Marketing Mantra Podcast by 99signals

Marketing Mantra Podcast by 99signals

Marketing Mantra is an online marketing podcast by 99signals.com, hosted by Sandeep Mallya. In the show, Sandeep shares actionable online marketing strategies he’s learned through years of running a successful blog that generates over $10,000 in side income each month. You’ll also hear from leading marketing experts and entrepreneurs from around the world who’ll share insights on SEO, content marketing, PPC, affiliate marketing, and more.

Past guests have included Matthew Woodward, Alexandra Tachalova, John Wall (Marketing Over Coffee), Vlad Calus (Planable), and many more. Join our 3,000+ weekly listeners.

Where to subscribe: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Breaker | Radio Public | Spotify | Pocket Casts | AnchorStitcher | Acast

Marketing Mantra Podcast Episodes

Table of Contents

Ep. #112 – Google SGE Explained: How SGE Could Disrupt Your Website Traffic

Google’s SGE (Search Generative Experience) is on the brink of revolutionizing the search industry. In this episode, we reveal the potential impact of Google SGE on website traffic and offer a few insider tips on optimizing content for this latest search feature and staying ahead in the SEO game.

Ep. #111 – 5 Best Traffic Analysis Tools to Improve Your Website’s Performance

Keeping tabs on your website’s traffic is your golden ticket to making smart, data-backed choices about how well your marketing efforts and campaigns are doing.

In this episode, I reveal the 5 best traffic analysis tools to optimize your site’s performance.

Ep. #110 – Black Friday Special 2023: AppSumo’s Top 3 Early Bird Deals

It’s that time of the year again: is finally here! Mark your calendars for November 19 to November 28, because this year’s lineup of deals is nothing short of spectacular.

While AppSumo’s Black Friday main event launches on November 19, there are a few early access deals up for grabs right now!

In this episode, I reveal my top 3 picks among AppSumo’s Black Friday Early Access Deals.

Ep. #109 – Top 10 Business Newsletters Every Entrepreneur Should Read

Signing up for ⁠business newsletters⁠ is a super effective way to keep up with the latest business buzz. The issue, however, is the sheer number of business newsletters out there. You wouldn’t want to end up with your inbox crammed full of too many of them.

In this episode, I reveal the top 10 business newsletters that are worth your attention, ensuring you get the most valuable insights without cluttering your email.

Ep. #108 – When Marketing Fails: The Crystal Pepsi Saga

This episode is a part of our “When Marketing Fails” segment where we deep dive into the captivating world of marketing disasters and uncover the valuable lessons they have to offer. In this episode, we take a closer look at the saga of Crystal Pepsi, a product that seemed destined for greatness but ultimately ended up as a cautionary tale.

Join us as we uncover why this clear cola experiment by Pepsi ended in failure. From the backdrop of the intense cola wars between Coca Cola and Pepsi to the elaborate marketing campaign that created immense hype, discover the reasons behind Crystal Pepsi’s downfall.

Ep. #107 – AI and Storytelling: Crafting Narratives with Artificial Intelligence (w/ Jyotirmoy Dutta from Yarnit)

AI has been revolutionizing various industries, and marketing is no exception. From maintaining brand consistency to creating compelling narratives, AI has the potential to reshape how brands connect with their audience.

On this episode, we are joined by special guest Jyotirmoy Dutta (JD), co-founder of Yarnit, who sheds light on how AI can help manifest stories in different formats, including visual storytelling, and explores the limitless possibilities that AI offers to marketers.

But, as with any technological advancement, there are concerns and challenges. JD addresses the importance of maintaining human creativity and subjectivity in content creation, as well as the need for human moderation to avoid plagiarism and address biases in AI-generated content.

Join in for a thought-provoking discussion that will inspire you to embrace the possibilities of AI while retaining the essence of human storytelling.

Ep. #106 – Technical SEO Deep Dive: Site Speed, Crawling, and Indexing

In this episode, we dive deep into the technical side of SEO. We discuss crucial aspects such as optimizing site speed, managing crawl budget, and ensuring proper indexing for improved search engine visibility. If you’re aiming to enhance your website’s technical SEO performance, this episode is a must-listen.

Ep. #105 – Resistance and Resilience: Survival Tips for Entrepreneurs (w/ Guest Host Raksha Shenoy)

On this special episode of Marketing Mantra, guest host Raksha Shenoy, founder of Nummy Makhana, shares valuable insights on “Resistance and Resilience” for entrepreneurs. Raksha emphasizes the significance of focusing on both product development and organizational growth, drawing from personal experiences and real-world examples of successful and unsuccessful companies to illustrate important lessons.

Ep. #104 – The Fascinating History of ChatGPT: Journey from Concept to Cultural Phenomenon

Uncover the captivating story behind ChatGPT, from its origins to becoming a cultural phenomenon. Explore the milestones that shaped its history and be amazed by its impact on our digital landscape.

Ep. #103 – Building a Fintech Startup (w/ Ashish Khandelwal from ANQ)

In a time marked by incredible tech advancements and the digital revolution, there’s one industry that stands out for its game-changing impact: FinTech. From digital payments and lending platforms to robo-advisors and blockchain technology, FinTech has disrupted traditional financial systems, offering greater convenience, accessibility, and efficiency to consumers and businesses alike.

In this episode, I’m joined by Ashish Khandelwal, the visionary behind ANQ Finance and a true trailblazer in India’s FinTech landscape. Ashish is a seasoned entrepreneur who combines his expertise in finance and technology to launch and scale ventures, aiming to revolutionize finance and empower individuals with innovative solutions to achieve their financial dreams.

Join us as we take a behind-the-scenes look into building and scaling a FinTech startup.

Ep. #102 – When Marketing Fails: The Story of Ford Edsel

Welcome to a new segment of Marketing Mantra called “When Marketing Fails.” In this segment, we’ll deep dive into the captivating world of marketing disasters and uncover the valuable lessons they have to offer. While success leaves clues, failure leaves lessons. In this episode, we explore a classic marketing failure: The Ford Edsel. Dubbed as “the Titanic of Automobiles,” the Edsel is considered one of the biggest marketing and branding disasters of all time.

Tune in to the episode to uncover the fascinating story of the Ford Edsel, a cautionary tale that still echoes in the world of marketing.

Ep. #101 – 5 Best AI Content Creation Tools for Marketers

With the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, marketers are now able to create high-quality content in a fraction of the time it would take with traditional methods. In this episode, I’ll be sharing the top 5 AI content creation tools that every marketer should consider adding to their arsenal. You’ll also learn about the pros and cons of using AI copywriting tools and how to make the most of them in your content marketing strategy.

Ep. #100 – How to Double Your SEO Traffic Like a Pro

On this episode, I share my favorite SEO hack to 2x your search traffic. This powerful tactic is utilized by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Semrush, Ahrefs, HubSpot, and Neil Patel, to maintain their lead over competitors in the search engine results pages. Tune in to learn how to apply this SEO tactic to your website and drive significant growth in traffic.

Ep. #99 – Google’s $100 Billion Mistake: What Went Wrong!

Google’s foray into AI is not going as planned. An underwhelming AI event coupled with a disastrous Twitter ad led to a significant drop in the company’s stock price and a loss of trust among its investors. In this episode, we take a closer look at Google’s AI mistake that cost the search engine giant $100 billion in market value. Learn what went wrong and how Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing is capitalizing on Google’s misstep to take the lead in the ongoing AI war.

Ep. #98 – The AI War: Google Takes on ChatGPT with a New Rival

In this episode, I delve into Google’s latest AI chatbot announcement, a potential rival to OpenAI’s widely-used ChatGPT. Join me as I break down the details and explore what this means for the future of AI technology.

Ep. #97 – How to Improve Your Mobile SEO with Google Search Console

Mobile SEO is growing in importance. 59% of all website traffic worldwide comes from mobile phones. And according to Google, there are more searches on mobile than on desktop. If you’re not optimizing your website for mobile SEO, you’re going to lose out on a massive amount of traffic. On this episode, I share a an EASY hack to improve your mobile SEO with Google Search Console.

Ep. #96 – The ONE Thing You Need to Do for Affiliate Marketing Success

I’ve been an affiliate marketer since 2016. When I launched 99signals, my online marketing blog, I never imagined that it would one day generate a side income of $12,000/month. My affiliate marketing journey began when I started promoting a premium SEO tool on my blog. Fast forward to today, this SEO tool has generated more than $250,000 in commissions.

On this episode, I share my BEST piece of advice for aspiring affiliate marketers. If you’d like to succeed in affiliate marketing and generate a steady stream of passive income every month, I’d strongly recommend that you follow this advice.

Ep. #95 – Building You Inc.: Thriving as a Creator Employee (w/ Saikat Pyne from You Inc.)

The creator economy has been steadily growing for the past few years and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. While 68% of global creators do it part-time, in the long term, more creators are predicted to sign up for content creation to catalyse their careers and build their personal brands — which will in turn help them land better jobs or better freelance projects.

In this episode, I join forces with Saikat Pyne, the host of You Inc. podcast, to bring you a FREE blueprint for content creation on a tight budget. As a non-creator, you might think that starting to produce your own content is a daunting and expensive task, but with Saikat’s help, you’ll see that it can be done quickly and without breaking the bank.

Ep. #94 – Deconstructing SaaS Pricing Models and Strategies (w/ Corey Haines from SwipeWell)

From a business growth perspective, choosing the right SaaS pricing model and strategy is a must. Most business owners I have worked with treat it almost like an afterthought, but the reality is an effective pricing strategy is vital for business success.

In this episode, I’m joined by Corey Haines, the creator of SwipeWell, Swipe Files, and Copywriting Prompts, to deconstruct SaaS pricing models and strategies. Corey is a a marketer, entrepreneur, podcaster, and investor. In addition to launching several SaaS businesses, he’s consulted with dozens of startups on marketing and growth including SavvyCal, Evercast, Riverside.fm, and Holloway. He’s also the host of the weekly Default Alive podcast, where he talks about his journey on bootstrapping his startups.

Tune in to learn:

  • The importance of SaaS pricing
  • How to approach SaaS pricing when you’re just starting out
  • The most common SaaS pricing models
  • How to choose the right SaaS pricing model for your business
  • The different SaaS pricing strategies to keep in mind
  • Productivity hacks for busy entrepreneurs

…and lots more. A must-listen episode for SaaS entrepreneurs and marketers out there.

Ep. #93 – How to Optimize Your Content for Better Conversions (w/ Daniel Daines-Hutt from Zero to Mastery)

When it comes to content marketing, your end goal should always be to get more conversions — whether it’s someone purchasing your product, downloading your eBook, filling a form, or signing up for your service. That’s where conversion rate optimization (CRO) comes in.

Daniel Daines-Hutt is back on the show to deconstruct conversion rate optimization and reveal tried-and-tested CRO tips to improve user experience and user journey on your site. Dan is a self-confessed marketing nerd who teaches people how to get more traffic and engagement for their existing content. He is the founder of Amp My Content and the Amplify Content Academy. He’s also the Head of Content for Zero to Mastery, a training platform that takes people from brand new beginners to paid software engineers earning 6 figures.

On this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What is conversion rate optimization (CRO) — when is a particular piece of content fully optimized
  • How to optimize your content for better search rankings
  • Key points to consider when optimizing content for better conversions
  • Tried-and-tested CRO tips to improve your user experience and customer journey

…and lots more. If you’d like to learn about the power of CRO and how it can drive results for your business, this episode is for you.

You can also watch the interview below on YouTube:

Ep. #92 – SEO News Recap: October 2022 Edition

Welcome to SEO news recap, a new monthly segment I’ll be doing on my podcast to recap all the top news stories in the world of SEO to help you stay informed about the ever-changing landscape of SEO. On this episode, I break down the 3 biggest SEO news stories from October 2022.

Ep. #91 – 10 Actionable Things You Can Do with Semrush to Boost Your Search Traffic (and Grow Your Business)

This episode is brought to you by Semrush.

Semrush is an all-in-one marketing toolkit that is best known for its SEO, competitor analysis, and content marketing features. Try Semrush free for 30 days and test out all the tips discussed in this episode.

There are several ways you can use Semrush to boost your SEO and content marketing efforts. The platform is packed with tools and features to optimize your overall marketing strategy. That said, new users may feel overwhelmed and find it difficult to figure out where to get started with Semrush.

On this episode, I’ll share 10 actionable ways you can use Semrush to drive traffic to your website and improve search rankings.

Ep. #90 – 3 Best WordPress SEO Plugins to Improve Your Organic Traffic

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). It powers over 35% of all sites on the internet, eclipsing all other players in the CMS market. When it comes to choosing the right WordPress SEO plugins, it’s important to be super selective. On this episode, I share the 3 best WordPress SEO plugins that you can install on your site to improve your search rankings.

Ep. #89 – 10 Best Content Marketing Tools to Level Up Your Content Game

Having the right content marketing stack is key to running successful content marketing campaigns and reach your marketing goals. On this episode, I talk about the 10 best content marketing tools that deserve a place in your tech stack.

Ep. #88 – Deconstructing Ahrefs’ New Pricing (and Why It’s Bad)

Back in April 2022, Ahrefs launched their new pricing plans. The new usage-based pricing structure adopted by Ahrefs has stirred up a lot of controversy in the SEO community. On this episode, I deconstruct Ahrefs’ new pricing and explain my reasons as to why I believe it’s a bad move by the company.

Ep. #87 – 5 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

Google’s Chrome web store offers a variety of different SEO extensions to take your SEO to the next level. On this episode, I share the 5 best SEO Chrome extensions you can use to transform your web browser into an SEO powerhouse.

Ep. #86 – 5 Best Link Building Strategies (That Anyone Can Use)

Recently, I did a webinar for Serpzilla on the best link building practices. In the webinar, I shared 5 of my favorite link building strategies. The best part about these strategies is that anyone can use them to increase their site’s authority and gain organic traction. On this episode, I share these 5 easy link building strategies so you can implement them for your own site.

Ep. #85 – 10 Actionable On-Page SEO Tips to Boost Your Rankings

On-Page SEO is a critical part of improving your website’s search traffic. On this episode, I share 10 actionable on-page SEO tips to help you keep up to speed with the ever-changing SEO landscape.

Ep. #84 – 5 Best Marketing Analytics Tools for Data-Driven Marketers

Marketing analytics tools are used to uncover insights that can improve your marketing performance. With a plethora of marketing analytics tools on the market, it’s not easy to decide which marketing tools are worth using. On this episode, I recommend 5 best marketing analytics tools that can really level up your marketing.

Ep. #83 – Ahrefs’ New Search Engine (Yep) is Disappointing

A few weeks ago, Ahrefs launched their own search engine called Yep. Aside from being a privacy-focused search engine, Ahrefs promises a 90/10 revenue split for creators. I’ve been using Yep for the past few days and it’s safe to say I’m a bit underwhelmed. Tune in to this episode to learn why I think Ahrefs has made a huge blunder with this move.

Ep. #82 – Content Upgrade Strategy: 6 Easy Steps to Boost Your Organic Traffic

A few years ago, I published an SEO case study on my blog where I revealed a relatively simple, yet often overlooked, technique to boost search traffic to your old posts.Using the remarkably easy 6-step content upgrade strategy, I was able to significantly increase organic traffic to my blog.

The content upgrade strategy is a process of relaunching an old blog post with new and updated information in an effort to boost its search traffic and revive its rankings. On this episode, I deconstruct all the steps involved in the content upgrade strategy, with examples, so you can follow the same process for your own blog.

Ep. #81 – How to Use PPC Ads to Optimize Your SEO Campaigns

SEO and PPC campaigns are more effective when they are run in parallel. In this episode, I share an effective method to use PPC ads to optimize your SEO campaigns.

Ep. #80 – Why You Should Read “Traction” by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares

It’s time for a book recommendation. In this episode, I talk about one of my favorite business books, Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. Tune in to learn why I think this book is a must-read for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Ep. #79 – 5 SEO Mistakes That Are Costing You Traffic

In this episode, I share 5 SEO mistakes that are preventing your site from ranking higher on Google.

Ep. #78 – Why Online Advertisers Are Ditching Facebook

Last month, Facebook’s stock value fell by 26% because of disappointing results in the last quarter. As a result, the company’s total valuation dropped by $250 billion.

While some contribute the drop in Facebook’s revenue to increased competition from TikTok and the uncertain future of Facebook’s metaverse, the real reason might be something else. But the fact remains that a lot of online advertisers are ditching Facebook and spending their advertising dollars elsewhere.

Tune in to this episode to find out why online advertisers and small businesses are losing faith in Facebook’s ability to target their customers.

Ep. #77 – Pogo-Sticking in SEO: How to Make Your Content More Engaging

Pogo-sticking is when a user enters a site and quickly navigates back to the search results. It’s often confused with bounce rate, which is a totally different SEO metric. On this episode, we examine pogo-sticking from an SEO perspective. You’ll learn the main causes of pogo-sticking, whether it’s a ranking factor, and how you can ensure your content is more engaging.

Ep. #76 – 5 Ways to Use Google Trends to Improve Your SEO

Google has a plethora of free tools to help with your SEO. But Google Trends is perhaps the most underrated and underutilized SEO tool in Google’s repertoire. In this episode, I reveal 5 ways you can use Google Trends to improve your SEO.

Ep. #75 – 10 SEO Metrics You Should Be Tracking

SEO metrics are critical data points that help you understand if your SEO efforts are working.

With a plethora of SEO metrics vying for your attention, it’s important to separate the wheat from the chaff.

But the question is: how do you differentiate between useful SEO metrics and vanity metrics?

On this episode, we take an in-depth look at 10 SEO metrics that are worth tracking. By the end, you’ll know exactly which SEO metrics to focus on and which ones to ignore.

Ep. #74 – Solana Explained: Here’s What You Need to Know About the Solana Ecosystem (w/ Vijay Kalangi and Sreekanth Kalapur from SolRazr)

Solana (SOL) is the latest token to take the crypto world by storm. Branded as the “Ethereum killer”, Solana was a huge winner in the most recent crypto bull run. Solana’s price surged by 50% in a week to reach a new all-time high. At the time of publishing this episode, Solana’s price is $185.92. If you’re a crypto enthusiast, you’d have definitely heard about Solana.

If you haven’t yet heard about Solana, this episode is all you need to learn about this exciting new cryptocurrency. For this episode, I’m joined by Vijay Kalangi and Sreekanth Kalapur, founders of SolRazr – a newly-launched decentralized developer ecosystem for the Solana Blockchain. In this episode, Vijay and Sreekanth deconstruct the growth and rising popularity of Solana, the Solana ecosystem, Solana’s rivalry with the Ethereum blockchain, Solana NFTs, and Solana’s potential future value.

A must-listen episode for crypto enthusiasts and investors.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts below:

Ep. #73 – The Secret to Creating SERP-topping Viral B2B Content (w/ Brad Smith from Wordable)

B2B content has long been perceived as boring. But as you’ll learn in this episode, there are several ways to be creative with your B2B content.

I’m joined by special guest Brad Smith in this episode to discuss the framework involved in creating SERP-topping viral B2B content. Brad is the CEO of a SaaS company called Wordable and runs two successful agencies in the content production and digital PR industry. As a Business Insider featured copywriter, Brad is on a mission to slay awful content one blog at a time. His content has been featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, The Next Web, Moz, Shopify, Unbounce, HubSpot, Search Engine Journal, and hundreds more.

In the social media age, producing content that just hits the first page of Google is not enough. Brad’s unique strategy will show you how to produce and optimize long-form content that dominates the rankings and also gets featured in The New York Times, Business Insider, and TheNextWeb.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts below:

Ep. #72 – How Marketing Automation Can Save You Time and Make You Money (w/ Dan McGaw from McGaw.io)

Marketing automation has made marketers’ lives a whole lot easier. Regardless of the size of your business, you can use automation tools to automate a plethora of marketing activities — from email marketing to social media management to internal tasks — to drive more leads and revenue for your business.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dan McGaw, founder and CEO of McGaw.io, an analytics and marketing technology consultancy, and UTM.io, a Google Analytics URL Builder. Coined as one of the original growth hackers, Dan previously served as Head of Marketing at Kissmetrics and VP of Growth at CodeSchool. Dan’s all about simple yet powerful marketing strategies. He believes that although MarTech concepts like automation, personalization, and multi-touch attribution can seem overwhelming and even intimidating, they are actually pretty accessible for businesses of all sizes.

Our conversation in this episode will revolve around marketing automation and how it can help you save time and make you money. If you’ve ever had questions about marketing automation or the kind of automation tools you should include in your marketing stack, this is the episode for you.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts below:

Ep. #71 – 7 Seconds That Are Worth $700,000: The Story of Website Loading Speed (w/ Dmitrii Kustov from Regex SEO)

Page speed is critical to ranking your pages on Google. Website loading speed has always been an important piece of the user experience puzzle. With the page experience algorithm update, Google has finally made it official — page speed is a ranking signal.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dimitrii Kustov, the founder of Regex SEO – a full-service digital marketing agency based in Houston, Texas. Declared the “SEO Rockstar” by the American Marketing Association, Dmitrii has significantly increased the online presence of brands through creative digital marketing campaigns.

Our conversation in this episode will revolve around website loading speed and how improving the speed of your website can result in higher search rankings and more traffic. Dmitrii will reveal actionable tips and tricks to improve your page speed and also share one of his most talked-about SEO case studies with us — “7 Seconds That Are Worth $700,000.” This is a case study that really illustrates how a slow-loading website takes a toll on the bottom line of your business and the steps you can take to make sure your page speed is never compromised.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts below:

Ep. #70 – YouTube Tips for Small Businesses (w/ Neil Sheth from Bubbli Digital)

In this special episode, I’m joined by Neil Sheth, a former Investment Banking Consultant turned Digital Content Strategist. He worked in top Investment banks and consulting companies like Goldman Sachs and Accenture for nearly 10 years before starting his own business. Currently, Neil is the founder of Bubbli, an SEO and content marketing agency, and Writefully, a copywriting on-demand service. He also loves to share content marketing, SEO, and social media tips on his blog YourBrandFound.

In the episode, Neil will be sharing actionable YouTube tips for small businesses. You’ll learn about:

  • the type of content you should create on YouTube
  • common YouTube mistakes to avoid
  • the best way to use YouTube to optimize your sales cycle

… and lots more.

If you’re a small business owner who’d like to leverage YouTube as a powerful marketing channel for your business, this episode is a must-listen.

Ep. #69 – 3 Best SEO News Sites You Should Bookmark Today

SEO is an evolving industry. If you don’t get up to speed with the latest SEO trends and updates, you’ll be left behind and your competitors will soon outrank you in search results. Which is why it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest SEO news and trends so you’re never caught off guard.

In this episode, I share the 3 best SEO news websites that you should bookmark right away. You can visit these sites from time to time to stay in the loop with all the breaking news stories and developments in the world of SEO.

Ep. #68 – One Page Websites: Pros, Cons, and SEO Best Practices

One page websites are easy to create, great to look at, and fully responsive. Many companies adopt the simplicity of one page websites over complex multi-page websites that may take days to create. But by opting for a one page website for your business, are you hurting your chances of ranking higher than your competitors in SERPs? What are the SEO benefits and limitations of having a one page website?

These are some of the questions we’ll explore in this episode as we take an in-depth look at one page websites from an SEO perspective and discuss the pros, cons, and SEO best practices of one page websites.

Ep. #67 – Is Clubhouse a Product or a Feature?

Is the audio-based social media app Clubhouse a game-changing product or just a feature masquerading as a product? In my opinion, it’s the latter. And in this episode, I’ll tell you why I think Clubhouse is a feature and not the revolutionary product marketers are claiming it to be.

Ep. #66 – Reddit Announces Clubhouse Competitor

Clubhouse, the audio-based social networking app, has quickly become one of the most popular social media networks in the world. Launched in April 2020, Clubhouse now has 10 million weekly active users and the company itself is valued at over 1 billion dollars. Until now, Clubhouse hasn’t had a competitor, but that’s about to change with the launch of “Reddit Talk,” Reddit’s Clubhouse clone. 
 
Tune in to learn more about this new Clubhouse competitor and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing for Clubhouse.
 

Ep. #65 – Building a Socially Conscious Startup w/ Raksha Shenoy from Nummy Makhana

In this episode, I’ll be joined by my wife, Raksha Shenoy, who recently started her own venture — Nummy Makhana, a startup that aims at promoting guilt-free and healthy snacking.

If you’ve been a listener of this podcast, you’ll remember Raksha from some of the older episodes. The idea behind this episode is to question entrepreneurs about their existing business model. We’d like to ask them whether they just want to be a money-making enterprise or make a social impact while growing their business.

Raksha has her unique perspective on building a socially conscious brand and in this episode, she tells us what it means to be a socially conscious startup and how you can move in this direction.

Ep. #64 – Can a Search Engine Built by Ex-Googlers Take on Google?

Neeva, a search engine built by former Google employees, recently raised $40 million in Series B funding. The company is now valued at $300 million and its product is still in the beta testing stage. Neeva is dedicated to running its platform without any ads and the company follows a unique revenue model.

But does Neeva have what it takes to compete with the search Goliath that is Google?

Tune in to learn the key differences between Neeva and other search engines and my take on whether Neeva can disrupt the search engine market.

Ep. #63 – 20 Questions to Ask Potential SEO Clients

Do you run a digital marketing agency or offer SEO services to your clients? Then I highly recommended that you have a set of questions to evaluate the clients you choose to work with.

But why is this important? Why should you ask questions? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Having an SEO questionnaire is important because this information will reveal to you whether the new business coming your way is right for you and also provide you with crucial insights that can help you craft a better strategy for your clients.

Since starting my digital marketing agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015, I’ve worked with businesses of all sizes. The SEO work that I did with them increased their search visibility and improved conversions.

And the 20 questions that I’m going to share in this episode helped me gain a deeper understanding of their business, industry, and most importantly, their expectations with SEO.

Tune in to find out the 20 most critical questions to ask your SEO clients before they get on board.

Ep. #62 – Fresh Takes on Link Building w/ Shaurya Jain from Backlink Opportunities

In this episode of Marketing Mantra, I’m joined by Shaurya Jain from Backlink Opportunities, a B2B link building service. Shaurya has been building white hat backlinks for his clients for the last 4 years and knows a thing or two about link building. He also manages a very active Facebook group for link collaborations.

In the episode, Shaurya shares some interesting insights on building backlinks and reveals his favorite link building tactics. So if you’re struggling to build backlinks for your site and would like some fresh tips on building high authority backlinks, this episode is for you.

Ep. #61 – Affiliate Marketing Secrets: Jules Dan Interviews Sandeep Mallya

Affiliate marketing has been a huge source of passive income for me ever since I started blogging in 2015. It’s because of affiliate marketing that I generate a steady side income of over $10,000 a month. So I wanted to do an episode on affiliate marketing, where I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned so far. Then I realized a few months back I did an interview with Jules Dan for his podcast, Storytelling Secrets. In that episode, I shared my experience with affiliate marketing, the mistakes I committed while starting out, and shared a few actionable tips and tricks for affiliate marketing beginners.

So I thought it’d be a great idea to publish my full interview with Jules Dan for this episode. (with his permission of course)

This interview you’re about to hear is from episode 46 of Storytelling Secrets. In this interview, I share everything I know about affiliate marketing. So if you’d like to dabble in affiliate marketing and would like to learn the secrets that will allow you to earn a steady stream of passive income each month, this episode is for you.

Here are a few things this episode covers:

  • Mistakes you should avoid in affiliate marketing
  • How to incorporate storytelling in affiliate marketing
  • 3 best affiliate marketing tools
  • Tips to stand out in affiliate marketing
  • 3 business books I’d recommend to affiliate marketing beginners

I hope you find the episode useful.

Ep. #60 – 12 Effective Ways to Repurpose Your Content (and Get More Traffic)

I want you to picture this scenario: You’ve just published a great blog post. It’s doing well on social media, your subscribers are loving it, and you’ve optimized it to make sure it ranks well on Google.

If you’ve done all of these things, then your recently published blog post will generate enough traction and traffic.

So what do you do after you’re done publishing and promoting the post? Do you immediately start working on a new article? But you can’t just leave the old post behind? After all, it’s one of the best articles you’ve published on your site.

Now you can do one of two things: you can wait for your article to slowly start ranking higher in search results. But that’s in the long run and you’ll need to spend some time generating relevant backlinks for the article.

Or, you can simply repurpose your content and reach a whole new audience for your awesome blog post. Repurposing content is the practice of finding new ways to recycle your blog posts or any piece of content to amplify their reach.

In this episode, I’ll reveal 12 effective ways to repurpose your content.

Ep. #59 – Google’s “Home Movie” on How Google Search Works: Is It Worth Watching?

Back in October 2020, Google released a “home movie” on their YouTube channel to show how Google search works. It’s a 58-minute documentary that goes into detail about how Google search works and offers an insight into what goes on behind the scenes at Google.

SEOs around the world have been raving about Google’s home movie, so last week, I decided to check it out. In this episode, I share my thoughts on the movie and my key takeaways and help you decide whether it’s worth watching this hour-long documentary by Google.

Ep. #58 – How I Boosted Search Traffic to an Old Article by 146% (and How You Can Do It Too)

How do you revive a blog post that’s losing organic traffic?

How do you breathe new life into old content and make sure it continues to generate search traffic in the long run?

If you have these questions in your mind, then this episode is for you.

In this episode, I’ll reveal the exact SEO technique I used to increase organic traffic to one of my old posts by 146% in just 30 days.

And you know what?

It’s an SEO secret that is overlooked by even the most experienced SEO professionals.

Tune in to learn the simple 5-step process you can use to revive old blog posts that are losing traffic and rankings.

Ep. #57 – Google’s Upcoming Page Experience Update: What You Need to Know

Google has confirmed that it will be rolling out the page experience algorithm update in May 2021. This algorithm update will combine existing user experience signals (mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, safe browsing, etc.) with something called Core Web Vitals.

In this episode, I discuss Google’s upcoming algorithm update and share:

  • what this means for your site’s future
  • how to safeguard your site against the update, so it doesn’t lose organic traffic
  • 3 tools you can use to prepare your site for the update.

Tune in to learn everything you need to know about Google’s page experience update.

Ep. #56 – How to Advertise on Facebook in 2020 & Beyond w/ Daniel Daines-Hutt

In this special episode of Marketing Mantra, I’ll be joined by Daniel Daines-Hutt from AmpMyContent. This is his second time on the show — if you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you’ll remember Daniel from Ep. #28 – The Art of Paid Content Promotion, where he shared some really cool Facebook advertising and copywriting hacks.

If you’re not familiar with Daniel’s work, here’s what you should know: He is a self-confessed marketing nerd who teaches people how to get more traffic and engagement for their existing content. His guide to paid content promotion was ranked among the Top 10 content of all time on Inbound.org (now Growth.org) and Growth Hackers. His content has also been shared or referenced by online marketing thought leaders like Neil Patel, Ryan Deiss, Sujan Patel, Sean Ellis, and Glen Allsopp.

Since Dan’s last appearance on this show, Facebook as an advertising platform has gone through several changes. Because of these changes, advertisers have had to tweak their strategies to get a better ROI for their ads on Facebook. In this episode, Dan sheds light on the steps he took to make sure his ads performed well on Facebook consistently and how you can do the same. He also shares with us how his business survived and thrived during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Hope you find this episode useful.

Ep. #55 – How to Live Stream Pre-Recorded Videos on Social Media

Live videos get a ton of engagement on social channels like Facebook and Instagram. The only problem? Going live is not easy. What if there was a tool that could help you seamlessly go live with pre-recorded videos on all major social channels?

In this episode, I’ll reveal how you can schedule and live stream pre-recorded videos on social media with OneStream Live, a tool that allows you to live stream pre-recorded videos on 40+ platforms simultaneously.

Ep. #54 – What is 10x Content and Why Is it Important?

Ever wonder what it takes to beat stiff organic competition and reach the top of Google search results? The answer lies in creating 10x content. In this episode, I’ll explain what 10x content really means and why it’s important to create 10x content if you’d like to rank higher in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Tune in to learn:

  • What is 10x content?
  • Why 10x content is important
  • Criteria for 10x content
  • How to create 10x content

Ep. #53 – Book Recommendation: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk

This episode is a part of the “Book Recommendation” series where I talk about all the books that have influenced me over the years. Each episode of “Book Recommendation” will feature one book that I’d like to recommend to entrepreneurs and marketers out there.

In this episode, I recommend Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk. This book is a culmination of everything Vaynerchuk has learned about social media marketing over the years. He explains why it’s important to create native content and master the art of storytelling to connect with your audience on an emotional level. He also shares the exact techniques he has used to build a successful personal brand on all major social networks, and provides an in-depth critique of what businesses are doing right on social media and what they are doing wrong.

Tune in to learn why I consider Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook to be a must-read book for marketers and entrepreneurs.

Ep. #52 – Search Intent: The Most Important SEO Ranking Factor

In this episode, I’ll explain the importance of search intent and what you need to do to optimize your content for search intent and rank higher on Google.

You’ll learn:

  • What is search intent?
  • Why search intent is important
  • The 4 different types of search intent w/ examples
  • 5 steps to optimize your pages for search intent

Ep. #51 – Book Recommendation: All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin

This episode is a part of the “Book Recommendation” series where I talk about all the books that have influenced me over the years. Each episode of “Book Recommendation” will feature one book that I’d like to recommend to entrepreneurs and marketers out there.

In this episode, I recommend All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin, one of the most influential marketing thought leaders and bestselling author of 19 books. Seth considers All Marketers Are Liars to be his most important book. And I believe this book perfectly encapsulates his marketing philosophy. Tune in to learn why I believe this is a must-read book for all marketers and business leaders.

Ep. #50 – 3 Best Search Engine Alternatives to Google

Google products have faced intense criticism in the last few years and their search engine has not been spared. Among the criticisms, the most troubling ones are invasion of privacy and creating a “filter bubble.”

With a 87.35% market share of global searches, it’s not easy to compete with Google and there are very few companies that are currently competing with Google in the search engine space. So you may be thinking, “What’s the alternative to Google?” That’s the question I’ll attempt to answer in this episode by revealing the 3 best search alternatives to Google. And don’t worry, my list won’t feature Bing.

I know it’s ludicrous to suggest replacing Google as the default search engine, like a few top SEOs have done, but you can use any of these 3 alternative search engines as a secondary tool to browse the web.

Tune in to learn about the 3 best search engine alternatives to Google.

Ep. #49 – Relationship-Based Link Building w/ Alexandra Tachalova from Digital Olympus

In this episode, I’ll be joined by our special guest, Alexandra Tachalova, who is one of the most dynamic and accomplished digital marketing thought leaders. If you follow any of the top marketing blogs or publications, I’m sure you’d have stumbled upon one of her articles. She’s a frequent contributor at Moz, Search Engine Journal, Social Media Examiner, among many others.

After having worked at SEMrush as the Director of Marketing, she founded her own online digital marketing event company called Digital Olympus. Alexandra is also a frequent speaker at all the major search industry events, including BrightonSEO, Ungagged, SEOzone, SMX, SEMdays, and many more.

In this episode, Alexandra reveals her favorite link building strategy i.e., relationship-based link building.

You’ll learn:

  • How relationship-based link building works
  • How to find the most responsive link building targets
  • How to build 100 high-quality links per month without breaking the bank

So if you’re looking to build high-quality backlinks for your website, this is a must-listen podcast episode for you.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Breaker | Stitcher

Ep. #48 – How to Improve Local SEO with Google My Business w/ John Vuong from Local SEO Search

This episode features our special guest, John Vuong, the owner of Local SEO Search, a 4.9-star, full-service local SEO company based in Canada. Since starting his local SEO company in 2013, John has been on a mission to help businesses stand out with useful, informative, and locally-focused content.

In this episode, John will be sharing lots of insights on local SEO and he’ll be specifically sharing actionable tips to optimize your Google My Business listing (also called GMB listing). If you have a local business and you want to dominate Google results in your location, then you wouldn’t want to miss this episode.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Ep. #47 – Book Recommendation: Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck

“Book Recommendation” is a new segment I’ve started to talk about all the books that have influenced me over the years. Each episode of “Book Recommendation” will feature one book that I’d like to recommend to entrepreneurs and marketers out there.

In this episode, I recommend Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of psychology. Tune in to find out why I believe it’s a must-read book for entrepreneurs.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Ep. #46 – Crafting Emotionally Charged Stories w/ Jules Dan from Storytelling Secrets Podcast

In this episode, I’ll be joined by our special guest, Jules Dan, host of the Storytelling Secrets.

Jules is a group fitness instructor turned email copywriter and has a passion for stories. His podcast, Storytelling Secrets, uncovers how the power of storytelling can be used to instantly connect with your audience that makes selling as easy as tying your shoelace.

Storytelling Secrets has been featured in the top 100 for entrepreneurship in the US and in the top 50 for Australia and the UK.

Jules is passionate about teaching his audience the power of interviews to really understand people’s core desires, motivation for change, and why people buy. If you’ve ever dreaded the ‘research’ that goes into writing high converting copy, you need to listen to this episode.

By the end of this episode, you’ll learn exactly how to use his story interview framework to write your next winning promotion.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Ep. #45 – Top 3 Must-Watch Movies for Entrepreneurs

In this episode, I reveal the top 3 must-watch movies for entrepreneurs. These movies will not just entertain you, but you’ll also learn something new or, at the very least, be inspired.

If you need more recommendations for movies based on entrepreneurship and business, check out my list of 21 Best Movies for Entrepreneurs.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | StitcherAnchor

Ep. #44 – The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Writing a Book — with Michelle Vandepas, Co-founder of GracePoint Matrix Publishing

In this episode, I’ll be joined by our special guest, Michelle Vandepas, co-founder of GracePoint Matrix Publishing. Michelle has made her career helping people write and publish books to help them grow their personal or business brand. She is a leading expert for entrepreneurs who want to share what they’ve learned with the world by becoming an author.

As a book coach and publisher, Michelle has worked with thousands of authors over the past 20 years to publish and promote their books and their work. She has been featured in numerous media outlets speaking about her passion for ‘purpose and profit’ and she is going to be featured in an upcoming documentary called “Wisdom from Thought Leaders” alongside the Dalai Lama and Sting.

She is also an esteemed TEDx speaker and TEDx Speaker Coach.

You will find lots of great information in this episode, including different ways you can publish your first book and the mistakes first-time authors should be avoiding. Michelle also reveals some of the basic things first-time authors should know before they write and publish their first book.

Ep. #43 – Interview with John Wall, Co-host of Marketing Over Coffee Podcast

In this special episode, I’ll be joined by John Wall, co-host of Marketing Over Coffee. If you haven’t subscribed to Marketing Over Coffee already, I’d urge you to do so right now. It’s one of my favourite marketing podcasts and it’s also one of the most highly-regarded marketing podcasts with over half a million downloads annually. The show follows a unique format — John Wall and his co-host Christopher Penn record most of their episodes in a local coffee shop where they discuss the latest marketing trends and occasionally invite marketing influencers to share their unique perspectives.

Past guests on the show have included thought leaders and influencers like Seth Godin, Rand Fishkin, and Simon Sinek, among many others.

John Wall is also the head of biz dev at the marketing data and analytics consulting firm, Trust Insights.

At Trust Insights, John’s team uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help their customers make better decisions. So the main focus of this episode will be on how AI and machine learning can be used in marketing. But John will also be sharing his unique insights on SEO, social media marketing, and entrepreneurship. Super excited to have John Wall on the show and I hope you enjoy listening to this exchange.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #42 – 3 SEO Bad Habits You Should Give Up Right Away

In this episode, I’ll reveal the 3 most annoying SEO bad habits many marketers and bloggers are guilty of. These are the habits that are preventing several websites from ranking higher on Google. Tune in to find out what these bad habits are and what you can do to avoid them.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #41 – Social Media Buzz this Week: IGTV Monetization

In this edition of “Social Media Buzz this Week,” I’ll share my thoughts on IGTV enabling monetization, which will finally let creators earn money from their IGTV videos. IGTV hasn’t gained any traction so far, but this move may finally help it compete with YouTube. Tune in to learn more about Instagram’s new feature.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #40 – Google’s Featured Snippet Update: What Marketers Need to Know

Google has had a busy 2020 so far. Not only have they changed the look of paid and organic search results on desktop, they have also rolled out a major update to featured snippets. Tune in to this episode to learn more about these changes and their implications on your search traffic.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #39 – Craig Campbell Interview: Epic Affiliate Marketing Strategies for Beginners

In this episode, we’ll be joined by SEO expert Craig Campbell who will be sharing some of his favorite affiliate marketing strategies. Craig has over 18 years of experience in digital marketing, having worked with many small to medium-sized businesses with all aspects of digital marketing. He is also a regular speaker at SEO events and has conducted several webinars for SEMrush.

If you’re looking for ways to earn affiliate income from your blog, then you’ll love this episode.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #38 – What is the Best Page Speed Metric to Look At? — with Lukas Haensch from Pathmonk

In episode 38 of Marketing Mantra, I’ll be joined by our special guest, Lukas Haensch, co-founder of Pathmonk. Lukas has an extensive background in conversion optimization and UX. In fact, he describes himself as a UX Conversion “nerd.” Before he founded Pathmonk, Lukas worked at Google for quite some time as UX Manager in the mobile optimization team.

The theme of this episode will revolve around improving the performance of your website on mobile devices and optimizing your site’s page speed to increase conversions.
Here are some of the topics we’ll be covering in this episode:

  • How to optimize your mobile website
  • Differences in mobile and desktop conversion
  • How to increase conversion by using onsite behavior for optimization
  • Hands-on tips on tools.

Thrilled to have Lukas on the show and I hope you’ll find this episode useful.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #37 – Google BERT Update: What You Need to Know

In this episode, I’ll be talking about BERT which is Google’s latest algorithm update. On October 25, 2019, Google made an official announcement on their blog that they had rolled out a new search algorithm update called BERT. Google is calling it their most important update in the last five years. Tune in to this episode to learn more about how BERT will impact search results and what it means for SEO in the long run.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #36 – An Interview with Subramanian Kalpathi, Author of “The Millennials”

In this episode, we’ll be joined by Subramanian Kalpathi, author of “The Millennials.” He will talk about the collaboration challenges faced by millennials and what entrepreneurs can do to foster a culture of collaboration.

This episode is hosted by Raksha Shenoy, who worked with Subramanian Kalpathi at KNOLSKAPE.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #35 – This Month in Social Media: Facebook Hiding Like Counts & Other Top News Stories

Welcome to the September 2019 edition of “This Month in Social Media.” Tune in to this episode to learn more about the top 3 news stories in social media marketing.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #34 – The Best Podcast Analytics Tool

If you have your own podcast, then you’d probably know how difficult it is to keep a track of your podcast downloads on so many different channels where your podcast is available. Luckily, there’s a tool that provides accurate analytics data for podcasts. And it’s 100% free. Tune in to this episode to learn more about this incredibly useful podcast analytics tool.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #33 – How Chatbot Landing Pages Can Boost Your PPC Conversion Rates — with Ish Jindal from TARS

In this episode, I’ll be joined by Ish Jindal, co-founder of TARS Chatbots — a popular chatbot-building platform. TARS enables marketers to create chatbots that can be used for lead generation.

We’ll talk about the evolution of chatbots, Ish’s entrepreneurial roots, and why he believes conversational landing pages created via chatbots are more effective than static landing pages. Really excited to have Ish on the show and I hope you find this episode insightful.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #32 – The WeWork Fiasco, Explained: Why It’s a Cautionary Tale for Entrepreneurs & Investors

In this episode, I talk about the recent WeWork fiasco. From its delayed IPO to the bizarre behavior of the company’s co-founder & CEO, Adam Neumann, WeWork has been making the news lately for all the wrong reasons. So in this episode, I’ll break down the sequence of events that unfolded over the past few weeks that took WeWork from being a potential Wall Street darling to a cautionary tale.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #31 – This Month in SEO [August 2019 Edition]

In this episode, I’ll be sharing the top 3 news stories in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in August 2019.

From Google’s featured snippets algorithm update to Google making podcasts playable in search results, here are all the trending SEO news stories from August 2019 that you need to be aware of.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #30 – This Month in Social Media [August 2019 Edition]

In episode 30 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I’ll be discussing the top 3 social media news stories in August 2019.

From Tumblr getting sold to Autamattic Inc., the parent company of WordPress, for a fraction of what it was once worth, to Instagram suspending meme accounts with millions of followers, here are all the trending news stories in the world of social media marketing in the month of August.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #29 – 3 Effective Link Building Strategies (That Anyone Can Use) — with Matthew Woodward

In this episode, I’ll be joined by Matthew Woodward, a marketing thought leader who’s considered a leading authority in SEO. Matthew was a great influence on me back when I started my marketing blog. His in-depth articles and tutorials really helped me build my site’s authority and improve my search rankings.

His immensely popular award-winning internet marketing blog https://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk has over 180,000 subscribers and has generated over 4 million unique visits since he started blogging in 2012.

Since starting his blog, Matthew has helped thousands of people reach new levels of success. All of his content is focused on helping you to either increase your traffic or increase your profits which has led him to pick up a range of awards and develop an enthusiastic following.

In this episode, we’ll be talking about SEO in general and link building in particular. Matthew will talk about the role of link building in the rapidly evolving SEO landscape and share 3 of his favourite link building strategies.

So sit back and enjoy this episode, and be sure to take notes.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #28 – The Art of Paid Content Promotion — with Daniel Daines-Hutt

In this episode, I’ll be joined by Daniel Daines-Hutt from AmyMyContent (https://www.ampmycontent.com). Dan is a self-confessed marketing nerd who teaches people  how to get more traffic and engagement for their existing content. His guide to paid content promotion was ranked among the Top 10 content of all time on Inbound.org (now Growth.org) and Growth Hackers.

His content has also been shared or referenced by online marketing thought leaders like Neil Patel, Ryan Deiss, Sujan Patel, Sean Ellis, and Glen Allsopp.

The theme of this episode is “The Art of Paid Content Promotion.”  If you’re a marketer or bloggers who’s looking for ways to leverage your existing content through paid channels like Facebook ads, you’re going to enjoy listening to this episode. Be sure to take notes as we cover the following topics in this episode:

  • The need for paid content promotion 
  • Understanding what you can spend 
  • Researching your audience 
  • Writing ad copy 
  • Designing ads 
  • Testing ads until profitable

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #27 – Everything You Need to Know About Facebook’s Libra Cryptocurrency

In episode 27 of Marketing Mantra, I share my thoughts on Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, Libra, and how the social media giant aims to revolutionize the payment system with the new digital money.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #26 – How to Audit Your Marketing Team’s Productivity — with Vlad Calus from Planable

In this episode, I’ll be joined by Vlad Calus, co-founder of Planable — an incredible tool that I recommend — and he’ll talk about auditing your marketing team’s productivity and upgrading their results. He will also share his experience on how to succeed as an online entrepreneur, find your first customers, building your own marketing team from scratch, and outsourcing time-consuming tasks that value less. 

If you’ve never heard of Planable, here’s a brief introduction: Planable is a social media collaboration tool for marketing teams, digital agencies and freelancers. With Planable, you can collaborate with your teammates and clients on content calendar in the most visual way. It’s used by more than 5000 brands worldwide, including Mini, BMW, Volkswagen, and SkyTeam.

Now here’s a short intro about our special guest guest Vlad Calus:

Vlad founded two non-profits at the age of 16, then dropped out of college, moved to another country with two of his friends, built Planable at when he was 19 and became an honoree Forbes 30 Under 30 when he was just 22. He’s been featured as a guest writer & marketer by multiple publications including Social Media Examiner, Entrepreneur, WeRSM, Freshdesk, Subsign, Digital Agency Network, and many others.

He recently self-published his first book, called “Marketing Teams of the Future”. The book navigates content marketing’s journey from the early beginnings, then dives into a profound analysis of today’s industry, and proposes several solutions on how to prepare your marketing team for the next decade. You can download the eBook for free in the resource section of this description. 

I’m so excited to share my conversation with Vlad Calus with you. Be sure to take notes!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #25 – How to Use Facebook Ads to Double Your Email List — with Lucas Lee-Tyson

When it comes to advertising on social media, most marketers prefer Facebook ads as their platform of choice. Serving over 1 billion users every month, bloggers and business owners alike can achieve phenomenal growth by investing in Facebook ads.

But did you know you could also use Facebook ads to grow your email list? That’s the topic I’ll be discussing with my special guest for this episode, Lucas Lee-Tyson. Lucas is a Facebook ads consultant and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of Growth Cave, a place where marketers and entrepreneurs alike can learn how to create and manage their own profitable Facebook ad campaigns.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #24 – Startup Culture Series: The Unique Case of Zappos

We are so excited to launch a new series at Marketing Mantra called the “Startup Culture Series” — where we’ll focus on unique case studies and share our views on startup best practices.

I’ll be joined by my co-host, Raksha Shenoy (my wife 😀) who has over a decade of experience in the HR space. She has worked with, and advised, interesting growth-stage startups and is passionate about the growth culture in startups.

In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about the unique work culture of Zappos. In particular, we’ll examine their practice of paying $2000 to new hires to quit and see if it’s a good tactic to retain the best hires.

To learn more about the Zappos culture, we highly recommend you grab a copy of Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. 

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #23 – Thoughts on Apple Shutting Down iTunes

In this episode, I share my thoughts on Apple’s decision to shut down iTunes and break it down into 3 standalone apps — Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV. Find out why Apple decided to pull the plug on one of its most iconic brands.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #22 – A Facebook Marketing Secret No One is Talking About

In this episode, I reveal a Facebook Marketing secret no one is talking about. Learn this secret to gain a competitive edge and craft an effective Facebook marketing strategy.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #21 – 3 Best WordPress Plugins to Double Your Site Traffic

Would you like to drive more traffic to your WordPress site? Then this episode is for you!

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. It powers over 30% of all websites on the internet. In this episode, I talk about 3 best (and 100% free) WordPress plugins you can use to generate more traffic for your website and boost user engagement.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #20 – How to Boost Your Affiliate Income [Conversation with Ilya Lyubimov, Affiliate Manager at SEMrush]

In this special episode of Marketing Mantra, I talk to our podcast’s very first guest, Ilya Lyubimov. Ilya is an affiliate manager of the SEMrush Affiliate Program; he’s in charge of developing affiliate partnerships and launching new projects. SEMrush is my go-to marketing tool and their affiliate program has been a huge source of side income for me. Ilya has been my affiliate manager for over a year, and he’s been one of the most proactive affiliate managers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. His ideas and recommendations have helped me skyrocket my affiliate income from SEMrush. For more details on my affiliate earnings, click here.

In this Q&A session, Ilya shares his views on the latest SEO trends and tells us what’s next for SEMrush. He also shares his thoughts on what makes SEMrush so unique and why the company has been able to dominate the SEO software space for so long. He also shares some really cool affiliate marketing tips; so be sure to take notes.

Really excited to have Ilya on the show and I hope you find the insights in this episode useful.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #19 – Google+ is Back (But Probably Not the Way You Think)

Google+ is back in an all new avatar. In this episode, I talk about Google’s surprising new decision to revive the failed social network as an enterprise communications tool. Tune in to this episode to learn more.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #18 – Instagram’s Latest Feature Transforms It Into a Shopping App

In this episode, I discuss Instagram’s latest feature that’s going to enable users to shop within the app without ever having to leave it. This new feature is Instagram’s big push into eCommerce. Listen to this episode to learn more about this game-changing feature from Instagram and how it’s going to transform it into a shopping app.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #17 – A Rookie SEO Mistake that is Costing You Traffic (And How to Fix It)

In this episode, I reveal a rookie SEO mistake that’s costing you massive search traffic. Find out what that mistake is and how you can go about fixing it to increase your search rankings.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #16 – DuckDuckGo Hits 1 Billion Monthly Searches (Should Google Be Concerned?)

Do you use the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo?

In this episode, I talk about DuckDuckGo’s new milestone and its implications on Google.

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform or just hit the ‘Play’ button below.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #15 – The Number 1 Reason Why People Are Leaving Your Website (and Never Returning)

In episode 15 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I reveal the number 1 reason why people are leaving your website and never returning. If you’d like to know the reason and learn more about how you can improve the experience of visitors on your site, then this episode is for you.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #14 – Is It Worth Spending Money on Bing Ads?

Do you rely on PPC ads to drive traffic to your website?

When it comes to PPC ads, most marketers don’t go beyond investing in Google ads. Bing ads, on the other hand, has never really been considered a serious advertising platform.

But it may surprise some that Bing ads has a few unique benefits over Google ads.

In this episode, I’ll explain why you need to reevaluate Bing ads as an advertising platform and provide 3 key reasons why it’s worth spending money on Bing ads.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #13 – How to Recover from a Google Panda Penalty

Google Panda was one of the most important algorithm updates from Google which completely changed the SEO landscape forever. It still continues to influence how we create content on the web.

In this episode, I discuss the influence of Google Panda algorithm update on SEO and the steps you need to take to recover from a Google Panda penalty and reclaim your search rankings.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

For more details on Google Panda, check out this resource.

Ep. #12 – Snapchat has the Happiest Users (according to Snapchat)

In episode #12 of Marketing Mantra, I talk about a new Snapchat-commissioned social media study that reveals Snapchat has the happiest users. Are the findings of this study biased or can marketers learn something from this? Listen to this episode to find out.

Source: Apposphere: How the Apps You Use Impact Your Daily Life and Emotions [Snapchat Business Blog]

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #11 – The One Instagram Tool You Have to Use to Drive Traffic and Conversions

If you’ve used Instagram for marketing, then you’d know one of the major challenges on the platform is to drive traffic to your website. Instagram’s ‘one link in bio’ limitation is a major hurdle for marketers and entrepreneurs. Luckily, there’s an Instagram marketing tool that can side-step this limitation and drive tons of traffic to your website.

In this episode, I talk about Shorby — a powerful Instagram tool that can optimize your Instagram traffic with clickable links, messengers, and social networks.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #10 – How Long Should Your Blog Post Be?

In episode #10 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I answer the all-important question—How long should your blog post be? Plus, I also reveal a tool that can help you arrive at the right word count for a blog post for any topic.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #9 – One Simple (Yet Super Effective) Way to Get More Twitter Followers

One of the greatest challenges on Twitter, as with any major social media platform, is to get relevant followers.

That’s why I’m going to reveal a simple technique in this episode — a technique you can use to get organic followers on Twitter who are not just relevant, but who are also genuinely interested in your tweets.

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform to learn about this simple, yet super effective, technique to grow your followers on Twitter.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #8 – The One SEO Tool You Aren’t Using (But Should)

In episode #8 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I talk about the one SEO tool you aren’t using, but should. Find out which tool you should be using to increase your search rankings.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #7 – Top 5 Productivity Tools for Entrepreneurs

In episode #7 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I talk about top 5 productivity tools for entrepreneurs. Tune in to hear what productivity tools you should be using to save time and be more efficient.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #6 – Thoughts on Google+ Shutting Down

Google is finally pulling the plug on Google+. In this episode, I share my thoughts on Google+ shutting down and its implication for social media marketers. Tune in to hear why Google took this decision and its implications for social media marketers.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #5 – A Simple SEO Hack to Get High Quality Backlinks

In episode #5 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I’ll be talking about a simple SEO hack you can use to build high-quality backlinks.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #4 – 5 Impressive Marketing Tools You May Not Have Heard Of

In episode #4 of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I’ll be talking about 5 impressive marketing tools you may not have heard of. These tools are highly underrated as they can really help you create more engaging content and achieve traffic growth.

A few of them still have free versions, so start using them while they are still affordable.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

Ep. #3 – Top 5 SEO News Stories in August 2018

In this episode of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I talk about the top 5 SEO news stories in August.

If you missed any of the important SEO scoop from this month, then this episode is for you. Take note of these 5 important SEO news stories and fine tune your SEO strategy accordingly.

Listen on: Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts | Spotify

For more info on the news stories discussed in this episode, visit: www.99signals.com/seo-news-roundup-august-2018/

Ep. #2 – Instagram IGTV: 7 Tips to Optimize Your Videos

In this episode of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I talk about Instagram IGTV, a new feature from Instagram that allows you to upload long-form vertical videos to the platform. These videos can be up to an hour long.

I also reveal 7 marketing tips and best practices you can follow to make your IGTV videos stand out and get noticed. If you’ve considered getting your IGTV channel up and running on Instagram, this episode is for you.

To learn more about the marketing tips discussed in this podcast, visit: www.99signals.com/instagram-igtv-guide/

Ep. #1 – 3 Best Podcasts for Entrepreneurs and Marketers

With tons of business podcasts on iTunes, Google Play, & Spotify, it can sometimes be overwhelming for marketers to keep track of all of them.

So in this inaugural episode of the Marketing Mantra podcast, I’ll talk about 3 of my favorite marketing podcasts. These are the 3 podcasts I’d recommend to all marketers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners out there.

Looking for more marketing podcasts? Here are the top 30 marketing podcasts you should subscribe to.

Subscribe to the Marketing Mantra Podcast

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