Marshal D. Carper's Business Podcasts

The growth of the internet has given consumers a new voice. They can quickly share their experiences, both good and bad, with their friends and with entire social networks. Amazon built a significant portion of its business on the power of reviews, and now nearly every industry has its own dedicated review platform--Foursquare, Yelp, Angie's List, and on and on. Harnessing these reviews can be a boon for your business. If they are left unchecked, they can be a liability. Learn how to use these review sites to your advantage in the latest episode of Marketing with Marshal and Meesha. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stef

We've been around the block a few times, and we've learned a lot by doing. After serving dozens of clients in a variety of industries, we realized that we were seeing trends. Many business owners, despite hailing form vary different business worlds, had the same challenges and were missing the same opportunities. So instead of reviewing a news item, we exchanged our observations on the biggest marketing mistakes that we see businesses make. For you as a business owner, correcting one of these problems can be a quick way to elevate the performance of your business or it could be the motivation to keep on task with your best practices. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 crea

Too often conversations around marketing devolve to discussing specific tactics. Facebook. Email. Landing pages. For these tactics to be effective, they need to be driven by a big picture strategy that takes into account all of the pieces on the board and considers how those pieces can best work together. In our own work, we often lead these strategy sessions with clients, using our outside perspective on the business to ask challenging questions and to foster critical conversations. You should make strategy sessions a regular part of your business as well, so we dedicated an episode to discussing how these sessions work and how you can get the most out of them. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Com

If you haven't heard, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn, in a move that surprised pretty much everyone. At the time of this podcast recording, details on what exactly Microsoft planned to do with the professional social media platform were sparse, but even today, there is still a great deal of speculation as to what Microsoft stands to gain from buying LinkedIn. For our parts as marketers, we dig into the opportunities that a tie-in with Microsoft might create for LinkedIn and for LinkedIn users, and we discuss LinkedIn marketing in general at great length. Is LinkedIn useful? How about LinkedIn Groups? Should you bother using LinkedIn for your business? We talk about it all in our newest episode. Thank you for listening. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevi

Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm, and now that some of the hype is fading, we sit down to talk about what the success of Pokemon Go could mean for the future of marketing and how it could change the way we use mobile devices and augmented reality in our businesses. In our discussion of Pokemon Go, we explore the power of data--the good and the bad--in marketing and how businesses can use customer data effectively while at the same time staying ethical and trustworthy. Note: Meesha predicted a partnership between Pokemon Go and McDonald's as a hypothetical, At the time of this recording, no such relationship was publicly known, but recently McDonald's Japan announce an official relationship with Pokemon Go. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/

Email marketing is a classic staple of direct marketing that's been used for as long as we've had email. As a tool of creating engagement and for driving sales, email is just as important now as it ever has been. However, the way prospects interact with email has changed, so our approach to email marketing needs to evolve accordingly. In this episode, Marshal and Meesha talk about email marketing trends and concepts, talking about the history of the practice and making predictions for where it's going. If your business uses email marketing, this episode will help you to fine tune your engine. If your business does not use email marketing, well, this should give you plenty of reasons to start. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.c

For many years, the internet was a wild west of creativity and also artistic liberties. People regularly hijacked source code, borrowed images, and repurposed music without asking permission or even notifying the original creator. Now that the internet has matured and has become a powerful economical people, intellectual property is more valuable than ever and many creators are hellbent on protecting their work. Unfortunately, this can mean trouble for small business owners. Recently, we've seen small businesses getting notices from stock image companies and other asset creators that demand payments and threaten lawsuits. The worst part, is that these small businesses genuinely tried to do the right thing. They weren't just taking images from Google. They hired developers and writers and trusted them to make the right professional decisions. And that's where our story begins. Listen to this episode to learn more about copyright law and how it could impact your business. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content m

Marketing and advertising are quickly evolving industries. If you're running a business, keeping your marketing going is a challenge in itself. Keeping with all of the new ideas and changes in the space is not just a challenge, it can be outright impossible. In this episode, we talk through some of the changes we're seeing, what we like, and what we're excited about. We hope it helps you with your own business. About the Hosts: Marshal is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob

The challenge of bringing an innovative product to market is that your target audience might not immediately see the benefit. They don't realize that they had a problem, so they are not open to pursuing a solution. It's a weird problem for a brand to face because simply telling people that your product exists probably won't win them over. You have to get their attention and educate them. In this episode, we kickoff with a discussion of Squatty Potty and use their store as an example of how you can lead your marketing with education and thought leadership. If done successfully, the end result will be more engaged customers and a powerful brand. About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at marsh.al Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com/ Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons

Taking a brand new prospect from awareness all the way through loyal customer requires multiple touch points and the culmination of many different tactics. Too often, however, we see businesses fixate on just one point of their sales funnel, which means they miss out on opportunities to increase their ROI by ignoring other important parts of the customer journey. In this episode, we reboot the podcast with some observations about our recent work and talk through the value of looking at the big picture of your business and challenging yourself—and your team—to lean into discomfort in order to uncover greater revenue opportunities. About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Comm

To kick off a new spin to our podcast--interviewing business owners and leaders about their experiences and insights--we are interviewing each other. For this episode, Meesha steps into the spotlight to talk about her work in design and what she learned before and after founding RedTree Web Design. About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob

We are still on the hunt for business owners and leaders who want to be interviewed for the podcast. It's painless, and that's why for this episode we put Marshal in the hot seat to talk about his background, his career, and what's learned along the way. About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob Image credit: Image by JD Hancock (flic.kr/p/86WnwH). Used with permission under Creative Commons license.

In this episode, Marshal sits down to interview Andrew McGuier, the founder of Echo Gate Tech. They talk about technology, apps and software development, and what business owners should know before dipping their toes into any of those pools. To learn more about Andrew and his work, visit his website at echogatetech.com/ About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob Image credit: Photo by Martin Fisch (flic.kr/p/7Emoox) used with permission under Creative Comm

In this episode, Marshal sits down to interview Eric Perelman, the owner of Nartak Media, a Pittsburgh-based advertising and media buying agency. Marshal and Eric talk about the role of traditional media in a digital world and Eric's inside perspective on how businesses can better leverage advertising. To learn more about Eric and his work visit: www.nartakmediagroup.com/ About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob Image credit: Photo by Charles & Adrie

In this episode, Marshal and Meesha sit down with David Manes of Kraemer, Manes & Associates, a Pennsylvania law firm with offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphi and focuses in employment law for employees, business law, litigation, and civil issues. We talk marketing, the business of law, and growing a multi-location business from scratch. Learn more about the firm at lawkm.com/ About the Hosts: Marshal Carper is a content marketer and founder of Carper Communications. Learn more about him and his work at carpercommunications.com. Meesha Gerhart is a designer and founder of RedTree Web Design. Learn more about her and her work at redtreewebdesign.com. Song rights: “Final Battle of the Dark Wizards” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 2 Men Blues by Stefan Kartenberg (c) 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/51636 Ft: Admiral Bob

The use of CADD software has perhaps become so ubiquitous that we underestimate its potential for innovation. James Mauler of Cadnetics has spent decades working with the software, and he predicts a new future for the industry. The potential for AutoCad to influence the design of a new building or space is well known, but James and his team are using it for new things as well, tapping into the beginning of a new trend that architects, engineers, and facility managers alike should be thinking about for their businesses. On a broader business front, James' own story is a compelling roller coaster of challenges and triumphs. He talks about taking risks, dealing with hard times, and growing his business from a one man shop to a Pittsburgh staple, busting at the seams with growth and new hires. I learned a lot from talking with James, and I think you will too. Music credits: Song Title: Droplet — Artist: Jeremy L

The restaurant business is hard. It's a fast-paced high-stakes industry, and running a restaurant means keeping a grip on a dozen different variables--employees, product, customer experience, marketing, and so on. When Tom opened the first Mad Mex, he knew that he was making a gamble he could win. Today, some 14 Mad Mex locations later and now with more than 1100 employees across his full family of restaurants, of which Mad Mex is a part, Tom has learned a lot about what it means to run a successful restaurant. In this podcast, Tom talks about everything from day one of his first restaurant to how he chooses new restaurant locations to the data that he uses to drive his day to day decision making. This is an information rich conversation with one of the smartest businessmen in Pittsburgh. I had a blast doing it, and I think you'll have as much fun listening. Music credits: Song Title: Droplet — Artist: Jeremy L

Important: This is the first episode of my new partnership with the Observer Reporter Newspaper, and it's also the first time I did a Skype interview for the show, so please excuse the shift in quality while we sort out the learning curve. This episode was an act of selfishness on my part. I read the book Console Wars, a detailed recounting of the battle for the video game industry waged between Nintendo and Sega in the 90s, and I just had to talk with the author. This book, despite being about video games, is more like an enormous case study on guerrilla marketing and how to succeed as the underdog. Blake Harris, the author, is interesting in his own right. His career has spanned screen writing, book writing, and podcasting, and that diverse skill set coupled with a willingness to grind and grind until he finds a breakthrough has opened some interesting doors. In this episode, Blake talks about everything from his research process for the book to how Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have played (and may continue

In addition to his work as Athletic Director of Blackhawk High School, Jack Fullen also serves as the president for WPIAL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League). Over the course of his career, Fullen has seen the business of high school sports evolve alongside a changing landscape in education. In this interview, Fullen talks about the growth of his own career, how his early professional opportunities came about and how he grew a career around a cause he was passionate about. In telling this story, Fullen touches upon current challenges in running sports programs and managing the moving parts of an organization as large as WPIAL. At the same time, he talks about his work in fundraising and where he sees high school sports going--for better or for worse. While Fullen might not be a business leader in the traditional sense, he is charged with managing multiple communities with a range of stakeholders. If your business has a community-driven component--and most businesses do--you should listen to

In the world of politics, the tendency on the general public's part is to focus on high-profile presidential elections, and every facet of government below that fades into the background. Local government, even though it might not receive the same level of attention, can have a profound impact on communities and the businesses within them. And that's why I reached out to Mayor Rhome of Canonsburg, PA. In this episode of the Open Boardroom, we cover a wide range of topics, from the challenge of bringing local businesses back into a small town to the challenge of dealing with the local impact of a nationwide drug problem. Rhome has dedicated the majority of his life to civil service in some form, and his insights into what helps a community thrive is likely to uncover some facets of government and business that you overlooked. Music credits: Song Title: Droplet — Artist: Jeremy L