Podcast #5 – Listener Questions about Networking & Web Marketing
Tim and Luke step out of the studio to answer a few listener questions about networking and setting up a website for a new business. This episode’s a short one in preparation for some ripper interviews coming up including an ex Australian Olympian and a social marketing expert.
Small Business Big Marketing Podcast
Podcast Transactions
Ms Evancich: This is the Small Business Big Marketing show with Tim Reid and Luke Moulton. This show is lovingly put together for small business owners by small business owners to get practical ideas about attracting more customers more often. So, if you’re serious about building your business, strap in for the ride. Now, here’s your hosts, Tim and Luke.
Tim: Hello and welcome back to Small Business Big Marketing. G’day, Luke.
Luke: G’day, Tim. How are you going?
Tim: Couldn’t be finer.
Luke: That’s good.
Tim: Yourself?
Luke: I’m very well thank you.
Tim: Looking absolutely ravishing today in that black dress of yours. Now, Luke, this is a…this is a light Weightwatchers version of our show. Why?
Luke: Well we’re actually out of the studio today, we’re wanting to keep the momentum happening. So until we can get back in there with a few more guests we’re actually just in Tim’s living room. We’re going to have a bit of a chat, answer a few questions and keep the podcasts coming.
Tim: Yeah, absolutely. And our lovely producer Sam is also away overseas and just stopping us from moving forward just that ever so little bit, whatever, you know?
Luke: Yes. And we, you know, as I said, we want to keep the momentum happening.
Tim: Yeah, we do.
Luke: And we want to keep chatting about Small Business Big Marketing ideas.
Tim: So, guys, thanks for all the feedback. Gee, iTunes reviews, got a few there, Luke.
Luke: Yes, there’s a few.
Tim: Nice to read and…
Luke: Please feel free to submit some more and tell us what you think.
Tim: And…
Luke: And give us give stars thanks.
Tim: Five stars, yeah, who said that? There is a review from me but I made it clear that it was from me so that’s okay. And iTunes approved it so.
Luke: Oh, good.
Tim: And we have got a lot of questions coming in so we thought today’s a good opportunity to actually answer some of those questions whilst not having a guest in the studio. So let’s go. Luke, first one, Dave from Sydney. This is right up your alley. Dave says…he’s a personal trainer. He’s starting a personal training business in Sydney.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: And he has a modest budget and he hasn’t even got a website yet.
Luke: Right.
Tim: He’s registered the name and he’s wondering on a modest budget what he should do. All his friends are telling him to do things online. So good, probably good advice from his friends.
Luke: Absolutely. First of all, g’day, Dave.
Tim: He’s not on the line.
Luke: Oh, right, okay.
Tim: So just don’t expect…
Luke: Sorry. I’d…firstly, you need a website, let’s be honest.
Tim: Yep, yep. I don’t reckon there’s a business in the world that shouldn’t have a website.
Luke: No. But, look, you don’t need all the bells and whistles. You need something to get you started, probably a good five pager, writing your copy, ask…
Tim: I wouldn’t look at it as pages. Like you need key navigational things, you know, like home, a bit about Dave.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: Like what makes him the best personal trainer in Sydney.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: What other kind of navigational, key navigational (2:58)?
Luke: Well that’s what I…that’s why I always say a five pager, Timmy, because…
Tim: Oh, right.
Luke: Because it actually includes your core information. Your home page, which is a summary of who you are and what you do. About, so basically a bit of information about, you know, what makes you such a good personal trainer, what are your credentials. Services, so what sort of services do you provide. You know, are you training particularly at a gym or are you down the beach doing boot camps or are you doing one on one home visits.
Tim: And do packages, Dave. I love packages.
Luke: Yeah, packages are good.
Tim: Like he could have, you know, a package for the boys, a package for the girls, weight loss package, you know, build up the muscle type package, get ready for summer package. All that type of stuff.
Luke: Yep. At different pricing levels of course.
Tim: Yep.
Luke: So people can choose what’s appropriate to them. And then a contact us section. Look, if you want you can maybe have a blog section but only if you’re going to be…only if you’re going to be writing articles that are attractive to your target audience.
Tim: Well and to keep up too with the content.
Luke: Yes.
Tim: You know what, I, next week, am getting a flip video camera.
Luke: Right.
Tim: Which I’m very excited about. And the flip is…it’s like a little…it looks like a little Nokia phone, it’s that small. And it’s a dedicated HD video camera. And it’s got two hours of HD on it and you just plug it into your USB when all is said and done and it immediately, you know, uploads and do your little YouTube video. So I’m wondering also for Dave whether little videos of maybe training tips and tricks.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: And even just to see him would be a good thing for customers to establish that quick kind of trust.
Luke: I…yep.
Tim: And broadband and, you know, the tube is big these days, isn’t it? So video is…
Luke: Definitely, yeah, look…
Tim: …achievable.
Luke: I think videos would be great and I think you’re spot on there. I did some work with a gold pro once and he just put up some free videos giving people tips on different ways to swing and they, you know, attracted, you know, a lot of…a lot of traffic to the site so…
Tim: Was he a swinger? No, what do you mean?
Luke: He was a golf pro, Tim.
Tim: A golf pro.
Luke: And he was able to attract a lot of…a lot of traffic…
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: …to his site in that way so, you know…
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: If Dave from Sydney can do something similar. Maybe some of his own different exercises, that’s always going to be good and fun too.
Tim: Beauty. I’m going to move onto the next question because we promised a shortish show here.
Luke: Yes, correct.
Tim: Our next question…
Luke: Yep.
Tim: …is Craig from Auckland who is asking about networking. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am not any networking guru here but I have been doing a bit over the last few months and I’ll share that. But Craig’s question is what’s your view on networking, is it worthwhile and if it is what’s the best approach.
Luke: Funny this…
Tim: He doesn’t tell us what business he’s in by the way.
Luke: No. This actually probably relates back to one of the podcasts we did with Mel, Tim.
Tim: Oh, yeah, yeah.
Luke: She was an avid networker.
Tim: Wasn’t she.
Luke: Yes. So what are your views on networking?
Tim: Oh, look, two. I’ve got an online and an offline view. My offline, which is face to face in the flesh type stuff, I’ve always shied away from because of the kind of whole small talk thing, I’ve never really been into it. But I joined two local chambers of commerce in the last 12 months and I’ve been making a point of going and it’s been great. Because what I’ve noticed is it’s actually a group of people who are really dedicated to getting to know each other, figuring out how we can do business together and because it’s kind of locally geographically based, it’s like everyone wants to grow the local economy.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: So it’s been good. They have networking nights once a month. They have every quarter or every four months they have a trade show and they’re very active. So I really enjoy that. And I think as long as you go, I find if you go…if you go with a pocket full of business cards, with that kind of sales kind of mentality in mind, it’s less effective than it is if you just go and…
Luke: Go with an open mind.
Tim: And aim to meet people.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: You know, just in the spirit of meeting people.
Luke: Yep, yep. Yeah, look, there’s some people that aren’t comfortable with networking. If you aren’t, then perhaps join your local sports club. Find a hobby where you’re meeting, hopefully people that are in your target audience, but it’s not…it’s not formally a business networking opportunity and you’ll always find when you’re meeting new people that there’s always going to be, there’ll be a lead somewhere, there’ll be a business lead somewhere.
Tim: Yep, yep. And the online part of the networking is the whole social networking thing. And that’s been amazing. And that’s good for people who don’t like the small talk and for people who don’t necessarily like going out and, you know, eating devils on horseback. Do you know what a devil on a horseback is? It is a prune rolled in bacon and it’s from the 19…I think it’s a delicacy from the 70s, but at networking functions they were served all over the world.
Luke: Along with pigs in a blanket.
Tim: Pigs in a blanket. What was that?
Luke: It’s cabana in puff pastry.
Tim: Oh, cabana. A health treat of the nation. And do you know the devil on the horseback I think if you really…if they were really…it was a high kind of net worth networking function there was a water chestnut attached to it with a toothpick. But we digress, Luke.
Luke: Indeed we do.
Tim: You can avoid devils on horsebacks and, what was yours, a sausage in a blanket?
Luke: Pigs in blankets.
Tim: Pigs in blankets. By social networking. Because you can, you know, it’s just online. And, you know, all these different sites like LinkedIn and Twitter and all these places are great places to actually network.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: Because networking is about meeting people and developing a sense of trust with maybe the hope of doing business. And if that’s the outcome then you can do it online just as much as you can do it…
Luke: Yeah.
Tim: …online…offline.
Luke: With social mediums it really is just about putting yourself out there, isn’t it?
Tim: Yep.
Luke: I mean, it’s just…Twitter, for example, you’re a prolific Twitter, Tim.
Tim: Stop it. Stop it.
Luke: And it’s…Tim has always said to me, you know, Twitter to a brief.
Tim: Yep, stay on brief.
Luke: And with any social medium, stay on brief.
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: You know, stay in the realms of what you’re doing in the business and, you know, talk about what you’re interested in and what you think you’re target audience would be interested in.
Tim: Do you know one other thing that I’ve just come across and I haven’t completely explored it, so I’m going to be talking really with very little knowledge here, Luke.
Luke: Yes, Tim.
Tim: And that is Ning, Ning networks. And being able to create dedicated online communities for a really niche, you know, it’s like having your own Facebook for your business almost. People can join, leave comments, they can upload videos, pictures. It’s amazing.
Luke: Yeah, it’s having your own social network, as you say, Tim. And I’d…for the uninitiated, I’d be careful about jumping into something like that.
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: You’ve always got to create, with those sorts of things create critical mass and getting to the tipping point. But, you know…
Tim: That is two clichés in a breath, critical mass and tipping point. You are the marketer’s marketer, Luke. But, no, that’s a fair call. Craig, do you reckon we’ve answered Craig?
Luke: I think…
Tim: Craig, are you there?
Luke: I think we have.
Tim: No, he’s not. Have we answered his question? I think we have.
Luke: Yep.
Tim: Networking is a good thing. It’s just…it’s based on personality type I think and you’ve got to choose what’s right for you.
Luke: Correct.
Tim: So all good. Well, Lukey, I think that’s two significantly answered questions.
Luke: Absolutely.
Tim: And we’ll wrap it up now. Hopefully you’re at work by now, listeners, or home from work or…
Luke: How about before we go what about a bit of a preview of who we’ll be talking to next time. We’ve got some exciting ones actually.
Tim: Yeah, yeah.
Luke: Some exciting podcasts coming up.
Tim: We have. We have got a guy, we’re not going to say names here…
Luke: Okay.
Tim: Okay. No, don’t. We’ve got a guy coming up who has written a book, can we say the name of the book? Yeah, we’ll just say the name of the book. He’s written a book called “The Connected Generation”. And I hope I’ve got that right. But he is this…he’s the go to guy for all things social network. So it will be quite interesting to hear him speak. That’s coming up probably in a few weeks’ time actually.
Luke: Yep, yep.
Tim: Our next interview that you will hear, we think…
Luke: We think.
Tim: Fingers crossed, is a very famous Australian Olympian, listeners, who has turned business owner with two different businesses, both of which though are very much a reflection of who this person is. We won’t even say if it is boy or girl.
Luke: We won’t.
Tim: No.
Luke: You’ll have to wait.
Tim: But a famous Australian Olympian. Stay tuned on that one. We’re pretty excited. And that’s coming up in a few weeks’ time so…
Luke: And hopefully the other one we’ll be talking to is a gentleman who started a winery in 2004.
Tim: That’s like half of Australia.
Luke: Exactly. So it doesn’t really narrow it down.
Tim: No.
Luke: But I’ve been particularly impressed with his branding and I think he’s made…
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: Given that there are hundreds of wineries…
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: …he’s differentiated himself with fantastic branding. So going to look forward to talking to…
Tim: Yeah.
Luke: …that person.
Tim: Yeah, that will be good.
Luke: Yeah.
Tim: All right, Lukey, that’s enough. Lounge room is getting far too hot with two big burly blokes like you in here. Thanks, listeners, once again for tuning in. Please if you can find a moment go to iTunes, leave a review. Tell your friends about it. Give your mother a kiss and don’t forget to send us your questions at?
Luke: Questions@SmallBusinessBigMarketing.com.
Tim: Dot com, that’s it. And until next time it is goodbye from him.
Luke: And it’s goodbye from me.
Tim: Seeya.
Luke: Seeya.
Ms Evancich: You’ve just come that little bit closer to getting your business booming thanks to the Small Business Big Marketing show with Tim Reid and Luke Moulton. Please keep in mind that the information, opinions and ideas expressed in this show are those of the hosts and interviewees and theirs alone and they don’t necessarily reflect those of their past, current or future employers.
Lovingly transcribed by The Transcription People
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