Marketer Of The Day With Robert Plank: Get Daily Insights From The Top Internet Marketers & Entrepreneurs Around The World

I don't lose any sleep over this, but I roll my eyes when someone says... November and December are slower months! No one is online during holiday time... Don't even bother marketing or sending emails until January... Don't you want to take some time off? And my answers are: Of course I take time off -- that's what scheduled blog posts and scheduled autoresponder emails put in the queue in advance are all about (bonus if people can't really tell if they're live or pre-scheduled)... Many people (not you personally, but others) are working too hard and not working smart enough. They could get a lot more done in less time AND possibly use these few days off to plan their next move or squeeze in an hour here and there... What about eBay? Amazon? Retail stores? There are tons of people buying. And if you say that's apples and oranges because I run an online business... well... aren't there some people out there who are using this end of the year time to look into running their own online business?

"Why are you emailing me on a weekend / holiday?" That's the response I get every now and then and I hope that's a response you get in your business -- why is that I hope you get it? Because if people are unsubscribing from your list, if you have (a small percentage) of refunds, if (a few) people have some nasty things to say about you and your values... Then it means you've actually done some things in your business and you've built a big list of buyers... Very few people treat their online business like the machine that it can be and should be and it's some wasted potential. For example: what if you spent about 20 minutes and grabbed 12 interesting YouTube videos? Maybe yours or maybe you found them... either way... schedule one in your blog for the first Friday in January 2017, another for February 2017, etc. Those are 12 touches you've just made with you and your subscribers... And how about this: go into your email autoresponder (you do have one and you are building a list, right?) and schedule a

This scares the heck out of me and maybe you can relate... I'm not sure how long you've been building your online business, buying courses and plugins, how long you've been on different marketers list and seen the affiliate contests and big launches... I ask myself these sorts of super scary questions all the time: "If such and such had a million dollar launch back in 2014, why haven't I heard anything from them since?" "If this other marketer made 2 million dollars in a day back in 2012, why are all their websites dead and gone just 5 years later?" The short answer is that they didn't systematize and checklist-ify their business using a something like this: Time Management on Crack Tons of internet marketing names have completely disappeared from the face of the planet and I don't think they were abducted by aliens... so why do some people seem to: Have made money back in the day but seem to be struggling now (not really mailing or promoting)... OR: Been super successful back then but now I can't find a

Julie Broad from Have More Influence asks, "If money wasn't a factor, what would you do?" She wants to help you serve instead of sell and think about how you can help others. As a result, you can become the name people know about a given subject. She also tell us about her adventures in real estate, book publishing, online training, and more. Resources Have More Influence (Blog) The New Brand You (Book)

Mike Saunders from MarketingHuddle.com (author of the book Authority Selling) tells us about the Zero Moment of Truth. Every business has a "Moment of Truth" where a customer discovers if that business delivers on their promises or not. These days, the "Zero" Moment of Truth exists -- where your future customers check the online breadcrumbs of your business before they even interact with you. Mike tells us how to educate those customers and provide a consultation as opposed to an outdated presentation or sales pitch.

Jan Bear from Author Impact Publishing has three simple questions for you: Who's your audience What do you want to accomplish with your book? What does this book have to do with your career over a lifetime? By having a clear plan for your book, and knowing your goals, you can avoid many of the usual author mistakes such as trying to "writing for everybody" AND you can publish something with consistency that matches the mood of your reader.

Heather Choate was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29 while ten weeks pregnant. By overcoming this unexpected adversity (as well as other up's and down's) Heather was tested to the max. During this time, she mastered using deep meditation (and visualization) for focus (and strength), anchoring (for confidence), and quiet focused times during the day (for calmness and clarity). Tune in to discover how to listen to your own voice, do what you love, and follow your passion.

Natasha Davis from Impact Branding Consulting says that many business owners confuse marketing (psychological minutiae that let people know your business is present, i.e. t-shirts) with actual branding (pricing, content, client acquisition, culture, business model, expertise you have, identity). Don't do so many things that you can't differentiate yourself in a unique way! Branding is the difference between being seen as a "Target" business or a "Dollar Store" business. Decide what type of client you want, and then develop a profile of what that ideal client looks like. Identify that ideal client's commonalities and observable behaviors (business size, industry, where they hang out, social networks, how to get in touch, follow-up) and characteristics (what you can only identify by talking to them -- if they're ready to get started and how accountable and coachable they are). Resources Impact Branding Consulting (Website) Be Unleashed (Book) The Difference Between Marketing and Branding (Blog Post)

Publisher Jim Kukral from Author Marketing Club wants you to create a non-fiction book to solve a problem, or a fiction book to entertain. Jim lays out a scenario where he targeted a big group to solve a problem with a clear title, as in, "Social Media Marketing for Real Estate Agents." In the book, he explained what business owners should do, and provided a free 15-minute phone consultation in the back of the book to close clients.

Tom Corson-Knowles from TCK Publishing and Ebook Publishing School has great news: it's easy to publish lots of content and scale your business by approaching Amazon publishing in a scientific, step-by-step mindset: Write down a list of 20-40 book ideas in a tool such as EverNote Research: find the marketplace gaps and see how similar books are selling Hook: narrow down one unique idea and craft a clear message Brainstorm: develop your promise and decide what readers want to know (these are more than just chapters, they include additional videos and checklists) Speak out the book (you can even use your smartphone) Editing/revision Resources TCK Publishing (Website)

Terry Gremaux, the Hashtag Hunter, only needs to spend about 15 minutes a day to get 10 new leads a day into his business as part of his daily routine. Here's his process: regularly check thought leaders' Facebook pages such as Gary Vee or Tony Robbins leave a thoughtful comment on their latest post (4-5 minutes) like all the comments left by others respond to friend requests and get to know them keep in touch with those prospects to find their problem/desire run Facebook live streams every day Mindset tweak: Business is promoting a solution to a problem at a profit. Be interested in people and have a conversation.

Heather Havenwood has made a killing guesting on podcasts. She has tons of tips for you today on how to be a great podcast guest and an even better podcast host. Resources The Win: Podcast with Heather Ann Havenwood (Podcast) 30 Podcasts in 30 Days Course (Podcast)

Nick Loper from the Side Hustle Nation podcast is the king of side hustles: low-risk entrepreurship, for-profit hobbies. Thanks to marketplaces like iTunes, Fiverr, eBay, Craigslist, and other sharing economy sites, the universe has shrunk, and now is the time for you to jump in: Find a marketplace that uses the sharing economy (such as Uber, Airbnb, DogVacay, Turo for P2P car rental, Prosper for P2P loans) Use your unique skills (freelancing) Buy low and sell high Create your own products Side Hustles Mentioned Turo (rent out your car) CuddleUp (charge money for cuddling -- yes, really) Fiverr (provide any service you want) Resources Buy Button (Book) Side Hustle Nation (Podcast) The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson (Website) Steve Scott (Website)

John Pollock from Financial Gravity wants to help you save on your taxes, since accountants and bookkeepers aren't trained for that. He has some unique insights on how you can get a tax blueprint to proactively plan your finances. Be sure to text "TAXBOOK" to phone number 33-4444 for a free bonus.

Hypnotist Rene Brent, from Practice Happy Now, is a professional garage door opener. She believes that your brain is running an old program and can help you to get rid of false beliefs. She wants you to allow your subconscious mind to move you away from pain and towards pleasure. Resources How Big Is Your BUT (Kindle Book) Practice Happy Now: 2 free meditations (Book)

Jim Palmer is the Newsletter Guru and Dream Business Coach. He believes marketers should setup a Million Dollar Platform that includes email marketing, ezines, newsletters, and more. Many people lack focus and aren't finding their best customers. You should also mail a 4-page physical newsletter once a month to your best customers to retain those customers and get yourself some repeat, high-ticket sales.

Dan Englander from SalesSchema.com has some great information for you about marketing funnels and automation. Dan lands many new clients using outbound email marketing, virtual assistants, and phone closing. He also has used some unique strategies to land new business. For example, he's contacted up-and-coming tech companies mentioned on CrunchBase or checking job posting on sites like Indeed and AngelList, who needed services such as animation videos. He also walks us through his process of qualifying his process, getting those leads to the proposal stage, feeling them out with test closes, handling objects and feedback, and more.

Joshua Adams from Rock Paper Simple wants his agency to help you create a marketing-focused website that's them-centric, with clear navigation, that speaks directly to visitors and makes conversions. Be sure to claim his free self audit worksheet to find out how your website measures up. Resources Self Audit Worksheet Web design agency: Rock Paper Simple Case study: Sorensen Moving & Storage Seven steps to creating a marketing-focused website: 1. Shut up and listen (know thyself, benefits, goals) 2. Plan for results (design, words, pages) 3. Direct traffic (differentiate value of pages, decide on three most important services, call-to-action on homepage/sidebar) 4. Them-centric copy (wording that's beneficial to them) 5. Convert (phone number, working form, less fields) 6. Simplify navigation 7. Rock the visuals  

Tracy Goodwin from Captivate the Room can help you become a better speaker by improving your voice. Tracy says that your voice's muscle memory can be trained. You can retrain those good speaking habits that you might have previously lost over time and rediscover your real voice. Many people have incorrectly tempered their voice, leading to that "stuck in the back of your throat" speaking style with dropped endings on sentences. Others forget to have tempering variety and still others forget to breathe when speaking. Tracy wants you to speak with a pattern of unpredictability, to show vulnerability and be authentic. Break down your speaking strengths and weaknesses into the five elements of variety: 1. pausing 2. elongation 3. pitch 4. volume 5. speed

Dina Proctor, author of Madly Chasing Peace, wants you to meditate in short bursts: just three minutes, three times a day. Dina was battling clinical depression, planning her suicide and dealing with alcohol addiction when she began to sit still and focus on her breathing for just a few minutes a day. After eight weeks, that nagging inner voice in her head was gone and she was able to focus on every activity at hand. She found that inner peace and wisdom, and wants to show you how to do the same.