Funnel Radio’s Behind the Mic

Tired of lackluster virtual and hybrid events? Do you want to captivate your audience, whether in-person or by logging in remotely? This episode will open your eyes to creative techniques for producing engaging hybrid experiences. Join me as I speak with Howie Zales, an expert in live event production. With decades under his belt working high-profile concerts and stadium events, Howie knows how to make online viewers feel part of the action. You’ll hear Howie’s tips for incorporating multimedia, leveraging technology seamlessly, and rehearsing for smoother execution. Discover easy ways to boost production value without breaking the budget. Plus, we’ll discuss how to maximize your investment by repurposing content long after the event ends. If you’re ready to step up your hybrid event game, you won’t want to miss this lively discussion. Tune in now to pick up pointers that will stick with your team long after the stream wraps!   About our guest: Howie Zales is an Emmy Award-winning Camera Operator who turned his passion for television broadcasting into several entrepreneurial endeavors. Howie created HJZ Productions, Inc. in 2000 to address the New York market's need for professional-level sports crewing/staffing. Under his leadership, HJZ Productions grew to a multi-million dollar nationwide provider of top talent in the broadcasting field. In 2019, Howie and his team founded Viridity Entertainment Services, Inc. (VES), initially focusing on staffing in non-union markets. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, they quickly pivoted to offering best-in-class, broadcast-quality live streams of professional sports shows and interviews, corporate interviews and meetings, and religious services. VES now focuses on meeting the growing demand for virtual hybrid event production. Links from this episode: Viridity Entertainment Funnel Media Group, LLC Viridity Entertainment Services on LI

Today we're wrapping up our series on using Google to promote your podcast. I'll share tips for leveraging Google Maps to get more visibility for your podcast. We'll cover how to create a custom map for your show, add guest pins with episode details, make it public and shareable, and use layers to organize by season or topic. By the end of this episode, you'll have actionable strategies to enhance your podcast's searchability and connect with more listeners through the strategic use of Google Maps. Here are the key points: Create a custom Google Map for your podcast under your show's profile. Add pins for each guest/company, using your show's icon. Include episode descriptions and links in pin details. Make the map public and share it on social media. Use layers to organize pins by season or topic if needed. Consider multiple maps if you have over 100 episodes.

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Mic! I'm your host, Susan Finch. Today we're continuing our series on using Google's free tools to promote your podcast. In this episode, we'll discuss 7 ideas for leveraging your Google My Business profile to spread the word about your show. We'll cover creating posts when you publish new episodes, asking intriguing questions to prompt listens, making episode series, mentioning guests and their companies in posts, resharing posts on social media, highlighting meaningful guest quotes, and tips for posting frequency. Stay tuned to learn how to maximize your Google My Business profile and boost your podcast discoverability! Key Points: Create a post on your Google My Business profile when you publish a new episode. Include an image and call to action. Ask a compelling question in posts to intrigue listeners. Make a series for episodes on the same topic and promote the series. @ mention guests and their companies in your posts. Reshare Google My Business posts on other social media. Highlight meaningful guest quotes in posts. Post on your business profile about once per week.

In this episode of Behind the Mic, host Susan Finch discusses how to leverage Google Workspace tools for your podcast. She recommends getting a dedicated domain and email address for your show through Google Workspace. This opens up free analytics tools and helps establish your podcast's online presence. Susan then outlines the 9 steps to get set up:  Get a dedicated domain for your podcast Set up the podcast as a business in Google Workspace Document login information Create a Cloudflare account Change domain name servers to Cloudflare Add podcast domain to Google Workspace Create a dedicated podcast email address Check if your main business site has a Google My Business profile Create a Google My Business profile for your podcast site

Today is the perfect day to set up Google Analytics 4.0 and elevate your tracking game. Even if you need assistance, our team is here to support you. And if your current team lacks the know-how, we strongly encourage them to take courses that reveal the logic behind Google Analytics 4.0. It's not just an upgrade; it's an entirely new frontier. The DMANC has a three course series that I found super helpful.  https://dmanc.org/workshop/google-analytics-4-workshops/  After you convert or set up, be prepared for a transformed analytics experience. While reports and dashboards may be different, the customization options are unparalleled. Dive into the granular details and unlock insights like never before. Upgrade your code, ensure proper tracking, and avoid skewed information that makes you look good but hinders your decision-making. Listen to this 4-minute "Behind the Mic" episode and discover how Google Analytics 4.0 can validate your podcasting and content creation strategy. Handle the transition with simplicity, ease, and success. The future of analytics awaits!   BIG TIP - don't forget to update your analytics code in all plugins and add-ons with your podcast hosting company.If you use Podbean, it will be easier. https://help.podbean.com/support/solutions/articles/25000004993-using-google-analytics-with-my-podbean-site I found this article filled with tips and logic. https://martech.zone/how-to-migrate-events-from-universal-analytics-to-google-analytics-4/

Have you ever thought about how many keynote speakers are actually introverts? Think about the distance on the stage from the audience - even when you have an engaging speaker who includes the audience. Then think about podcasting and the intimacy of podcasting. You are putting the show in your ears - you are listening to them in your car, your home, while walking the dog. You build a personal relationship with the host and their guest.   I’ve been a speaker at events. I see the pluses, but I’ve also seen how limited the opportunity for that 3-5 day effort returned. The biggest benefit is strengthening the relationship with the organization that invited me to speak to its members. Most of my speaking is to private professional organizations, so nothing is recorded and definitely not published. Adding these events to my portfolio of speaking can be problematic as I usually speak on proprietary topics specific to the audience.  I’ve also spoken on behalf of my non-profit to large ballrooms, and conferences. It made a memorable event, but rarely outside that event led to much more than a few compliments. Even when the carrot to speak at the event was access to the list, the attendees were rarely decision makers, so they would read the subject, and typically, that was that. Here is a recent post on this topic comparing the effectiveness of both options. https://funnelmediagroupllc.com/speaking-gigs-vs-podcasting/

Tenlo's Chief Technology Officer and podcast host, Tessa Burg joined Susan Finch to talk about the recent merger with Mod Op. Tessa talks about the expanded opportunities for their team, their clients, and the beauty of having an HR department. Sometimes trading the owner hat for a W2 is a very good thing. Tune in for this 15-minute visit, "From owner to employee - when mergers align with your vision." About Tenlo: Tenlo is a digital B2B marketing agency. They use data-driven marketing for lead generation and customer retention. Digital and sales tactics are aligned to drive more traffic to your website, trade show booth and sales team. Their passion for increasing a digital marketer's contribution to sales is pipeline marketing—a discipline focused on results. Learn more: https://tenlo.com . About Mod Op: At Mod Op, everything they do starts with understanding their clients’ marketing opportunities. Then, they identify the unique methods to help them achieve those goals. That may mean launching a complete, integrated advertising and PR campaign or tapping into some of their more specialized expertise for a given project.  Learn more: https://modop.com . They have experts in B2C and B2B communications with deep industry experience in consumer and lifestyle products, energy, media and entertainment, technology, and travel and hospitality. Currently, they have offices in New York City, Miami, Kansas City, Dallas, Portland, Los Angeles, and Panama City, Panama.

Before You Commit, Know the Answers to These Questions WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Is it to launch an initiative? Build reputation? Boost egos of your executives or clients? Give value to your existing clients? Open the door for new clients/prospects? Have fun with your lighter side? WHO WILL HELP? Anyone involved needs to know and commit to the time and tasks for their portion of the podcast’s success. Then you have to decide: If you have the money but not the time, how much can you outsource?  WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? Once you know this, you can determine where you can find them listening to podcasts, their habits, do they “listen” or read captions? At work or on the treadmill. What are you competing with when they hit play? Do they binge-listen?This is CRITICAL and where a lot of podcasts fail before the first episode. You MUST be realistic. IDEAL LENGTH? Once you know all the players, the tasks, the audience you can determine the length. I have some shows that are always 25 – 35 minutes – a good “lunch” episode. Others do quick micro episodes of 4-7 minutes. Many combine – do the full show and later extract a nugget and create a new “highlight” episode from that. This will help you plan the time needed to record and edit.  CAN YOU COMMIT? WHO IS THE TALENT? WHO IS THE TEAM? Potential hosts - this is where you may have to tell a hard truth or two. Just because they are good leaders, doesn’t mean they know how to lead an interesting interview. Some will be better than others. You may have to have a “casting call of unexpected hosts. What if you are getting help from an outside company? If companies simply send you links, videos and pdfs, you have to decide if that’s how you want to communicate with your producers. I know for Funnel Media Group, our hosts love the relationships we have with them and that we are very open helping them improve. Sometimes people have speech patterns or bad habits such as “EXspecially, rather than especially.  This may not matter to you. But, if you are sharing this with your networks, prospects, investors, clients, it may matter so that you are not distracting because of these patterns.  Can you hear the excitement in their voices.  Will they will be coming up with ideas on the spot as they get to know you and your goals. How do they share those ideas? If they have no new ideas regularly, they are not thinking about your account. What is included?Host coaching. Will they tell you the truth when you need to improve? Do they care? Someone has to have the experience to help you improve fast. Pre episode prep – testing with the guest? Creating a preview of the episode before publishing? Live option – If you want that. Vetting guests. Writing the post. Voiceover work? Template for each episode. Production – are they in the recording session? Voiceover work as the overall host – intro, commercial, outro?  Editing – what type of editing? How detailed? Can they correct bad audio when the guest chooses to show up from their car or in an airport? How do they recommend recording? Publishing – posting the episode to hit all podcast apps, creating guest packages – what’s included in the guest package? What about a type of “Boost” package for host and guest teams to share it out. Who orders the transcripts? Do they provide transcripts? What is the quality – AI or by hand? Who pays for hosting? Who owns all the hosting accounts, feeds, materials? Music license. Post – 2-3 months later – how are they going to help you use the content? Create a round-up post? What about milestones in your show – so many episodes, so many listeners, focus on topics – will they write those posts for you or will you? Ask to talk to some of their hosts. Are they pleased with the results? What would they wish they’d known before they started this? Check out their presence on ListenNotes, Podchaser – are they all around? Do they charge to update your commercials, intros/outros each time? What about if a host changes? What is the

We are regularly asked at Funnel Media Group how to jump-start a show's reach into new markets, and reach new audiences. This episode covers advertising, sponsors, and the change in best practices over the past two years. Consumer behaviors have changed - how they consume media. This is where our guest, Mary Ann Pruitt shines through her agency, Mosaic Media Agency. You will want to consider all of her insights and advice, as well as some great suggestions you can get started with today. Who are we targeting? How are we targeting? What about the third-party cookie thing? First-party data is available to you - you just don't realize it. It's time to invest in collecting your own first-party data. Listen to this episode: Programmatic media buying has changed everything. ----more----   About Mary Ann Pruitt Mary Ann Pruitt is the CEO and President of Mosaic Media, a collection of media buying experts and creative strategists who negotiate, purchase, and monitor advertising space and airtime. Mary Ann started her career in media by working as a senior sales executive for some of the nation’s largest media outlets. After discovering her talent and love for all things media strategy, she founded Mosaic as a way to provide niche expert experience to agencies and marketing departments across the country. Her hard work and savvy strategy skills have led Mosaic to year-over-year growth and has expanded her impact as an industry leader in all things traditional, digital, and everything in between. Reflecting this is a 2020 award from Cynopsis Media naming her as a Top Woman in Media. Mary Ann has helped develop effective marketing strategies for agencies of all sizes, small businesses, service businesses, private educational institutions, and legal and professional services businesses along with many others. She is passionate about passing on the experience that she has gained to eager professionals looking for actionable marketing tips.

This episode was inspired by the great guests Interview Valet has been sending us for our hosts, and by a blog post, "Checklist Before You are a Guest on a Podcast". This episode covers expectations for guests hiring a podcast guest management firm, for those being contacted by them to have their clients on your shows, and what should be expected of all for a successful appearance on a show. You can read the post here. Listen to this conversation with my guest, Lasina Jensen, Client Success Team Manager at Interview Valet. Please listen to this episode and share it out to your circles that are podcasts guests and hosts. ----more---- About Interview Valet: Interview Valet is the concierge-level podcast guest marketing service providing the fastest way for authors, speakers, coaches, consultants, and brands to maximize the benefits of podcasting. Our premium white-glove solution takes care of everything but the speaking to reach your ideal audience with the least amount of snags or hassle. Interview Valet's all-inclusive system empowers clients with interview preparation, Certified Guest™ training, and personalized attention that ensures you, the podcast guest and host, the best experience in the podcast industry.

In this 13 minute episode we cover our favorite podcast equipment and the reasons we prefer one over another. There are some additional items we suggest to give you a more professional look and sound. Podcast Microphones - Rode USB Condenser mic , Yeti RiversideFM has more ideas: If you’re on a tight budget or just want a mic that doesn’t have a huge learning curve, consider one of these plug-and-play USB microphones: Rode Procaster ($250) Rode NT-USB ($177)  Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB ($80)  Webcams - Logitech BRIO Pop Filters and Mic Muffs Sound Panels Backgrounds vs. greenscreens (no link tells you we are not fans of greenscreens) Lighting kits article Recording Zoom vs. Riverside.fm Mixing boards article Amazon, BHPHOTO Headsets for recording and editing Teleprompters RiversideFM has additional podcast equipment lists you may find helpful. Need help with your set up or editing, let us know. susan@funnelradio.com

This episode covers one of the questions from the recent one with EJ and Nina in Funnel Feud. These are the top 8 answers given by 100 podcast hosts, guests, and team members. Aside from swearing, revealing too much, and other simple editing issues, why would a podcast host ask the guest for a do-over? We'll give you tips on how to work around these 8 common issues in this 13-minute episode. Email me for the recap graphic. If you have additional reasons, please tell us. You can find me on LinkedIn here or email me susan@funnelradio.com.

You know the music, you know how it works. Play along with our version - Funnel Feud to hear the answers to these questions: 1. What is a reason you would want a do-over with a guest? 2. What is the reason your podcast failed? 3. What is your favorite podcast equipment? We asked 100 podcast hosts, producers and teams and the answers in this episode are what they said. You can get the full list from us - just email us. If you want to know our favorite equipment, we'll tell you that, too! It will be part of another upcoming episode on Behind The Mic - Funnel Media Group's favorite equipment and tools for producing podcasts.

Podcasting editors' tips from EJ Albaugh. EJ reminds us that if we can do a bit of practice we can save time and money with our editing solutions. Don't be afraid of a retake, and beware of Zoom twang when there are bandwidth issues for your host or your guest, or your producer.  If you listen to this and would like the podcaster's checklist magnet from Funnel Media Group, email producer@funnelradio.com with your mailing address and we'll get one to you. While you're at it, send us your podcast URL so we can check it out!

Taking advantage of search engine goodness, building communities of podcasters and their teams, as well as profiles for creators is what Podchaser's Dave Keine and Susan Finch talked about today on Behind the Mic. Do not miss the list of free tools, tips and ways to build your listenership and expand your audience demographics.

Tune in for this packed episode with free tools podcasters can use to expand their reach. There are two free tools we are going to cover in this episode: Using Playlists to increase your exposure in the podcast venues including Spotify, Apple Podcasts/playlists, Podchaser, and the rest that give you that option. ----more---- Using Podcast venue profiles to engage with a new audience, in particular Podchaser's creator and claim your podcast feature. There are so many ways just on Podchaser's site. By registering, you are able to make the news feed with your activity including Trending lists - How can you create a list that isn't just, "listen to me! Listen to me!"? If you need help cultivating these lists, at least to start, contact Susan Finch at Funnel Media Group.

Sometimes guests are hard to secure during the holidays. Sometimes you are pulled in many directions and don't have the same time for your show. That's OK. Make the use of this time to improve your podcast for next season. Listen to these 10 tips you can start right away.  ----more---- You can listen, or just jump to this list without the logic behind it: Review all posted episodes for typos, check links. Review your music, commercial, intro, outro. Is it time to freshen them up? Is host info still current? Verify your host and team have added to their LinkedIn profiles. Can you do a few recap episodes - highlight reels to save production time during the holidays and year-end? If these are in a drip campaign, test each drip, links, graphics to make sure they all work. How does your show look in all the podcast venues? Have you missed any or have new ones been added like Podchaser that you want to be listed in - it's free. What about a "tell us your favorite episode" contest on social. Have them tell you a quote and a timestamp from an episode. Give out show swag. T-shirts, caps, etc. Look at your stats and do a post on the top episodes for the year and top episodes for all time to link back to them - don't forget to mention those guests, their companies, and THANK THEM!

You created this great podcast, or so you thought, and you liked how it was set up, but not really. And you have new team members and they say, "I hate that software, I hate that platform, let's do something better." Or maybe even that platform went away or stopped being as effective, whatever the reason there's a need for a move. But there are some different types of moves. This episode is going to cover what you need to be aware of, how you can prep, and how you can avoid getting missed listeners and losing all your subscribers. If you do need to move your show and this list is too daunting, reach out to Susan@funnelradio.com - The team at Funnel Media Group can help you with this transition so nothing is missed.

Let's talk about television families. The good:The Brady, the Flintstone, Huxtable, Barone, Evans, Drummond & Jackson, Addams, Munster, Cleaver, Duke, Clampett, Arnolds, Jetsons, Partidge, Carwright, Bradford, Cunningham, Ingals, and Kyle Families Then the not so good but lovableBluth, Simpson, Griffin, Bunker, Bundy, Belcher And the bad.Soprano, Ewing, Roy, Dutton, Carrington, House of Lannister, and Fisher Families When we talk about the Lone Ranger, yes, he had one support team member, surly as he could be from time to time. I'm sure he also shook his head at the guy he worked with at how ridiculous and helpless he could be. ----more---- Now suppose instead, there was a group of equally intelligent, enthusiastic, genuine, articulate people that wanted you to succeed and that you wanted to succeed.  If there was a plan in place for all to support and succeed with minimal effort, wouldn't that be appealing? What if there was a small group comprised of fans of all of you, and with skills - big skills - to share your podcast content with new audiences? Now you are no longer a Lone Ranger with a surly assistant, you are part of  supportive podcast family cheering you on and talking about you everywhere - to NEW people. Cool, huh? I've run across pod squads, LinkedIn link pods and more. They are heavily vetted, and require that the members each promote each others' posts EACH day. that's a lot, especially if you are in more than one because you want the shares to be thoughtful. Think of Funnel Media Group as your hand-selected Link Pod. Setting up some of the rhythmic routines of sharing frees you up as the outstanding host to personally connect with commenters, listeners, fans, guests, prospects. Our job is to keep the audience growing through the good social media ju-jus with honest, organic posts.  Get more ideas in this episode and listen to our initiative to wind up the year with a heart - Pause for a Cause.

It's as much about the content as it is your voice. Many times I hear hosts that think they can just randomly start talking. Sometimes it's difficult to follow as they dart around taking tangents without ever completing a point or thought. They may have a fabulous voice, but what am I gaining by listening? I almost need a whiteboard to draw pictures and take notes to track them.Other hosts don't even realize how organized their thoughts are and naturally speak in a logical order providing a ton of helpful information, but their speech patterns, ambient noises, poor equipment make it difficult to hear their wisdom and insights.Both of these issues can be hedged off with a few simple tips.     Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by Susan Finch which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

There are over 1,000,000 podcasts, the vast majority, however, fail to get beyond the 8th podcast.  Veteran radio and podcast producer Paul Roberts discuss with Jim Obermayer how to avoid being in the graveyard of podcasters. ----more---- This week’s Behind the Mike with Jim and Paul Paul Roberts is the founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern California with over one million listeners a year.  Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached half a million listeners since its inception.  Funnel Radio Channel's Behind the Mic is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

Everyone wants more listeners, but realistically, you want more of the RIGHT listeners - those that will be affected by what you say, those that will share your show, and possibly consider your company and products to solve their problems. But before we get to the list, let's go through a short checklist of what you should be doing to increase your reach in search, and increase your fans. ----more---- 1. Do you have catchy titles that give a clue what it is about?2. Do you have a catchy 150 character description that tells what they will hear, the problem it will solve, and who the guest is?3. Are you editing so everyone sounds good and you don't irritate listeners?4. Are your topics and guests compelling to your target audience?   Here are the tips: Create a way for listeners to sign up and receive updates via email when you post a new episode? RSS to email using GetResponse or similar. Automatically post to your social accounts when you publish a new episode.IFTTT.com Have a way to schedule promotions of past episodes. Agorapulse.com Ask people to subscribe in EVERY episode at the end - your call to action CTA. Send the guest a package and ask them to post it to their connections, followers, etc. all social accounts - you make it EASY for them. Ask the guest 3 months later where they posted it on their site so you can promote it. Ask your internal fans to share out episodes each time you publish. Mention super fans in episodes, @mention them in social posts about it, thank them for being fans. Include links to subscribe to your shows on a landing page on your main site with a player to binge listen to past episodes. Include a link to your show in your signature, thank you pages after sign up, registration, newsletter subscriptions. Include small call-out at the bottom of all newsletters that are emailed.  Add as a part-time position in your LinkedIn profile to trigger alert to ALL connections. In that position, add the ways they can listen to your show with a link to each venue, if possible. Or take them to the landing page on your MAIN site with all of those app venue links.

This is one of the reasons podcasts fail - the host is selfish, lazy, inconsiderate. Listen in to learn how to avoid those pitfalls. Fair warning, you'll have some work to do including creating follow up schedules, promotions, writing a thank you note, spending money on editing and transcripts, and more. Join Susan Finch and Paul Roberts for this episode.

Many people want to do a podcast, but most don't know how to start. Funnel Media Group's VP of Operations, Susan Finch teaches regular courses through the DMANC - Direct Marketing Association's Northern California Chapter. Her most popular courses are on podcasting fundamentals and advanced troubleshooting for podcasts. This week she'll give us her 10 basic steps to launching a podcast in two weeks. It's not your typical list. This episode is for anyone tasked with revving up a podcast for their company, resurrecting a failed on, or exploring podcasting as a service to offer their clients. Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

Some say getting a guest for your podcast is easy, some say not so easy.  To understand how to get guests and manage expectations for both guest and host we talked with Sheena McKinney, executive assistant, and producer for Matt Heinz’s popular podcast Sales Pipeline Radio.  McKinney gives us a look behind the mic with guidelines and tips for guest acquisition for podcast producers. ----more---- About Sheena McKinney Sheena McKinney is the Executive Assistant to B2B Influencer (and busy) Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing and host of Sales Pipeline Radio.  She thrives on utilizing both natural and honed people plus, project management skills. For the Heinz Marketing headquarters, Sheena is the glue that holds everything together and one who makes things happen.    With over 30 years of executive admin experience from a variety of sectors, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help keep everything running smoothly and does it with a smile.  One of her creative outlets (and superpowers) is making events and celebrations special, personal, and memorable.  She is detail-oriented but also creative.  She serves as the Finance, HR, IT, and Facilities Liaison and is the go-to for anything and everything office management and operations related for Heinz Marketing.   Sales Pipeline Radio/Podcast Sales Pipeline Radio, each week features the brightest minds in B2B sales and marketing, sharing secrets to driving greater volume, velocity, and conversion of sales pipelines in any industry. SPR covers the entire pipeline– demand generation, lead management, sales effectiveness, technology, and more– all focused on helping you find, manage, and win more business.  Sales Pipeline Radio is live on internet radio at 10:30 am PT time each Thursday (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada).  The host is Matt Heinz, founder of Heinz Marketing.   Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

We know podcasting helps businesses establish thought-leadership. During this program, Mark Coronna from Chief Outsiders reveals how his new podcast has helped his visibility. This show will appeal to those seeking thought-leadership branding for their company and themselves in a crowded market place.   ----more---- About Mark Coronna - Chief Outsiders Mark Coronna is an Area Managing Partner & CMO for Chief Outsiders. He is a globally experienced executive with a track record of helping businesses diversify, grow, and adopt innovative, cost-effective, high return marketing strategies.  With his experience as a Marketing, Sales, and Operations executive, Mark helps transform go-to-market programs. His passion is to help leadership teams accelerate revenues and profits. He is also the host for the radio/podcast The Practical CMO. Coronna has authored over 35 articles and four eBooks on topics such as building compelling value propositions, account-based marketing, and improving lead generation and qualification using an Intelligent Sales Pipeline  (https://contact.chiefoutsiders.com/improving-lead-gen-ebook) Mark can be reached at mcoronna@chiefoutsiders.com  612.554.0081, or linkedin.com/in/markcoronna  Chief Outsiders  Chief Outsiders, LLC is a nationwide "Executives-as-a-Service" firm, with 70 part-time, or fractional, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) engaged from coast-to-coast. Unlike other strategic marketing and management consulting firms, each CMO has held the position of VP Marketing or higher at one or more operating companies. Chief Outsiders have served on the executive team of over 850 client companies to drive growth strategy and execution plans for a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive. Because of its market-based growth plans, quality of leadership, and experienced team, Chief Outsiders has been recognized for the past six years by Inc. Magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the US, and was recognized in 2019 as a Forbes Small Giant.    Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program the Funnel Radio Channel.

There are many types of Podcasts, from drama to advice, and brand building to training. The behind the Mic Guys, Paul Roberts and Jim Obermayer, discuss the many types of podcasts that are popular with listeners.  This is for marketing and sales management in B2B companies. ----more---- This week’s Behind the Mike with Jim and Paul Paul Roberts, founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern, California with over one million listeners a year.  Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached half a million listeners since its inception.  Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

The demands on marketing are increasing exponentially.   Technology and AI are opening new lead gen, and branding opportunities, finding staff to use the technology is outgrowing a company’s ability to pay for them.  Our guest is Stacy Gentile, partner at Martivia.  This program is for C-Level Executives and Marketing Management. About Martivia: Marketing on Demand  Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program   on the Funnel Radio Channel.

B2B Podcasts have matured to reach a passionate narrowcast audience.  The Two Podcast Guys, Paul Roberts, and Jim Obermayer discuss the differences between broadcasting and narrowcasting and the benefits of narrowcasting for B2B Makreters.    This program’s audience is every B2B marketer. ----more---- This week’s Podcast Guys Jim Obermayer is the founder of the Funnel Media Group which produces internet radio and podcasting programs for thirteen companies.  FMG has reached a half a million listeners since its inception. Paul Roberts, founder and station manager of OC Talk Radio, the powerhouse internet radio and podcasting channel for Southern, California with over one million listeners a year. Funnel Radio Channel is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.  It is hosted by James Obermayer, Paul Roberts and Susan Finch.

We’d all like to know the immediate future. Marketing veteran Darryl Praill predicts what will occur in the world of sales in this episode of Funnel Radio. This short episode is for C-Level executives, specifically sales managers and salespeople. ----more---- About Darryl Praill Praill is the host of the hugely popular podcast, INSIDE Inside Sales on the Funnel Radio Channel. He also serves as Chief Marketing Officer of VanillaSoft, is a high-tech marketing executive with over 25 years’ experience spanning startups, re-starts, consolidations, acquisitions, divestments, and IPO’s. He has been widely quoted in the media including television, press, and trade publications. He is a guest lecturer, public speaker, and radio personality and has been featured in numerous podcasts, case studies, and best-selling books. Praill is a former recipient of the coveted Forty Under 40 Award and has held senior executive roles in leading companies including Sybase, Cognos (now IBM), webPLAN (now Kinaxis), and CML Emergency Services (now AIRBUS). He has raised over $50 million in venture funding across multiple organizations and consulted with world-class corporations including Salesforce, SAP, and Nielsen. He is a Computer Science graduate from Sheridan College.    Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

Yeah, yeah these are difficult times, but marketers are always faced with difficult times.  It is every marketer's job to over-come difficult times, be it market crashes, governments that stop buying, recessions, product failures, competitors, international meltdowns, hurricanes, tornadoes.  As marketers, we've been there and done that and always found a way to recover because that's what we do.  That's why we were hired. We perform in the most difficult of times.  During this show Matt Heinz talks about: "These are the times," Matt says, "Where there is a separation of marketers who understand what it is to create a market versus those in it for the quick win." This is a time for great examples of empathetic and generous brands to create value We will look back in six months and see those marketers that were investing in their future or which were fearful of their present Will you accept your responsibility to rebuild your business?  Your country?  Will you be yourself, which is the builder of wealth for your company or just go after the quick win and abandon your principles? ----more---- About Matt Heinz A prolific author and nationally recognized, award-winning blogger, Matt is President and Founder of Heinz Marketing and the host of Sales Pipeline Radio where his listener base tops 105,000.   More Matt Heinz   Virtual Sales Training: How To Support Your Now Entirely Virtual Team   Coronavirus, Trade Shows and Value vs Venue    Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio  Channel.

Pivoting to Remote Work: How to Keep Your Team Healthy and Productive in the Wake of Coronavirus David Kreiger, President of SalesRoads, shares his advice on how to manage your teams remotely. Kreiger has successfully used this as his business model for 13 years and has advice for large and small businesses that are confronted with this challenge. ----more---- From David Kreiger Since our inception 13 years ago, SalesRoads has been an entirely remote company. Over that time, we have perfected the art of managing and motivating a remote team. We have been named to the INC5000 and been named a Great Place to Work 4 years running. We want to share our knowledge with other professionals and business leaders so they can keep their teams healthy, safe, and productive. The Knowledge We Want to Share The technological infrastructure you need to take your team remotely How to motivate and coach a remote team How to manage and hold a remote team accountable How to structure effective meetings with remote employees What good communication looks like remotely Addressing feelings of isolation and loneliness when working from home How a remote work environment can allow people to be more productive and have higher job satisfaction The benefits for an organization of having a remote work environment How to create, maintain and foster a vibrant company culture in a remote setting About David Kreiger David Kreiger is the Founder and President of SalsRoads, a B2B appointment setting, lead generation, and sales outsourcing company. He has been named as one of The Most Influential Leaders in Sales & Lead Management by the SLMA the last four years in a row. Although the health effects of the coronavirus are top of mind, there is a secondary concern hiding behind the figures on testing and fatality rates. The secondary concern is, of course, its effect on the economy. As many organizations are forced to pivot to a distributed model in order to keep their teams healthy in the wake of the coronavirus, the concern then becomes; how do I keep my team productive? To mitigate the economic effects of the new global pandemic, learning to effectively manage a remote team should be top of mind for every business leader. Funnel Radio Channel is hosted by James Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

Before books and before drawings on cave walls, there were stories. Stories of the human struggle—maybe heroic stories, personal trials, or business successes and failures that draw in listeners. When someone says they have a story to tell, others grow quiet, shift their gaze to the storyteller, and wait for what comes next. It’s a natural yearning to hear something that hasn’t been shared very often. Yes, each of us has a thousand stories. Since getting into the business of producing podcasts, I have found that podcasting and broadcasting, in general, are a natural medium for storytellers. For this podcast on the Funnel Radio Channel, we discussed the importance of storytelling in radio podcasting.  We know instinctively that anecdotes fuel conversation, and Darryl Praill, CMO of VanillaSoft and the host of INSIDE Inside Sales, called into the program and talked about how the beginning of each of his podcasts generally starts with a personal story of his own. He then explained how that story is interwoven with the interview of his guest. Jeanne Hopkins, CMO of Lola.com, called into the show talked about her podcast, Table Fries, where she interviews the women in her company. Jeanne says she doesn’t tell stories herself. Instead, she likes hearing the stories of the women in the company: how they came to be a part of Lola, what they’re doing now, and what they want to accomplish. Susan Finch, VP of Operations at the Funnel Radio Channel, talked about the joy of storytelling and its impact on the listener and the storyteller. Susan has been involved in several thousand podcasts on the channel and she said that in the process of telling a story the storyteller becomes animated and it becomes something the audience follows and enjoys. There is something about two people brought together in a podcast, maybe separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, who discuss the problems and challenges of the day. When these thoughts are shared with thousands of others who seek to know how to overcome their own tests, it becomes personal for everyone. While many people hope their podcast will relate to people—maybe establish their own thought leadership or enhance their personal brand or the brand of the company—most of them realize after they get into it that it’s all about storytelling.  It’s personal and compelling, sometimes humorous, and often entertaining, but seldom dull. Today, there are official storytellers employed by companies to promote the art of storytelling in business. Some courses and workshops teach people what they already know deep down inside: people thrive on stories. In business, old salespeople have taught young salespeople that the secret to success as a salesperson is the ability to tell a credible story about themselves or maybe about their products and services. And now, young marketers are finding out that podcasts are a natural medium for them and their companies.   ___________________________________________  Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a   program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

While everybody may have a book inside of them, getting it published and read are the issues.  For this episode, host James Obermayer interviews Indie Book Publisher Henry Devries. This book should be read by anyone that is contemplating writing a book.  How to get your book written in just a few months Why you will get an ROI on the book that is 400% - 2,000%? What is the right length for your book and the right number of words? Why a book is the number one strategy every consultant needs to be successful? How to choose one of the three options to publish your book He describes the “trifecta” which ensures a successful book How to avoid the misery approach to publishing a book And yes, there is a formula to publishing a book  Henry DeVries CEO of Indie Books International Henry DeVries, MBA, is an author, educator, and business owner. He is the CEO and co-owner of Indie Books International, a company he co-founded in 2014, which has published more than 120 titles by business leaders. He works with independent consultants who want to attract more high-paying clients by marketing with a book and a speech. As a speaker, he trains authors on 16 ways to gain more paid speech bookings. Clients who have implemented his proprietary systems have reported a marketing ROI of 400% to 2,000%, with some making more than $1 million. DeVries is the former president of a $40-million Ad Age 500 advertising agency and was an assistant dean of continuing education for UC San Diego Extension, a $45-million non-state funded unit of the University of California. As a professional speaker, he annually trains business leaders on how to persuade prospects, job candidates, and investors through a proprietary storytelling methodology. In the last ten years, he has helped ghostwrite, edit and co-author more than 300 business books, including his McGraw-Hill bestseller How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett – now in five languages including Chinese. He is a paid weekly columnist with Forbes.com and was formerly the careers columnist for the San Diego Union Tribune. He is personally the author or co-author of eleven marketing books including Closing America’s Job Gap, Self-Marketing Secrets, Marketing With a Book, Persuade With a Story, Defining You, Build Your Consulting Practice, and Client Attraction Chain Reaction. The former president of the UC San Diego alumni association, DeVries earned his bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 1979, his MBA degree from San Diego State University in 1998, and completed multiple certificate programs at the Harvard Business School in the early 2000s. He has held adjunct faculty appointments at UC San Diego and Cal State University Northridge and has guest lectured at Columbia University, University of San Diego, and San Diego State University.   ___________________________________________  Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is   program on the Funnel Radio Channel.       -->

Program title: It isn't Too Late to Have a Sales Plan for 2020 Did you know that on average only 25% of B2B sales managers have a sales plan? Aside from a forecast, compensation plan, and territory alignments and additions, 75% of sales managers aren’t creating a written, objective-strategies and tactics plan similar to a marketing plan. A sales forecast is not a sales plan. Our guest this week, Matt McKnight, Founder of McKnight Advisors LLC, a Sales Xceleration Partner, says few managers have a SWOT, customer plan, target market programs, territory expansion strategies, a tactical action plan, customer attrition and margin calculators, product introduction schedules, or a multi-year revenue plan. In other words, they are flying blind and hoping to make forecast. Hope is not a sales plan. Listen and learn. Our Guest Matt McKnight Matt is the President and Founder of McKnight Advisors LLC, a Sales Xceleration Partner.  His firm helps customers launch, expand or improve their sales operations to accelerate revenue growth. With a 30-year history of sales leadership, Matt has extensive experience and success in start-up, private and public companies. His company’s approach is based on accountability, transparency, integrity, and trust focusing on the people, process and strategy to achieve sustained growth for its customers. Matt McKnight can be reached at 847.867.5963 and at mmcknight@salesxceleration.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mcknight-2463121/ Sales Xceleration Background (www.salesxceleration.com) With over 100 Advisors across North America, Sales Xceleration provides outsourced sales consultants to small businesses and mid-sized corporations that want to drive revenue growth.  In 2019, Inc. magazine announced that Sales Xceleration is No. 2353 on its Annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.   ___________________________________________ Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

This show focuses on the advantages of personal branding by using podcasting as a medium to reach listeners on an authentic personal basis.  Contributors are Paul Roberts our producer/ station manager of the Funnel Radio Channel shows and Susan Finch, Vice President of Operations at our own Funnel Media Group.  During this program we discuss: The definition of personal branding. Why is it important? How was personal branding done in the past? What makes podcasting the most popular personal branding vehicle? How LinkedIn fits into personal branding. Why a resume is a person’s past performance - what have you done lately? How personal branding is what you carry forward and plan for the future. How podcasts are long-form storytelling media.  Some Statistics about Podcasting: There are 700,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million podcast episodes. 165 million people (51% of the US population) have listened to a podcast and 32% are monthly podcast listeners  22% of Americans, about 103 million people are weekly podcast listeners Podcasting has the best engagement rate among any consumption medium including T.V., FM/AM radio, owned music, and steamed music Podcast listeners are 45% more likely to have a college degree and 68% more likely to have a post-graduate degree. Podcast listeners are much more likely to be high net-worth individuals; 37% are more likely to have an income of $100,000+. The podcasting audience is gender-balanced. The average podcast listener listens to 7 different shows in an average week and subscribes to 6 different shows. Weekly podcasts are the most popular for frequency and reach vs. once a month or bi-weekly.  ___________________________________________ Funnel Radio Channel is hosted byJames Obermayer, which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.

Direct Marketer and Cartoonist Stu Heinecke reveals how it is possible to use direct marketing techniques to achieve a 100% response rate by salespeople asking for meetings. In his previous book, How to Get a Meeting with Anyone: The Untapped Selling Power of Contact Marketing (2016) Heinecke discuss his campaign strategies which have brought his clients to unprecedented success in obtaining meetings with people unknown to the salesperson. In ”Get the Meeting” he steps up further to reveal details about techniques and campaigns (which can be a campaign of one to one). He says that this isn’t only a marketing book. His concepts can work for an individual or hundreds of salespeople. About Stu Heinecke Stu Heinecke is a bestselling business author, a hall of fame-nominated marketer and one of The Wall Street Journal cartoonists. In How to Get a Meeting with Anyone (2-2016), he introduced the world to "Contact Marketing," which uses micro-focused campaigns to connect with critically-important accounts and prospects. Using the twenty categories of contact campaigns in the book, readers have gone on to produce explosive scaling of careers, businesses and lives. In Even More Outrageous Ways to Get a Meeting with Anyone (10-2019), Heinecke adds more techniques, tips and strategies, more than sixty illustrated case studies, an updated Contact Marketing model that sets a new baseline for response--at 100%--and introduces "Pocket Campaigns" as a replacement for business cards. Get the Meeting!: An Illustrative Contact Marketing Playbook with detailed case studies. • Kindle$14.49 • Paperback$24.95 Stu Heinecke can be reached at CartoonLink

“A lot of companies don’t think of marketing as builders of wealth,” says Matt Heinz.  “Marketing done the right way can generate not just sales, not just revenue impact, but significant profit for the organization.” In this fast-paced interview, Matt discusses how marketing acquires the mentality of being a profit center for the company.  He touches on how marketing must foster a culture of revenue responsibility.  He covers: Why the leverage marketing has is enormous Why marketing spends too much time on tactical measurement, not enough time thinking about revenue responsibility Technology is not your strategy, technology is an enabler of your strategy How marketing creates value across the entire funnel not just the top of the funnel The biggest obstacle for most companies to embrace revenue marketing is external, not internal Most marketers think of marketing as the marketing of more: more clicks, more leads, more likes more impressions, and more may not be better About Matt Heinz A prolific author and nationally recognized, award-winning blogger, Matt Heinz is President and Founder of Heinz Marketing with 20 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of organizations and industries. He is a dynamic speaker, memorable not only for his keen insight and humor but his actionable and motivating takeaways.  Matt’s career focuses on consistently delivering measurable results with greater sales, revenue growth, product success, and customer loyalty. Matt is a repeat winner of Top 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management and Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers.  Matt restored his 105-year-old historic farmhouse in Kirkland, Washington with his wife, Beth and shares it with three young children, a dog, two rabbits, and seven chickens Matt is the host of Sales Pipeline Radio About Heinz Marketing PIPELINE STRATEGY + MARKETING EXECUTION Grow your B2B business. Increase your pipeline. Reach more of your customers. Heinz Marketing is a B2B marketing and sales acceleration firm that delivers measurable revenue results. Every strategy, tactic, and action has a specific, measured purpose. Most firms focus on their activities. We promote the outcomes. We are sales pipeline strategy people at heart – math marketers and sales strategists who embrace revenue responsibility. We know that what really matters is sales pipeline, closing business and accelerating revenue. Period. Our proven methodology delivers real B2B results based on buyer insights, market-driven best practices, and rapid feedback loop to improve and sustain the results you see.  DEMAND GENERATION  PIPELINE MANAGEMENT  SALES ENABLEMENT  CONTENT STRATEGY  INSIDE SALES EFFECTIVENESS  MARKETING TECHNOLOGY  Heinz Marketing Inc  8201 164th Ave NE #200Redmond, WA98052   877-291-0006  www.heinzmarketing.com Heinz on LinkedIn

In the chaos of the marketing and sales tech stack, it is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case. Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience  and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month. McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people.

CSO Insight Study Results are Troubling – Has the Canary Died Yet? Seleste Lunsford, Chief Research Officer of CSO Insights discusses the startling results of their latest World-Class Sales Performance Study: All that Glitters is Not Gold, with Funnel Radio host Jim Obermayer.  Lunsford talks about how the respondents in the study reported increases in quota attainment and revenue last year, however, key metrics show a decrease in adherence to sales best practices from previous studies.  The authors of the study state that there is possibly a misleading nature of sales effectiveness metrics collected from the nearly 1,000 sales organizations.   Is this a canary in the coal mine scenario? The survey shows that world-class sales organizations have systems driving performance that smaller organizations lack. Why is the report so important this year? What was the triggering event that prompted the study? Is this study generally only about companies with large ticket products and services? What are the most startling results? What are the sales effectiveness metrics that alarmed you? Does the study tell the reader what to do about the failures?  About the report and how to get a copy:   “All that glitters is NOT GOLD” 2019 World-Class Sales Practices Study Sections: Section I: The Deceptively Shiny State of Sales Section II: Customer Engagement Section III: Performance Support Section IV: Strategy Alignment Study Parameters: The 2019 World-Class Sales Practices Study collected data from more than 1,500 respondents from January through March 2019. The analysis was conducted on responses from 949 sales leaders. This sample was global in nature and spans across B2B industries, with particularly strong representation from the technology, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, and banking/finance sectors. GET THE REPORT GET THE REPORT SUMMARY About Seleste Lunsford Seleste Lunsford has consulted with sales and service organizations for more than 20 years, helping them acquire, grow and retain client relationships. As Managing Director of CSO Insights, Seleste guides CSO Insights’ research focus areas and define its market deliverables. She has co-authored two books, “Secrets of Top-Performing Salespeople” and “Strategies that Win Sales.” She’s proud to have supported some of the world’s most recognized companies including AAA, Alliance Bernstein, American Express, Arrow Electronics, Citibank, Convergys, U.S. Department of Defense, Office Depot, Traveler’s Insurance, and Verizon Wireless. About CSO Insights Independent research backed by one of the world’s premier selling and service brands  CSO Insights is the independent research arm within Miller Heiman GroupTM, dedicated to improving the performance and productivity of complex B2B sales. The CSO Insights team of respected analysts provides sales leaders with the research, data, expertise, and best practices required to build sustainable strategies for sales performance improvement. CSO Insights’ annual sales effectiveness studies, along with its benchmarking capabilities, are industry standards for sales leaders seeking operational and behavioral insights into how to improve their sales performance and to gain holistic assessments of their selling and sales management efficacy. Annual research studies address sales and service best practices, sales enablement and sales performance optimization.

It is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case.  The more we automate the more we rely on software to do a job that needs a personal touch.  Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month.  This except is taken from his original program which can be heard here: The Prospect Experience Isn’t Marketing Automation or CRM McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people.

Let’s face it, we’d all like to think we’re great leaders, but thinking isn’t getting and I’ve heard managers admit that deep inside, they have doubts about their ability to lead. Our guest today, Professor Bryan Bennett,  believes that inside of every manager there can be Superpowers if tapped and nurtured. In this program with host Jim Obermayer, Professor Bennett tells us why you have superpowers that can be accessed and appreciated by your team. Professor Bennett is an author, professor, consultant and data scientist. What are leadership superpowers? How did you arrive at this concept? How many of these superpowers does a leader need to have to be effective? Explain how leaders can obtain these superpowers? Who are some of the leaders you’ve met who possess some of these superpowers? Are there any limitations to these superpowers?  About Our Guest Professor Bennett is the Executive Director and founder of the Healthcare Center of Excellence. He is the primary researcher and blogger for the Center of Excellence website as well as a blogger for the HIMSS Future Care website on the subjects of Big Data and healthcare technology transformation. ProfessorHe is a course developer and adjunct professor for Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies where he is responsible for the development and teaching of predictive analytics management courses for international and domestic markets. He also teaches consumer behavior for West Virginia University’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program as well as leadership and analytics courses for Judson University’s Management and Leadership program. AuthorHe is the author of Competing on Healthcare Analytics: The Foundational Approach to Population Health Analytics. The book is a practical guide to implementing population health analytics and makes a clear argument for how an analytics initiative should be implemented using his foundational approach. Consultant / Data Scientist He started the Center of Excellence after hearing the challenges healthcare executives were having to implement predictive analytics programs. Many were concerned with ‘reinventing the wheel’ when it comes to analytics since successes experienced by other healthcare organizations were not being shared and they were challenged with identifying and keeping analytical talent. He is a certified data scientist and certified lean six sigma green belt.

Miller Heiman Group, the flagship 40-year-old company in the sales training and consulting space, has introduced integration of “Scout” for Microsoft Dynamics. In this program, Dana Hamerschlag, Chief Product Officer of Miller Heiman Group, discusses how Scout improves daily sales productivity and CRM compliance which frees up face to face sales time.  Hamerschlag also explains what tools sellers should focus on to get the most out of their CRM. About our Guest Dana Hamerschlag is the Chief Product Officer with Miller Heiman. In her role at Miller Heiman Group, Dana leads the global product organization and is driving the continued innovation of technology solutions. Dana brings more than 15 years of experience in technology companies backed by venture capital and private equity, where she has run product management, product marketing, strategy, and operations. Previously, she served as Vice President of Product Management at Ellucian, where she led the CRM business and significantly grew revenue from $0 to $38 million, paving the way for a $3.5 billion transaction.  Dana spent the early part of her career at The Boston Consulting Group.  About Miller Heiman Group  Miller Heiman Group is the global leader in providing organizations sales methodology plus sales technology to drive revenue and change business outcomes. The company’s training, consulting, technology and research solutions align process, people, tools, data, and analytics to prepare sales and service organizations for the future of selling. For more information, visit www.millerheimangroup.com.  ______________________________________________ Funnel Radio is hosted by James Obermayer and sponsored by the radio/podcast company the Funnel Media Group LLC.

Seleste Lunsford, Chief Research Officer of CSO Insights discusses the surprising results of their latest Sales Performance study with Funnel Radio host Jim Obermayer. She talks about how the 900  companies in the study report that 95% are on their revenue plan and yet other parts of the report show some disturbing sales performance outcomes that show there could be trouble on the horizon. It appears companies are hiring more sales reps, but sales performance is down per rep; this means sales expenses are up and with any downturn there will be large problems. About the report and how to get a copy:   Selling in the Age of Ceaseless Change: 2018-2019 Sales Performance Study.   Sections: Revenue Are up Sales Performance is Not. Customer-Centricity Separates Top-Performing Organizations Lead Generation Suffers from Organization Silos Planning improves New Account Capture Account Renewals Dominate Revenues Win Rates of Forecasted Deals Vex Sales Leaders Roughly 900 global sales leaders were surveyed to identify the four main objectives underpinning their performance improvement efforts in the coming 12 months. These main objectives were improving lead generation, capturing new accounts, expanding penetration into existing customers, and increasing win rates. The purpose of this report is to show how sales organizations today are performing in terms of these objectives, how that compares to recent years and what successful companies are doing that’s working for improving sales performance. GET THE REPORT GET THE REPORT SUMMARY About Seleste Lunsford Seleste Lunsford has consulted with sales and service organizations for more than 20 years, helping them acquire, grow and retain client relationships. As Managing Director of CSO Insights, Seleste guides CSO Insights’ research focus areas and define its market deliverables. An experienced business leader, Seleste has led a range of consulting, product development, professional services and operations functions. She has co-authored two books, “Secrets of Top-Performing Salespeople” and “Strategies that Win Sales.” She’s also written articles on sales effectiveness found in Selling Power, Entrepreneur, Chief Learning Officer and PharmaVoice, as well as DestinationCRM.com and HR.com. She’s proud to have supported some of the world’s most recognized companies including AAA, Alliance Bernstein, American Express, Arrow Electronics, Citibank, Convergys, U.S. Department of Defense, Office Depot, Traveler’s Insurance and Verizon Wireless. Seleste earned both her bachelor’s degree and MBA from Florida State University. _______________________________________________ Funnel Radio is hosted by James Obermayer and sponsored by the radio/podcast company the Funnel Media Group LLC.

Ahh, the sweet promise of Sales Enablement.  If only the right content could be created to support what salespeople really need to sell.  If only sales training were more than product training. If only sales enablement enabled salespeople to be the best that they can be. If only the marketing and sales people could talk to each other to discuss sales enablement. If only sales enablement would benefit the prospect.  Our guest this week, the Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark says all of this is not only possible but when solved it brings a ROI that any CFO would be proud to claim.  Find out about the three baskets of measurement that Jim and Brainshark say are not only possible, but expected when Sales Enablement is done right. Jim Ninivaggi Chief Readiness Officer Leveraging more than 30 years of B2B sales productivity expertise, Jim leads Brainshark’s sales enablement and readiness strategy. Jim previously worked as a sales enablement analyst with SiriusDecisions, where he provided clients with data, insight and thought leadership to maximize sales effectiveness and accelerate revenues. Today, he uses his knowledge and expertise to prepare the Brainshark sales force with the knowledge and skills to optimize every buyer interaction. Why Brainshark? For nearly two decades, our solutions have helped companies improve the way they communicate with, educate and inspire their customer-facing teams. Today, we’re proud to provide our customers with the most comprehensive, proven platform for sales enablement and readiness. More Ninivaggi  from Sales Pipeline Radio on the Funnel Radio Channel Sales Enablement’s Evolution from a Front Row Seat with Jim Ninivaggi The Continued Evolution of the Sales Enablement Function

In the chaos of the marketing and sales tech stack, it is easy for marketing management to be misled into thinking the prospect’s experience is taken care of by the CRM system, Marketing Automation and eventually salespeople, but this isn’t the case. Author, sales guru, and lead generation professional Dan McDade, is our guest from Prospect-Experience  and he discusses the over-looked field of prospect experience management. McDade says this failure is needlessly costing companies 10-20% of closed sales every month. McDade has a history of knowledge in the sales lead management and lead generation fields having been the CEO of PointClear for 20 plus years. He is now the managing partners of Prospect-Experience which solves the weaknesses in B2B companies he sought to repair when the leads he created for clients went begging for attention from his clients sales and marketing people.

For those with a long workout or miles to go before you sleep hike, listen to six programs on the Funnel Radio Channel.  Click to hear all programs sequentially.  Or click on the program links below to listen to individual 25 minute podcast replays of the live program.   These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 29th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast.     Quite a broadcast day for our 5th Thursday of the month.  Patrick Morrissey and Mat Singer kick it off on Predictable Revenue Radio with the topic - Making Sales Enablement Work for 2,000 salespeople. Mari Anne Vanella welcomes Dan Sixsmith on Outstanding Outbound tackling What Sales Leadership is in Denial About. Insights from Leading SMB & CRM Pundit Gene Marks on CRM Radio with host, Paul Petersen. Matt's guest is Gillian Muessig, CEO & Co-Founder Outlines Venture Group  @SEOmom Topic: B2B Start-up Sales Lessons, Mistakes & Best Practices. Kyla and John talk about Five Factors Creating Elite Sales Mindsets on Asher Sales Sense. WVU MarComm today closes out with host, Cyndi Greenglass and her guest, Larry Stultz talking about Ideation Techniques, Concept Development and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Join us and listen live or catch replays from any of our shows. 9:00 am Pacific: Predictable Revenue Radio by @Altify with host, Patrick Morrissey @PatMorrissey Guest: Mat SingerTopic: Making Sales Enablement Work for 2,000 Salespeople https://goo.gl/ozSFsP 10:30 am Pacific: Outstanding Outbound by The Vanella Group with host, Mari Anne Vanella @vanellagroup Guest: Dan SixsmithTopic: What sales leadership is in denial about https://goo.gl/fSiqWv 11:00 am Pacific: CRM Radio by GoldMine with host, Paul Petersen @goldminecrm Guest: Gene Marks @genemarks Topic: Insights from Leading SMB & CRM Pundit Gene Marks https://goo.gl/LMDTDh 11:30 am Pacific: Sales Pipeline Radio by @heinzmarketing with host, Matt Heinz Guest: Gillian Muessig, CEO & Co-Founder Outlines Venture Group  @SEOmomTopic: B2B Start-up Sales Lessons, Mistakes & Best Practices https://goo.gl/NSRAcg 12:00 pm Pacific: Asher Sales Sense by Asher Sales Strategies with host, John Asher @asherstrategies Guest: Kyla O'ConnellTopic: Five Factors Creating Elite Sales Mindsets https://goo.gl/8EHc4f 12:30 pm Pacific: WVU Marketing Communications Today with host, Cyndi Greenglass @directchick @larrystultz Larry StultzIdeation Techniques, Concept Development and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) https://goo.gl/Muf8i2

Podcasts continue to be a hot digital vehicle to reach at-work and away from work listeners. As webinars have waned in usefulness, radio podcasts have surged as the digital media with long tails to build thought leadership, a personal brand and a network that knows of you and your company. It is a friendly, entertaining, non-threatening, fountain of information.  Podcasts  break through social media and lead generation clutter by connecting with the audience in an authentic manner. Some say social media and podcasting are the new resume. But before you jump in-front of a microphone and spend 2-4 hours of recording and editing, give some thought about what it takes to be a successful podcaster. For those new to podcasting, you probably may not realize it, but B2B podcasts from you and your company create multi-use content, testimonials, thought leadership, and relationships with industry leaders. Plus, podcasts create a personal brand for the host. Podcasts introduce you and your products to thousands of potential customers and those that refer customers, but there are five things you must have in mind to be a success. At the Funnel Media Group, publisher of the Funnel Radio Channel, after producing dozens of podcast programs with hundreds of thousands of listeners, we have found the following to be needed before you start your podcast. You must be consistent: To gain followers (listeners and subscribers) you must produce a show that they can follow with regularlity. Once a month programming is very good, twice a month for moderately sized companies provides more visibility and a following. Weekly programs published from large companies and marketing departments are better when they can use the enormous amount of content which comes from each podcast.   Decide why you are doing a podcast. Decide what your goals are before you start. Podcasting is about building and conversing with an audience. And as Jason Calicanis once said, “Audience equals power.” Do you want to introduce yourself to movers and shakers in your industry by interviewing them?  Do you want to build a personal brand? A podcast can create great testimonials for you and your company. Do you want to build a network of people that follow you?  How about creating content for your marketing efforts such as ebooks, nurture content, case studies, blog entries? Some podcasters have hundreds of listeners and they are happy, some thousands per episode. Your show needs professionalism: Sound, host and announcer quality are important.  Music introductions, transcripts, separate announcers and commercials add interest and entertainment value. A professionally produced podcast from an agency that specializes in podcast production  can produce a podcast for the host and company including the storage site, studio, announcer, music, artwork, embeddable code, etc., for as little as $500 per episode.  You do not have to have an announcer voice, but you do have to be interesting, don’t take yourself too seriously, and remember if you have a guest, it is about the guest. Content must be interesting: It is entertainment after all, don’t lose sight of this. Listeners want to learn in an entertaining way, it is expected. Entertainment has more to do with the guest and a tightly edited program than humor and sound effects. Each program’s title and its content must be stimulating and worth the time invested by the listener. Programs with “How-To” or similar titles are the most popular and long lasting. Using an industry personality’s name may help, but you have to use a giant name such as Marc Benioff in the title to benefit from it. The ideal show length: An ideal program length should be determined by how much time a listener will give you. An hour is too long (most producers will agree) because the listener has probably reached their destination, come in from walking the dog or run their training circuit. 22-30 minutes is ideal for the listener who listens on a mobile dev

Having your own personal brand, beyond words on a resume or your company biography, makes sense, is required and expected. It could be a sales management job, marketing management (of course); even CEOs, CIOs, CFOs and presidents have personal brand considerations.  When you consider creating your own personal brand, you’re investing in yourself and your future. ----more---- Your basic social media activities have their place, but we’re talking about something beyond table stakes.  What I’m referring to is the need to have marketplace visibility for your thoughts, philosophies, problem solving skills, and leadership.  A personal brand demonstrates what you stand for and what do others think of you.  The questions are, how can you break away from the crowd and make yourself visible in a sea of talented people?  How can you expand your network – the people who know and follow you?   In Albert-László Barabasi’s book, The Formula = The Universal Laws of Success, he says hard research proves that “Your success isn’t about you and your performance. It’s about us and how we perceive your performance.”  The larger your visibility the larger the network will be and the network will amplify your success.   More about that in a few minutes. Personal branding is a career necessity for many people. Branding can start with your blog, speaking, tweeting, developing followers, eBooks, and guest blogging.  These things make you visible to companies and maybe to employers who approach you, but it isn't enough if your aspirations are high.  What customers and companies seek today is thought leadership from their people, and from consultants and service providers. Thought leadership has grown for individuals. In years past, thought leadership was driven by writing a book, by speaking, and through speakers’ bureaus, research reports and PR effort. Today, thought leadership and an individual’s brand can be augmented through the wise use of social media in its broadest definition. If someone wants to increase their visibility, they can write a book. This is, however, hugely time consuming if it’s beyond the self-published, poorly edited, 50-to-100-page softcover effort made by many would-be authors. I’m talking about a 230-page, professionally copy-edited book from a major publisher, which can take several years of effort.  Being a speaker at conferences and workshops is a precursor to book publishing, and often easier once the book is published.   Speaker bureaus are great if you already have a recognized name or company, and you’ve published enough books. They can get you the gig, but it’s still time consuming.    Once you embark on this effort, you may find yourself devoted to this type of time-consuming branding instead of to your daily working career.   The Shortcut: Radio Podcasting There’s an easy method to creating your personal brand that doesn’t require travel, two years of book writing and editing, or mountains of research and article writing. The answer is to host your own internet-based radio program.  Radio and podcast replays dramatically expand your reputation and network.  As Barabasi says, “Performance drives success, but when performance can’t be measured, networks drive success.” Nothing builds a network faster, cheaper and broader than having your own radio podcast.    A podcast can be a simple recording you create and place on a service from a storage site. A radio program/podcast, a step up, can be broadcast live at the same time on the same day of the week, or on the same day each month, and then follow-on listeners come from the podcast recording posted on a hosting site.   It can be broadcast once a month, bi-weekly or more often. The key is consistency; the network will want to hear from you. As the network builds, so will your reputation and a perception of performance on your part.  You must also promote the program aggressively. These types of consistent programs create followers and listeners. At the Funne

Click to hear all programs sequentially.  Or click on the program links below to listen to individual 25 minute podcast replays of the live program.   These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 15th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast.     ----more---- 9:00 am Pac: Predictable Revenue Radio by ALTIFY hosted by @PatMorrissey Guest: Glenn Davis, Sr. VP, Growth Execution and Client Engagement UnitedHealth Group Topic: Why is 78% of Sales Rep time spent on Non-Selling Activities? https://goo.gl/wTiQnL 10:30 am Pac: Ready, Set, Grow! with host Laura Patterson @lauravem by VisionEdge Marketing Guest: Greg Stock, CEO Zenoss @GregStock https://goo.gl/zfpcEP 11:00 am Pac: Sales Enablement Radio by @thebrevetgroup hosted by Ralph Grimse Guest: John Krumheuer - Vice President of North American Sales, SmartDrive Topic: What Every Sales Leader Wants Sales Enablement to Know https://goo.gl/qwHCm3 11:30 am Sales Pipeline Radio hostet by Matt Heinz @heinzmarketing Guest: Joe Hyland, CMO ON24 @mojoehyland Topic: Joe Hyland Confesses How a Minor in Psychology Led him to be a CMO https://goo.gl/NSRAcg 12 Pac/3pm Eastern - Asher Sales Sense with host Kyla O'Connell by @asherstrategies Guest: Judy Schramm @proresource Topic: If you think LinkedIn doesn’t matter for your business, here’s why you’re wrong. https://goo.gl/8EHc4f NEW SHOW! Growthbound B2B by @discoverorg hosted by Katie Bullard Guest: Justin Gray @Jgraymatter Topic: Getting Growthbound with Justin Gray - What the world’s fastest companies do differently. https://goo.gl/eX3ptC

Click to hear all programs sequentially.  Or click on the program links below to listen to individual 25 minute podcast replays of the live program.   These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 85th, 2018.  They are offered sequentially as broadcast on November 8th. ----more----   9:00 am Pac: INSIDE Inside Sales with Host, Darryl Praill @vanillasoft @ohpinion8ted Guest: Brian Smith, Jr., Member Services Exce, AA-ISP @iammrsmith__Topic: In the pursuit of sales mastery  https://goo.gl/QRBzZ3 Brian Smith Jr recently shared that the biggest mistake he’s ever made in his sales career was trying to master every aspect of selling. Can you relate? Do you find yourself frustrated by your lack of knowledge? Do you think you’re that close to being a sales rockstar if you just knew a little more, or read another book, or watched another video? Perhaps you already know more than you need. Check out Brian’s epiphany and learn how it changed his life. It just might impact you the same way. 10:30 am Data Dump by Lead Genius on SMLA Radio with host, Mark Godley @leadgenius Guest: Maria Grineva, CEO and Co-Founder at Orb IntelligenceTopic: Don’t Take the Money! A Deep Dive into a Self-Funded Start Up https://goo.gl/hEC9DA For the November 2018 episode of Data Dump, Mark Godley, CEO of LeadGenius, chats with Maria Grineva, CEO and Co-Founder at Orb Intelligence, about her experiences as a serial entrepreneur in the data space over the last decade. What sets Maria apart from the pack is that she has built her companies without venture capital funds. This has allowed Maria to create companies at her own pace, grow organically and create products that she and her team have complete control over. Maria has a perspective on the industry that we all wish we had...pure and free! Join us this month to get the scoop on how Maria is growing and expanding Orb Intelligence on her own terms. 11:00 am Pac: CRM Radio by Goldmine with host, Paul Petersen @goldminecrm Guest: Dave Charest, content marketer | speaker | indie artistTopic: Want to create better content? Start here.    https://goo.gl/GT5343 11:30 am Pac: Sales Pipeline Radio with host, Matt Heinz @heinzmarketing Guest: Jeffrey Gitomer @gitomerTopic: Learning from the King: Sales Lessons & Musings from Jeffrey Gitomer Listen live or catch replays before the show >   12:00 pm Pac: Rooted in Revenue with host, Susan Finch @susanfinchweb Guests: Alice Heiman @aliceheiman & Orrin Broberg @modusengagementTopic: Buyer Enablement - the next logical step. https://goo.gl/jSsJ3b What have you learned about Buyer Enablement, beyond the evolution of Sales Enablement?  Some of the discussion included these points: The sales people need to see how the buyers are responding to what they are doing. What do buyers really want from salespeople? Well, we're not doing a very good job of getting them what they truly want. If we're going to enable our salespeople, we need to ENABLE them to help the buyer. If they can't, we are failing at Sales Enablement. The old sales training techniques no longer work. The role of the sales person has shifted over the past two years. Sales people are an information conduit to allow the buyer to preview what they may need. They almost become a concierge. It becomes a service role. Sales people have to evolve. Do Sales & Marketing need to be aligned? You'll have to listen to find out.  Susan's guests today are Orrin Broberg, CEO/President, Modus and Alice Heiman of Alice Heiman, LLC and co-founder of Tradeshow Makeover.   12:30 pm Pac: WVU Marketing Communication Today with host, Matthew Cummings @wvutoday Guest: Dan Hill, CEO, Hill ImpactTopic: Brands in Motion: How to Evolve Using a Value and Data-driven Approach https://goo.gl/FKio7E In this podcast, listeners will take away practical guidance on cultivating a unique brand identity in the modern landscape. Emphasizing the importance of being a brand "leader" instead of a "manager," Dan Hill, CEO of Hill impact

These are the Funnel Radio Channel Programs for November 1st 2018.  The programs are offered to you in sequence.   ----more---- 9am Pacific: Predictable Revenue Radio with host, Patrick Morrisey by Altify @PatMorrissey Guest: John Kreisa, VP Marketing at Hortonworks @marked_manTopic: Going from Technology Innovation to Owning a Category  https://goo.gl/FmND48 Live Nov 1 from Dublin, Ireland and San Jose, CA: How do you go from innovative new technology to building and owning a category? That’s the question will dig into with John Kreisa, VP Marketing at Hortonworks – one of the fastest growing tech companies in history. We’re going to talk about the ins and out, challenges and difficulties of creating and scaling a category   10:30 am - Revenue Rebels by DemandLab with host, Rhoan Morgan @demandlab Guest: Darryl Praill, VP Marketing, VanillaSoft @ohpinion8ed @vanillasoftTopic: 4 Steps to Accelerating Company Growth https://goo.gl/RC68pA Revenue Rebels spotlights rule-breaking marketing and sales leaders who are accelerating business growth with a fanatically customer-centric approach and this month we’re featuring Darryl Praill, Chief Marketing Officer at VanillaSoft. Since joining the VanillaSoft team a year ago, Darryl has transformed the sales and marketing process and increased lead flow by launching an inbound marketing strategy and an aggressive digital marketing program supported by a strong sales and marketing stack. If you’re a marketing leader ready to elevate your company, tune in to this episode to hear Darryl’s 4-step approach to accomplish this and more.   11:00 am - Sales Enablement Radio by the Brevet Group with host, Ralph Grimse @thebrevetgroup Guest: Chris Day @christopherldayTopic: Crushing Your Quota Using Situational Awareness https://goo.gl/sjTcmo Our conversation is with Chris Day, inside sales leader at Bazaarvoice. We explore how to using situational awareness and pattern matching helps ramp new sellers faster and improves sales coaching and enablement. His team is crushing it, check it out! 11:30 am - Sales Pipeline Radio with host, Matt Heinz @heinzmarketing Guest: Jeb Blout @SalesGravyTopic: Sales Objection Handling from the Master: Insights from Best Seller Jeb Blount  https://salesleadmgmtassn.com/adClick.cfm?id=542 12:00 pm - Asher Sales Sense by Asher Sales Strategy with host, John Asher @asherstrategies Guest: Brian BeveridgeTopic: Aligning Sales and Marketing Strategy and Execution to Optimize Growth https://goo.gl/rN6UkR  One of the most difficult and enduring challenges business leaders face is misalignment of sales and marketing. And Brian Beveridge knows how to fix this. Even if you have winning talent and winning solutions, if you can’t get your sales and marketing strategy and execution working seamlessly you’re missing out on money.  While these challenges vary some between Enterprise and SMB markets, there are key steps business leaders can take to make substantial impact toward revenue growth. With decades of experience in this arena, Brian has key recommendations for how you can have immediate results to boost sales and crush your competition. Tune in to “Asher Sales Sense” November 1 at 3PM Eastern on asherstrategiesradio.com to hear John Asher talk with Brian Beveridge of Beveridge Consulting about “Aligning Sales and Marketing Strategy and Execution to Optimize Growth. 12:30 pm - Rooted in Revenue with host, Susan Finch @susanfinchweb Guest: Amy Franko, Author, SpeakerTopic: The Modern Seller and Why You Need to Become One.  https://goo.gl/jSsJ3b Today's guest is Amy Franko, author of The Modern Seller. (available on Kindle or hardcopy). Some of the points we cover in this interview include big points taken directly from her book.