[Where Marketing Meets Technology]: Episode 1 -What Is This All About?

In this first episode of Where Marketing Meets Technology, get to know “Small Business Stacey” and “Digital Dave”. Learn what the Where Marketing Meets Technology show is all about and how it will help you mesh your marketing and technology without the overwhelm.

Where Marketing Meets Technology: What Is This All About?

Get to know “Digital Dave”  [:35]

What everyone REALLY wants to know from “Digital Dave”  [1:29]

Marketing isn’t about shiny objects  [2:08]

“Digital Dave” asks “Small Business Stacey” some personal questions  [3:00]

Snail mail or email?  [4:54]

What is the #1 marketing tip you’d give to a small business owner?  [6:08]

Why we’re doing this  [7:27]

“Small Business Stacey” shares her first business  [10:20]

How and why the Small Biz Marketing Specialist got started  [12:40]

Episode Transcript

http://smallbizmarketingspecialist.com/show1
Stacey: Hi. I’m “Small Business Stacey.”

Dave: I’m “Digital Dave.”

Stacey: Where Marketing

Dave: Meets Technology

Stacey: Welcome to episode 1. What is this all about? We’re talking about marketing and technology and how they inner-relate to small business. So most of you know me. I’m “Small Business Stacey” and my co-host here is “Digital Dave” and to introduce what we’re going to be talking about I’m going to give you a little bit of insight into Dave so you get to know him a little bit further.  I’ve prepared a few questions so you can get to know him personally before you get to know him digitally.  So Dave, I have some questions  for you. Are you ready?

Dave: I’m ready Stacey.

Stacey: Okay, first question.  Coffee or tea?

Dave: Hmmmm, that’s a tough question – I like both. I have to go with coffee though. I cannot get out bed nor would I be safe to drive a car without a cup of coffee in the morning. So I’m gonna go with coffee.

Stacey: OK. Well now that you’ve had your cup of coffee, would you say Star Trek or Star Wars?

Dave: Ewwww…. another one (laughs). I’m gonna go with Star Wars. I like ’em both, but I’m gonna go with Star Wars on on this one.

Stacey: Ok, Star Wars it is. Now what everyone really wants to know . . .  What is the number one technology tool or tip that small business owners can take today and implement?

Dave: Stacey, that’s a really really really good question.  And I would say the number one tip I can give you  and I fall into this many many times is do not chase the shiny objects. You will be introduced to so many ways to market your business.  All the great new software that’s out there, the latest greatest make a million dollars doing this and that. Marketing isn’t about shiny objects.  Marketing is about using technology and non-technology to reach your customers and to do that effectively you need to pick a few overall strategies and really implement them and take them as far as you can go with him before you jump to the next shiny object.

Stacey: I agree. I agree. So what we’re gonna be expanding on in future editions is what Dave has been talking about. There so many technology tools out there and I hear small business owners all the time saying “Oh my God! What should I do? What should I use? How do I use it to implement my marketing?”  and so Dave has some really great strategies that you’re going to be able to take today,  implement, and put into action right away.

Dave: Stacey, can I interview you? Can I help the audience learn more about you?

Stacey: Uh oh. Go for it “Digital Dave.”

Dave: So my first question is in marketing Facebook or YouTube?

Stacey: Wow. Well you can use both together. I’ve talked about in previous posts on the Small Biz Marketing site that video is the marketing tool that you want to use in 2017. So you can use video on both YouTube and Facebook but how use them is a little bit different. So when you’re posting videos on YouTube you’re building a following and sharing tips and techniques which is what I do in my Marketing In Two Minutes or Less but when you’re doing that on Facebook you can either link to your YouTube video or you can actually upload the video directly into Facebook and you know what the new thing is this year Dave?  Is live video. So I’m encouraging a lot of my clients to use Facebook Live because once you record that video then you can repurpose that into other content as well, So this is the year of video.

Dave: OK, so we’ve got video. Facebook or YouTube?

(both laugh)

Stacey: That’s a trick question.

Dave: You have to pick one.

Stacey: Oh, well I wanna do both. Um, I’m gonna say Facebook because this Center question Facebook because this is the year where everybody is on social so you can as I said do Facebook Live, you can upload your video to Facebook, you can run Facebook ads with video so I think Facebook is where it’s at for small business owners this year.

Dave: Ok, alright. Next question, are you ready?

Stacey: Ready.

Dave: Mail, snail mail or email?

Stacey: Snail mail or email?  Wow. Again, I like to use them in conjunction with each other, but all I am actually going to go with the offline strategy of direct mail. There is nothing more powerful than going to your mailbox and getting what I call “A pile mail” that gets you so excited that you just want to rip it open and read what’s inside. And I can tell you that I personally had great success with direct mail, especially with what I call lumpy mail, where I’ve done my “smoothie in a box” direct mail package in my coffee and smoothie business that has literally brought me two out of three paying customers for every package that I send out. So I encourage all small business owners to use direct mail and then you can use email as a follow-up.

Dave: OK, so snail mail right?

Stacey: Yeh, snail mail, whatever you want to call it.

Dave: Alright, my final question is what is the number one marketing tip that you would give to a small business owner today?

Stacey: Well that is again it’s a tough one to answer and I don’t have one particular one. I encourage small business owners to integrate and do a lot of different things because you can’t do just one thing. You can’t do just social media. You can’t do just email. You can’t do just direct mail. That’s kind of like going out on Main Street opening up your store and saying “I’m here. Come visit.” or throwing up something online “My website’s here. Come order. Here I am.” You have to do a lot of different marketing to reach people in different ways, which ironically is what we’re doing here.  We’re filming this video, but we’re also repurposing it into a podcast and we’ll have it in written form on the blog and then will create some images to post on social media. So the whole idea is you can do one thing but then repurpose it into many different things. That’s the takeaway.

Dave: Stacey, tell them a little bit about why we’re doing this and your story.

Stacey: We’re putting this podcast together because marketing does meet technology and I can relate this back to even 30 years ago when I first started in the business. I went to the University of Maryland, as did Dave. I majored in marketing. Dave, what did you major in?

Dave: Well, interestingly enough, I majored in marketing. However, I started in computer science.

Stacey: Ah. So marketing meets technology. Now funny enough, marketing DID meet technology cause I did meet Dave at the University of Maryland and after that we got married and here we are 25 years later. When we graduated we went out into the real world and got a job. I ended up working for an association where I had the opportunity to create, develop and implement marketing campaigns. And Dave what did you do after college?

Dave: Well, that’s debatable. I was an entrepreneur. When I came out of college the first thing I did was start a small business so I can relate to the challenges that you have in your small business everyday. My business was an auto detailing business which I had started with some friends. What we found our biggest challenge was that we were all busy doing the work and we didn’t have time to do and fulfill was getting new customers. Doing the marketing. How I ended up in technology was eventually I went back to my roots, which was computer science. I really really really liked to work with computers. All the way through college I was working with computers. I was building computers after college and eventually that transitioned into what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years which is actually helping small businesses and nonprofits. Most of the clients I’ve been working with the last 20 years are non-profits and helping them implement technology at an overall enterprise-level. Helping them implement software to deliver not only their services but to use that to gather data and deliver their marketing. So I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’m now at the point where I want to share this experience of being an entrepreneur, owning several businesses over the years, with and without my wife, and now allowing me to share this information with you and hopefully that you can use in your business to become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz.

Stacey: Yeah absolutely because after my association career I actually left and started my first business as well into the entrepreneurial world which was called DataMax Solutions and it truly was the meeting of marketing and technology because I was creating and implementing marketing campaigns but also doing the back-office work for associations and non-profits. Dave was managing all of the technology so he was back in the server room making sure all the technology was working and running reports so that the client could have good information to make decisions off of. We did that together for 10 years. Then I think we both got this entrepreneurial itch and decided we wanted something more fun to do. So what else do you do? You get a business that involves you working behind a tiki bar wearing a Hawaiian shirt and saying “Aloha!” That’s what we did. We sold DataMax Solutions and we bought a coffee and smoothie franchise which we still own today and even in that business it was the meshing of marketing and technology. I was responsible for doing the marketing, coming up with the campaigns to get the customers in the door and to have them come back again and again with open wallets and leave rave reviews. “Digital Dave” was managing all of the technology. Now we’re in the Washington DC area which I can tell you is not small business-friendly but Dave was able to get us and our website on the front page number one in Google. Whenever someone was searching for smoothie bars or coffee bars or hot chocolate catering or for food trucks we came up number one because Digital Dave knew how to do SEO, build an amazing website, and local marketing to get us found online. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Main Street or beyond “Digital Dave” has the skills and the expertise to teach you the small business owner how to get found online because that’s where your customers, clients, patients, and prospects are going to go to look for you. After the coffee and smoothie business, which we still run today, what happened was we grew and had tremendous success and people started hearing about it so they came to us and said “Gosh you guys are just crushing it. Tell me what you’re doing. Teach me how to do it. I wanna have that same success.” That’s why we started and launched Small Biz Marketing Specialist – to teach you, the small business owner actionable practical marketing tips and strategies that you can put into action to get MORE: MORE leads, MORE clients or customers, MORE patients, MORE sales and MORE money.  Again the meshing of marketing and technology. Dave, anything you want to add to that?

Dave: The only other thing I want to add is that she forgot the flip flops. When we bought the business, the tiki bars came with flip flops.

Stacey: Absolutely! So now you know a little bit about me “Small Business Stacey” and “Digital Dave” and our background but ultimately we’re here to help you – the small business owner on Main Street and beyond. What questions do you have about marketing and technology that we can answer for you? We would love to hear from you and have your questions live on the show. You can email me at smallbizstacey@gmail.com. Let me know what you’re struggling with. Let me know what questions in regards to marketing or technology or the combination of both that we can answer for you. We’ll be answering those in future episodes. We look forward to helping you and your business grow and becoming a #SmallBizMarketingWiz.

This podcast was brought to you by “Small Business Stacey”, the Small Biz Marketing Specialist. Want to grow your business more in the next 30 days than you have in the past 3 months? Get your free marketing plan at Small Biz Marketing Specialist.com That’s Small B-I-Z Marketing Specialist dot com.

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.