Your Website Should Sell While You Sleep with Tom Malesic

Welcome And Meet Tom Malesic

And welcome to Tech Diva Biz Talks, where we tune in, dive deep, and level up. I'm your host, Audrey Wiggins, aka the Tech Diva brand strategist, marketing mind, and your guide through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Let's talk tech. I'm thrilled to welcome someone who's been helping small business owners to grow smarter and run better businesses for more than 30 years. Tom Malesic. Tom is a seasoned marketing strategist, business consulting, and straight-talking mentor who helps entrepreneurs cut through the noise and focus on what actually moves the needle. He's the author of four books, including his latest. Okay, now that's I've never given it right now. You leave that in. That's fun. What sets Tom apart is his practical no-fluff approach. No gimmicks, no shiny object chasing, just proven strategies to help businesses attract the right customers, convert attention into action, and create measurable growth. Whether you're building from the ground up or lightening up the bolts. Okay, it makes sense, people. Lightning bolts, okay, but the real word is tightening up the bolts. At a business that's ready to scale, this conversation is going to hit home. Welcome time to tech biz. Welcome time to Tech Diva Biz Talks. You are welcome. I don't know. That introduction was good. I kind of like snumbled through it, tripping over my tongue and making up words.

That's okay. You know, uh, some of the best medicine is just to make you laugh. So we're starting we're starting off on a good funny note for us. That's awesome.

Absolutely. You're welcome. All right. So just before our break, please share a personal fun fact with Tech Divination.

I'm the kind of person that I like anything that's new or anything that's technology. I grew up with a father who was a complete technological genius. So we had computers. I don't remember a time in my life that didn't have a computer, and I'm 57 years old. So we had computers in the early 70s that he would build by hand. So I anything that's I started my company at the beginning of the internet when people didn't think the internet was even a thing. Businesses didn't even have computers, and now that AI's out, I'm I could not be happier.

Why Your Website Must Lead

So I feel you, oh my goodness, yes. Thank you, Star Trek. Virginia. Let's go. Absolutely. Oh my goodness. All right, so we'll be right back on the other side of this message. Sponsored by All Together Domains, bringing your business online. Whether you are launching a new venture or leveling up your brand, all together domains.com helps you secure your digital real estate the smart way. Visit all togetherdomains.com. Welcome back, Tom and TechDeavonation. We're going to get into some questions here, Tommy. Are you ready? I'm ready. All right. So let's start with the foundation. You're very clear that a website isn't optional, it's essential. Why would a business website be the center of all marketing efforts, especially today?

Yeah, sometimes people think, oh, I can get away without having a website. After all, we have social media. And I really view the website as the center of all your marketing. And if it isn't your best salesperson, you're just bleeding cash out of your business and missing opportunities. So if you think about every other piece of marketing you do, what do you do? You put your website on it, or people do searches on Google, they do searches on Meta. And if they can't learn more about you, and if that information isn't amazing and doesn't clearly speak to the person they're trying to attract, it's just a mistake. You're just gonna lose so much money. And you know, small business owners, you just don't have a lot of money to lose. So if we're gonna do it, like let's do it right.

All right. I agree. Tell us leave with that one. That's why mine is under construction if you go there.

Oh, well, you're getting it right. So there are very specific things that every website really needs to have to convert. And if you don't have those, it's it's really hard, right? So a lot of people build, well, let's just build a website and we'll put some information on there. But if you don't have great credibility on it and you don't have a clear call to action, like uh not just contact us at the top of the screen, but book a consultation, get a free quote, get an estimate, whatever it is that you really want people to do, you really have to make it blatantly clear. So, you know, think of it like the sales principle is a confused prospect never buys. And and we really need to make sure that when people get to your website that it really is your best salesperson, right? Because, like let's say, so if you in your world of sales of bringing in new business, right, if think of it like when you were dating. So if you went out to the bar and you you wore the clothes that you wore when you just got done mowing the lawn, and you're covered in dirt, and you're there's holes in your jeans, and you smell bad, I'm pretty sure like the ladies aren't coming up to me if if that's how I am, right? And then so that's that's the visual of the website. And then if let's say I look good, I don't I and I don't smell, so it's like step one visually I look good. But then when I open my mouth, I'm such a jerk. Again, same problem, you know, it's the opposite side of the same this, you know, the same coin there. That's the content, right? So if I have no substance and I have no content, um, people aren't gonna buy from me.

Yes, absolutely.

You know, your your website has the chance to like not make mistakes, right? We hire a salesperson and well, we just never know what's gonna come out of their mouth or what like dirty smelly clothes they're gonna wear. But the website we have 100% control. We can make it look good and sound good and and really get that message out there. So like let's not squander that wonderful opportunity.

A lot of business owners say, I get traffic, but nothing's happening. What separates a website that just gets visitors from one that actually converts?

Yeah. So part of it too is that you know, that strong call to action, that good sales messaging. So let's just talk a little bit about the messaging piece of it. So a lot of times what happens is you go you go to a website and all they do is talk about the company because business owners tend to think, oh, my website, well, it's about my company. But it's really not about your company. Your website is about the problem you solve for the customer. When you switch the paradigm and say, what is the problem that I'm trying to solve? And we speak to the typical customer that I support has these problems and these pain points, and we have to address those right away so that when they read that, they go, Oh, this is me, right? So on our website, the pain points that small business owners have is that they don't really have a big marketing budget, but then when they do spend it, they don't know if it's working or not. So they just feel like they're just wasting money day after day on marketing. And our goal is to switch that for you and be able to be able to show you what leads came in that made sense, right? So you start with the problem, talk about so they go, oh, I'm at the right spot, this is good, and then you tell them how we're gonna solve the problem, and then the step we want you to take is book a meeting, right? So you gotta walk them through just like a salesperson would. So every sentence can't start with we at ABC Company, you know, like you just can't do that. And most websites, that's what they do. Pull up, I'll tell you, you pull up 10 websites, eight of them are gonna are gonna be horrible like that.

Oh my god, I'm glad mine's taken down.

Yeah. Well, I'll help you, you know, help you read through it, you know.

Thank you.

Yeah, it's it's common.

No, you you're right though, because we come from the depending on you know, age or or or you know, which generation that we come from, we do have a tendency just to put out there, uh, you know, this is what we do. We come from the Thomas Register generation. That's right. Books on the shelf register.

Oh my God.

Yeah, yeah, reading like you know, a wiki, uh, oh my god, a wiki entry or or something like that, you know, just the facts, just the facts. But yeah, what the but you're but you're right, it the messaging is so important, you know, how we frame things. And and you going back to what you talked about, the problems that we solve. Yeah, so yes, I like that.

So think one step below the uh infomercials on TV, right?

Yes.

Yeah, you're you're one step below the uh alien tape guy and the chamois man.

SEO Truths Without The Hype

Oh my god, that's crazy. All right, so this leads us to SEO, okay. All right, so SEO still feels mysterious to many entrepreneurs. When someone asks, how do I rank on Google? What's the real answer minus the hype? I can't even get that out.

Yeah, no, it's so the real answer is it depends on where your website is today. There are a lot of factors. So Google has over 200 ranking factors, but the core of those ranking factors is the content on your pages, the quantity of pages you have, and then how many other websites link to your website. So if you think of the your website as like when you were in college and you took a probability and statistics class, so if you have a hundred-page website, you have a hundred chances for Google to find that page. If you have a 10-page website, you have 10 chances for Google to find that page. So which site do you think ranks better?

A hundred pages.

A hundred page website, right? So the more pages the better. And Google wants like legitimate content on there, which most business owners are like, oh Tom, these pages have too many words on them. You have you have to get rid of all these words. And I'm like, Do you want traffic from Google? Or are you like, what do you want? Right. So so you gotta have a lot of words on the page, which it you know isn't always the most wonderful thing to do, but from Google standpoint, we gotta have it. Other websites have to think you're important. So think of a link from another site like it's a vote. So Google's reading all the votes that that are out there that say you are an important website. So we want other we have to get other websites to link to your website.

Okay.

And then my my third thing is Google reviews. That Google business profile, yes, it is actually important, and you need lots and lots and lots of reviews. Look at your competitors and say how many do they have? You have to have more. So some businesses you might need 50, and in other, you might need 2,000. So see what your competitors are doing. Copy the stuff that's working, you know. In in my marketing world, we c we call it RD. Rob and duplicate. Oh, okay. Not research and development, not research and development, rob and duplicate. Like if they're doing it, it's working, do that, right? Yeah, maybe yours, but do that.

Right, exactly. And and we do need to to to do that. It's like, okay, so and it's this it's nothing wrong with that. It's it really is, and that's that's definitely ethical behavior.

Yes.

So please take heed.

Yeah, don't copy it.

Map Pack Wins With Reviews

Right, right. Completely. Yeah, your own your own words, your own content. We're talking about concept here, people. Right. Concept. Okay, so local businesses are fighting hard for visibility. Oh, this is a good lead-in. What does it really take to rank in Google's Map Pack? And what mistakes do you see people making over and over?

Yeah. The mist number one mistake is that they don't pay attention to their Google business profile. So they don't fill out all the information. And you can select all these categories, you can create a ton of content within there. You can upload pictures, you can almost treat it like it's social media. So they have those little posts that you can put in. Put the posts in. They have them there for a reason. But really, number one thing, Google reviews, you gotta get them. They're really hard to get. And I know I know how hard it is, but you gotta ask and ask and ask.

If you do, and I'm gonna just add in here, because I can remember, you know, you're in business for a long time and you go out there and you 20 years ago, you you put your Google profile up. We forget about it. I mean, I've done that, a marketer. I've totally forgot all about that. Then I'm trying to do some new stuff and and working with this organization because I, you know, resale some products and say, oh, you know, we can do, you know, I just did a quick review. Like, it was embarrassing. Because you're right, you forget about it. Because I can remember when there was a time I bragged about it. I had a nail studio I had opened up in 2007, and uh, kid you not, two years later, I was still getting phone calls. So I did something right then, but you know, it's not like I gotta go back and you and it's good to review, even if even if you aren't, even if you don't forget, it's good to to review the content I think that we put out there because stuff things change.

Absolutely. Yeah, and you need to constantly be producing content across the board, whether you're talking about your Google Map Pack ranking or you're talking about how to rank on Google, especially like it's how do it be found on ChatGPT, right? That's the next thing is is hey, we have this whole new world of AI, and people are using that to look for businesses, yeah, research products and research services, and you got a great chance to appear there. But if you have no content that you're putting on your website, not gonna rank.

AI Search Rewards Q And A

Yeah, that's great. This is a great um spot to take a break in. Then we're gonna come back and hear more from Tom Millestic. Knock out your competition with all together marketing. We elevate your brand. Take a stance with your business name, the logo, the tagline, your colors, even the font for your business. And then jab left with your website, jab right with core value, back up with product experience and bring it on with you. Visit alltogether. We had a great first half with our questions, and we have a few more here for you, and that we want to get some of that great value that you've been pumping out for us. Really appreciate it. And you you've we ended up talking about AI, so that's that's exactly where we're going. All right. Oh, yeah. You set us up perfectly. All right, AI search, LLMs. What's changing algorithms have everyone nervous? What's actually happening with AI-driven search and what should business owners be doing right now to stay visible? I mean, we really just talked about this on the other side of the break.

Yeah, we are we are at its infancy. I want to be really clear. Where we are today is now we're even gonna be a year from now, two years from now. But the biggest thing that we're finding right now is that the more content you can have on your website, the better. And the more content that's structured as a question. So if you can have the heading be, you know, what what should I expect to pay for a website? Right? You're asking a question, and then you answer that question, then the all the AI language models view that as, oh, this website gave me the answer. Because remember, these these bots are going out and they're reading the internet. So the more content you have that's focused in a question-answer format, the better.

That's good. I like that.

Yeah, but content, content, content. Like you have to be producing content all the time.

When you say producing content is on a website and social media as well, doing newsletters and things like that, is that what you mean?

Everything. Yeah.

Okay.

So if you can get content on other people's websites that references you, that's great too, right? Because remember, you're trying to get your company name associated with this topic and these questions. So, regardless of where that content is, we need that content out there. So if you want to do press releases or you want to do guest articles on other people's sites, that's great stuff.

Yeah, or podcasting. That's still a podcast. Yeah, the show notes and the website.

Right. Because now ChatGPT has a chance to read all that information. And now it's making those correlations, right? So from my standpoint, the more I can say easymarketing.com and spell it for them, even better, right? Because they're good the ChatGPT is gonna read through the show notes that you post because it's text, and they're gonna make that correlation. So the more you can do that, the better.

Marketing Metrics That Matter

Okay. All right then. So that leads us to metrics then. Metrics can get overwhelming fast. Yeah. So if a business owner tracked only a few things to know whether their marketing is working, what truly matters?

Yeah, I'm gonna track rankings on Google, right? So I want to look at keyword, where do I rank? That's always a great thing to pay attention to. And I want to I want to track cost per lead and cost per lead source. So we get these leads, so phone calls, form fills. One, I want to track those. I want to have a nice little dashboard that I can see every form that gets filled out and every phone call that gets made. And now I can tag those and I can say this was real, this was spam. And if I know where it came from and I know it closed, that's what I want to know. Because we can spend a lot of money on Google Ads, and we could even get a lot of form fills or phone calls. But if no one buys, that budget was just wasted. Right? So you have to know those pieces. Leads, cost, sales.

Video Clones And What’s Next

Back to AI. AI video cloning is everywhere right now.

Do you have a clone?

Oh, you're right, right.

Wait, are you a clone right now?

Oh, you have to figure it out. I might be and I might not be. There's Audrey and then there's the Tech Divo.

Yeah, so do you have any do you have a video clone right now?

I'm working on it actually. I am working on it. Yes, yes.

It's very fascinating. So we started to play around with this two and a half years ago, probably. And there are lots of platforms out there that, you know, for 50 bucks a month, you can get your clone, but they suck. So you're like, it doesn't look like me, it doesn't sound like me, and does this like weird robotic thing. So we finally found a platform that's a super high-end platform that believe it or not sold to us and like let us license it. So we use that along with the voice module we use is 11 Labs, which is uh beyond the best one out there. And even that, it's not perfect. But the video, the video is pretty perfect.

Okay, all right.

So we can turn you into into a clone, and then you can tell us what you want us to have you say, and you talk, and you get a video file. So we've been doing that for a little more than a year now, and that's been a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, yeah, I think it's exact exciting. It's kind of fascinating to look at that, and you know, I set in on a training and in the at the end. So the guy's talking, and it really does look like him. You know, he he kind of fooled his mom with it, but it was kind of cool at the end. You know how you get up from your desk and you walk away, so he turns himself into, it was still the clone, but turns himself into like the Terminator, you know, a robot and gets up and walks away. And I'm like, BAM! I left I really like that.

That's funny. That's funny. Yeah, the first generations of them, I'd show we'd we'd produce one, I'd show my wife and she goes, not good enough. Doesn't that's no, I don't believe that's you. That's not you, honey. That doesn't even sound like you. What are you doing with your mouth?

Oh no.

You know really dice. Like he was right, right? Those early generation clones just these they just weren't good enough.

But just like yeah, just like the graphics and and everything else with uh AI. Yeah, when it first started, it's oh this is learning, it's getting better. That's what, like you say, hold on, you know, hang in there.

Yeah, and you know, two years from now, I'm gonna look at today's clone and go, ah, they were terrible.

Pretty much like the first websites we built 30 years ago.

Oh my gosh. Yes, yes, that was just text 30 years ago.

Pretty much, yeah, you're right. And I used I used Dreamweaver. I know we're getting a little sidetracked here. This goes back to the to the nail studio, as a matter of fact. Yeah.

Oh, you had Dreamweaver. What years did Dreamweaver come out? 2005.

I'm not sure, but that was 20, that was oh seven when I that sounds right. When I did the site, so it was so so you know, probably a couple years before that. Yeah, yeah.

But 10 years prior to you building that site, there weren't there were no tools.

Front page. It was front page. And I never did, I never did get with that. I was I was trying, it was like it was crazy.

I I was really good with code, and then when it came to software, I'm like, uh, it's just faster to build the code.

Right, yeah, exactly. I know because I took classes, got, you know, applied web design certification. So the you know, I learned the CSS, HTML, Java, all of that stuff. But yeah, it's just, you know, I'm left it all behind, but at least you give it gives you a foundation of at least understanding how stuff works. So I do like to like that part. That's my little, I guess, is that the right brain or left brain side of me?

Don't know.

The analytical says.

That'd be both brains, I think.

Rapid Fire Growth And Tech Safety

Okay. Right, exactly. So this is gonna be the design part, but yeah, I like that. All right then. So we're gonna take another quick break and then we're gonna come back for our rapid fire round. So get ready, Tom. All right. Get your brim on. Since 1972, American hat makers has been dedicated to the art of fine hat making. Their diverse selection caters to outdoor adventurers, style, conscious individuals, and hat enthusiasts just like me, with a focus on meticulous detail and quality materials. I love wearing their hats. Embrace your own spirit of adventure and individuality. Visit bit. I don't know if this is his clone or not, though. He may be trying to fool us up here, but we'll see what happened. Because it's gonna be fun and excitable. So we'll we'll see what happens. All right, Tom, we're gonna shift gears. Quick answers, no overthinking. You're ready.

I'm ready.

All right. Website or social media. Which should a business control first? Website. I don't even know why I even had that question.

Why'd you ask that one?

I know when I was like, I should have scratched that one.

Give me a bonus question then. You're you're putting these softballs out there.

Okay, okay. One marketing tactic that's overrated right now.

Overrated. Maybe email. Maybe email marketing. Cold email marketing, I think is a little overrated.

One marketing move most small businesses avoid, but should not.

You shouldn't avoid looking at Google Ads. You should definitely take a look at that. It's not perfect for everybody, but you should look at it.

SEO or paid ads. If you had to choose just one to start.

SEO, every day of the week. It is your best bang for your buck. It's pennies on the dollar compared to Google Ads, but it takes longer to build. So Google Ads is great from instant gratification, but very costly.

Finish this sentence. What most businesses would grow faster if they stopped.

Trying to run it without a strong leadership team. Most businesses don't grow because they didn't structure their leadership team in a way to handle the growth. So here's my tech answer. So it's it's most business owners would what grow faster if they stopped treating their technology like an afterthought. Most of our clients look at their computer network and how they're using Microsoft 365 in an unprotected environment. Right? It's like an afterthought. Oh, oh, I don't really need to spend money on antivirus Tom. Oh, I don't I don't do I really need this threat detection stuff? Yes. You need to protect your computer assets so that you can so that you can spend the money in the marketing to do the growth. I I think they just undervalue technology because it's expensive. And it's gonna help repel you though. Like it's keeping your business safe and moving forward.

Absolutely. Yeah, and you know, and knowing, you know, which ones to go to. So, you know, reaching out to someone like you and just you know, a mentor to really decide which one to, you know, invest in.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All that tech's so important.

Yeah, for sure.

Especially today. You know, it used to be, you know, 30 years ago, we didn't have tech. Yeah, what was the tech? You know, maybe your bookkeeper had a computer. Maybe maybe. Maybe, maybe it had a little database program, but today it it runs your whole business and you stuck it all in the cloud, right? Most businesses don't have most small businesses no longer have on-premise servers anymore, right? Everything everything is cloud-based. Everything we do is pretty much cloud-based.

Yes. And I want to re I always like to remind people when we talk about the cloud that it's still a physical thing.

What a film.

It's just not in our building.

It's just not in your building. Exactly.

It's over in Michigan somewhere.

Yeah, exactly. Your website is in the cloud. Always has been. No one ever stuck that in a couple of years.

That's crazy.

I know. Well, think about it. What Amazon had that huge outage not that long ago.

Oh, yeah, the Cloudflare. Yes.

Oh my gosh. Cloudflare just crushed, crushed to a halt. Like half the world. We're getting calls. My site's done. I know. Cloudflare's down. Yeah. Yeah, I know.

Yeah. And sometimes it's not, it's it may not even built be built on Cloudflare, but it may be, maybe there's a plug-in or maybe some kind of integration that's that's using it. And so that part is is down for you. It's yeah.

Well, Cloudflare is handling DNS. So Cloudflare is handling. You remember the old switchboard operators in the movie?

Oh, yes.

I think that's Cloudflare. It's just making the connection of where stuff goes to. When you type a web address in or you send an email, whereas it goes someplace to say, go here. That's Cloudflare.

Where To Get Help And Wrap Up

That's a good analysis. Tom, this has been powerful, clear, practical, and exactly the kind of no BS insight business owners need right now. You've given us so much, you know, a fresh way to think about websites, visibility, AI, and what actually matters when it comes to growth. And I know listeners are walking away with a much sharper strategy. So what's your call to action for us? Where should we send listeners?

Yeah. So go to easymarketing.com, the letter E, the letter Z Marketing.com. And I've got free website audits, I've got white papers, you can take a whole marketing assessment and just see where you're at. Um and if you want to chat, uh fill out that uh uh consultation form, and uh me or one of my uh uh senior marketing consultants, we're glad to walk you through and uh see if we can help you in any way.

Awesome, thank you. So that's EZ marketing everybody, E Z Marketing.com. So for everyone tuning in, make sure you also check out Tom's book, they're looking for you, and explore his work if you're you're serious about building marketing that actually makes you money. And if today's conversation sparked something for you, don't keep it to yourself. Share this episode, we will review and visit Technique for Biz Talks with show notes, resources, and other smart tech tune conversations. Until next time, stay visible, stay strategic, and let's talk tech. This episode has been sponsored by Altogether Marketing LLC. visit altogether.biz.