Optimizing Your Google Business Listing

Google Business Listing, Marketing Technology, Measureable Marketing, Pop up Retail, video marketing

I am in the middle of building a marketing strategy to increase revenue for a health and wellness center for a Doctor of Naturopathic medicine in Middlesex County, New Jersey. He has outstanding patient testimonials, has transformed people’s lives with his seven-week detoxification cleanse and a growing base of 15 five star Google reviews.

I strongly believe that his practice will continue to build on word-of-mouth recommendations and friend and family referrals, however he has to be prepared for potential patients who will do their due diligence. They will Google him and his practice. So of course the marketing plan I am creating for him recommends that he polish up his Google Business Listing.

How do you optimize a Google Business Listing in 2019?

With 30 second videos of course.

Last January 2018, Google started testing videos on business listings.

Here are the video guidelines. . .

Google says that once you upload your video it can take up to 24 hours for it to display, but some may upload in minutes.

I am recommending a 30 second video for each one of the doctor’s services (my client) that include quick testimonials from patients.

Video one – The doctor asking his top three questions for his initial consultation and health assessment (with a patient).
Video two – The doctor surrounded by foods to detoxify the body while discussing the benefits of his seven-week cleanse.

Ideas for your local listing. . .

After you’ve decided what video you want to upload to your Google Business listing, make sure the video follows these guidelines:

Google My Business Video Max Duration: 30 seconds
Google My Business Video Max File size: 100 MB
Google My Business Video Min Resolution: 720p

What Kind of Google My Business Videos Should You Create?

Customers enjoying your delicious, healthy meals.
What goes on during a complimentary consultation.
Live music and happy hour fun.

Think about the misconceptions that customers and clients have about your business.

Maybe they think –

Your clothing is too pricey.
Your meals are loaded with butter.
You don’t offer any vegan or gluten-free options.
You don’t take their health insurance.
You never have live music.

Make sure to address those misconceptions in your video.

Need help marketing your business. Reach out via comments here or drop me a line at hello@mj.works

How to Start Promoting & Marketing Your Brand Like A True Pro

Brand Awareness, brand management, brand publishing, brand reputation, branded content, Fitness Marketing, market research, marketing demographics, Marketing in the Moment, marketing plans, Marketing Strategy, word of mouth campaigns

Watch this short tutorial on the three no BS things you must continually do to grow your business.

Most small businesses have a limited budget for marketing and advertising and need to better understand where their promotional dollars will be well-spent.

Will targeted Facebook ads bring in new memberships or subscriptions?
How about creative outdoor advertising?
Maybe collaborating with micro-influencers?
Partnering with other neighboring businesses?
Try a refer a friend email campaign with a promotional offer for each friend who signs up? Should we invest in a new service, like a juice bar?
A direct mailer with a big seasonal discount?

An ongoing approach to market research is the beginning of a blueprint for growth for a business owner and it serves two main purposes.

1. It helps the business become more competitive.

2. It will assist in building a more profitable brand.

Good market research should also tell you (if you are open-minded) what services your customers and clients are not happy with, what needs improvement and what you should be offering that you are not.

Do you have questions about building your business? Drop me a line at hello@mj.works or comment below.

Marketing Health, Fitness, Food & Fashion + 3 Smart Ways To Build Your Online Business

digital content strategy, digital marketing, Email Marketing, Influencer marketing, instagram insight, Instagram marketing, madeline johnson, Marketing Mavens, marketing muscle, marketing plans, social media marketing

What to Do When You Hate to Sell

So many business owners tell me how they hate to “sell”. They don’t like to push their products or services on people because they can’t stand it when they are sold to by other companies. They delete email campaigns, block brands on their social media accounts and get really weirded out about retargeted ads appearing out of nowhere while they are surfing online. I know, it’s spooky. I get it, I don’t like pushy sales campaigns either, but I also think many business owners need a shift in their perspective. If you have a great product, you shouldn’t be selling at all. You should be building a community with your website, blog, video and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. You should be creating valuable videos, posts and downloadable tools that help future customers. Create and share like a thought leader about the problem your product solves and always give them a call-to-action.

Social Media Marketing Isn’t Difficult, But It Is Time-Consuming

So many brands want to create social media posts on the fly or worse yet, farm out the work to a freelancer who doesn’t understand their market. The truth is, without proper planning, research or quality visuals, you aren’t going to attract any attention at all. Posting thoughtless or copy cat content can also lead to breaking trust with potential customers and clients. If clients only spent more time being thoughtful about what they want to post and really answered their audience and their community’s burning questions. If they only put themselves in their customer’s shoes. Think like your customers and clients and then give them solutions and broadcast it out to your social media content.

Even The Best Content Won’t Be Seen Without a Sizable Community

On the other hand, many clients have fantastic content, but they haven’t bothered to build a following on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat or Pinterest. They are wasting all that work on a community of zero. The way to get followers is to follow, to comment, to like and engage with the audience you want to attract.

I often get asked by associates, friends and new clients about what I am currently working on these days. Lately, I am in the midst of helping a number of businesses navigate their way through digital marketing & web-based sales.

I have a digital marketing consulting gig, which includes web and email campaigns for Glaxo Smith Kline. I am working with Roy Heitzer, Head of Multichannel Marketing in the Nordics: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Norway and his team.

I am also creating a full marketing plan (including editorial content for articles, video and blog posts as well as strategy for social media and special events) for Nuvo Suites.

On the side, I am writing articles about healthy and natural living for Green Scene Gal, a new blog dedicated to helping women who long for a more natural way of life that is free of synthetic chemicals, GMOs, pesticides and artificial hormones.

I just published this article to help warn new moms and dads about arsenic levels found in baby food.

In the meantime, I am also developing a B2B Drip campaign for the fitness franchise Get in Shape for Women. See attached for email one of the five email campaign.

On a day-to-day, I strategize and assist Alana Johnson, designer and founder of Orseund Iris with her made in NY fashion label. This includes strategizing and optimizing the business for growth which continues to build a following with 98% of online sales coming from Instagram and fashion influencers

For those startups looking to build their vanity metrics with media interviews, I also have an online course www.ThePRPlaybook.com for entrepreneurs in health, fitness and wellness. This is targeted to brands like PEbyDesign.com who I have helped from the ground up.

How to Get Ongoing PR Coverage For Your Health & Beauty Business

Beauty pr, Brand Awareness, building brand trust, How to Do Your Own PR, Influencer marketing, media relations, press coverage, Public Relations, Uncatergorized

Note: This case study is a summary of a very successful three year public relations and media outreach campaign that I single-handedly created and executed, landing media and influencer mentions in US Weekly, Elle, Shape, Fitness, Allure, W, Health, Prevention and many, many more. It is packed with story ideas, pitches and ways to reach out to the media and influencers for press coverage for your new brand. While I love working with health, wellness, fitness and nutrition brands, these tips are for anyone trying to connect with the media and build their market. If you are looking to build press and influencer connections like a pro, you should probably check out my course The PR Playbook.com as well.

Why Vanity Metrics Matter

Everyone knows that influencers can actually sell through your product, bring real return on investment to your conversion funnel and actually have you making some money off your new business, but you tell me, how do you plan on paying for all that sponsored media? You need a balance of both blogger and persuasive top tier mentions and connections to convince and convert.

Same Problem, New Solution

I digitized these press clips and organized them into case studies with helpful tips for you to demonstrate that the news cycle in health, wellness, fitness and nutrition is a continual loop of how to look and feel our best. What is old again, is new again.

How to Pitch Like a PR Pro

It is not enough to tell the world you have built something brand new. You MUST share the problem you solve and why your product is the ultimate solution. In order to do this consistently like I did, with press in every media outlet imaginable – from Brides to Marie Claire; Town & Country to Oprah and Travel & Leisure to Vogue, you have to be very, very creative. No blogger, vlogger or journalist in their right mind wants a mass blanket pitch.

One of my first clients in beauty was a complex collection of skincare products (read: over 125 SKUs) from a brand called Yon-Ka Paris.

The challenge: Accumulate international brand awareness and celebrity cult-like status for an obscure, botanically-based skin care line created by two eccentric sisters living in the countryside of France without heat, electric or plumbing.

Create an influencer & celebrity worthy experience while delivering five-star results at a world premiere event, like the Cannes Film Festival.

2. Don’t just focus on the masses. Branch out and persistently and consistently land press coverage in specialty (niche) media like I did here with bridal and new moms.

3. Pitch story angles around each individual product for additional reviews and inclusion in specific problem/solution stories.

4. Build upon product coverage and reviews by promoting spa and retail partners to build a clip book of the best of spa and wellness experiences in top tier media outlets, like Allure, Vogue and W.

5. Stay on top of all consumer trends and connect the brand to everything that is “hot”, on newsworthy, while climbing the charts – always sharing with media outlets in a timely fashion.

6. Create a charticle and/or listicle with products that offer solutions for every health and beauty challenge under the sun.

7. Never miss an opportunity to let the world know that your product is coveted by insiders “in the know”. Yon-Ka featured here in The NY Times.

8. Research, uncover and reveal blogger, vlogger, model, celebrity and influencer hacks, secrets & ways to look and feel their best. Then share it with those who want to look and feel like a star.

9. Highlight and tout exotic ingredients, or even every day house hold items and edibles like grapefruit as the next super food, miracle cure and foundation of youth, while sharing the benefits backed by science.

10. Show everyone short cuts to reduce stress while recreating an at-home mindful spa & wellness experience.

More ways to create story ideas around your products and brand . . .

People can never have enough ways to eliminate the signs of anxiety and exhaustion.
Help followers, customers & prospects pack for travel and another season and reason of self-care.
Vet products, curate collections and share other complimentary brands in your story.

Offer up new survival tips and products for every day annoying, yet common problems, like dark under eye circles.
Collaborate with all-stars, including your strategic partners, retailers and professionals for added press coverage.
Reposition your products for a new market – like men’s skin care.

Position your more expensive, luxury product as an investment.
Make sure your products are in good company and in the hands of professionals – and share their know-how with the world.
Niche markets like “pregnancy” may have a shorter customer lifetime value, but they are open to product suggestions and recommendations. Especially when positioning your product as safe and effective for everyone.

You’ll build more trust when you sound believable, so keep it really real. Don’t just make up your CEO’s quotes. Let them speak from the heart. Be believable.
Popularize a certain part of the body and zone in on care for that one particular area.
Promote soothing, safe, natural ingredients – like botanicals for specific skin conditions.

Take an age old problem, and propose a new way to deal and heal it.
Sampling sizes always work to give customers the opportunity to try before they buy.
Does your product have an exceptional color? texture? Share the beauty of what’s inside the bottle.

Understand your customer persona. What is her personality type? Naturalist? Futurist? or maybe just pure Becky. It doesn’t matter, just be sure to pitch to the media he/she reads, views, likes and shares.
Go local – Connect with city guides in areas of dominant influence.

Even in an age of influencers by the dozen, stars and celebrities still have pull.
Plan an amazing product giveaway for your audience, fans and followers.
Plan a splurge vs steal story – and include products at every price point.

Help people get ready to reveal more for a new season – summer slim down and beach beauty prep.
Have experts speak on your behalf. They need the publicity just as much as you do.
Promote your product by lifestyle – cross over with fashion and accessories. Create the ultimate beach guide.

Notice an ingredient trend before an influencer does? – help them select products for a round up .
Have you opened a new retail account? Launched in a new online store? Tweet and share the news.
Even if you are not pitching a story or new product it is important that influencers know what you are up to – so they can include you in their upcoming stories. Stay in touch with your VIPs.

What happens when you have a fierce sales team, a loyal customer base and a winning marketing team – it’s a recipe for magic – it’s explosive.Work together.
Show people how to relax, de-stress and unwind during distracting times.
Help people transform themselves. Read: A complete vegan makeover.

Are your products in a new hot destination spot? Promote it.
Added tip: Make customization as simple as possible. As a matter of fact. Make everything as simple as possible.
Take one ingredient – like geranium – and promote the hell out of it.

Get people out of a bind – like when they over tan or burn their skin .
Keep it exclusive and promote win its aka “contests” to attract new audiences.
Promote B2B and B2C – which also helps boost employee morale.

Promote experts from within your company to speak about their skill set.
Seed out your products to celebrities.
Offer tips on how to choose the best products in a category – like self-tanners.

Go niche – pitch to smaller media and combine products with partners for the ultimate story mention.
Pimp out celebrity users when they are launching a new movie or track. They need the publicity now more than ever.
Reveal confessions.

Ask your followers what their favorites are and report on that.
Enter awards for your brand and promote the honors.
Focus on problematic issues, like sensitive skin.

Want more ways to build your brand with media coverage? Check out my on line video course, ThePRPlaybook.com a short cut to learning how to pitch the press like a pro.

How to Really (I mean Really) Make Money on LinkedIn

Clients, Communications, Content management, digital content strategy, digital marketing, freelancing, LinkedIn

Now that many popular growth hackers and digital marketers have claimed 2017 as the year of Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn, the ridiculous amount of redundant “How to Win on LinkedIn” articles are filling up my Flipboard pages faster than I can read clickbait headlines.

As a former boutique marketing agency owner billing close to a million a year and now a seasoned, independent growth strategist consulting well-known and emerging health and wellness brands, I have spent most of my career cold calling and canvasing new business prospects.

Over 18 Years of Rising & Grinding

For much of my career, about half of my time was focused on business development and filling project pipelines. With an expensive office on Fifth Avenue, securing enough work to make payroll and staying on top of the agency’s overhead was one of my biggest daily concerns and simply accepted as the price of doing business. Hustling hard is how I found our clients.

In the most recent year and a half, some of the most helpful new tools I have found for finding new professional partners are platforms for pairing talent with businesses. Platforms like UpWork, Thumbtack, Freelancer, Clarity and Contently have taken the guess work out of where my next project and/or retained client is coming from. Yes, they all work a bit differently, most have you working for five star reviews and competing against non-native English speakers willing to work for extremely low wages and some attract a more reliable and respectable level of professionalism than others.

A Social Network becomes Your Net Worth

We all know that LinkedIn has become synonymous with business. That’s quite obvious. However, LinkedIn has now become my best kept secret for finding new projects and interesting work assignments. When I heard that LinkedIn was launching Profinder in beta, I was one of the first to apply. I was already a premium member, requesting reviews, building my network, making recommendations, joining groups and posting valuable content daily, so I knew that LinkedIn would offer a stellar option to finding new businesses to pitch my talent and skills. LinkedIn has also done a great job of building trust into their brand by staying true to their mission of networking professionals and so far my experience on LinkedIn Profinder has not disappointed.

The Work Just Pours into Your Pipeline

Because of its enormous amount of user data, LinkedIn is able to quickly connect freelancers like myself with strong leads based on their keyword searches and companies followed. Client requests come in and an email alerts me immediately. Profinder is a great option for expert professionals like myself in countless fields.

So far I have connected and began working with and on . .

an industry-recognized thought leader in digital strategy and former Chief Digital Officer of Omnicom’s Healthcare Consultancy Group, a $100 million agency group serving pharma, medical device, and healthcare clients. I am helping him write articles on the risks, threats and the future of online privacy and cybersecurity.

the premiere launch of the NYC office for a social video tech firm in sports & entertainment.

finance and investment writing assignments for a private wealth management firm based in Montclair, New Jersey.

How LinkedIn Profinder Works

Much much more than a social site, LinkedIn is a community of professionals – in a business mindset. In my humble opinion, LinkedIn should have launched Profinder years ago.

Their Profinder https://www.linkedin.com/profinder talent exchange seamlessly connects you to those who are looking for what you have to offer– leaving you more time to focus on the work you’ve already secured.

On boarding is a breeze and sharing your skills as simple as connecting your LinkedIn profile, which you probably already have as you use LinkedIn to highlight your professional career.

You can create key messages and choose the types of projects you want to work on by using key words. I specialize in marketing strategy, plans, social media marketing, user experience, video editing and copywriting.

Client requests and open projects that best match your profile and preferences are sent directly to you via email.

Right now Profinder is free to use. The only concern I do have is when and how much of the freelance action LinkedIn will decide to scoop up. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that their online workplace remains a benefit to joining LinkedIn’s premium subscription.

By the way, if we haven’t met already, let’s connect on LinkedIn. You can find me here.

Instagram Basics for Business. A Tutorial

Brand Awareness, Digital Newsroom, Fitness Marketing, future of marketing, growth hacking, instagram, instagram insight, Instagram marketing, marketing on smart phones, Marketing Technology

In May of this year Instagram officially announced it’s new business tools, making it easier for startups to pay to reach their target audience.

Before you start buying Instagram ads, be sure to watch this quick and super helpful tutorial on how to get your business started on Instagram.

I am in the process of filming a full series on how to grow your fans, followers and customers on Instagram and as soon as it is ready, I will add it to ThePRPlaybook.com

In the meantime, I thought I would share this first lecture with you so you can develop a great profile, bio, content and hashtag strategy.

If you have any questions, please comment on the video on my YouTube channel. I look forward to hearing from you.

How to Work with a PR Agency without Losing Your Mind.

Communications, Content management, digital content strategy, Earned Media, PR Agency, press liaison, social media marketing

These tips are for those entrepreneurs and startups who’ve decided to hire a press liaison, or a freelance social media marketer or a larger retainer-based agency.

Note: It’s best to heed this advice before you actually decide to hire one.

However if you’ve decided to blow your marketing budget on a digital agency and you are just not seeing the results you’ve expected, then tune in and follow these recommendations.

Need help navigating the world of PR for your brand? Comment with questions below. I would love to hear from you.

Building Your Business with Media & Influencers

creative collaboration, digital content strategy, How do do your own PR, Influencer marketing, marketing muscle, Marketing Technology, The PR Playbook

This video is part of a lecture in ThePRPlaybook.com, my new online course to help you build your business by leveraging media and influencer collaborations.

When it comes to driving eyeballs and business to your website, influencer attention can have quite an impact.

Now, there are basically three types of influencers.

The Elevated Consumer

A passionate enthusiast, they may not have formal training, but they are learning along the way and taking their community on the journey. Typically, they are sharing DIY’s, How to’s, interviews and product reviews for their fans and followers to try.

The Professional

A skilled, licensed and seasoned professional who has decided to scale themselves to reach a wider audience, typically with a product or service to sell.

The Celebrity Influencer

This celebrity can be a combination of the above or simply so entertaining that they have amassed a large enough following to have star status.

Finding influencers has typically involved some type of Google search but I have just signed up for a free trial at Scrunch.com. I have been waiting for something like this for a while.

Search the Health & Fitness Directory

Filter by Instagram, Twitter and Blogs
By minimum and maximum follower range.
By location. In this case North America.
By date range of posts.
By quantity of posts.

While influencers with a social reach of one million plus are going to be more difficult and expensive to reach, try finding those with a reach of 20-100K by location.

You will increase your chances of collaboration when connecting with emerging bloggers and vloggers who are on their way up.

The PR Playbook – Your Startup Strategy

business, Content strategy, editorial know how, Experiential Marketing, growth hacking, marketing plans, The PR Playbook, Uncatergorized

Who am I? Why am I creating ThePRPlaybook.com and how will it help you?

My name is Madeline Johnson and I am a Marketing & Media Strategist & Consultant specializing in health, wellness, fitness & nutrition. I am based in NYC. I enjoy working with startups and entrepreneurs who are creating anything that makes us look and feel good. I am also the creator of The PR Playbook, an essential guide to growing your business through brand awareness and consumer engagement that leads to sales.

I consult. I strategize and I create content for emerging brands. I help businesses grow. Right now, at this moment, I am working on –

Creating brand guidelines and editing training manuals for Tevia Feng, the creator and founder of White Tiger Qigong.
Writing and designing digital media kits for Kyle Rothschild, owner of HearthandBeam and BrownDogFancy.
Developing a blogging and social media strategy for Richard Silver, a very talented photographer who is about to embark on A Remote Year.

I am creating The PR Playbook, a two hour online course, to help startups and small brands cut through the clutter of repetitive, abundant and confusing marketing advice, while helping them to understand and execute only the most productive and critical marketing tactics and activities to build upon success.

This course is unique in that it is an intelligently-designed mash up of marketing strategy, timely tactics and and technology to help you grow faster.

With each lecture you will benefit from –

my years of experience working with businesses of all sizes while collaborating with top tier media like The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal and influential bloggers. I have had the opportunity to represent incredible brands like Reebok, Aveda, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Lisa Drayer, former CNN Health correspondent and author of The Beauty Diet, to name a few.
a real time focus on continual social media execution and every day marketing in the moment activities with real time insights as I work with brands of all stages and sizes and from around the world.
wisdom from winning business strategies and growth hacking techniques boiled down to simple and easy to understand and implement directives.

Note:

This course offers much more than just high level strategy and lessons on how to find a writers email or google more bloggers to review your new product.

Who is this course perfect for?

Startups, brands and personal consultants and coaches disrupting the world of health with technology and new products and services designed to help people become physically, emotionally and mentally prime.

Professionals in the wellness industry including aestheticians, spa operators, licensed massage therapists, cosmetic dentists, physical therapists, meditation facilitators and anyone with a business helping people become a better and stronger version of themselves.

Personal trainers, dancers and fitness coaches and mentors who are looking to build an online community and audience for their new workout product, video classes, gym concept, studio or other exercise innovation.

The two-hour course will launch this September. Sign up here to receive updates at ThePRPlaybook.com

Standing Out in a Sea of Startups

brand publishing, brand reputation, Communications, Content management, Content strategy, growth hacking, How do do your own PR, media relations

What’s keeping me busy these days involves writing and filming digital news kits for startups and new brands. I have a lot of fun helping them shape their brand stories as I prime them for interviews and news coverage.

Watch this 45 second video above for one of my best tips on how to share a more authentic brand story that influencers and journalists what to hear.

Like these tips? Want more? Sign up for my media relations 101 course for start ups and entrepreneurs, launching this September 2016. Check out ThePRPlaybook.com