Work On Your Game With Dre Baldwin

Dre Baldwin is the world’s only “Work On Your Game” expert, who speaks, coaches and consults business professionals on Mental Toughness, Self-Confidence, and Self-Discipline.
Dre was a professional basketball player for 9 years. He has been blogging since 2005 and started publishing his videos on YouTube in 2006 – he posted a new video every day for 7 years in a row! So far, he has published over 6,000 videos: with more than 125,000 subscribers, his videos have been viewed over 40 million times.
Dre has given 4 TED Talks, published 14 books and more than 150 basketball programs. His “Work On Your Game” podcast is ranked among Top 200 Education broadcasts on iTunes.
Dre is going to be a Keynote Speaker at the MDMC18. In his talk, he will share how to apply the tools, which he learned during his career as a professional athlete, to the business world.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSz7UL4KDWk]
As usual, before the conference, we sat down with Dre to talk about social media and digital marketing.
Q.1. What are some big mistakes a business could make when it comes to digital marketing?
D.B.:
– Not doing it!
– Being too generic
– No human voice behind their material
– Having nothing unique and interesting to say
Q.2. What do you think is the next game changer in digital marketing, such as a new, modern tactic, tool, or aspect of marketing? How will it evolve in the coming years?
D.B.: Immediacy. With live streaming, stories and snaps, we can share more and more of our daily lives, and people will want more and more of it. Those who are best at it will have a following who is constantly awaiting the next update.
Q.3. What is your favorite marketing book you have read lately? Or, what are a few of your favorite marketing blogs?
D.B.:

  1. “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
    1a. “Win Bigly” by Scott Adams

Q.4. What are some social media time management tips that help you stick to your campaign goals without losing a lot of time?
D.B.: I don’t try to manage my time! There are 24 hours; no amount of management will change that. I just get it done, period.
Q.5. Which are your three favorite digital marketing tools?
D.B.:

  1. Cameras
  2. . Stories/Snaps
  3. 3. Email/blog posts

Q.6. If you were looking to hire a digital marketer, what are the top 3-5 skills you would be looking for in a candidate?
D.B.:

  1. Clearly understand my brand and message
    2. Have innovative ideas aside from my own
    3. Look for an edge, a way to be creative and new

Q.6. What’s the industry buzzword that annoys you the most these days and why?
D.B.: “Influencer.” Everyone is always aiming to influence. And, having a lot of followers is not the same as having a lot of buyers. Companies are finding that out.
 

Learn About The Blogger’s Mindset With Mike Allton

 Mike Allton is a Content Marketing Practitioner at the Social Media Hat, and an award-winning Blogger and Author, who lives in St. Louis. He is also the Chief Marketing Officer at SiteSell – a company, which helps solopreneurs online. When talking about himself, Mike says: “My goal is to ensure that businesses are able to leverage the power and connectivity of the Internet to promote and grow their business.”
Mike has been working with websites and the Internet since the early ’90’s. Mike teaches a holistic approach to content marketing that leverages blog content, social media and SEO to drive traffic, generate leads, and convert those leads into sales. He is also active on all of the major social networks.
In his MDMC18 session called “The Blogger’s Mindset – Find Topics, Write Faster, And Reach More People”, Mike will share his techniques and insider tips that have propelled his own blog and brand to the top. Mike will showcase how he promotes his content to get the maximum amount of exposure, increase the reach and drive more traffic to the blog. He will provide an insight into his strategic approach to blogging that ensures each piece of content is created for a purpose that fits long-term business goals.
Here are Mike’s answers from the Q&A session before the conference.
Q.1. What are some big mistakes a business could make when it comes to digital marketing?
M.A. The biggest mistake that I see far too many businesses & bloggers repeat over and over is to make their social profiles all about themselves. They treat social networks and posts as a broadcasting medium when, in reality, they should be working to create relationships. That means sharing thoughts & ideas that promote discussions, and working to find ways to integrate their audiences into the posts themselves.
Q.2. What do you think is the next game changer in digital marketing, such as a new, modern tactic, tool, or aspect of marketing? How will it evolve in the coming years?
M.A. We’re watching Live Video become such a game changer for digital marketing.
Right now, it’s mostly businesses broadcasting and consumers, well, consuming. As the platforms evolve and consumer confidence and competence grow, they’ll begin to play a larger role in the creation of video. For instance, right now, the easiest way to broadcast live video to Facebook with guests is to use 3rd party tools like BeLive. That precludes audience members from joining the video. Yet the ability to allow audience members to “come in” was one the great features of Blab. As that, and other barriers, ease, businesses & consumers will be able to collaborate on video.
Q.3. What is your favorite marketing book you have read lately? Or, what are a few of your favorite marketing blogs?
M.A. I really enjoyed “Vlog Like A Boss” by Amy Schmittauer. And interestingly, I am *not* a vlogger and have no intention of doing that much video. I love to write! But, video is important, and I’m often a guest on videos or host other people in video interviews, and Amy’s book contained brilliant insights and clever ideas that even a rare video creator like me could appreciate and learn from.
Q.4. What are some social media time management tips that help you stick to your campaign goals without losing a lot of time?
M.A. One of the most effective practices that I’ve adopted over the years is to create two documents for every campaign: a rollout or campaign overview doc, and a retrospective.
The rollout doc contains all of the campaign details, tasks, and sometimes even the copy that’s going to be used. Whether that’s landing pages, social media, email or blog posts, this single place is where you can plan out and fill out all of that information. The more complex the campaign, the more essential this document becomes, particularly if you’re managing a team.
And the retrospective is a simple review of everything that you did and what the results were. How many sales. How much traffic. What emails were sent, when, and what the results were.
Taking the time to document all of those things not only helps you run a current campaign smoothly, but also gives you a starting place for future campaigns! Whether that’s to duplicate & edit the rollout doc, or refer to the retrospective to see what worked and what didn’t the last time around.
Q.5. Which are your three favorite digital marketing tools?
M.A. Agorapulse, Tailwind, Canva
Q.6. Who are three people you respect when it comes to digital marketing?
M.A. Peg Fitzpatrick, Rebekah Radice, Jeff Sieh
Q.7. What’s the industry buzzword that annoys you the most these days and why?
M.A. Authenticity – not because being authentic is bad, but because more often than not, it’s used in a way that results in the opposite of what’s intended. Instead of someone being themselves, they try too hard to be “authentic” and end up stressing aspects of their personality that normally would not be so strong. Like someone trying to be the life of the party when, in reality, they’re much more laid back.

Study Abroad with UMSL Business

“In Your Business”, which is an UMSL Business’s podcasting series yet again featured people who are experts in their areas, eager to offer guidance to prospective audiences on matters affecting them. In the recent podcast, UMSL Business talked with Dr. Joseph Rottman, Dr. Ekin Pellegrini, and Cassie Philip about the Study Abroad Program at UMSL.
Dr. Rottman is the Director of the International Business Institute and a professor of Information Systems at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He also coordinated the Study Abroad programs aimed at UMSL business students. Dr. Pellegrini is an Associate Professor of Global Leadership and Management at the College of Business Administration at UMSL. She also teaches “International Business” and “Women and Leadership” classes in Bremen, Germany. Finally, Cassie Philip is a student at UMSL majoring in Accounting, who studied abroad in Germany in summer 2017.
At the beginning of the interview, Dr. Rottman spoke about the countries and universities which partner with UMSL and offer study abroad classes for business students. UMSL currently has partnerships with schools in Germany, China, Japan, Finland, and the Netherlands. He also talked about application deadlines and when the courses are offered. When it comes to costs, Dr, Rottman explained that they vary depending on the courses and travel fares. However, Dr. Rottman advised applying for scholarships that are available to reduce the costs for prospective students.
Dr. Pellegrini talked about the available classes which students can take, such as, for instance, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Information Systems, Cyber Security, Digital Marketing, International Business, as well as Entrepreneurship. She explained that the structure of the program is very efficient, which allows students to complete six credit hours in less than four weeks. The program also entails field trips to businesses such as the Mercedes Benz factory to get a hands-on feel for the international business environment.
During the interview, Cassie Philip confessed that taking part in the study abroad program was beneficial for her personal and professional development. She spoke about the dynamics of the classes she was attending, as well as the cultural diversity of students there, that enabled participants to have a deeper understanding of various cultures across the globe. She also stated that taking part in the study abroad program was an opportunity for her to travel and see other countries.
When speaking about the benefits of studying abroad for future employment, Dr. Pellegrini highlighted that the program places students in an advantageous position since current employers prefer employees with a global experience of business and cultural diversity. At the end of the interview, Dr. Rottman also gave insights into the evolution of the study abroad program within the College of Business which now includes new partnerships in the United Kingdom and Asia.
The interview was generally very insightful for business students who intend to study abroad. Listen to the full interview here.