Growth Driven

“Strategy is only for big organizations”Those with small companies or modest ambitions commonly believe that strategy is for those MBA types who manage Fortune 5000 level companies.I would argue that one needs to rely on strategy, even more, when one has less money, opportunities, and resources.Strategy helps you to prioritize and focus on important, life-defining activities that lead to further growth and success. When you’re strategic and resourceful, you “magically” garner more opportunities. “Strategy is only about thinking, thus a waste of my time”I had someone tell me that all strategies, “Is thinking up ideas for other people to do.”Most ignorant comment I may have ever heard. Just as your mind drives and directs your body, strategy drives and directs your tactics and regular activities.A drunk or tired mind easily shows up in the muddled motions of those so affected.A strategic mind is what we witness in Tom Brady's history of winning.“Strategy provides little value or impact”Most people are stuck in their normal, subconscious habits and old routines. They cannot connect the dots between strategy and elevating their maneuvers or developing improved tactics and efficient processes.Before you witnessed any world-renowned innovation, there was a strategic mind working years, maybe decades, before it was unleashed upon the world. All true and famous innovators are also great strategists. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy or direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to attain strategic goals.It may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the strategy. Strategic planning became prominent in corporations during the 1960s and remains an important aspect of strategic management. It is executed by strategic planners or strategists, who involve many parties and research sources in their analysis of the organization and its relationship to the environment in which it competes.Strategy has many definitions, but it generally involves setting strategic goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, setting a timeline, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy describes how the ends (goals) will be achieved by the means (resources) in a given span of time. Often, Strategic Planning is long term and organizational action steps are established from two to five years in the future. The senior leadership of an organization is generally tasked with determining strategy. Strategy can be planned (intended) or can be observed as a pattern of activity (emergent) as the organization adapts to its environment or competes in the market.Strategy includes processes of formulation and implementation; strategic planning helps coordinate both. However, strategic planning is analytical in nature (i.e., it involves "finding the dots"); strategy formation itself involves synthesis (i.e., "connecting the dots") via strategic thinking. As such, strategic planning occurs around the strategy formation activity.

Recession-Proof Marketing Strategies with Cebron WalkerFeatured Article: https://gobuttonmarketing.blogspot.co...Here is the Virtual Marketing Bootcamp link and a little bit of text about it: https://www.walkerkreative.com/produc...The marketing bootcamp is designed for individuals, owners or team members who need to know digital marketing tools and tactics to implement NOW to recession-proof themselves and continue to grow their business or entrepreneurial project. You will be learning from experts who are applying these marketing principles right now with their clients across the country.https://www.walkerkreative.com/During a recession, your primitive lizard brain reacts, commanding the erroneous knee-jerk reaction to hunker down and wait out the storm. Do you know what people do when they panic? They end up saying dumb shit and overreacting. They sabotage what they’re trying to resolve. Do you know what handles most panic? Being extremely prepared!Question: Are you prepared for the mother of all recessions? This business survival guide can help, if you apply what I teach within it.On the other side of the coin are those few entrepreneurial contrarians who view these dark times as golden opportunities for grabbing additional market share. They prepare rather than panic. They respond rather than react. Warren Buffett once said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”Recessions are unlikely opportunities for massive growth. But only for the prepared ones who respond, not panic. Once you change your mindset about recessions, refusing to be sucked into the upsetting news and panic of the media pundits, you can rise above with a written strategy and thus take effective actions to survive, and yes, even thrive. Live to serve others with high-quality services and products, while also standing tall as a brand that communicates positivity, empathy, and hope during challenging times, and you can win while others panic. “Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But the better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come.” – Sir Richard BransonTake Away: Prepare and respond by writing out your business & marketing plan around, “How can I make many more people’s lives a lot better?” Do this before the economic storm peaks. History Teaches UsIn the 1920s, Post Cereals was the leader in their market. But when the Great Depression hit, the company reduced its marketing considerably.Meanwhile, its biggest rival, Kellogg’s, doubled their advertising expenditure and quickly saw it

Recession Proof Your Business https://gobuttonmarketing.blogspot.co...This Is Your Business Survival Guide To Help You Prosper During Economic Crises During a recession, your primitive lizard brain reacts, commanding the erroneous knee-jerk reaction to hunker down and wait out the storm. Do you know what people do when they panic? They end up saying dumb sh*t and overreacting. They sabotage what they’re trying to resolve. Do you know what handles most panic? Being extremely prepared!Question: Are you prepared for the mother of all recessions? This business survival guide can help, if you apply what I teach within it.On the other side of the coin are those few entrepreneurial contrarians who view these dark times as golden opportunities for grabbing additional market share. They prepare rather than panic. They respond rather than react. Warren Buffett once said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”Recessions are unlikely opportunities for massive growth. But only for the prepared ones who respond, not panic. Once you change your mindset about recessions, refusing to be sucked into the upsetting news and panic of the media pundits, you can rise above with a written strategy and thus take effective actions to survive, and yes, even thrive.History Teaches UsIn the 1920s, Post Cereals was the leader in their market. But when the Great Depression hit, the company reduced its marketing considerably.Meanwhile, its biggest rival, Kellogg’s, doubled their advertising expenditure and quickly saw its profits boom by 30%!In fact, after overtaking the top position in the 1920s, Kellogg’s is still the category leader one century later.Harvard graduate and Professor of Business & Marketing, Roland S. Vaile (1889-1970), tracked 200 companies through the recession of 1923. Roland reported that companies who continued to advertise during the crisis were 20% ahead of what they were before the recession. On the other hand, the companies that had reduced their marketing were still in the recession and were 7% behind where they were in 1920.Companies that continued to advertise during the 1923 recession ended up 20% ahead of where they were before the recession.During the 1990-1991 recession, McDonald’s decided to reduce its marketing spending and promotion budget. Contrarily, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell took advantage of their reduced presence and focused their efforts to retain their own respective marketing activities.As a result, both the companies experienced higher sales, with Pizza Hut seeing a 61% increase, and Taco Bell a 40% raise. McDonald’s saw its sales decline by 28%.Take Away: Recessions are unlikely opportunities for massive growth.

Full Episode: https://www.jeremyryanslate.com/987About This Episode:The Orange County Register featured @Edwin Dearborn as a true “Marketing Expert”. Edwin has also been featured in Entrepreneur, CBS MoneyWatch, Social Media Today, and other national media outlets. Edwin has appeared as a keynote speaker for Sony and the American Marketing Association.Edwin is a veteran C-Level Executive, having been a CEO of a large non-profit organization in Orange County, CA for over 18 years. As a CEO, he was personally responsible for overseeing the planning and management of his 100 person staff.Find out more about Edwin at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindear...Growth Driven Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to virtual CMO and author, Edwin Dearborn. Edwin shares that he helps companies, who are doing well but don’t have a CMO on board, who want to become more growth-driven. In other words, he’s the perfect fit for a company that doesn’t want to hire a full time CMO but needs that guidance to get to the next level. Edwin also helps to advise on content creation. A lot of the companies he has worked with have great content ideas but haven’t executed on any of them; Edwin helps with actually pulling the trigger on the content creation process.Josh and Edwin also explore how to approach solving marketing problems in business. Edwin explains that many businesses only see their most immediate or direct problem and not any other issues that negatively impact the business. More often than not, your issues aren’t just chalked up to one problem, but rather several that influence one another. Edwin helps his clients take off their blinders and untangle the web of problems, then he helps create a blueprint that will help those businesses overcome those challenges and get to the next level of growth. Edwin and Josh agree that a confused mind does nothing. If your marketing and messaging isn’t clear or doesn’t resonate with your target audience, your prospects simply aren’t going to buy. If you’re having leadgen issues, you need to reframe your messaging to actually hit home with your demographic. Do market research to find out how your marketing is actually being perceived and use that feedback to change your ad strategy. Another important point to consider is keeping up with trends and changes. A CEO that runs all of their own marketing isn’t going to have the bandwidth to continue being their own marketing expert. This is the beauty of hiring a virtual CMO – you can outsource your needs to the experts without necessarily creating a whole new role within your company’s framework. Don’t wait until the last moment to outsource this type of work to a virtual CMO or marketing expert; start working on this early to stay on top of marketing trends and to build your processes effectively from the get go. A good CMO can drive revenue beyond what you might think is possible and this can all be done fractionally and virtually. Edwin shares that he works with ambitious businesses that want to scale. His clients have big dreams and want to create massive amounts of presence in their space. Want to learn more? Check out Edwin Dearborn’s website at https://virtualcmo.expert/. Check out Edwin Dearborn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/. 

Success Leaves Clues - What Does This Famous Quote About Success Mean?“Long ago, I realized that success leaves clues, and that people who produce outstanding results do specific things to create those results. I believed that if I precisely duplicated the actions of others, I could reproduce the same quality of results that they had.” – Tony Robbins

Business Development Process: The Skills, Strategy, and Activities https://virtualcmo.expert/https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/Business development is the process of implementing strategies and opportunities across your organization to promote growth and boost revenue.It involves pursuing opportunities to help your business grow, identifying new prospects, and converting more leads into customers. Business development is closely tied to sales — business development teams and representatives are almost always a part of the greater sales org.Business development is a process that helps your company establish and maintain relationships with prospects, learn about your buyer’s personas, increase brand awareness, and seek new opportunities to promote growth.In contrast, sales teams sell your product or service to customers and work to convert leads into customers. Business development-related work simplifies the work of a salesperson or sales manager.Business Development Representative ResponsibilitiesAlthough some BDR responsibilities may change over time and as your business grows, the following list will provide you with a solid understanding of typical BDR tasks.1. Qualify leads.BDRs must qualify leads and pinpoint ideal prospects to determine who they'll sell to. Typically, leads are qualified through calls, emails, web forms, and social media.The key to qualifying leads (leads who are assigned to the BDRs as well as leads BDRs identify themselves) is to consider their needs and then determine whether or not your product or software could be a solution for them.2. Identify and communicate with prospects.By qualifying leads and searching for people who fit your buyer personas, BDRs will identify ideal prospects. They can communicate with those prospects directly to learn more about their needs and pain points.This way, BDRs can determine whether or not the prospect will really benefit from your product or service by becoming a customer. This is important because it increases the potential for improved customer loyalty and retention.Once the BDRs have identified ideal prospects, those prospects can be passed along to a sales rep on the team (or sales manager, if necessary) who can nurture them into making a deal.3. Proactively seek new business opportunities.Proactively seeking new opportunities — whether that’s in terms of the product line, markets, prospects, or brand awareness — is an important part of your business’s success. BDRs work to find new business opportunities through networking, researching your competition, and talking to prospects and current customers.If a new business opportunity is identified, BDRs should schedule marketing assessments and discovery meetings with the sales reps on the team so they can all assess whether or not there’s potential for a deal.4. Stay up-to-date on competition and new market trends.It’s important to stay up-to-date on your competition’s strategies, products, and target audience as well as any new market and industry trends.This will allow you to more effectively identify ideal prospects. It also helps your business prepare for any shifts in the market that could lead to the need for a new approach to qualifying leads and attracting your target audience.

Sales Prospecting: What Does That Mean | B2B Sales & Lead GenerationConnect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindear...“Prospecting is the proactive search for potential clients and referrals. It is purely outbound and can be initiated at will. Prospecting is the process of identifying for yourself who your ideal clients are, then searching for them, and then creating a base of leads. The goal of prospecting is to further communicate with them, in person and via technology, and to eventually convert them into paying clients.” Prospecting is the art of starting new relationships. Your new business opportunities that later turn into sales are initially identified through prospecting.Prospecting is the lifeblood of sales.Improving your prospecting results begins with setting aside the time and the energy to prospect each and every day. That doesn’t mean once a week or every other day. I mean, each and every day. To prospect successfully, you need to focus your time and energy on the methods that work best for you. Which methods are your best?Make a list of all of the methods you can think of that are used to prospect. Plan how much time you will set aside for each method and set goals for how many prospects you want to gain from your effort.Poor prospecting results are usually caused by two things:1. Spending too little time on prospecting.2. Ineffective prospecting. Coming across as awkward, insincere, or unsure.Despite being the first stage of the sales funnel, prospecting is one of the most challenging tasks for sales representatives. Generating prospects is often time-consuming and it certainly isn’t as rewarding as closing a deal, which means it’s not uncommon to postpone this task until it absolutely has to be done. However, with the right strategy and commitment, salespeople can refine their sales skills and learn how to identify promising prospects quickly.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...As someone who has over 19,000 followers on LinkedIn and routinely has his posts seen by thousands of people per day, I’d like to help you win on LinkedIn.I’ll keep this tutorial simple because how you can win on LinkedIn is simple.But before I get into the Action Plan, let me share two observations.Observation No.1: Most people don’t succeed on social media because they will not do the basics. The basics are not sexy or exciting, most often. The basics take time and consistency.Burpees and kettlebell swings are not that fun. But if you keep doing them over and over every other day for months, you'll see the difference. Not sexy, but quite effective.Observation No. 2: Complex people (over-thinkers and the idle) love to complicate everything. Then they tell you that they are waiting because they “want to make sure I’m doing it right”.Perfection is the blood brother to procrastination.Start simple. Then build up your competencies and systems as you get into a groove of activity and success.

Real Estate 2022 with Zachary Beachhttps://smartrealestatecoach.com/After many years of coaching and constantly doing deals himself independently, Chris Prefontaine founded Smart Real Estate Coach in 2014, bringing in his son Nick, daughter Kayla, and son-in-law Zachary as the company began to grow. The family team coaches investors on how to properly scale and automate their businesses throughout North America — all without using their own cash, credit, or taking out bank loans to buy property. Our team buys and sells homes in our own market every month. They mentor, coach, and consult students and Associates all around North America to do the exact same thing. We stay current because we're in the trenches ourselves.

The War For Talent with Evan Sohn https://www.recruiter.com/Evan is a senior executive with 25+ years of experience in eCommerce at Fortune 500 and start-up environments with a history of rapidly growing businesses and capturing market share.Recruiter.com is disrupting the $120 billion recruiting and staffing industry by combining an AI and Video hiring platform with the world's largest network of over 27,500 small and independent recruiters. Businesses of all sizes recruit talent faster using the Recruiter.com platform, which is powered by virtual teams of Recruiters On Demand and Video and AI job-matching technology.Recruiter.com is currently headquartered in New York City, but everyone at the company is free to live and work wherever they want. We value our people and are building a wonderfully diverse team of passionate, innovative people.The importance of talent will continue to grow in 2022 and employers will invest heavily in talent acquisition and retention. Recruiter.com has announced six overall predictions for the new year:A tight job market through at least the first half of 2022Remote or hybrid work becomes the new normalWork-from-anywhere morphs into hire-from-anywhereWork-life balance for employees grows in importanceDiversity of all kinds will continue to be a focusCommunity will become more important to business and take on new forms “We’ve been ahead of the curve when it comes to hiring and job market trends, thanks to our network of talent acquisition professionals who take part in our monthly Recruiter Index Survey,” said CEO Evan Sohn. “Month after month, employee priorities have been shifting, and the overall value of talent continues to be a top priority for businesses of all sizes.”“It truly is a candidates’ market, and I don’t see that changing 2022,” he continued. “Employers that recognize and invest in recruiting and retaining talent will be rewarded with greater efficiency and productivity.”

Edwin Edebiri is the founder of the Happy Neighborhood Project (a registry for Happy Businesses) and the I am Happy Project, now in 64 cities in 19 countries with over 70,000 members.His purpose is to inspire and encourage others to their full potential and have a positive impact on the world through service and love.He is a Pioneer of Happiness as a Skill. He teaches happiness classes to High School and College Students.He is a TEDx speaker and workshop leader with over 30 years of experience. A dynamo of humor and enthusiasm, Edwin stands at the forefront of entrepreneurial spirit.He holds an MBA with honors from Embry Riddle Aeronautics University in Daytona Beach. Edwin serves on the board of various profit and non for profit organizations including the Junior Achievement of Sacramento.He has done extensive research on the subject of Happiness.Mr. Edebiri has interviewed more than 1,000 people in 2009. Based on their answers, he has come up with a list of 10 concrete things people can do to become happier. Edebiri is the inspiration behind the global happiness summit.When not busy networking or spreading happiness, he enjoys his hobby as a pilot.

Building Brand Trust: How To Build It and How To Keep ItBuilding and keeping brand trust is important now more than ever as consumers have shifted how and why they do business with certain brands. If you want to stay relevant, then try incorporating some of these ideas into your practices, processes, and communications.1. Master the Art of Communication: Become an Articulate Beast2. Be Consistent In Everything: Communications, Service, and Response 3. Transparency Wins4. Provide Social Proof5. Fairness Wins6. Going Beyond "Good Service" - Provide HospitalityBrand trust is the “new marketing currency” according to Forbes, implying consumers who trust a brand are more likely to do business with the brand. It goes beyond traditional motivators like price or discounts — brand trust is a long-term approach to building stickiness with consumers, so they will stay with the brand over a greater period of time. In fact, a report from Edelman shows consumers are more than twice as likely to stay loyal to a brand they trust, even in the face of disruption. They are more likely to be the ones who advocate for and defend the brand as well.Make no mistake about it: a recognizable and loved brand is one of the most valuable assets a company owns.According to a Nielson survey, 59% of consumers prefer to buy new products from brands familiar to them.As a small business, you may be competing against big brands with devoted customers and unlimited marketing budgets. That’s why you have to find ways to stand out—with a solid brand building process of your own.

The Forgotten Secret About Money: How to Build Wealth Fast from Nothing With SystemsConnect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindear...Visit: https://virtualcmo.expert/earning how to build wealth from nothing might sound like “mission impossible”, especially if you have always believed that wealthy people either inherit their wealth or have benefited from powerful connections.However, a 2019 report by Wealth-X showed that 67.7% of the world’s ultra-wealthy population (defined as those with $30m or more in assets) were actually self-made. More interesting still is the rapid rise in this class of ultra-rich. In the 2019 report, there were 265,490 ultra-wealthy individuals; in the 2020 report, that number increased by almost 10% to 290,720.The above data reveals two things for us: first, it is possible to build wealth from nothing, and, second, those who are achieving the “impossible” are doing so with increasing frequency. Today, instead of fantasizing about the wealth you wish you inherited, we implore you to discover the many ways you can learn how to build wealth from nothing."KNOWLEDGE will not attract money, unless it is organized, and intelligently directed, through practical PLANS OF ACTION, to the DEFINITE END of accumulation of money. Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that "knowledge is power." It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end. This "missing link" in all systems of education known to civilization today, may be found in the failure of educational institutions to teach their students HOW TO ORGANIZE AND USE KNOWLEDGE AFTER THEY ACQUIRE IT." - Napolean HillOne of the crucial areas of focus for any CMO is to create and manage profitable growth. Conversations concerning the role of the CMO as a growth driver have revealed big gaps between this ideal state affair and hard reality.For instance, in interviews with a variety of C-suite executives, both within and outside the CMO role, half of the interviewees say having an enterprise-wide mindset was one of the most important factors in a CMO’s success. Yet only six percent of CMOs describe themselves as actively working on growing revenue across all global business activities.While mindset is an important factor, remaining positive while no growth is generated is of zero value to any brand.A separate report similarly reveals some of the discomfort CMOs express in assuming the role of growth driver. Respondents in Deloitte’s 2018 CMO survey nearly unanimously (95 percent) say revenue is the top measure of growth in the organization, while 70 percent feel most confident driving growth through revenue.But only 32 percent feel prepared to impact market share, and just 20 percent feel prepared to drive gross margin, even though both of these are considered critical areas of growth by the business.The Forgotten Secret About Money: How to Build Wealth Fast from Nothing With Systems

An Influencer Marketing Strategy for Small Business Which Is EasyInfluencer Marketing has been around for a while and has changed the way that many businesses reach their target audience. What started out with celebrities understanding how to monetize their social media platforms, has developed into what we have today. Any small business can develop a marketing strategy to use Influencers to create awareness through product reviews, creative content, and brand mentions. There are many types of Influencer Marketing strategies that can be easily implemented from profile takeovers to product giveaways.My saying is "Influence The Influencers"Influencers are the Kings & Queens of social media. But they are just chess pieces. By becoming a chess player, you can leverage the power of Kings & Queens to win your game as a small business.How To Identify These Influential IndividualsOnce you are able to grasp the sheer value, importance, and impact of these two subcelestial strata of influencers, you can then generate a list of these influencers into a document, spreadsheet, or even into a CRM.Influencers already exist within your database, mobile phone, desk, files, and throughout your social media connections.Even if your list is quite modest, you still are at a starting point to launch from to generate momentum and important experience. All it takes is one influencer to begin an entirely new level of growth. I’ve conducted this exercise numerous times with my partners and clients:“Who do you know that has over 1,000 connections on social, email, or otherwise that you have worked with in the past or approached you about working together in some capacity in the future? Additionally, do you routinely engage with people on social media who have over 1,000 followers? We get out a pad of paper or start a google doc and begin listing them out. “My hot take on micro-influencers - is that it's micro, micro, micro. Give me an alpha mom at a suburban Pittsburgh. Give me the cheerleader that's the most popular in her high school who has 4,000 followers on Instagram. I'll show you bigger business results than somebody who has 300,000 and is verified.“What's next is micro; micro-influencers.“If you're talking about humans and influencer marketing ambassadors, whatever, the next thing, you ask me, the question I'm giving you that answer I feel confident about. Micro, micro. “Hand-to-hand combat at scale, to create more opportunity in the long tail that you can amortize and make valuable is the game. Scaling the unscalable is the game.” - Gary Vaynerchuk  An Influencer Marketing Strategy for Small Business Which Is Easy

What Is Lead Generation in Digital Marketing?Let me be your Virtual Chief Marketing Officer - https://virtualcmo.expert/Four Steps1. Use Paid Ads. Google, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can provide a direct means to reach and engage your ideal audiences. Seasoned B2B marketers focus on the quality of the lead they attract. They do this by working to understand their buyer persona and ensure that their content resonates deeply with their ideal customer.2. Create “Gated Content” Pieces And Promote Them. One way to ensure that you attract quality leads is to create gated content. Gated content is valuable pieces of content that are related to the business goals of your prospect. This content can be anything- white papers, ebooks, case studies; give it a clear and captivating title that tells a prospect precisely what they will gain when they download your content. Since the content is gated, prospects who want access will have to fill in the lead capture form. 3. Host Events. Hosting a webinar, workshop, or conference to interact with your ideal customers gives you the chance to capture their contact information when they register for the event.4. Promote your gated content and events on social media. Social media is where hundreds of millions of people actively engage brands daily. Your ideal prospects are on social media, and your job is to find and display your lead magnets (gated content and event registrations) to them and watch the right prospects convert. With social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, you can access powerful ad targeting tools that let you segment and reach particular audiences. Successful B2B markets use paid Facebook and Instagram ads to drive traffic to their gated content.Since loyal customers are the lifeblood of any successful business, lead generation is a top priority for ambitious brands that want to grow.In digital marketing, lead generation is the process of identifying, attracting, and transforming online users into prospects for a business. Digital Marketing utilizes online channels, tactics, and strategies such as email campaigns, paid social media ads, or even offering downloadable content through a landing page.The strategies of lead generations typically involve using content in various forms to increase brand awareness and interest in a brand’s products or services. Further, Digital Marketing averages the power of a CRM and additional content to nurture the leads interested in your business and nudge them towards taking purchase actions. The use of paid, retargeting ads on Google and social media platforms is also another method to create omnipresence in front of those sales leads.SHOW LESS

How To Build Brand Authority

As a keynote speaker, Amazon bestselling author, and Virtual Chief Marketing Officer, Edwin Dearborn is at the forefront of social media technology and branded content designs.  His mission is to help you emotionally and cognitively connect with your past clients and social followers with inspirational, memorable, and “eye-popping” content to keep your practice or business at the top of your mind.  In turn, this proven and powerful strategy generates more shares, word-of-mouth, and thus referrals and repeat-business. [00:01 - 04:30] Opening SegmentGet to know Edwin DearbornA passion for marketing and advertising back in the 80sHow Edwin evolved in the marketing space [04:31 - 14:11] Growing Your Network To Grow Your BusinessMastering your Audience’s DataFind something that you can do and get better at itMore value becoming a mile deepThe Best Referral Marketing BookGrab your copy of Edwin Dearborn’s ebook, ReferololgyThe Four Different Types of ReferralsSoft ReferralDirect Referral Working with InfluencersHigh-End Strategic Referral [14:12 - 24:47]  The Fourth ReferralHigh-End Strategic Referral: Co-brandingKaizenCreative Company-Level ReferralThe Best CRMs to Use [24:48 - 31:59] Closing SegmentQuick break for our sponsorsGroundfloor offers short-term, high-yield real estate debt investments to the general public. Check www.passivewealthstrategy.com/groundfloor/ to get started.What is the best investment you've ever made other than your education?A small businessEdwin’s worst investment1976 VW DasherWhat is the most important lesson that you've learned in business and investing?“Surround yourself with really, really good people, one of not only intelligence, but of character.”Connect with my guest. See the links below. Tweetable Quotes:“In 2006, I really saw the world was changing when Twitter, YouTube, Facebook all came out.  I had a friend that was doing really well with internet marketing and I knew that I would become extinct like a dodo bird if I didn't update my know-how” - Edwin Dearborn“Referrals are the biggest blind spot marketing.” - Edwin Dearborn“Memorable becomes referable.” - Edwin Dearborn

Brand Expansion Strategy: The Only Way To Protect Your Brand“The only way to protect your brand is to expand your brand.” - Grant CardoneSimple, powerful, and true.But what does “expanding your brand” mean in 2022? From my perspective and experience, this breaks down to FOUR core elements:1. Connecting with more people. 2. Developing powerful strategic partnerships.3. Creating and distributing better content (videos, blog articles, infographics, etc.) to your contacts.4. Bettering existing and/or adding more products and services.Brand building occurs with much research, planning, attention to detail, persistence, and devoted execution.   When brand building becomes a lifestyle and strategic mindset, it often requires you to work with a professional who understands this process.Your brand strategy defines rules and guidelines on how, what, where, when, and to whom you communicate your brand messages. A well-defined and executed brand strategy leads to a consistent brand message, a strong emotional connection with customers, and higher brand equity.

Real Estate brands are exploring new opportunities to gain market share and engage with prospective consumers. Marketing strategists are thinking outside traditional templates, and many consider working together with another brand to execute an innovative and influential campaign.Co-branding can be a very effective activation that bolsters both brands working together rather than acting independently. It helps extend reach, awareness, and sales potential by capturing prospective consumers of each brand.