Laura’s past work included a regular column in The New York Times; authoring the Paul Allen biography The Accidental Zillionaire; and leading coverage of small businesses and startups for Inc.com and FastCompany.com. She consults with startups on media strategy, and you can learn more about Laura and Street Fight at StreetFightMag.com.

If you operate a local business (or hyperlocal, as it is now termed) then you really should take 20 minutes to listen to this one.  Laura’s expertise in the hyperlocal marketing industry space is substantial.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 26 – Interview with Laura Rich

Note: This interview is approximately 22 minutes in duration. 

In the interview we focus on Laura’s wealth of research and experience in the hyperlocal business space and more, including:

• What exactly is a “hyperlocal business” and what is Street Fight all about?
• The recent whitepaper titled “The Local Merchant” provides extensive research from within the hyperlocal business market.  What are some of the big takeaways or major trends that this research uncovered?
• Is Foursquare still viable?
• Dailydeals gone bad. How can companies protect themselves?
• Is there an opportunity for B2b companies in this space?
• What are the things that can most determine success for hyperlocal businesses?
• With so many different tools now available, how should these types of businesses decide where to invest resources?
• What does the future look like for these businesses?
• What is Street Fight’s strategy for staying relevant and attracting more and more of an audience?
• Aside from selling white papers and research services, in what other ways does Street Fight generate revenue?
• What would Laura recommend to hyperlocal business owners who are looking to hire a consultant, but are having a tough time determining who is “for real?”

Be  sure to check it out, and visit Street Fight.  Other links mentioned in this episode:

• Lessons for Local Merchants in Hyperlocal Marketing White Paper
• The Local Merchant Report

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

AWeber’s industry leading email marketing software already has a strong foothold, but they practice what they preach and Justin heads up these efforts to teach business owners to be better email marketers.  In addition to his work at AWeber, Justin has written for other top blogs, planned and executed a variety of email campaigns, and has produced and run over a hundred webinars.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 25 – Interview with Justin Premick

Note: This interview is approximately 23 minutes in duration. 

In the interview we focus on Justin’s tremendous experience in internet marketing, email campaigns, webinars and more including:

• What kind of a team does Justin manage in the Education Marketing department, and what is the overall goal of their work?
• What is AWeber’s approach to communicating their benefits tactfully throughout their online marketing efforts?
• What has Justin found to be a few of the most successful tactics to promoting and increasing attendance for webinars?
• How can email marketing software integrate with webinars to increase their impact?
• What is a typical month on AWeber’s “editorial calendar” like?
• What is AWeber’s process like for coming up with the various topics for all of their content?
• What kind of models have Justin seen to be effective in leveraging a smaller email list?
• What are a few common mistakes he sees site owners making that are negatively impacting their subscribe rates?

Folks, this is a great interview with a lot of useful stuff that you can apply immediately.  Be  sure to check it out, and visit the AWeber blog.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

Allen is a frequent contributor to industry journals and is the co-author of the book Sales Utopia. You can learn more about Allen and his company’s work at MoreProspects.com.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 24 – Interview with Allen Minster

Note: This interview is approximately 24 minutes in duration. 

In this conversation we focus on Allen’s vast experience in helping businesses generate more leads through sustainable marketing process, and much more including:

• The most common reason that companies aren’t generating enough solid leads and prospects.
• “Last year, for the first time ever, more than 50% of all salespeople did not hit their quota.”  Where is this information from, and what’s causing this?
• What is Allen’s system and methodology for helping companies to overcome these obstacles?
• Why do so many companies fail to stay in front of prospects consistently, and they do to change it?
• How can smaller companies implement some of these “best practices” themselves?
• What have Allen’s experiences been with using email as a prospecting and outbound marketing tool?
• How does Allen recommend companies to integrate their online marketing efforts with more traditional offline marketing and prospecting?
• With more and more marketing pundits agreeing that “cold calling and direct mail are dead,” does this offer an opportunity for companies to stand out in a less crowded environment?

You’ll definitely want to check this one out!

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

Shaun and his staff are experts in engaging consumers with creative, compelling branded content that builds long-term relationships and real brand equity in the social space. His new DVD and how-to guide “From Likes to Lunches” teaches restaurants the 9 step process for effectively using Facebook to grow business. You can read more about his company and their work at BoomReactive.com.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 23 – Interview with Shaun Hautly

Note: This interview is approximately 28 minutes in duration.

In the interview we focus on Shaun’s approach to social media and exactly how he helps his clients grow revenue and dramatically increase brand exposure. Check out the interview to find out:

• Why is it effective for businesses to outsource their social media efforts?  And how is Shaun able to do this while maintaining his clients’ “voice” and identity on their various social networks?
• What’s the best way to use tools like Hootsuite to automate social media efforts?
• How did Shaun’s company get connected with Evander Holyfield, and what kind of work are they doing for him behind the scenes?
• What are the biggest challenges Boom.Reactive faces in the work they do for brands?
• Why did Shaun create the “From Likes to Lunches” guide, and what plans does he have for other guides for different verticals?
• How important is good design, aesthetics, etc. to a successful social media campaign?
• How do his clients tie their social media activities to actual revenue increases?
• What kinds of creative things is Shaun’s company doing to help grow the communities they manage?
• Where does he see the best opportunity for B2B businesses to make an impact using social media?

Do not miss this one!  Be sure to stop by BoomReactive.com to learn more about Shaun’s work.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

He is an international speaker, marketing expert and community organizer who has been involved in environmental and social change his whole life. He has built successful businesses of his own, been marketing online since the early 90’s, and has clients across the globe including Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 22 – Interview with Shel Horowitz

Note: This interview is approximately 24 minutes in duration. We ran into a slight audio issue at about the 17 minute mark, but I didn’t want you to miss out on some of the best parts of the interview, so it’s all included!

In the interview we focus on Shel’s vast experience in helping businesses improve revenues and profits through green practices, and much, much more including:

• What is green marketing and why should businesses care about it?
• Examples of businesses utilizing Shel’s philosophy effectively.
• How can business owners tie their work in “green” initiatives directly to bottom line improvements?
• What can very small businesses do to implement these principles cost effectively?
• How can somebody go about turning their customers into a marketing army?
• Where do most business owners go wrong with publicity and social media?
• What one or two things have been the most successful marketing activities for Shel in growing his business?
• What tough business lessons has Shel learned along the way?

You’ll definitely want to check out the interview, and be sure to stop by GreenAndProfitable.com for more!

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

She is also an expert at attracting buzz via online marketing and PR efforts, which you can read more about in her new “30 Days to Online Marketing and PR Success.”

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Gateway to Profits Episode 21 – Interview with Gail Martin

Note: This interview is approximately 21 minutes in duration.

In the interview we focus on Gail’s approach to social media, PR, and email marketing, and much more including:

• How can a business owner really “succeed” with social media in 30 days.
• What has Gail’s experience with B2B been?
• What are a couple of the mistakes that Gail sees businesses making, over and over, with their social media efforts?
• What has been Gail’s approach to Google+ thus far?
• What are some of the tools that business owners can use to quickly distribute content to all of their networks?
• How can the business plan be the most powerful online PR and marketing tool?
• What are some of the ways that business owners can quickly build a PR or media list for outreach and whatnot?
• What SEO implications should business owners keep in mind related to online PR?

You’ll definitely want to check this one out, and be sure to stop by GailMartinMarketing.com for more!

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

Aaron also teaches courses in sales, particularly outbound sales and sales management strategies for the new business-age. Aaron was instrumental in growing the Salesforce.com sales team to $100 million in revenue.  The insights he shares in the interview are well worth the price of addmission.  Do not miss this one.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 20 – Interview with Aaron Ross, Predictable Revenue

Note: This interview is approximately 42 minutes in duration.

In the interview we focus on Aaron’s process for growing sales in a systematic manner, and much more including:

• How Aaron rose to Director of Sales with Salesforce.com.
• What kinds of things did SalesForce.com do to dramatically increase revenue through outbound marketing?
• What kinds of businesses can benefit from the principles in Predictable Revenue?
• How do business owners with a limited budget put these systems in place?
• What does “sales specialization” really mean, and why is it important?
• What is Aaron’s approach to effective outbound email marketing, aka Cold Calling 2.0?
• We also spend time talking about Aaron’s business growth, and what kinds of challenges he’s faced along the way.

You’ll definitely want to check this one out, and be sure to stop by PredictableRevenue.com and UniqueGenius.com.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

She is the author of the international best seller “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and  “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews.”

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Gateway to Profits Episode 19 – Interview with Elinor Stutz, Smooth Sale

The interview focuses on Elinor’s process for growing sales and relationships, and much more including:

• How Elinor got started in sales training, and what makes her different?
• What’s her process for helping business owners?
• How her book can help your business.
• What is the biggest mistake she sees business owners making in their sales approach?
• Why do so many business owners struggle to incorporate new selling techniques?
• Which marketing methods have generated the most results for Elinor’s business.
• What are the greatest obstacles she’s had to overcome in growing her business?

You’ll definitely want to check this one out, and be sure to stop by SmoothSale.net.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

In this interview we not only talk about what BoeFly is and how it works, but the startup process for BoeFly and David’s challenges along the way.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 18 – Interview with David Nayor, BoeFly

For many small business owners this is a fantastic way to get your deal in front of banks that are interested, a true struggle in today’s traditional banking environment. To date BoeFly has facilitated over $2 billion in transactions, and have over 1,500 participating lenders.

David manages all production of BoeFly’s marketplace, tools, and network from conception to implementation. In addition, he oversees company operations, including personnel and accounting. BoeFly has been featured in Fox Business, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg and more. Other topics covered in this wide-ranging interview:

• How long has BoeFly been around, and how did the company get started?
• How does BoeFly works and what advantages does it have over the traditional “find a few local bankers to approach” model?
• What would David say to business owners who are hesitant in using the service because they feel that they’d lose that personal relationship with their local bank?
• On the whole, is it fair to assume that business owners can get more competitive rates by using BoeFly than by going with their local bank?
• BoeFly has facilitated over $2B in transactions to date, so surely there is a wide array of companies at various stages in various industries.  More recently though, has BoeFly seen any trends indicating what types of businesses banks are most interested in?
• What’s the lending environment like for very small businesses, say for loans under $100,000?
• As somebody who wears a lot of hats, what has David found to work best in balancing all of these responsibilities effectively?
• Most smart businesses utilize outsourcing extensively during growth, so as not to burden the organization with unnecessary overhead but also retain the ability to scale up quickly.  What has BoeFly done in this area?

You’ll definitely want to check this one out, and be sure to stop by BoeFly.com.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.

We get into a ton of really impactful topics on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, reputation management, how to identify the right tactics for your business to invest in, and much more.  Don’t miss out on this great interview.

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Gateway to Profits Episode 17 – Interview with Allen Jordan

Josh talks with Allen about the SEO and SEM topics that matter to business owners, including:

• What’s the difference between SEO and SEM?
• What are creative business doing to maintain an edge with their search strategy?
• How can businesses on a tight budget justify spending on SEO?
• What mistakes do businesses make in their social media efforts, and how can they correct them?
• What does “Online Reputation Management” mean and why is it important?
• How has Allen’s SEO and SEM consulting business grown over the years, and what challenges has he faced?

You’ll definitely want to check this one out, and be sure to hook up with Allen at FarPointAlliance.com.

If you’ve found the show helpful, I’d greatly appreciate if you could click over to our iTunes page and give us a positive review. This will help us to get more listeners and attract more leading business experts onto the show! If you know some ways we can make it better, or would like to be a guest, please send me an email.