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Cat Howell is the founder of FB performance based media buying agency Eight Loop Social, Agency Academy and the co-founder of adult spray Theory of Her. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. The best thing you can do for prospecting in your business is to setup pipelines based off of your strength. 2. Tap into people who have walked the path that you want to walk. 3. Some people tend to hire as a reaction instead of being proactive about it. Visit Cat's website - CatHowell Website Sponsors: HubSpot: Customer expectations are at an all-time high, and making things easy is how you'll win. Learn more about how HubSpot can help your business grow better at HubSpot.com. Ketone-IQ: There is a product out there people are calling nature's superfuel in a bottle! Introducing the world's best kept secret: Ketone-IQ. The next 100 people to visit Ketone-IQ.com and use promo code FIRE at checkout will save 20%!
Cat Howell is the founder of FB performance based media buying agency Eight Loop Social, Agency Academy and the co-founder of adult spray Theory of Her. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. The best thing you can do for prospecting in your business is to setup pipelines based off of your strength. 2. Tap into people who have walked the path that you want to walk. 3. Some people tend to hire as a reaction instead of being proactive about it. Visit Cat's website - CatHowell Website Sponsors: HubSpot: Customer expectations are at an all-time high, and making things easy is how you'll win. Learn more about how HubSpot can help your business grow better at HubSpot.com. Ketone-IQ: There is a product out there people are calling nature's superfuel in a bottle! Introducing the world's best kept secret: Ketone-IQ. The next 100 people to visit Ketone-IQ.com and use promo code FIRE at checkout will save 20%!
Social PR Secrets: public relations podcast for entrepreneurs by Lisa Buyer
Now more than ever, the need to persuade applies to the interviewer just as much as it does to the interviewee. But how do you master the art of persuasion for your business, brand, and personal life? By creating authentic emotion, of course! Emotion is a powerful acceleration of one’s brand. What does this look like? Conversion expert Brandon Smits says you need to cultivate a connection, stay relevant and ask yourself: Is my motive or call to action, reflecting myself or my prospective client? When you master the art of channeling emotion through your content’s beating heart, then you will start to generate sponsorships, partnerships, credibility, and a profitable business model. In this episode of the Social PR Secrets podcast with Lisa Buyer, Brandon Smits, CMO at Solar Cheat Code and Partner at Eight Loop Marketing Agency, dives into the do’s and don’ts of persuasion, shares tips on conversion, and lays out the best action plan when it comes to connecting with potential clients. And he answers every entrepreneur’s million-dollar question: “How can I tell if my content is working?” Brandon Smits: Pinpoint the Problem, Test Solutions & Generate Results After beginning his career in the field of SEO nearly 10 years ago, Brandon climbed his way up the marketing ladder. With a specialization in optimization conversion strategies, he used this melting pot of marketing knowledge to start his own agency, Solar Cheat Code. His team helps residential solar companies generate leads by identifying the client’s problem and testing appropriate solutions. At both Solar Cheat Code and Eight Loop Social, Brandon coaches marketers and entrepreneurs on how to create the perfect ‘marketing sauce’. What is marketing sauce and how is it made? Well, the ingredients vary on a business-to-business basis but what remains consistent is the basic need to persuade. How to Optimize the Power of Organic Search Social media is the face of organic search, whether your Instagram is a personal or business account. Brandon says that if your posts follow a relatable and natural approach, then you have a high chance of developing a profitable brand. And once your followers, who have never met you before, feel as if they know you and what you stand for, then you have mastered the art of persuasion in the organic social realm. How to Authentically and Emotionally Connect with Your Audience Determine your target audience. Analyze the various versions of marketing personas among brands. What are their goals? How do they successfully market this persona? Which persona works best for your brand? Make sure your content meets your followers’ best interests: It’s about them, not you! Once you’ve added these 3 ingredients to your ‘sauce’, it’s time to see whether your output of content is creating conversions. Using Persuasion to Get Conversions A basic rule of thumb when it comes to paid se
Social PR Secrets: public relations podcast for entrepreneurs by Lisa Buyer
Now more than ever, the need to persuade applies to the interviewer just as much as it does to the interviewee. But how do you master the art of persuasion for your business, brand, and personal life? By creating authentic emotion, of course! Emotion is a powerful acceleration of one’s brand. What does this look like? Conversion expert Brandon Smits says you need to cultivate a connection, stay relevant and ask yourself: Is my motive or call to action, reflecting myself or my prospective client? When you master the art of channeling emotion through your content’s beating heart, then you will start to generate sponsorships, partnerships, credibility, and a profitable business model. In this episode of the Social PR Secrets podcast with Lisa Buyer, Brandon Smits, CMO at Solar Cheat Code and Partner at Eight Loop Marketing Agency, dives into the do’s and don’ts of persuasion, shares tips on conversion, and lays out the best action plan when it comes to connecting with potential clients. And he answers every entrepreneur’s million-dollar question: “How can I tell if my content is working?” Brandon Smits: Pinpoint the Problem, Test Solutions & Generate Results After beginning his career in the field of SEO nearly 10 years ago, Brandon climbed his way up the marketing ladder. With a specialization in optimization conversion strategies, he used this melting pot of marketing knowledge to start his own agency, Solar Cheat Code. His team helps residential solar companies generate leads by identifying the client’s problem and testing appropriate solutions. At both Solar Cheat Code and Eight Loop Social, Brandon coaches marketers and entrepreneurs on how to create the perfect ‘marketing sauce’. What is marketing sauce and how is it made? Well, the ingredients vary on a business-to-business basis but what remains consistent is the basic need to persuade. How to Optimize the Power of Organic Search Social media is the face of organic search, whether your Instagram is a personal or business account. Brandon says that if your posts follow a relatable and natural approach, then you have a high chance of developing a profitable brand. And once your followers, who have never met you before, feel as if they know you and what you stand for, then you have mastered the art of persuasion in the organic social realm. How to Authentically and Emotionally Connect with Your Audience Determine your target audience. Analyze the various versions of marketing personas among brands. What are their goals? How do they successfully market this persona? Which persona works best for your brand? Make sure your content meets your followers’ best interests: It’s about them, not you! Once you’ve added these 3 ingredients to your ‘sauce’, it’s time to see whether your output of content is creating conversions. Using Persuasion to Get Conversions A basic rule of thumb when it comes to paid se
Social PR Secrets: public relations podcast for entrepreneurs by Lisa Buyer
A lot of agency owners dream of the day they’ll be able to walk away from the business they’ve started and nurtured over so many years. But how do you get there? What are the mistakes you should avoid on the way? How do you lead a successful agency while avoiding burnout? And if you ever find yourself overwhelmed or depressed because of your work, how do you get out of it? In this episode of the Social PR Secrets Podcast, host Lisa Buyer talks to agency owner and all-around icon Cat Howell. Cat is the founder and CEO of Eight Loop Social as well as the biggest Facebook advertising group in the world, FB Ads Academy. After founding Eight Loop Social in 2015 and growing it to new heights, Cat recently welcomed two new partners. The new additions changed her life. Here is how. When it All Gets Too Much Two years ago, Cat realized her business, which managers over $250,000 in Facebook ad spend per month, was reliant on her. If she made a mistake, it affected the entire business disproportionately. She felt trapped and almost went bankrupt. Last year, her mental health started deteriorating so badly she couldn’t even function. That’s when she realized she needed a change. Cat is all about processes. When implementing changes within her agency, she started with getting rid of anything they did that couldn’t be replicated for most clients. Indeed, if you cannot replicate the service and outcomes a client is getting, you are outside the scope of your core operations. That is putting yourself and your team on a constant learning curve that will either lead to costly business consequences or burnouts for yourself and your employees. It’s All About Streamlining the Process So where do you go from that realization? You refocus, says Cat. Think about the core thing people are paying you to do, and focus on that. Once that becomes systematic, you will have access to scalability. In turn, dealing with a large book of clients will be effective and won’t cost you your mental health. When it comes to agency management, Cat advises starting by being clear on what you want your business to do for you and what that looks like. If you don’t make that vision clear from the start, you will get stuck. Additionally, surround yourself with people who will help you get where you want. Agency owners can’t wear all the hats, that’s just not humanly possible. Not only will a good staff and mentors alleviate some of your workloads, but it will also shift your entire perception of the industry and will introduce you to a plethora of new possibilities. Taking Care of Yourself as an Agency Owner Cat says depression and burnout were a long time coming for her. But when she experienced a mental breakdown and couldn’t even leave the bed, she knew she had to do something about it.
Social PR Secrets: public relations podcast for entrepreneurs by Lisa Buyer
A lot of agency owners dream of the day they’ll be able to walk away from the business they’ve started and nurtured over so many years. But how do you get there? What are the mistakes you should avoid on the way? How do you lead a successful agency while avoiding burnout? And if you ever find yourself overwhelmed or depressed because of your work, how do you get out of it? In this episode of the Social PR Secrets Podcast, host Lisa Buyer talks to agency owner and all-around icon Cat Howell. Cat is the founder and CEO of Eight Loop Social as well as the biggest Facebook advertising group in the world, FB Ads Academy. After founding Eight Loop Social in 2015 and growing it to new heights, Cat recently welcomed two new partners. The new additions changed her life. Here is how. When it All Gets Too Much Two years ago, Cat realized her business, which managers over $250,000 in Facebook ad spend per month, was reliant on her. If she made a mistake, it affected the entire business disproportionately. She felt trapped and almost went bankrupt. Last year, her mental health started deteriorating so badly she couldn’t even function. That’s when she realized she needed a change. Cat is all about processes. When implementing changes within her agency, she started with getting rid of anything they did that couldn’t be replicated for most clients. Indeed, if you cannot replicate the service and outcomes a client is getting, you are outside the scope of your core operations. That is putting yourself and your team on a constant learning curve that will either lead to costly business consequences or burnouts for yourself and your employees. It’s All About Streamlining the Process So where do you go from that realization? You refocus, says Cat. Think about the core thing people are paying you to do, and focus on that. Once that becomes systematic, you will have access to scalability. In turn, dealing with a large book of clients will be effective and won’t cost you your mental health. When it comes to agency management, Cat advises starting by being clear on what you want your business to do for you and what that looks like. If you don’t make that vision clear from the start, you will get stuck. Additionally, surround yourself with people who will help you get where you want. Agency owners can’t wear all the hats, that’s just not humanly possible. Not only will a good staff and mentors alleviate some of your workloads, but it will also shift your entire perception of the industry and will introduce you to a plethora of new possibilities. Taking Care of Yourself as an Agency Owner Cat says depression and burnout were a long time coming for her. But when she experienced a mental breakdown and couldn’t even leave the bed, she knew she had to do something about it.
Cat Howell Founder and CEO of marketing agency Eight Loop Social believes that online courses are disrupting the educational sector. In this episode, she shares tips on how marketers can create an online course in their niche and use it to grow their business. She also shares why failure is an important step to build resilience. Tune in to the episode now: https://shanebarker.com/podcast/create-your-own-online-courses-with-cat-howell/
Listen to Shane Barker and Cat Howell as they talk about the psychology of selling and persuasion. In the episode, Cat shares the marketing lessons that she learned while she worked as a stripper when she was a teenager. She also shares how she started Eight Loop Social, a marketing agency to help brands attract leads. Listen to their conversation now: https://shanebarker.com/podcast/the-psychology-of-selling-a-conversation-with-cat-howell/
Cat is the founder of FB performance based media buying agency Eight Loop Social, Agency Academy and adult spray Theory of Her. Top 3 Value Bombs: 1. The best thing you can do for prospecting in your business is to setup pipelines based off of your strength. 2. Tap into people who have walked the path that you want to walk. 3. Some people tend to hire as a reaction instead of being proactive about it. Visit Cat’s website - CatHowell.com Sponsors: ZipRecruiter: When it comes to hiring, you can save time and get more qualified candidates fast with ZipRecruiter. And right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com/fire! ZipRecruiter. The smartest way to hire. TransUnion ShareAble for Hires: Enables immediate access to employment screening tools that deliver reports in minutes! Start your on-demand screening at Shareable.com/fire and use code ONFIRE50 at checkout to save 50% on your first screening!
It's been said that the marketing of the future is built on communities. Cat Howell built her brand and business by building a community. Facebook Ad Hacks has over 77,000 members that put Cat on the map and on this podcast she shares with you how she did it, the impact, the tactics and everything needed to build your community. ----- With over six years’ experience in social media marketing, Catherine is the Founder and CEO of Eight Loop Social, a successful Facebook Ads Agency that has pioneered performance-based ads. She loves nothing more than helping brands take control of their social media presence and grow their brands in a way that inspires, impresses and builds confidence in their abilities, products and services. Her work with both big and small brands such as FUJIFILM NZ and Pitstop means she has a clear understanding of the social tactics and activities that work in the NZ market. Her work has been featured in Entrepreneur, NZ Business Magazine and CrateJoy and she is a regular speaker on the topic of Facebook Ads and Social Media.
Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies
Are you self-sabotaging your agency's sales? Do you lack trust or confidence in your team to deliver results? Worried they aren't going to live up to expectations and make you look bad? You probably have felt this way at one time or another. You might even be causing the problem and not realize it! Your agency is a reflection of you and it's natural to have these concerns. Once you're super honest and self-aware you can get out of your own way to grow your agency. In today's episode, we'll cover: How niching down builds trust. Avoiding 2 major pitfalls of growing an agency team. 2 questions the guest has for Jason when she puts Swenk on the Spot Today I chatted with Cat Howell, founder, and CEO of Eight Loop Social, a successful Facebook ads agency. Cat faced some serious lows in the beginning and shares with us what she learned and how she overcame them to become a six-figure per month agency. Growing an agency can be hard, but you can make it even harder if you are self-sabotaging your agency sales... and you might not even realize you are doing it. As agency owners, we are all guilty of wanting or feeling that we need to "do it all". Cat tells us how to overcome that "do it all" mentality so you can learn to trust your team and grow your agency. How Niching Down Builds Trust When you are an agency that is trying to serve all types of clients, you aren't serving any type of client well. (The jack-of-all-trades is the master of none.) Trying to do everything means your agency team is constantly on a learning curve to a specific industry or service. That constant learning curve can cost your agency: Money Resources Accounts Greatness When you hone in on your agency's strengths it allows your team the ability to FOCUS. Pinpointing a niche - whether vertical, horizontal or both - provides the opportunity to save time, money, resources as well as gain clients and become great at one thing. Once you pinpoint a niche, create SOP's around that particular funnel and get systemized so your agency team can be more efficient and effective. When you see your team running like a well-oiled machine, you'll gain trust and they'll feel empowered to do work that will grow the agency. Avoiding 2 Major Pitfalls Of Growing an Agency Team #1. DON'T borrow money to build your team. It can be a vicious cycle... You're trying to win new business, but you don't have the money to hire staff. But then clients don't want to commit without you having enough staff in place. You might want to (or already have) taken out a large loan to build your team. Here's how you can avoid this pitfall: Have lead generation processes in place and be able to onboard new clients effectively. Understand how to win clients and bring clients in under the right pricing. Have a system for onboarding and training your team. Minimize the amount of training that requires your time, personally. While you're personally training, you're neglecting other important agency growth tasks. This can lead to resentment and stunt agency's growth. Don't expect new team members to just figure it out - that's a recipe for disaster. #2. DON'T neglect your team during agency growth. In times of fast growth, we tend to shift focus to onboarding clients quickly and lose sight of internal processes and systems such as properly training the agency team. This is a sure way to set them (and you) up for failure. Talk about self-sabotaging! Instead, here's what you can do: Have a non-negotiable structure which includes proper training and processes in place so you can trust your team. If you find yourself in a situation of too much, too fast and things are slipping through the cracks take a step back. Look at what's standing in the team's way of success. Then STOP. Stop the funnel. No more calls. Focus on your team and train them. Reset everyone on the right path in order to rebuild trust and confidence in your team. Your team is your greatest asset. You need to trust your team and put them first. New agency business and growth can only follow when there is confidence in your team to deliver results on the services you're promising. When you lose confidence in your agency team it is natural to start pulling back and that is self-sabotaging agency sales while negatively impacting growth. Swenk On The Spot Today I tried something new on the podcast and let my guest, Cat, ask me two questions. It could be anything she wants, within appropriate reason (ha!) and I answered them on the spot. 1- Do you run background checks on contractors and full-time staff? I run background checks, dig into social accounts, and check references on employees but not on contractors. I'm totally transparent about this policy with job candidates and I've found it filters out the shady ones. 2- What do you do if a client asks you for a grace period on your invoice? No. Don't do it. You have to start by setting up expectations from the beginning of the client relationship. Clients start to get nervous if they don't see results as big or fast as they want to, and they want to put on the brakes. If this happens, remind them they hired you to achieve specific results and you will do it when allowed the proper time. In the meantime, they're still responsible for paying you on time. Looking for a Payroll and HR Solution for your Agency? Payroll and benefits are hard. Especially when you’re a small business. Gusto is making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for small businesses. You no longer have to be a big company to get great technology, great benefits, and great service to take care of your team. For a limited time, Gusto is offering a deal to Smart Agency Master Class listeners. Check out Gusto.com/agency for 3-months FREE once you run your first payroll with them.
Cat Howell helps businesses and entrepreneurs find success through Facebook ads. Having built and scaled a highly successful FB ads agency (Eight Loop Social) to one that generates over six figures per month, Cat subsequently launched The Academy and FATC to help freelancers and agency owners bypass the costly and lengthy learning curves involved in building out a FB ads business – from enrolling clients through delivery and agency processes. She works with a variety of clients, from Coca Cola Amitil and Contiki, as well as grassroots startups.
Many people hesitate to learn how to make money posting ads on Facebook because it seems confusing and overwhelming. On this episode, we talk with Cat Howell, the founder and CEO of Eight Loop Social, which is a Facebook ad agency. Cat shares the reasons why people fail at running Facebook ads and how you can be successful and not waste money. Facebook marketing is like any other sales or marketing in business. There's always a chance that your ads might not work, but Cat recommends trying Facebook ads anyway because they are worth they’re weight in gold. Get all the resources for this episode and listen to more at https://www.thrivinglaunch.com