Money Radio Features Matthew O’Brien on Entrepreneurship in Scottsdale

Recently, David Cogan of Eliances and Money Radio host interviewed Matthew O’Brien, CEO of MINT Social. In the interview, David and Matt talk about what makes MINT Social unique. Matt discussed MINT Social’s biggest differentiator, building an associated press for a business online. Businesses put a lot of effort into their content. MINT Social finds that most businesses have underutilized content (digital assets) that can be repurposed for targeting their prospects (where three out of four people are online). Many prospective customers never make it to a company website, so MINT Social helps bring this message to where the people are online.

David then asked Matt about what MINT Social does for their clients. Matt explains how there is a big disconnect between the conversation online and how a company positions itself with the solutions they offer. MINT Social utilizes their conversation relevancy mapping strategy by helping businesses match the terminology that their target audience is using online.

By looking at previous marketing tactics, there are often inspirations for content to be repurposed. MINT Social accelerates the marketing results by testing the waters with existing content that is better targeted to connect with your prospects. At the same time, the content engine is getting up and running in the first 30 days. It all comes back to building a process for finding and retaining customers.

David also talked with Matt about his involvement in Eliances. Eliances is a place where entrepreneurs align. They hold weekly roundtable meetings for entrepreneurs to bring their expertise and align with other entrepreneurs. He feels that there are quality people at Eliances, which really makes it stand apart from other networking options in Arizona. Matt is both an Arizona State University mentor and an Eliances’ Social Media subject matter expert. He writes articles for the Eliances website to help them with their social media endeavors.

Here’s a link to the Money Radio Show:  Money Radio Show with Matt O’Brien

—–Transcript—-

David Cogan:  Thank you, Ken, and thank you, Money Radio. This is David Cogan again with Eliances. Today, I have a really cool guest with me. He goes by the nickname of Mint. He is a social media and content marketing expert. His company is growing by leaps and bounds and is known as MINT Social. Matthew OBrien Matt, good morning to you.

Matt OBrien:  Hey, good morning, David. Thanks for having me on the show…quite a pleasure.

David:  Absolutely, and thank you for coming today. Tell me, and there’s a lot of social media companies out there. Tell me what makes Mint Social stand out. What makes it unique? You’ve been to some Eliances meetings and that.

Matt:  You know, the biggest differentiator is, we look to build an associated press for a business online. A lot of people put a lot of effort into the content. We find that most of that content is underutilized. We like to look for businesses that have underutilized digital assets. We’re really looking to bring that content to where three out of four people are online because, unfortunately, they don’t always come to your website. We’ve got to bring the message to where the people are.

David:  Absolutely. I know that again, you’ve been to so many Eliances’ meetings. How many Eliancers would you say that you’re working with, or have met, that have helped you?

Matt:  Well, two questions there. I’m currently working with six or seven Eliancers, and I would have to say I’ve probably met close to 200 plus people. They’re all quality people; that’s what really makes Eliances stand apart from everything else in the networking space.

David:  What’s really cool is I know that you were an Arizona State University mentor. You’re also an Eliances’ subject matter expert, so people can go to our website and really learn from those articles that you’re writing and submitting to our website and helping others, and that. How long has Mint Social been around?

Matt:  We are coming up on our eighth year. We started with this premise of helping companies to solve the content problem, because as you know, doing content is challenging. I was honored to be a social media specialist…

David:  SME, sure.

Matt:  SME, right.

David:  Absolutely. It’s so important and that. You were handpicked because of your expertise and what you do for Eliances and those that are part of Eliances. I think social media, there are so many different aspects of it. How long does it take for you to get a client ramped up typically?

Matt:  We like to get started within the first month of…we have this deep dive, where we jump into the conversation that is going on online. Then we look at the business and see if they’re using the same terminology if the marketing material is really connecting. We typically see there’s a big disconnect. The conversation online and the way of business positions themselves, there’s usually an opportunity.

One of the simplest things to do is look at everything you’ve done in the past and see if those marketing inspirations have the potential to be repurposed. Instead of thinking through everything that you want to think about, a lot of times, it’s just easier to test the waters. We build that model 30 days up and running, and then a lot of times, we just let that content engine run and drive in those new inbound opportunities.

David:  Is there a type of client that you work with? Do you with small, medium, large? Eliances is made up of those that are starting, and those that are established, and those that are just gigantic. Is there a specialty area that you work with?
Matt:  Right now, we are focusing on executive brand development and management. A lot of business CEOs, unfortunately, look just like the company that they’re working for. They don’t have that personal flair that community outreach background that we really want to do business with people. We’re helping executives to connect the dots and building their brand online.

David:  That’s excellent. You may have a chance to meet Mr. Mint, the CEO of MINT Social, by going to Eliances and attending one of our round tables.

Matt:  Thank you very much, David.

David:  Thank you.