Podcasts about key performance indicators

How to Build a Winning Strategy for Your B2B Brand In a fast-paced business environment, marketers, agencies, and consultants must proactively help clients differentiate their brands in the marketplace. One way of doing this is by analyzing the strategy, messaging, and brand positioning, both for their own brands and key competitors. So how can teams conduct this kind of brand research and competitive analysis in a way that's insightful, efficient, and actionable for planning the next steps? Tune in as the B2B Marketers on Mission Podcast presents the Marketing DEMO Lab Series, where we sit down with Clay Ostrom (Founder, Map & Fire) and his SmokeLadder platform designed for brand research, messaging and positioning analysis, and competitive benchmarking. In this episode, Clay explained the platform's origins and features, emphasizing its role in analyzing brand positioning, core messaging, and competitive landscapes. He also stressed the importance of clear, consistent brand positioning and messaging, and how standardized make it easier to compare brands across multiple business values. Clay also highlighted the value of objective, data-driven analysis to identify brand strengths, weaknesses, and gaps, and how tools like SmokeLadder can save significant time in gathering insights to build trust with clients. He provided practical steps for generating, refining, and exporting brand messaging and analysis for internal or client-facing use. Finally, Clay also discussed how action items and recommendations generated from analysis can immediately support smart brand strategy decisions and expedite trust-building with clients. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4_o1PzF1Kk Topics discussed in episode: [1:31] The purpose behind building SmokeLadder and why it matters for B2B teams [12:00] A walkthrough of the SmokeLadder platform and how it works [14:51] SmokeLadder's core features [17:48] How positioning scores and category rankings are calculated [35:36] How differentiation and competitors are analyzed inside SmokeLadder [44:07] How SmokeLadder builds messaging and generates targeted personas [50:24] The key benefits and unique capabilities that set SmokeLadder apart Companies and links: Clay Ostrom Map & Fire SmokeLadder Transcript Christian Klepp  00:00 In an increasingly competitive B2B landscape, marketers, agencies and consultants, need to proactively find ways to help their clients stand out amidst the digital noise. One way of doing this is by analyzing the strategy, messaging and positioning of their own brands and those of their competitors. So how can they do this in a way that’s insightful, efficient and effective? Welcome to this first episode of the B2B Marketers in the Mission podcast Demo Lab Series, and I’m your host, Christian Klepp. Today, I’ll be talking to Clay Ostrom about this topic. He’s the owner and founder of the branding agency Map and Fire, and the creator of the platform Smoke Ladder that we’ll be talking about today. So let’s dive in. Christian Klepp  00:42 All right, and I’m gonna say Clay Ostrom. Welcome to this first episode of the Demo Lab Series. Clay Ostrom  00:50 I am super excited and very honored to be the first guest on this new series. It’s awesome. Christian Klepp  00:56 We are honored to have you here. And you know, let’s sit tight, or batten down the hatches and buckle up, and whatever other analogy you want to throw in there, because we are going to unpack a lot of interesting features and discuss interesting topics around the platform that you’ve built. And I think a good place to start, perhaps Clay before we start doing a walk through of the platform is, but let’s start at the very beginning. What motivated you to create this platform called Smoke Ladder. Clay Ostrom  01:31 So we should go all the way back to my childhood. I always dreamed of, you know, working on brand and positioning. You know, that was something I’ve always thought of since the early days, but no, but I do. I own an agency called Map and Fire, so I’ve been doing this kind of work for over 10 years now, and have worked with lots and lots of different kinds of clients, and over that time, developed different frameworks and a point of view about how to do this kind of work, and when the AI revolution kind of hit us all, it just really struck me that this was an opportunity to take a lot of that thinking and a lot of that, you know, again, my perspective on how to do this work and productize that and turn it into something that could be used by people when we’re not engaged with them, in some kind of service offering. So, so that was kind of the kernel of it. I actually have a background in computer science and product. So it was sort of this natural Venn diagram intersection of I can do some product stuff, I can do brand strategy stuff. So let’s put it together and build something. Christian Klepp  02:46 And the rest, as they say, is history. Clay Ostrom  02:49 The rest, as they say, is a lot of nights and weekends and endless hours slaving away at trying to build something useful. Christian Klepp  02:58 Sure, sure, that certainly is part of it, too. Clay Ostrom  03:01 Yeah. Christian Klepp  03:02 Let’s not keep the audience in suspense for too long here, right? Like, let’s start with the walk through. And before you share your screen, maybe I’ll set this up a little bit, right? Because you, as you said, like, you know, you’ve built this platform. It’s called Smoke Ladder, which I thought was a really clever name. It’s, you like to describe it as, like, your favorite SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool, but for brand research and analysis. So I would say, like, walk us through how somebody would use this platform, like, whether they be a marketer that’s already been like in the industry for years, or is starting out, or somebody working at a brand or marketing agency, and how does the platform address these challenges or questions that people have regarding brand strategy, analysis and research? Clay Ostrom  03:49 Yeah, yeah. I use that analogy of the SEO thing, just because, especially early on, I was trying to figure out the best way to describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it before. I feel like it’s a, I’m not going to fall into the trap of saying, this is the only product like this, but it has its own unique twists with what it can do. And I felt like SEO tools are something everybody has touched at one point or another. So I was using this analogy of, it’s like the s, you know, Semrush of positioning and messaging or Ahrefs, depending on your if you’re a Coke or Pepsi person. But I always felt like that was just a quick way to give a little idea of the fact that it’s both about analyzing your own brand, but it’s also about competitive analysis and being able to see what’s going on in the market or in your landscape, and looking specifically at what your competitors are doing and what their strengths and weaknesses are. So does that resonate with you in terms of, like, a shorthand way, I will say, I don’t. I don’t say that. It’s super explicitly on the website, but it’s been in conversation. Christian Klepp  05:02 No, absolutely, absolutely, that resonated with me. The only part that didn’t resonate with me is that I’m neither a coke or a Pepsi person. I’m more of a ginger ale type of guy. I digress. But yeah, let’s what don’t you share your screen, and let’s walk through this, right? Like, okay, if a marketing person were like, use the platform to do some research on, perhaps that marketers, like own company and the competitors as well, right? Like, what would they do? Clay Ostrom  05:32 Yeah, so that’s, that is, like you were saying, there’s, sort of, I guess, a few different personas of people who would potentially use this. And initially I was thinking a little more about both in house, people who, you know, someone who’s working on a specific brand, digging really deep on their own brand, whether they’re, you know, the marketing lead or whatever, maybe they’re the founder, and then this other role of agency owners, or people who work at an agency where they are constantly having to look at new brands, new categories, and quickly get up to speed on what those brands are doing and what’s the competitive space look like, you know, for that brand. And that’s something that, if you work at an agency, which obviously we both have our own agencies, we do this stuff weekly. I mean, every time a new lead comes in, we have to quickly get up to speed and understand something about what they do. And one of the big gaps that I found, and I’d be curious to kind of hear your thoughts on this, but I’ve had a lot of conversations with other agency owners, and I think one of the biggest gaps is often that brands are just not always that great at explaining their own brand or positioning or differentiation to you, and sometimes they have some documentation around it, but a lot of times they don’t. A lot of it’s word of mouth, and that makes it really hard to do work for them. If whatever you’re doing for them, whether that’s maybe you are working on SEO or maybe you’re working on paid ads or social or content, you have to know what the brand is doing and kind of what they’re again, what their strengths and weaknesses are, so that you can talk about that. I mean, do you come across that a lot in your work? Christian Klepp  07:33 How do I say this without offending anybody? I find, I mean jokes aside, I find, more often than not, in the especially in the B2B space, which is an area that I operate in, I find 888 point five times out of 10. We are dealing with companies that have a they, have a very rude, rudimentary, like, framework of something that remotely resembles some form of branding. And I know that was a very long winded answer, but it’s kind of sort of there, but not really, if you know what I mean. Clay Ostrom  08:17 Yeah. Christian Klepp  08:17 And there have been other extreme cases where they’ve got the logo and the website, and that’s as far as their branding goals. And I would say that had they had all these, this discipline, like branding system and structure in place, then people like maybe people like you and I will be out on a job, right and it’s something, and I’m sure you’ve come across this, and we’ll probably dig into this later, but like you, it’s something I’ve come across several times, especially in the B2B space, where branding is not taken seriously until it becomes serious. I know that sounds super ironic, right, but, and it’s to the point of this platform, right, which we’re going to dig into in a second, but it’s, it’s things, for instance, positioning right, like, are you? Are you, in fact, strategically positioned against competitors? Is your messaging resonating with, I would imagine, especially in the B2B context, with the multiple group target groups that you have, or that your company is, is going after? Right? Is that resonating, or is this all like something that I call the internal high five? You’ve this has all been developed to please internal stakeholders and and then you take it to market, and it just does not, it just does not resonate with the target audience at all. Right? So there’s such a complex plethora of challenges here, right? That people like yourself and like you and I are constantly dealing with, and I think that’s also part of the reason why I would say a platform like this is important, because it helps to not just aggregate data. I mean, certainly it does that too, but it helps. To put things properly, like into perspective at speed. I think that might be, that might be something that you would have talked about later, but it does this at speed, because I think, from my own experience, one of the factors in our world that sometimes works against us is time, right? Clay Ostrom  10:19 No, I totally agree, yeah, and, you know, we’re lucky, I guess would be the word that we are often hired to work on a company strategy with them and help them clarify these things. Christian Klepp  10:33 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  10:34 There are a million other flavors of agencies out there who are being hired to execute on work for a brand, and not necessarily being brought in to redefine, you know what the brand, you know they’re positioning and their messaging and some of these fundamental things, so they’re kind of stuck with whatever they get. And like you said, a lot of times it’s not much. It might be a logo and a roughly put together website, and maybe not a whole lot else. So, yeah, but I think your other point about speed is that was a huge part of this. I think the market is only accelerating right now, because it’s becoming so much easier to start up new companies and new brands and new products. And now we’ve got vibe coding, so you can technically build a product in a day, maybe launch it the next day, start marketing it, you know, by the weekend. And all of this is creating noise and competition, and it’s all stuff that we have to deal with as marketers. We have to understand the landscape. We’ve got to quickly be able to analyze all these different brands, see where the strengths and weaknesses are and all that stuff. So… Christian Klepp  11:46 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  11:46 But, yeah, that, I think that the speed piece is a huge part of this for sure. Christian Klepp  11:51 Yeah. So, so we’re okay, so we’re on the I guess this, this will probably be the homepage. So just walk us through what, what a marketing person would do if they want to use this platform, yeah? Clay Ostrom  12:00 So the very first thing you do when you come in, and this was when I initially conceived of this product, one of the things that I really wanted was the ability to have very quick feedback, be able to get analysis for whatever brand you’re looking at, you know, right away to be able to get some kind of, you know, insight or analysis done. So the first thing you can do, and you can do this literally, from the homepage of the website, you can enter in a URL for a brand, come into the product, even before you’ve created an account, you can come in and you can do an initial analysis, so you can put in whatever URL you’re looking at, could be yours, could be a competitor, and run that initial analysis. What we’re looking at here, this is, if you do create an account, this is, this becomes your, as we say, like Home Base, where you can save brands that you’re looking at. You can see your history, all that good stuff. And it just gives you some quick bookmarks so that you can kind of flip back and forth between, maybe it’s your brand, maybe it’s some of the competitors you’re looking at and then it gives you just some quick, kind of high level directional info. And I kind of break it up into these different buckets. Clay Ostrom  13:23 And again, I’d love to kind of hear if this is sort of how you think about it, too. But there’s sort of these different phases when you’re working on a brand. And again, this is sort of from an agency perspective, but you first got the sort of the research and the pitch piece. So this is before maybe you’re even working with them. You’re trying to get an understanding of what they do. Then we have discovery and onboarding, where we’re digging in a little bit deeper. We’re trying to really put together, what does the brand stand for, what are their strengths and weaknesses? And then we have the deeper dive, the strategy and differentiation. And this is where we’re really going in and getting more granular with the specific value points that they offer, doing some of that messaging analysis, finding, finding some of the gaps of the things that they’re talking about or not talking about, and going in deeper. So it kind of break it up into these buckets, based on my experience of how we engage with clients. Does that? Does that make sense to you, like, does that? Christian Klepp  14:28 It does make sense, I think. But what could be helpful for the audience is because this, this almost looks like it’s a pre cooked meal. All right, so what do we do we try another I mean, I think you use Slack for the analysis. Why don’t we use another brand, and then just pop it into that analysis field, and then see what it comes out with. Clay Ostrom  14:51 So the nice thing about this is, if you are looking at a brand that’s been analyzed, you’re going to get the data up really quickly. It’ll be basically pop up instantly. But you can analyze a brand from scratch as well. Just takes about a minute or so, basically, to kind of do some of the analysis. So for the sake of a demo, it’s a little easier just to kind of look at something that we’ve got in there. But if it’s a brand that you know, maybe you’re looking at a competitor for one of your brands, you know, there’s a good chance, because we’ve got about 6000 brands that we’ve analyzed in here, that there’s a good chance there’ll be some info on them. But so this is pipe drive. So whoever’s not familiar Pipedrive is, you know, it’s a CRM  (Customer Relationship Management), it’s, it’s basically, you know, it’s a lighter version of a HubSpot or Salesforce basically track deals and opportunities for business, but this so I flipped over. I don’t know if it was clear there, but I flipped over to this brand brief tab. And this is where we we get, essentially, a high level view of some key points about the brand and and I think about this as this would be something that you would potentially share with a client if you were, you know, working with them and you wanted to review the brand with them and make sure that your analysis is on point, but you’ll see it’s kind of giving you some positioning scores, where you rank from a category perspective, message clarity, and then we’ve got things like a quick overview, positioning summary, who their target persona is, in this case, sales manager, sales operation lead, and some different value points. And then it starts to get a little more granular. We get into like key competitors, Challenger brands. We do a little SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, and then maybe one of the more important parts is some of these action items. So what do we do with this? Yeah, and obviously, these are, these are starting points. This is not, it’s not going to come in and, you know, instantly be able to tell you strategically, exactly what to do, but it’s going to give you some ideas of based on the things we’ve seen. Here are some reasonable points that you might want to be looking at to, you know, improve the brand. Make it make it stronger. Christian Klepp  17:13 Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, this is all great clay, but like, I think, for the benefit of the audience, can we scroll back up, please. And let’s just walk through these one by one, because I think it’s important for the audience/potential future users,/ customers of Smoke Ladder, right? To understand, to understand this analysis in greater depth, and also, like, specifically, like, let’s start with a positioning score right, like, out of 100 like, what is this? What is this based on? And how was this analyzed? Let’s start with that. Clay Ostrom  17:48 Yeah, and this is where the platform really started. And I’m going to actually jump over to the positioning tab, because this will give us the all the detail around this particular feature. But this is, this was where I began the product this. I kind of think of this as being, in many ways, sort of the heart and soul of it. And when I mentioned earlier about this being based on our own work and frameworks and how we approach this, this is very much the case with this. This is, you know, the approach we use with the product is exactly how we work with clients when we’re evaluating their positioning. And it’s, it’s basically, it’s built off a series of scores. And what we have here are 24 different points of business value, which, if we zoom in just a little bit down here, we can see things like reducing risk, vision, lowering cost, variety, expertise, stability, etc. So there’s 24 of these that we look at, and it’s meant to be a way that we can look across different brands and compare and contrast them. So it’s creating, like, a consistent way of looking at brands, even if they’re not in the same category, or, you know, have slightly different operating models, etc. But what we do is we go in and we score every brand on each of these 24 points. And if we scroll down here a little bit, we can see the point of value, the exact score they got, the category average, so how it compares against, you know, all the other brands we’ve analyzed, and then a little bit of qualitative information about why they got the score. Christian Klepp  19:27 Sorry, Clay, Can I just jump in for a second so these, these attributes, or these key values that you had in the graph at the top right, like, are these consistent throughout regardless of what brand is being analyzed, or the least change. Clay Ostrom  19:42 It’s consistent. Christian Klepp  19:43 Consistent? Clay Ostrom  19:44 Yeah, and that was one of the sort of strategic decisions we had to make with the product. Was, you know, there’s a, maybe another version of this, where you do different points depending on maybe the category, or, you know, things like that. But I wanted to do it consistent because, again, it allows us to look at every brand through the same lens. It doesn’t mean that every brand you know there are certain points of value that just aren’t maybe relevant for a particular brand, and that’s fine, they just won’t score as highly in those but at least it gives us a consistent way to look at so when you’re looking at 10 different competitors, you know you’ve got a consistent way to look at them together,. Christian Klepp  20:26 Right, right, right. Okay, okay, all right, thanks for that. Now let’s go down to the next section there, where you’ve got, like this table with like four different columns here. So you mentioned that these are being scored against other brands in their category. Like, can you share it with the audience? Like, how many other brands are being analyzed here? Clay Ostrom  20:51 Yeah, well, it depends on the category. So again, we’ve got six, you know, heading towards 7000 brands that we’ve analyzed collectively. Each category varies a little bit, but, you know, some categories, we have more brands than others. But what this allows us to do is, again, to quickly look at this and say, okay, for pipe drive, a big focus for pipe drive is organization, simplification. You know, one of their big value props is we’re an easier tool to use than Salesforce or HubSpot. You can get up to speed really quickly. You don’t have all the setup and configurations and all that kind of stuff. So this is showing us that, yes, like their messaging, their content, their brand, does, in fact, do a good job of making it clear that simplicity is a big part of pipe drive’s message. And they do that by talking about it a lot in their messaging, having case studies, having testimonials, all these things that support it. And that’s how we come up with these scores. Is by saying, like the brand emphasizes these points well, they talk about it clearly, and that’s what we base it on. Christian Klepp  22:04 Okay, okay. Clay Ostrom  22:06 But as you come, I was just gonna say as you come down here, you can see, so the green basically means that they score well above average for that particular point. Yellow is, you know, kind of right around average, or maybe slightly above, and then red means that they’re below average for that particular point. So for example, like variety of tools, they don’t emphasize that as much with pipe drive, maybe compared to, again, like a Salesforce or a HubSpot that has a gazillion tools, pipe drive, that’s not a big focus for them. So they don’t score as highly there, but you can kind of just get a quick view of, okay, here are the things that they’re really strong with, and here are the things that maybe they’re, you know, kind of weak or below average. Christian Klepp  22:58 Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s certainly interesting, because I, you know, I’ve, I’ve used the, I’ve used the platform for analyzing some of my clients, competitor brands. And, you know, when I’m looking at this, like analysis with the scoring, with the scoring sheet, it, I think it will also be interesting perhaps in future, because you’ve got a very detailed breakdown of, okay, the factors and how they’re scored, and what the brand value analysis is also, because, again, in the interest of speed and time, it’d be great if the platform can also churn out maybe a one to two sentence like, summary of what is this data telling us, right? Because I’m thinking back to my early days as a product manager, and we would spend hours, like back then on Excel spreadsheets. I’m dating myself a little bit here, but um, and coming up with this analysis and charts, but presenting that to senior management, all they wanted to know was the one to two sentence summary of like, come on. What are you telling me with all these charts, like, what is the data telling you that we need to know? Right? Clay Ostrom  24:07 I know it’s so funny. We again, as strategists and researchers, we love to nerd out about the granular details, but you’re right. When you’re talking to a leader at a business, it does come down to like, okay, great. What do we do? And so, and I flipped back over to slacks. I knew I had already generated this but, but we’re still in the positioning section here, but we have this get insights feature. So basically it will look at all those scores and give you kind of, I think, similar to what you’re describing. Like, here’s three takeaways from what we’re seeing. Okay, okay, great, yeah, so we don’t want to leave you totally on your own to have to figure it all out. We’ll give you, give you a little helping hand. Christian Klepp  24:53 Yeah. You don’t want to be like in those western movies, you’re on your own kid. Clay Ostrom  24:59 Yeah. We try not to strand you again. There’s a lot of data here. I think that’s one of the strengths and and challenges with the platform, is that we try to give you a lot of data. And for some people, you may not want to have to sift through all of it. You might want just sort of give me the three points here. Christian Klepp  25:19 Absolutely, absolutely. And at the very least they can start pointing you in the right direction, and then you could be, you could then, like, through your own initiative, and perhaps dig a little bit deeper and perhaps find some other insights that may be, may be relevant, right? Clay Ostrom  25:35 Totally. Christian Klepp  25:36 Hey, it’s Christian Klepp here. We’ll get back to the episode in a second. But first, I’d like to tell you about a new series that we’re launching on our show. As the B2B landscape evolves, marketers need to adapt and leverage the latest marketing tools and software to become more efficient. Enter B2B Marketers on a Mission Marketing Demo Lab where experts discuss the latest tools and software that empower you to become a better B2B marketer. Tune in as we chat with product experts. Provide unbiased product reviews, give advice and deliver insights into real world applications and actionable tips on tools and technologies for B2B marketing. Subscribe to the Marketing Demo Lab, YouTube channel and B2B Marketers on a Mission, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Christian Klepp  26:21 All right. Now, back to the show, if we can, if we could jump back, sorry, to the, I think it was the brand brief, right? Like, where we where we started out, and I said, let’s, let’s dig deeper. Okay, so then, then we have, okay, so we talked about positioning score. Now we’re moving on to category rank and message clarity score. What does that look like? Clay Ostrom  26:41 Yeah. So the category rank is, it’s literally just looking at the positioning score that you’ve gotten for the brand and then telling you within this category, where do you sort of fall in the ranking, essentially, or, like, you know, how do we, you know, for comparing the score against all the competitors, where do you fall? So you can see, with Slack, they’re right in the middle. And it’s interesting, because with a product like Slack, even though we all now know what slack is and what it does and everything. Christian Klepp  27:18 Yeah. Clay Ostrom  27:19 The actual messaging and content that they have now, I think maybe doesn’t do as good of a job as it maybe did once upon a time, and it’s gotten as products grow and brands grow, they tend to get more vague, a little more broad with what they talk about, and that kind of leads to softer positioning. So that’s sort of what we’re seeing reflected here. And then the third score is the message clarity score, which we can jump into, like, a whole different piece. Christian Klepp  27:48 Four on a tennis not a very high score, right? Clay Ostrom  27:52 Yeah. And again, I think it’s a product, of, we can kind of jump into that section. Christian Klepp  27:57 Yeah, let’s do that, yeah. Clay Ostrom  27:59 But it’s, again, a product, I think of Slack being now a very mature product that is has gotten sort of a little vague, maybe a little broader, with their messaging. But the message clarity score, we basically have kind of two parts to this on the left hand side are some insights that we gather based on the messaging. So what’s your category, quick synopsis of the product. But then we also do some things, like… Christian Klepp  28:33 Confusing part the most confusing. Clay Ostrom  28:36 Honestly to me, as I get I’d love to hear your experience with this, but coming into a new brand, this is sometimes one of the most enlightening parts, because it shows me quickly where some gaps in what we’re talking about, and in this case, just kind of hits on what we were just saying a minute ago. Of the messaging is overloaded with generic productivity buzzwords, fails to clearly differentiate how Slack is better than email or similar tools, etc. But also, this is another one that I really like, and I use this all the time, which is the casual description. So rather than this technical garbage jargon, you know, speak, just give me. Give it to me in plain English, like we’re just chatting. And so this description of it’s a workplace chat app for teams to message, collaborate, share files. Like, okay, cool. Like, yeah, you know, I get it. Yeah, I already know what slack is. But if I didn’t, that would tell me pretty well. Christian Klepp  29:33 Absolutely, yeah, yeah. No, my experience with this is has been, you know, you and I have been in the branding space for a while. So for the trained eye, when you look at messaging, you’ll know if it’s good or not, right. And we come I mean, I’m sure you do the same clay, but I also come to my own like conclusions based on experience of like, okay, so why do I think that that’s good messaging, or why do I think that that’s confusing messaging? Or it falls short, and why and how can that be improved? But it’s always good to have validation with either with platforms like this, where you have a you have AI, or you have, you have a software that you can use that analyzes, like, for example, like the messaging on a website, and it dissects that and says, Well, okay, so this is what they’re getting, right? So there’s a scoring for that, so it’s in the green, and then this is, this is where it gets confusing, right? So even you run that through, you run that through the machine, and the machine analyzes it as like, Okay, we can’t clearly, clearly define what it is they’re doing based on the messaging, right? And for me, that’s always a it’s good. It’s almost like getting a second doctor’s opinion, right? And then you go, Aha. So I we’ve identified the symptoms now. So let’s find the penicillin, right? Like, let’s find the remedy for this, right? Clay Ostrom  30:56 Yeah, well, and I like what you said there, because part of the value, I think, with this is it’s an objective perspective on the brand, so it doesn’t have any baggage. It’s coming in with fresh eyes, the same way a new customer would come into your website, where they don’t know really much about you, and they have to just take what you’re giving at face value about what you present. And we as people working on brands get completely blinded around what’s actually working, what’s being communicated. There’s so much that we take for granted about what we already know about the brand. And this comes in and just says, Okay, I’m just, I’m just taking what you give me, and I’m going to tell you what I see, and I see some gaps around some of these things. You know, I don’t have the benefit of sitting in your weekly stand up meeting and hearing all the descriptions of what you’re actually doing. Christian Klepp  31:59 I’m sorry to jump in. I’m interested to know, like, just, just based on what we’ve been reviewing so far, like, what has your experience been showing this kind of analysis to clients, and how do they respond to some of this data, for example, that you know, you’re walking us through right now? Clay Ostrom  32:18 Yeah, I think it’s been interesting. Honestly, I think it can sometimes feel harsh. And I think again, as someone who’s both run an agency and also built worked on brands, we get attached to our work on an emotional level. Christian Klepp  32:42 Absolutely. Clay Ostrom  32:42 Even if we think about it as, you know, this is just work, and it’s, you know, whatever, we still build up connections with our work and we want it to be good. And so I think there’s sometimes a little bit of a feeling of wow, like that’s harsh, or I would have expected or thought we would have done better or scored better in certain areas, but that is almost always followed up with but I’m so glad to know where, where we’re struggling, because now I can fix it. I can actually know what to focus on to fix, and that, to me, is what it’s all about, is, yes, there’s a little bit of feelings attached to some of these things, maybe, but at the end of the day, we really want it to be good. We want it to be clear. We don’t want to be a 4 out of 10. We want to be a 10 out of 10. And what specifically do we need to do to get there? And that’s really what we’re trying to reveal with this. So I think, you know, everybody’s a little different, but I would say the reactions are typically a mix of that. It’s like, maybe an ouch, but a Oh, good. Let’s work on it. Christian Klepp  33:55 Absolutely, absolutely. Okay. So we’ve got brand summary, we’ve got fundamentals, then quality of messaging is the other part of it, right? Clay Ostrom  34:02 So, yeah, so this, this is, this is where the actual 4 out of 10 comes. We have these 10 points that we look at and we say, Okay, are you communicating these things clearly? Are you communicating who your target customer is, your category, your offering, where you’re differentiated benefits? Do you have any kind of concrete claim about what you do to support you know what you’re what you’re selling? Is the messaging engaging? Is it concise? You’ll see here a 7% on concise. That’s basically telling us that virtually no brands do a good job of being concise. Only about 7% get a green check mark on this, and kind of similar with the jargon and the vague words big struggle points with almost every brand. Christian Klepp  34:55 Streamline collaboration. Clay Ostrom  34:58 So we can see here with Slack. You know some of the jargon we got, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), MQLs (Marketing Qualified Lead), if you’re in the space, you could argue like, oh, I kind of know what those things are. But depending on your role, you may not always know. In something like Salesforce marketing cloud, unless you’re a real Salesforce nerd, you probably have no idea what that is. But again, it’s just a way to quickly identify some of those weak points, things that we could improve to make our message more clear. Christian Klepp  35:27 Yes, yes. Okay, so that was the messaging analysis correct? Clay Ostrom  35:33 Yeah. Christian Klepp  35:33 Yeah. Okay. So what else have we got? Clay Ostrom  35:36 Yeah, so I think one other thing we could look at just for a sec, is differentiation, and this is this kind of plays off of what we looked at a minute ago with the positioning scores. But this is a way for us to look head to head with two different brands. So in this case, we’ve got Slack in the red and we’ve got Discord in the greenish blue. And I think of these, these patterns, as sort of the fingerprint of your brand. So where you Where are you strong? Where are you weak? And if we can overlay those two fingerprints on top of each other, we can see, where do we have advantages, and where does our competitor have advantages? So if we come down, we can sort of see, and this is again, for the nerds like me, to be able to come in and go deep, do kind of a deep dive on specifically, why did, why does Discord score better than Slack in certain areas. And at the bottom here we can see a kind of a quick summary. So slack is stronger in simplification, saving time, Discord has some better messaging around generating revenue, lowering costs, marketability. But again, this gives us a way to think about what are the things we want to double down on? So what do we want to actually be known for in the market? Because we can’t be known for everything. You know, buyers can maybe only remember a couple things about us. What are those couple things where we’re really strong, where we really stand out, and we’ve got some separation from the competitors. Christian Klepp  37:18 Right, okay, okay, just maybe we take a step back here, because I think this is great. It’s very detailed. It gets a bit granular, but I think it’s also going back to a conversation that you and I had previously about, like, Okay, why is it so important to be armed with this knowledge, especially if you’re in the marketing role, or perhaps even an agency talking to a potential client going in there already armed with the information about their competitors. And we were talking about this being a kind of like a trust building mechanism, right? For lack of a better description, right? Clay Ostrom  38:03 Yeah, I think to me, what I like about this, and again, this does come out of 10 years of doing work, this kind of work with clients as well, is it’s so easy to fall into a space of soft descriptions around things like positioning and just sort of using vague, you know, wordings or descriptions, and when you can actually put a number on it, which, again, it’s subjective. This isn’t. This isn’t an objective metric, but it’s a way for us to compare and contrast. It allows us to have much more productive conversations with clients, where we can say we looked at your brand, we we what based on our analysis, we see that you’re scoring a 10 and a 9 on simplicity and organization, for example. Is that accurate to you like do you think that’s what you all are emphasizing the most? Does that? Does that resonate and at the same time, we can say, but your competitors are really focused on there. They have a strong, strong message around generating revenue and lowering costs for their customers. Right now, you’re not really talking about that. Is that accurate? Is that like, what you is that strategically, is that what you think you should be doing so really quickly, I’ve now framed a conversation that could have been very loose and kind of, you know, well, what do you think your strategy is about? What do you know? And instead, I can say, we see you being strong in these three points. We see your competitors being strong in these three points. What do you think about that? And I think that kind of clarity just makes the work so much more productive with clients, or just again, working on your own brand internally. So what do you think about that kind of perspective? Christian Klepp  40:08 Yeah, no, no, I definitely agree with that. It’s always and I’ve been that type of person anyway that you know you go into a especially with somebody that hasn’t quite become a client yet, right? One of the most important things is also, how should I put this? Certainly the trust building part of it needs to be there. The other part is definitely a demonstration of competence and ability, but it’s also that you’ve been proactive and done your homework, versus like, Okay, I’m I’m just here as an order taker, right? And let’s just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it right? A lot and especially, I think this has been a trend for a long time already, but a lot of the clients that I’ve worked with now in the past, they want to, they’re looking for a partner that’s not just thinking with them, it’s someone that’s thinking ahead of them. And this type of work, you know what we’re seeing here on screen, this is the type of work that I would consider thinking ahead of them, right? Clay Ostrom  41:18 No, I agree. I think you framed that really well. Of we’re trying to build trust, because if we’re going to make any kind of recommendations around a change or a shift, they have to believe that we know what we’re talking about, that we’re competent, that we’ve done the work. And I think I agree with you. I think like this, it’s kind of funny, like we all, I think, on some base level, are attracted to numbers and scores. It just gives us something to latch on to. But I think it also, like you said, it gives you a feeling that you’ve done your work, that you’ve done your homework, you’ve studied, you’ve you’ve done some analysis that they themselves may have never done on this level. And that’s a big value. Christian Klepp  42:08 Yes, and a big part of the reason just to, just to build on what you said, a big part of the reason why they haven’t done this type of work is because it’s not so much. The cost is certainly one part of it, but it’s the time, it’s a time factor and the resource and the effort that needs to be put into it. Because, you know, like, tell me if you’ve never heard this one before, but there are some, there are some companies that we’ve been working with that don’t actually have a clearly, like, you know, a clear document on who their their target personas are, yeah, or their or their ICPs, never mind the buyer’s journey map. They don’t, they don’t even have the personas mapped out, right? Clay Ostrom  42:52 100% Yeah, it’s, and it’s, I think you’re right. It’s, it’s a mix of time and it’s a mix of just experience where, if you are internal with a brand, you don’t do this kind of work all the time. You might do it at the beginning. Maybe you do a check in every once in a while, but you need someone who’s done this a lot with a lot of different brands so that they can give you guidance through this kind of framework. But so it’s, you know, so some of it is a mix of, you know, we don’t have the time always to dig in like this. But some of it is we don’t even know how to do it, even if we did have the time. So it’s hopefully giving, again, providing some different frameworks and different ways of looking at it. Christian Klepp  43:41 Absolutely, absolutely. So okay, so we’ve gone through. What is it now, the competitor comparison. What else does the platform provide us that the listeners and the audience should be paying attention to here? Clay Ostrom  43:55 So I’ll show you two more quick things. So one is this message building section. So this is… Christian Klepp  44:03 Are you trying to put me out of a job here Clay? Clay Ostrom  44:07 Well, I’ll say this. So far in my experience with this, it’s not going to put us out of a job, but it is going to hopefully make our job easier and better. It’s going to make us better at the work we do. And that’s really, I think that’s, I think that’s kind of, most people’s impression of AI at this point is that it’s not quite there to replace us, but it’s sure, certainly can enhance what we do. Christian Klepp  44:36 Yeah, you’ll excuse me, I couldn’t help but throw that one out. Clay Ostrom  44:38 Yeah, I know, trust me, I’m this. It’s like I’m building a product that, in a sense, is undercutting, you know, the work that I do. So it is kind of a weird thing, but this message building section, which is a new part of the platform. It will come in, and you can see on the right hand side. And there’s sort of a quick summary of all these different elements that we’ve already analyzed. And then it’s going to give you some generated copy ideas, including, if I zoom in a little bit here, we’ve got an eyebrow category. This is again for Slack. It’s giving us a headline idea, stay informed without endless emails. Sub headline call to action, three challenges that your customers are facing, and then three points about your solution that help address those for customers. So it’s certainly not writing all of your copy for you, but if you’re starting from scratch, or you’re working on something new, or even if you’re trying to refresh a brand. I think this can be helpful to give you some messaging that’s hopefully clear. That’s something that I think a lot of messaging misses, especially in B2B, it’s, it’s not always super clear, like what you even do. Christian Klepp  45:56 Don’t get me started. Clay Ostrom  45:59 So hopefully it’s clear. It’s, you know, again, it’s giving you some different ideas. And that you’ll see down here at the bottom, you can, you can iterate on this. So we’ve got several versions. You can actually come in and, you know, you can edit it yourself. So if you say, like, well, I like that, but not quite that, you know, I can, you know, get my human touch on it as well. But yeah, so it’s a place to iterate on message. Christian Klepp  46:25 You can kind of look at it like, let’s say, if you’re writing a blog article, and this will give you the outline, right? Yeah. And then most of the AI that I’ve worked with to generate outlines, they’re not quite there. But again, if you’re starting from zero and you want to go from zero to 100 Well, that’ll, that’ll at least get you to 40 or 50, right? But I’m curious to know, because we’re looking at this now, and I think this, I mean, for me, this is, this is fascinating, but, like, maybe, maybe this will be part of your next iteration. But will this, will this generate messaging that’s already SEO optimized. Clay Ostrom  47:02 You know, it’s not specifically geared towards that, but I would say that it ends up being maybe more optimized than a lot of other messaging because it puts such an emphasis on clarity, it naturally includes words and phrases that I think are commonly used in the space more so than you know, maybe just kind of typical off the shelf Big B2B messaging, Christian Klepp  47:27 Gotcha. I had a question on the target persona that you’ve got here on screen, right? So how does the platform generate the information that will then populate that field because, and when I’m just trying to think about like, you know, because I’ve been, I’ve been in the space for as long as you have, and the way that I’ve generated target personas in the past was not by making a wild guess about, like, you know, looking at the brand’s website. It’s like having conducting deep customer research and listening to hours and hours of recordings, and from there, generating a persona. And this has done it in seconds. So… Clay Ostrom  48:09 Yeah, it’s so the way the system works in a couple different layers. So it does an initial analysis, where it does positioning, messaging analysis and category analysis, then you can generate the persona on top of that. So it takes all the learnings that it got from the category, from the product, from your messaging, and then develops a persona around that. And it’s, of course, able to also pull in, you know, the AI is able to reference things that it knows about the space in general. But I have found, and this is true. I was just having a conversation with someone who works on a very niche brand for a very specific audience, and I was showing him what it had output. And I said, Tell me, like, Don’t hold back. Like, is this accurate? He said, Yeah, this is, like, shockingly accurate for you know, how we view our target customer. So I think it’s pretty good. It’s not again, not going to be perfect. You’re going to need to do some work, and you still got to do the research, but, but, yeah. Christian Klepp  49:13 Okay, fantastic, fantastic. How do, I guess there’s the option, I see it there, like, download the PDF. So anything that’s analyzed on the platform can then be exported in a PDF format, right? Like, like, into a report. Clay Ostrom  49:28 Yeah, right now you can export the messaging analysis, or, sorry, the the messaging ideation that you’ve done, and then in the brand brief you can also, you can download a PDF of the brand brief as well. So, those are the two main areas. I’m still working on some additional exports of data so that people can pull it into a spreadsheet and do some other stuff with it. Christian Klepp  49:49 Fantastic, fantastic. That’s awesome, Clay. I’ve got a couple more questions before I let you go. But this has been, this has been amazing, right? Like and I really hope that whoever’s in the one listening and, most importantly, watching this, I hope that you really do consider like, you know, taking this for a test drive, right? How many I might have asked you this before, because, you know, I am somebody that does use, you know, that does a lot of this type of research. But how much time would you say companies would save by using Smoke Ladder? Clay Ostrom  50:24 It’s a good question. I feel like I’m starting to get some feedback around that with from our users, but I mean, for me personally, I would typically spend an hour or two just to get kind of up to speed initially, with a brand and kind of look at some of their competitors. If I’m doing a deep dive, though, if I’m actually doing some of the deeper research work, it could be several hours per client. So I don’t know. On a given week, it might depend on how many clients you’re talking to. Could be anywhere from a few hours to 10 hours or more, depending on how much work you’re doing. But, yeah, I think it’s a decent amount. Christian Klepp  51:07 Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, this definitely does look like a time saver. Here comes my favorite question, which you’re gonna look at me like, Okay, I gotta, I gotta. Clay Ostrom  51:17 Now bring it on. Let’s go. Christian Klepp  51:22 Folks that are not familiar with Smoke Ladder are gonna look at this, um, and before they actually, um, take it upon themselves to, like, watch, hopefully, watch this video on our channel. Um, they’re gonna look at that and ask themselves, Well, what is it that Smoke Ladder does that? You know that other AI couldn’t do, right, like, so I guess what I’m trying to say is, like, Okay, why would they use? How does the platform differ from something like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude, right? To run a brand analysis? Clay Ostrom  52:00 Yeah, no, I think it’s a great question. I think it’s sort of the it’s going to be the eternal AI question for every product that has an AI component. And I would say to me, it’s three things. So one is the data, which we talked about, and I didn’t show you this earlier, but there is a search capability in here to go through our full archive of all the brands we’ve analyzed, and again, we’ve analyzed over 6000 brands. So the data piece is really important here, because it means we’re not just giving you insights and analysis based on the brand that you’re looking at now, but we can compare and contrast against all the other brands that we’ve looked at in the space, and that’s something that you’re not going to get by just using some off the shelf standard LLM  (Large Language Model) and doing some, you know, some quick prompts with that. The next one, I think, to me that’s important is it’s the point of view of the product and the brand. Like I said, this is built off of 10 plus years of doing positioning and messaging work in the space. So you’re getting to tap into that expertise and that approach of how we do things and building frameworks that make this work easier and more productive that you wouldn’t get, or you wouldn’t know, just on your own. And then the last one, the last point, which is sort of the kind of like the generic software answer, is you get a visual interface for this stuff. It’s the difference between using QuickBooks versus a spreadsheet. You can do a lot of the same stuff that you do in QuickBooks and a spreadsheet, but wouldn’t you rather have a nice interface and some easy buttons to click that make your job way, way easier and do a lot of the work for you and also be able to present it in a way that’s digestible and something you could share with clients? So the visual component in the UI is sort of that last piece. Christian Klepp  54:01 Absolutely. I mean, it’s almost like UX and UI one on one. That’s, that’s pretty much like a big part of, I think what it is you’re trying to build here, right? Clay Ostrom  54:13 Yeah, exactly. It’s just it’s making all of those things that you might do in an LLM just way, way easier. You know, you basically come in, put in your URL and click a button, and you’re getting access to all the data and all the insights and all this stuff so. Christian Klepp  54:29 Absolutely, absolutely okay. And as we wrap this up, this has been a fantastic conversation, by the way, how can the audience start using Smoke Ladder, and how can they get in touch with you if they have questions, and hopefully good questions. Clay Ostrom  54:47 Yeah, so you can, if you go to https://smokeladder.com/ you can, you can try it out. Like I said, you can basically go to the homepage, put in a URL and get started. You don’t even have to create an account to do the initial analysis. But you can create FREE account. You can dig in and see, you know, play around with all the features, and if you use it more, you know, we give you a little bit of a trial period. And if you use it beyond that, then you can pay and continue to use it, but, but you can get a really good flavor of it for free. Christian Klepp  55:16 Fantastic, fantastic. Oh, last question, because, you know, it’s looking me right in the face now, industry categories. How many? How many categories can be analyzed on the platform? Clay Ostrom  55:26 Yeah, yeah. So right now, we have 23 categories in the system currently, which sounds like a lot, but when you start to dig into especially B2B, it’s we will be evolving that and continuing to add more, but currently, there’s 23 different categories of businesses in there. Christian Klepp  55:46 All right, fantastic, fantastic. Clay, man. This has been so awesome. Thank you so much for your time and for your patience and walking us through this, this incredible platform that you’ve built and continue to build. And you know, I’m excited to continue using this as it evolves. Clay Ostrom  56:06 Thank you. Yeah, no. Thanks so much. And you know, if anybody, you know, anybody who tries it out, tests it out, please feel free to reach out. We have, you know, contact info on there. You can also hit me up on LinkedIn. I spend a lot of time there, but I would love feedback, love getting notes, love hearing what’s working, what’s not, all those things. So yeah, anytime I’m always open. Christian Klepp  56:30 All right, fantastic. Once again, Clay, thanks for your time. Take care, stay safe and talk to you soon. Clay Ostrom  56:36 Thanks so much. Talk to you soon. Christian Klepp  56:37 All right. Bye for now.

In this episode, Jeff and Danny talk with Greg Schmitt about how he built Huge Handyman SD into one of San Diego's go-to handyman service companies. Greg explains the importance of communication, integrity, and skill when working inside a customer's home. He also shares how he built a service model that focuses on solving problems quickly and correctly while giving homeowners peace of mind.You will hear Greg discuss the value of dependable technicians, the impact of treating customers with respect, and the importance of offering a broad skill set that covers everything from repairs to installations. Greg also dives into the realities of running a growing service business and the dedication it takes to keep quality high.Resources and MentionsHuge Handyman SDhttps://www.HugeHandymanSD.comThe Trades Podcasthttps://www.thetradespodcast.comWhat You Will LearnThe mindset behind building a dependable handyman businessHow to earn customer trust through communication and qualityWhy offering a wide range of services boosts business growthWhat it means to lead a team with purpose and high standardsHow to balance business challenges with long-term visionThe key habits that keep customers loyal and referringChapters00:00 Introduction and Background of Huge Handyman01:46 Navigating Business Challenges and Growth05:37 Key Performance Indicators and Business Management11:45 Sales Strategies and Team Dynamics17:52 Customer Engagement and Marketing Techniques23:46 Utilizing Technology for Business Efficiency28:08 Embracing Technology in Construction36:23 Strategic Growth and Team Development45:44 Networking and Future Opportunities About The Trades PodcastWebsitehttps://www.thetradespodcast.comHosted byJeff Mudd and Danny TorresThe Trades Podcast features real conversations with business owners, trades leaders, and industry innovators making an impact in the skilled trades community. Support the Trades MovementIf this episode inspires you, share it with someone in the trades or anyone thinking about starting a home-services business. Like, comment, and subscribe to help more people discover these conversations.

David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will continue our discussion about the AI Approach to Multiply Your Sales. This is part four in our series, and today we'll be talking about learning, segmenting, and the Three Ds. Welcome back, Jay. Jay: Hey, thank you so much, David. I really, really enjoyed this. I know I’ve said that in previous podcasts, but it’s true. After each one, I’ve gone into my own business and I’m like, okay, I got to apply this and apply that because these conversations are of such value. So I appreciate your time. I love this. And hopefully it’s been helpful to everybody else. David: I’m glad, I feel the same way, and I’m really looking at this almost like a mini-course. If people were to put together these four episodes and say, “How much of this stuff am I doing in my business?” You can probably implement some things very quickly that can probably help you get some great results. Jay: 100%. David: All right, so let’s do the quick review. And again, what we’re talking about here is we asked AI what will help you to multiply your business because that’s been a focus of our conversations recently. AI came back with some different responses, and then we’re talking about what AI says and how we’re able to help implement those things in business with our clients. And so let’s just recap. Number one was refine your target audience. Number two, develop a compelling value proposition. Number three, optimize your marketing channels. That was our first episode on that topic. In episode two, we covered points four, five, and six. Number four was enhance your customer experience. Number five, implement a referral program. And number six, leverage the power of content marketing. In episode three of this series, we hit utilize upselling and cross selling strategies, which was number seven. Analyze and optimize your sales funnel, which was number eight, and invest in customer relation management software, CRM, which was number nine. Now we’re going to be doing 10, 11, and 12. Eleven and 12 are really bonus because originally I asked it for 10 and then I realized that doesn’t break out well if you’re doing three in a podcast. So I went back to the AI and I said, give me two more. And it did. So we’ll be talking about numbers 11 and 12 in this podcast as well. So number 10 in the list of things that AI says will help you to multiply your sales is: 10: Continuous learning and adaptation. Stay updated with industry trends, attend relevant workshops or conferences, and be open to adapting your sales strategies to meet changing market demands. Well spoken AI! Continuous education. It’s a good call! Jay: It is, and some professions actually require it. But again, that continuous education is often on a service or a specialty or things like that. It’s not really on customer service or the technology or things like that. I feel like in that regard, so many of us are a hamster on a wheel. You know, we’re just trying to keep up with what today is giving us. We’re putting grease on the squeaky wheel and we don’t have time to really think about staying up on, you know, all the latest trends and those kind of things. David: Yeah. And a lot of people just don’t like continuing education, because they feel like so much of it is platitudes. It’s like, I already know this stuff. I already know it, right? But knowing what to do is very different than knowing how to do it. And that’s really what I’ve been trying to differentiate in this series of podcasts is that, yes, these are great statements. Continuous learning. That sounds great. But what are you learning? Are you learning things that you can implement immediately? Are you putting in place processes that will allow you to start getting results right away so you can gauge those results and then adapt, change, or tweak the process as you go to make sure that it’s working for you? So once again, we’re focusing on all the little details that make these general recommendations profitable. Jay: You know, I don’t know where I get it. I think I get it from my dad, but I am on a never ending quest to make things more efficient. I am always looking for the next software, the next device, the next system. I’ve done it since I was 15. My first job was in a burger barn at an amusement park. And I was watching how they put everything on the grill and what they would do is they’d cover the whole grill with burgers And then they would flip them all at the same time, and then they would pull them all off at the same time, and while they’re preparing them, the grill is sitting there empty. And so the line would move, and then it would stop, and I’m like, this is crazy. Put down two rows, wait a second, put down two, put down two, and at 15, I changed the whole thing. I’ve been doing that stuff my whole life, so I I love the tech. I love the next thing. And I’ll spend weeks and months finding the right thing knowing that it’s going to improve my business for years to come. David: Yeah, and that really goes to the point. The words that the AI used , it said continuous learning and adaptation. Jay: Yes. David: And what you’re talking about there is adaptation and implementation. Adapting the system to be able to get the result that you want Jay: Yes. David: So that everything gets better for everybody. Beautiful thing. Jay: Yeah, KPIs, Key Performance Indicators, that’s kind of what we use nowadays. And we’ve talked about this in previous podcasts, understanding every aspect of your business and knowing how you can influence it and adapt it. Because you can’t adapt, if you don’t know the reality of what’s going on. And I’ve worked for so many companies where management has no clue what’s happening on the front lines. And so we’re asking them, we’re begging them to adapt. Or they have software built by engineers who aren’t on the front line and we’re pulling our hair out because it doesn’t answer any questions. It makes life harder for us. David: Right. And unfortunately, a lot of it boils down to not knowing what to do and not knowing how to do it. “Yes, this is a problem, but I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t have time to think about how to fix it. Therefore, soldier on, keep moving, keep working. Good luck with that.” And so much of this, and even this point, continuous learning and adaptation is about identifying those small hinges that swing the big doors. And so much of what we do with our clients is about doing just that. Finding what is a small and obvious fix to a problem that could have been plaguing a company for literally months or years. You fix it in 10 minutes with a one sheet piece of paper that says, “Do it this way,” and they implement it, and they immediately start to see better results. So, I think in terms of, okay, this is what AI suggests, this is how we end up getting it done. So that’s number 10, continuous learning and adaptation. 11. Targeted Marketing Campaigns. Develop targeted marketing strategies tailored to specific customer segments. This approach ensures that your marketing efforts resonate deeply with your intended audience, leading to higher conversion rates. Once again, a lot of buzzwords in that sentence. A lot of really good recommendations in that sentence, but a lot of confusion too. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. Can I brag for a minute? David: Please do. Jay: I want to brag for a minute. So a lot of people know that I’ve just recently started an accounting firm that focuses on day traders and they’re taxes. And we’ve spent over a year and a half with my current company and my last company working on keywords to make sure we get the right leads from Google advertising. And David, in the last four months, I have not had one lead that is not right in the strike zone. Now, think about that. Think, I mean, that is unbelievable to me. That, and they, you know, we’re in constant contact with the company that we use. And every month they’re like, okay, how many leads were outside? What do we need to adjust? And I’m like, just keep pitching ’em, man, because they are right there. And the beauty of that is, all we have to do is adjust the volume. Right? Certain times of the year we crank that volume up, and certain times of the year we crank it down. And, wow! When we have the secret sauce, I mean, everything else is just gravy at that point. David: Exactly. And what you’re talking about really ties back to point three, earlier in our conversation, which is about optimizing your marketing channels. Jay: Right, right. David: When you’re able to do that, and you combine that with what we’re talking about here in number 11, which is targeted marketing campaigns, it’s a double whammy. Because now you are getting to the right people through the stuff that you’re doing with your SEO. And your communication is better, which is something we also talked about in the first episode in this four part series. And now, when you talk about targeted marketing campaigns, to me what that means is you’re taking the communications that we’ve perfected, creating value in the communications like we talked about in a previous episode, and now you’re sequencing that communication. That’s how we describe it to our clients inside our program. You’re sequencing your communication. You’re putting together a series of messages that go out in a specific order, in a specific timeframe, so that you’re getting the information in front of them when they need it most. To me, a targeted marketing campaign is about doing that. You’re getting the right message out to the right people at the right time. Using the right targeted marketing vehicle. Jay: I love that. Sequencing the information. That makes a lot of sense to me. And I think understanding that in first contact, they might not understand your product or the need for it. But we all know if they see you a couple times, you know, what is it? You used to hear they have to see you seven times, you know, a billboard, a TV ad, or whatever that is? Meeting them where they’re at. Instead of trying to force them to be where you want them to be. It sounds to me like a great way to go. David: Yeah, no question. I remember, I think it was in the Guerrilla Marketing book, he was talking about the fact that somebody had to be exposed to your message nine times before they’d be ready to buy. And at that point, I extrapolated for myself. I said, well, what if they only see one out of every three messages I put out? To me, that means I need to do nine times three, 27. I need to get out to them 27 times before they’re going to be ready to make a buying decision. And that’s really the essence of what sequencing communication is. A lot of times we feel the need to try to tell everybody everything up front, before they even know who we are. And their eyes glaze over and like, Oh, this is too much. This person’s too full of hot air. I’m moving on. And when you sequence your communication properly, you’re dripping it out a little bit at a time. You’re giving them a little bit this time and a little more the next time, a little more the following time. And each part of it reveals a different aspect of your approach. A different aspect of the way that you do things, and the benefits that you bring to them. And if number one didn’t completely resonate, maybe number two will, and maybe number four will, and maybe number seven will. And the ones in between, if it’s good, useful information, and it’s creating value for them, they’ll still be happy to see it. They’ll be happy to look at it. But then, when you get to the ones that really resonate with them, they’re going to respond. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. And I love how you said they don’t know who we are, but I would also flip that. We don’t know who they are yet, right? And so, like you said, we’re kind of dividing their possible interest into this sequencing. And hopefully, at some point, we’re going to land on who they are and what their needs are in that moment. David: Exactly. And so much of it really becomes fun when you’re taking an approach like this. And I use the word fun a lot when I’m talking with my clients. Because I figure if what we’re doing is not actually fun, we’re not doing it right. Because if it’s miserable, if it’s a big old slog and we can’t stand it, Let’s face it, they’re not going to do it. But when you’re able to make it fun by taking the appropriate action with the appropriate people at the appropriate time, everything gets a lot easier and a lot more fun. Jay: Absolutely, absolutely. David: All right, so number 12, this is the last one on our list. And this is: 12. Data Driven Decision Making. Leverage data analytics to understand customer behavior, preferences and buying patterns. Data driven insights empower you to make informed decisions, refine your strategies, and optimize sales processes. Many words. Jay: Yeah, and again, how do you extrapolate that out into your own business? I know this is something we work on constantly. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a point where you’re like, “okay, got that one done,” right? It’s got to be constant. David: Yeah, and once again, going back to the idea of simplification, which is a really big part of what we do with people, boiling it down to its essentials. Data driven decision making, to me, and this is what I refer to as the 3 D’s at the beginning of this podcast, data driven decisions, right? To me, that means that you are making your decisions based on the right information, the actual information, not what we think might be right, not what we feel, oh, I feel like I should do this. What does the data say? What’s working well? What are the things that we’ve done in the past that have worked well? What are the things we’ve done in the past that have not worked as well? How can we continue to replicate the things that we did that did well? Do adaptations on those, to be able to continue to move that needle forward. How can we avoid the mistakes that we made in the past based on what we’ve done and the responses that we’ve gotten? To me, that is the essence of data driven decision making. And if you look again at the AI description, leverage data analytics to understand customer behavior. That just means looking at what are the customers doing based on what you’re sending out? Leverage data analytics to understand customer behavior, preferences, and buying patterns. Okay, so that’s all the same. Data driven insights empower you to make informed decisions. Right, your decisions are now informed. They’re not just decisions, right? And then it says, refine your strategies and optimize sales processes. It allows you to do all of that. So, I would argue that this one, data driven decision making, is essentially a combination of all of the above. Because when you’re implementing the things that we talked about over this series of podcasts, and you’re gauging the results, you’re tracking it down, you’ve got the tracking sheets or however it is that you’re keeping track of what’s going on, and you’re making the decisions based on, not what you think is going to work or what you think might work, but what actually is working, everything becomes a lot easier. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. Can I give you a bad example of not using data? David: Sure, I love bad examples!. Jay: So, I worked for a national pizza chain. I’ll give you a hint, Pizza Pizza. Still family owned, even till today. And one day the daughter of the owner came up with this brilliant idea that people wanted bigger pizzas. I don’t know if you remember this. It was called Bigger is Better. So they forced every franchisee to go out and retrofit all of their ovens. Buy new pans. The whole thing probably cost five grand per business to just do this. And they of course marketed behind it. Guess where all those pans are? They’re sitting on top of the walk in refrigerators. Because there was no data, it was not driven by anything more than a feeling. And it was just the most ridiculous effort I’ve ever seen. And that’s some of the problems you can get into with a family run business, because you are making gut feeling decisions instead of looking at the data. David: Yeah, I’d love to say it’s just family run businesses, but wow, New Coke. Two words, right? Jay: Yeah. David: This kind of thing just happens everywhere. And some things just seem like a really good idea. Hey, wow. If they like this one, they’ll probably like that one when you say it out loud. Sure. It seems reasonable. And if the marketing was right and if the people wanted it, then that would have worked, but we just don’t know. So data driven decision making is also a big one. All right. So in terms of sort of wrapping this up, because we’ve been doing this now over a period of four podcasts over four weeks. I feel like we touched on a lot of really good topics. I feel like we were able to dive deep in terms of some of the how, of how to do these things. And I’m hoping that the people who have actually paid attention through each of these episodes got some really solid ideas on specific things they can do to grow their sales and profits. If that’s the case, and if you’d like to have a conversation about how we can help really just Implement this stuff inside your business, go to Topsecrets.com/call. Let’s have a conversation. See if we can help. If we can, we’ll let you know. If we can’t, we’ll let you know that too. There is zero pressure on these calls. It’s about identifying the primary areas where you need help, providing recommendations on what you can do and how you can do it, and then saying, all right, if you want to do it by yourself, you can do that. If you want to do it with us, you can do that, but you have the option. So hopefully that makes sense. And if you’d like to do it, TopSecrets.com/call. Jay: Yeah, I love it. And I’ll just kind of add my feedback on this series of podcasts. I’ve learned a tremendous amount. I’ve applied a bunch. But one of the things that stands out to me, is that you don’t have to do it alone. And I think sometimes we see it as weakness, right? I should be able to run this all. I should be able to do it all. Yeah, maybe, maybe. But there are people who have gone before you. There are people who’ve spent, David, how many years have you spent doing this and refining this and, and talking to customers? So, I mean, it’s just a great service. Again, just speaking out loud about it has made such a difference for me. So, I’m a huge fan of what you do and I hope people will recognize your sincerity, that it is just a call, and you do have a very strong desire to help. And you help a lot of people. David: Well, thank you. And we never try to push anyone into our programs. All we’re looking to do is we’re looking for the right fit. If you are a smart, focused, motivated business owner, and you are determined to get from here to there, then we probably want to work together. If you’re not good with making decisions, if you’re kind of iffy or wishy washy, then it’s probably not going to be a good fit. And in many of the calls, we can get two thirds of the way through the call and recognize pretty early on it’s not a good fit. At which point we’ll say, yeah, I don’t think we can help you. You know, maybe you can try this resource or that resource. So, it’s really not about us trying to sell you into anything. If we can work together, great. If we can’t, that’s perfectly fine too because we’ll know, right? We’ll have the conversation, and we’ll both know! You’ll know, “oh, it’s not a good fit,” I’ll know, it’s not a good fit. And you get closure, which is beautiful. If you’ve been thinking about scheduling a call and just haven’t, there’s no closure, right? Have the call. It’ll be a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Either way, it’s great. You’ll have a great experience. We’ll have a great conversation, and I hope you do it. Jay: Yeah, and listen, there’s no reason to be a salesperson when your product is great, and yours is. So, David, I love our conversations, and thank you so much for your time today. David: Thank you, Jay. Ready to Multiply Your Sales? If so, check out the five primary ways we help promotional product distributors grow: Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional products sales, learn how we can help. Need Clients Now? If you're already grounded in the essentials of promotional product sales and just need to get clients now, click here. Want EQP/Preferential Pricing? Are you an established industry veteran doing a significant volume of sales? If so, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry. Time to Hire Salespeople? If you want to hire others to grow your promo sales, click here. Ready to Dominate Your Market? If you're serious about creating top-of-mind-awareness with the very best prospects in your market, schedule a one-on-one Strategy Session here.

When sales feels chaotic, it's usually because we're "doing things" without a scoreboard. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) fix that by turning revenue goals into the few activities that actually drive results—plus the behavioural discipline to keep going when we mostly don't win on the first try.  Q1) What are sales KPIs, and why do we need personal ones? Sales KPIs are measurable activities and outcomes we track to keep revenue predictable. Companies sometimes hand us a dashboard, but plenty of roles don't come with clear KPIs—especially in smaller firms, new markets, or when we're building a territory from scratch. That's where personal KPIs matter: they give us "markers" for what we're doing and what we should be doing.  The key is recognising we cannot do everything. We can only do the most important things—consistently. So we choose a handful of KPIs that reflect how our sales actually works (industry, deal size, sales cycle, channel), and we track them like a pilot checks instruments: not for perfection, but for control. Q2) Which KPIs actually move revenue (and which just make us feel organised)? A useful rule: track both leading and lagging indicators. Lagging indicators: results (revenue, closed deals, average deal size). They're essential, but they tell us after the period is over. Leading indicators: the activities that cause results (qualified leads worked, buyer conversations, meetings booked, proposals sent, follow-ups completed). The best personal KPIs are usually leading indicators that map to your funnel, like: How many qualified leads we work each week How many calls / outreach touches we make How many contacts turn into appointments How many appointments convert into agreed deals Our average value per appointment How many buyers become repeat buyers  If a KPI doesn't link to a funnel stage, it's probably a "busy metric." Q3) How do we turn a big revenue target into weekly KPIs we can actually execute? We reverse-engineer the number. Start with the revenue target, then work backwards through the funnel using realistic ratios. Example logic (use your own numbers, then refine over time): Target revenue per month Average deal size → required closed deals Closing ratio from meetings → required meetings Meeting-set rate from conversations → required buyer conversations Contact rate from outreach → required outreach attempts This is exactly the discipline of breaking "big revenue targets down to activities," then setting targets for the ratios between steps.  And we'll fail plenty at first. That's not a moral issue—it's just a data issue. After a few weeks, we'll have our conversion stats, not someone else's. Q4) What funnel ratios should we track—and what do we do when the ratios are ugly? Sales is a chain. If one link is weak, the outcome collapses. Track ratios between stages, for example: outreach attempts → conversations (contact rate) conversations → meetings (appointment rate) meetings → proposals proposals → closed deals (close rate) Over time we build "reliable statistics" showing where we're strong and where we're leaking deals.  If conversations aren't becoming meetings, that's usually messaging, relevance, credibility, or timing. If meetings aren't closing, that's discovery quality, stakeholder mapping, objection handling, procurement friction, or lack of urgency. The goal isn't to shame the numbers. The goal is to diagnose the system and improve one stage at a time—because a small lift in one ratio multiplies all the way down to revenue. Q5) How do we set KPI targets without kidding ourselves (and without burning out)? Use three levels: Comfortable range (you can hit this even on a rough week) Realistic stretch (hard but doable) Moonshot (for peak weeks, not every week)  Then we attach KPIs to time management. If the target is 200 quality touches a week, we schedule them like a workout plan—because hope is not a strategy. Also: behaviour matters. Sales can be "a diabolical art" where we fail a lot, so we need "supreme discipline" to do the activities anyway.  That means tracking basics like follow-up completion, pipeline hygiene in the CRM, and daily prospecting blocks—because motivation comes and goes, but systems stay. Q6) How do we adapt KPIs to reality (gatekeepers, Japan timing, and modern outreach)? Reality includes gatekeepers, voicemail, and the classic "they'll call you back" fantasy. We can have a long call list and still get nowhere, so we vary timing and channels.  Practical KPI upgrades: Track attempts by time band (early morning, lunch, after 6pm) because contact rates change by industry and role.  Track multichannel sequences (phone + email + LinkedIn + referral asks), not just "calls." In Japan, where trust and introductions often matter, track referral requests, warm intros, and second meetings as leading indicators—because relationship-building is a real part of the funnel, not "soft stuff." Weekly review: keep, kill, adjust. If we're not moving the ratios, we don't need more hustle—we need smarter inputs. About the Author (Credentials) Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results.  Wrap-up Personal sales KPIs are our antidote to vague effort. We pick the few activities that drive the funnel, set ranges, measure ratios, and improve the weakest link. When we know the numbers, we stop guessing—and we start managing sales like a system.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts schauen wir uns an, welche drei typischen Fehler dich in der heißen Phase vor Weihnachten bares Geld kosten können – und wie du sie vermeidest. Ich teile meine Learnings aus unzähligen Q4s mit D2C-Brands, gebe dir konkrete Tipps zur Kampagnenplanung und zeige dir, wie du das volle Potenzial aus deinem Onlineshop rausholst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts schauen wir uns an, warum gute Werbeanzeigen allein noch lange nicht ausreichen – und weshalb viele Onlineshops trotz starkem Creative und passablem ROAS nicht auf die nächste Umsatzstufe kommen. Ich erkläre dir, was wirklich hinter stockendem Wachstum steckt und worauf du stattdessen achten solltest, um deinen Shop nachhaltig erfolgreich zu machen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich darüber, warum Shops, die ausschließlich auf Umsatz optimieren, sich langfristig selbst ins Aus manövrieren. Ich zeige dir, worauf es stattdessen ankommt, welche Metriken du wirklich im Blick haben solltest – und wie nachhaltiges Wachstum wirklich funktioniert. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In deze nieuwe aflevering van CFO Talk ontvangen Albert Jellema en Nico Inberg van De Aandeelhouder de CFO van Royal Vopak, Michiel Gilsing. Vopak ontving eerder deze maand de Henri Sijthoff prijs voor de beste financiële verslaglegging. Met Michiel praten we onder andere over de groeistrategie van Vopak, de Indiase beurslisting en de visie op kapitaalallocatie. Via deze link kom je op de laatste Roadshow Presentation van Vopak: https://www.vopak.com/investors/downl...Tijdslijn:00:00 - 3:40 Introductie (Introduction)3:40 - 8:15 Wat doet Vopak (What does Vopak do)8:15 - 14:10 Omzetverdeling (Revenue Split)14:10 - 23:50 Joint Ventures23:50 - 31:20 Indicatoren om naar te kijken (Key Performance Indicators)31:20 - 44:00 Kapitaalallocatie (Capital Allocation)44:00 - 47:28 Energietransitie (Energy Transition)47:28 - 50:45 LNG50:45 - 57:50 Waardering (Valuation)57:50 Slot (Closing Remarks)

In this episode we talk about the importance of using key performance indicators beyond just investment performance to gauge the health of one's retirement plan. There are five crucial data points that form the foundation of a successful retirement strategy: passive income, effective tax rate, cash flow ratio, banking capacity, and horizontal asset allocation. By focusing on these metrics, you can adopt a comprehensive approach to retirement planning that factors in various financial variables and bridges the gaps in your financial plan. Business owners use KPIs or key performance indicators to track and understand the health of their business and marketing efforts. Those planning for retirement should consider their retirement KPIs to help measure the health of their financial situation. People often make the mistake of substituting investment performance for more meaningful key performance indicators. ROI is not the only KPI you should be paying attention to. People often view their finances in silos and tend to make standalone decisions about what to do while leaving out other important variables concerning their situation, which can result in having gaps in their overall retirement plan design. For example, the stock market can go down, but that doesn't necessarily mean your plan should change. The flipside is also true: the market may be up, but that could mean you need to make adjustments. Knowing what KPIs to use and how to use them can help measure the health of your overall financial situation, not just track portfolio performance. A KPI is simply a collection of data points that helps provide a consistent method for measuring and monitoring the health of your retirement plan. In my experience, there are five key data points needed to measure the effectiveness of a retirement plan. The first is passive income. Income is an obvious component and the central theme of a retirement plan. Income is not growth of a share or unit of a particular investment. It is the income generated from the share or unit of an investment. If there is a retirement income gap of $5,000 each month, the goal of the retirement plan is to not simply cash out investments each month or spend down savings to meet the goal. It is to create passive income sources that can consistently provide the cash flow. Missing this point can be catastrophic to the longevity of a retirement plan. The second is the effective tax rate. Tax rates in the United States of America are progressive. The more you make, the higher the marginal rate is on portions of your income. Marginal rates have their place when filing a return or making decisions about asset positioning. The effective tax rate is a single rate that's calculated using the total taxes that are paid against the gross income. This percentage gives us a better overall understanding of the impact taxes are having on retirement income. If the retirement income gap is $5,000 each month and the effective tax rate is 30%, we can determine the additional amount of income required to cover the tax liabilities. The more tax mitigation techniques you incorporate into a retirement plan, the less pressure there is on your assets to generate additional income just to pay the tax. The third is cash flow ratio. People often define cash flow too narrowly and often exclude things like taxes, retirement savings and health insurance premiums, which leaves gaps in understanding. It is also important to know the ratio of income to bank payments, taxes, savings insurance, as well as fixed and variable expenses. It's also important to know the earned income versus passive income ratio along with the number of different income sources you rely on to fund your lifestyle. The fourth is your banking capacity. When it comes to asset allocation, there is often the out-of-the-box structure where assets are divided up between investments and bank accounts. This approach oversimplifies a more complex situation and overlooks the realities of life and how people actually use and spend money. There are many factors to consider outside of just growing assets and covering emergencies, such as big ticket purchases and other family needs, that could benefit from incorporating a family bank into the financial plan. A family bank, aka Build Banking, is a specially designed life insurance contract that enables a family to have banking capabilities within their own financial ecosystem without relying on an actual bank outside of their financial situation. This piece is usually missing from most retirement plans. The fifth is horizontal asset allocation. Most people think of diversification as a vertical landscape of public market investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds or ETFs, but that's the wrong idea. Asset allocation is similar to gardening. It requires diversity in many different forms to help manage growth, produce income, minimize risk and mitigate taxes. Adding things such as real estate businesses, private equity, life insurance, annuities, amongst other things, can provide characteristics and other elements of stability to help support a retirement plan. To develop a retirement plan, you must first identify the gaps in your existing situation, and then begin to work out on strategies to help fill those gaps. Having a way to measure passive income tax exposure, cashflow, asset allocation, and your baking capacity are the most important metrics to start with.     Mentioned in this episode: BrianSkrobonja.com Common Sense Financial Podcast on YouTube  Common Sense Financial Podcast on Spotify BrianSkrobonja.com/thegapreportstart      Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. This is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the particular needs of an individual's situation. Securities offered only by duly registered individuals through Madison Avenue Securities, LLC. (MAS), Member FINRA &SIPC. Advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through Skrobonja Wealth Management (SWM), a registered investment advisor. Tax services offered only through Skrobonja Tax Consulting. MAS does not offer Build Banking or tax advice. Skrobonja Financial Group, LLC, Skrobonja Wealth Management, LLC, Skrobonja Insurance Services, LLC, Skrobonja Tax Consulting, and Build Banking are not affiliated with MAS. Skrobonja Wealth Management, LLC is a registered investment adviser. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Skrobonja Wealth Management, LLC and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. The firm is a registered investment adviser with the state of Missouri, and may only transact business with residents of those states, or residents of other states where otherwise legally permitted subject to exemption or exclusion from registration requirements. Registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities authority does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts geht's um das neue Meta Update „Andromeda“ – und warum es für deine Werbeanzeigen ein echter Gamechanger sein kann. Ich erkläre, was sich dadurch im Meta-Ads-Algorithmus verändert, worauf du jetzt bei deinen Creatives achten musst und wie du deine Kampagnen zukunftssicher aufstellst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts teile ich mit dir drei richtig starke BFCM-Hebel, die fast niemand nutzt – und die dir dieses Jahr helfen können, noch mehr aus dem Q4 herauszuholen. Ich zeige dir, worauf du achten solltest, damit du im Black Friday Chaos nicht untergehst, sondern gezielt und profitabel skalierst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich darüber, wie du dir bis zu 80 % Förderung für unsere Beratung sichern kannst – direkt vom Staat. Ich erkläre dir, für wen das gilt, welche Voraussetzungen du erfüllen musst und wie der genaue Ablauf aussieht. Wenn du überlegst mit uns zusammen zu arbeiten, aber noch einen relativ kleinen Shop hast, ist das deine Chance. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

Zum YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/z5NjxHi3HyM In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts geht's um eine unterschätzte Sache, mit der viele 6-stellige Onlineshops jeden Monat bares Geld verbrennen. Ich verrate dir, woran es liegt, wie du dieses Problem erkennst und welche Hebel du nutzen kannst, um deinen Adspend effizienter einzusetzen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

Property Lifestyle Mastery Podcast Season 2 Episode 31 | KPI's: they can drive you or derail you - how to get them right in property Most property investors are busy.But the ones who actually scale their business and buy back their time?They make time to know their numbers.In this week's episode of Property Lifestyle Mastery, Dom and Dave (a.k.a. Detail Dave) break down how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) turn your daily actions into measurable results.You'll discover:- The simple monthly KPI routine that transforms results- How to track your deal and investor pipelines the smart way- Why numbers don't lie — and how to use them to stop wasting time- The dangerous KPIs that can secretly derail your progressThis episode will help you swap overwhelm for clarity...and effort for real, measurable growth.Grab a copy of Jackie's book at⁠⁠⁠⁠www.property-strategy.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠, or⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4fRzLG6Subscribe to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠www.property-strategy.com/insights⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.property-strategy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠,or hi@property-strategy.comConnect with Jackie & Dave at⁠⁠⁠⁠www.facebook.com/jackietomes1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.instragram.com/tomesjackie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/jackietomes/⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Dom at⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dombeecheno/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DomBeecheno⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicbeecheno/⁠⁠

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich über das vielleicht größte, aber oft übersehene Hindernis für Wachstum im E-Commerce: du selbst. Ich zeige dir, welche Denk- und Entscheidungsfehler dich auf dem Weg zum nächsten Umsatzlevel ausbremsen – und wie du es schaffst, dein Unternehmen aus der Gründerfalle zu führen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts geht's um dein CAC-Ziel – also die Customer Acquisition Cost – und ob deine aktuellen Vorgaben wirklich sinnvoll und realistisch sind. Ich erkläre dir, warum viele Shops sich hier verkalkulieren, worauf es stattdessen ankommt und wie du deine Profitabilität sauber im Blick behältst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

 Want to scale your real estate portfolio the right way? In this episode, Gino Barbaro breaks down the most important Multifamily KPIs that determine whether your deals are thriving or barely surviving. From Profit Per Unit (PPU) to delinquency rates and work order management, Gino explains how these key metrics turn a collection of properties into a sustainable business.   Learn how to apply Multifamily KPIs to measure success like a professional operator. You'll discover:How to calculate Profit Per Unit (PPU) and use it to boost NOI. Why work order closure rates directly affect tenant retention. How tracking delinquency helps prevent lost income and evictions. The difference between physical and economic occupancy—and why it matters.Whether you manage 10 units or 1,000, these Multifamily KPIs will help you create consistent cash flow and long-term wealth. Connect with Gino Barbaro and the Jake & Gino team: https://jakeandgino.com We're here to help create multifamily entrepreneurs... Here's how: Brand New? Start Here: https://jakeandgino.mykajabi.com/free-wheelbarrowprofits Want To Get Into Multifamily Real Estate Or Scale Your Current Portfolio Faster? Apply to join our PREMIER MULTIFAMILY INVESTING COMMUNITY & MENTORSHIP PROGRAM. (*Note: Our community is not for beginner investors)

Erfolg fühlt sich selten wie eine gerade Linie an – manchmal ist er wild, chaotisch, voller Brüche und Zweifel. Joel Kaczmarek schaut zurück auf Gründerszene, Podcast-Experimente, gescheiterte Community-Pläne und all die Learnings, die abseits von Reichtum oder Rockstarklischees entstehen. Zwischen Boulevard-Journalismus und Wertschätzung entfaltet sich ein ehrlicher Blick auf Wachstum, innere Kämpfe und die Suche nach Bedeutung – für alle, die aus dem echten Erleben lernen wollen. Du erfährst... ...wie Joel Kaczmarek seine Reise in die Gründerszene begann und welche Learnings er aus dieser Zeit zieht. ...welche Herausforderungen und Erfolge Joel beim Aufbau von Digital Kompakt erlebte und welche Zukunftspläne er verfolgt. ...spannende Einblicke in die Welt des Podcastings und welche Strategien Joel für den Erfolg seiner Formate anwendet. __________________________ ||||| PERSONEN |||||

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts geht's um das stille Gewinn-Leck in vielen Onlineshops: Retouren. Ich zeige dir, wie Rücksendungen heimlich deine Marge auffressen – und was du tun kannst, um das in den Griff zu bekommen. Du bekommst konkrete Ansätze, wie du deine Retourenquote senkst und gleichzeitig deinen Kundenservice stark hältst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

Data-Driven Insights: Revolutionizing Soccer with Brett MyersIn this episode of Don't Know Much About Football, the hosts welcome Brett Myers from Villanova University to discuss his significant contributions to soccer analytics. Myers shares his journey from professional soccer player (playing for two seasons for the Richmond Kickers and competing internationally, winning Gold for Team USA in the 11th Pan American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008) to academic researching football (aka soccer) He discusses his pivotal research on optimal substitution timings and the tactical implications of maintaining offensive pressure. He also delves into his consultancy work with MLS teams like Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, helping them leverage data for improved performance. The conversation covers the growing acceptance of analytics in soccer, the challenges of implementing data-driven decisions, and the future potential of AI and advanced metrics in the sport. Myers also offers insights into the US Men's National Team's prospects for the upcoming World Cup and discusses the importance of developing grassroots soccer in the United States.00:00 Brett Myers' Background and Research Journey03:50 Consulting in Major League Soccer08:36 The Evolution of Data Analytics in Soccer13:00 Changing the Timing of Subs in Football16:31 Impact of Data on Player Management25:37 Balancing Business and Fan Engagement28:28 The Pitfalls of Parking the Bus29:21 Empirical Study on Attacking Behavior32:53 Goalkeeping Metrics and Their Impact39:44 Key Performance Indicators in Soccer46:50 Challenges and Expectations for the US Men's National Team53:19 Developing Grassroots Soccer in the US57:04 Final Thoughts and Predictionshttps://www1.villanova.edu/university/experts/expert-detail.html?expert=bret.meyers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this powerful podcast episode, Marisa Grover reveals the critical importance of implementing robust business systems for real estate investors. Drawing from her experience managing 48 short-term rental units, Marisa shares transformative strategies for building a successful investment business.The episode explores key challenges investors face, including tracking financial performance and creating efficient operations. Marisa emphasizes the game-changing power of monthly profit and loss statements and demonstrates how systematic approaches can dramatically improve investment outcomes.You'll learn practical strategies for:Creating clear business systemsTracking essential key performance indicators (KPIs)Managing projects effectivelyImplementing scalable business processesHer core message encourages investors to take "messy action" - starting systems implementation even when they're not perfect. By sharing personal stories of rebuilding her business multiple times, Marisa provides both cautionary tales and inspirational insights for female entrepreneurs.Whether managing short-term rentals or long-term properties, this episode offers actionable advice for creating a more efficient, profitable real estate investment strategy. Marisa proves that systematic thinking can transform a small investment portfolio into a professional, scalable business.  Resources:Simplify how you manage your rentals with TurboTenantGet in touch with Envy Investment GroupConnect with Marisa on InstagramGet the deets on working with our BookkeeperMake sure your name is on the list to secure your spot in The WIIRE Community Leave us a review on Apple PodcastsLeave us a review on SpotifyJoin our private Facebook CommunityConnect with us on Instagram

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts sprechen wir darüber, ob sich Messen & Märkte für dich als Onlineshop-Betreiber wirklich lohnen – oder ob sie nur Zeit und Geld kosten. Ich teile meine Gedanken und Erfahrungen, wann Offline-Veranstaltungen ein sinnvoller Marketing-Kanal sein können, worauf du achten solltest und wie du das meiste für dein Business rausholst. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

The TRUTH About the Amazon Influencer Program (and How to Actually Make Money)In episode 130 of The Side Hustle Experiment Podcast  John (https://www.instagram.com/sidehustleexperiment/ ) and Drew  (https://www.instagram.com/realdrewd/) sit down with Fizz (https://www.youtube.com/@oinkforinfluencers) If you've ever wondered how people are making real money with the Amazon Influencer Program — this episode is for you.

In dieser Folge des Onlineshop Geflüster Podcasts spreche ich darüber, wann eine Zusammenarbeit mit uns wirklich Sinn macht. Du erfährst, welche Voraussetzungen du mitbringen solltest, welche Denkweise du brauchst – und warum es nicht nur um Ads oder Budgets geht, sondern darum, gemeinsam echte Ergebnisse im E-Commerce zu schaffen. Viel Spaß beim Anhören! Dein Berend. __________ Mache den ersten Schritt und buche dir eine kostenlose SHOPANALYSE: https://www.berend-heins.de/termin Wenn du sofort tiefer einsteigen willst: Hol dir mit unserem Onlinekurs die kugelsichere Komplettanleitung für profitable Meta Ads im eCommerce.

Giuseppe Grammatico was living the life many dream of—a six-figure salary at JP Morgan. But with a five-hour daily commute and a baby on the way, he realized the "dream" was costing him the one thing that truly mattered: time with his family. He made the terrifying choice to quit his secure corporate job with no business idea, betting everything on a life of freedom. His search led him away from startups and into the world of franchising, where he discovered opportunities beyond just fast food.After building his own successful franchise for 13 years, Giuseppe achieved the time freedom he craved and now works as a franchise coach helping others do the same. In this episode, he sits down with Ryan Atkinson to share his playbook for achieving financial and time freedom. You'll learn how to identify recession-resistant businesses, spot the green flags of a healthy franchise model, and analyze key financial metrics before investing. He also breaks down why strong business systems and discovering your "why" are the ultimate keys to entrepreneurial success.Takeaways:- Your "why" is the most critical driver for entrepreneurship; leaving a six-figure job was about gaining time freedom to be present with family, not just about money.- Franchising extends far beyond fast food, with over 4,000 options in more than 70 industries, providing a viable path to business ownership without needing a unique startup idea.- Prioritize recession-resistant franchise models, such as water and smoke mitigation or essential B2B services, that remain in demand regardless of the economic climate.- A healthy franchise will vet you for a mutual fit rather than just giving you a sales pitch. They should have a clear vision for the future and be transparent about their systems.- Thoroughly vet a franchise through "validation" by speaking directly with existing franchisees. Ask them, "Knowing what you know today, would you do it all over again?"- When evaluating financials, look beyond profit margins and analyze the Average Unit Volume (AUV), as a high-volume business can be more profitable than a high-margin one.- A franchise's value lies in its proven, plug-and-play systems. The franchisor should be able to demonstrate their CRM, marketing, and lead generation processes.- The business is the vehicle to achieve your "why." Don't get stuck on finding a business you're "passionate" about; find one that enables the lifestyle you want.- Time freedom isn't immediate. The first year of a new business often requires more work, but it's a necessary sacrifice to build the systems that enable flexibility later on.- Avoid costly mistakes by tracking your marketing spend. Blindly investing without monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and return on investment is a recipe for failure.Tags:  Franchise, Entrepreneurship, Business Buying, Home Services, Passive Income, Recession-Proof BusinessResources:Grow your business today: https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast Connect with Giuseppe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppe-grammatico

On this episode of the Layover Live podcast, hosts Cayleigh Tomlinson and JenAnn Haggerty dive into the evolving world of destination marketing metrics with two powerhouse guests: Andrea Robyns, marketing technology director at Experience Grand Rapids, and Vimal Vyas, vice president of data, security, and innovation at Greater Raleigh CVB. This episode is a must-listen for any destination marketing organization (DMO) professional navigating the shift from traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to smarter, engagement-driven strategies in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

In this episode of The Art of Dental Finance and Management, Art Wiederman, CPA, speaks with Matthew Nelson, a Practice Management Analyst at the California Dental Association. They engage in an insightful discussion about key performance indicators (KPIs) in the dental industry. Drawing on his extensive experience in supporting the growth of dental practices, Matthew outlines the critical metrics and KPIs that dental teams should consistently monitor. He emphasizes a common mistake made by dental professionals: attempting to track too many or too few metrics.Art and Matthew also explore strategies for optimizing scheduling and improving case acceptance rates. They stress the importance of consistent team communication and standardized terminology to build patient trust and enhance treatment acceptance. The episode addresses methods for managing no-shows and cancellations, examines the negative impact of low collections on practice sustainability, and outlines best practices for improving revenue collection.Finally, the episode concludes with a thorough analysis of overhead costs, including team compensation, supplies, laboratory fees, and marketing expenses, highlighting the necessity of regularly monitoring these expenditures.Together, Matt and Art provide actionable recommendations to help dentists improve their production, collections, and overall profitability.

I am not a numbers guy. And I've been in my fair share of meetings with decks filled with endless charts and data and my eyes glazed over. I'm sure you have as well.So were we the problem? Were we just not captivated enough by the correlation coefficient?I think not. And I think the reason why can be best summed up by this lesson I read in a How I Made It In Marketing podcast guest application – Even the most rigorous analysis fails without the right story.Numbers, even very impressive numbers, still need that marketer's touch.To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I sat down with a numbers guy who also has some deep marketing and business insights to share with us –  Jiaxi Zhu, head of analytics, SMB division, Google [https://www.google.com/].Google's SMB division works with five million customers. Zhu leads the analysis for how to manage and prioritize the division's several-hundred-million-dollar budget.Lessons from the things he madeEven the most rigorous analysis fails without the right storyLanding solutions requires going deep and doing the hard workDefine your data with your business partnersReal influence means accepting the world is not fair or rational by defaultTrue empathy is active workIntellectual curiosity means always asking “why” behind the observationsTurn your knowledge assets into a new revenue streamMarketingSherpa has teamed up with parent company MeclabsAI to produce a research study. We are granting 10 AI engineering vouchers worth $7,500 each to eligible companies. Apply for your $7,500 AI Engineering Voucher [https://meclabs.com/research/ai-engineering-voucher]Discussed in this episodeTransparent Marketing: How to make your product claims credible … not incredible [https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/transparent-credible-product-claims]Customer-First Marketing: How The Global Leadership Summit grew attendance by 16% to 400,000 [https://meclabs.com/gls]B2B Marketing Leadership: The higher you get in the organization, the more details you need to know (podcast episode #115) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2B-marketing-leadership]Marketing and Brand: Embrace healthy friction (podcast episode #48) [https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-and-brand]Get more episodesSubscribe to the MarketingSherpa email newsletter [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters] to get more insights from your fellow marketers. Sign up for free if you'd like to get more episodes like this one.For more insights, check out...This podcast is not about marketing – it is about the marketer. It draws its inspiration from the Flint McGlaughlin quote, “The key to transformative marketing is a transformed marketer” from the Become a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages [https://meclabs.com/course/] free digital marketing course.Apply to be a guestIf you would like to apply to be a guest on How I Made It In Marketing, here is the podcast guest application – https://www.marketingsherpa.com/page/podcast-guest-application

Tired of the social media slog? Learn how to quit social media promotion and still grow your podcast.Are you feeling burned out from the endless cycle of creating content just to see zero ROI from your podcast's social media promotion? You're not alone. The constant struggle of putting in time and effort for posts that don't convert to clients or increase listenership can feel like a chore. In this candid solo episode of Podcasting Unlocked, Alesia Galati shares her personal "Q4 Experiment" to completely drop social media promotion for the podcast and replace it with high-fulfillment, high-ROI strategies. Discover why social media might not be serving your podcast growth and the actionable steps you can take to shift your focus to channels that genuinely light you up.Key Takeaways:The Zero-ROI Problem: Learn why spending time and effort on platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook is no longer worth it when it fails to generate new leads, client conversions, or an increase in podcast listeners.The Three Pillars of a New Growth Strategy: Discover the three focused activities that will replace social media posting: Speaking and Workshops, Podcast Guesting, and Optimizing Your Own Channels (email list and website).Prioritize High Fulfillment: Shift your efforts from tasks that feel like a "slog" to activities like guesting and teaching workshops, which are exciting, light you up, and provide tangible returns.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track: Understand the metrics that truly matter for podcast and business growth, including lead generation (discovery calls), time efficiency, website traffic, and conversion rates from workshops.Take Action with Free Workshops: Get details on the three upcoming free Q4 workshops focused on Podcast Marketing (Oct 17th), Podcast Workflow (Nov 17th), and 2026 Podcast Goal Setting (Dec 17th).Alesia is running an experiment, and she's inviting you to run one too. Take a moment to consider: what is one thing in your business or life that no longer feels good and that you can drop?The first step in making this change is learning the new strategies. Sign up for one of the free Q4 workshops at galatimedia.com/workshop—it's time to build a podcast that feels good and drives results!Learn more about Podcasting Unlocked at https://galatimedia.com/podcasting-unlocked/ CONNECT WITH ALESIA GALATI:InstagramLinkedInWork with Galati Media! Work with Alesia 1:1LINKS MENTIONED:WorkshopsProud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Are KPIs and KRIs just compliance checkboxes, or can they truly prove the value of Identity and Access Management (IAM)? In this episode, Matthias Reinwarth and senior advisor Shikha Porwal explore how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) can transform IAM from a technical function into a business enabler. They unpack the differences, the overlap, and how to make metrics relevant to both security and strategy. Expect real-world examples—from onboarding to MFA adoption—that show how measurement drives maturity and risk reduction. Key Topics Covered: ✅ KPIs vs KRIs in IAM: what they are and how they differ✅ Aligning IAM metrics with business goals and governance✅ Onboarding & offboarding metrics for efficiency and risk reduction✅ MFA adoption and help desk tickets as signals of IAM maturity✅ Developer enablement and API adoption as success factors✅ Mapping IAM indicators to risk frameworks and security posture✅ Adapting KPIs/KRIs for non-human identities (NHI)

Today my guest is fundraiser and impact growth leader, Alexandra Dumitrescu. In this episode, we discuss nonprofit funding. Alexandra highlights the potential of technology to enhance fundraising efforts and presents ways nonprofits can diversify income streams. We discuss e-commerce models, leveraging SaaS platforms, improving donor relations, and lost funding opportunities.We also discuss initiatives Alexandra founded to help nonprofits create sustainable income and integrate social impact features in business products.How might Alexandra's ideas (or some version of them) be applied to your project, organization, or partnerships?How does this conversation reframe what you see as being possible in environmental education? LEARN MOREAlexandra Dumitrescu on LinkedInBiggerPie (LinkedIn)RWAYS for Nonprofits (LinkedIn)Shop for Hope (Alexandra on Substack)Fundraising Platforms Mentioned:FundraiseUpDonorBoxiRaiserDataro.io Automation Services Mentioned:ZapierZendeskAcronyms Defined:Saas - Software as a Service (cloud-based services)KPI - Key Performance IndicatorsMVP - Minimum Viable ProductCSR - Corporate Social ResponsibilityAlexandra's Recommended Resources:Daniela Papi Thornton - Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship (TEDx)Dan Pallotta - The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong (TED)Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)*Manifesto for a Moral Revolution (Jacqueline Novogratz)*Subscribe to the Transferable Solutions newsletter. _______________ABOUT:TALATERRA combines "tala" (Icelandic for "to speak" and "to talk") with "terra" (Earth)—because speaking for our planet and telling its stories is what environmental educators do.TALATERRA: to speak Earth. CREDITS:Producer: Tania MarienMusic: So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License;SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.Subscribe to Transferable Solutions.Contact Us© 2019 - 2025 Talaterra Inc * TALATERRA is an affiliate of Bookshop.org.

What really happens when brands collide with games? Mishka Katkoff sits down with Bastian Bergmann, COO of Solsten, to break down why gaming is the most transformative medium of our time, how consumer psychology shapes player engagement, and why authenticity in games runs circles around social media. 00:20 The Power of Reading and Writing01:12 Video Games as a Medium for Transformation02:57 Parenting and Gaming: Finding Balance08:25 Understanding Consumer Psychology13:39 The Importance of Human Connection in Marketing19:50 Gaming and Emotional Engagement23:09 Games Driving Social Change28:37 The Business Impact of Gaming on Brands30:42 Navigating Risks in Gaming Investments32:56 Starting Small: Testing the Waters in Gaming36:08 Key Performance Indicators for Gaming Initiatives39:26 Authenticity in Gaming vs. Social Media43:49 Integrating Brands into Games: Challenges and Opportunities45:47 Myth Busting: Data, Creativity, and Gaming Audiences

Episode: 00284 Released on September 15, 2025 Description: In this episode of Analyst Talk with Jason Elder, Jason catches up with Dawn Reeby to dive into the world of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and their role in professionalizing crime analysis. Dawn explains how KPIs can help analysts move beyond “bean counting” and instead measure meaningful impact, build strong infrastructures, and define what success truly looks like in law enforcement analysis. From creating portfolios and roadmaps to streamlining workflows and crafting clear elevator speeches, Dawn shares practical ways analysts can document their value, enhance productivity, and transform data into actionable intelligence. We also take a moment to congratulate Dale Harris on receiving the IACA Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering contributions to the field.

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Kiera is all about key performance indicators in this episode, and why they're important. When framing KPIs as the vitals of your practice, it makes a lot more sense! Some of Kiera's favorite KPIs are … Production (net, not gross) Collection (at least 98%) How many new patients you're getting Average diagnosis Acceptance rate Overhead There are a lot more indicators she talks about in this episode, so whether you're a beginner with KPIs or elite status, there's something you can learn. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:05) Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, pillar, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you.   Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A-Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.   Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And you guys, how's your day today? You guys loving it? Are you crushing it? I hope you are, wherever you are. I am actually sitting in my bedroom. I ⁓ rarely ever podcast here, because usually my husband's home. But tonight, I have some friends over there in the front room, and I definitely needed to get some podcasts done. Sissy was asking me, I just love having team members that are great at what they do. And I hope you guys take time to acknowledge the team members that make you great. The team members that are   just awesome at what they do. guys, Sissy keeps me so on the ball and I love her for it. Shelby does, Tiffany does, Brittany, Dana, Kylie, they are just an incredible bunch of people. And guys, if you ever get the opportunity to meet any of them, you are one lucky person. So I hope you're having a great day. I hope you're loving it. So podcasting today from the bedroom. I hope the audio is great. I hope you're loving it. Sun's just going down and today I just wanted to dive into a topic that I think is really awesome and it's KPIs.   So what the heck is a KPI? A KPI is Key Performance Indicator. I'll be completely honest. You guys, know I'm like authentic Kiera Dent. People when they call me and they chat with us, like interested in working with us, the number one thing I get told is, Kiera, you sound just like you do on the podcast. And I'm like, this is really great because it is me.   I don't shake it up, I don't change it. The only thing I do differently is I talk in a microphone so my voice sounds a little bit like smoother, if you will, on the podcast than in real life. But beyond that, same cadence, same tones. This is Kiera real life. So you guys know I am always, I try really hard to just be authentic Kiera. So if you ever come meet me in person, you peel back the Wizard of Oz current, I would be the exact same person as I am on the podcast as I am in real life. So when I first started as an office manager,   I did not know what a KPI was. I did not know why they were important. I didn't know that I should be tracking these things. I literally had no idea. So guys, if you're in my boat, hey, welcome, welcome to the CureDent No KPI Boat. If you know what they are, welcome, welcome to the Elite Boat. And if you are using them, welcome to the Rockstar Amazing Boat. Let's make you even better. So KPIs, I call them, the way I describe a KPI is they are the vitals of your practice.   So just like when you go to the doctor and they take your blood pressure, your temperature, they listen to your heart rate, all those things, those are the vitals. They take your weight. ⁓ I just went to the doctor the other day and it's super cool, like, right? You sit on the chair and they say they'll take your weight. And it was funny, the gal asked me, she said, do you wanna know your weight today? I was like, wow, thank you. Like, thank you for not making me have a bad day if I don't want to or thank you for giving me the opportunity. It just made me giggle.   But bottom line is the vitals, we go to the doctor and they take those vitals first because if any of those are out of alignment, that's the first sign that we have trouble. So that's what I think of with KPIs in a practice. These are the core pieces that are going to show you, is your practice healthy or is it not healthy? So yes, it's tracking and there's lots of different KPIs you can track. That's why it's called a key performance indicator. I am a firm believer that you should be able to change these up.   I think there are certain things that you should be tracking consistently. But I also think as human beings, we get stagnant and bored. So give yourself a decent amount of time to track and then shake it up. That way you're growing constantly and we don't get bored with KPIs. So for me, some of my favorite KPIs, this is a question every consultant who comes to Dental A team to work with us, we ask them, what is your favorite KPI to measure? One, I'm checking to see if they know what a KPI is. Guys, I probably would have flunked the consulting test if I would have come on.   We're a more elite company, guys. I have to keep these consultants on their top notch. They can't be lower than us now. So I ask what your favorite KPI is to track and why. Most of the time I get production and collection. Production is a great KPI to track. It's something, and again, be careful on production. Make sure you're tracking it on net, not gross. A lot of people wanna tell me that they have.   These huge successful practices, but guess what guys, if you can't collect it, don't even tell me that number. I don't care. It does not impress me because guess what? That high gross number feeds your ego. Your net number feeds your family. So I don't care about it. So report that number in net. Next up is your collection percentage. I want to know how you're collecting. So if you're a $1 million practice and you're only collecting 700,000, that's stressful. That means you're at a 70 % collection rate. I am aiming for a 98 % collection rate. Now,   There are lots of other KPIs and I will say there are some great softwares out there. Practice by numbers, dental intel, divergent. Those are my top three favorites. I'd probably put them in the order of dental intel, divergent, practice by numbers. I think all three of them are great. I love them all for different reasons. The reason I'm pro-ing for dental intel is because they just merged with Medento and guess what? They are kicking it. So I love that. I love what they do and I love Medento as a company. So any company with Medento, that's going to be my favorite company right now. But bottom line is a lot of these track KPIs.   What I found that gets tricky and what a lot of offices do is we often track too many things that we don't actually move the needle on anything. I'm guilty of this. So in our company, was having Cissy track how many Instagram followers we were getting every single week. At first, I thought it was a great marketing metric. I thought it was great to see how our marketing was doing. Guess what? It was actually just feeding my ego. So guys, if you want to feed my ego, please just go follow us on Instagram. I would love it. Get your friends, get your family, get your siblings, get your kids. I don't care who.   You can boost that number just to feed my ego. At the end of the day, do the Instagram followers actually matter? No, they don't. They don't move our company forward. What matters, just like you guys, how many new patients we're getting. So don't actually care about social media followers. Yes, it's a fun number to track, but what I care is how many new patients are we getting? Then after that, I actually care about if I'm going to the elite boat or to our rock star boat on how many new patients you're getting. Do you know how much each patient's value is?   Do you also know what our average diagnosis is on each patient? And do we know what our acceptance rate is on each patient? If you don't know that and you're already tracking some of these numbers, that might be a fun zone for you to go to, to be 2.0 or 3.0 of KPI tracking. If you're just starting out, don't go there. Let's just get you tracking new patients and where they're coming from. Bottom line is these are the vitals. So first steps first, I want you with your KPIs to make sure that you have the vitals of your practice. Production, collection, new patients.   case acceptance, reappointment percentages. Those are like your main shebangs that are really gonna tell you where you're going. If you wanna add in your overhead, I also love that because that's gonna pull in the business side of it to make sure that we're actually profitable as a business and we're not just running around trying to serve, but not even being profitable as a practice. We need our practice to be profitable. Otherwise we can't serve more in our community. Those are my main things I love to focus on. So if you're just starting out, start tracking those.   I prefer you track them at a minimum every week at best. I actually like these ones to be tracked on your morning huddle. It's great. Everybody has it, have it on a whiteboard. Everybody can see it. That is the vital heartbeat of your practice. I would love you to do it. Just like on my Apple watch, I'm watching the rings on my Apple watch. That's honestly the only thing on my watch face guys, because it'd be really fun. But I decided I don't want to get distracted by other things. I need to master these items before I move on.   So that's why I love it to be front and center. Get these KPIs front and center. Get a whiteboard, guys, they're real cheap. Put it up, track these items. Production, we talked about it. Net, not gross. Collections, we wanna make sure we're collecting at least 98 % if not higher. And then I want you to know how many new patients you're getting out of goal, what your case acceptance is. A healthy practice, if we're talking dollar for dollar, I'd like you to be anywhere from 35 to 65%. Now there's a wide range on that because I actually, if you don't...   diagnose a lot of ortho and you're not diagnosing a lot of implants in larger cases, your dollar for dollar should be way up higher. If you're diagnosing these huge treatment plans constantly, you actually should be hanging out lower because we're presenting so much treatment that I'm okay with a lower case acceptance. If we're one for one, meaning one thing accepted off of our treatment plan, no matter how large it is, I want you actually to be sitting at at least a 90 % case acceptance. If you're not, we got to talk.   That's right, you and me, we're going to have a date, we're going to chat. We need to get that case acceptance up because what we're doing is we're dis-serving our patients. We're not helping them find a way to get this treatment done. You as a treatment coordinator, your job is to be a solution creator with the patient. So do your job, find the solution, get those patients accepted. That way we can help them have healthy mouths and a better life, right? That's what it's all about. Hey, Dental A Team listeners, how was your 2021? Have you reflected back? Where did you really win?   Where did you really not win? If 2021 was a year of years, congratulations. I am celebrating with you and I would love to invite you to take it to the next level. If 2021 wasn't quite your year, hey, it's all right. I'm there for you. And I would love to invite you to make 2022 the year for you. That's right, guys. If you're ready to take massive action, if you're ready to take your practice and your team to the next level, increase your profitability. Yeah, guys, through an easy way.   Get your entire team aligned and you're ready to just have your life be different. That's right. Team development, top to bottom system development, top to bottom, changing and shifting your culture, improving your team morale. If that sounds like what you're interested in guys, I'd love to invite you to join us in our Dental A Team platinum group. It's the exclusive group where we physically fly to your practice. We give you insider tips. We share with you. have a quarterly newsletter that goes to that shares all the updates we're coming up with and we share it with our platinum group.   We'd love to have you and I would like to invite you because guys remember you're always one decision away from a completely different life. So reach out guys. I'd love to chat with you. I'd love to see if you're a great platinum client or what works best for you. Email me Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and I can't wait to welcome you as our newest platinum client. Take massive action. This is your year. Let's make sure 2022 is your year. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Can't wait to welcome you. So those are my main KPIs that I love to track.   Once you get those dialed in and you're consistent on those and you know, then we're going to start diving into even more data. I want to know how well our hygiene department's doing. They should be producing at least three times their pay. So if I'm a hygienist making $10 an hour, wouldn't that be a dream guys? Welcome to 2022. Hygienist $10 an hour. Yeah, right. You guys are like a hundred and a billion dollars an hour. Like it's crazy how much hygienists are at right now, but let's say for the sake of this podcast, it's $10 an hour. Okay. I should be producing at least   $30 per hour as a healthy hygienist. That's on a PPO. If I'm fee for service, I like you producing at least four times your pay. So if I'm in a fee for service practice, I'm producing $40 an hour, okay? So that would be another great KPI to track. You can also break it down per department. So we might have our doctors. Great KPI to track on our doctors is what are they producing per hour? Most doctors should be producing at least $500 per hour at a minimum, okay?   So if we're working in an eight hour day, that's a $4,000 day per doctor, again on net, not gross. So that's a great metric to put in there. What are our doctors producing per hour? What's our doctor case acceptance? What's our doctor diagnosis? Great KPIs for you to start tracking. If we move on to our hygiene department, you can track fluoride, you can track perio. Perio is a great set to track. We can track ⁓ how many night guards they're doing. We can track how many orthostarts they're doing.   Great KPIs to track, again, if you're in the elite rockstar status. ⁓ Dental assistants, I like to track how many same day conversions you get. Also, how many times you leave the room is a great KPI to track. Also, how many Google reviews do dental assistants get? Those are all really, really great ones that you can do. For front office, scheduling. How often are we scheduling our hygiene and doctors to goal?   So I usually like between 80 and 90 % that they're scheduled to go. Schedulers can be how many openings they have in hygiene. It can also be how many new patients you're scheduling. For our treatment coordinators, case acceptance, right? We want to make sure that we're getting those cases up there. For office managers, what's our collection percentage that can also go to our billers? Billers, I love you to be tracking your AR. Also outstanding claims. ⁓ How long it's taking us to get our claims paid. It's a fan-freaking-tastic KPI to be tracking.   because we want to be paid quicker. Guess what? If I'm tracking that, I can see, are we not sending our claims clean and are we having errors? Could we fix that? Could we enter data better so we don't have these issues happening? Could also track how long our patients are waiting in the waiting room. If we're working on VIP new patient experience. As I just listed, there are a myriad of KPIs you could do. What happens is we often try to track too many things that were actually focused on nothing. So I suggest you usually have at least one primary KPI per   person in the practice. It's their primary. That's the one that no matter what, they're going to hit that. And we make sure it moves our needle forward. So what's going to move our doctors forward? What's going to move our hygienist forward? It's going to move our dental assistants, our scheduler, our biller, our office manager. What is the one thing if we could only focus on one thing, what's going to move each of those people forward the most and move our practice forward the most? Focus on that. Master that. Set a goal of what you should be hitting and report either weekly or daily.   on those. I'll be honest, if you report it daily, just like working out daily, you will probably see greater results than if you do it weekly or just monthly. So I also have with KPIs that you should really, really, really, really be ramping those up and making sure you're reporting consistently and that people know the goals. If we miss it, let's find out why. What's going on? Let's diagnose the problem. Let's find out what can we do to improve that. Again, I want you to think of these as vitals. KPIs are vitals of a practice.   If you don't track these, if you don't check them, you will die. Okay? If you think about it that way, well, instantly I'm like, maybe I don't need to track that. Maybe I don't need to focus on that. If you're already tracking it and you're breathing imperfect, guess what? What happened to the doctor? They start checking other things. They run blood tests on us and they check a thousand different things in that. Okay? So there are lots of KPIs you can do, but I would say keep it simple. Do the kiss method. Keep your KPIs simple. Then add to it. Maybe each quarter we add something.   Maybe each month we add something. It's also fun if you have your team help create these KPIs with you. What do they think is going to the practice board? What did they get excited about? Maybe they want to make social media posts. Maybe they care about how many followers we actually have. Maybe you guys want to do that. Maybe they do it on how many new patients they can get. I just had an office, super fun. The team decided that they were going to try and get more family members scheduled. So on average, this practice was averaging about 35 new patients. Guess what?   Guess what? Just by focusing on asking for referrals from patients and getting more family members scheduled, they use the phrase, what other family members can we get scheduled for you today? They have increased their new patients with no marketing to 50 new patients a month. Is that not rad? That's because they focus on a vital that the practice needed to do. They focus on where they were weak and they're able to move their practice forward. So guys, I would encourage each of you.   Look at these KPIs, get them set. If you don't have a regular KPI tracking, let's start there. If you do, I want to bump it up. Are those KPIs being reported weekly by all team members? And does the doctor and office manager review this? I will tell you at our company, Shelby, she's a rock star. Our whole team reports on a Google drive. We call our leadership scorecard. Those are where our KPIs hang out. Every person has a number that they're tracking. We review these, we make sure that they're the vitals of our company and they're moving us forward.   Every person reports on this every single Friday. We have a reminder that goes out, so everybody fills it in. Shelby then makes sure it comes over to me. I then with Shelby review this leadership scorecard. Then on our leadership team, we look at this every single month and make sure that those are vitals. And then we look to see where are we weak? What do we need to move forward? This is how you start to track. Also, if you want to stamp out and do more practices and you want to have more growth, having a leadership scorecard where you track these KPIs consistently.   allows you to then be able to manage and oversee multiple locations because everybody's tracking. And at a second, you can glance at this and you'll be able to know where your practice is weak and where it's strong and where you need to dive in and give it massive help. So guys, I strongly encourage you, if you're not doing it, do it. If you're doing it already, where can you ramp it up? If you're already ramping it up, get your team members involved and ask them where they want to take it to the next level. KPIs are magic. They're vitals. Also, if you're in that top, top tier,   Maybe I challenge you and say, where could you simplify? Are you overtracking? Sometimes when I look at dental intel, I'm like, holy guac. That's a lot of items you're tracking. How do they know where to focus? I think about the book, Essentialism. If you haven't read it, I would strongly encourage you to do it. If we're focused on too many things, we actually don't make a lot of progress anywhere. We make minimal progress. If we're focused on one thing, we kill it. We knock it out of the park. We dominate it. So I challenge each of you, look at those KPIs. Could you simplify them if you're already doing them?   What are the main drivers of the practice? Keep it to three per department is my recommendation. Make sure that what we're truly focused on is actually going to move you guys forward. If you need help getting those KPIs set up, if that's something you want to start doing, we make sure our practices are all tracking. Our offices have vitals. We look at them. We actually call it their vital scorecard. Truth. That's really what we call it. So if you guys want to help with this, if you'd love somebody to help hold you accountable, email me. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to help you out.   nothing else guys, go get these KPIs in place and know that you guys are in control of this. You can see your practice at a glance. You can know if you're healthy or not just at a glance, just like the doctor does when we go in for our medical doctors. So guys, try it out. I'd love to hear it. I'd love to hear your successes. Post your KPI scorecards and tag us. We'd love to see it. Share. If you guys want to, you can start to get on our Facebook group, Donuts with Dana. She's literally going around and she's pulling these ideas and she's sharing and she's answering questions.   So join her, she's on Facebook Live every Friday, Donuts with Dana. So hop on over there if you have questions getting this set up, she's there, she'll help answer questions. And as always guys, just take action, do it. Don't be afraid of KPIs, they're very easy. And if we can help you, email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to share it with you guys. If you need a sample, email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast. And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team Podcast.   Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.  

In this episode of the Healthy, Wealthy, and Smart Podcast, host Dr. Karen Litzy welcomes Lauren Schoenfeld, founder of Active Core Consulting, to discuss the importance of understanding finances in business. Lauren, a self-proclaimed numbers nerd, specializes in providing fractional CFO services, bookkeeping, and operational coaching for health and wellness entrepreneurs. The conversation kicks off with Lauren explaining what a fractional CFO is, using a relatable pizza analogy to illustrate the concept. Listeners will learn how to manage their finances more effectively, prioritize profit, and move away from the hustle culture as they navigate their entrepreneurial journeys. Tune in for valuable insights that can help transform your approach to business finances!   Time Stamps:  [00:01:21] Fractional CFO explained. [00:07:06] Money goals for new businesses. [00:09:46] Delayed rent negotiations for startups. [00:12:56] Owner's salary importance in business. [00:18:59] Subscription audit for entrepreneurs. [00:24:04] Ability to generate income quickly. [00:25:52] Limiting beliefs around money. [00:29:29] Questioning limiting beliefs. [00:34:10] Key Performance Indicators in Business. [00:39:13] Churn and attrition rates. [00:42:09] Enjoying the entrepreneurial journey.   More About Lauren: Lauren Schoenfeld is the founder of Active Core Consulting, a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs in the health and wellness industry who need a fractional CFO, bookkeeping, sales, or operations coach. Lauren empowers CEO's to have confidence in their finances to put them in the driver's seat of their dream company. She's a self-proclaimed numbers nerd and athlete who helps owners develop a financial plan and execute on the strategy that puts their profit first.   Lauren started at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she learned the consulting framework. She then mastered the do's and don'ts of scaling a rapidly growing company from her time at WeWork. At her final corporate job, Lauren helped Equinox Fitness Clubs grow from 80 to 105 locations, enter into new international markets, and incubated nine of the most well-known wellness-focused ventures, including Equinox Hotel, Precision Run Studios, and SoulCycle On-Demand. Her final corporate project was to consolidate SoulCycle and Blink Fitness back office into the Equinox processes and systems.   On a personal note, Lauren suffered from burnout working in the corporate world which led to developing a chronic illness. She has grown her business while healing her body through nontraditional modalities and is on a mission to end hustle culture for entrepreneurs!   Resources from this Episode: Active Core Consulting Website Active Core Consulting on Instagram Free Expense Calculator   Jane Sponsorship Information: Book a one-on-one demo here Mention the code LITZY1MO for a free month   Follow Dr. Karen Litzy on Social Media: Karen's Twitter Karen's Instagram Karen's LinkedIn   Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: YouTube Website Apple Podcast Spotify SoundCloud Stitcher iHeart Radio

Send us a textIn the latest episode of Business Growth Talks, Mark Hayward converses with Heidi DeCoux, an entrepreneurial powerhouse and the driving force behind Cash Flowy, a cutting-edge fintech solution for solopreneurs. The episode explores Heidi's vision of a decentralized, AI-powered financial ecosystem that aims to eliminate the need for traditional bookkeeping. Her insights into the future of finance in a Web4 era, where crypto and fiat currencies coalesce beyond conventional boundaries, are particularly intriguing. Cash Flowy's mission is to make small businesses efficient without relying on intermediaries, promising real-time, accurate financial data at solopreneurs' fingertips.Throughout the discussion, Heidi delves into the challenges and transformative journey she embarked on, reshaping her life and business philosophies. From walking away from an unfulfilling life in 2021 to her serial entrepreneurial achievements, she discusses the pivotal moments that led to the founding of Cash Flowy. The episode is rich with valuable insights into AI's role in finance, the growing significance of the solopreneur market in the U.S., and how Heidi is leveraging her experience to empower individuals to take full charge of their business finances with ease and precision.Key Takeaways:AI in Finance: Cash Flowy uses AI to provide nearly perfect accuracy in bookkeeping, promising to replace human bookkeepers by offering real-time financial insights.Empowering Solopreneurs: The platform specifically caters to solopreneurs like coaches and freelancers, making it easier to manage finances with a user-friendly interface.Financial Coaching: Cash Flowy offers an embedded AI financial coach to guide users based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to make informed business decisions.Entrepreneurial Insights: Heidi shares her journey of transformation and highlights the importance of pivoting in life and business to align with one's purpose.Scalable Solutions: Heidi emphasizes the potential for small businesses to thrive without complexity, hinting at a future where solopreneurs dominate the business landscape through streamlined, high-efficiency operations.Resources:Heidi DeCoux's Social Media: Instagram, LinkedIn (search Heidi DeCoux)Cash Flowy Website: cashflowy.aiBooks Mentioned: "Good to Great" by Jim CollinsAdditional mentions in the episode include the importance of leveraging AI in business operations for enhanced productivity and the projected growth of the solopreneur market in the U.S.Explore the transformative potential of Heidi DeCoux's Support the showIf you want to watch the full video of this episode go to:https://www.youtube.com/@markhayward-BizGrowthTalksDo you want to be a guest on multiple podcasts as a service go to:www.podcastintroduction.comFind more details about the podcast and my coaching business on:www.businessgrowthtalks.comFind me onLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-hayw...Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mjh169183YouTube Shorts - https://www.youtube.com/@markhayward-BizGrowthTalks/shorts

Our Udemy course is live! Enroll now in Mastering Vigilant Leadership: Leading Your Business Forward: https://www.udemy.com/course/mastering-vigilant-leadership-leading-your-business-forward/?couponCode=5491064851832536A6BD Now that the first 3 principles of Vigilant Leadership are under your belt, it's time for the 4th: Setting up the Feedback Loop. This feedback loop helps you maintain vigilance over your plan.  Or said differently, how do you know your plan is working? The key here is understanding the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that lead to success. This can be the hardest part of Vigilant Leadership, because it requires hypothesizing, projecting, even leaning in with benchmarks. Our goal is to grow your confidence and comfort level here. If you don't define what success looks like, others will do it for you. Listen to the full episode here

Send us a textGrowth strategist Maritza Davila shares powerful insights on using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to achieve predictable business growth through systematic measurement and accountability.• KPIs serve as "momentum metrics" that measure how well businesses are performing toward specific goals• Nothing is predictable unless it's measurable - weekly tracking allows for timely course correction• Both quantitative metrics (financial) and qualitative metrics (team satisfaction, culture) are important• Common mistake: measuring only lagging indicators (revenue) instead of leading indicators (inputs)• Having clear metrics creates accountability and clarity for team members• Weekly reporting creates a cadence to culture - everyone knows what's expected• The GROW methodology: Guide (vision/goals), Research (data collection), Optimize (improvement), Win (execution)• For predictable growth, referrals must be part of a systematic strategy, not just passive word-of-mouth• Owners must demonstrate accountability themselves to set the example for their teams• Three-strike rule provides framework for addressing underperformanceFor a free consultation with Maritza on growing your business predictably, visit www.businessclarity.coSupport the showBelemLeaders–Your organization's trusted partner for leader and team development. Visit our website to connect: belemleaders.org or book a discovery call today! belem.as.me/discoveryUntil next time, keep doing great things!

Videos ohne Ziel landen im Leerlauf – Clipvert Gründerin Ronja Dornfeld zeigt, wie Unternehmen durch fehlende Ressourcen, Mut und Kontinuität scheitern. Hohe Investitionen in Social Media wirken nur, wenn echte Menschen mit Haltung und Bereitschaft für Kritik sichtbar werden. Schnell produzierte Perfektion ersetzt keine Nähe. Was bleibt, ist der Mut zur Imperfektion, zu Dialog und zum Loslassen alter Werbeformeln. Eine Einladung zum echten Ausprobieren. Du erfährst... …wie Ronja Dornfeld Unternehmen hilft, Videos effektiv für Employer-Branding einzusetzen …welche sechs typischen Fehler Unternehmen beim Einsatz von Videos machen …warum Zielsetzung und Ressourcen entscheidend für den Erfolg von Videokampagnen sind …wie Mut und Authentizität die Wirkung von Unternehmensvideos verstärken …warum Social Listening und interaktive Kommunikation im Videomarketing unverzichtbar sind __________________________ ||||| PERSONEN |||||

Our Udemy course is live! Enroll now in Mastering Vigilant Leadership: Leading Your Business Forward: https://www.udemy.com/course/mastering-vigilant-leadership-leading-your-business-forward/?couponCode=5491064851832536A6BD Now that the first 3 principles of Vigilant Leadership are under your belt, it's time for the 4th: Setting up the Feedback Loop. This feedback loop helps you maintain vigilance over your plan.  Or said differently, how do you know your plan is working? The key here is understanding the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that lead to success. This can be the hardest part of Vigilant Leadership, because it requires hypothesizing, projecting, even leaning in with benchmarks. Our goal is to grow your confidence and comfort level here. If you don't define what success looks like, others will do it for you. For more about ForthRight Business by ForthRight People or for 1:1 consultation, check us out at ForthRight-Business.com And as always, if you need Strategic Counsel, don't hesitate to reach out to us at: ForthRight-People.com FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/forthrightpeople.marketingagency INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/forthrightpeople/ LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/company/forthright-people/ RESOURCES https://www.forthright-people.com/resources VIRTUAL CONSULTANCY https://www.forthright-people.com/shop

In this episode,speaks with Michael Keller, the CEO of Jeremiah's Italian Ice, about his journey to the top, the unique challenges of the frozen dessert industry, and the importance of franchisee satisfaction. They discuss the strategies for selecting franchisees, building a resilient community, and innovating product offerings like ice cream cakes. Keller emphasizes the need for a strong team and effective real estate strategies to ensure franchise success, while also highlighting the importance of understanding franchisee needs and satisfaction.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Jeremiah's Italian Ice and Michael Keller02:45 Transitioning from Consulting to CEO05:37 Understanding Franchisee Dynamics08:40 The Importance of Resiliency in Franchisees11:13 Building a Strong Executive Team14:14 Listening and Adapting Leadership Styles17:07 Optimizing Supply Chain Strategies27:16 Weekly Rhythm: Aligning Business Operations29:06 Entering the Ice Cream Cake Market32:40 Challenges of Menu Expansion for Franchisees36:16 Real Estate Strategies for Franchise Success42:07 Key Performance Indicators in Franchising46:40 Underrated Flavors and Final ThoughtsInterested in learning more about becoming a Jeremiah's franchisee - check them out here:https://jeremiahsfranchise.com/

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential” That quote from Winston Churchill perfectly captures the dilemma we face when it comes to planning.  You can subscribe to this podcast on:  Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | TUNEIN Links: Email Me | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Linkedin The Time-Based Productivity Course Get Your Copy Of Your Time, Your Way: Time Well Managed, Life Well Lived The Time Sector System 5th Year Anniversary The Working With… Weekly Newsletter Carl Pullein Learning Centre Carl's YouTube Channel Carl Pullein Coaching Programmes Subscribe to my Substack  The Working With… Podcast Previous episodes page Script | 379 Hello, and welcome to episode 379 of the Your Time, Your Way Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development, and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein, and I am your host of this show. Planning and organising have their place. Yet, there is a danger of taking them too far and using them as an excuse or as a way to procrastinate.  Ultimately, whatever you are planning to do will eventually need to be done. The goal, therefore, is to get to the doing part as quickly as possible.  One of the dangers of David Allen's Getting Things Done book, is the emphasis on organising and doing the weekly review. It's a procrastinators heaven. An authority in the the productivity space giving you “permission” to spend two to four hours a week planning and reviewing and another large proportion of your time organising and reorganising your lists.  Don't get me wrong. Both planning and organising have their place and as Winston Churchill says, “planning is essential”, but it's a thin line between helpful and unhelpful planning and organising. In today's episode, I will share with you some ideas that you can use to ensure that you are following some sound principles with your planning and reviewing.  So, that means it's time to hand you over to the Mystery Podcast Voice for this week's question. This week's question comes from Sally. Sally asks, hi Carl, I'm struggling to get myself organised. I have so many things on my desk and on my computer's desktop I don't know where to start. I feel like all I do all day is plan what to do and tidy up my lists. How do you avoid over planning and organising?  Hi Sally, thank you for your question. Firstly, I must admit I have been down this road of over-planning and organising.  I read Getting Things Done in 2009 and loved it. I ditched my Franklin Planner, the “tool” I had been using consistently for over fifteen years, bought myself a nice Quo Vadis notebook (the paper quality was better than Moleskine) and spent a whole weekend setting up the notebook as a GTD tool.  I also printed out the GTD weekly review checklist from David Allen's website and stuck that into the back go my planner and became a GTDer.  It took me seven years to realise that I wasn't getting anything significant done. I had a lot of ideas, plans and goals, yet all I seemed to be doing was reviewing, planning and doing the easy things from my context lists.  Replying to emails was much easier than sitting down to write the first chapter of the book I wanted to write. Spending more time mind mapping the presentation I had to give on Friday seemed more important than opening up Keynote and designing the presentation.  Yet, ironically, it was an end of year review that forced me to face up to reality and see that while I was excellent at planning and reviewing, I had become terrible at doing the work.  And this is one of the most common problem areas I see with many of my coaching clients. The fixation on having everything perfectly organised and planned.  You see, the problem here is not that everything is neatly organised and you have the plans to do whatever it is you want to do. The problem is nothing is being done to do those plans.  While I was working on my recent Time-Based Productivity course, the project note I had for it was a mess. I had a lot of notes, ideas and thoughts. Yet, I maintained a strict next actions list at the top of the project note as well as links to the documents I was working on.  It didn't matter that below those items was a horror show of ill-thought out ideas and random thoughts. They were there in case I got stuck somewhere. What mattered was the important information was clear and at the top of the note.  The note was designed so that the work got done. It was not designed to look pretty.  I've seen clients with thirty page Word documents detailing their department's plans for the year. It's written in some vague management language that leaves a lot to interpretation. It's as Winston Churchill once said of a similar document from the government's treasury department: “This paper, by its very length, defends itself from ever being read.” You can spend hours going through a document like that, and nothing will ever get done.  What matters is knowing what the department's objectives are and what needs to be done to accomplish them.  That does not need thirty pages. That can be summarised on one page, at most.  If you're working in an organisation that loves using management speak to communicate their ill-thought through ideas, one of the best ways to navigate these documents is to establish what the ultimate goal is.  What are the targets, or in management speak “KPI's” (Key Performance Indicators)? Once you know how you or your department will be measured, you can use your own experience and knowledge to put in place a plan to achieve those targets.  Ultimately, your boss, and their boss, are concerned about your targets. How you achieve those targets are less important, although they should always be achieved legally, of course.  In many ways translating these verbose annual planning documents is the role of the departmental managers. This means translating them into actionable items so that everyone in the team clearly understands what they are aiming for. This then reduces the necessity of further planning meetings and everyone can get on and achieve the objectives.  And this is the same for individuals.  When we plan things out we are exploring options, considering best ways to do things and perhaps thinking of potential outcomes.  While these exercises do have their place, they cannot replace doing the work.  The objective, therefore, is to figure out as quickly as possible what you need to do to get the work completed.  My wife bought me a new iron and ironing board for my birthday. I love ironing, I find it relaxing. I've learnt that no matter how big the pile of ironing is, the pile is not going to diminish by more planning and strategising. The only way the pile of ironing will shrink is for me to plug my iron in, set up my ironing board and get started.  Now years of ironing has taught me to begin with the clothes that require a cooler setting and finish with clothes that require a hotter setting such as linen shirts. That's experience, although, I remember being taught that one by my grandmother many many years ago.  The final part of this is choosing when to do the ironing. For me, I find ironing after I've been sat down for a long time works best. I'm stood up and have to move around to hang my shirts up after they're ironed. So, doing the ironing in the afternoon or early evening works best for me.  Given that I generally do the ironing once a week, all I need to decide is when. When will I do it? That's the only planning I need to do with something I routinely do.  When it comes to organising, I'm always surprised how so many people have missed one of the best features of computers and technology. It's not so you can sit and stare at a screen for hours on end. It's the speed at which a computer can organise your files.  You can choose to organise your files by date created, date modified, title, type of document or by size. The only thing you need to do is to put the file into a folder.  If you were to keep things as simple as possible, two folders one for your personal life and one for your professional life would work. (And I know a lot of people who do just that and can find anything they need with the use of a keyboard shortcut or a few typed letters.  While travelling last month, I had all my flight confirmation emails and car hire documents stored in Evernote in its own notebook. Before we set off, I made sure this notebook was downloaded to my phone so that no matter where I was in the world, I was not going to be relying on flakey internet.  This meant, when we finally reached the car hire desk at 11 p.m. At Dublin Airport, all I needed to do was open Evernote, type Europcar in the search and all my details we instantly on my screen ready to show the assistant.  Most notes apps people are using today have incredibly powerful search features built in. Evernote was build on its search features. I'm frequently amazed at how quickly Evernote can find something I vaguely think might be in there.  I remember my wife trying to sort something out for me on a Korean website while we were sitting in cafe. She asked me if I remembered my password for a particular website I had not used for over ten years.  I opened up Evernote and typed in the name of the website and in less than second the login and password details were there. My brain cannot work that fast when trying to recall something from ten years ago.  What this means is you do not need to spend days or months trying to come up with a “perfect” notes organisation system. You could quite easily operate on a simple professional and personal folder system.  You'd still be able to find anything you were looking for, and all you would need to do is to learn how to use the search features.  So, Sally, if you want to get things organised, let your computer do the work for you. Start by creating a simple folder structure of personal and work, and organise your documents there first.  As you're doing this I would add that you ensure the title of the documents and files are clear. Sometimes we download something from the internet and we end up with a jumble of letters and numbers. While your computer will be able to tell you when you downloaded it and what the file type is, it won't be able to tell you what it is. That part of the organising process is on you.  If you wish to have a little more structure than simply personal and professional you can modify things later. The goal here is to begin the cleaning up process.  And don't forget the delete key. It's your best friend when cleaning up.  Once you've tidied everything up and you know where everything is, when it comes to what to do next will naturally follow.  This organising may take you a weekend to do. Yet, that investment in time will be well worth it. You'll feel less anxious, lighter and will have begun developing confidence in your system. That's a very nice place to be.  I hope that has helped, Sally. Thank you for your question and thank you to you too for listening. It just remains for me to wish you a very very productive week.   

In this episode of the Sleeping Baber podcast, we engage with Bob Park, formerly the Chief Brand Officer at GE Appliances. We explore the evolving role of brand management, the importance of data-driven decision-making, and the challenges of balancing short-term and long-term marketing strategies. Bob shares insights from the Cannes Changemaker series, emphasizing the need for consumer-centric approaches and the integration of AI in marketing. Our conversation highlights the significance of building relationships within the C-suite and adapting to new media strategies in a rapidly changing landscape.Our Guest:Bob Park: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-park-geappliances/Follow our updates here: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/sleeping-barber/⁠⁠https://www.sleepingbarber.caGet in touch with our hosts:Marc Binkley: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/Vassilis Douros: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/⁠TakeawaysThe Chief Brand Officer role focuses on a house of brands approach.Cannes Lions Festival provided valuable insights on marketing and technology.Being a changemaker is essential in brand management.Understanding consumer needs is key to effective marketing.Data-driven decision-making is crucial for success.There is a distinction between good and bad data.Key metrics should guide marketing strategies.Navigating data overload is a challenge for marketers.Media strategies must evolve with changing consumer behaviour.AI will play a significant role in the future of marketing.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Sleeping Baba Podcast01:03 The Role of Chief Brand Officer03:03 Insights from the Cannes Changemaker Series05:49 Applying Change Maker Philosophy to Brand Management08:56 Data-Driven Decision Making in Marketing11:50 Key Performance Indicators and Market Share14:51 Navigating Short-Term vs Long-Term Marketing Strategies17:57 The Evolution of Media Strategies21:10 Adapting to the Digital Landscape24:07 Building Relationships with the C-Suite26:48 Justifying Marketing Investments30:03 The Future of Marketing and AI33:03 Conclusion and Closing Remarks

In this Marketing Over Coffee: Learn about Key Performance Indicators, iPad as a Second Screen, Comply Tips, and more! Direct Link to File Moonshot Kimi K2 Using AI to monitor your KPIs AI Slide Decks – automating with Apps Script Ask for more at Analytics for Marketers! Get the Book Now! Almost Timeless – 48 […] The post AI Generates Your PowerPoint Deck, Checks your KPIs, and Hulk Hogan appeared first on Marketing Over Coffee Marketing Podcast.

Have you ever made a bad hire? Finding the right people is a frequent challenge for property management companies. Many struggle with hiring processes that lack structure, leading to less-than-ideal hires and high performers leaving. The key to building a strong team and allowing owners to step into more of a CEO role is to implement a consistent, values-driven hiring process. This episode gives property management business owners the tools to attract, assess, and retain top talent. It also highlights the often-overlooked benefits of virtual assistants (VAs) and how to hire them effectively, avoiding common pitfalls. By prioritizing a well-defined hiring strategy, owners can build a thriving business that operates efficiently with or without their constant direct involvement. Find Pete Neubig or VPM Solutions online: https://www.vpmsolutions.com/affiliate/pm-build   Lead Simple - manage more doors with less stress using LeadSimple   Property Manager Websites - the highest performing property management website in the industry   Rentvine - the property management software you can trust   NARPM Orlando Event: Register here   PMbuild - Marc's education for property managers   Join Marc's new property management Facebook group This podcast is produced by Two Brothers Creative.

In this episode of Pillars of Wealth Creation, Todd Dexheimer interviews Gary Harper of Sharper Business Solutions about how to build a business with clarity, systems, and purpose. Gary introduces his powerful RISE framework—Resource, Inspiration, Systems, Engagement—and explains how it helps business owners gain control, create structure, and drive growth. He also shares practical advice on setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that align with each role and ensure accountability across your organization. Throughout the conversation, Gary emphasizes the importance of creating a business that delivers results while supporting a fulfilling work-life balance. Key Takeaways: -How RISE helps businesses scale effectively -The role of KPIs in driving performance -Building systems that empower your team -Growing your business without sacrificing your personal life Book: By: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, and Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Pillars of Wealth: 1. Freedom of Time 2. Freedom of Money 3. Freedom of Relationships Gary Harper is the founder of Sharper Business Solutions and a leading expert in business systemization and growth strategy. With over 20 years of experience, Gary helps entrepreneurs gain clarity, build strong teams, and implement systems that drive real results. His proven RISE framework has helped countless businesses scale effectively while maintaining balance. Gary is passionate about empowering leaders to grow businesses that support both financial success and a fulfilling personal life. If you would like to connect with Gary, you can connect with him through TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/discover/gary-harper,Instagram @official_garyharpe or https://sharperprocess.com If you would like to connect with Gary, you can connect with him through Instagram @official_garyharpe or https://sharperprocess.com Welcome to Pillars of Wealth Creation, where we talk about building financial freedom with a special focus on business and Real Estate. Follow along as Todd Dexheimer interviews top entrepreneurs, investors, advisers, and coaches. YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/PillarsOfWealthCreation Interested in coaching? Schedule a call with Todd at www.coachwithdex.com Listen to the audio version on your favorite podcast host: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-650270376 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../pillars-of.../id1296372835... Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/.../aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZ... iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/.../pillars-of-wealth-creation.../ CastBox: https://castbox.fm/.../Pillars-Of-Wealth-Creation... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0FmGSJe9fzSOhQiFROc2O0 Pandora: https://pandora.app.link/YUP21NxF3kb Amazon/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/.../f6cf3e11-3ffa-450b-ac8c...

In this engaging conversation, Tommy Mello and Ellen Rohr discuss the critical importance of financial clarity in business, the value of mentorship, and the strategies for choosing the right business to invest in. They explore the significance of understanding financials during business transactions, the dynamics of team success, and the role of effective communication and leadership. The discussion also highlights key performance indicators for growth, leveraging technology for financial management, and the personal journey of entrepreneurship. Finally, they touch on future endeavors and the importance of community engagement.   Don't forget to register for Tommy's event, Freedom 2025! This is the event where Tommy's billion-dollar network will break down exactly how to accelerate your business and dominate your market in 2025.   For more details visit freedomevent.com   00:00 The Importance of Financial Clarity 06:02 Mentorship and Learning from Experience 11:47 Choosing the Right Business to Invest In 17:51 Understanding Financials in Business Transactions 23:42 The Role of Team Dynamics in Business Success 29:41 The Power of Communication and Leadership 35:59 Key Performance Indicators for Business Growth 41:49 Leveraging Technology for Financial Management 47:43 The Journey of Entrepreneurship and Personal Growth 53:47 Future Endeavors and Community Engagement  

Dive into the world of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with Kyle Smith as we explore how metrics can steer your business towards success. Tailored for legal professionals, this podcast equips law firms with proven tactics to enhance revenue streams, streamline costs, optimize tax strategies, and more… Kyle is a CPA and Partner at Strata Cloud Accountants who passionately helps small and medium-sized businesses thrive. He graduated from UT McCombs School of Business, where he studied finance and fell in love with Austin, TX. Working with clients across an array of industries, Kyle is on a mission to build a valuable, first-class advisory experience for every individual he works with. Join in now to learn about: The origins of Strata Cloud Accountants. Industry-wide data related to the KPIs of law firms. Outliers that can affect the margins of different types of legal cases. How inflation impacts the erosion of margins. Ready to supercharge your business? Click here to find out more about Kyle and his work with Strata Cloud Accountants now! Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit bit.ly/3uiVX9R to explore latest collection. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9

Growth doesn't always mean profit.In this episode, I'm joined by ProfitHive founder Kevin Bees to talk about how growing businesses leak money—and how to stop it. Kevin shares the 7 hidden areas where founders lose margin, plus a tactical framework for getting your financial house in order without becoming an accountant.