Marketing Mentor Blog
The Marketing Mix
Read, watch and listen to the latest insights from Marketing Mentor & friends
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Simplest Marketing Plan: May Extras (2019.5)
On May 1, 2019 I released the 5th installment of the brand new Simplest Marketing Plan for 2019. This planner represents my best effort yet to: simplify marketing so you'll actually do it...
[Podcast] Puno Puno on Instagram & Making Frien...
I am fond of saying that, "questions are the answer to everything." But it wasn't until my recent interview with Puno Puno for the HOW Design Live Podcast that I...
Instagram for Freelancers with Puno Puno at HOW...
I am thrilled to announce that we have added a session on "Instagram for Freelancers" with Puno Puno, founder of ilovecreatives and the Instagram marketing tool, PeopleMap, to the roster of the...
[Podcast] #368 Nick Usborne on the Collision of...
One way to use generosity as a marketing tool is to treat your content marketing as a gift for your market. That’s just one of the ideas from my second...
Is my outreach working?
One of my goals for this year is to email 10 prospects each month. So far, I’ve introduced myself to 30 prospects. Today I thought it might be cool to...
How to keep the conversation going on LinkedIn
Wow, lots of people are sharing what's working on LinkedIn and adding it to their 30 minutes a day. In response to my Quick Tip last week, The Best New Way...
[Podcast] How to Increase Your Billable hours w...
Are you wasting time on the clients who are the least profitable? Should you be charging for travel time? How much time do you spend hunting for things? And what...
Best New Way to Find Your Best Prospects [QTMM ...
These days, I am guiding more and more creative professionals to begin their Strategic Networking online by connecting with prospects on LinkedIn.Why? Because it's a great way to get a...
Simplest Marketing Plan: April Extras (2019.4)
On April 1, 2019 I released the 4th installment of the brand new Simplest Marketing Plan for 2019. This planner represents my best effort yet to: simplify marketing so you'll actually do it help you carve...
How to Get Your Marketing Done Already!
If you're like most of the creative professionals I work with, your biggest pain point is not being able to carve out the time to do your own marketing, whether...
Creative Freelancers: Get 10% off with my promo...
Do you need to: Identify Your Ideal Clients and Their Pain Points? Stand Out From The Crowd? Position Yourself Through Thought Leadership & Content Marketing? Determine Whether or Not to...
[Podcast] How Do You Show Up? with Kevin Carroll
I had the surprise pleasure of meeting Kevin Carroll last month when he gave his PATH to Professional Presentations to an auditorium full of students at SCAD (Savannah College of...
LinkedIn Now: Best Practices for Getting Great ...
I gave a brand-spankin' new presentation about how to use LinkedIn last week through American Writers & Artists Inc and they have generously made it available on YouTube! They're...
[Podcast] Putting Yourself First in Business
If you feel like a slave to your business and to your clients, this podcast is for you. In my recent interview with Kennedy and Rob of 3 Marketers Walk into a...
Not making enough money? Cheer up.
How are you, today? Well, it really depends on how you think you are. Right? 2016, the year my marriage ended, was my best year EVER financially. Was this a...
[Podcast] Should You Become an Author? with Bri...
Sometimes it seems like everyone wants to be an author...why is that? And what does it mean to be an author if you’re a designer? Do you have to be...
Simplest Marketing Plan: March Extras (2019.3)
On March 1, 2019 I released the third installment of the brand new Simplest Marketing Plan for 2019. This planner represents my best effort yet to: simplify marketing so you'll actually do it help...
Am I Ignoring Her? [QTMM 1/31/19]
Here's a situation: I've received several email messages from a woman pitching herself to be a guest on the Marketing Mentor Podcast I am interested in her -- her ideas...
[Podcast] "The Beautiful Thing About Marketing ...
Marketing works. That is the beautiful thing about it. There is nothing magic about it. It just works if you do it. That's my favorite quote from my recent...
[Podcast] #364 How to Pitch Patiently & Strateg...
Here’s my latest (and 17th, I think) conversation with photographer and veteran self employed creative pro, Michael e. Stern. Today Michael (who is almost as fearless and he sounds) describes in detail how he...
Creative Freelancer is back at HOW Design Live
Yes, it’s true. After a brief hiatus, HOW Design Live is once again offering a program for creative freelancers, solopreneurs and agency owners. And if you register by today Feb. 15...
[Podcast] #362 How to Get Better Clients with B...
This week's episode is a little different -- it's not an interview with a creative professional practicing what I preach and showing that this marketing thing really does work. (You can find the...
Top 5 Books You Need To Read To Grow Your Busin...
Here's a new guest post by a young marketer, Brenden Delarua Lately I have been on a bit of a "bender" reading quite a lot of books. Mainly books about...
Simplest Marketing Plan: February Extras (2019.2)
February's Market of the Month: Startups I like to say, "Focus on the market that you have access to" and during this month's Office Hours, I will show you how easy...
[Video] How to Show Your Process in Your Portfolio
If you want clients to pay big bucks for your work, they need to understand what goes into it -- in other words, your process, which is one of the...
[Podcast] #361 Nick Usborne on Conversational C...
You know those aggressive sales letters and pushy marketing email messages that try to get you buy something NOW? I’ll bet you’ve clicked that “buy” button, your heart beating fast,...
Is WordPress just for bloggers?
It’s just for bloggers. It’s not for selling stuff. It’s less secure. These are common misconceptions I hear about WordPress, and in my latest post, I clear them up. Here’s...
[Video] Here's How the Simplest Marketing Plann...
If you need a plan for the new year and are considering my Simplest Marketing Planner ("Don't be fooled by the low price" wrote one reviewer), or even if you...
2018 by the numbers
A new post from Deidre Rienzo.... First, the crummy news... My revenue this year was its lowest since 2014. I’m down $7180 from last year, which was down $2779 from...
Is Social Media All That? [QTMM 1-15-19]
Why do so many people think they should be posting constantly on social media? As if it’s the most effective marketing tool out there! If you have my new Simplest Marketing...
Selecting a CMS for your new website
One of the things I love most about websites today? The ability to manage your website content is at your fingertips. The availability of Content Management Systems (CMS) means you...
David Whyte on "Work" = "where the self meets t...
(Listen to this essay read aloud on the MarketingMentorPodcast.com) Work, among all its abstracts, is actually intimacy, the place where the self meets the world. Work is intimacy and discovery...
The Only "Number" You Need to Know [Quick Tip f...
I’m not a big fan of “goal setting” – the practice or the phrase – especially when it comes to financial goals.It’s psychologically fraught and too easy to set unrealistic...
[Podcast] #359 Content Marketing That Works wit...
To kick off the Marketing Mentor Podcast for 2019, I have a special guest on an important topic: Ben Callahan, President of Sparkbox, a web design and development firm on...
Need a Marketing Plan for 2019?
Start the new year off right -- with a plan! All our marketing plans are designed for independent creative professionals and they're available today only at 2018 prices. If you...
Simplest Marketing Plan: January Extras (2019.1)
January's Market of the Month: Museums I like to say, focus on the market that you have access to. So if you're not sure which target market to focus on,...
What I'm listening to as we enter into a new year
It's been so nourishing to have some quiet time as we wind down the year and enter into a new one. I especially love listening to other people's voices as...
Excellent Examples of Holiday Marketing
So proud of the members of my Content Marketing Accountability Groups -- here's some of the holiday marketing they did this year! Gratitude and Client RelationshipsJillfrances Gray of JFG wrote a very...
[Podcast] #358 How to Handle Tricky Situations ...
I’m closing out my 10th year of the Marketing Mentor podcast with the 15th episode in my series of meaty chats with Michael e. Stern, a time lapse filmmaker (and so...
Plan Your 2019 in a One-Day Customized Retreat
If, like me, you don't want to do the same ol' same ol' for the holidays and would instead like to take the time for you (#MeFirst) to focus on...
[Best of the Podcast] Michael e. Stern on Thriv...
In August of 2015, I got a call out of the blue from a photographer inviting himself to be on The Marketing Mentor Podcast. He told me he had experience to share. Well,...
Helping Good Clients Become Great Ones
If you stay in it long enough, people from your past start to resurface, which I am loving! One of those people, with whom I recently reconnected after almost 20 years,...
2018—not what I’d hoped
2018 has been an interesting year. I’ve struggled with motivation, focus and timing all year. Despite a pretty healthy lifestyle, exercise and plenty of sleep (and definitely-excessive vitamin intake), I’ve...
[Video] The Entrepreneur's Inner Game
For some weekend learning, watch this brand new interview I did with Nina Cooke. She's a UK-based business coach whose focus is the mindset of success. Find more of Nina's...
What can I do to prepare for our call?
They’ve signed the contract and given you money.(Don’t have a contract? Read this immediately.) Contract—check. Money—check! Work is ready to begin. As creatives, this can be very exciting us for...
[Podcast] #357 Mark McGuiness on Being a 21st C...
It’s not easy being a creative professional in the 21st century. Things keep changing, and fast. Whether you are a fine artist, a performer or entertainer, a commercial creative, or...
4 Year-End Marketing Ideas Centered Around Grat...
It's almost December but I hope you're not finished with your marketing for the year. I highly recommend at least one more effort centered around gratitude. Here are a few...
[New] The Simplest Marketing Plan for 2019
Have you noticed that everyone who wants you to buy something does it by overwhelming you with a really long list of "what you'll get?" It's too much! It's more...
[Podcast] The Niche Debate with Jeffrey Shaw
I love talking about niches! I am forever trying to explain how I think about what a niche is and how you go about choosing one (and how it sometimes...
Why I love the Revolve Conference
Had a great time at the 2018 Revolve Conference in Charleston last week -- my thanks to Karl Hudson Phillips and his team for putting their heart and soul into...