Ahrefs Podcast

What if your business could run itself...and actually get better over time? In this episode, we sit down with Amos Bar-Joseph, founder of Swan AI, to explore the future of autonomous business and what it means for marketers and SaaS founders. Amos shares how Swan is rethinking onboarding, support, and user engagement through the dynamic of human-AI collaboration.From automation and content creation to go-to-market strategy and brand-building, this conversation unpacks the real potential (and limits) of AI as it reshapes how we build, grow, and support products.We cover: (0:00) Intro(01:18) Can 3 founders scale to $30M ARR with AI?(02:51) Automation is dead. Augmentation is the future.(04:59) Why they said no to Intercom and built their own AI(09:31) How support works when AI reads your docs(11:44) Teaching AI like a teammate (not a tool)(14:19) Could you build this with no-code?(17:10) The only moats left: brand and user experience(25:33) AI-led onboarding that starts without you(28:40) Why high-intent leads skip the free trial(34:21) How they turned LinkedIn into a pipeline engine(39:41) Detecting ICPs in real time with AI agents(44:12) Writing bangers on LinkedIn with Claude(49:56) When AI freedom crashes your margins(55:05) AI-powered research, outreach, and follow-up all in Slack(1:07:41) What they're automating next (and why)(1:10:33) Why AI still sucks at web design(1:13:25) Outro------------------------------------------------Where to find Amos: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amos-bar-joseph-5a665a142/)Website: https://www.getswan.com/Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/------------------------------------------------Referenced in this episode:

As the creator of The Marketing Meetup, Joe Glover has built one of the most popular, respected, and emotionally resonant communities in the industry. In this episode, he shares a refreshingly human take on community building, leadership, and the kind of cultural values that drive real engagement—both online and off.Explore in this episode: (00:00) Intro(01:41) How do you know if you have a community(04:20) What exactly IS a community(11:37) Community is NOT a sales channel(21:36) Don't build a community; build a culture(29:58) Finding the sprouts of community culture(37:44) Getting people to keep coming back(44:59) Can a community continue without its founder? (58:04) Why is TMM an Events Company vs a Media Company(01:02:21) Promoting events(01:05:32) The role of storytelling in community(01:07:47) The purposefully planning behind the first TMM conference(01:10:51) The power of good (and bad) networking events(01:23:57) Mobilizing a team of event organizers(01:29:34) The 10 magic moments essential for event success(01:36:34) Baiting Ryan Reynolds to join TMM(01:38:43) Outro------------------------------------------------Where to find Joe: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josepheglover/)Website: https://themarketingmeetup.com/Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/------------------------------------------------Referenced in this episode:

Louis Grenier has built a reputation for calling bullsh*t on conventional marketing. In this episode, he delivers sharp, unfiltered insights on what it really takes to stand out in saturated markets. As the founder of Stand The F*ck Out and host of Everyone Hates Marketers, Louis breaks down why most branding efforts fail, how to create a truly unique positioning, and what marketers get wrong about differentiation and audience engagement.Discover: (00:00) Intro(00:57) Parental advisory(03:24) How do you know if your positioning is bad? (07:02) Positiong vs product-market fit(16:00) Step 1: Insight foraging(40:02) Step 2: Unique positioning(56:36) Step 3: Creating a distinctive brand(1:12:59) Step 4: Continuous reach(1:36:17) The book that cost him $36,000(1:48:02) Outro------------------------------------------------Where to find Louis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisgrenier/Website: https://www.stfo.io/Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/-----------------------------------------------Referenced in this episode:

What does it really take to drive scalable, data-informed growth in today's competitive marketing landscape? In this episode, we sit down with Tim Dalrymple — former Head of Growth Marketing at Notion and Director of Growth at Webflow — to unpack how elite teams are rethinking attribution, customer acquisition, and product-led growth from the ground up.Tim shares lessons from leading marketing at two of the most iconic product-led brands and offers a clear-eyed look at how to build growth systems that actually move the needle. Whether you're deep into performance marketing or looking to sharpen your measurement strategy, this conversation brings sharp insights into everything from SEO and user-generated content to ethical marketing and AI-driven decision-making.Discover: (0:00) Intro(1:29) What is growth marketing (and how it differs from brand marketing)(6:55) Where growth marketing sits on the org chart(10:40) Tracking view-through conversions through YouTube(20:20) Geolift tests: why you want them and how to do them(23:34) Why platforms claim attribution(26:57) Bidding on branded keywords(31:25) Performance marketing on social media(35:58) Who owns campaign ideation(38:09) Creating brand videos(47:39) SEO at Notion and Webflow(51:22) Linkbuilding at Notion and Webflow(54:18) Using agencies to forge channels(56:27) The AI growth marketing co-worker(01:03:43) Scaling growth at Roadway(01:11:51) Outro_______________________________________Where to find Tim Dalrymple:LinkedInWebsiteWhere to find Tim Soulo:LinkedInWebsite-------------------------Referenced: Sean Ellis Brian Balfour Reforge - The Growth Series Bryant Chou (Webflow Co-founder) Monday.com Tableau Recast Eppo Rand Fishkin Bruno Clay Product Fit Article Misha Vaughn Graphite Clay

Borko Kovacevic is the co-founder of Poddster, a fast-growing podcast studio network with locations in Dubai and Singapore, with upcoming locations in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Borko is also the co-founder of podcast operations software, Podyx. In this episode, Borko shares the behind-the-scenes story of building Poddster, the trends shaping podcasting today, and what it really takes to create a podcast that drives business results.What you'll learn:1. Why podcasting is shifting from audio-only to video—and how YouTube is winning the game2. How businesses and creators approach podcasts differently (and why only 5% of Poddster's clients are full-time creators)3. The biggest mistakes businesses make when starting a podcast—and why “interesting guests” aren't enough4. Why every small business owner needs to be a content creator in today's world5. The role of trust and authenticity in podcasting—and how mainstream media's decline has fueled the format's growth6. The untold challenges of podcasting (hint: it's way harder than it looks)7. Why podcasting is the ultimate networking hack—and how it can be used as a business development tool8. How production quality impacts discoverability and engagement9. The surprising reasons 99% of podcasts don't make it past 20 episodes10. Much moreIn this episode: (0:00) Intro(1:25) Why podcasting is the wave of the future(5:05) Who is podcasting? (10:58) Creator vs business podcasting(16:18) Motivations and goals behind business podcasts(34:53) What makes a good podcast or podcast episode(41:37) Common challenges in podcasting(53:40) Zoom vs in-person interviews(1:03:35) Different podcast strategies(1:08:37) Types of podcasts(1:16:12) How to market a podcast(1:35:34) The benefits of video studios beyond podcasting(1:38:31) Where to find quality studios(1:46:47) OutroWhere to find BorkoLinkedInPoddsterPodyxWhere to find TimLinkedInXWebsiteReferencedMagnus Grimeland: https://youtu.be/6dNFsSWcQFYNir Eyal:  @nirandfar  Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee):  @garyvee  Lex Fridman:  @lexfridman  Joe Rogan:  @joerogan  Scott Galloway (Prof G):  @TheProfGPod  Steven Bartlett"  @TheDiaryOfACEO  Tom Bilyeu:  @TomBilyeu 

Meet Magnus Grimeland - the founder and CEO of Antler - a one BILLION dollar venture capital firm dedicated to investing in startups at the earliest stages. As of today, Antler has invested in over 14 hundred companies, making it the largest day-zero investor in the world. And they have an audacious goal to invest in 6 thousand companies before 2030. In this episode, you'll learn: (0:00) Intro (02:36) Why are people more important than ideas?  (06:04) Examples of iterating on ideas (19:17) Hipster, Hacker, Hustler vs. Spike, Drive, Grit (29:22) Can marketers be good founders (34:39) Soft skills vs hard skills (39:03) The role of marketing in zero-day investments (46:07) What do experts get out of advising zero-day startups?  (53:45) Borrowing other people's platforms (1:00:54) The first marketing steps for any startup (1:05:42) Building a brand (1:15:27) Founder brand vs. building local networks (1:22:03) How Antler gets referrals (1:29:52) Why VC firms don't use SEO (1:37:33) How Antler decides who to invest in (1:40:06) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Magnus: LinkedIn Website Where to find Tim: LinkedIn X Website ------------------------- Referenced: • Zalora • Lion • Basket of goods • G&A _______________ Ahrefs Podcast Host: Tim Soulo Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner & Tim Soulo Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuck Filmed at:  @PoddsterSingapore 

What's the key to creating a viral marketing campaign? Meet Delbert Ty, CMO at Coffee Meets Bagel, a popular dating app that sets itself apart by courting only those interested in serious relationships. Before joining CmB, Delbert worked as Head of Marketing at Circles.Life - a Singaporean telco - where he grew revenue to 9 figures in 5 years. And even before that he worked at Procter & Gamble, where he was responsible for such well-known brands as Duracell, Tide & Pantene. During his time at these companies Delbert has pulled off quite a few hilarious creative marketing campaigns. Some of them failed, but others brought lots of new customers and tons of brand awareness. In our interview, we discussed quite a few of Delbert's viral campaigns and tried to deconstruct what made them successful and how you could replicate that success. In this episode: (0:00) Intro (02:17) Three biggest marketing campaigns
 (06:44) Vandalizing a billboard (11:10) Buying out telco contracts (failed) (13:10) Coffee Meets Bagel tells users to leave (16:30) "Free money" from a vending machine (25:01) The cost (not in $$$) of viral campaigns (30:10) Courage in viral marketing (35:43) Setting objectives for viral campaigns (41:13) Measuring the impact of viral campaigns
 (47:20) When bad ideas are actually good ideas (55:23) Structural elements of a viral campaign (01:15:07) Physical vs digital creative marketing (1:22:20) Split between creative marketing and other tasks (1:24:01) Is viral marketing only for consumer brands? (1:28:10) Why certain campaigns fail (1:38:00) The difference between celebrity and brand
 (1:47:25) Using AI for creative marketing (01:51:42) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Delbert: LinkedIn Website Where to find Tim: LinkedIn X Website ------------------------- Referenced: Coffee Meets Bagel  @CoffeeMBagel  Circles.life  @circleslifesg  Calm app  @calm  Kanye Super Bowl ad Coinbase Super Bowl ad Old Spice  @oldspice  Drake "God's Plan" music video Lenny's Podcast with Lulu Cheng Meservey Lulu Cheng Meservey Supermensch Shep Gordon Data is Beautiful subreddit WePay/PayPal stunt Dan Price/Gravity Payments wages Coffeezilla:  @Coffeezilla  Paris Hilton for SodaStream _______________ Ahrefs Podcast Host: Tim Soulo Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner & Tim Soulo Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuk Filmed at: Poddster Studios (Singapore)

Early-stage marketing can be full of challenges, but what if there were a playbook to follow? Meet Madhav Bhandari, first marketing hire at Hubstaff and one of the first marketers at Close.io, and Weflow, all of which he helped to cross $10M+ in ARR. He's currently the CMO of Storylane, where he has helped grow their ARR by 250% in 2024 alone. In other words, Madhav has pretty much mastered the art of scaling SaaS companies from $5M to $15M+ ARR. Here's what you'll learn in this episode: (00:00) Intro
 (1:01) Early-stage marketing playbook
 (12:25) Why Madhav only scales to $15M (15:42) The average tenure for a CMO (19:50) The ideal CEO/CMO fit (26:46) Earning your CEO's trust (36:01) Employee advocacy as a marketing tool (49:10) Easing friction by bringing community together (Demo Days) (56:16) Creativity in community awards (Demo Dundies)(1:05:40) 10xing traffic in 6 months through demo-led SEO( 1:13:36) Hot take on backlinks (1:15:41) Strategies for growing a brand (1:24:08) Defining and codifying a brand (1:31:20) When rebranding makes sense (1:34:18) Founder brand vs company brand (1:40:50) Is testing multiple tactics in a short period of time a good idea? (1:45:17) The best channels for early stage founders (1:47:47) Fixing burnout in marketing (1:52:45) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Madhav: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavbhandari/) Website: https://earlystagemarketing.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ------------------------- Referenced: • Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com • Canva: https://www.canva.com • Notion: https://www.notion.so • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com • Slack: https://slack.com • Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com • Hubstaff: https://hubstaff.com • Close: https://close.com • Weflow: https://www.getweflow.com

How can you rise to unicorn status in an industry dominated by legacy players? Jon Stona, VP of Global Marketing at B2B global payments processor Airwallex shares his insights into growing the company from a coffee shop in Australia to a dominant player in the fintech space.  Today, Airwallex has a $5.6B valuation and handles $100B in processing volume. So, what's the marketing machine behind this financial challenger brand?  00:00 Intro 01:29 What is the marketing budget for a $5B company? 02:55 Sponsorships and the theory of economic value10:48 Celebrity partnerships 22:04 The mechanics of sports marketing23:48 Bringing structure to a marketing team26:53 The role of product marketing within a company33:14 Transforming company culture35:47 The difference between leadership and therapy45:17 Building a sustainable brand59:43 Measuring growth through branded search 1:06:20 Are operating principles important for a company? 1:12:01 Differentiating yourself as a commodity1:14:08 Building out PMM teams for different products1:16:57 Allocating SEO budget1:18:48 The usefulness of industry reports1:26:11 How to use case studies in marketing1:31:04 Getting your name in the press1:34:33 Driving growth through industry events1:41:17 Industry awards 1:46:48 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend).  Where to find Jon: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstona/) Website: https://www.airwallex.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ -------------------------Referenced: McLaren: @mclarenF1: @Formula1Lando Norris: @LandoNorrisShifted Perspectives: https://www.airwallex.com/airwallex-mclaren-racing-shifted-perspectivesMichael Murphy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Murphy_(sculptor)Mere exposure effect (psychology): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effectForrester: @forresterEdgar, Dunn & Company: https://www.edgardunn.com/Skift: @skiftnewsYouGov: https://www.yougov.com/David Fallarme: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dfallarme/) Stripe Sessions: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcoWp8pBTM3CYTQho8i-a_lzx4cq7-ePhBeyond Black FridayeCommerce Champion Awards: https://www.airwallex.com/newsroom/amid-online-spending-resurgence-airwallex-unveils-inaugural-airwallexMoney20/20: https://www.money2020.com/ Cloud 100 list: https://www.forbes.com/cloud100/list/

Neil Patel, one of the most recognized names in digital marketing, pulls back the curtain on how he scaled his agency, NP Digital, to over $100 million in revenue. Neil shares his insights into building and managing a global agency, transitioning from small business clients to enterprise giants like LVMH, Panasonic, ESPN, and CNN, and the strategies he uses to reduce churn and maintain client relationships. In this episode, you'll learn: 00:00 Introduction 01:12 How Neil makes his money 06:35 Why Neil doesn't sell courses anymore 15:04 How Neil scaled his agency 21:14 Shifting from SMBs to large enterprises 33:32 The mistake a lot of agencies make 42:08 How to land big enterprise clients 46:20 Customer acquisition strategies 55:15 Relationship building for customer acquisition 1:02:35 Taking the "Neil Patel" out of NP Digital 1:05:00 Personal branding decisions 1:10:54 Strategic vs tactical content 1:14:05 The role of a team within a personal brand 1:33:01 Neil's visibility and putting his face on "everything" 1:44:35 Partnership ( @marketingschoolpod ) with Eric Siu ( @LevelingUpOfficial ) 1:50:34 How Ubersuggest is doing 2:00:47 The time Neil spent $162K on clothes 2:04:52 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Neil: X: @neilpatel LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/) Website: https://npdigital.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ------------------------- Referenced: • Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee): garyvaynerchuk.com  @garyvee  • Tony Robbins: tonyrobbins.com  @TonyRobbinsLive  • LVMH: lvmh.com • Dentsu: dentsu.com • WPP: wpp.com • Publicis: publicisgroupe.com • ByteDance: bytedance.com • Nestlé: nestle.com • Panasonic: panasonic.com • Philips: philips.com • ESPN: espn.com • CNN: cnn.com • Salesforce: salesforce.com • Tai Lopez: tailopez.com  @tailopez  • Sam Oh:  @AhrefsCom 

How do you transform a brand into a household name, especially when that brand has a lot of regulatory restrictions? Steven Kalifowitz is doing just that right now with  @CryptoComOfficial . When he came on board as the Crypto.com CMO in 2020, he brought years of experience as an Emmy-winning production manager for HBO and lessons from being a Director of Brand Strategy for Twitter. Along with discussing his strategy for transforming Crypto.com into a household name, Steven and Tim also discussed: 00:00 Intro 01:29 Managing million-dollar marketing budgets 05:58 The importance of continued awareness for established brands 13:05 Understanding and nurturing casual vs heavy customers 19:02 Buying the Crypto.com name 21:24 Becoming CMO of Crypto.com 24:58 Are brand strategy blueprints necessary? 34:44 Marketing a brand vs a commodity 53:57 Using live sports as a marketing tool 56:29 Are competitor pages useful? 58:56 How the Crypto.com marketing team is structured 1:05:42 What does Steven do as CMO of Crypto.com? 1:10:43 Leadership and management skills 1:18:48 Advertising at the Sphere and getting around advertising restrictions 1:26:35 Sports partnerships 1:33:45 Celebrity brand films 1:41:54 Are NFTs dead? 1:45:53 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Steven: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skalifowitz/ X: @skalifowitz Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _________________________________________________ Referenced in this episode: Byron Sharp - How Brands Grow: https://brandgenetics.com/human-thinking/how-brands-grow-speed-summary/ CPG/FMCG: https://cdp.com/glossary/cpg-marketing/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fastmoving-consumer-goods-fmcg.asp Fortune Favors the Brave ft. Matt Damon: https://youtu.be/9hBC5TVdYT8?si=qrj6nOB-VDY1yY5W David Oglivy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ogilvy_(businessman) Andy Gove - High Output Management: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Output_Management Patrick Lencioni - Five Dysfunctions of a Team: https://www.tablegroup.com/topics-and-resources/teamwork-5-dysfunctions/ Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People Andy Gove - Only the Paranoid Survive: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66863.Only_the_Paranoid_Survive Inevitable ft. Eminem: https://x.com/Eminem/status/1783859123614052845 The Moment of Truth ft. Lebron James: https://youtu.be/xynQFsPBE3w?si=5Xxr_Q3qacsR6BpV

When Fery Kaszoni first ventured into the world of SEO, he had no idea that 10 years later, he would be the CEO of a thriving digital PR agency on track to make £10M per year. Fery's success is largely driven by his personal brand, and his fun, goofy spoofs of popular songs have become a hit in the SEO community. But it wasn't always that way. Fery shares his ups and downs as an agency owner, what he wishes he could have done differently, and how others can replicate his success. 00:00 Intro 00:59 Fery's background as a developer 04:00 First steps into the SEO industry 11:22 Finding the passion to create an agency 15:31 Shifting to digital PR 18:19 How to scale an agency to 8 figures 27:18 Success without eating your own dog food 30:13 The true ROI of sponsorships 37:49 Fery's competitive advantage 43:49 Finding and onboarding solid employees 50:38 Expansion and team structure 52:46 Fery's role at Search Intelligence 54:46 The value in creating viral videos 58:55 Balancing humor and seriousness 01:01:45 Four day work weeks 01:08:38 Are social media and brand building the future of SEO? 01:11:43 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Fery: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferenczkaszoni/ Website: https://search-intelligence.co.uk/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

Is it actually possible to make AI content in one go with minimal human involvement that is as good as what a human can produce? Zac Harris, former Head of Demand Gen and SEO at Copy.ai and founder of Rankd., thinks so. But Zac does have a caveat: the input you give AI has to be far better than what your average marketer or writer tends to provide. Ever the AI skeptic, Tim Soulo sat down with Zac recently to discuss his workflows, how he scaled Copy.ai to 1M visits per month through free tools, and more. 00:00 Intro 1:40 Success with AI tools 16:02 The effect of mass-deleting content 20:04 Copy.ai's content strategy 29:43 Where to find quality freelancers 34:12 Using feedback to create custom AI workflows and content 40:14 Marketing attribution, Markov chains, re-activations, and expansions 56:18 Leveraging influencer marketing for brand visibility 1:03:59 Link building tactics 01:13:12 The impact of mentorship 1:18:20 Why Zac left Copy.ai to build his new agency 1:38:17 Why teaching people how to use AI is important 1:39:50 AI vs human output competition 1:44:55 Building workflows for AI 1:55:04 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Zac: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharris36/ Website: https://www.gorankd.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

Bryan Harris first became known for Videofruit, his industry leading blog and online course business. But these days, he has shifted focus to his new business Growth Tools and scaling 1:1 coaching. A master at organization, leadership, and customer generation, Bryan shared tons of gold nuggets during this episode of Ahrefs Podcast, including: 00:00 Introduction
 01:02 Shifting from courses to coaching
 06:30 Ascension ladder vs descension ladder
 15:31 A cautionary tale about sharing revenue
 17:45 Free tools as a growth strategy
 19:41 How to scale non-commodities
 23:45 Finding the right CEO-marketing director fit
 31:07 How Growth Tools structures its marketing department
 37:40 BOPA (Borrowing other people's audiences)
 42:22 Causes of stress and complexity in marketing
 45:28 Guilt by association
 48:30 Choosing what to promote
 58:34 The key to generating customers
 1:07:15 The right way to “Figure it out”
 1:11:34 Bryan's ChatGPT history
 1:14:36 Outro We hope you enjoy our first in-person episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Bryan: X: @Harris_Bryan Website: growthtools.com/ahrefs Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _______________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Ryan Deiss: https://www.ryandeiss.com/ Russell Brunson (Dotcom Secrets): https://dotcomsecrets.com/getdcsfree-1
 Nathan Berry: https://nathanbarry.com/ Brennan Dunn: https://doubleyourfreelancing.com/
 John Lee Dumas: https://www.eofire.com/
 Pat Flynn: https://patflynn.com/
 Glenn Hill (Connection Codes): https://www.connectioncodes.co/
 Jim Collins (Good to Great): https://www.jimcollins.com/index.html 
 One Minute Manager: https://www.amazon.com/The-New-One-Minute-Manager/dp/8195246893/ Seth Godin (Purple Cow): https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable/dp/014101640X
 Noah Kagan: https://noahkagan.com/
 Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki): https://www.richdad.com/
 Supermensch: https://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Supermensch-Backstage-RocknRoll/dp/0062355953
 Figure it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPa3E8yis0I


John O'Nolan worked as the Deputy Head of UX for WordPress for several years before he got fed up with the direction it was taking. He decided to launch a non-profit, open source platform called Ghost in 2013, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. With so much to unpack, there was a lot to discuss, including: 01:25 What it's like to work for Wordpress 5:25 Launching a Wordpress competitor 10:37 Using non-profit and open source to create interest 12:06 Why Ghost is better than Wordpress 20:33 Using Recommendations and Web Mentions 30:01 Passive ways of acquiring an audience 39:40 How Ghost is different than Medium 45:16 The problem with Quora (and Medium) 53:06 Ghost's major competitors and customer base 58:04 Ghost's priorities for publishers 1:03:09 Journalists vs creators 1:08:56 The Fediverse/Activity Pub 1:31:21 The Fediverse vs media companies 1:37:07 How to become a top publisher 1:44:12 Marketing Ghost 1:47:33 Why a personal brand isn't everything 1:53:04 Will Ghost ever go “for profit”? We hope you enjoy our first in-person episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find John: X: @JohnONolan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnonolan/ Website: https://john.onolan.org/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _______________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Space campaign: https://space.paddle.com/ Anthony Kenneda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akennada/ Goldenhour: https://www.goldenhour.net/ Adam Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam/ Marketing Against the Grain: Resources: Fediverse/Activity Pub: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse Ev Williams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur) MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee

What is it like to have the freedom to create marketing campaigns that are so crazy, they're LITERALLY out of this world? Let's find out! Andrew Davies, CMO of SaaS payment infrastructure provider Paddle, joins Ahrefs Podcast to discuss everything from their high production value video campaigns to the crossover between customer engagement and marketing to why you're probably using your blog section wrong. If you're ready for a more advanced masterclass in marketing, you won't want to miss this discussion! In this episode, we cover: Creating compelling brand stories Educating customers on your product offering Bringing customers into your marketing How you should be using your blog SEO vs paid media Creating out of this world creatives Content distribution game changers Upping your video production game Leveraging events for community buildingEmpowering teams to go on camera What is Account Based Marketing (ABM) Community empowerment as a marketing tool Inspirational marketers _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! Where to find Andrew: X: https://x.com/andjdavies LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andjdavies/ Website: https://www.paddle.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ________________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Space campaign: https://space.paddle.com/

What happens when an SEO tool can't compete in SEO? That's what happened in the early days of Surfer, an AI-powered content marketing platform. Surfer's Head of Marketing, Tomasz Niezgoda, joins the Ahrefs Podcast to explain exactly which strategies helped the company catapult to the 24th fastest-growing company in Europe and the #1 fastest-growing company in Poland. In this episode, you'll learn: - How to excel at product marketing - Why Surfer does 1:1 onboarding calls (with EVERY client) - Tracking customer responses to onboarding - The benefit of educational videos - Where you should be distributing your webinars - What the brand got out of redisigning their homepage - Should you create a brand bible? - Why SaaS certifications are valuable to clients and companies - The secret to making your AI content actually good _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe!Where to find Tomasz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niezgoda-tomasz/ Website: https://surferseo.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

Ready for a Masterclass in SEO and content creation? Today's guest is Glen Allsopp, founder of Detailed.com, the SEO Blueprint course, and gaps.com. Glen is an absolute beast when it comes to his content output, and his thorough data studies are shared widely in and out of the SEO world when he publishes them. He also does $40 website audits that sell out immediately when they're open to the public. Glen, who is notoriously private, doesn't normally do podcasts and he never speaks at conferences. That's why this episode of Ahrefs Podcast is audio only. But one thing Glen isn't shy about is sharing his vast SEO and business wisdom with the world. In this episode, you'll learn: (0:00) Intro (01:45) Maintaining Privacy (8:49) How does Glen make money (10:41) What he focuses on (17:03) What his team looks like (23:47) Not scaling his agency (28:01) What he gets out of his $40 audits (34:29) Creating the Detailed SEO extension (39:47) What to pay workers (42:10) The evolution of Detailed (47:12) Detailed research (54:12) Promoting Detailed content (1:00:10) How Glen approaches ideas (1:06:07) iPhone link building (1:10:17) Building relationships (1:15:00) Super pixels (1:26:10) How Glen stays organized (1:31:25) The current state of SEO (1:42:56) Gaps (1:50:30) Who Glen looks up to (1:52:56) Media companies _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! Where to find Glen: X: https://x.com/ViperChill LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glen-allsopp-63084025/ Website: https://detailed.com/ SEO Blueprint: https://seoblueprint.com/ Gaps: https://gaps.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ________________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: $40 website audits: https://detailed.com/audit/ Blog Tyrant: https://www.blogtyrant.com/SEO META in 1 Click: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/seo-meta-in-1-click/bjogjfinolnhfhkbipphpdlldadpnmhcBloggerJet: https://bloggerjet.com/Copyblogger: https://copyblogger.com/ProBlogger: https://problogger.com/Darren Rowse: https://darrenrowse.com/How 16 Companies are Dominating the World's Google Search Results (2024 Edition): https://detailed.com/google-control/ TechRadar: https://www.techradar.com/pro/could-google-be-using-reddit-to-revive-an-ancient-failed-project-60000-redditors-may-well-be-mturking-for-google-answers-20TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/05/amazons-new-rufus-chatbot-isnt-bad-but-it-isnt-great-either/Mark Rofe (@iamrofe): https://x.com/iamrofeSiege Media: https://www.siegemedia.com/ Ross Hudgens: https://x.com/RossHudgensPomodoro technique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_TechniqueSeeking Alpha: https://seekingalpha.com/Retro Dodo: https://retrododo.com/Brian Morrissey: https://x.com/bmorrisseyThe Rebooting: https://www.therebooting.com/Neil Vogel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilvogel/Joshua Hardwick: https://x.com/joshuachardwick

How do you take a company from pre-launch to millions in ARR through marketing? Andus Purde, founder of Outfunnel, a sales and marketing workflow platform, has done it twice. Andrus shares his insights on how he took sales CRM and pipeline management software Pipedrive from 0 to 70K paying customers in just a few years and what he did to repeat his success with his new venture. As well spilling which specific tactics worked for him, he also shares whether he thinks they would still work in 2024 and where he thinks the future of marketing is heading. In this episode, you'll learn: (O:00) Intro (06:03) Joining Pipedrive (11:20) Launching on AppSumo as a marketing tactic (17:03) Early marketing strategies at Pipedrive (24:00) When should companies start investing in SEO? (27:55) Experience vs confidence (29:57) Are marketing titles important? (36:56) Growth strategies as Pipedrive expanded (39:28) Emerging platforms for marketers and developers (43:59) Software review platforms as a marketing strategy (49:03) Creative marketing and taking risks (54:11) Marketing analytics and attribution (1:02:09) Does creativity in marketing decrease with scale? (1:07:14) What does Outfunnel do? (1:21:25) Ideas are worthless. It's the team that matters. _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! Where to find Andrus: X: https://x.com/andruspurde LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andruspurde/ Website: https://purde.net/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ________________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: Outfunnel: https://outfunnel.com/ Purde.net Kair Käsper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kair/ Klaus: https://www.klausapp.com/ Zendesk: https://www.zendesk.com Klaus acquisition: https://www.klausapp.com/blog/a-message-from-the-founders/ Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com/ Skype: https://www.skype.com/ Google Chrome Web Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/ Capterra: https://www.capterra.com/ TrustRadius: https://www.trustradius.com/ G2: https://www.g2.com/ Appsumo: https://appsumo.com/ Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Convertkit: https://convertkit.com/ Mailchimp: https://mailchimp.com/ Little Red Book of Gambling Wisdom: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Gambling-Wisdom-Books/dp/1616083921

If you're trying to grow your brand, you might be majorly missing out if you haven't looked into digital PR. In this episode, Alex Nigmatulin, co-founder of PRNEWS.io shares what people get wrong with digital PR and how you can use it to your advantage. Rather than bringing up vague concepts, Alex drills in on specific examples of how his clients have managed to drum up significant interest (including TV coverage!) through simple, effective strategies. You'll learn: (0:00) Intro (1:46) Sponsored content vs buying links (4:39) The cost of sponsored placements (6:33) Avoiding Google penalties (9:53) How AI has affected digital PR (12:32) Creating newsworthy stories (16:49) Finding websites for sponsored placements (21:03) How PRNEWS.io stays fresh (26:01) How links work with sponsored placements (30:03) Do sponsored links move the needle (34:16) Tracking sponsored content results (38:00) The REAL purpose of press releases (47:11) Additional PRNEWS.io services (50:00) Creating your own news (53:14) How Ahrefs could use PRNEWS.io (1:03:03) Where PRNEWS.io is heading (1:09:32) How does PRNEWS.io market itself _________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! Where to find Alex Nigmatulin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigmatulin/ Website: https://www.aleydasolis.com/en Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ________________________________________________ Referenced in the episode: B2Blogger : https://b2blogger.com/ Ann Smarty: https://www.seosmarty.com/ iForum (Ukrainian conference): https://2023.iforum.ua/en/ Ryan Holiday: https://ryanholiday.net Trust Me, I'm Lying: https://ryanholiday.net/trust-me-im-lying-confessions-of-a-media-manipulator/ Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com Roxhill Media: https://roxhillmedia.com/ Ahrefs Evolve: https://ahrefs.com/events/evolve2024-singapore

What are the SEO experts focusing on right now?  @CrawlingMondaysbyAleyda  is one of the most analytical, intuitive SEO specialists out there today. She's the founder of Orainti, a world-leading boutique SEO consultancy, and has one of the biggest audiences in this space. If you want to know what SEO tactics are actually worth your time, Aleyda is the person to ask. We talked about what SEO tests she's been running with her clients, what people get wrong about backlinking, how to harness AI effectively, and so much more. There is something for everyone in this conversation! (0:00) Intro (1:26) How Aleyda runs her SEO consultancy (7:07) How Aleyda manages her SEO clients (10:15) What does Aleyda test with her clients? (13:48) What tools can you use for SEO testing? (18:24) What SEO tests should well established companies be doing? (21:53) SEO strategies for startups (25:50) How to execute SEO without damaging other areas of the company (28:41) How to use backlinking effectively (36:18) How to actually use AI to your advantage (44:16) How to improve the FAQs on your website using AI (49:20) How to use AI without Google flagging you (52:30) How Google indexes content (54:45) What is an optmised page? (57:45) The need to be different (don't be lazy!) (1:03:49) Sites Aleyda recommends (1:06:37) Personal branding and community building If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe! Where to find Aleyda Solis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyda X: @aleyda Website: https://www.aleydasolis.com/en Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

So you want to build a community around your business. What's the secret to doing this effectively in 2024? Whether you're using social media, email marketing, SEO, or online spaces, there is an art to nurturing a self-sustaining community. And if you crack the code, this is a great opportunity to add more profit to your business. Today we're breaking down exactly how to do this with help from SEO and community building expert Gael Breton. Co-Founder of Authority Hacker, Gael has worked for the likes of Macy's, Expedia and 99 Designs helping them to make their websites more profitable. He brings plenty of actionable knowledge to the table in today's masterclass. 0:00 – Intro 1:27 – The state of the SEO community 5:17 – Community as a product vs community as an add on 7:00 – Passive vs active content consumption 7:38 – Community recommendations for SEO and marketing 8:33 – How search intent is changing on Google 10:30 – Effective methods for charging for courses 16:19 – Using affiliates to promote your services 16:45 – The changing landscape of content 23:22 – How to engage with your community 24:54 – Giving credit to your community 26:37 – The importance of using your own product 29:11 – The Google updates you need to know 31:51 – Google is rewarding forums 32:23 – Who is beating current Google trends? 34:02 – Spam problems on Google 35:56 – What websites are suffering? 38:15 – Get background info for your website 38:48 – Does Google punish those who don't deserve it? 41:52 – How to understand topical authority 46:27 – Quick tricks to improve your SEO ranking 52:38 – Prioritise your website's mobile version 54:41 – What tools help with SEO? 57:01 – Don't look for tricks, focus on your business model Where to find Gael Breton: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gael-breton-78305118 X: @GaelBreton Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

What does it take to build a successful company to $600K as an indie hacker? Jon Yongfook Cockle says successful founders need to have resiliance. Jon Yongfook would know. In addition to attempting the well-known Indie Hackers challenge 12 Startups in 12 Months, he also went through 20-30 failed projects before striking the right product-market fit with Bannerbear, an image generation software. In this episode of Ahrefs Podcast, Jon Yongfook lays out: (0:00) Introduction (01:33) The state of the Indie Hackers community (03:19) Doing the 12 startups in 12 months challenge (09:24) Coming up with the idea for Bannerbear (14:06) Bannerbear design (17:02) Marketing week/coding week (19:44) Building in public (30:48) The current Bannerbear marketing strategy (34:18) Building free tools (41:04) Creating vs and alternatives pages (45:24) Modern growth hacking (48:53) Building and using ChatGPT wrappers (55:03) Using AI in marketing (56:37) Posting spicy takes on Twitter Where to find Jon Yongfook: X: https://x.com/yongfook Website: https://www.yongfook.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Bannerbear: https://www.bannerbear.com/ Indie Hackers: https://www.indiehackers.com/ Pieter Levels: https://x.com/levelsio Danny Postma: https://x.com/dannypostmaa Ahrefs Backlink Checker: https://ahrefs.com/backlink-checker

JH Scherck is a growth consultant known for his expertise in developing effective content strategies for SaaS companies. He previously worked for companies like WP Engine and Docsend before striking out on his own with his SEO and content strategy agency, Growth Plays. JH is a wealth of knowledge about B2B marketing strategies, audience development, and SEO. Check out the full podcast to learn more about: (00:00) Introduction (01:47) Early career mistakes (11:34) Why targeting zero-volume keywords makes zero sense (15:54) How to market a product with no search demand (20:08) Owned vs earned media (26:46) Brand vs personal brand for social media (37:25) What is a community and how do you build one? (42:58) Why should you attend industry events? (51:07) Facilitating connections at events (55:39) When is marketing attribution useful? (01:11:31) Why AI will encourage uniqueness in marketing Where to find JH: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhtscherck/ X: https://x.com/JHTScherck Website: https://growthplays.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced: Docsend: https://www.docsend.com/ WP Engine: https://wpengine.com/ Salesforce: Marc Benioff: https://x.com/benioff Drift: https://www.drift.com/ Dave Gerhardt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerhardt/ Alex Poulos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poulos/ MozCon: https://moz.com/mozcon Rand Fishkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/ Sparktoro article (Provable Marketing Attribution Is a Boondoggle): https://sparktoro.com/blog/provable-marketing-attribution-is-a-boondoggle-trust-your-gut-instead/ Orbit: https://orbit.love/ Orbit model of community: https://orbit.love/model Olivier Pomel (CEO of DataDog): https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierpomel/ Mattermark: https://mattermark.com/ Danielle Morill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemorrill/ Patrick Stox: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickstox/ https://x.com/patrickstox Joshua Hardwick: https://x.com/JoshuaCHardwick Ryan Law: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/ https://x.com/thinking_slow Jason Cohen (WP Engine): https://x.com/asmartbear Ross Hudgens: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosshudgens/ Wil Reynolds: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilreynolds/ Hubspot: https://www.hubspot.com/ PubCon: https://www.pubcon.com/ Dmitry Gerasymenko: https://x.com/botsbreeder

Guillaume Moubeche is the dynamic and energetic co-founder and CEO of Lempire, a suite of SaaS tools for marketers, developers, sales teams, and designers. Guillaume launched his company in 2018 and just 3.5 years later, it was already valued at $150M. In this episode, we dig into the tactics he used to catapult his company into $20M ARR in such a short time. In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction (04:13) The Myth of Product-Led Growth (10:08) Customer Acquisition and Inbound vs Outbound (20:06) How Trust Fuels Growth (23:50) Challenges to Community Building (30:32) Writing the $150M Secret (35:51) Turning down venture capitalist money for publicity (43:41) Current Lemlist Marketing Tactics (45:59) Getting Banned from LinkedIn (49:55) Why Marketing Attribution and Branded Traffic Are BS (1:01:00) The Secret to Making Great Hires (1:07:29) Mentorship and Networking Where to find Guillaume: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/profit-led-growth/ Website: https://www.lempire.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

How can you land big-name clients like Zendesk, Quora, Wordpress, and Shutterstock? And how can you shift to a better-paying structure as a consultant? Eli Schwartz reveals how coining the term "product-led" SEO and writing a book about it opened doors he never thought possible, why it's a mistake to charge by the hour instead of by the product, and why SEOs should be charging more than $100 per hour. He also discusses his 2024 predictions for Google SGE, ChatGPT as a search engine, and whether guest posts will pass any value in the eyes of Google. In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Introduction and Eli's background (02:15) Going Solo and Creating Product-Led SEO (18:16) Holistic SEO vs Product-Led SEO vs Programmatic SEO (24:42) Accepting Clients and Creating SEO Strategies (35:27) How Long Should Client Engagements Be? (39:39) Outbound Marketing and Client Acquisition (44:44) The Unexpected Success of Writing a Book (48:34) The Potential Impact of Google's SGE (56:39) Will ChatGPT Launch a Search Engne? (58:48) Will Google Announce That Guest Posts Pass No Value? (01:06:29) Does SEO Ever Change? (01:13:46) Company Size and Marketing Attribution Where to find Eli: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze X: https://x.com/5le Newsletter: https://productledseo.substack.com/ Website: https://www.elischwartz.co/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://x.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/

Tim Soulo met with the king of CRO to discuss building multiple brands, the importance of in-person events, and how to know when it's time to pivot your business model.

How different is marketing within large, complex teams than working with smaller brands? Tim Soulo chatted with David Fallarme about large-team marketing, fractional marketing, and why he decided to join Owner.com as VP of Marketing.

When Dom Wells was teaching English, he never imagined that a few short years later, he'd be sitting on a $5M portfolio of digital assets. Tim Soulo dug in to find out how Dom's portfolio is constructed, what he looks for in acquisitions, and how he runs his projects.

Rand Fishkin didn't just walk away from Moz in 2018; he also walked away from SEO in general. So how is he marketing SparkToro? Tim Soulo sat down with him to find out. 

Is out-of-home (OOH) advertising for everyone? What are the benefits for digital companies? Tim Soulo talks marketing strategies with AdQuick's VP of Marketing, Adam Singer, as well as whether Elon Musk has lost the plot.

How can a brand-new SaaS ramp up to $1M ARR in just 11 months? In this episode, Tim Soulo sits down with serial entrepreneur Laura Roeder to discuss how she grew MeetEdgar, and whether those tactics still work.