Kickin' it with Kapok - A Marketing Podcast

Social media can be a big part of digital marketing for a small business. But it’s not the same as sharing on your personal social media profiles. Jake and Mirela discuss how personal and professional social media are different. Don’t make the same mistakes other businesses are making. Learn the correct number and types of social media platforms. Too many or two few can cause problems. Plus find out what sort of content is ideal for social media marketing. We also discuss what you must avoid doing online if you don’t want big trouble for your business.

Digital marketing encompases a lot of different marketing efforts. Being an expert in them all is tough. Having the right tool for the job is an important first step. It’s one of the easiest ways to maximize your digital marketing efforts. Jake and Mirela discuss the top seven tools they use on a daily basis and recommend to clients and other marketers. The tools will help improve your online presence including both SEO and the content you produce. Plus, learn how to get organized and sound smarter online.

Branding is one of those areas of marketing that a lot of business owners and other people overlook or undervalue. The reality is that branding does matter. Customers judge businesses based on how they portray themselves online and offline. To discuss this and more, we’re joined by Teresa Mandala from Bella Designs Studio. We discuss what branding is, why it’s important, and how it’s more than just a logo. Learn how if you don’t drive the messaging, customers will take the lead and define you instead.

Blogging can be a great digital marketing tool for a business. Jake and Mirela discuss the top seven things they think are important for all businesses to consider when blogging. First, they explain that anyone can blog. Learn how blogging helps shape your brand, improve SEO, and helps to connect with customers. We’ll also explore how its a good omnichannel strategy. Discover how to take control of your digital marketing with blogging and get a positive ROI.

There are a lot of ways a business can waste money on digital marketing. Like with everything else in business, you need to spend your money wisely to get the best results. Jake and Mirela discuss the top seven ways they’ve seen businesses waste money on digital marketing. Learn some of the basic pitfalls of digital marketing basics like website design, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid online advertising. We’ll also explore a few of the most subtle, yet even more dangerous, ways poor digital marketing execution can have dire consequences. Discover how strategy, trackability, opportunity cost, and even reliance on gurus can decimate a business.

We often hear from businesses who don’t understand why digital marketing is important. We also run into a lot of people who think traditional advertising is dead. The truth is both can help maximize your ROI from marketing. To discuss this and more, we’re joined by Ashley Sica from Green Bench Monthly, a local full-color magazine here in St Pete. Learn about how traditional advertising, like direct mail and print advertising, are far from dead. Ashley tells us about how a print magazine works, how they market themselves, and how their website is also important. We’ll also discuss how print advertising can help local businesses.

Every business needs a website, but all websites are not created equal. Jake and Mirela explain why you need a website and how it helps your business grow. We’ll discuss what information you must have your website to maximize your online marketing. Learn how to get a website, who to hire depending on your budget, other resources, and requirements. We’ll also go over how website pricing works, break down the different ranges, and how to get a website at any cost. Basically all of the most important information a business owner needs to know about websites is in this episode.

Everyone in business has probably heard the terms target market and target audience. Jake and Mirela will discuss what both of these really are and how they interrelate. Learn why target markets are critical, and why defining one is normally the first step in launching a successful business or product. Explore why target audiences are also important, and why going niche is the way to go. We’ll also discuss key takeaways on how understanding target markets and target audiences can be used to improve any business.

Jake and Mirela are joined by Ryan Helfrick from the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Tampa Bay Rays. Ryan is a sales professional with a marketing degree in the sports marketing industry. He has also worked with FC Dallas in the MLS and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL. Ryan has a deep understanding of how sports intersects with marketing. We’ll discuss how businesses can benefit from sports sponsorships. Ryan will also share some of his tips and tricks to succeeding at professional selling.

Jake and Mirela are joined by Ryan Helfrick from the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Tampa Bay Rays. Ryan is a sales professional with a marketing degree in the sports marketing industry. He has also worked with FC Dallas in the MLS and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL. Ryan has a deep understanding of how sports intersects with marketing. We’ll discuss how businesses can benefit from sports sponsorships. Ryan will also share some of his tips and tricks to succeeding at professional selling.

Starting or expanding a business can be hard. Maybe you’ve come up with a killer business idea, or you have an amazing idea to expand your business. How do you get the capital to make that happen? What makes a business or a business idea appealing to an investor or bank? We’ll discuss this and more with Patrick S Weston, a successful entrepreneur and investor in St Pete. He is the managing partner of WestRock Investments, an investment partnership. Patrick has an MBA from the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Patrick is also a licensed medical doctor that is board-certified as an internist and cardiologist.

Starting or expanding a business can be hard. Maybe you’ve come up with a killer business idea, or you have an amazing idea to expand your business. How do you get the capital to make that happen? What makes a business or a business idea appealing to an investor or bank? We’ll discuss this and more with Patrick S Weston, a successful entrepreneur and investor in St Pete. He is the managing partner of WestRock Investments, an investment partnership. Patrick has an MBA from the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Patrick is also a licensed medical doctor that is board-certified as an internist and cardiologist.

It’s a new year, and that’s usually a good time for any small business to reflect and set goals. Jake and Mirela talk about their reflections from 2018 about running a local marketing agency. We’ll also discuss Kapok Marketing's goals for 2019. Some of the topics discussed in this episode include: strategy and planning, educating potential customers, taking advantage of more platforms or mediums, and looking for business opportunities that make sense.

It can be hard to find good advice as an entrepreneur. Asking friends and family doesn’t always get you the honest feedback your business needs. That’s why we’re joined today by Howard Task from Howard Task Marketing Management and Advisory Services. He has over 40 years experience in both marketing and business. Howard recommends that private small companies have a board of advisors to act as a pseudo board of directors. He explains how these trusted professionals can help small businesses be more successful. Howard also tells us how to get started with a board of advisors and what to expect.

Video is a super powerful way to market your business. We’re joined by Joey West again today. In addition to being in the media industry, Joey owns his own full-service video production company. Joey's team has over 55 years of combined experience, and he'll be sharing some of that knowledge with us. He explains why video marketing is important for a small business. Joey will also discuss some tips and tricks about how anyone can get started with video.

Jake and Mirela often get asked marketing questions. Unfortunately many of the best questions are asked when the cameras and microphones aren't on. While recording a previous podcast episode, we were lucky enough to be recording when Dale Baker asked a variety of insightful marketing questions. Mirela and Jake answer those questions and more on this special off-the-record episode. We'll hear about influencers, email marketing, text marketing, and even touch on direct mail marketing.

Having a budget and understanding how marketing fits within that budget is not a glamorous topic, but it’s one that every business owner needs to think about. Knowing how much money needs to be dedicated to marketing is a critical aspect of business. We discuss how marketing fits within a business budget and what the ideal marketing budget is. We’ll also explore some other marketing budget pitfalls to avoid and tips to take advantage of.

A lot of small businesses are also family owned businesses. One of Mirela’s very first bosses discusses the pros and cons of being part of a family owned business. Dale Baker is the Vice President of Sales at JT Eaton. He is a dynamic professional with lots of experience in professional selling and business in general. Dale tells us about experience at JT Eaton and some of their marketing efforts. He also turns the tables on Jake and Mirela, and asks them a few marketing questions that touch on a number of timely marketing topics.

Jake and Mirela reflect on their trip to Inbound 2018, a marketing conference hosted by HubSpot, in Boston last month. We discuss five marketing tips they learned while networking and listening to speakers at the event. Learn about how providing a great experience, being easy to do business with, storytelling, and how audio, video and other content can help your local businesses succeed in digital marketing.

Public relations can be an important component of the marketing strategy for small local businesses. It includes a lot more than just press releases and often involves a blend of both digital and traditional tactics. We review what public relations is and how it can help a local business succeed. We're joined by Andrea Gomes, one of our marketing assistants, who has experience with writing, including as a journalist, and has authored several blog posts about public relations on our Kapok Marketing blog.