And… it’s unreasonable to try to put together a phone tree or online maze of questions and answers to get them the help they need. It’s a human thing!

And while we’re at it… it wasn’t in the article, but we don’t automate our appreciation quotient. We simply use this…

>> It’s Our Magical Gratitude Unicorn

Talk tomorrow,

-b

PS: So, which 1 thing are you going to work on today? And, you might think email messages are “automated”, but they aren’t. I sit here every day so that I can talk directly to you. And, when I get replies back – I know it’s working. Have a great day!

6:32 AM Pacific

Inside an Immigration Roundup…

February 19, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Monday February 19, 2018
3:48 PM Pacific [SACRAMENTO]

I was just reading an article titled “Inside an Immigration Roundup: Crying Children, Closed Doors, Coffee” in the Wall Street Journal.

The article isn’t the interesting thing here – the headline is!

No… this isn’t a copywriting how-to. But…

It is a business how-to!

The whole premise behind an immigration round-up, if explained by the current White House, is that there are people inside our walls that don’t belong here.

And, no matter how you fall on the subject, I’d suggest you ask the same question about your business…

Specifically…

Ask yourself if your current customers “belong” behind your walls.

Ask yourself if your current providers “belong” behind your walls.

Ask yourself if your current employees “belong” behind your walls.

And, if they do… it’s time to be straight with them.

It’s time to thank your customers for being the lifeblood of your business. And, as you’re thanking them, it’s time to reinforce “why” they are welcome. And, the answer should be because they appreciate and adhere to your core values (at least during the times you work together).

…and…

It’s time to thank your providers for taking such good care of your business and your customers. And, as you’re thanking them, it’s time to tell them “why” you appreciate them and their hard work. And, as you’re thanking them… it should be because they treat your staff and your customers as you would treat them.

…and…

It’s time to thank your employees for taking such good care of your customers and your bottom line. After all, without their dedication to your core values, you might be out on the street looking to prosecute someone for theft, embezzlement, or slander.

That’s right… when your business is running on all cylinders, adhering to a common set of core values and and taking care of business – it’s a peaceful and amazing place to be!

Onward and upward!

If you’re trying to figure out how to thank all these people and do it well – there’s a few things we do. But…

the most important is this >> It’s Our Magical Gratitude Unicorn

Talk tomorrow,

-b

3:58 PM Pacific

The Day I Met Matt Furey…

January 28, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Sunday January 28, 2018
8:18 AM Pacific [SACRAMENTO]

From titles like “Combat Conditioning” to “Expect to Win – Hate to Lose” and “The Unbeatable Man” – Matt Furey taught me a lot in one very short week…

Although Matt’s probably more well known for learning how to sell stuff on the internet better than just about anybody and while the Internet was still being invented by Al Gore… my interaction with Matt had absolutely nothing to do with sales and…

everything to do with attitude!

You see, a couple buddies and I traveled between our junior and senior years of high school from the podunk town of Orangevale, CA to Ashland, OR for short week’s worth of wrestling camp.

At the time Matt was leveraging his experience as a National Champion wrestler, being trained under Dan Gable to launch a successful local business in Soquel, CA (near Santa Cruz) and he was taking this gig for the coin and opportunity to shape young minds.

And – he shaped mine.

To this day – 30 years later… I still respond to others the ways he made us respond to him in Oregon.

On most days… if you ask me how I’m doing…

I’ll tell you “I’m doing great… but it’ll get better!”

That’s the attitude champion’s have…

It’s the attitude of being able to overcome adversity.

And, to Matt’s credit – I had an extraordinary year wrestling as a senior in high-school!

But, what’s even better is that my perspective changed forever.

I was already generally positive… but it was that summer that I became mentally prepared to take on the other challenges that came my way:

1. I took an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

2. I became the youngest partner in a well known engineering firm.

3. I had the strength and mental attitude to drop everything and move from Southern California to North Carolina (were we knew NOBODY).

And it goes on and on and on….

It’s those little things that people drill into your head that make a difference everyday.

And, it’s the threat and opportunity you face everyday when you choose what information to take in and what information to ignore on the internet.

It’s about trying to find the right person for you.

The right person for your business.

The right person to build you up and strengthen your bottom line.

The right person to partner with when the going gets tough.

So… as you’re reading all the gobbldy – gook in your inbox and on FakeBook today… ask yourself –

Whom do you really want to be surrounded by?

And – if it’s not me. If it’s not what I do to help you grow your business… then please… do us all a favor and UNSUBSCRIBE at the bottom of the page.

Now… if you’re still reading – that means that we’re in this together. And, I’m glad to have you as part of the family. But, that also means we’re here to take care of one another.

And that means that when we develop something cool like the “Startup Business Catalyst” or “Smart Funnel” or we find cool tools like…

http://digitalmainstreetmedia.com/recommends/missinglettr

We’re only offering them up because we’re convinced they’re going to change your business and build into your bottom line…

And – if you ever get tired of me trying to help you… that unsubscribe link is still there 24/7 and pray you’ll use it. I don’t want you wasting your own time or my resources.

So… how will you go into your day?

I hope “Fantastic… but it’ll get better!”

Talk tomorrow,

-b

8:35 AM Pacific

PS: The little exchange I just had with Matt on Facebook goes exactly like this:

Bradley – “Hey Matt Furey – I’m here to prove to myself how small this world really is… do you remember the phrase… “I’m outstanding but I’ll get better?”. This was first uttered to me in a gym in Southern Oregon College in 1988 – my JR year in high school. You and I go way back brother!”

Matt – “Who told you that one?”

Bradley – “I was the freckled-faced 126 pounder that learned more in 1 week than the previous 1 year. You were the guy dropping wisdom bombs and the Granby Roll (sp?!) to shake a leg ride. Dude I’m having a little moment here!”

Matt – “I was outstanding back then but I have gotten better over the years.”

Matt – “Glad to hook up with you once again.”

Matt truly is a champion… for others as well as for himself.

Lessons From The Road…

January 27, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Saturday January 27, 2018
11:55 AM Pacific [ROSEVILLE]

I know… I know… it’s been way too long since we last chatted – but I’ve learned some lessons over the last few weeks…

But, before I dive right into the lessons I’ve learned – let’s talk about the challenges I needed to overcome:

CHALLENGE ONE – Being in 2 places at the same time.

As some of you know, I lead a team that does just under $10M annually ($9.8M to be exact) and the team is spread out over all of Northern California. And…

over the last three weeks, I’ve had a need to be in Menlo Park and Fresno at the same time… that’s a gap of 173 miles (and a 3 hour drive).

CHALLENGE TWO – Doing 3 jobs at the same time.

We lost a group leader in just before Christmas and we gained a new assignment that needed work completed at night. So… I was doing my job – the old group leader’s job and the job of a structural inspector all at the same time!

CHALLENGE THREE – Doing “in person” and “online” work at the same time.

When I travel, I have no time to be online. I have no time to send email. I have no time to be on Facebook and I certainly don’t have time to post and repost content.

So – I’m getting a lot better at delegation!

Here’s how it’s gone down over the last 3 weeks and what we’re doing going forward.

We looked at Post Planner, planable.io, and CoSchedule and all of them fell short. Click To Tweet

SOLUTION ONE: This one seems simple, but often overlooked. We bought 8 webcams and queued up GoToMeeting and FaceTime on our phones… problem one solved.

SOLUTION TWO: We simply listed what needed to be done and asked the team to raise their hands for tasks they could take. This was just delegation… but it also meant we had to be ready to make some mistakes and pay for inefficiencies… but problem two was solved.

SOLUTION THREE: This was the hardest of the challenges to solve. We looked at Post Planner, planable.io, and CoSchedule and all of them fell short. So, we took a risk and purchased a team plan for…

** MissingLettr ** – this is the coolest way to re-use valuable online assets and it automatically creates new content and schedules it out on your social accounts over a year.

Don’t take my word for it…

Check it out here

http://digitalmainstreetmedia.com/recommends/missinglettr

Here’s to solving problems!

-b

12:14 PM Pacific

PS: We’re always learning lessons and passing them along to you. If you’re trying to delegate your social media marketing and posting to someone else or a tool – then you’ll want to check out MissingLettr

As Goes Westfield – So Goes The World?

January 22, 2018 by Bradley Waldrop Leave a Comment

Monday January 22, 2018
8:57 AM Pacific [SACRAMENTO]

First things first… sorry it’s been so long. I’ve had my head down working on two things (completely unrelated – check out the PS for more)

Now – onto today!

We all know that retail has taken a beating in the last few years because of the surge of eCommerce solutions where nine-to-fivers can safely order all they need and most of what they want right from the inside of their cubicles.

Day in. And..

Day out.

But – things are changing…

Don’t take my word for it – check out this new perspective from someone that knows retail a lot more than you and me.

“Downtown is going through a revival, and this property offers a fantastic opportunity to be in the middle of it all,” said Lauren Holden, senior vice president of asset management at Clarion. (Now Is the Perfect Time to Go Big on Retail, One New York Developer Says – Wall Street Journal)

What’s interesting is that the doom and gloom of traditional retail is being rewritten as “opportunity”.

Why?

Well – as President Trump just said…

“It’s the economy stupid.”

And, in this case – it is the economy.

We’re going through a change in the workforce that we’ve never seen before.

We’re in the midst of transforming from full employment to a gig economy. And, the differences are a great opportunity to revive retail…

Previously, retail was driven by buyers that had regular Monday – Friday 9- 5 schedules. They worked the same job for years. They had a predictable income and a stable lifestyle.

Now…

We’ve got workers that have dramatic swings in income.

We’ve got workers that choose their own hours.

We’ve got workers that have needs that change all the time.

We’ve got workers that need convenience

We’ve got workers that need product availablility for last minute purchases

…and….

We’ve got workers that want a different ‘experience’ when they shop.

And – if you dig deep into that Wall Street Journal article, you’ll see that Westfield (the builders of those high-end shopping centers) has been doubling down to address the changes in retail to build space that fits the needs of today’s customer.

You get a chance to the do the same thing with your business this year!

Isn’t it time to take a look at your business model and the “best” customers that are going to be giving you long-term stability in your shop?

Isn’t it time to figure out how to change your retail footprint for a mix of physical and digial space?

If so… I suspect this can help!

https://mysticmailer.com/

Talk soon,

-b

9:16 AM Pacific

PS: As promised… here’s been my distraction:

1. I was a technical expert requried to be on a bridge demolition project for the last two weeks (working nights)… so my clock is upside down and my to-do list is overflowing… but I’ll get back on track!

2. I’ve been working on a simplied “smart funnel” system. One where you can build a smokin’ fast funnel in less than 3 minutes. This gives you the power to grow a list (direct response marketing), sell products online and grow your business all without a website, without another 3rd party auto-responder and without expensive “shopping cart” products. So… my programming skills are getting dusted off and we’re almost ready to realize version 1 (the slim, super fast – lead page portion).