Get your SEO right and it could completely change your business, so listen up to our SEO expert David James. In this week’s episode David guides us through a multitude of tips and tricks that will help you navigate the minefield of search-engine optimisation.

Read on for some of David’s top tips:

**  Beware of any marketeers who offer you black hat SEO, i.e. spamming comments on other sites to create backlinks, creating multiple landing pages etc. Search engines will get wise to this and penalise you by sending you down the search rankings.

**  Monitor your ranking on an ongoing basis. Pro Rank tracker is a good tool. Also Google Search Console can help with this.

**  Think long term. A 2-3 year plan is perfectly reasonable if your business is in a crowded marketplace.

**  The two key things to remember when optimising your site for SEO: the user experience and how many other sites have recommended you.

**  Site load time is an often-overlooked part of the mix. Make sure your site is built by someone who knows what they’re doing.

**  Use ‘schema’ functionality in your site, i.e. your key company information embedded within the html code.

**  Use the Google Keyword Planner to see what the search trends are in your marketplace. SEM rush is another good tool. And don’t forget that at the bottom of normal Google searches, there are suggested keywords.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  SEO explained

**  White hat V Black hat SEO

**  Different search engine penalties

**  The zero position

**  The best content for SEO

**  The genesis framework

**  The search-engine spider

**  The value of XML site maps

**  Google Places reviews

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Ben’s free business planning template can be downloaded from http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Check out David’s BGDTM Youtube channel here

**  David’s website: www.businessgrowthdigitalmarketing.com

**  David’s email address: david@businessgrowthdigitalmarketing.com

**  David’s twitter: @bgd_marketing

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

You’re now armed with all the tools you need to succeed with your SEO….. now go out and do it!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

What a pleasure it is to welcome back Steve Sims to the show. It’s hard to know where to start with Steve – he’s just done so much – but we’ll quickly summarise him as ‘a man who makes dreams come true’. His company, Blue Fish, specialises in creating unique life experiences for its clients. Since we last spoke to Steve he has sent someone to a space station, placed clients backstage with the likes of ZZ Top and Guns & Roses, and sent someone to Monte Carlo to be James Bond for the weekend. Steve has also written a book called “Blue Fishing” which he talks to us about.

See below for some of Steve’s advice on how to make the impossible possible:

**  Stop listening to that idiot on your shoulder saying ‘no’. If you think you can’t, you’re right.

**  When trying to pull off an unlikely experience, approach it like this: “I’ve always wanted to do this, what has to happen for this to happen?” Don’t walk straight in with money because people don’t want to feel like they’ve been sold.

**  Email is dead. Pick up the phone and leave a voice memo. This is a non-intrusive way of building a rapport with busy people.

**  Relationships are everything. Do every single thing you can to build and retain good relationships.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

** How to court celebrities

**  How to build relationships that work

**  The power of voice memos

**  Steve’s colourful track record

**  A summary of Steve’s new book, Blue Fishing

**  How to leave a voice memo

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Ben’s free business planning template can be downloaded from http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Get Steve’s book, Blue Fishing, from http://www.stevedsims.com

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Remember Steve’s point about that ‘idiot’ on your shoulder. Don’t concentrate on the reasons why not, concentrate on the reasons why!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

This week we lift the lid on one of Australia’s biggest entrepreneurial success stories: Penny Spencer. She gave us so much great insight into how she got to where she is today. Her travel company turns over £65m per year and has 85 employees, and she is listed in Australia’s top 35 entrepreneurs.

We got Penny on the show not only because of her success in business but because she is a great advocate of business coaching and mentoring. She is a member of many different mentoring groups and has founded her own not-for-profit group for the travel sector called TIME. Her philosophy of never being too successful or too old to learn really is an important one.

See below for some of Penny’s top tips:

**  Set goals. It’s a common piece of advice but that’s because it works!

**  Accountability for your goals is key. This is where pier groups are vital.

**  Always be open to new people coming in to your business.

**  Penny works 'on' her business 90% of the time, and ‘in’ the business 10% of the time. It took her ten years to get to this point - it didn’t happen overnight - but it is something that most entrepreneurs should aspire to.

**  Be clear on the values of your company and employ people on the basis of your values. Values mean more than skills.

**  If you have happy staff you have happy clients. Staff should never be treated as a liability!

**  Make sure you pay yourself when you have your own business. An easy mistake entrepreneurs make is to not pay themselves and then gradually resent the business.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  How to generate good referrals

**  The value of mentoring groups

**  A sustainable method of recruitment

**  The importance of being able to change direction

**  How Penny generates ideas

**  The power of networking

**  How to interview

**  How often to survey clients and how to review the results

**  How to prepare yourself to start a new business

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Not long left to grab a place on one of Ben’s free 5-stage Business Exceleration™ workshops. Go to http://www.businessfasttrack.com.au for more information and to register.

**  Ben’s free business planning template can be downloaded from http://www.maxmyprofit.com.au

**  Penny’s website: http://www.pennyspencer.com.au

**  Penny’s travel company website: http://www.spencertravel.com.au

**  Penny’s book can be purchased here

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Penny is a great reminder to all of us that our entrepreneurial minds should always stay open to learning. Take heed of this advice: make sure you have a way of developing yourself.

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000

This week we have some great no-nonsense marketing advice from a man who’s been there and done it, Mitch Hills. Mitch founded the highly successful social media agency, Mastered Marketing, as well as the Exceptions business community, and he sure knows how to deconstruct the complexities of modern-day marketing so anybody can understand it.

See below for some of Mitch’s top tips;

**  Get your content out there! Don’t worry about it being too polished.

**  A small audience can be an advantage in the beginning because it gives you a chance to perfect your own voice.

**  Don’t think of your marketing as just the promotion of your high-ticket items. Part of your marketing mix needs to encourage your audience to discover they have a problem in the first place.

**  Cheap leads are not necessarily good leads. It’s often worth working harder for better leads.

**  Understand the pain points of your customers. This should drive your marketing.

**  Think about how to move your customers from their current situation to their desired situation.

**  Ideally you should produce two pieces of video content per month. Alongside that, have one advert promoting your content and one promoting your lead magnet.

**  Broadcast what you’re already doing. Your customers are likely to find it interesting.

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

**  The power of Facebook advertising

**  Social media platforms compared

**  How to adapt landing pages to capitalise on your marketing

**  The best way to sell/package giveaways

**  Lead magnets explained

**  Repurposing explained

**  Facebook business pages V Facebook personal pages

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Not long left to grab a place on one of Ben’s free 5-stage Business Exceleration™ workshops. Go to http://www.businessfasttrack.com.au for more information and to register.

**  Mitch’s website: http://www.masteredmarketing.com

**  Mitch’s instagram: http://www.instagram.com/masteredmarketing

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

Call to action:

Let’s end matters by quoting Mitch’s excellent summary of what your introductory offers/lead magnet should be. Never forget the phrase “low friction, high value.”

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day!

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
(02) 9111 5000