Todd Ebert

Redundant Man of Redundancy Says Be Careful What You Post

I'm guessing that Santa is the least of Justine Sacco's worries right now.

My lame attempt at a meme about Amazon Prime Air

Clearly I'm no comedian or graphic designer but it's the thought that counts. 

What type of holiday shopper are you?

No surprise but I'm a blend of two types: online shopper + local connoisseur.

Who doesn't love bacon?

Nice to see a local business cut through the clutter of bad names like AAAA Plumbing from the days of competitng for the top spot on the yellow pages.  

This is simple and memorable branding, that also works really well for digital marketing. That said, they could've used images of bacon on the B and P to make it pop more ;)  

The World's First Site Devoted to the Deplorable Problem of Lead Leaks

Our goal is to make marketing so useful that people not only seek it out but stick around once they visit.  Toward that end I'm proud to announce our latest effort aimed at helpfing businesses solve the deplorable problem of lead leaks. What the heck are lead leaks?  Essentially they are the places in your sales and marketing process where you are losing potential customers to competitors because your marketing, website, or follow-up isn’t up to par.  Or stated another way, the places where you are throwing away customers and revenue. 

Two quick examples of lead leaks:

• What percent of your website visitors leave without contacting you? Not having a fresh, professional, conversion-friendly website is like turning away potential customers at your front door.
• How many of your calls go to voicemail or are after hours? Waiting too long to follow up with new contacts (even just more than an hour) usually means they choose someone else.  

These are just a couple of common lead leaks, but there are so many more.

Anyway, it was driving us crazy to see so many businesses waste so many of the leads they’re working so hard to get – without even knowing it. So, we created an entire website dedicated to educating the world about lead leaks and helping businesses get more customers from their marketing.

Check out the site at www.dontleakleads.com for helpful info like:

• Candid “leaks on the street” videos with real consumers that will open your eyes to the problem
• Ebooks, articles, infographics, and presentations explaining the most common ways businesses leak leads (and what to do about them)
• A Marketing Math calculator that enables you to calculate the number of customers and amount of revenue you could get by fixing lead leaks
• Other fun stuff like videos and memes you can share

Are you leaking leads? New infographic shows you where to check.

More fun with funnels. Our best infographic yet.  Make sure you aren't leaking leads at each step of the buying journey customers take to discover, contact and choose your business. 

See more on the ReachLocal Learning Center

What's the Simplest Way to Differentiate Your Business?

I couldn't resist sharing this Vine video my daughter made featuring our dog Carmel [funny what happens when we're not home during summer break].  

I know that video has nothing to do with business marketing, but 1. it's cute, and 2. it reminded me that you can convey a lot in just 6 seconds of video. So why don't more businesses use video to bring their stores/services/people to life and differentiate them from all the other boring competitors out there? Many I talk to think it's too hard, or takes too much time [scripting, lighting, editing, music, etc.] but that's just not the case.  Vine and Instagram make it so easy the Geico caveman could do it.  

Here's a handy guide to get you started and a list of 10 types of videos you can create in no time.

How to Drive More Customers Through Your Sales Funnel

Every marketer leaks leads from their sales funnel so we created an ebook to help them plug the holes and get more customers. 

Consumer Buying Journey Infographic

The team took my ebook about the new consumer buying journey and turned it into an infographic.

- See more at the ReachLocal Learning Center

The Coming Era of On-Demand Marketing

As you know from reading this blog, I'm a student of the consumer buying journey.  Toward that end, I highly recommend this McKinsey report that provides great insights about the next wave of innovation impacting how consumers experience brands and buy. The future they paint is very near.