Episode 34 – Geno Church of Brains on Fire shares his insights into word of mouth marketing (WOMM) and its role in growing a small business. As a recent inductee into the WOM Hall of Fame, Geno shares that successful WOMM is not about the technology (read it’s not about the tweets!) and provides simple tips for entrepreneurs to stand out and make a difference.
Geno speaks on the importance of community and why community is so important in business today. Community, at its best, is a collective act that we share and enrich by all of us contributing. Comparing our lives to pirates and the importance of doing good, Geno shares best practices for taking your idea of doing good and turning it into a business. Believe it or not – it starts with your knowledge of yourself and what you believe. Geno shares some exercises you can do at home to discover what that is for you.
Show Notes:
2:20 – WOMM. Why it’s not about the technology. Not about the doing.
6:20 – How we’ve gotten lazy in our marketing
8:50 – Applying WOMM to your small business
13:40 – The role of kindness and happiness and does it have an ROI?
17:00 – Lessons from pirates about individual structure and community
20:00 – Similarities between businesses today and the pirate ship.
25:00 – Taking your idea of ‘doing good’ and turning it into a business
28:00 – Discovering your ‘what I believe about’ system
33:00 – Why the world needs you to be a little bit of a pirate right now
About Geno Church
Geno is the Word of Mouth Inspiration Officer at Brains on Fire, but he considers himself more of a “WOM Cupid” and a pathfinder for our clients. Geno shines at uncovering the DNA of sustainable word of mouth movements, and has walked the path with brands and organizations including Fiskars Brands, the National Center for Families Learning, Anytime Fitness, Love146 and The Environmental Defense Fund.
Geno is also a highly sought-after speaker, and relishes the opportunity to share his thoughts and spark conversation with brands and organizations of all sizes. Geno was recently inducted in the WOM marketing hall of fame.
He has been a presenter and a workshop facilitator at events hosted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), Blackbaud BBCON (Australia), Influence Session Sydney and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, to name a few. He is widely quoted in blogs and co-author of two books, Brains On Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements and The Passion Conversation: Understanding, Sparking and Sustaining Word of Mouth Marketing. Geno is quoted in print on a regular basis, and thanks to his southern charm, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
