Links from this episode:

DMANC.org

Susan Finch on LinkedIn

Funnel Media Group to help you produce your podcast or reboot your existing video content in a new venue

Join me as I speak with Howie Zales, an expert in live event production. With decades under his belt working high-profile concerts and stadium events, Howie knows how to make online viewers feel part of the action.

You’ll hear Howie’s tips for incorporating multimedia, leveraging technology seamlessly, and rehearsing for smoother execution. Discover easy ways to boost production value without breaking the budget. Plus, we’ll discuss how to maximize your investment by repurposing content long after the event ends.

If you’re ready to step up your hybrid event game, you won’t want to miss this lively discussion. Tune in now to pick up pointers that will stick with your team long after the stream wraps!

About our guest:

Howie Zales is an Emmy Award-winning Camera Operator who turned his passion for television broadcasting into several entrepreneurial endeavors. Howie created HJZ Productions, Inc. in 2000 to address the New York market's need for professional-level sports crewing/staffing. Under his leadership, HJZ Productions grew to a multi-million dollar nationwide provider of top talent in the broadcasting field. In 2019, Howie and his team founded Viridity Entertainment Services, Inc. (VES), initially focusing on staffing in non-union markets.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, they quickly pivoted to offering best-in-class, broadcast-quality live streams of professional sports shows and interviews, corporate interviews and meetings, and religious services. VES now focuses on meeting the growing demand for virtual hybrid event production.

Links from this episode:

Viridity Entertainment

Funnel Media Group, LLC

Viridity Entertainment Services on LI

Here are the key points:

1. Create a custom Google Map for your podcast under your show's profile.
2. Add pins for each guest/company, using your show's icon.
3. Include episode descriptions and links in pin details.
4. Make the map public and share it on social media.
5. Use layers to organize pins by season or topic if needed.
6. Consider multiple maps if you have over 100 episodes.

Key Points:

1. Create a post on your Google My Business profile when you publish a new episode. Include an image and call to action.
2. Ask a compelling question in posts to intrigue listeners.
3. Make a series for episodes on the same topic and promote the series.
4. @ mention guests and their companies in your posts.
5. Reshare Google My Business posts on other social media.
6. Highlight meaningful guest quotes in posts.
7. Post on your business profile about once per week.

1. Get a dedicated domain for your podcast
2. Set up the podcast as a business in Google Workspace
3. Document login information
4. Create a Cloudflare account
5. Change domain name servers to Cloudflare
6. Add podcast domain to Google Workspace
7. Create a dedicated podcast email address
8. Check if your main business site has a Google My Business profile
9. Create a Google My Business profile for your podcast site

The DMANC has a three course series that I found super helpful. 

https://dmanc.org/workshop/google-analytics-4-workshops/ 

After you convert or set up, be prepared for a transformed analytics experience. While reports and dashboards may be different, the customization options are unparalleled. Dive into the granular details and unlock insights like never before. Upgrade your code, ensure proper tracking, and avoid skewed information that makes you look good but hinders your decision-making.

Listen to this 4-minute "Behind the Mic" episode and discover how Google Analytics 4.0 can validate your podcasting and content creation strategy. Handle the transition with simplicity, ease, and success. The future of analytics awaits!

BIG TIP - don't forget to update your analytics code in all plugins and add-ons with your podcast hosting company. If you use Podbean, it will be easier.

https://help.podbean.com/support/solutions/articles/25000004993-using-google-analytics-with-my-podbean-site

I found this article filled with tips and logic.

https://martech.zone/how-to-migrate-events-from-universal-analytics-to-google-analytics-4/ 

I’ve been a speaker at events. I see the pluses, but I’ve also seen how limited the opportunity for that 3-5 day effort returned. The biggest benefit is strengthening the relationship with the organization that invited me to speak to its members. Most of my speaking is to private professional organizations, so nothing is recorded and definitely not published. Adding these events to my portfolio of speaking can be problematic as I usually speak on proprietary topics specific to the audience.  I’ve also spoken on behalf of my non-profit to large ballrooms, and conferences. It made a memorable event, but rarely outside that event led to much more than a few compliments. Even when the carrot to speak at the event was access to the list, the attendees were rarely decision makers, so they would read the subject, and typically, that was that.

Here is a recent post on this topic comparing the effectiveness of both options.

https://funnelmediagroupllc.com/speaking-gigs-vs-podcasting/ 

About Tenlo:

Tenlo is a digital B2B marketing agency. They use data-driven marketing for lead generation and customer retention. Digital and sales tactics are aligned to drive more traffic to your website, trade show booth and sales team. Their passion for increasing a digital marketer's contribution to sales is pipeline marketing—a discipline focused on results. Learn more: https://tenlo.com .

About Mod Op:

At Mod Op, everything they do starts with understanding their clients’ marketing opportunities. Then, they identify the unique methods to help them achieve those goals. That may mean launching a complete, integrated advertising and PR campaign or tapping into some of their more specialized expertise for a given project.  Learn more: https://modop.com .

They have experts in B2C and B2B communications with deep industry experience in consumer and lifestyle products, energy, media and entertainment, technology, and travel and hospitality. Currently, they have offices in New York City, Miami, Kansas City, Dallas, Portland, Los Angeles, and Panama City, Panama.

1. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Is it to launch an initiative? Build reputation? Boost egos of your executives or clients? Give value to your existing clients? Open the door for new clients/prospects? Have fun with your lighter side?
2. WHO WILL HELP? Anyone involved needs to know and commit to the time and tasks for their portion of the podcast’s success. Then you have to decide: If you have the money but not the time, how much can you outsource? 
3. WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? Once you know this, you can determine where you can find them listening to podcasts, their habits, do they “listen” or read captions? At work or on the treadmill. What are you competing with when they hit play? Do they binge-listen? This is CRITICAL and where a lot of podcasts fail before the first episode. You MUST be realistic.
4. IDEAL LENGTH? Once you know all the players, the tasks, the audience you can determine the length. I have some shows that are always 25 – 35 minutes – a good “lunch” episode. Others do quick micro episodes of 4-7 minutes. Many combine – do the full show and later extract a nugget and create a new “highlight” episode from that. This will help you plan the time needed to record and edit. 
5. CAN YOU COMMIT? WHO IS THE TALENT? WHO IS THE TEAM? Potential hosts - this is where you may have to tell a hard truth or two. Just because they are good leaders, doesn’t mean they know how to lead an interesting interview. Some will be better than others. You may have to have a “casting call of unexpected hosts.

What if you are getting help from an outside company?

If companies simply send you links, videos and pdfs, you have to decide if that’s how you want to communicate with your producers. I know for Funnel Media Group, our hosts love the relationships we have with them and that we are very open helping them improve. Sometimes people have speech patterns or bad habits such as “EXspecially, rather than especially.  This may not matter to you. But, if you are sharing this with your networks, prospects, investors, clients, it may matter so that you are not distracting because of these patterns.  Can you hear the excitement in their voices.  Will they will be coming up with ideas on the spot as they get to know you and your goals. How do they share those ideas? If they have no new ideas regularly, they are not thinking about your account.

1. What is included?
   1. Host coaching. Will they tell you the truth when you need to improve? Do they care? Someone has to have the experience to help you improve fast.
   2. Pre episode prep – testing with the guest? Creating a preview of the episode before publishing? Live option – If you want that. Vetting guests. Writing the post. Voiceover work? Template for each episode.
   3. Production – are they in the recording session? Voiceover work as the overall host – intro, commercial, outro? 
   4. Editing – what type of editing? How detailed? Can they correct bad audio when the guest chooses to show up from their car or in an airport? How do they recommend recording?
   5. Publishing – posting the episode to hit all podcast apps, creating guest packages – what’s included in the guest package? What about a type of “Boost” package for host and guest teams to share it out.
   6. Who orders the transcripts? Do they provide transcripts? What is the quality – AI or by hand?
   7. Who pays for hosting? Who owns all the hosting accounts, feeds, materials? Music license.
   8. Post – 2-3 months later – how are they going to help you use the content? Create a round-up post? What about milestones in your show – so many episodes, so many listeners, focus on topics – will they write those posts for you or will you?
2. Ask to talk to some of their hosts. Are they pleased with the results? What would they wish they’d known before they started this? Check out their presence on ListenNotes, Podchaser – are they all around?
3. Do they charge to update your commercials, intros/outros each time? What about if a host changes?
4. What is the turnaround time?
5. Is one person assigned to my account that we can talk with or is it all via email? Can we have recap meetings included?

Learn more about my courses at https://dmanc.org

We are regularly asked at Funnel Media Group how to jump-start a show's reach into new markets, and reach new audiences. This episode covers advertising, sponsors, and the change in best practices over the past two years. Consumer behaviors have changed - how they consume media. This is where our guest, Mary Ann Pruitt shines through her agency, Mosaic Media Agency. You will want to consider all of her insights and advice, as well as some great suggestions you can get started with today.

Who are we targeting?

How are we targeting?

What about the third-party cookie thing?

First-party data is available to you - you just don't realize it. It's time to invest in collecting your own first-party data.

Listen to this episode: Programmatic media buying has changed everything.

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About Mary Ann Pruitt

Mary Ann Pruitt is the CEO and President of Mosaic Media, a collection of media buying experts and creative strategists who negotiate, purchase, and monitor advertising space and airtime. Mary Ann started her career in media by working as a senior sales executive for some of the nation’s largest media outlets. After discovering her talent and love for all things media strategy, she founded Mosaic as a way to provide niche expert experience to agencies and marketing departments across the country.

Her hard work and savvy strategy skills have led Mosaic to year-over-year growth and has expanded her impact as an industry leader in all things traditional, digital, and everything in between. Reflecting this is a 2020 award from Cynopsis Media naming her as a Top Woman in Media.

Mary Ann has helped develop effective marketing strategies for agencies of all sizes, small businesses, service businesses, private educational institutions, and legal and professional services businesses along with many others. She is passionate about passing on the experience that she has gained to eager professionals looking for actionable marketing tips.

This episode was inspired by the great guests Interview Valet has been sending us for our hosts, and by a blog post, "Checklist Before You are a Guest on a Podcast". This episode covers expectations for guests hiring a podcast guest management firm, for those being contacted by them to have their clients on your shows, and what should be expected of all for a successful appearance on a show. You can read the post here. Listen to this conversation with my guest, Lasina Jensen, Client Success Team Manager at Interview Valet.

Please listen to this episode and share it out to your circles that are podcasts guests and hosts.

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About Interview Valet:

Interview Valet is the concierge-level podcast guest marketing service providing the fastest way for authors, speakers, coaches, consultants, and brands to maximize the benefits of podcasting.

Our premium white-glove solution takes care of everything but the speaking to reach your ideal audience with the least amount of snags or hassle.

Interview Valet's all-inclusive system empowers clients with interview preparation, Certified Guest™ training, and personalized attention that ensures you, the podcast guest and host, the best experience in the podcast industry.

In this 13 minute episode we cover our favorite podcast equipment and the reasons we prefer one over another. There are some additional items we suggest to give you a more professional look and sound.

• Podcast Microphones - Rode USB Condenser mic , Yeti
• RiversideFM has more ideas:

  If you’re on a tight budget or just want a mic that doesn’t have a huge learning curve, consider one of these plug-and-play USB microphones:

  • Rode Procaster ($250)
  • Rode NT-USB ($177) 
  • Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB ($80) 
• Webcams - Logitech BRIO
• Pop Filters and Mic Muffs
• Sound Panels
• Backgrounds vs. greenscreens (no link tells you we are not fans of greenscreens)
• Lighting kits article
• Recording Zoom vs. Riverside.fm
• Mixing boards article
• Amazon, BHPHOTO
• Headsets for recording and editing
• Teleprompters

RiversideFM has additional podcast equipment lists you may find helpful.

Need help with your set up or editing, let us know. susan@funnelradio.com

This episode covers one of the questions from the recent one with EJ and Nina in Funnel Feud. These are the top 8 answers given by 100 podcast hosts, guests, and team members. Aside from swearing, revealing too much, and other simple editing issues, why would a podcast host ask the guest for a do-over? We'll give you tips on how to work around these 8 common issues in this 13-minute episode. Email me for the recap graphic. If you have additional reasons, please tell us. You can find me on LinkedIn here or email me susan@funnelradio.com.

You know the music, you know how it works. Play along with our version - Funnel Feud to hear the answers to these questions:

1. What is a reason you would want a do-over with a guest?

2. What is the reason your podcast failed?

3. What is your favorite podcast equipment?

We asked 100 podcast hosts, producers and teams and the answers in this episode are what they said. You can get the full list from us - just email us. If you want to know our favorite equipment, we'll tell you that, too! It will be part of another upcoming episode on Behind The Mic - Funnel Media Group's favorite equipment and tools for producing podcasts.

Podcasting editors' tips from EJ Albaugh. EJ reminds us that if we can do a bit of practice we can save time and money with our editing solutions. Don't be afraid of a retake, and beware of Zoom twang when there are bandwidth issues for your host or your guest, or your producer.  If you listen to this and would like the podcaster's checklist magnet from Funnel Media Group, email producer@funnelradio.com with your mailing address and we'll get one to you. While you're at it, send us your podcast URL so we can check it out!

Taking advantage of search engine goodness, building communities of podcasters and their teams, as well as profiles for creators is what Podchaser's Dave Keine and Susan Finch talked about today on Behind the Mic. Do not miss the list of free tools, tips and ways to build your listenership and expand your audience demographics.

Tune in for this packed episode with free tools podcasters can use to expand their reach. There are two free tools we are going to cover in this episode:

Using Playlists to increase your exposure in the podcast venues including Spotify, Apple Podcasts/playlists, Podchaser, and the rest that give you that option.

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Using Podcast venue profiles to engage with a new audience, in particular Podchaser's creator and claim your podcast feature. There are so many ways just on Podchaser's site. By registering, you are able to make the news feed with your activity including Trending lists - How can you create a list that isn't just, "listen to me! Listen to me!"?

If you need help cultivating these lists, at least to start, contact Susan Finch at Funnel Media Group.

Sometimes guests are hard to secure during the holidays. Sometimes you are pulled in many directions and don't have the same time for your show. That's OK. Make the use of this time to improve your podcast for next season. Listen to these 10 tips you can start right away. 

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You can listen, or just jump to this list without the logic behind it:

1. Review all posted episodes for typos, check links.
2. Review your music, commercial, intro, outro. Is it time to freshen them up?
3. Is host info still current?
4. Verify your host and team have added to their LinkedIn profiles.
5. Can you do a few recap episodes - highlight reels to save production time during the holidays and year-end?
6. If these are in a drip campaign, test each drip, links, graphics to make sure they all work.
7. How does your show look in all the podcast venues?
8. Have you missed any or have new ones been added like Podchaser that you want to be listed in - it's free.
9. What about a "tell us your favorite episode" contest on social. Have them tell you a quote and a timestamp from an episode. Give out show swag. T-shirts, caps, etc.
10. Look at your stats and do a post on the top episodes for the year and top episodes for all time to link back to them - don't forget to mention those guests, their companies, and THANK THEM!

You created this great podcast, or so you thought, and you liked how it was set up, but not really. And you have new team members and they say, "I hate that software, I hate that platform, let's do something better." Or maybe even that platform went away or stopped being as effective, whatever the reason there's a need for a move. But there are some different types of moves. This episode is going to cover what you need to be aware of, how you can prep, and how you can avoid getting missed listeners and losing all your subscribers.

If you do need to move your show and this list is too daunting, reach out to Susan@funnelradio.com - The team at Funnel Media Group can help you with this transition so nothing is missed. 

Let's talk about television families.

The good: The Brady, the Flintstone, Huxtable, Barone, Evans, Drummond & Jackson, Addams, Munster, Cleaver, Duke, Clampett, Arnolds, Jetsons, Partidge, Carwright, Bradford, Cunningham, Ingals, and Kyle Families

Then the not so good but lovable Bluth, Simpson, Griffin, Bunker, Bundy, Belcher

And the bad. Soprano, Ewing, Roy, Dutton, Carrington, House of Lannister, and Fisher Families

When we talk about the Lone Ranger, yes, he had one support team member, surly as he could be from time to time. I'm sure he also shook his head at the guy he worked with at how ridiculous and helpless he could be.

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Now suppose instead, there was a group of equally intelligent, enthusiastic, genuine, articulate people that wanted you to succeed and that you wanted to succeed.  If there was a plan in place for all to support and succeed with minimal effort, wouldn't that be appealing?

What if there was a small group comprised of fans of all of you, and with skills - big skills - to share your podcast content with new audiences? Now you are no longer a Lone Ranger with a surly assistant, you are part of  supportive podcast family cheering you on and talking about you everywhere - to NEW people. Cool, huh?

I've run across pod squads, LinkedIn link pods and more. They are heavily vetted, and require that the members each promote each others' posts EACH day. that's a lot, especially if you are in more than one because you want the shares to be thoughtful.

Think of Funnel Media Group as your hand-selected Link Pod. Setting up some of the rhythmic routines of sharing frees you up as the outstanding host to personally connect with commenters, listeners, fans, guests, prospects. Our job is to keep the audience growing through the good social media ju-jus with honest, organic posts. 

Get more ideas in this episode and listen to our initiative to wind up the year with a heart - Pause for a Cause.

It's as much about the content as it is your voice. Many times I hear hosts that think they can just randomly start talking. Sometimes it's difficult to follow as they dart around taking tangents without ever completing a point or thought. They may have a fabulous voice, but what am I gaining by listening? I almost need a whiteboard to draw pictures and take notes to track them. Other hosts don't even realize how organized their thoughts are and naturally speak in a logical order providing a ton of helpful information, but their speech patterns, ambient noises, poor equipment make it difficult to hear their wisdom and insights. Both of these issues can be hedged off with a few simple tips.

Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by Susan Finch which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

There are over 1,000,000 podcasts, the vast majority, however, fail to get beyond the 8th podcast.  Veteran radio and podcast producer Paul Roberts discuss with Jim Obermayer how to avoid being in the graveyard of podcasters.

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This week’s Behind the Mike with Jim and Paul

Paul Roberts is the founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern California with over one million listeners a year.  Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached half a million listeners since its inception. 

Funnel Radio Channel's Behind the Mic is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Everyone wants more listeners, but realistically, you want more of the RIGHT listeners - those that will be affected by what you say, those that will share your show, and possibly consider your company and products to solve their problems.

But before we get to the list, let's go through a short checklist of what you should be doing to increase your reach in search, and increase your fans.

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1. Do you have catchy titles that give a clue what it is about? 2. Do you have a catchy 150 character description that tells what they will hear, the problem it will solve, and who the guest is? 3. Are you editing so everyone sounds good and you don't irritate listeners? 4. Are your topics and guests compelling to your target audience?

Here are the tips:

1. Create a way for listeners to sign up and receive updates via email when you post a new episode? RSS to email using GetResponse or similar.
2. Automatically post to your social accounts when you publish a new episode. IFTTT.com
3. Have a way to schedule promotions of past episodes. Agorapulse.com
4. Ask people to subscribe in EVERY episode at the end - your call to action CTA.
5. Send the guest a package and ask them to post it to their connections, followers, etc. all social accounts - you make it EASY for them.
6. Ask the guest 3 months later where they posted it on their site so you can promote it.
7. Ask your internal fans to share out episodes each time you publish.
8. Mention super fans in episodes, @mention them in social posts about it, thank them for being fans.
9. Include links to subscribe to your shows on a landing page on your main site with a player to binge listen to past episodes.
10. Include a link to your show in your signature, thank you pages after sign up, registration, newsletter subscriptions.
11. Include small call-out at the bottom of all newsletters that are emailed. 
12. Add as a part-time position in your LinkedIn profile to trigger alert to ALL connections. In that position, add the ways they can listen to your show with a link to each venue, if possible. Or take them to the landing page on your MAIN site with all of those app venue links.

This is one of the reasons podcasts fail - the host is selfish, lazy, inconsiderate. Listen in to learn how to avoid those pitfalls. Fair warning, you'll have some work to do including creating follow up schedules, promotions, writing a thank you note, spending money on editing and transcripts, and more. Join Susan Finch and Paul Roberts for this episode.

Many people want to do a podcast, but most don't know how to start. Funnel Media Group's VP of Operations, Susan Finch teaches regular courses through the DMANC - Direct Marketing Association's Northern California Chapter. Her most popular courses are on podcasting fundamentals and advanced troubleshooting for podcasts. This week she'll give us her 10 basic steps to launching a podcast in two weeks. It's not your typical list. This episode is for anyone tasked with revving up a podcast for their company, resurrecting a failed on, or exploring podcasting as a service to offer their clients.

Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Some say getting a guest for your podcast is easy, some say not so easy.  To understand how to get guests and manage expectations for both guest and host we talked with Sheena McKinney, executive assistant, and producer for Matt Heinz’s popular podcast Sales Pipeline Radio.  McKinney gives us a look behind the mic with guidelines and tips for guest acquisition for podcast producers.

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About Sheena McKinney

Sheena McKinney is the Executive Assistant to B2B Influencer (and busy) Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing and host of Sales Pipeline Radio.  She thrives on utilizing both natural and honed people plus, project management skills. For the Heinz Marketing headquarters, Sheena is the glue that holds everything together and one who makes things happen. 

With over 30 years of executive admin experience from a variety of sectors, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help keep everything running smoothly and does it with a smile.  One of her creative outlets (and superpowers) is making events and celebrations special, personal, and memorable.  She is detail-oriented but also creative.  She serves as the Finance, HR, IT, and Facilities Liaison and is the go-to for anything and everything office management and operations related for Heinz Marketing.

Sales Pipeline Radio/Podcast

Sales Pipeline Radio, each week features the brightest minds in B2B sales and marketing, sharing secrets to driving greater volume, velocity, and conversion of sales pipelines in any industry. SPR covers the entire pipeline– demand generation, lead management, sales effectiveness, technology, and more– all focused on helping you find, manage, and win more business. 

Sales Pipeline Radio is live on internet radio at 10:30 am PT time each Thursday (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada).  The host is Matt Heinz, founder of Heinz Marketing.

Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

We know podcasting helps businesses establish thought-leadership. During this program, Mark Coronna from Chief Outsiders reveals how his new podcast has helped his visibility. This show will appeal to those seeking thought-leadership branding for their company and themselves in a crowded market place.  

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About Mark Coronna - Chief Outsiders

Mark Coronna is an Area Managing Partner & CMO for Chief Outsiders. He is a globally experienced executive with a track record of helping businesses diversify, grow, and adopt innovative, cost-effective, high return marketing strategies.  With his experience as a Marketing, Sales, and Operations executive, Mark helps transform go-to-market programs. His passion is to help leadership teams accelerate revenues and profits.

He is also the host for the radio/podcast The Practical CMO.

Coronna has authored over 35 articles and four eBooks on topics such as building compelling value propositions, account-based marketing, and improving lead generation and qualification using an Intelligent Sales Pipeline  (https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/improving-lead-gen-ebook)

Mark can be reached at mcoronna@chiefoutsiders.com  612.554.0081, or linkedin.com/in/markcoronna 

Chief Outsiders 

Chief Outsiders, LLC is a nationwide "Executives-as-a-Service" firm, with 70 part-time, or fractional, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) engaged from coast-to-coast. Unlike other strategic marketing and management consulting firms, each CMO has held the position of VP Marketing or higher at one or more operating companies. Chief Outsiders have served on the executive team of over 850 client companies to drive growth strategy and execution plans for a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive.

Because of its market-based growth plans, quality of leadership, and experienced team, Chief Outsiders has been recognized for the past six years by Inc. Magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the US, and was recognized in 2019 as a Forbes Small Giant.

 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program the Funnel Radio Channel.    

There are many types of Podcasts, from drama to advice, and brand building to training. The behind the Mic Guys, Paul Roberts and Jim Obermayer, discuss the many types of podcasts that are popular with listeners.  This is for marketing and sales management in B2B companies.

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This week’s Behind the Mike with Jim and Paul

Paul Roberts, founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern, California with over one million listeners a year.  Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached half a million listeners since its inception. 

Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Marketers crave content, they are desperate for content, sometimes too desperate.  For this episode, the Behind the Mic Guys talk about why podcasts are the largest available source of content.  This podcast is for anyone that wants to offer insincere, storytelling, testimonial building, brand building, authentic content that can be used in 16 ways. 

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Behind the Mic's Podcast Guys

Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached half a million listeners since its inception.

Paul Roberts, founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern, California with over one million listeners a year.

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Introduction:                   You're listening to Behind the Mic on the Funnel Radio Channel. Listen as Paul Roberts, Susan Finch, and Jim Obermayer talk B2B podcasting tips for companies, speakers, authors, marketing teams, and the C suite.

Jim Obermayer:              Welcome to Behind The Mic. Today, we have me and Paul Roberts. To remind everyone, Paul Roberts produces all the programs in the Funnel Radio Channel. And on top of it, he has OC Talk Radio. That goes out to about 3 million people a year in Orange County, California, and a much broader audience. He has over 1 million downloads a year with all of his programs, including Funnel Radio, with the Santa Claus beard.

Paul Roberts:                   Yeah, right. My Lincoln beard. That's trying to ... Abraham Lincoln famously grew a beard when a little girl wrote him a letter and said, "You don't look very good. I think you'd look better if you cover up your face." So I think that same applies to me here.

Jim Obermayer:              We're going to talk about the many uses for podcasts from talk radio, to sales, marketing, HR, and customer service. There are long-term podcasts and short-term podcasts. There are over a million podcasts in the US now being offered, over a million. That's a big, big-

Paul Roberts:                   Big jump from when you and I started. It was a quarter that five, six, seven years ago, there were only 250,000 podcasts. People were still trying to figure this thing out.

Jim Obermayer:              And 29 million podcast episodes, so it's a substantial number, but you and I have found through the years that there are many types of podcasts. Why don't you take off here and talk to us about the many, many kinds of podcasts in both B2B and consumer?

Paul Roberts:                   Well, let's start with an understanding. This is a new medium, and that I say that, it seems obvious, but it wasn't obvious to me when I started. I'd been in real radio 100 years ago, WMYKK 94, and thought this was just recorded radio.

                                           This was something that we, like a radio show, you had a guest, you talked about a topic. The revolution was that was recorded and there were places storing these things you could do it. Webinars have been around as long or longer than podcasts, but there is no central repository for all the webinars taking place today. I don't know that you did a webinar unless you send me an invitation or you have it on your website, but I can go look up the podcast that you recorded today on iTunes, on Google, and a dozen other places, Stitcher, Spreaker, SoundCloud, and even places like iHeart that really were originally just for radio and music. Now they're collecting podcasts. Even Sirius XM is getting serious about podcasts. That's been the revolution in my understanding, that it's not just recorded radio. It's not just radio on demand.

                                           It really opens up a whole world of things. For example, we know there's millions of storytelling podcasts out there. That's not something we heard on radio since the 20s, these serialized stories like serial the murder, did he really do it or didn't he? Each and every week we take a dive into this. The Great American Life, all the NPR shows are so popular. Comedy, I don't hear much comedy on radio anymore here, but there's tons of comedy. Politics, of course, all these different sorts of topics.

                                           But types of shows, let's talk about internal versus external. There are a lot of people doing internal only podcasts. Cox Communication has one here in Orange County. They do a show. I don't produce it, but they do a show on meet our leaders and they get them to tell funny stories, insightful stories, tender touching stories so that you can actually feel like you get to know the people who run this company. They want to be a family, but it's an international organization spread out over multiple States, multiple countries. They don't have an opportunity to meet people. As we realize this is a new medium, we're finding new uses for it every day.

Jim Obermayer:              Well, one of the things that attracted me to your platform, Paul, 11 years ago, pushing 12 now, was that it is a show that is broadcast live at a certain time every week. That's how we started SLMA, which has 556 episodes as of today, 117,000 listeners give or take a few. It started as that, certainly live program with the podcast replays. Most podcasts, they do it whenever they feel like it and it's in the garage or it's in the company studio, and they post it, but it's not live. Tell us a little bit about live versus podcasts that just podcasts, not a live venue, then the recorded podcasts.

Paul Roberts:                   Having come out of real radio 8 years ago and discovering podcasting, I thought, "Well, on the surface is kind of like what we did. It's a half hour program, there's an interview. It's kind of like talk radio. What if we really did it live?" And everybody said, "Well, that's not what podcasting is. Podcasting is recorded and on demand." I said, "Well, you can still have that component, but what if you add a live component to it? What if you created a station where the Huffington Post, where we collect all these podcasts and we stream them live first and then turn them into a podcast. What does that do?" One, it finds an extra audience. I don't know why, but there are certain group of people that want to listen to things live. There's an urgency. As Mark Zuckerberg always says about Facebook, "You can see what my cat's doing anytime, but here's what my cat's doing right now."

                                           So this creates an urgency to listen, an urgency to participate right now. The second thing is it does, and I think this may be the most important thing, is it changes the whole perception of it. You want to be in my podcast? It's in your bedroom. I don't know when it's going to come out. Okay. But it doesn't sound real important. You want to be on a radio show, that means it's a collection of shows all being live that somehow has built up an audience for that station. Don't listen to just one show, they listen to multiple, and it's live.

                                           And the real thing that changes, it's how the guest reacts. If the guest comes on your podcast and you can start and stop and fix it up, there's not much pressure, but if it's live and it's going out to a certain number of people, it creates a whole different kind of conversation I think. And particularly in the guest's mind the importance of doing this, because they've told their friends and family and coworkers to listen. They're not sure how many listening, but they know some people who are listening and they will run red lights to get here.

                                           When it's just a recording, "I'm busy," they cancel all the time. It's just a recording session, book another one. So it changes the perceived importance and it changes their whole reaction to it. If part of what you're doing is trying to get big people to come on that you want to meet and start a conversation with and get to know, what a powerful way to do it if you do it live. Much more powerful than if you just recorded.

Jim Obermayer:              We found that to be true on the Funnel Radio Channel. When we talk about the kinds of podcasting, I guess it goes back to the reasons of why people do podcasts. Some people, granted, love to have a podcast that increases their brand and their thought leadership in the industry.

Paul Roberts:                   Exactly, look at who I know and look at what I know.

Jim Obermayer:              And they have their guests on and the guests help that. Those were very often talk radio type podcasts. Now you talked about one of the big telephone companies that has a podcast. Well, I know companies that the HR department has a podcast and it's private just for their employees.

Paul Roberts:                   Exactly, like Cox does. I was actually on a panel with them here at the American Marketing Association. That's where I got to know they were doing this. And they said, "We just bought the gear and we started doing this, and we didn't know anything about it, but we wanted to create a connection. We wanted to create a conversation. We really wanted people to get to know the executives in this company. So how could we do that? Everybody can't come in and meet them. We put them up on stage and they don't really feel like they know them. What can we do where they feel like they have an intimate connection with them?" And the podcast was a powerful way to do it. And they've tracked their employee engagement and all these other things, it's gone through the roof. People suddenly feel like, "I know these CEOs and executives, and I feel more connected to them."

Jim Obermayer:              Which means that sales people, sales managers, can do private podcast to train their people on new markets, new products, marketing people can do a series of podcasts every time they do a product introduction.

Paul Roberts:                   Yeah. Right. It all goes back to the way we see the world and interact with the world. I don't read as much as I used to, I'm sorry to say. I listen or I watch. Even books, I listen to them now rather than read them in the car because we've moved to a mobile smartphone society and on that three inch screen it's harder to read than it is to listen or watch. That device was really designed to talk originally and to communicate. Now it's also watching because it's on all the time.

                                           I don't know that we've adapted our marketing to fit that new medium. If that's where everybody's getting their information, if that's where they're learning about you and learning and downloading your information and doing their due diligence, if that's how they're getting to know you, then you've got to change all of your communication to be verbal or visual, and I think we're still living in a written world where we run, write pages and pages and pages of stuff. Maybe that's later where you give me the in depth info, but in the beginning, just talk to me and either show me, or tell me what you want me to know.

Jim Obermayer:              Or shows on the Funnel Radio Channel are indicative of what's going on out there to a great extent in B2B. We've got INSIDE Inside Sales, Darryl Praill. He's got probably an average of 5,000 to 6,000 listeners a month. It's just for inside, inside sales.

Paul Roberts:                   Right, as he says. Yeah.

Jim Obermayer:              He's bringing people, salespeople to the program, sales managers, and consultants to give tips to inside salespeople. He doesn't want tactics. He doesn't want strategy. He wants tips for inside sales people.

Paul Roberts:                   And don't you feel like you really get inside of his head, you really feel like you're in over listening on some intimate conversation? I mean, it's a very personal ... it doesn't feel like I'm watching a speech he's given. It feels like I'm really in a conversation with him or I'm listening to a conversation with ... I'm overhearing a conversation in the next booth here.

Jim Obermayer:              Some of the producers love to have those high numbers. Matt Heinz over at Heinz Marketing gets 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 people a month. People can find that's public knowledge. Every month people go and listen to his programs going back four and a half years. Can you believe that, Paul? Four and a half years we've been doing this for Heinz marketing

Paul Roberts:                   And he wouldn't do it just for fun. I mean, he's really into measuring and monitoring stuff. As all these guys are, he sees a real return on this stuff, and it isn't just the numbers. That's the mistake most people make. I don't care if it's your Twitter account, your Facebook, you can't just count how many people are subscribing or how many people are listening or watching. That's one metric, but the true metric is who's listening. It's not how many, it's who. If you only did a podcast and it reached only five people, but they were five big, important customers that you wanted to land or five important to counts that you already currently had, wouldn't it be worth the investment to have that kind of connection where they come back each and every week to listen to us? They make time in their busy schedule to listen to you for not 30 seconds, but for 30 minutes, where do you get that kind of access and uninterrupted conversation?

Jim Obermayer:              When I speak to people about having a new podcast, first things they say to me is, "How many people will listen to me?" I will say, "Well, how big is your audience?" We promote the programs. We do it on social media and we get them out there, but the people that are most interested in listening to you are the ones that know about your product category, that are on your database, that are your customers, that are your prospects, that go to listen to at speeches, and that's how they build it. Matt Heinz speaks all over the country and he still gets 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 people a month tuning into his podcast to see what he has to say.

Paul Roberts:                   And part of it is because it's a way to continue the conversation, not just the initial, meet me, here I am, listen to me. So he gives a speech in front of thousands of people at some trade show, okay, what's next? He packs up his dog and pony show and goes onto the next one here. But if he mentions to them, which I know he does, is, "You want to continue this conversation, listen to my podcast. You can certainly call me and schedule a meeting, happy to talk about that. But until that time, when you're ready to really sit down and talk to me about what I do, and if I can help you, you can keep connected to me. You can keep the conversation alive and going." For him, the introduction is to many of these people that they see in a trade show, the continuation of the conversation is the podcast. Too many people want it the other way round. They see it as just an ad to get leads.

Jim Obermayer:              Well, this week, for instance, he's got Jim Benton, the CEO of Chorus.ai on. They're talking about your hired just in time for a pandemic. Q&A with Chorus CEO, Jim Benton. That is an interesting show that I'm going to listen to right after this one. Then we've got Asher Strategies coming on right after that. They're talking to Joe Benjamin CEO, CheetahIQ. How to spend less time researching and more time selling. Paul, we're going to have to interrupt things just a second, because we've got some commercials we have to give here. And when we come back, let's pick it up again. Then you can launch on why podcasts are so popular today-

Paul Roberts:                   And so powerful.

Jim Obermayer:              And so powerful.

Paul Roberts:                   Yes, we do. And just a quick one to tell you that if you're intrigued by what we're talking about, you can join the conversation. You can start your own podcast. Have you ever thought about building your thought leadership? Have you ever thought about meeting people you couldn't otherwise connect with or creating content to fill up your website and your social media, then you've come to the right place. Funnel media makes podcasting easy. So you can be heard by hundreds or thousands or dozens or whoever you want to reach. Separate yourself from the crowd, contact Funnel media today to bring your story to life. We make it easy, convenient. You get the guest. We do the rest. We call it podcastmadeeasy.com, podcastmadeeasy.com. Let's do the rest of the conversation here.

Jim Obermayer:              Well, we forgot about West Virginia University. They're a new digital marketing communications Master’s program. They have a new program out there. West Virginia university has been on our program for a couple of years. Every week they have professors and consultants come in to talk about how they teach their students. It's fully online, can be completed in a year. You can get a Master's program. It's with built in certifications from platforms like Google and Facebook. The program gives marketing professionals both strategy and skills to reach audiences on existing and emerging media, learn more at marketingcommunications.edu. That is, Marketingcommunications.edu.

Paul Roberts:                   It's not easy to read all those letters. I try and do it every week.

Jim Obermayer:              Wvu.edu.

Paul Roberts:                   That's right. West Virginia university education. There it is, marketingcommunications.wvu.edu.

Jim Obermayer:              Let's finish up our discussion about podcasting, why it's so popular. I want you to talk about the other programs you have on OC Talk Radio. What are the other kinds of shows that you have on?

Paul Roberts:                   Well, let's talk about topics, because that's ... Most of our shows like the shows on Funnel Radio fit a certain format. They are to a certain degree like a talk radio show. And what makes them so interesting and informative is you're getting access to people you would never otherwise meet. You can't sit with those CEOs you just rattled off, but Matt Heinz can. And through him, you vicariously get to meet these people. Then it's a conversation. It's not just a scripted thing. They're really sharing some vulnerabilities. I think they get open. They get honest. They get real. Like most social media today, we're looking for authenticity by over just information. We want to know, get real about something, the problems today.

                                           Okay. Well, how do we handle the fact that we're bringing you salespeople online during probably one of the most difficult, horrible times to try and go out and sell anybody, anything here? How do you handle that? It's really a conversation and not just an infomercial.

Jim Obermayer:              What were the titles of some of your programs?

Paul Roberts:                   So, we've got programs like Talent Talk Radio. Talent Talk is a show about HR directors. It's a company that puts out a background checks. Truthfully, they probably just wanted to meet all these people and start a relationship with them, but in the course of doing so, they found out, "Oh my God, people really want to tune in and listen to this stuff, who knew?" HR people can be the dullest people on the planet, in my opinion, but it's such a complex topic these days and the show host is so good at getting them to get real and get past the happy talk. "Oh, everything's perfect. We got no problems."

                                           "Yeah. You're the only company in the world that doesn't then." How do you handle diversity? How do you handle all these issues that are hot button issues today here? And he gets them to open up and be real and really give some interesting insights. And he gets some really powerful people. It's amazing. He's had the HR director for Sears, for Vans, for Lockheed Martin, for Chipotle was on the other day. He had the HR director for General Motors on worldwide. You never get a chance to hear these people, so-

Jim Obermayer:              How can someone go to his program? Where can they find it?

Paul Roberts:                   They can go to OCtalkradio.net. Just click on the button for the program, it'll take them right to it there. And he's on, as all our programs, as all the programs that we syndicate from you and produce here locally, we're on iTunes, iHeart, TuneIn, Spreaker, SoundCloud, Stitcher, any place fine podcasts are found you can probably find ... you can probably find it multiple ways. You can look up the show, Talent Talk. You can look up our station and see the station feed with all of that, just as there is a Funnel feed for all the shows on the Funnel network. So all of those are ways to find them.

Jim Obermayer:              What are some of the other shows that you've got on? I know you've got a whole bunch of them on.

Paul Roberts:                   There's Riches And Niches. You ever heard that? We're not trying to get one show that gets 1,000,000 listeners. We're trying to have 1000 shows that get 1000 listeners. We're trying to own some subject, so we tend to drill down into very obscure things like alternative investment strategies. I didn't even know what that meant. I thought he was going to talk about odd ball things like baseball cards or coins. It turns out he interviews hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers, the people who come up with active investment strategies where they get in and get out of the market, no more timely topic today than that. They have many of these strategies, didn't see the giant downturns, because they're not just riding stocks and sticking them with them as they go up or down. They're trying to time the markets, trying to predict things, or they're trying to find things that don't fit the same patterns as the market.

                                           They're trying to find business development corporations, or commodities, or other things that aren't correlated to the rise and fall of the market.

Jim Obermayer:              Is the Charlie Hedges show?

Paul Roberts:                   Charlie Wright. And Charlie Wright's an RIA, registered investment advisor, means he manages rich people's money for a percentage. He's not a financial guy that's trying to get them to buy something. They'd give him, I don't know, 1% or 2% of their assets and say, "Go play with it and make us all more money here."

Jim Obermayer:              What's the Zandbergen Report.

Paul Roberts:                   Zandbergen Report is another type of financial show. He is a financial advisor and he again handles extremely wealthy people here in Newport Beach. And he tries to give a more broad based understanding of many of the things businesses face today, inheritance, trust funds. He's done shows on how do you ensure your high value vehicles and other oddball topics that I thought, "I don't know, I guess I never thought about that," but it's for that group of people, most of whom have suddenly come into wealth. They've sold their company, they went public, and now what do I do with all this money? So he helps them diversify it and not just invest it properly, but to create an entire plan, how they're going to preserve it and pass it on and protect it from taxes and all these things.

Jim Obermayer:              What's that program this morning that's on Thursday mornings before all the Funnel Radio Channel programs, the one at 8:00 AM.

Paul Roberts:                   Health Talks with Dr. Trinh. Dr. Trinh, he's on the board of Alzheimer's here locally. He's a physician at Memorial Care, big chain here, and also a clinical researcher. So very active speaker in the community. He does just an open talk about health issues every Thursday morning, and hundreds of people. We do that through his Facebook channel. We not only stream it live, but we also go live on his Facebook channel. And, oh my God, hundreds of people participate and want to know, "Should I wear a mask or shouldn't I? Is this going to go away, or isn't it? Tell me the facts from the fiction," and he tries to break it down and give what, as he said, is an ever changing story on an ever changing subject here, but he tries to sift through it and simply tell you. So, that's more of a community based show. We have a lot of specific niche shows.

Jim Obermayer:              What about Collective Wisdom? What is that all about?

Paul Roberts:                   Collective Wisdom, the collective wisdom of ... Now, that's a topic I'm sure is near and dear to your heart here, Jim. It's the cannabis industry, the business of cannabis. Cannabis is a multibillion dollar business that's being born before our eyes. And as you can imagine, there's lots of rules and regulations being written as we speak. It's the Wild West. There are people who literally are going to make billions out of this, but there are people who are losing billions right now because they don't understand the complexities. They can't get credit cards because it's still federally prohibited. So banks won't let them, so it's a cash based business. Yet they're trying to be legitimate to retail stores, all sorts of craziness.

Jim Obermayer:              Me made good on our promise today that there are many uses for podcasts, from talk shows to sales and marketing and HR.

Paul Roberts:     And don't just think of it as a talk show. We do 99% of our talk shows, because that's what we all understand. That's the easiest to produce, but it could be a series. It could be a series that you sell. It could be a series of internal conversations. It could be a series like a giant ebook that explains something in great detail. Here's the four stages of growth. Here's the five steps to doing this. It can be fun. It can be informative, and it can be short. It can be long. It can be individual episodes or an arc of a story, but it's a new way of storytelling, which is what we're all looking for over a new medium that we all carry with us. That smartphone that's with you 24 hours a day, that's how you talk to people

The demands on marketing are increasing exponentially.   Technology and AI are opening new lead gen, and branding opportunities, finding staff to use the technology is outgrowing a company’s ability to pay for them.  Our guest is Stacy Gentile, partner at Martivia.  This program is for C-Level Executives and Marketing Management.

About Martivia: Marketing on Demand

 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program   on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

B2B Podcasts have matured to reach a passionate narrowcast audience.  The Two Podcast Guys, Paul Roberts, and Jim Obermayer discuss the differences between broadcasting and narrowcasting and the benefits of narrowcasting for B2B Makreters.    This program’s audience is every B2B marketer.

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This week’s Podcast Guys

Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached a half a million listeners since its inception.

Paul Roberts, founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern, California with over one million listeners a year.

Funnel Radio Channel is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.  It is hosted by James Obermayer, Paul Roberts and Susan Finch. 

We’d all like to know the immediate future. Marketing veteran Darryl Praill predicts what will occur in the world of sales in this episode of Funnel Radio. This short episode is for C-Level executives, specifically sales managers and salespeople.

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About Darryl Praill

Praill is the host of the hugely popular podcast, INSIDE Inside Sales on the Funnel Radio Channel.

He also serves as Chief Marketing Officer of VanillaSoft, is a high-tech marketing executive with over 25 years’ experience spanning startups, re-starts, consolidations, acquisitions, divestments, and IPO’s. He has been widely quoted in the media including television, press, and trade publications. He is a guest lecturer, public speaker, and radio personality and has been featured in numerous podcasts, case studies, and best-selling books.

Praill is a former recipient of the coveted Forty Under 40 Award and has held senior executive roles in leading companies including Sybase, Cognos (now IBM), webPLAN (now Kinaxis), and CML Emergency Services (now AIRBUS). He has raised over $50 million in venture funding across multiple organizations and consulted with world-class corporations including Salesforce, SAP, and Nielsen. He is a Computer Science graduate from Sheridan College.

 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Yeah, yeah these are difficult times, but marketers are always faced with difficult times.  It is every marketer's job to over-come difficult times, be it market crashes, governments that stop buying, recessions, product failures, competitors, international meltdowns, hurricanes, tornadoes. 

As marketers, we've been there and done that and always found a way to recover because that's what we do.  That's why we were hired. We perform in the most difficult of times.  During this show Matt Heinz talks about:

• "These are the times," Matt says, "Where there is a separation of marketers who understand what it is to create a market versus those in it for the quick win."
• This is a time for great examples of empathetic and generous brands to create value
• We will look back in six months and see those marketers that were investing in their future or which were fearful of their present
• Will you accept your responsibility to rebuild your business?  Your country?  Will you be yourself, which is the builder of wealth for your company or just go after the quick win and abandon your principles?

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About Matt Heinz

A prolific author and nationally recognized, award-winning blogger, Matt is President and Founder of Heinz Marketing and the host of Sales Pipeline Radio where his listener base tops 105,000.

  More Matt Heinz

  Virtual Sales Training: How To Support Your Now Entirely Virtual Team

  Coronavirus, Trade Shows and Value vs Venue

 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio  Channel.    

Pivoting to Remote Work: How to Keep Your Team Healthy and Productive in the Wake of Coronavirus

David Kreiger, President of SalesRoads, shares his advice on how to manage your teams remotely. Kreiger has successfully used this as his business model for 13 years and has advice for large and small businesses that are confronted with this challenge.

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From David Kreiger

Since our inception 13 years ago, SalesRoads has been an entirely remote company. Over that time, we have perfected the art of managing and motivating a remote team. We have been named to the INC5000 and been named a Great Place to Work 4 years running.

We want to share our knowledge with other professionals and business leaders so they can keep their teams healthy, safe, and productive.

The Knowledge We Want to Share

• The technological infrastructure you need to take your team remotely
• How to motivate and coach a remote team
• How to manage and hold a remote team accountable
• How to structure effective meetings with remote employees
• What good communication looks like remotely
• Addressing feelings of isolation and loneliness when working from home
• How a remote work environment can allow people to be more productive and have higher job satisfaction
• The benefits for an organization of having a remote work environment
• How to create, maintain and foster a vibrant company culture in a remote setting

About David Kreiger

David Kreiger is the Founder and President of SalsRoads, a B2B appointment setting, lead generation, and sales outsourcing company. He has been named as one of The Most Influential Leaders in Sales & Lead Management by the SLMA the last four years in a row.

Although the health effects of the coronavirus are top of mind, there is a secondary concern hiding behind the figures on testing and fatality rates. The secondary concern is, of course, its effect on the economy. As many organizations are forced to pivot to a distributed model in order to keep their teams healthy in the wake of the coronavirus, the concern then becomes; how do I keep my team productive?

To mitigate the economic effects of the new global pandemic, learning to effectively manage a remote team should be top of mind for every business leader.

Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Yes, each of us has a thousand stories. Since getting into the business of producing podcasts, I have found that podcasting and broadcasting, in general, are a natural medium for storytellers.

For this podcast on the Funnel Radio Channel, we discussed the importance of storytelling in radio podcasting.  We know instinctively that anecdotes fuel conversation, and Darryl Praill, CMO of VanillaSoft and the host of INSIDE Inside Sales, called into the program and talked about how the beginning of each of his podcasts generally starts with a personal story of his own. He then explained how that story is interwoven with the interview of his guest.

Jeanne Hopkins, CMO of Lola.com, called into the show talked about her podcast, Table Fries, where she interviews the women in her company. Jeanne says she doesn’t tell stories herself. Instead, she likes hearing the stories of the women in the company: how they came to be a part of Lola, what they’re doing now, and what they want to accomplish.

Susan Finch, VP of Operations at the Funnel Radio Channel, talked about the joy of storytelling and its impact on the listener and the storyteller. Susan has been involved in several thousand podcasts on the channel and she said that in the process of telling a story the storyteller becomes animated and it becomes something the audience follows and enjoys.

There is something about two people brought together in a podcast, maybe separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, who discuss the problems and challenges of the day. When these thoughts are shared with thousands of others who seek to know how to overcome their own tests, it becomes personal for everyone.

While many people hope their podcast will relate to people—maybe establish their own thought leadership or enhance their personal brand or the brand of the company—most of them realize after they get into it that it’s all about storytelling.  It’s personal and compelling, sometimes humorous, and often entertaining, but seldom dull.

Today, there are official storytellers employed by companies to promote the art of storytelling in business. Some courses and workshops teach people what they already know deep down inside: people thrive on stories.

In business, old salespeople have taught young salespeople that the secret to success as a salesperson is the ability to tell a credible story about themselves or maybe about their products and services. And now, young marketers are finding out that podcasts are a natural medium for them and their companies.

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 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a   program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

• How to get your book written in just a few months
• Why you will get an ROI on the book that is 400% - 2,000%?
• What is the right length for your book and the right number of words?
• Why a book is the number one strategy every consultant needs to be successful?
• How to choose one of the three options to publish your book
• He describes the “trifecta” which ensures a successful book
• How to avoid the misery approach to publishing a book
• And yes, there is a formula to publishing a book

 Henry DeVries CEO of Indie Books International

Henry DeVries, MBA, is an author, educator, and business owner. He is the CEO and co-owner of Indie Books International, a company he co-founded in 2014, which has published more than 120 titles by business leaders. He works with independent consultants who want to attract more high-paying clients by marketing with a book and a speech. As a speaker, he trains authors on 16 ways to gain more paid speech bookings. Clients who have implemented his proprietary systems have reported a marketing ROI of 400% to 2,000%, with some making more than $1 million.

DeVries is the former president of a $40-million Ad Age 500 advertising agency and was an assistant dean of continuing education for UC San Diego Extension, a $45-million non-state funded unit of the University of California. As a professional speaker, he annually trains business leaders on how to persuade prospects, job candidates, and investors through a proprietary storytelling methodology.

In the last ten years, he has helped ghostwrite, edit and co-author more than 300 business books, including his McGraw-Hill bestseller How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett – now in five languages including Chinese. He is a paid weekly columnist with Forbes.com and was formerly the careers columnist for the San Diego Union Tribune. He is personally the author or co-author of eleven marketing books including Closing America’s Job Gap, Self-Marketing Secrets, Marketing With a Book, Persuade With a Story, Defining You, Build Your Consulting Practice, and Client Attraction Chain Reaction.

The former president of the UC San Diego alumni association, DeVries earned his bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 1979, his MBA degree from San Diego State University in 1998, and completed multiple certificate programs at the Harvard Business School in the early 2000s. He has held adjunct faculty appointments at UC San Diego and Cal State University Northridge and has guest lectured at Columbia University, University of San Diego, and San Diego State University.

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 Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is 

 program on the Funnel Radio Channel.      

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Did you know that on average only 25% of B2B sales managers have a sales plan? Aside from a forecast, compensation plan, and territory alignments and additions, 75% of sales managers aren’t creating a written, objective-strategies and tactics plan similar to a marketing plan. A sales forecast is not a sales plan.

Our guest this week, Matt McKnight, Founder of McKnight Advisors LLC, a Sales Xceleration Partner, says few managers have a SWOT, customer plan, target market programs, territory expansion strategies, a tactical action plan, customer attrition and margin calculators, product introduction schedules, or a multi-year revenue plan. In other words, they are flying blind and hoping to make forecast. Hope is not a sales plan. Listen and learn.

Our Guest Matt McKnight

Matt is the President and Founder of McKnight Advisors LLC, a Sales Xceleration Partner.  His firm helps customers launch, expand or improve their sales operations to accelerate revenue growth. With a 30-year history of sales leadership, Matt has extensive experience and success in start-up, private and public companies. His company’s approach is based on accountability, transparency, integrity, and trust focusing on the people, process and strategy to achieve sustained growth for its customers.

Matt McKnight can be reached at 847.867.5963 and at mmcknight@salesxceleration.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mcknight-2463121/

Sales Xceleration Background (www.salesxceleration.com)

With over 100 Advisors across North America, Sales Xceleration provides outsourced sales consultants to small businesses and mid-sized corporations that want to drive revenue growth.  In 2019, Inc. magazine announced that Sales Xceleration is No. 2353 on its Annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. 

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Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

This show focuses on the advantages of personal branding by using podcasting as a medium to reach listeners on an authentic personal basis.  Contributors are Paul Roberts our producer/ station manager of the Funnel Radio Channel shows and Susan Finch, Vice President of Operations at our own Funnel Media Group.  During this program we discuss:

• The definition of personal branding.
• Why is it important?
• How was personal branding done in the past?
• What makes podcasting the most popular personal branding vehicle?
• How LinkedIn fits into personal branding.
• Why a resume is a person’s past performance - what have you done lately?
• How personal branding is what you carry forward and plan for the future.
• How podcasts are long-form storytelling media.

• There are 700,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million podcast episodes.
• 165 million people (51% of the US population) have listened to a podcast and 32% are monthly podcast listeners 
• 22% of Americans, about 103 million people are weekly podcast listeners
• Podcasting has the best engagement rate among any consumption medium including T.V., FM/AM radio, owned music, and steamed music
• Podcast listeners are 45% more likely to have a college degree and 68% more likely to have a post-graduate degree.
• Podcast listeners are much more likely to be high net-worth individuals; 37% are more likely to have an income of $100,000+.
• The podcasting audience is gender-balanced.
• The average podcast listener listens to 7 different shows in an average week and subscribes to 6 different shows.
• Weekly podcasts are the most popular for frequency and reach vs. once a month or bi-weekly.

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Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.    

Direct Marketer and Cartoonist Stu Heinecke reveals how it is possible to use direct marketing techniques to achieve a 100% response rate by salespeople asking for meetings. In his previous book, How to Get a Meeting with Anyone: The Untapped Selling Power of Contact Marketing (2016) Heinecke discuss his campaign strategies which have brought his clients to unprecedented success in obtaining meetings with people unknown to the salesperson.

In ”Get the Meeting” he steps up further to reveal details about techniques and campaigns (which can be a campaign of one to one). He says that this isn’t only a marketing book. His concepts can work for an individual or hundreds of salespeople.

About Stu Heinecke

Stu Heinecke is a bestselling business author, a hall of fame-nominated marketer and one of The Wall Street Journal cartoonists.

In How to Get a Meeting with Anyone (2-2016), he introduced the world to "Contact Marketing," which uses micro-focused campaigns to connect with critically-important accounts and prospects.

Using the twenty categories of contact campaigns in the book, readers have gone on to produce explosive scaling of careers, businesses and lives. In Even More Outrageous Ways to Get a Meeting with Anyone (10-2019), Heinecke adds more techniques, tips and strategies, more than sixty illustrated case studies, an updated Contact Marketing model that sets a new baseline for response--at 100%--and introduces "Pocket Campaigns" as a replacement for business cards.

Get the Meeting!: An Illustrative Contact Marketing Playbook with detailed case studies. • Kindle $14.49 • Paperback $24.95

Stu Heinecke can be reached at CartoonLink

“A lot of companies don’t think of marketing as builders of wealth,” says Matt Heinz.  “Marketing done the right way can generate not just sales, not just revenue impact, but significant profit for the organization.”

In this fast-paced interview, Matt discusses how marketing acquires the mentality of being a profit center for the company.  He touches on how marketing must foster a culture of revenue responsibility.  He covers:

• Why the leverage marketing has is enormous
• Why marketing spends too much time on tactical measurement, not enough time thinking about revenue responsibility
• Technology is not your strategy, technology is an enabler of your strategy
• How marketing creates value across the entire funnel not just the top of the funnel
• The biggest obstacle for most companies to embrace revenue marketing is external, not internal
• Most marketers think of marketing as the marketing of more: more clicks, more leads, more likes more impressions, and more may not be better

About Matt Heinz

A prolific author and nationally recognized, award-winning blogger, Matt Heinz is President and Founder of Heinz Marketing with 20 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of organizations and industries. He is a dynamic speaker, memorable not only for his keen insight and humor but his actionable and motivating takeaways.  Matt’s career focuses on consistently delivering measurable results with greater sales, revenue growth, product success, and customer loyalty. Matt is a repeat winner of Top 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management and Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers.  Matt restored his 105-year-old historic farmhouse in Kirkland, Washington with his wife, Beth and shares it with three young children, a dog, two rabbits, and seven chickens

Matt is the host of Sales Pipeline Radio

About Heinz Marketing

PIPELINE STRATEGY + MARKETING EXECUTION

Grow your B2B business. Increase your pipeline. Reach more of your customers.

Heinz Marketing is a B2B marketing and sales acceleration firm that delivers measurable revenue results. Every strategy, tactic, and action has a specific, measured purpose. Most firms focus on their activities. We promote the outcomes.

We are sales pipeline strategy people at heart – math marketers and sales strategists who embrace revenue responsibility. We know that what really matters is sales pipeline, closing business and accelerating revenue. Period.

Our proven methodology delivers real B2B results based on buyer insights, market-driven best practices, and rapid feedback loop to improve and sustain the results you see.

•  DEMAND GENERATION
•  PIPELINE MANAGEMENT
•  SALES ENABLEMENT
•  CONTENT STRATEGY
•  INSIDE SALES EFFECTIVENESS
•  MARKETING TECHNOLOGY

 Heinz Marketing Inc  8201 164th Ave NE #200Redmond, WA98052   877-291-0006

 www.heinzmarketing.com

Heinz on LinkedIn

In the chaos of the marketing and sales tech stack, it is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case.

Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience  and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month.

McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people. 

Seleste Lunsford, Chief Research Officer of CSO Insights discusses the startling results of their latest World-Class Sales Performance Study: All that Glitters is Not Gold, with Funnel Radio host Jim Obermayer.  Lunsford talks about how the respondents in the study reported increases in quota attainment and revenue last year, however, key metrics show a decrease in adherence to sales best practices from previous studies.  The authors of the study state that there is possibly a misleading nature of sales effectiveness metrics collected from the nearly 1,000 sales organizations.   Is this a canary in the coal mine scenario?

The survey shows that world-class sales organizations have systems driving performance that smaller organizations lack.

1. Why is the report so important this year?
2. What was the triggering event that prompted the study?
3. Is this study generally only about companies with large ticket products and services?
4. What are the most startling results?
5. What are the sales effectiveness metrics that alarmed you?
6. Does the study tell the reader what to do about the failures?

 About the report and how to get a copy:  

“All that glitters is NOT GOLD” 2019 World-Class Sales Practices Study

Sections:

Section I: The Deceptively Shiny State of Sales

Section II: Customer Engagement

Section III: Performance Support

Section IV: Strategy Alignment

Study Parameters:

The 2019 World-Class Sales Practices Study collected data from more than 1,500 respondents from January through March 2019. The analysis was conducted on responses from 949 sales leaders. This sample was global in nature and spans across B2B industries, with particularly strong representation from the technology, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, and banking/finance sectors.

GET THE REPORT

GET THE REPORT SUMMARY

About Seleste Lunsford

Seleste Lunsford has consulted with sales and service organizations for more than 20 years, helping them acquire, grow and retain client relationships. As Managing Director of CSO Insights, Seleste guides CSO Insights’ research focus areas and define its market deliverables.

She has co-authored two books, “Secrets of Top-Performing Salespeople” and “Strategies that Win Sales.” She’s proud to have supported some of the world’s most recognized companies including AAA, Alliance Bernstein, American Express, Arrow Electronics, Citibank, Convergys, U.S. Department of Defense, Office Depot, Traveler’s Insurance, and Verizon Wireless.

About CSO Insights

Independent research backed by one of the world’s premier selling and service brands

 CSO Insights is the independent research arm within Miller Heiman GroupTM, dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B2B sales. The CSO Insights team of respected analysts provides sales leaders with the research, data, expertise, and best practices required to build sustainable strategies for sales performance improvement. CSO Insights’ annual sales effectiveness studies, along with its benchmarking capabilities, are industry standards for sales leaders seeking operational and behavioral insights into how to improve their sales performance and to gain holistic assessments of their selling and sales management efficacy. Annual research studies address sales and service best practices, sales enablement and sales performance optimization.

It is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case. 

Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month.  This except is taken from his original program which can be heard here:

McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people. 

Let’s face it, we’d all like to think we’re great leaders, but thinking isn’t getting and I’ve heard managers admit that deep inside, they have doubts about their ability to lead. Our guest today, Professor Bryan Bennett,  believes that inside of every manager there can be Superpowers if tapped and nurtured. In this program with host Jim Obermayer, Professor Bennett tells us why you have superpowers that can be accessed and appreciated by your team. Professor Bennett is an author, professor, consultant and data scientist.

• What are leadership superpowers?
• How did you arrive at this concept?
• How many of these superpowers does a leader need to have to be effective?
• Explain how leaders can obtain these superpowers?
• Who are some of the leaders you’ve met who possess some of these superpowers?
• Are there any limitations to these superpowers?

 About Our Guest

Professor Bennett is the Executive Director and founder of the Healthcare Center of Excellence. He is the primary researcher and blogger for the Center of Excellence website as well as a blogger for the HIMSS Future Care website on the subjects of Big Data and healthcare technology transformation.

Professor He is a course developer and adjunct professor for Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies where he is responsible for the development and teaching of predictive analytics management courses for international and domestic markets. He also teaches consumer behavior for West Virginia University’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program as well as leadership and analytics courses for Judson University’s Management and Leadership program.

Author He is the author of Competing on Healthcare Analytics: The Foundational Approach to Population Health Analytics. The book is a practical guide to implementing population health analytics and makes a clear argument for how an analytics initiative should be implemented using his foundational approach.

Consultant / Data Scientist

He started the Center of Excellence after hearing the challenges healthcare executives were having to implement predictive analytics programs. Many were concerned with ‘reinventing the wheel’ when it comes to analytics since successes experienced by other healthcare organizations were not being shared and they were challenged with identifying and keeping analytical talent. He is a certified data scientist and certified lean six sigma green belt.

Miller Heiman Group, the flagship 40-year-old company in the sales training and consulting space, has introduced integration of “Scout” for Microsoft Dynamics. In this program, Dana Hamerschlag, Chief Product Officer of Miller Heiman Group, discusses how Scout improves daily sales productivity and CRM compliance which frees up face to face sales time.  Hamerschlag also explains what tools sellers should focus on to get the most out of their CRM.

About our Guest

Dana Hamerschlag is the Chief Product Officer with Miller Heiman. In her role at Miller Heiman Group, Dana leads the global product organization and is driving the continued innovation of technology solutions.

Dana brings more than 15 years of experience in technology companies backed by venture capital and private equity, where she has run product management, product marketing, strategy, and operations. Previously, she served as Vice President of Product Management at Ellucian, where she led the CRM business and significantly grew revenue from $0 to $38 million, paving the way for a $3.5 billion transaction.  Dana spent the early part of her career at The Boston Consulting Group.

 About Miller Heiman Group

 Miller Heiman Group is the global leader in providing organizations sales methodology plus sales technology to drive revenue and change business outcomes. The company’s training, consulting, technology and research solutions align process, people, tools, data, and analytics to prepare sales and service organizations for the future of selling. For more information, visit www.millerheimangroup.com.

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Funnel Radio is hosted by James Obermayer and sponsored by the radio/podcast company the Funnel Media Group LLC.

Seleste Lunsford, Chief Research Officer of CSO Insights discusses the surprising results of their latest Sales Performance study with Funnel Radio host Jim Obermayer. She talks about how the 900  companies in the study report that 95% are on their revenue plan and yet other parts of the report show some disturbing sales performance outcomes that show there could be trouble on the horizon. It appears companies are hiring more sales reps, but sales performance is down per rep; this means sales expenses are up and with any downturn there will be large problems.

About the report and how to get a copy:  

Selling in the Age of Ceaseless Change: 2018-2019 Sales Performance Study.  

Sections:

• Revenue Are up Sales Performance is Not.
• Customer-Centricity Separates Top-Performing Organizations
• Lead Generation Suffers from Organization Silos
• Planning improves New Account Capture
• Account Renewals Dominate Revenues
• Win Rates of Forecasted Deals Vex Sales Leaders

Roughly 900 global sales leaders were surveyed to identify the four main objectives underpinning their performance improvement efforts in the coming 12 months. These main objectives were improving lead generation, capturing new accounts, expanding penetration into existing customers, and increasing win rates. The purpose of this report is to show how sales organizations today are performing in terms of these objectives, how that compares to recent years and what successful companies are doing that’s working for improving sales performance.

GET THE REPORT

GET THE REPORT SUMMARY

About Seleste Lunsford

Seleste Lunsford has consulted with sales and service organizations for more than 20 years, helping them acquire, grow and retain client relationships. As Managing Director of CSO Insights, Seleste guides CSO Insights’ research focus areas and define its market deliverables. An experienced business leader, Seleste has led a range of consulting, product development, professional services and operations functions.

She has co-authored two books, “Secrets of Top-Performing Salespeople” and “Strategies that Win Sales.” She’s also written articles on sales effectiveness found in Selling Power, Entrepreneur, Chief Learning Officer and PharmaVoice, as well as DestinationCRM.com and HR.com. She’s proud to have supported some of the world’s most recognized companies including AAA, Alliance Bernstein, American Express, Arrow Electronics, Citibank, Convergys, U.S. Department of Defense, Office Depot, Traveler’s Insurance and Verizon Wireless.

Seleste earned both her bachelor’s degree and MBA from Florida State University.

_______________________________________________

Funnel Radio is hosted by James Obermayer and sponsored by the radio/podcast company the Funnel Media Group LLC.

Ahh, the sweet promise of Sales Enablement.  If only the right content could be created to support what salespeople really need to sell.  If only sales training were more than product training. If only sales enablement enabled salespeople to be the best that they can be. If only the marketing and sales people could talk to each other to discuss sales enablement. If only sales enablement would benefit the prospect. 

Our guest this week, the Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark says all of this is not only possible but when solved it brings a ROI that any CFO would be proud to claim.  Find out about the three baskets of measurement that Jim and Brainshark say are not only possible, but expected when Sales Enablement is done right.

Jim Ninivaggi Chief Readiness Officer

Leveraging more than 30 years of B2B sales productivity expertise, Jim leads Brainshark’s sales enablement and readiness strategy. Jim previously worked as a sales enablement analyst with SiriusDecisions, where he provided clients with data, insight and thought leadership to maximize sales effectiveness and accelerate revenues. Today, he uses his knowledge and expertise to prepare the Brainshark sales force with the knowledge and skills to optimize every buyer interaction.

For nearly two decades, our solutions have helped companies improve the way they communicate with, educate and inspire their customer-facing teams.

Today, we’re proud to provide our customers with the most comprehensive, proven platform for sales enablement and readiness.

More Ninivaggi  from Sales Pipeline Radio on the Funnel Radio Channel

In the chaos of the marketing and sales tech stack, it is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case.

Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience  and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month.

McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people. 

Click to hear all programs sequentially.  Or click on the program links below to listen to individual 25 minute podcast replays of the live program.  

These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 29th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast.  

Quite a broadcast day for our 5th Thursday of the month.  Patrick Morrissey and Mat Singer kick it off on Predictable Revenue Radio with the topic - Making Sales Enablement Work for 2,000 salespeople. Mari Anne Vanella welcomes Dan Sixsmith on Outstanding Outbound tackling What Sales Leadership is in Denial About. Insights from Leading SMB & CRM Pundit Gene Marks on CRM Radio with host, Paul Petersen. Matt's guest is Gillian Muessig, CEO & Co-Founder Outlines Venture Group  @SEOmom Topic: B2B Start-up Sales Lessons, Mistakes & Best Practices. Kyla and John talk about Five Factors Creating Elite Sales Mindsets on Asher Sales Sense. WVU MarComm today closes out with host, Cyndi Greenglass and her guest, Larry Stultz talking about Ideation Techniques, Concept Development and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Join us and listen live or catch replays from any of our shows.

https://goo.gl/ozSFsP

https://goo.gl/fSiqWv

https://goo.gl/LMDTDh

https://goo.gl/NSRAcg

https://goo.gl/8EHc4f

https://goo.gl/Muf8i2

Podcasts continue to be a hot digital vehicle to reach at-work and away from work listeners. As webinars have waned in usefulness, radio podcasts have surged as the digital media with long tails to build thought leadership, a personal brand and a network that knows of you and your company. It is a friendly, entertaining, non-threatening, fountain of information. 

Podcasts  break through social media and lead generation clutter by connecting with the audience in an authentic manner. Some say social media and podcasting are the new resume.

But before you jump in-front of a microphone and spend 2-4 hours of recording and editing, give some thought about what it takes to be a successful podcaster.

For those new to podcasting, you probably may not realize it, but B2B podcasts from you and your company create multi-use content, testimonials, thought leadership, and relationships with industry leaders. Plus, podcasts create a personal brand for the host. Podcasts introduce you and your products to thousands of potential customers and those that refer customers, but there are five things you must have in mind to be a success. At the Funnel Media Group, publisher of the Funnel Radio Channel, after producing dozens of podcast programs with hundreds of thousands of listeners, we have found the following to be needed before you start your podcast.

1. You must be consistent: To gain followers (listeners and subscribers) you must produce a show that they can follow with regularlity. Once a month programming is very good, twice a month for moderately sized companies provides more visibility and a following. Weekly programs published from large companies and marketing departments are better when they can use the enormous amount of content which comes from each podcast.  
2. Decide why you are doing a podcast. Decide what your goals are before you start. Podcasting is about building and conversing with an audience. And as Jason Calicanis once said, “Audience equals power.” Do you want to introduce yourself to movers and shakers in your industry by interviewing them?  Do you want to build a personal brand? A podcast can create great testimonials for you and your company. Do you want to build a network of people that follow you?  How about creating content for your marketing efforts such as ebooks, nurture content, case studies, blog entries? Some podcasters have hundreds of listeners and they are happy, some thousands per episode.
3. Your show needs professionalism: Sound, host and announcer quality are important.  Music introductions, transcripts, separate announcers and commercials add interest and entertainment value. A professionally produced podcast from an agency that specializes in podcast production  can produce a podcast for the host and company including the storage site, studio, announcer, music, artwork, embeddable code, etc., for as little as $500 per episode.  You do not have to have an announcer voice, but you do have to be interesting, don’t take yourself too seriously, and remember if you have a guest, it is about the guest.
4. Content must be interesting: It is entertainment after all, don’t lose sight of this. Listeners want to learn in an entertaining way, it is expected. Entertainment has more to do with the guest and a tightly edited program than humor and sound effects. Each program’s title and its content must be stimulating and worth the time invested by the listener. Programs with “How-To” or similar titles are the most popular and long lasting. Using an industry personality’s name may help, but you have to use a giant name such as Marc Benioff in the title to benefit from it.
5. The ideal show length: An ideal program length should be determined by how much time a listener will give you. An hour is too long (most producers will agree) because the listener has probably reached their destination, come in from walking the dog or run their training circuit. 22-30 minutes is ideal for the listener who listens on a mobile device away from work. Longer than that and your guests may also run out of things to talk about; keep it short and less boring.

1. Hope is not a strategy. Use the content, don’t just record and post it and hope someone finds you. Your company can use the content many ways. Podcasts produce a plethora of content option such as testimonial quotes, blogs, nurture messages, ebooks, hard cover books, guest websites, white papers or case studies.
2. It takes time to build a following and network, but once build, you’re golden: Whether it is your company name or your name, it takes more than a few episodes to build a following. At 6-12 episodes, people recognize the company and that you are hosting a regular podcast. With each succeeding show you gain listeners, followers and a reputation. Considering how little time you put into a podcast (22-30 minutes a show) it’s a good investment.  How to Measure Podcast Contributions to Revenue.
3. Guests are easy to get:  Guests want the exposure as much as you do. 90-95% of the people you ask to be guests will agree. With over 500 executive interviews I can count on one hand the people that have turned us down, usually because of timing. Guest love to be heard, they feel honored that you ask. After all, it is all about them.

Follow these tips and you too can join the podcast personalities that reach thousands of listeners with thought provoking guests. Today’s mobile listeners want business entertainment and training without the clutter of so many social media outlets. 

If you want to pitch an idea for a podcast on the Funnel Radio Channel, contact me Susan Finch, susan@funnelradio.com, and let’s talk.

Having your own personal brand, beyond words on a resume or your company biography, makes sense, is required and expected. It could be a sales management job, marketing management (of course); even CEOs, CIOs, CFOs and presidents have personal brand considerations.  When you consider creating your own personal brand, you’re investing in yourself and your future.

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Your basic social media activities have their place, but we’re talking about something beyond table stakes.  What I’m referring to is the need to have marketplace visibility for your thoughts, philosophies, problem solving skills, and leadership.  A personal brand demonstrates what you stand for and what do others think of you. 

The questions are, how can you break away from the crowd and make yourself visible in a sea of talented people?  How can you expand your network – the people who know and follow you?  

In Albert-László Barabasi’s book, The Formula = The Universal Laws of Success, he says hard research proves that “Your success isn’t about you and your performance. It’s about us and how we perceive your performance.”  The larger your visibility the larger the network will be and the network will amplify your success.   More about that in a few minutes.

Personal branding is a career necessity for many people. Branding can start with your blog, speaking, tweeting, developing followers, eBooks, and guest blogging.  These things make you visible to companies and maybe to employers who approach you, but it isn't enough if your aspirations are high. 

What customers and companies seek today is thought leadership from their people, and from consultants and service providers. Thought leadership has grown for individuals. In years past, thought leadership was driven by writing a book, by speaking, and through speakers’ bureaus, research reports and PR effort.

Today, thought leadership and an individual’s brand can be augmented through the wise use of social media in its broadest definition.

If someone wants to increase their visibility, they can write a book. This is, however, hugely time consuming if it’s beyond the self-published, poorly edited, 50-to-100-page softcover effort made by many would-be authors. I’m talking about a 230-page, professionally copy-edited book from a major publisher, which can take several years of effort. 

Being a speaker at conferences and workshops is a precursor to book publishing, and often easier once the book is published.   Speaker bureaus are great if you already have a recognized name or company, and you’ve published enough books. They can get you the gig, but it’s still time consuming.   

Once you embark on this effort, you may find yourself devoted to this type of time-consuming branding instead of to your daily working career.  

There’s an easy method to creating your personal brand that doesn’t require travel, two years of book writing and editing, or mountains of research and article writing. The answer is to host your own internet-based radio program.  Radio and podcast replays dramatically expand your reputation and network.  As Barabasi says, “Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.”

Nothing builds a network faster, cheaper and broader than having your own radio podcast.   

A podcast can be a simple recording you create and place on a service from a storage site. A radio program/podcast, a step up, can be broadcast live at the same time on the same day of the week, or on the same day each month, and then follow-on listeners come from the podcast recording posted on a hosting site.   It can be broadcast once a month, bi-weekly or more often.

The key is consistency; the network will want to hear from you. As the network builds, so will your reputation and a perception of performance on your part.  You must also promote the program aggressively. These types of consistent programs create followers and listeners.

At the Funnel Media Group’s Funnel Radio Channel, we have 19 hosts for various programs heard once a month, bi-weekly or weekly.  We call them the Real Personalities of Funnel Radio. Their programs might have a single speaker and topic, or guests who join the host.  None are longer than 30 minutes. 

Listeners for these programs vary with frequency, time and how the programs are promoted.  Program startup numbers can be 50-250 listeners per program, up to 100-500 listeners.  Programs promoted over time can have 750-1,500 listeners.  Popular programs with typical social media exposure can have thousands of listeners. The size of the host company's database and current followers make a substantial contribution to the followers and program listener downloads. 

These listeners are unique because they are no longer just at-work listeners; they are at home, walking the dog, climbing mountains, bicycling, exercising, or traveling listeners, at night and on the weekend. Listeners are domestic and international. 

The “hosts” of these radio/podcast programs have followers, build databases, and create multi-use content for books, eBooks, case studies, blogs, articles, and speeches.   They build credibility.   Podcast programs are then registered with Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Blubrry and the B2B Podcast Directory so that they can be found by host name and subject. 

Program guests, on talk-radio format programs, often provide the host with testimonials for his or her services or products, introduce the host and company to potential buyers, and build name recognition (brand recognition) for the host and their company. 

Starting a radio/podcast is quick and inexpensive.   You need recording software and a place to store the podcast so listeners can come to the site or listen.  The embeddable players the site provides allow you to put the programs on your own website or blog (or a guest’s website or blog). 

For $75-$100 per month you can have all of this and be in the business of podcasting and building your personal and your company’s brand.  It’s also time consuming, and if it’s not consistently broadcast it has little impact to build a network.

However, there are radio/podcast agencies such as ours (Funnel Media Group LLC), that manage all of this for you except the actual host duties.   We encourage hosts to produce a consistent program that listeners can follow.

Agencies offer a range of services including storage, live programming, digital streaming and production, a studio and announcer, editing, music, and a professional touch seldom found in self-produced podcasts. 

One of our Funnel Radio Channel programs has been broadcasting for several years.  At first its programs were bi-weekly, and then weekly after a few months. 

To date, this program has 152 episodes with 42,610 listeners, with a per-episode average of 280 listeners.  Some programs have had 875 listeners.  

The fact is, this company CEO and author, and his program, have had 42,610 people hear him speak over 21,305 hours of on-air time. These numbers are drawn from public data. 

He did this on his computer via the net, and by phone with the studio.  Guests, customers and non-customers, know his name, what he stands for, his judgement on marketing and sales, and something about his company services. 

He has an extensive personal and company brand recognition. Of course, you can too, should you choose to take the "shortcut" to improving your personal brand by using radio podcasting. 

For information about improving your personal brand, extending your network and hosting your own radio/podcast program, either once a month, bi-weekly or more often, contact Jim Obermayer at jobermayer@funnelmediagroupllc dot com, or call him at (415) 521 4278.

These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 15th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast.  

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These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 85th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast on November 8th.

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Brian Smith Jr recently shared that the biggest mistake he’s ever made in his sales career was trying to master every aspect of selling. Can you relate? Do you find yourself frustrated by your lack of knowledge? Do you think you’re that close to being a sales rockstar if you just knew a little more, or read another book, or watched another video? Perhaps you already know more than you need. Check out Brian’s epiphany and learn how it changed his life. It just might impact you the same way.

https://goo.gl/hEC9DA

For the November 2018 episode of Data Dump, Mark Godley, CEO of LeadGenius, chats with Maria Grineva, CEO and Co-Founder at Orb Intelligence, about her experiences as a serial entrepreneur in the data space over the last decade. What sets Maria apart from the pack is that she has built her companies without venture capital funds. This has allowed Maria to create companies at her own pace, grow organically and create products that she and her team have complete control over. Maria has a perspective on the industry that we all wish we had...pure and free! Join us this month to get the scoop on how Maria is growing and expanding Orb Intelligence on her own terms.

 https://goo.gl/GT5343

Listen live or catch replays before the show >

What have you learned about Buyer Enablement, beyond the evolution of Sales Enablement?  Some of the discussion included these points:

• The sales people need to see how the buyers are responding to what they are doing.
• What do buyers really want from salespeople? Well, we're not doing a very good job of getting them what they truly want.
• If we're going to enable our salespeople, we need to ENABLE them to help the buyer. If they can't, we are failing at Sales Enablement.
• The old sales training techniques no longer work. The role of the sales person has shifted over the past two years. Sales people are an information conduit to allow the buyer to preview what they may need. They almost become a concierge. It becomes a service role. Sales people have to evolve.

Do Sales & Marketing need to be aligned? You'll have to listen to find out. 

Susan's guests today are Orrin Broberg, CEO/President, Modus and Alice Heiman of Alice Heiman, LLC and co-founder of Tradeshow Makeover.

https://goo.gl/FKio7E

In this podcast, listeners will take away practical guidance on cultivating a unique brand identity in the modern landscape. Emphasizing the importance of being a brand "leader" instead of a "manager," Dan Hill, CEO of Hill impact, offers valuable tips to modern branding strategies using data-driven insights without losing sight of organizational value.

 https://goo.gl/FmND48

Live Nov 1 from Dublin, Ireland and San Jose, CA: How do you go from innovative new technology to building and owning a category? That’s the question will dig into with John Kreisa, VP Marketing at Hortonworks – one of the fastest growing tech companies in history. We’re going to talk about the ins and out, challenges and difficulties of creating and scaling a category

https://goo.gl/RC68pA

Revenue Rebels spotlights rule-breaking marketing and sales leaders who are accelerating business growth with a fanatically customer-centric approach and this month we’re featuring Darryl Praill, Chief Marketing Officer at VanillaSoft.

Since joining the VanillaSoft team a year ago, Darryl has transformed the sales and marketing process and increased lead flow by launching an inbound marketing strategy and an aggressive digital marketing program supported by a strong sales and marketing stack. If you’re a marketing leader ready to elevate your company, tune in to this episode to hear Darryl’s 4-step approach to accomplish this and more.

https://goo.gl/sjTcmo

Our conversation is with Chris Day, inside sales leader at Bazaarvoice. We explore how to using situational awareness and pattern matching helps ramp new sellers faster and improves sales coaching and enablement. His team is crushing it, check it out!

 https://salesleadmgmtassn.com/adClick.cfm?id=542

https://goo.gl/rN6UkR

 One of the most difficult and enduring challenges business leaders face is misalignment of sales and marketing. And Brian Beveridge knows how to fix this. Even if you have winning talent and winning solutions, if you can’t get your sales and marketing strategy and execution working seamlessly you’re missing out on money.  While these challenges vary some between Enterprise and SMB markets, there are key steps business leaders can take to make substantial impact toward revenue growth. With decades of experience in this arena, Brian has key recommendations for how you can have immediate results to boost sales and crush your competition. Tune in to “Asher Sales Sense” November 1 at 3PM Eastern on asherstrategiesradio.com to hear John Asher talk with Brian Beveridge of Beveridge Consulting about “Aligning Sales and Marketing Strategy and Execution to Optimize Growth.

https://goo.gl/jSsJ3b

Today's guest is Amy Franko, author of The Modern Seller. (available on Kindle or hardcopy). Some of the points we cover in this interview include big points taken directly from her book.