Podcasts about meclabs

MicroYES MicroYES is the brand name Graham Arrowsmith is using to promote his authorised partner status to promote MeclabsAI. His main focus is to bring Customer Facing Devices to businesses who want to achieve improved engagement from their websites. Graham's MicroYES offers strategies to leverage cutting-edge AI marketing tools to elevate your brand presence. Summary of the Podcast Navigating time zone differences Graham discusses the challenges of managing meeting schedules across different time zones. Especially as Graham is about to travel to India. He is considering setting all his meetings to the Indian time zone to avoid confusion. Promoting MeclabsAI Graham introduces MeclabsAI, a marketing AI tool that can analyse data and provide insights and recommendations to help businesses improve their marketing efforts. He highlights how Meclabs AI is built on extensive research and experimentation, making it more powerful than typical chatbots or language models. The MicroYes framework Graham explains the "MicroYes" framework developed by MECLABS, which outlines 8 key steps in the customer decision-making process. This framework is used to structure effective marketing pages and customer-facing experiences. Upcoming India trip and customer meetings  Graham discusses his upcoming trip to India, where he will be meeting with various businesses in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Chandigarh. The goal is to demonstrate MeclabsAI and in particular Customer Facing Devices (CFD) technology. Recap and next steps Graham wraps up the discussion, encouraging listeners in the target Indian cities to reach out if they are interested in meeting. He also mentions that Faiza will try to create some sample CFDs for those who book a meeting ahead of the trip to showcase the technology. Clips from the Podcast MeclabsAI - including marketing AND finance https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-MeclabsAI.mp4 MeclabsAI: The Best of the Best in Marketing https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-Trained-on-10k-Experiments.mp4   Are Your Throwing Tries at Your Webpage? https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-Throwing-Tries-at-the-Page.mp4   4 Stages of Conversion https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-4-Stages-of-Conversion.mp4   Customer Facing Devices https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-Customer-Facing-Devices.mp4   MicroYES Value Proposition https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Graham-Arrowsmith-MicroYES-Value-Proposition.mp4   Get MeclabsAI Training with Flint McGlaughlin  LINK:   https://join.meclabsai.com/mec050?fpr=2pxtl It's a 3 hour training starting noon Eastern Time (UK: 5pm) The MicroYes Sequence Stage MicroYes (MY) Example Corresponding Action Connect MY1: Yes, I will pay attention. A headline that directly addresses a pressing need or desire of the target audience, such as "Achieve Your Dream Career with Advanced Data Analytics Skills." Capturing initial interest by clearly stating what's in it for the customer. MY2: Yes, I will engage deeper. Content that begins to elaborate on the headline, providing a teaser of the value, such as a brief overview of how data analytics can open career opportunities. Providing more context, engaging the customer with more information on how their needs can be met. Explain MY3: Yes, I understand the value. Detailed descriptions or demonstration videos showing the course modules, teaching methods, and potential job outcomes. Making the offer's value clear and comprehensible. MY4: Yes, I believe this will benefit me. Testimonials from former students now thriving in their careers, or data on employment rates post-course completion.

My latest guest represents the perfect dichotomy of what it takes to make it in marketing.On the one hand, the word rockstar is half the name of her company, which connotes to me, Mick Jagger strutting around on-stage crooning “I'm a man of wealth and taste.” Or perhaps for a newer generation, Adam Levine in the spotlight belting out “I got the moves like Jagger.”But then when I went through her podcast guest application, it was filled with humble lessons like, “Be a Horse Whisperer,” “Always Gain Alignment Behind the Scenes,” and “Be the Woman Behind the Woman.”To help us figure out how to be horse-whispering rock star marketers, I sat down with Rachel Minion, Cofounder and CEO, Rockstarr and Moon [https://rockstarrandmoon.com/].Rockstarr and Moon is a privately held company with $1 million in annual revenue. Minion manages a team of 10.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSilence can be deafening – so, take action Live loud. Be authentic.Firefighters are heroes, but you don't have to beBe a horse whispererAlways gain alignment behind the scenesBe the woman behind the womanDiscussed in this episodeAI Guild [https://join.meclabsai.com/]Content and Communications: Tenacity, keep it simple, authenticity works (podcast episode #33) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/content]Clarity Trumps Persuasion: 5 examples where clarity soundly beat out persuasion tactics [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/content]Internet Marketing: Landing page optimization for beginners [https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/internet-marketing-for-beginners]Innovation Leadership and Coaching: You should almost always do less than you think (podcast episode #46) [https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/innovation]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

MeclabsAI & MicroYes Summary of the Podcast Introducing MeclabsAI and MicroYes.ai  Graham and Arshiya introduce MeclabsAI, a marketing AI platform that provides a range of services including copy generation, financial management, and marketing strategy. They announce the launch of their new brand MicroYes.ai which will focus on promoting MeclabsAI, especially to small and medium-sized marketing agencies in the UK and India. MicroYes.ai's value proposition Graham explains that MicroYes.ai will provide agencies with access to MeclabsAI's Experts, Apps and libraries. All three combine or can be used separately to improve their clients' marketing performance. An example of this is Webpage Analyser, conversion pro and project planning. Sneak peek!... Targeting small/medium marketing agencies Arshiya outlines the initial customer profile for MicroYes.ai - heads of business development within small to medium-sized marketing agencies. They are considered likely to get value from the platform to enhance their services and outcomes for their own clients. Upcoming 42 AI podcast Graham and Arshiya announce the launch of a new podcast called 42ai 42ai will provide further insights and updates on how the platform is developing, its use cases and options for new clients. The "ultimate question to life, the universe and everything" that famously has the answer of 42 is the question posed in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. In the story, the supercomputer Deep Thought is tasked with finding the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything." After 7.5 million years of computation, Deep Thought reveals that the answer is 42. However, Deep Thought explains that the truly hard part was not finding the answer, but rather determining the actual question that 42 is the answer to. Deep Thought then creates an even more powerful computer called the Earth to find the real question. Unfortunately, the Earth is destroyed before it can unveil the question. So the "ultimate question" that corresponds to the answer of 42 is never definitively revealed in the Hitchhiker's Guide stories. It remains a mystery, with the implication that the true nature of the universe is so complex and enigmatic that it cannot be easily captured in a simple question. The lack of a clear question highlights the absurdity and humor in the idea of there being a single, ultimate answer to the mysteries of existence. Graham with the help of Meclabs is going to change all that. Watch this space for the "ultimate question" Clips from the Podcast What is MeclabsAI? "The answers to every problem!" https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AK-GA-MeclabsAI.mp4   Graham explains too https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GA-MeclabsAI.mp4   The Next 100 Days Podcast Library Note: You can even create a library based on how you write, how you speak and then ensure your content is based on you, by asking AI to reference your library! https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Arshiya-Kapil-Libraries.mp4   Search the N100D Library for Marketing Insights! https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GA-N100D-Librarymp4.mp4   Arshiya and Graham are both Northerners! https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/G-Arrowsmith-A-Kapil-42ai.mp4   Landing Page - 8 Different MicroYesses https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/8-MicroYesses.mp4   Announcing the name of the brand to promote MeclabsAI MICROYES.ai https://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MicroYes.mp4   Are You a Small to Medium Marketing Agency in the United Kingdom or India? GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS NOW: https://meclabsai.com/share/L8ROV9PVoxF1aRN/?fpr=2pxtl Contact:  Arshiya Kapil arshiya@finelyfettled.co.uk or Graham Arrowsmith graham@finelyfettled.co.uk Call:  +44 1535 654930

Dmytro Kudrenko is the founder and CEO of Stripo, a bootstrapped startup that reached $3.7 million in annual revenue. Dmytro has over 25 years of experience in the software development world, with 15 specifically in email marketing. He is an expert in email marketing automation and a licensed specialist in Lead Management and Email Messaging according to Meclabs.Join us for an exciting conversation with Dmytro Kudrenko as he shares his insights on the importance of email design for more conversions, how AI can be used for sequencing, hooks, and copy to save you thousands of hours, and the power of data-driven email marketing.Takeaways:Automate routine tasks for strategic work.Use relevant prompts for better AI results.Control AI content to ensure accuracy.Connect with Dmytro KudrenkoLinkedIn | TwitterWebsite: https://www.stripo.email/Timestamps:00:00 Simplify email creation with Stripe integration.05:24 Elementor plugin simplifies cross-browser email compatibility.08:54 "Using email to achieve specific conversion goals."11:35 AI can improve life, generate content blocks.15:29 Maximizing power of automated email campaigns.18:32 Imploring focus on automation over AI for emails.21:30 Creating diverse prompts to assist with writing.24:39 Over 100 integrations for easy email management._____________________________________________Launch and Automate your Podcast:

“The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.” That quote is from David Ben-Gurion.And it reminds me of marketing. We're in the digital age, or maybe we've crossed over into the AI age. Either way, we don't have the long deadlines we had when I started my career writing print ads.And that's just the difficult. What about the impossible? Well, that is part of our stock and trade as marketers, right? We push, try new things, experiment, innovate – that which was impossible yesterday is our new campaign or new tool we built for the customer.So let me drop another quote in here, this one from my next guest – “Embrace ‘riding the worm.'” That's her way of saying, don't be afraid to try something that seems virtually impossible. It takes resourcefulness and the ability to tame something seemingly uncontrollable.To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Erika White, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Affirm (https://www.affirm.com/).Affirm is a public company that trades on NASDAQ. It reported $1.588 billion in revenue in 2023. White oversees a team of 35 professionals driving all aspects of marketing and communications for the company including growth marketing, martech/ops, partner marketing, brand marketing, research, and public relations. She was a core member of the team leading the $12 billion IPO in early 2021.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingHere are some lessons from White that emerged in our discussion:Embrace ‘riding the worm'Don't forget to laugh and help others do the sameWithin teams, make ownership a feature not a bugEnergy and positivity are contagiousAlways take the callDirect feedback is a giftDiscussed in this episodeCustomer-First Marketing Guide: 4 steps (with case studies) to build a customer-first marketing strategy (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/customer-first-marketing)Just type /SNA into MeclabsAI (https://meclabsai.com/) and get conversion rate optimization ideas for your specific scenarios.  It's totally FREE to use, for now (Meclabs is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to 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

I've been watching the new Steve Martin documentary, and it includes a clip of him accepting the Mark Twain Prize.He calls it “The only significant American award for comedy…except for money.”It reminded me of our own industry, but in a different way. We have many awards for creativity, and I am a creative person so I love them, but ultimately this art we do is a business art. And the ultimate measure of success is often monetary.So when I saw this lesson in a podcast guest application – ‘make people money' – I wanted to dive deeper.To hear the story behind that lesson – why he left another job function to join the marketing department – along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Brad Gillespie, GM of Cvent Consulting, Cvent (https://www.cvent.com/).Cvent was a public company, until it was acquired by Blackstone for $4.6 billion last year.Gillespie estimates that over his 20 years in marketing his campaigns have influenced $1 billion in revenue.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingHere are some lessons from Gillespie that emerged in our discussion.Top-down vs. bottoms-upMarketing's number is the sales' numberMarketing's job is to help the product winMake people moneyBe the causeGet it done. Do it right.Discussed in this episodeMarketing Research Chart: What information do marketers ask for on list registration forms? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/information-list-registration-forms)Marketing Career: How to become an indispensable asset to your company (even in a bad economy) (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/marketing-career)Get even more ideas by pasting the URL for this episode into the Analysts – Video Transcript expert assistant in MeclabsAI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use (for now). (Meclabs is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

Wherever you are in your career today, you are not necessarily stuck there. I've heard time again from guests on How I Made It In Marketing about how they've been able to make dramatic, perhaps unlikely career shifts.On the flip side, if you are a hiring manager, do not pigeonhole potential recruits based only on their current experience.For as my latest guest puts it, ‘look past the CV.' Hear the story behind how he learned that lesson in his career, along with many more lesson-filled stories, from Tomer Zuker, VP of Marketing, D-ID (https://www.d-id.com/).D-ID has raised $47 million overall, including $25 million in a Series B round of funding led by Macquarie Capital two years ago. Zuker manages a team of 10 marketers, in addition to freelancers and agencies.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingHere are some lessons from Zuker that emerged in our discussion.Look past the CVDelegateUnderstand the rules of the game and set your own boundaries according to your valuesTime is your most precious assetWithout clear and identifiable goals, you don't know if you are effective, improving, or contributingNetworking is a talent and skillDiscussed in this episodeCopywriting for Marketing Leaders: Why you should never delegate the marketing message (and how to get it right) (https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting-2/copywriting-for-marketing-leaders-dont-delegate-the-message)Marketing Career: How to become an indispensable asset to your company (even in a bad economy) (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/marketing-career)Marketing Research Chart: What are your peers' top email marketing goals? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/seo-campaigns-in-house)Get even more ideas from this episode by using the Analysts – Video Transcript expert assistant in MeclabsAI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use, for now. (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

One of my favorite career analogies is the music video for No Rain, by Blind Melon.There's a girl in a honeybee costume, dancing around, and she's so sad because no one seems to care or understand.  And then one day, she comes across this field filled with people in honeybee costumes hopping and leaping around. A look of elation crosses her face, and she joins them to dance her best dance.Are marketing careers really that different? As my next guest puts it – ‘find the place where you thrive.'To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Tifenn Dano Kwan, CMO, Amplitude (https://amplitude.com/).Amplitude is a public company traded on Nasdaq. Its annual recurring revenue in 2023 was $281 million, up 10% year-over-year. Dano Kwan manages a team of 60 and a budget of $30 million.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingHere are some lessons from Dano Kwan that emerged in our discussion.Lead with empathyFind the place where you thriveBecome a natural collaborator Branding shapes success for companies and leadersEmpowerment and accountability cultivate leadership at every levelBridge Marketing and Product for collaborative growthDiscussed in this episodeEmpathy Marketing: 3 examples of empathetic marketing in action (with results) https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/empathy-marketing)How the Pandemic Inspired Brands to Rethink their Marketing Strategy: 3 quick case studies (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/pandemic-brands-rethink-marketing-strategy-case-studies)Spontaneous Combustible Collaboration: Most important things in any company are people, people, people, market, and product (Podcast Episode #9) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/people-podcast)Personal Development in Career: Step out of your comfort zone (podcast episode #73) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/personal-development)Marketing: It's not about you, and when you make it about you, you are never going to succeed (podcast episode #53) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-not-about-you)Get even more ideas from this episode by using the Analysts – Video Transcript expert assistant in MECLABS AI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use (for now). (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more episodes like this one.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

Whatever it is you're working on and struggling with, don't pivot too soon. Make sure you give it enough time to work.For as this episode's guest explains – resilience pays out.Frank Spitzer, CEO, Pelecanus, shares the story of how he grew his company's YouTube channel from zero to 100,000 subscribes, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Pelecanus has $250,000 in annual revenue. Spitzer manages a team of four employees, along with four freelancers and interns.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingHere are some lessons from Spitzer that emerged in our discussion.Taking responsibility leads to rewardsResilience Pays Out: From zero to 112,000 subscribersEmbracing honesty can lead to deeper connections, personal growth, and inner peaceDedication shapes an entrepreneurial journeyTo Achieve Success: Hard work trumps natural talent A good leader stands up for their teamDiscussed in this episodeGet even more ideas from this episode by using the Analysts – Video Transcript expert assistant in MECLABS AI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use (for now). (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Female Entrepreneurship and Marketing: Having built a big community doesn't mean you will be able to monetize it (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/entrepreneurship)PR, Writing, and Marketing Agency Corporate Culture: Think big (podcast episode #49) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/PR)Marketing Leadership: Aligning the entire team around the unifying vision is an integral part of project management (https://marketingexperiments.com/leadership/aligning-team-around-unifying-vision)Dive deeper into the minds of marketing mavens with more episodes of 'How I Made It In Marketing.' (https://marketingsherpa.com/podcast) Your next big idea awaits.Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

Coders are rewarded for writing new features, not for making their code as efficient as possible, Chirstopher Mims recently reported in The Wall Street Journal. According to the article, bloated software raises many risks, and costs the US alone $2.41 trillion due to cybersecurity issues, operational failures, and other problems.It would be easy for me to sit here and point the finger at software developers, but are marketers any better? As we focus on getting campaigns out the door, new websites up, and hitting our numbers, what do we sacrifice?Which is why I love this lesson from a recent podcast guest application – ‘Streamline processes to enable efficiency, smooth operations and get rapid results.' Not shiny and exciting like new marketing tactics perhaps, but essential for a well-run organization.So I invited that applicant – Tom Amity, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Entail (https://entail.ai/) – on How I Made It In Marketing to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories. Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingHere are some lessons from Amitay that emerged in our discussion.Define and differentiate between experimentation and execution in marketing activitiesPrioritize talent over experience when recruitingProvide talented yet inexperienced people with frequent, short training sessions and support as they tackle new challengesCapitalize on opportunities when they present themselves, even if you don't fully understand their potential value at firstStreamline processes to enable efficiency, smooth operations and get rapid resultsCombine platform expertise with consultative service that builds client trustDiscussed in this episodeGet even more ideas from this episode by using the Transcript Tutor expert assistant in MECLABS AI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use (for now). MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa.Leadership Development: Network every day (podcast episode #72) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/leadership-development)The Invisible $1.52 Trillion Problem: Clunky Old Software Everwhere (https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/the-invisible-1-52-trillion-problem-clunky-old-software-f5cbba27)Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

We as marketers, we're the ones that make the brand promise to potential customers.So it is our job to make sure our companies actually come through on that promise, are consistent with that promise. We are the defenders of the brand.I love a lesson from my next guest – don't be afraid to say ‘no' if it serves the brand.Which of course sounds good in theory but can be incredibly hard in practice. To get underneath that lesson and hear the story behind it, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I sat down with Hilary Young, Brand Strategist, Hilary Young Creative (https://www.hilaryyoungcreative.com/).Young runs a consultancy with six figures in revenue and seven contractors.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingHere are some lessons from Young that emerged in our discussion.Don't focus on failure, keep moving towards successDon't be afraid to say ‘no' if it serves the brandChange can be scary, but you have to trust the processOperate without egoIntegrity over compromise in brand visionBranding affects more than just the bottom line, it affects people's livesDiscussed in this episodeHere's a prompt you can try in MECLABS AI (https://meclabsai.com/). It's totally FREE to use, for now. (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).‘Review my competitors' value propositions [URL and URL] and let me know any opportunities for messaging exclusivity for my brand [URL]. Put the information in a table.'NFTs For Brands: It's OK to say no, always be a student, don't resist change (podcast episode #26) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/NFTs-for-brands)Calling All Writers and Marketers: Write the most effective copy for this Consumer Reports email and win a MarketingSherpa Summit package (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/summit-2016-copywriting-contest)The De-Branding Campaign: When customers make fun of your new product launch (podcast episode #2) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/debranding)Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

If a podcast plays in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?Bit of a cheeky thought experiment, I'll admit, but here's one thing I've noticed – we marketers don't always create content for an audience, sometimes the audience is an afterthought.We're too focused on an algorithm. Or a lead generation goal. Or a calendar. Or a process.So I love this lesson from a podcast quest application – ‘there is no content without an audience.'To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Ashley Levesque, Vice President of Marketing, Banzai (https://www.banzai.io/).Banzai is a public company traded on NASDAQ and currently valued at $100 million. Levesque is currently a team of one, but she manages five functions in this newly public company.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingHere are some lessons from Levesque that emerged in our discussion.Data is more compelling than anecdoteThere is no content without an audienceOverhiring is a real thingSay ‘yes' before you're readyThe higher up you go, your priority becomes the peopleThere are three things to solve for in times of unmet expectationsRelated content discussed in this episodeMeclabsAI.com now has expert assistants – copywriter, project planner, marketing professor, and social media pro. It's totally FREE to use, you don't even have to register (for now). MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa.The Last Blog Post: How to succeed in an era of Transparent Marketing (https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/last-blogpost-transparent-marketing)Growth Marketing: Give a choice of "yes" or “yes” (podcast episode #37) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/growth)Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

When I was president of my homeowner's association, it changed my walk through the neighborhood.Before I was on the board, it was – hey, how you doing, talk about sports, the weather, whatever.  But once I was on the board it became – I have an idea, we should have this, this should change, etc.And I'd always say – ‘Great, make it happen. We're an all-volunteer organization, if you want it to happen, make it happen.' The conversion rate on that was maybe 2%.Marketing organizations and businesses are really no different. Everyone has ideas. Yet precious few have the tenacity and fortitude to make them happen.Which is why I loved a lesson from a recent podcast guest application – ‘Ideas are easy. Making is the hard part.'Here to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, is John Reid, CMO, Aidentified (https://www.aidentified.com/).Aidentified has raised $10 million in Series A financing for its artificial-intelligence-based platform.The company has 40 employees, and John manages a team of five.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingHere are some lessons from Reid that emerged in our discussion:The key to turning great ideas into successful campaigns…you need a ‘door kicker' like Hannah. If you don't ‘hold the line,' you won't create great marketingIdeas are easy. Making is the hard part. Be easy to root forMake a decisionMarketing's not going anywhereRelated content discussed in this episodeRelated content discussed in this episodeGet ideas for using AI to enhance your marketing campaigns. Begin your free trial to the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Creative Marketing: Does it all make sense? (Podcast Episode #19) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/creative)What is B2B?: Discovering what the customer wants by understanding your Buyer's Funnel (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/b2b-marketing/what-is-b2b/)Entrepreneurial Resilience: Many of the day-to-day annoyances that inspired him to sell, he actually missed after he sold (podcast episode #78) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/entrepreneurial)Informed Dissent: The best marketing campaigns come from the best ideas (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/online-marketing/marketing-dissent-campaigns/)Marketing Chart: The importance of making the right promise with your marketing (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/make-the-right-promise)Innovative Marketing Leadership: It is okay to think outside the box but make sure you don't create surprises (podcast episode #82) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/innovative)B2B Marketing: Marketing shouldn't be about driving demand; it's about driving value (podcast episode #40) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2B)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

I started my career as a copywriter, and I learned a key part of my value to any client or any employer was not just the way I shaped words or filled a block with text – it was to advocate for the customer. Take their viewpoint.To this end, being an ‘order taker' was not going to help me create great copy. Or great marketing. I had to get underneath any requests or feedback I received from a client, to understand what they were really getting at, and hypothesize how the audience might react.So I love this lesson from my latest guest – ‘Figure out the problem.' A lesson she learned in her first job as an advertising account executive, and still uses to this day as a brand-side marketing leader.To hear how she learned that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories from her career journey, I spoke with Lynn McClouchic, Director of Brand, Marketing and Business Development, CannonDesign (https://www.cannondesign.com/).CannonDesign is the eight biggest architecture firm in the country, according to Architectural Record, and is the #2 most innovative design firm in North America according to Fast Company.McClouchic oversees a team of 60 creative writers, graphic designers, digital marketers, business developers, strategists, videographers, and photographers. Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from McClouchic that emerged in our discussion:Obstacles are opportunities to make things happenIt's about why vs. why notDon't stay in your laneFigure out the problemSupport is everything Dismissing an idea makes it more powerfulRelated content discussed in this episodeGet proactive about using AI in your marketing. Begin your free trial to the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Product Management & Marketing: Surround yourself with the right people (podcast episode #38) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/product)Healthcare IT Marketing: Branding a new service line within Stericycle, getting ONC certification, finding your joy, & more (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/healthcare)Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

Any industry, and our marketing industry is no exception, has a pack mentality. We say certain buzzwords and share certain ideas.But we can hear them ad nauseam, to the point where they just wash over us and don't really mean anything. We nod in agreement at a networking event with a drink in our hand, but do we actually do anything about it the next day?Not really. We're back to going through the motions executing a campaign, buried in email and Slack notifications.Here's one such commonly heard phrase – ‘put yourself in the customer's shoes.' How many times have you heard that?Now, how many times have you really done it?Well, this episode's guest has. She literally got out of the office, put on the customers' shoes – or in this case, steel-toed boots – and experienced what her customers' day is really like.I talked to Sarah Hodges, CMO, Procore Technologies (https://www.procore.com/), about that experience, along with many more lessons from her career.Procore Technologies is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It reported $720 million in revenue in 2022, an increase of 40% year-over-year. More than $1 trillion in construction volume has run on its construction management software platform.Hodges manages a team of 300 people.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Hodges that emerged in our discussion:It is okay to think outside the box but make sure you don't create surprises! To grow as a marketing leader, make the leap to new, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable rolesYou have to walk in your customer's shoes.... LITERALLY. Set and declare your expectationsCoach and simply ask questions, don't dictateBelieve in yourselfRelated content discussed in this episodeCreate innovative marketing using AI technology paired with MECLABS consumer psychology. Get a free trial to the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Transparent Marketing: How to make your product claims credible … not incredible (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/transparent-credible-product-claims)The Hidden Upside of the COVID-19 Crisis for Brands and Marketers: 10 opportunities (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/other/hidden-upside-COVID-crisis-brands-marketers-10-opportunities)Consumer Financial Services Marketing: Your customer is your most important stakeholder (podcast episode #39) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer)Marketing 101: What is influencer marketing? (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/social-media-marketing-2/marketing-101-what-is-influencer-marketing/)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

In 1957, Vance Packard wrote a book called ‘The Hidden Persuaders,' about the mysterious arts of advertising, and how advertising agencies research ways to manipulate people.I don't know about you in your career, but I don't want to be that guy. The way I see it, companies create value. And in a capitalist society of choice, they need to communicate that value to the ideal customer in a way that helps the customer perceive it.So when I read a lesson like ‘authenticity is fundamental' in a podcast guest application – with a real advertising story behind it – it resonates with me.That lesson comes from Tom Ghiden, Managing Director, JOAN London (https://www.joancreative.com/), and he joined me on How I Made It In Marketing to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories. JOAN Creative was named Small Agency of the Year by Adweek, at which point the magazine reported JOAN had $20 million in projected revenue for 2022 – an 80% year-over-year increase. The agency has been in business since 2016 with the New York office, and Ghiden opened the London office six months ago.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Ghiden that emerged in our discussion:Authenticity is fundamentalKeeping a brand modern helps to drive longevity.All sorts of brands can benefit from humorLessons (with stories) from people he collaborated withTrust in failureHow to embrace empathy and authenticity in leadership – set boundaries and stick to themHumanity and transparency are fundamental in creative relationshipsRelated content discussed in this episodeCreate advertising messages based on the results of 10,000 marketing experiments with MECLABS AI. Get a free trial to MECLABS AI and the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).An Effective Value Proposition: What it is, why it is so important to business and marketing success, and how to use it (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/value-proposition-business-marketing%20success)World-Class Consumer & Retail Brands: What right do we have as a brand to be in that business? (Podcast Episode #15) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer-retail-brands)Innovation Leadership and Coaching: You should almost always do less than you think (podcast episode #46) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/innovation)Creative Marketing: Does it all make sense? (Podcast Episode #19) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/creative)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

Let me confess something to you right now — I have my share of weaknesses.I'm sure you're not shocked to hear that. We all do, right?But I don't go ‘all in' on improving them. Instead, I focus on my strengths. I learned this lesson from John Maxwell long ago.He said, “We're taught to be well-rounded and to improve our weaknesses. However, in many arenas of life, we naturally perform poorly. Even with hard work, we will never become better than average in them. The reality is that people don't pay for average. No one gets excited to dine out at an average restaurant, to spend two hours watching an average movie, or to hire someone with average abilities.”I've internalized that and live that in my career. So I was excited when I saw the podcast guest application from my latest guest, and wanted to talk to this kindred spirit to learn how he has taken this approach in his – quite successful – career.But with all due respect to Maxwell, I like how my latest guest worded it even better – “focus on your left foot.” To learn the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I spoke with Asim Zaheer, Chief Marketing Officer, Nasuni (https://www.nasuni.com/).Since its founding, Nasuni has raised $169 million, with the latest funding round a $25 million investment in which all previous investors participated, including Goldman Sachs, Telstra Ventures, and Northbridge Venture Partners.Nasuni is above $100 million in annual recurring revenue and Zaheer manages a marketing budget of approximately 10% of that revenue. Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Zaheer that emerged in our discussion:Focus on your left footBe an influencer (and I don't mean Instagram)Be like Randy (research and rehearse your presentations)Team above selfRelated content discussed in this episodeAdvance your career by building your artificial intelligence skills. Get a free trial to the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

Here's one thing I love about a career in marketing. I've gotten the opportunity to learn the inner workings of so many other industries I would have never been exposed to if I didn't have to tell their story.So I learned that my skill isn't necessarily to know everything about every industry. But it's to be able to learn quickly, work with subject matter experts to get the knowledge out of their head, and clearly communicate it to the ideal customer.Or as our latest guest puts it – “You don't have to know it to lead it.”To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I spoke with Christine Healy, Chief Growth Officer, Seniorly (https://www.seniorly.com/).Seniorly has raised $6.5M in Series A funding. Healy and her team have attracted 5 million visitors per year to the site.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Healy that emerged in our discussion:Believe in peopleEmbrace the crisisSay ‘yes, and'You don't have to know it to lead itThe best outcomes are created when teamwork is at the forefront Present situations in a “win-win” lightPower comes from attitude, attention, and presenceNo role is high enough to be disconnected from day-to-day activities and initiativesRelated content discussed in this episodeGet access to the Prompt Kit with your FREE trial to the AI Guild:  ✅Checklist for optimizing your prompts  

Running a marketing department or agency can feel a bit like being in that Jay-Z song.And I gotta admit, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by 99 problems that come my way.So I appreciate the ray of sunshine who is my next guest, who reminds us that ‘Solving problems for people is a privilege, not a burden.'To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Rich Davis, Founder and Chief Creative Officer, ThinkSpark (https://thinksparkinc.com/).In five years, ThinkSpark has grown its gross revenue from $600,000 to a projected $6 million for 2023. Davis leads a team of 15 at ThinksSpark.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Davis that emerged in our discussion:Many of the day-to-day annoyances that inspired him to sell, he actually missed after he soldMost clients would rather have passion vs perfectionDon't look at delegating as a taskBe true to your brandLet others talk first. Always let them finish their thoughts. Leadership can be more about listening than talking.Solving problems for people is a privilege, not a burdenYou can't please everyoneRelated content discussed in this episodeGet the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Copywriting and Value Proposition: Unleashing the power of compelling copy (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/copywriting/copywriting/)Servant Leadership in Marketing: We are only as good as how we handle humbling moments (podcast episode #54) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/servant-leadership)“Authenticity” vs. “Professionalism”: Should you be your authentic self in your brand's content and marketing? Or must you adhere to certain strictures considered “professional” in your industry? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/authenticity)Marketing Leadership: Embracing questions and overcoming pretense (podcast episode #74) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-leadership-podcast)Customer Service Chart: How likely customers are to let your brand fix its mistakes (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/how-likely-customers-let-brand-fix-mistakes)Customer Loyalty Chart: Just how big of an effect does customer satisfaction have on loyalty? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/loyalty-effect-customer-satisfaction)Get more episodesThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more episodes.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

In every survey we conducted for benchmark reports, one challenge consistently topped the list among marketers – the size of the marketing budget.I mean, who could argue. We would all want a bigger budget, right?And while a hefty budget is a dream for many, this episode's guest is a testament to the idea that constraints can actually be a catalyst for innovation and creativity.I spoke with Jesse Keyser (https://www.facebook.com/JesseKeyserEntrepreneur), a franchisee of Sports Clips, Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, and Ideal Image, and Chair of the Multi-unit Franchising Conference.Keyser is co-owner of 50 locations across the U.S., with a combined $10 million in annual revenue.He manages a team of 350 and keeps their marketing budget between four and seven percent of revenue for each location.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Keyser that emerged in our discussion:Constraints often pave the way for innovation and creativityA strategic and unconventional launch can set the stage for ongoing business successA grand opening is not just an event; it's a statement of intentLocalized marketing (when done right) can outperform broader, generic campaignsTeaming up with trusted allies can magnify potential and outcomesNetworking with industry experts can offer a fresh perspective and open doors to opportunitiesEngaging directly with decision-makers can shape policies that benefit the entire business communityRelated content discussed in this episodeGet the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Creative Inspiration: 9 mini case studies of marketing campaigns and business ideas sparked by unorthodox inspiration (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/9-mini-case-studies-of-creative-marketing)Hospitality Marketing: Have a Gumby attitude to any launch (Podcast Episode #20) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/hospitality)Nonprofit Marketing: What you can learn from B2B and consumer marketing (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/non-profit-fundraising/learn-from-b2b-and-b2c-2/)Subscribe to our podcastThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

You're reading this podcast description right now. But are you really paying attention? I mean, really tuned in?Or are you half reading and half thinking of your upcoming deadlines, a campaign that underperformed, and a plethora of other tasks, goals, and concerns?Actually being in the moment – and wringing the most we can get out of it – is so difficult during these modern times. Which is why I love a lesson in the podcast guest application for this episode's guest, “Stop running to stand still.”Sometimes we've got to get step off that treadmill and focus on being where we are.To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Justine Greenwald, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Managing Director, Mosaic (https://www.mosaic.com/).Mosaic is an Acosta Group Agency. Privately held Acosta Group is 96 years old and serves 2,500 clients, including 60 billion-dollar brands.As Chief Creative Officer, Greenwald overseas the strategy, creative, and design departments – 65 people across North America.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Greenwald that emerged in our discussion:Award-winning work takes a lot of workIf you build it, they will comeFind fantastic mentorsDo good by the work and do good by your peopleStop running to stand stillDisconnect to create concepts that will connectRelated content discussed in this episodeGet the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Customer Experience: Take risks, fail early, and learn fast (podcast episode #32) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-experience)The Conversion Heuristic Analysis: Overcoming the prospect's perception gap (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/episode-3-conversion-heuristic-analysis)Talking at Your Customers vs. Talking to Your Customers (https://marketingexperiments.com/email-marketing/talking-at-customers-vs-talking-to)Subscribe to our podcastThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

How many times have you read a company's marketing and thought – they're not talking to a customer; they're talking to themselves.This is especially prevalent in B2B. I've seen this on homepages, landing pages, print ads, in press releases, and on and on.I started my career as a copywriter and then worked in sales enablement. So I – it is tempting to write for the person signing your check.But where the revenue for that check really comes from is the customer. Always write for the customer.As our latest guest put it in his podcast guest application – ‘Outside-in messaging is the important factor for success.'To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Ralf Paschen, Chief Marketing Officer, xtype (https://www.xtype.io/).The venture-backed startup just announced $10.8 million in growth funding. Paschen uses five to 10 artificial intelligence and automation tools to run his department.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Paschen that emerged in our discussion:Outside-in messaging is the important factor for successTrust and learn from othersFail fast, fix fast, learn fastNothing counts more than the language of the customerUse data to make informative decisionsSell a vision by defining a strategy for the companyRelated content discussed in this episodeGet the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Customer-First Marketing: Do you put your customers' interests first? (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/customer-centric-marketing-2/customer-interests-first/)Customer Experience: Take risks, fail early, and learn fast (podcast episode #32) Data-Driven Marketing: 7 examples of using data as a force for the goodHow I Made It In Marketing podcast, from MarketingSherpaSubscribe to our podcastThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter. 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 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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Good marketing isn't just about catchy slogans or flashy ads; it's about understanding the human psyche. The psyche of our customers, yes, but our own as well.So in this episode we'll delve into a psychological concept called ‘action bias' – this is the idea that we, as humans, often lean towards taking action, even when standing still might be the better choice.Or as my latest guest aptly put it in his podcast guest application – Ask yourself, ‘what happens if I do nothing?'To unpack that lesson, and discuss more insights from his career journey, I spoke with Jonathan Kaufman, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Sage Dental (https://mysagedental.com/). Originally founded in 1997, Sage Dental has 100 affiliated practices, and it has a 98% three-year growth rate.Kaufman manages a team of 60, including the new patient management team.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Kaufman that emerged in our discussion:Everyone is faking it, no matter how smart you are, so it doesn't hurt to ask the questionBigger isn't better. What is important, however, is doing the simple things as best you can.If you don't understand how metrics impact the overall business, you're going to fail as a marketerAsk yourself, ‘what happens if I do nothing?'The relationship part and the art part of marketing and business is as important as the data and the financial metrics themselvesTailor the experience to that audienceRelated content discussed in this episodeThe Prospect's Perception Gap: How to bridge the gap between the results we want and the results we have (https://meclabs.com/education/Flint-prospects-perception-gap)Evidence-based Marketing: Why you need more than just numbers to truly drive ROI (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/evidence-based-marketing)Marketing Webinar Optimization: Five questions to ask yourself about webinars (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/b2b-webinars/)Marketing and Brand: Embrace healthy friction (podcast episode #48) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-and-brand)Subscribe to our podcastThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter. (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters) 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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”This is from Viktor Frankl, in the book ‘Man's Search for Meaning.' He learned it in a very serious way, as a prisoner in Nazi concentrations camps.But he was a psychiatrist, and he used his experience in the Holocaust to write that book, one of the ten most influential books of all time according to the Library of Congress, and help us all learn to live better lives.Which includes better work lives as well. As a marketer it can feel like you're in the eye of the storm, with so much happening to you. But as our next guest reminds us, even in the times that seem most challenging to us, “the only thing you can control is your attitude.”That's right, when things are out of control, you are still in control of something.To hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Regina DeMars, Director of Content Marketing and Strategy, FNBO (https://www.fnbo.com/).FNBO is the First National Bank of Omaha, a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. First opened in 1857, First National of Nebraska has $30 billion in assets and 5,000 employees.DeMars manages a team of five people, both internal and external communications.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from DeMars that emerged in our discussion:The only thing you can control is your attitudeStep out of your comfort zoneIt's so important to take time to build relationships with the people you work with – it builds trust in each other and team effectiveness.Live a purpose-driven lifeLearn how to be a good listener and be your authentic selfLead by example rather than micro-managingRelated content discussed in this episodeHeuristic Cheat Sheet: 10 methods for improving your marketing (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/10-heuristic-cheat-sheet)Team Building: Loyalty, relationships, pre-selling, and other keys to marketing management success (Podcast Episode #16) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/team-building)Servant Leadership in Marketing: We are only as good as how we handle humbling moments (podcast episode #54) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/servant-leadership)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter. (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters) Sign up for free if you'd like to get more episodes.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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”That quote is from George Bernard Shaw, and hopefully is inspiration for anyone trying to make positive change in their organization.I thought of that quote while reading a lesson in the podcast guest application for this episode's guest – ‘change starts here.'Different words, same sentiment. The status quo is tenacious. If you want change to happen, you need to be unreasonable. It needs to start with you.To discuss the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, I talked to Dan Garzia, Chief Marketing Officer, Provenance Blockchain Foundation (https://provenance.io/).Provenance Blockchain Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports a public, open-source blockchain, used by 70 financial institutions, including fintechs, banks, and credit unions. More than $15 billion in financial asset transactions have been supported by Provenance Blockchain.In his career, Garzia has managed teams as large as 80, up to 12 partners, and budgets as large as $110 million.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Garzia that emerged in our discussion:Progress beats perfectionMake up for areas where you're not as strongCelebrate the winNetwork every dayChange starts hereWords matterRelated content discussed in this episodeMarketing Chart: How important customer-first marketing is to consumers (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/customer-first-marketing-importance)The Low-Hanging Fruit: 11 specific examples of small marketing and communication changes that drove big results (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/customer-first-marketing-importance)Optimization and A/B Testing: Why words matter (for more than just SEO) (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/optimization-and-testing-why-words-matter)Subscribe to our podcastThis article is distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). 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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments working for you. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).It is hard to make this episode of How I Made It In Marketing and share it with you.Because you are professional marketers and entrepreneurs, many of you know marketing, business, and content creation better than I ever will. So I could work on this forever just to make it better, bulletproof to criticism, dare I say… perfect.Of course, then we wouldn't be able to publish regularly. Instead of the other 70 episodes we've produced so far, there would only be this one.Which brings up a great lesson I read from in a podcast guest application – “Done is better than perfect.”A truism I know I've had to live with. It applies very well to my job, as someone who wants to create awesome content, yes, but also lives in the constant reality of deadlines.In this episode, Cordula Pfluegl, Marketing Director, TNW (https://thenextweb.com/), shared the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.TNW, which stands for The Next Web, is mostly known for its annual tech conference hosted in Amsterdam but is also a media company writing about technology with 1 million monthly readers. TNW is a Financial Times company. I'm sure you've heard of the 130-year-old newspaper, and it probably stuck out to you if you ever saw it, as the pink newspaper. FT is owned by Nikkei, Inc., which reported 175.2 billion yen in sales last year.For the lead-up-time to the conference, Pfluegl oversaw a team of 10 people, including the event-focused marketing coordinators and the company's brand team of designers and content creators. When marketing the annual TNW Conference, they created over 2.8 million organic impressions with user-generated content on LinkedIn alone, in the two weeks around the event.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Pfluegl that emerged in our discussion:Working in various industries and for different brands/products (D2C/B2B) makes you a better and more versatile marketer overall.Having built a big community doesn't mean you will be able to monetize itPractice 'in-company' and 'across-team' learning togetherHaving a clear purpose will always guide the wayMarket localization is importantDone is better than perfectRelated content discussed in this episode6 Good (and 2 Bad) B2B and B2C Value Proposition Examples (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/6-good-2-bad-b2b-b2c-value-proposition-examples)Launch and Learn: How marketers can keep up in a real-time world (https://marketingexperiments.com/social-marketing/real-time-marketing)Pfluegl's Substack (https://thisisjusthestart.substack.com/)About this podcastThis 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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).I wish I could just tell people what they should do. Whether it was people on my team who reported to me, potential customers, or even my own kids.But that approach has a major flaw – they will resist. Heck, I would resist, too. It reminds me of a lyric from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, “The wisdom that the old can't give away.”So what can you do? I love how this episode's guest put it in his podcast guest application, “It's not just about having the right answer, but about leading people along the journey to understand why that answer is the right one.”Joining us in our latest episode to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, is Michael Freeman, VP of Marketing, Airbase (https://www.airbase.com/). Airbase recently raised $60 million in mid-2021 in a Series B round of financing led by Menlo Ventures.Freeman leads a team of 28 marketers, sales development reps, and revenue operations professionals.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Freeman that emerged in our discussion:Continuous improvement/ABT (always be testing) over one-off campaignsHarness technology to enhance customer experienceNever forget that we are all peopleThe "how" of execution is just as important as the "what"It's not just about having the right answer, but about leading people along the journey to understand why that answer is the right one.If something is worth doing, do it well.Related content discussed in this episodeHow I Made It In Marketing podcast (https://marketingsherpa.com/podcast)MarTech Chart: Biggest technology innovation challenges (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/biggest-technology-innovation-challenges)Corporate Marketing: Feedback is respect (podcast episode #44) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/corporate-marketing)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

Get the power of 10,000 marketing experiments. Play with MECLABS AI at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).Perhaps you're a key business leader and just acquired a company. Or maybe you're starting your first job right out of college.Either way, you had to find a way to be effective with your new team. How do you do that?I love our latest guest's description of how her CEO handled new brands after an acquisition – “he came in quietly.”Not throwing your weight around or boasting about how great you are and all the wonderful things you will do.He came in quietly.I discussed that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, with Lauren Pasquale Bartlett, CMO, Ingenovis Health (https://www.ingenovishealth.com/).Ingenovis Health has tripled in size in two years, reporting $2 billion in annual revenue in 2022.Barlett manages a team of 30 across eight brands.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Bartlett that emerged in our discussion:Understand the varying needs and perspectives of the stakeholdersBuild trust and consensus cross-functionallyTrust in your knowledge and capabilitiesTake a bulldog approachPair a strong work ethic with a sense of joy in accomplishmentsStand right beside your team when they face obstaclesCome in quietlyRelated content discussed in this episodeData Poetry in Marketing, PR & Corporate Communications (Podcast Episode #17) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/data-poetry)Marketing, Advertising and Brand Strategy and Culture: You don't “build" community, you “facilitate” community (podcast episode #52) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-advertising)Marketing: High growth can be excruciating (podcast episode #64) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-growth)Not Enough Lobster In The Ocean: Trusting their gut leads to 90,000% revenue growth at Mint Mobile (Podcast Episode #11) (https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/revenue-growth-podcast)Strategy: Don't think of your customers as a ‘target' to acquire (podcast episode #65) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/strategy)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

_____________________________________________________________________________________Join us in the AI Guild. Chat with MECLABS AI to learn more – MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa) _____________________________________________________________________________________We all know that if we run a marketing experiment, we can get a loss.But here's a topic that is discussed less often.Sometimes you just didn't get that win…yet. You need to make sure to let your test run its course.Or as this episode's guest describes it in her podcast guest application, “Everything is expensive until it starts working.”Here to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, is Colleen O'Brien, Chief Communications Officer and Head of Strategy, Armoire (https://www.armoire.style/).Armoire has raised $13 million in funding so far, and investors include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Its customer base has grown more than 100% year over year.Over the past year, O'Brien has earned 15 top-tier press mentions for Armoire, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler (and now, the How I Made It In Marketing podcast).Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from O'Brien that emerged in our discussion:Brand affinity isn't staticDo something right, onceFind your partner in crime.Give people something to react toGo back to the briefEverything is expensive until it starts workingRelated content discussed in this episodeWhat is Data? A discussion about getting value from your marketing analytics (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/value-from-marketing-analytics/)Creative Marketing: Does it all make sense? (Podcast Episode #19) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/creative)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. Join us for an AI Guild session Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Learn more at MECLABS.com/AI-BriefingI use one word all smooshed together to describe the time I spend on the job – worklife.I'm not talking about balance. I'm simply saying, ‘Yes we have a homelife. But we have a worklife, too.' Every hour, every minute you spend working rolls up into that grand big, mysterious number of time you have on this planet.Which means what we do at work matters. The decisions we make are part of who we are. And it's why I love a lesson in the guest application for my this episode's guest, “Find ways to live your company's values in everything you do.”Rah Mahtani, Head of Buyer Marketing for North America, Alibaba.com, joined me to share the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Alibaba.com serves buyers and suppliers from 190 countries and regions around the world.Mahtani has managed marketing budgets ranging from ~ $8m to as high as $110m. He currently manages a team of six.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Mahtani that emerged in our discussion:It's OK to flip the script sometimes Let data inform, don't let it dictateFind ways to live your company's values in everything you doDig into human behavior to create people-first messagingRespect the power of the rabbitYou can have piles and piles of data, but unless you know how to use the data correctly, it won't get you very farRelated content discussed in this episodeCustomer Theory: How to leverage empathy in your marketing (with free tool) (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/customer-theory-leverage-empathy-free-tool)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. Join us for an AI Guild session Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Learn more at MECLABS.com/AI-BriefingWe often talk about product-market fit. But what about marketer-role fit?You could be an amazing marketer in many ways, but in the wrong role, you will be constantly swimming upstream, expending all your energy on the inconsequential.However, in the right role…ahh, it's just gliding along, putting your strongest skills to your highest and best use.Which is why a lesson from this episode's guest is so important, “stay true to yourself in your career.”You'll hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories from Avi Bhagtani, CMO, Digitate (https://digitate.com/).Bhagtani manages a global team of 18.Digitate is a startup of 800 people that has been in business for eight years. The company leverages AI and automation to transform digital operations.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Bhagtani that emerged in our discussion:Stay true to yourself in your careerMake yourself uncomfortableMove fast and take risksBest your best and own the role you are in“As the environment changes, so must your strategy.”Patience.Related content discussed in this episodeCustomer Experience: Take risks, fail early, and learn fast (podcast episode #32) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-experience)Marketing: It's not about you, and when you make it about you, you are never going to succeed (podcast episode #53) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-not-about-you)Public Sector Marketing and Communication Leadership: Multi-directional learners, multi-colored spiky hair, and wearing multiple hats (podcast episode #31) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/public-sector-marketing)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. Join us for an AI Guild session Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Learn more at MECLABS.com/AI-BriefingWhen you listen to How I Made It In Marketing, you often hear me challenge a guest. Not because I necessarily disagree with them or think they are wrong, but because you must wrestle with an idea, and challenge it, to truly understand it. And that is what I try to bring you in every episode – not just a surface level, go-along-to-get-along soundbite.We truly dive into the careers of marketing leaders, and unpack how they learned these lessons and, most importantly, how you can apply them in your own career.I never stopped to think about where I got this approach, until I read the following lesson in a podcast guest application – “Don't shy away from a good (respectful!) fight.”I realize, I was raised (career wise) in the advertising agency world, where the mantra was ‘beat it up internally before the client ever sees it.' And when you listen to How I Made It In Marketing, you are hearing that wrestling with ideas that is often hidden behind ad agency walls before you see the flashy presentation.“Don't shy away from a good (respectful!) fight” is a lesson from this episode's guest – Jennifer Kim, Executive Strategy Director and Partner, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand (https://twentyfirstcenturybrand.com/).Kim has managed teams as big as 220 in her career, and right now she helps run the US office at 21stCenturyBrand.In the most recent year 21CB publicly shared revenue, 2019, the company reported $8 million.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Kim that emerged in our discussion:Insights about what people DO are just as powerful as insights about what people THINKDon't think of your customers as a ‘target' to acquire, think of how you want to invite them to participate in something with you Be aware of the biases, baggage and blind spots you may bring to a projectDon't shy away from a good (respectful!) fight  Managing people isn't just about teaching the craft of strategy, it's about helping people growWho you surround yourself with mattersRelated content discussed in this episodeCreative Leadership Ideas: A behind-the-scenes look at how 9 companies run their marketing departments and agencies (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/creative-leadership-ideas-behind-the-scenes-look-at-9-companies)The MarketingExperiments Quarterly Research Journal (http://marketingexperiments.com/images/multifiles/journals/4th%20Quarter%20(2010)%20-%20MEx%20Research%20Journal.pdf)Marketing Operations: Process is the foundation for success (podcast episode #58) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-operations)Product Management & Marketing: Surround yourself with the right people (podcast episode #38) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/product)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. Join us for an AI Guild session Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Learn more at MECLABS.com/AI-BriefingGrowth. You see this word everywhere. Growth marketing.But do you know what uncontrolled growth in our bodies is called? It's called cancer.Sorry to be negative, but I think it's helpful to provide a check on the groupthink and buzzwords roiling around our industry.OK, growth. Sure, growth. But why? What is the vision? What is your business growing into? And how do you grow a business sustainably? Because again, not all growth is good…uncontrolled growth is cancer.Which is why it was so refreshing for me to see this lesson in a podcast guest application – ‘high growth can be excruciating.'In this episode of How I Made It In Marketing, I discuss the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, with Pete Housley, Chief Marketing Officer, Unbounce (https://unbounce.com/).Housley manages a team of 81 in marketing, customer success and enablement, an ad budget of $3 million, and 15 vendors, including software and direct media channels.In 2020, the company raised $38.4 million in a funding round led by Crestron Partners. Unbounce currently has 17,000 customers.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingYou are only as good as your team“How data saved my life”High growth can be excruciating.“How to crack a strategy. I mean really crack.”Everyone needs a mentor.Everyone needs true internal partner(s) in business.Related content discussed in this episodeServant Leadership in Marketing: We are only as good as how we handle humbling moments (podcast episode #54) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/servant-leadership)3 case studies of marketers that made a positive change in customers' lives (while getting results for their business) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/positive-change-marketing-case-studies)Communicating Value Proposition: We answer questions from marketers and entrepreneurs  (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/website-and-landing-page-design/communicating-value-proposition/)B2B Marketing: Marketing shouldn't be about driving demand; it's about driving value (podcast episode #40) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2B)Introductory Guide to Developing Your Customer Theory [an interactive worksheet] (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/freestuff/MECLABS-customer-theory-worksheet)About this podcastThis 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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.When I was in school, I wanted to be a writer.And then when I started job interviews with ad agencies I thought, ‘Wow! It would be so amazing to be doing this every day.'Of course, fast forward to a few years into working at an ad agency, and it was a lot easier to focus on the drudgery.I was reminded of that when I read a podcast guest application with the lesson, ‘No job is as glamorous as you think it is.'For me personally, now that I am much deeper into my career, my focus is finding – maybe not the glamour, but the fulfillment – of a job where I get to create and help people every day.However, I thought this lesson would be helpful for anyone starting their career – what may look glamorous on the outside is hard work on the inside. You just see Michael Jordan hit the game winning jumper, you don't see the relentless practice that got him there.I discussed the story behind this lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories, when I talked to Adam Vasallo, Chief Marketing Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (https://www.bbbs.org/).Vasallo leads a team of nine, along with four marketing agency partners.Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. According to its most recent audit, it received $71 million in public support and revenue in its most recent fiscal year.Unlocking the Power of Relationships: Inspiring marketing storiesIn our discussion, Vasallo discussed stories with lessons about what he made in marketing. Here are some lessons that that emerged in our conversation:Relationships are powerful. Relationships power change.When setting goals, say them out loud and share them externally (and then go exceed them)Start at the endNo job is as glamorous as you think it isAlways have a point of viewAlways be confidentFollow your passionRelated content mentioned in this episodeCorporate Communication and Marketing Innovation: The dangerous delusion of safety – playing it safe can hurt you more than you know (podcast episode #41) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/corporate)Marketing Operations: Process is the foundation for success (podcast episode #58) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-operations)About this podcastThis 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.This article was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more articles like this one.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

How I Made It In Marketing is underwritten by MECLABS, the parent org of MarketingSherpa. Learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding at MECLABS.com/resultsIn this week's episode of How I Made It In Marketing, we're going to listen to some of the top insights I've heard on the podcast.And let me tell you why. In marketing, we can be so focused on action. We've got campaigns that need to go out, products we need to launch, numbers we need to meet.But to create marketing that is truly powerful, and to chart our overall career journey, sometimes we need to step back from that action for a little reflection.Summer is the perfect time to reflect. If you're headed to the beach or the mountains or the city this summer, you'll probably find yourself in a train, plane, or automobile for an extended amount of time. It's a great opportunity to pop in some of your favorite podcasts and fill your brain with ideas, before spending some quality time staring at the lake for a few days and reflecting on your work life, among other things.Our normal episodes are about an hour long. CMOs and other marketing leaders share the lessons they've learned in their careers, and the stories behind how they learned those lessons. A lot of lessons sound good in theory, but how did you put it into practice?We've recorded about 60 hours of those lesson-filled stories so far. Here are a few of the takeaways that most hit home with me.Stories (with lessons) about what they made in marketingAll great creative begins with a strong consumer insight. via Aron North, CMO & Commercial Owner, Mint Mobile, from Not Enough Lobster In The Ocean: Trusting their gut leads to 90,000% revenue growth at Mint Mobile (Podcast Episode #11)(https://marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/revenue-growth-podcast)Tenaciously focus on a few things until you solve them. via Dhiraj Kumar, CMO, Dashlane, from SaaS Marketing: Serendipity's role in Facebook Ads surprising pivot, focusing (and failing) at PayPal, selling like an engineer, & more (podcast episode #23)(https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/saas)Look in people's closets.via Lindsey Lindemulder, Brand Marketing Director, Merrell, from Brand Marketing: Look in people's closets (Podcast Episode #18)(https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/brand-marketing)Don't just focus on your direct competitors. via Derek Detenber, Chief Marketing & Merchandising Officer, Batteries Plus, from World-Class Consumer & Retail Brands: What right do we have as a brand to be in that business? (Podcast Episode #15)(https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer-retail-brands)It's not about you, and when you make it about you, you are never going to succeed. via Onaisa Landis, VP of Marketing, Octane, from Marketing: It's not about you, and when you make it about you, you are never going to succeed (podcast episode #53)(https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-not-about-you)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.I love a really good turn of phrase.Hey, as a writer, I'm a real sucker for words.So when I saw this phrase on a podcast guest application it grabbed my attention – “Kill snakes.”I gotta admit, that is not one I have heard before. So I went to the Google, and it served me up… a lot of… how to kill snakes around the house.So then it was time for AI. And according to ChatGPT, “'Kill snakes' is an idiomatic expression that means to tackle or deal with a difficult or unpleasant task or situation in a direct and forceful way. The phrase is often used to describe someone who is brave, decisive, and not afraid to take action when faced with a problem. It can also be used to encourage someone to be bold and take action instead of being passive or hesitant. The expression is most commonly used in informal contexts and is often associated with a sense of urgency or importance.I thought that description was the perfect way to set the tone for the discussion with Shafqat Islam, Chief Marketing Officer, Optimizely (https://www.optimizely.com/).Islam manages a team of 100 with a $30 million marketing budget. He had zero CMO experience when he got his current role. Optimizely is owned by Insight Partners. Insight acquired Episerver, NewsCred, and Optimizely. It combined the companies into one, which it branded as Optimizely. Insight Partners is a private equity and venture capital firm with $90 billion of regulatory assets under management.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Islam that emerged in our discussion:Never, ever, ever give upCategory creation Is hardKill snakesAssume noble intentGive people outsized opportunity and they will make you proudHave a plan, communicate it, stick to it, and just execute like crazy for as long as it takesRelated content mentioned in this episodeMarketing: Sometimes you have to throw the business model out (podcast episode #34) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-business)About this podcastThis 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.This episode was distributed through the MarketingSherpa email newsletter (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/newsletters). Sign up for free if you'd like to get more episodes like this one.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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.Given your role in the organization – maybe you're a director, C-level, or even just a manager – you have certain positional authority. By virtue of your title, you can tell people to do things.But if you only use your positional authority, how well will those things get done? Will they get done at all?Employees must perceive the value of what you want them to do, which is where our communication superpowers as a marketer are so helpful for business leadership as well.And why I love one of the lessons from our next guest's career, “As a marketer, it's important to lead up, down, and side-to-side in companies — not just top-down.”I talked to Karen Possemato, CMO, Seer (https://seer.bio/), on the latest episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Possemato has grown her marketing team from four to 14 in two years (and it's still growing).Seer is a publicly traded company, listed on Nasdaq. The company achieved revenue of $15.5 million for the full year 2022. It grew revenue 134% and increased instruments shipped 129% year over year.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Possemato that emerged in our discussion:As a marketer, it's important to lead up, down, and side-to-side in companies — not just top-down. No matter how big or small your company, it's important to build a path to return on marketing investment (ROMI) from the get-go.Be authentic.Communication is key.Lessons (with stories) from people she collaborated withAsk for forgiveness. Not for permission.Dig deeper than the data to create a story that's much more impactful and meaningful.See the opportunity in any situation.Related content mentioned in this episode“Authenticity” vs. “Professionalism”: Should you be your authentic self in your brand's content and marketing? Or must you adhere to certain strictures considered “professional” in your industry? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/authenticity)Customer-First Marketing: A conversation with Wharton, MarketingSherpa, and MECLABS Institute (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/consumer-marketing/wharton-interview-customer-first-marketing/)The Hidden Upside of the COVID-19 Crisis for Brands and Marketers: 10 opportunities (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/other/hidden-upside-COVID-crisis-brands-marketers-10-opportunities)About this podcastThis 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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.If you think of what we do as marketers – we take value, real value that can help a person meet a goal or overcome a challenge, and then we package it up and message it so a customer can understand and receive it.But sometimes, we focus too much on the way we want to package it, and don't understand enough about the way a person can really understand that value, and the way they want to receive it.Think Blockbuster and Netflix. Same value, right? Netflix just found a better way to package it.Which is why I love this lesson from our next guest, “Be passionate about the challenge you are trying to solve and not stubborn about the product solution.”I talked to Andrew Beranbom, Co-founder and CEO, First Tube (https://firsttube.com/), on the latest episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Beranbom manages a team of 25 along with 75 freelancers.First Tube is a standalone company, majority owned by Horizon Media, which is the largest media agency in the United States, according to Ad Age Data Center 2022. Horizon has media investments of more than $9 billion.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Beranbom that emerged in our discussion:Be passionate about the challenge you are trying to solve and not stubborn about the product solution. Make sure you are not too early.Select your co-founders wisely.Embrace each person's strengths and align on an execution plan.Focus on the value to the consumer.Create a charter program with three to five key early-adopter customers.Related content mentioned in this episodeMentioned in this episodeMarketing Campaigns: Dig deep to replicate your successes (and learn from your failures) with marketing and sales enablement case studies (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/replicate-your-successes-with-case-studies/)Naming and Branding: How marketing pros chose names for their own companies (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/naming-branding-companies/)Marketing and Brand: Embrace healthy friction (podcast episode #48) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-and-brand)Customer Value: The 4 essential levels of value propositions (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/levels-of-value-propositions)Funnel Strategy: 54 elements to help you guide your buyers' journey through the marketing funnel (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/funnel-strategy)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

How I Made It In Marketing is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.Marketing is such a tricky endeavor.On the one hand, success is predicated on creativity. Think of some of the most memorable and effective marketing campaigns through history, it took creative brains to pull them off.But creativity without execution never sees the light of day. And history is littered with great creatives who were never able to get it done.Which is why a lesson from our next guest is so valuable no matter what role you have in marketing – “process is the foundation for success.”Not flashy or glamorous, but certainly essential.I talked to Shruti Joshi, COO, Facet (https://facet.com/), on the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Facet raised $165M+, led by VC firms like Warburg Pincus and Durable Capital.  Joshi oversees the sales, marketing, planning and member experience organizations, a total team of 180. Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons that emerged in our discussion:Process is the foundation for success.Data is the decider.Authenticity matters.There's no substitute for mastery and grit.To get an entire organization to follow a concept and execute as intended, the concept(s) must be simple.There will never be a good time to do this, just get it done.Create a meaningful people-first culture.Bring vulnerability and emotion into the workplace.Related content mentioned in this episodeValue Sequencing Decider Graphic: What do your customers need to know, and when do they need to know it? (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/value-sequencing-decider-graphic)“Authenticity” vs. “Professionalism”: Should you be your authentic self in your brand's content and marketing? Or must you adhere to certain strictures considered “professional” in your industry? (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/authenticity)Homepage Optimization Applied: Learn how to replicate a 331% lift on your own site (http://marketingexperiments.com/website-optimization-transcripts/2012-08-13.pdf)The Last Blog Post: How to succeed in an era of Transparent Marketing (https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/last-blogpost-transparent-marketing)Why a Customer-First Culture is Essential for Your Business: Interview with ex-chairman of financial services firm (https://meclabs.com/research/discovery/customer-first-culture-is-essential)Corporate Communication and Marketing Innovation: The dangerous delusion of safety – playing it safe can hurt you more than you know (episode #41) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/corporate)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.Hold a newspaper or magazine or other reading material right up to your face. I mean touching your nose close. Way too close.What do you read? Nothing. It's all a blur, right?Now hold it at a comfortable distance. Everything comes into focus.This is the perfect analogy for a challenge many marketers face. When it comes to an audience at arm's length – namely, our current and potential customers – we are practiced at using our communication skills to help them understand the perceived value of our products and overcome any possible anxiety.But the group of people we are closest to – the ones working inside the very same walls as us, so to speak – our colleagues. We can overlook the necessity of understanding their possible anxieties, the non-monetary costs they face, and help them understand the process-level value proposition for actions they need to take.We can be so focused on doing the thing, we overlook communicating why others should join us in getting it done.Or as our next guest puts it, “change agents need broad support.”I talked to Christina Martin, Executive Director of Marketing for Chase Auto, JP Morgan Chase and Company (https://www.jpmorganchase.com/), on the latest episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.Martin manages a team of six engaged in B2C marketing for Chase Auto.JP Morgan Chase has $3.7 trillion in assets and $292 billion in stockholders' equity as of December 31, 2022. One out of every two households in America have a relationship with JP Morgan Chase.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Martin that emerged in our discussion:Don't fall for Wile E. Coyote marketing.Change agents need broad support.Great brands consistently tell their story.Stay close to the well head.Observation is a powerful research technique.A problem isn't a problem if it can be solved with money.Related content mentioned in this episodeContent and Communications: Tenacity, keep it simple, authenticity works (podcast episode #33) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/content)MarketingSherpa (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/)How I Made It In Marketing podcast (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/podcast)Product Management & Marketing: Surround yourself with the right people (podcast episode #38) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/product)The Psychology of Blue Jeans: What marketers can learn from 150 years of Levi Strauss customer letters (podcast episode #4) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-psychology)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.I have this dream that I can go into other peoples' heads, kind of like the movie Being John Malkovich.Friends. Family. Customers. Work colleagues.And truly get that other perspective. Truly know what those people think of me, my work, our company, our offerings.Unless my life becomes a surrealist fantasy comedy, this is not going to happen.But the closest thing I‘ve found is seeing every interaction I have – with a customer, with a colleague – as valuable to me, a thing of value that I must exchange my ego to receive.It's amazing what you can do if you just get that darn ego out of the way.So I loved reading this lesson in a recent podcast guest application – “Feedback is a gift and people are investing in you by providing candid feedback.”I talked to Bryan Law, Chief Marketing Officer, ZoomInfo (https://www.zoominfo.com/), on the latest episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast to hear the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories.ZoomInfo is a public company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. It recorded $1.07 billion in revenue in 2022. At ZoomInfo, Law manages a team of 150, along with 100 different vendors and tech platforms.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Law that emerged in our discussion:Varied experiences inform a holistic approach to business problems.You can accelerate your career by identifying areas you are willing to take risks that others are not. Life is too short to be in an emotionally damaging work environment. Feedback is a gift and people are investing in you by providing candid feedback.We can all give way more of ourselves than we believe possible. Make sure the people you work with know that you care about them.Related content mentioned in this episodeMECLABS Methodology (https://meclabs.com/about/methodology)Marketing and Brand: Embrace healthy friction (podcast episode #48) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/marketing-and-brand)Franchising and Marketing: In a world of chicken dinners, be a lobster dinner (Podcast Episode #14) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/franchising-and-marketing)Customer-First Marketing: A conversation with Wharton, MarketingSherpa, and MECLABS Institute (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/consumer-marketing/wharton-interview-customer-first-marketing/)Team Building: Loyalty, relationships, pre-selling, and other keys to marketing management success (Podcast Episode #16) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/team-building)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results.In a recent LiveClass of the MECLABS SuperFunnel Research Cohort (https://meclabs.com/MEC200-RSVP/), I was asked, “should you look to your competitors to determine the appeal and exclusivity of possible elements that could make up your value proposition?”I said no. You learn exclusivity from your competitors, but appeal you learn from your customers.To form truly powerful value props, to truly create value in the marketplace, we need to stop being so focused on our competition, and focus more on our customers, and how we can serve them with unique value.Which is scary, of course. To break away from the pack. So I love this lesson from my next guest, “Don't be afraid to be the first. While not every innovative idea will be a success, it's often the most adventurous ideas that end up being the biggest successes.”We'll learn the story behind that lesson, and many more lesson-filled stories, from our guest on Episode #55 of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast – SM Lahti, Head of Marketing, TSM (https://tsm.gg/).Lahti leads a team of 20 at TSM, and shared the challenges and opportunities of managing a team in the esports industry in this episode.TSM (Team SoloMid) is the Most Valuable Esports Company, according to Forbes magazines, with an estimated value of $540 million and estimated revenue of $56 million in 2021, which is 32% growth over 2020. Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Lahti that emerged in our discussion:Don't be afraid to be the first. While not every innovative idea will be a success, it's often the most adventurous ideas that end up being the biggest successes.Influencers of all sizes can drive product adoption.Work-life balance is important. This isn't stressed enough to people entering the gaming industry.Good ideas can come from anywhere.Content creation is truly a business that requires creativity, an entrepreneurial spirit, planning, adaptation, and so much more.Always consult other perspectives, and value your own perspective as well.Related content mentioned in this episodeExploring Value Proposition and AI Technology: How to create unique ideas that you can execute with artificial intelligence (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/value-proposition/value-prop/)Healthcare IT Marketing: Branding a new service line within Stericycle, getting ONC certification, finding your joy, & more (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/healthcare)Customer Experience: Take risks, fail early, and learn fast (episode #32) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/customer-experience)Consumer Financial Services Marketing: Your customer is your most important stakeholder (episode #39) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer)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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results (https://meclabs.com/results).I think this one of the biggest challenges for when you grow in your career…When you get into a certain role, you – and others as well – have a general idea of how someone should be in that role. Let's call the it ‘central casting version of a CMO.'And yet, in my life I've been more successful when I've been able to drop the mask and be as much of my true authentic self in my life – even in my work life – as possible.Our next guests is here to talk about that overcoming imposter syndrome by valuing your experience – he words the lesson as “There is a big difference between 10 years of experience and 10 years of experiences.”Our guest on Episode #54 of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast told us the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories – David Apple, Chief Marketing Officer, Intuitive Health.Intuitive Health treated 467,000 patients in 2022. Apple manages a $10 million marketing budget, including joint ventures.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Apple that emerged in our discussion:There is a big difference between 10 years of experience and 10 years of experiences. Fancy terms can lead to bigger missed expectations.Make “it” work.Partner with a true visionaryWe are only as good as how we handle humbling moments.Leadership is not measured in years, but in character.Related content mentioned in this episodeThe Radical Idea: Customer-first marketing prioritizes customer experience over upsells (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/consumer-marketing/the-radical-idea-customer-experience-over-upsells/)World-Class Consumer & Retail Brands: What right do we have as a brand to be in that business? (Podcast Episode #15) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer-retail-brands)Public Sector Marketing and Communication Leadership: Multi-directional learners, multi-colored spiky hair, and wearing multiple hats (podcast episode #31) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/public-sector-marketing)Copywriting Contest: Write the best-performing subject line and win (https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/subject-line-reader-contest)About this podcastThis 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

The How I Made It In Marketing podcast is underwritten by MECLABS Institute, the parent organization of MarketingSherpa. To learn how MECLABS Services can help you get better business results from deeper customer understanding, visit MECLABS.com/results (https://meclabs.com/results).Change does not want to happen. The status quo is tenacious. To quote Isaac Newton, “An object at rest stays at rest…yadda, yadda, yadda…unless acted upon by an unbalancing force.”In your career, in your company, you are that unbalancing force. You tenaciously swim upstream against the status quo, and make change happen.And yet…even as hard as that is… we can't stop there. Not if we want to be good marketers. Not if we want to be good leaders. We need to use our communication and collaboration skills, and bring our internal team, and our customers, along for the ride.I love how our latest guest put it in one of her lessons – “Change (even good change) is hard, and everyone wants to be able to control, or at least influence, the change in their lives.”That's true for your employees. That's true for your customers.Our guest on Episode #53 of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast told us the story behind that lesson, along with many more lesson-filled stories – Onaisa Landis, Vice President of Marketing, Octane (https://www.octane.co/).Octane has grown from $350M in loans on an annual basis to $1.2B in the 2 years Landis has worked there. Landis has built her team from 3 to 10+.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons that emerged in our discussion:It's not about you ,and when you make it about you, you're never going to succeedImperfect action today is better than perfect action tomorrowTo market effectively, you have to think beyond what your product does, you have to understand the role it plays in your customers' livesBeing an effective manager is as much about driving business impact as it is about growing your team membersNo matter how important you are, make the people you interact with feel specialChange (even good change) is hard, and everyone wants to be able to control, or at least influence, the change in their livesRelated content mentioned in this episodeCustomer-First Objectives: Discover a 3-part formula for focusing your webpage message https://meclabs.com/course/sessions/customer-first-objectives/SaaS Marketing: Always bring the customer story forward (episode #42) https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/SaaS-marketingB2B Marketing: Marketing shouldn't be about driving demand; it's about driving value episode #40) https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/B2BContent and Communications: Tenacity, keep it simple, authenticity works (episode #33) https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/contentBlog Optimization: Button change leads to 34% increase in comments https://marketingexperiments.com/a-b-testing/blog-comment-testApply 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

“Remember that the customer is the subject and your offer is the object,” Flint McGlaughlin taught in Effective Headlines: How to write the first 4 words for maximum conversion (https://meclabs.com/course/sessions/effective-headlines/) (McGlaughlin is the CEO of MECLABS and MarketingSherpa).I thought of this quote when our latest guest talked about essentialism. One place I see scope creep and bloat is in messaging – we get so focused on our own product and company we forget that our customer doesn't know (or care) about our product…they care about themselves. Our guest said his job is simplification, and keeps his message about complex health care products simple by using this litmus test – “if I explained this to my mother or father, how could I message it so they could clearly understand it?”Learn more about the mental model our guest uses to keep his brand's marketing communication as simple and easy-to-digest as possible in this episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast. I sat down with Jake Watts, Vice President of Marketing, PDI (https://wearepdi.com/en-us/).PDI is a privately held, third-generation, family-owned company. It currently has 1,000 employees. Over 75% of US hospitals trust PDI for surface disinfection. As head of Healthcare Marketing for PDI, Watts oversees a team of eight marketing professionals.Stories (with lessons) about what he made in marketingSome lessons from Watts that emerged in our discussion:You never have the right answers, to begin with.You should almost always do less than you think.You don't need to go looking for good ideas, they're already in your org.Boldness, and clarity, of vision are what motivates teams to sign up for the previously unthinkable.Radical simplicity plus alignment is key to leading large and challenging organizations towards new business models.Leadership Happens Outside the Boardroom – Why empathy is the greatest, hidden competitive advantage in organizations.Related content mentioned in this episodeThe Behind-the-scenes Story of How We Optimized Outdoor Advertising That Was Featured in a USA Today Article (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/optimized-outdoor-advertising-bairfind)The Compounding ROI of Sequential Conversion Increases: How one company took a small gain and multiplied it tenfold (https://marketingexperiments.com/journals/3rd%20Quarter%20(2010)%20-%20MEx%20Research%20Journal.pdf#page=6) (instant PDF download)Don't Give Clients What They Want: “That's also the name of a convention for adults who dress as toddlers” – Podcast Episode #6 (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/client-management)About this podcastThis 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

“The Marketer needs meaningful work and meaningful relationships,” Flint McGlaughlin teaches in Above-the-Fold Energy: How to engage the prospect's mind with a carefully crafted opening (https://meclabs.com/course/sessions/above-the-fold-energy/) (McGlaughlin is the CEO of MECLABS and MarketingSherpa).I thought of that lesson when our latest podcast guest shared a lesson of her own, “Teams that are steeped in data and conversion numbers are the strongest at the craft.” Which means, we marketers must have meaningful relationships with data scientists and analytics managers. So, I asked her how we do that – after all, creatives aren't exactly dataheads and sometimes speak very different languages from their more analytical brethren.Hear that advice, along with lesson-filled stories earned during an impressive career, from Tami Cannizzaro, Chief Marketing Officer, Thryv (https://www.thryv.com/), on this episode of the How I Made It In Marketing podcast.Thryv is publicly traded on Nasdaq and recorded $1.113 billion in revenue in 2021. As CMO, Cannizzaro manages a team of 50 marketers.Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketingSome lessons from Cannizzaro that emerged in our discussion:There is a dramatic difference between marketing for a company with a large, established brand versus a company building a market presence and entering a category.Stay consistent.Teams that are steeped in data and conversion numbers are the strongest at the craft.It is critical for it all to work seamlessly together.Weekly growth is a high bar and a strong motivator.Constantly push to be innovative and on the forefront of a new trend.Related content mentioned in this episodeUsability and Landing Page Design: 3 quick case studies about improving results by guiding the customer's perception process (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/usability-landing-page-design-case-studies-improving-results-customer-perception)About this podcastThis 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

How to Become a Renegade Millionaire The book Renegade Millionaire contains 7 secrets that aspiring millionaires should follow. You know what they say? Mirror those that have done it. These 7 secrets describe the core beliefs and behaviours that people who aspire to become millionaires display. So sit back and listen to this summary podcast. In the meantime, it's probably best if you go out and buy the book. Here's a link: RENEGADE MILLIONAIRE So let's start with the first secret... SECRET #1 THE POWER OF ORGANISED EFFORT Are you using strategies in the pursuit of principles? Or are you using tactics in search of a strategy. Secret number 1 is all about having governing principles. Then having strategies supported by tactics. In this clip, Graham explains how this secret relates to the current pre-crash challenge that many affluent people are facing. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Graham-Arrowsmith-Secret-1-Organised-Effort.mp4 So, Dan Kennedy says STOP! Think hard and go back to principle. When it comes to money, what is your principle? As Graham says, it might be - I word amend hard for this money so I want to keep and grow it! That then spills down into strategies. It might be hire a great financial adviser. Or, it might be you DIY your finances. The tactics are then all those things you'd do to serve the strategies that fulfil on the principle. #2 MAKE MAXIMUM MONEY Ask yourself the question, "Is this making money?". Graham said the 1% aren't given to wasting their time on social media. Time is an important non-repeatable asset. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Graham-Arrowsmith-Make-Maximum-Money.mp4 Kevin referenced the most recent John Lamerton podcast. He made the point about social media being transient. Graham spoke about Dan Kennedy's stage speaking. Kennedy extracted maximum money from his speaking: negotiate a higher percentage processed his own orders he'd sell at higher prices than other he provided order forms that sold his services follow up letters to non-buyers he also used dead time productively - meeting someone-else on the trip. The value of a business rises with continuous or continuity income. Plus, increase the customer lifespan. These two strategies are about creating equity. Current Bank vs Future Bank This concept is about making deposits into your future bank. Here's an example: http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Graham-Arrowsmith-Current-Bank-Future-Bank.mp4   #3 THE POWER OF BIG IDEAS Most great businesses have one radical BIG IDEA. So, how do you find these ideas? Violate industry norms Appeal to malcontents be a true leader and not just an alternative. BE A FARMER NOT A PIRATE http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Graham-Arrowsmith-Farmer-NOT-Pirate.mp4   #4 TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR TIME, YOUR BUSINESS, AND YOUR LIFE Kevin recommends you are selective in the things you do. Be choosy about which objectives you pursue in the next 100 days. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Graham-Arrowsmith-Control-Your-Time.mp4 There is logic in controlling access to you. We discuss the OFF THE GRID app with Patrice Archer. This is all about controlling your effort to control time. INFLUENCER MARKETING - Following a Parasite Strategy http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Graham-Arrowsmith-Be-a-Parasite.mp4 This is all about using OTHER PEOPLE"S RELATIONSHIPS. #5 ACCURATE THINKING Knowing facts you may not want to know. Gather empirical evidence. Graham mentioned previous guest Daniel Burstein from Meclabs. They are all about empirical evidence. #6 CREATE A COMPETITION FREE ZONE Kevin suggested we skip this and refer people to our podcast Episode 295 on this. SECRET #7 INVENT LESS, IMPLEMENT MORE People really like creating rather implementing. Is your CV just like this? http://thenext100days.

In Episode #2, Daniel Burstein talks to Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth and Operations, Navattic (https://www.navattic.com/).Natalie shares key lessons from what she's made (and in her case, unmade) – ranging from a de-branding campaign to a redesigned website – in her career where she often was the sole marketer in the company. We discussed:A de-branding campaign and the importance of being agile when things go so wrongBuilding, writing, and designing three ad campaigns per month as a solo marketer – why that is too much, quality must trump quantity, and how a marketing calendar helped “Unless you're doing research, you're not going to do effective marketing” – she gets up from her desk, goes for a walk, and listens in to sales calls to learn from customer reactionsRedesigning the website based on a shift in the ideal customer profile. In the redesign, she put prospects experience above all else. The results – 40% conversion rates from any lead who fills out a form on the website to booking a meeting with the sales team. They also have a nearly 50% win rate, showing the quality of the leads.Natalie also shares lessons she gained from influential mentors and managers in her career: Matthew Sniff, Chief Product Officer, Map My Customers – blocking off learning time  Andrea Kayal, CMO, Electric – sticking up for brand strategy in leadership sessions Chris Walker, CEO, Refine Labs – putting your buyer above what may be best for your bottom lineArticles (plus a book and a course) mentioned in this episode:Product Development Chart: A “minimum viable product” is not enough to satisfy customers (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/minimum-viable-vs-minimum-awesome)The Marketer as Philosopher: 40 Brief Reflections on the Power of Your Value Proposition book by Flint McGlaughlin, CEO, MarketingSherpa & MECLABS (https://meclabs.com/course/the-marketer-as-philosopher/)Scaling to a $15 million company in 18 months by transparently serving an ideal customer (and saying “no” to other business) – Podcast Episode #1 (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/scaling-podcast)The Content Marketing Tipping Point: Marcus Sheridan's magic number is 30, what is yours? (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/email-marketing/content-marketing-magic-number/)MarketingSherpa Library (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/library) – 8,768 case studies, articles, and videosBecome a Marketer-Philosopher: Create and optimize high-converting webpages (https://meclabs.com/course/) (free digital marketing course)Customer-First Marketing Chart: How to get customers to give your company a second chance (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/how-customers-give-second-chance)2022 Growth Trends Interview Series, Episode 5: Community building with Chris Walker (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6887062373966848000/)The Radical Idea: Outsourcing that touches the customer is penny wise, but pound foolish (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/marketing/radical-idea-outsourcing/)

Content creation is the name of the game when it comes to marketing in 2022. In this episode of Digital Marketing Swipe File, Eric welcomes Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Content & Marketing at MECLABS Institute and host of the podcast How I Made It In Marketing (https://marketingsherpa.com/podcast) from Marketing Sherpa. Daniel breaks down what marketers should know about content marketing in 2022, especially for B2B SaaS companies. Tune in to gain insight into the shifts MECLABS made in their content marketing after the covid-19 pandemic hit, the reasoning behind media company consolidation within B2B SaaS companies, the importance of understanding your target audience before creating content, and the relationship between content production and low-quality MQLs.You'll learn Eric and Daniel's candid thoughts on the importance of research in copywriting, storytelling as an approach to content creation, and much more! This is a juicy episode you won't want to miss! “What we're doing with content marketing is we're ripping the doors off that factory, we're ripping to doors off the coders and we're showing them, hey, here's what we're creating, here's how we're creating value for you, and all we have to decide is what value can we create and give for free and what value… especially for a B2B SaaS company, do we need to start charging for?”        - Daniel BursteinResources mentioned:Story Engineering by Larry Brooks: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...About Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Content & Marketing, MECLABS Institute: Daniel oversees all content and marketing coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the editorial direction for MECLABS – digging for actionable information while serving as an advocate for the audience. Daniel is also a speaker and moderator at live events and on webinars. Previously, he was the main writer powering MarketingExperiments publishing engine – from Web clinics to Research Journals to the blog. Prior to joining the team, Daniel was Vice President of MindPulse Communications – a boutique communications consultancy specializing in IT clients such as IBM, VMware, and BEA Systems. Daniel has 18 years of experience in copywriting, editing, internal communications, sales enablement and field marketing communications.Connect with Daniel: www.linkedin.com/in/danielburstein Visit MEC Labs: www.meclabs.com 

How to get more sales? Optimize with conversion rate. Daniel Burstein shares his valuable insights. He is senior director, content and marketing at MECLABS Institute. Daniel oversees all content and marketing coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the editorial direction for MECLABS – digging for actionable information while serving as…

Welcome back to another episode of Monetization Nation with Daniel Burstein. In our previous episode, we talked about customer-first marketing and how putting our customers first is vital to our business sustainability. We also shared how to help our customers perceive the value of our products and services.  In this episode, we continue our conversation with Daniel where he tells us some of his secrets of successful content marketing and how to leverage digital products.  The Biggest Tectonic Shift Affecting Business Owners Today Daniel believes today's biggest tectonic shift is the shift to the empowered consumer. When he started in the advertising industry more than 20 years ago, advertisements were more like one-way conversations from companies to potential customers. The advertisers and the brands had most of the power and control. This was essential because they could get their messages out and broadcast them. In the past, customers had only limited opportunities to share word-of-mouth referrals. If they were unhappy, they would tell one, three, or maybe 10 people. Now, customers are empowered and use digital tools to share their opinions. This is why we have to understand how important a customer-first marketing strategy is. Our goal isn't just to sell a product, this would be short-sighted. Our real goal is to have a successful customer. When we have a successful customer, and they refer us to their friends,  we're going to have a much greater chance of sustainable business success.  Having Successful Customers is Our Goal Our goal is not to sell a product; our goal is to help the client be successful. This is more important today because clients have more power than they've ever had. If we have enough successful customers, we will probably have positive customer reviews. This will drive more business and give us more credibility. But if we have too many unhappy clients, we're not going to survive for long. Thanks to Google reviews, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms out there, the customer is empowered like never before. If we're not creating true value for our customers, it's going to get out there, and ultimately will ruin our business.  Leveraging Digital Products in the Business Daniel believes we've become used to digital products and so we take them for granted. However, he thinks it's against human nature to buy a digital product. When we sell a digital product, it's all about perceived value. Take books as an example. When we go into a bookstore, we can see the book, flip through it, and get a feel for it. With an ebook, all a customer sees is an image on the screen. We must realize that customers don't perceive digital products as we do.  We need to ask ourselves, “How can we test our products with customers and understand how to communicate that value to them using the four elements we talked about before: appeal, exclusivity, credibility, and clarity?” Daniel believes the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make with digital products is they assume that customers perceive the value just as they do.  “Treat your content like a product.” - Drew Davis, author of “Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships”. Secrets of Content Marketing Over 41% of Americans use an ad blocker (Source: neilpatel.com). Since content is usually not treated as an ad, it has a much better chance to get the message across without being blocked.  Daniel spent a lot of time in content marketing in his career. I asked him to share with us his best secrets of content marketing.  Content is Not Free Daniel's first secret is that content isn't free. Oftentimes companies think that when they do a free webinar, a free email newsletter, or a free blog, customers will be rushing in, which is not the case. When we talk about content, we need to look at our content as an actual product, a digital one. We need to ask what we can do to create a value proposition for this content even if it's only a free webinar or a free email. Customers may not be paying money for this content but they're still paying with their time and attention.  Give Value Away for Free The second secret Daniel gives for successful content marketing is to give value away for free. If we're looking to monetize digital products, we need to know where the cutoff between free and paid is. Daniel gives an example of having a digital course that has 20 sessions. The cutoff here would be to give two sessions for free. Then we can take information from those two sessions and turn them into webinars every month.  Another way to know if we have good content is when we have really good interaction with our audience. This means asking questions on social media or email. This is also where we need to decide when we can treat those questions as paid services or helpful engagement.   There is an Abundance of Good Content  Daniel noticed that when companies start with content marketing, their struggle is that they think they don't have any content. What they don't realize is that many companies are content-generating machines. This content can be the questions that they're already answering for customers, an area where a lot of content is already being created. We need to look at the content we've created or we're creating and develop a content marketing strategy. The Most Effective Ways to Monetize Content Daniel believes that when it comes to monetizing content, it's simply about putting in a lot of hard work. We need to create something that has a unique value in the marketplace. So, the competitive analysis would be the biggest thing we have to do. The first thing we should do when we're working on a paid content offering is to start with a landing page. We should create a landing page that has the four elements in it: it's appealing, exclusive, credible, and it's clear.  We also need to look at competitors, because this is what customers are doing. We want to put the page we're creating for our content against the other offerings of other competitors. And when we have an appealing offer that is exclusive, credible, and clear, that's when we have a chance to succeed with our monetized content offering. In the end, Daniel believes it's important to remember that we are more than just our jobs and our roles. In his case, a marketer during the day, a person, a dad, and a husband at night. And so, he encourages people to bring their whole selves to work and realize that they're people too. A lot of times marketers are failing because they act as marketers only and forget all their other dimensions. They write in ways they would never talk to other people. And this is how they think of their products. Daniel advises us to think of ourselves when we're selling our products. What would an actual real person think about this? How would they react if I was talking to a real person, instead of talking like a marketer or writing on LinkedIn? How would I talk about this? What would I say if I was in physical proximity to someone if this wasn't digital?  Our end goal is to create value for our customers and communicate that value. Key Takeaways Thank you so much Daniel for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode: Our goal is not just to sell a product, our goal is to help the client be successful. If we're not creating true value with our products, the word is going to get out there, and ultimately it'll ruin our business. Content is a very crowded marketplace. We must ask ourselves what our value proposition is and what customers are willing to pay their attention and interest for even if there's no monetary cost. A lot of times our biggest failures come from having that blind spot from working in our office where we're only looking at our digital products and digital offerings and forgetting that there are real people just like us on the other side of what we're doing. Connect with Daniel Burstein If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Daniel or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/danielburstein  or visit the MECLABS website meclabs.com Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer? Did you like today's episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content: Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.  Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter. Share Your Story  How do you market and monetize your content? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers. Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/93-secrets-of-content-marketing/ 

When customers have great experiences, they want to buy more and are more likely to remain loyal. A positive customer experience often results in positive word-of-mouth referrals. 73% of customers say a good buying experience is key in influencing their brand loyalties (Source: PwC).  Daniel Burstein is the senior director of content and marketing at MECLABS Institute. He oversees all content marketing coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands, while helping to shape the marketing directions for MECLABS Institute, digging for actionable discoveries while serving as an advocate for the audience. Before joining MECLABS Institute, Daniel was Vice President of MindPulse Communications—a boutique communications consultancy specializing in IT clients such as IBM, VMware, and BEA Systems. Daniel has 21 years of experience in copywriting, editing, internal communications, sales enablement, and field marketing communications.  In today's episode, we're going to discuss customer-first marketing and how we can help our customers see the value of our products and services Customer-First Marketing Daniel is passionate about what he calls “customer-first marketing”. This is an area where MECLABS Institute has done a lot of research. Daniel said there are many different ways to succeed as a marketer. However, from different studies and research, they've done, they've found one of the most successful things we can do is put the customer first. As marketers, it's part of the job to ask for a conversion. Daniel believes the best thing we can do is go back to our team and ask, “What can we do to put our customer first?” MECLABS conducted a research study on 2,400 consumers to determine how they perceive companies. The research found that the customers who could perceive that their needs were being put first were more loyal to the company, more satisfied, and more likely to be repeat customers.  Daniel said the most important question we need to ask whenever we need to make difficult decisions, is the question of how we can put the customers' needs first, while also achieving our business goals. “Building a good customer experience does not happen by accident. It happens by design.” - Clare Muscutt, Founder of CMXperience Actual Value Vs. Perceived Value It's important to understand the difference between the actual value and perceived value. Marketers have to communicate to customers the perceived value of the products a company is creating. This is the reason why we have content marketing and marketing in general. That's why marketing plays a vital role in value perception. If marketers don't do a good job and show the customer the value of what they're offering them, they will likely choose another company.  Though the difference may seem subtle, it's really important that our customers can see the value we're providing. I see this happening all the time when companies provide so much value to the customer but they fail to communicate this value to the customer effectively. As a result, this makes it much harder to make the sale.  We can't just provide value to our customers. Our customers have to perceive the value we are providing.  What is Your Sign Out Front? Just as luxury real-estate companies invest a lot of money in the sign in front of the development, we as entrepreneurs must ask ourselves, “What is our sign out front, and what does it say about our products?” Our “sign” can be our website or a free version of a premium course we're offering. This sign has to indicate to our customers that what we offer is what they're looking for. It has to help them perceive the value of our products.  Trust Through Transparency  Daniel mentioned the research from Michael Norton, at Harvard Business School, who spoke earlier at their event. In his research, he talked about what he calls “trust through transparency”. Once again, it comes down to value perception. A lot of times people don't understand what went into making the product or service they're buying. This includes the many years of experience we've accumulated to be that good at what we do.  If we're trying to monetize our content, we need to show all the work that went into creating the content in order to help customers and potential customers perceive the value of what we're offering. The Conversion Sequence Heuristic  MECLABS Institute has patented methodologies based on research done to understand the factors that go into customer decisions. The MECLABS Conversion Sequence Heuristic is a framework of five factors on which marketers need to focus their optimization energy.  Daniel focuses on the “D factor” which represents the force of the value proposition. There are four elements that affect the force of the value proposition. Daniel believes these elements are critical when we consider monetization. Because then we have to build a value proposition for our product. It's even more difficult when it's a digital product when customers can't just walk into a store, pick up a book, flip it around, and perceive its value. That's why, with digital products, we need to make sure we're communicating the value proposition right.  The four factors that form the force of the value proposition are appeal, credibility, exclusivity, and clarity. When we're trying to create the value proposition for a product, we have to ask ourselves how we rank on these four different factors to a customer.   1. Appeal    First, we need to ask if our product has appeal. After we've created something that has appeal in the marketplace, our customers will want to know why and how our claims will work.    2. Credibility   We need to look for ways to add credibility to our product. This can be achieved through some third-party certifications, customer reviews, or testimonials. This is also where content marketing can come in.      3. Exclusivity    After we've created an appealing product that people believe in, we need to think about exclusivity. If everyone else is selling our product, it'll be a commodity that we won't be able to sell at a higher margin. This takes us back to building the value proposition for our product. We must ask, “What is the exclusivity that we bring to this niche that no one else does?” It's about finding out what differentiates our product.    4. Clarity    The fourth element is clarity. We can have the most appealing, credible, and exclusive product but without clearly communicating these values, the customer won't care. We won't be able to get their attention and convert it into interest. Daniel's advice is to look for the exclusive value we offer in the marketplace and make it the headline.   Key Takeaways Thank you so much Daniel for sharing your stories and knowledge with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode: If we don't put customers first, they won't put us first. If there's one question we have to ask, it is, “How can we put the customers' needs first, while also achieving our business goals?” It's important to show our customers all the work and experience that went into creating our content so they can perceive the value we're offering. To make sure our products have exclusivity we need to ask, “What is the exclusivity that we bring to this niche that no one else does?” What is exclusive and appealing to one customer is not going to be to another customer. That's why it's important to identify and target our ideal customer. Connect with Daniel Burstein If you enjoyed this interview and want to learn more about Daniel or connect with him, you can find him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielburstein/ or visit MECLABS website, meclabs.com Want to be a Better Digital Monetizer? Did you like today's episode? Then please follow these channels to receive free digital monetization content: Get a free Monetization Assessment of your business Subscribe to the free Monetization eMagazine. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation YouTube channel. Subscribe to the Monetization Nation podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.  Follow Monetization Nation on Instagram and Twitter. Share Your Story  How do you help your customers perceive the value of your products and services? Please join our private Monetization Nation Facebook group and share your insights with other digital monetizers. Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/92-customer-first-marketing-and-how-to-help-customers-perceive-the-value-of-our-products-and-services/ 

This week on the If You Market podcast we talk with Daniel Burstein about lead conversion and the important of consistency.  We go through the MECLABS heuristic (equation) for conversion in detail and end up bleeping more out than in any episode ever.   Daniel is the Senior Director of Content & Marketing at MarketingSherpa and MECLABS institute.  Daniel oversees all content and marketing coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the marketing direction for MECLABS Institute — digging for actionable discoveries while serving as an advocate for the audience. Daniel is also a speaker and moderator at live events and on webinars.

About This Episode: Flint McGlaughlin is the founder of MECLABS, the world's largest independent research institution focused on offer response optimization. His work has led to many discoveries regarding the philosophy of human choice, experimental design, and the cognitive psychology of conversion. He has conducted large-scale research projects with companies such as The New York Times, Google, Bank of America, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Royal Bank of Canada. He has lectured at major universities around the world including New York University, Columbia University, Harvard University, and he has delivered keynote addresses for companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Google. McGlaughlin also served as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK), as the former Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Stephen's University and as a former Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. He originally studied philosophy and theology at University of London's Specialist Jesuit College He lives deep in the back country of the Rocky Mountains Find out more about Flint at: Flint's Website Linkedin Twitter Instagram Check out our YouTube Channel: Jeremyryanslatebiz Make Extraordinary a reality: jeremyryanslate.com/extraordinary See the Show Notes: jeremyryanslate.com/820 Sponsors:Gusto: This episode is sponsored by Gusto. Run your payroll the easy way, the same way we do at Command Your Brand. You'll get a. $100 Amazon Gift Card just for running your first payroll! http://www.jeremyryanslate.com/gusto Audible: Get a free 30 day free trial and 1 free audiobook from thousands of available books.  http://www.jeremyryanslate.com/book  

About This Episode: Flint McGlaughlin is the founder of MECLABS, the world's largest independent research institution focused on offer response optimization. His work has led to many discoveries regarding the philosophy of human choice, experimental design, and the cognitive psychology of conversion. He has conducted large-scale research projects with companies such as The New York Times, Google, Bank of America, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Royal Bank of Canada. He has lectured at major universities around the world including New York University, Columbia University, Harvard University, and he has delivered keynote addresses for companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, and Google. McGlaughlin also served as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK), as the former Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Stephen's University and as a former Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. He originally studied philosophy and theology at University of London's Specialist Jesuit College He lives deep in the back country of the Rocky Mountains Find out more about Flint at: Flint's Website Linkedin Twitter Instagram Check out our YouTube Channel: Jeremyryanslatebiz Make Extraordinary a reality: jeremyryanslate.com/extraordinary See the Show Notes: jeremyryanslate.com/820 Sponsors:Gusto: This episode is sponsored by Gusto. Run your payroll the easy way, the same way we do at Command Your Brand. You'll get a. $100 Amazon Gift Card just for running your first payroll! http://www.jeremyryanslate.com/gusto Audible: Get a free 30 day free trial and 1 free audiobook from thousands of available books.  http://www.jeremyryanslate.com/book  

Actually connecting with potential customers and growing your pipeline is harder than ever before.  Today’s sales and marketing environments are a paradox. You have more marketing channels, content and martech tools to reach customers. And using company logic doesn’t lend itself well to actual pipeline growth. According to the CMO Council, “Only 20% of marketers are able to predict the next best action for their customers.”   Additionally, Forrester Consulting discovered, “65 percent of marketers struggle to employ emotional marketing as they turn to automation to improve customer engagement.”  Our guest to discuss this is author and consultant Brian Carroll CEO and Founder of markempa. About Brian Carroll and markempa Brian Carroll is the CEO and founder of markempa, helping companies to improve how they acquire and grow customer relationships with empathy-based marketing and meet the challenges of revenue growth. Brian influenced B2B marketing as the CEO of InTouch, which was acquired by MECLABS, the parent company of MarketingSherpa. He is the author of the bestseller, Lead Generation for the Complex Sale,and the B2B Lead Blog which is read by thousands each week. He also founded B2B Lead Roundtable LinkedIn Group with 19,801+ members. As a researcher and leader in empathy-based marketing, he’s at the epicenter of the shifting customer landscape. Brian studied the most successful empathetic companies and marketers. By taking practical customer insights combined with behavioral science, he created the EMPATH Methodology to help marketers connect better with their customers to get significant results. You may also like: An article by Brian Carroll:  How Empathy Will Grow Your Sales and Marketing Pipeline

In Episode Three, we interview Daniel Burstein, Senior Director of Content and Marketing at the MECLABS Institute – a Jacksonville-based marketing research firm that publishes educational and professional development content for marketing executives via the MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments Brands. We'll learn how content has the power to tell a story that moves clients to make the buying decision. To paraphrase Daniel: “Buyers make decisions based on gut, and backfill with logic.” He breaks down MECLABS' conversion heuristic that predicts the likelihood of conversions based on five factors. We explore the application of the heuristic with Software as a Service (SaaS) in the commercial real estate industry as an example. During the discussion, we get into Daniel's background in marketing research, why he thinks there's a parallel between comedy and marketing, and how we should focus on thought ‘servantship' rather than 'leadership.' Find lessons from MarketingExperiments' new show here: https://marketingsherpa.com/forthegood Let's get started. Like or subscribe to get updates on upcoming shows. Share the inspiration. https://creativerealestatecopy.com/dont-target-growth-focus-on-helping-someone-in-the-world/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/re-exec-tl/message

Robert has over 13 years experience in online marketing. He has a deep love for CRO and SEO and the power it has to transform a business. He has started and grown 3 successful IT companies including a repair store and two mobile service companies. Robert is a big fan of the team at MECLABS and the team at SEO Fight Club for their cutting edge testing methods. He used the informed he learns there to implement in Nimbus’ client campaigns. When he’s not implementing his marketing knowledge for customers, he spends his time expanding it. We spoke all about conversion rate optimization and the layers of psychology that affect conversions. Tune in...

As marketers, we often make a lot of assumptions about what people want and how they'll behave when presented with certain information. Occasionally, we have a study or two to backup our hunches but often we rely on gut instinct and a few insights glean from the collective wisdom of our peers to get us over the line. Usually it's enough. But what if you were able to go beyond the general consensus, the conventional wisdom and access hard data about what works and what doesn't? Unfortunately, it's rare that someone takes a systematic approach to uncovering the underlying principles that drive human behavior and decision making and applies them to marketing. For the last 25 years, that's exactly what Dr. Flint McGlaughlin has been doing through his brands MECLABS, Marketingexperiments.com and Marketing Sherpa. Flint has been using the web as his testing ground in conducting behavioral experiments and real world situations to gain data on human decision making.  What has emerged from Flint's research is a replica method of offer response optimization and messaging that could change the way you think about marketing. On this episode number 203 of Marketing Speak, Dr. McGlaughlin joins me to talk about the blind spots of the marketing industry, how we can drop the buzzwords and create more authentic messaging that resonates with our audience, and various other pearls of wisdom from his book, The Marketer as Philosopher. Stay tuned for an episode that will take you beyond focus groups and shallow insights into profound philosophical questions about human behavior that will help you transcend the current marketing paradigm.

Company: MarketingSherpa and MECLABS InstituteWebsite Address: https://meclabs.Company: MarketingSherpa and MECLABS InstituteWebsite Address: https://meclabs.com/Interviewee: Daniel BursteinShort company description: Here are some FAST FACTS about the MECLABS Institute: – Built the first and now oldest conversion marketing research program in the world – Publishes through MarketingSherpa and MarketingExperiments – Pioneered the conversion industry, established its concepts and principles, and launched the first certified courses in the field Mike White launched Client Focused Media in 2002, the leading integrated marketing firm in Northeast Florida with extensive capabilities and experience providing strategic planning, marketing, creative, advertising, printing, branding, public relations and crisis communications services. He also serves as the Publisher of Jacksonville Buzz Magazine which reaches 150,000 readers each month and is the CEO of Bluhorn Solutions. Because of White’s commitment to provide the broadest range of integrated marketing services possible for CFM’s clients, he also founded an events production company as well as a promotional product company to support CFM’s cutting edge marketing campaigns and to yield measurable results for CFM clients at the most efficient rates.Mike WhiteWelcome back to BluHorn TV. I'm Mike White. Joining us today my co-host David Sillick and remotely from Jacksonville Florida we have Daniel Burstein with MECLABS. Welcome to the program.Daniel BursteinThanks for having me.Mike WhiteOn Five Minutes With, we focus on different industry leaders to really talk about tips and trends. Tell me a little bit about MECLABS to start off.Daniel BursteinWe're a research institute dedicated to finding out how you can get more customers to say yes while we make the choices we do. We're doing it over 20 years. We have some patented methodologies around it and we also publish what we learn.David SillickTell us more about Marketing Sherpa.Daniel BursteinSo if you're Marketing Sherpa, as the name suggests, we try to be alongside of marketers and help them make that difficult climb up to successful marketing tactics, successful marketing campaigns.Mike WhiteSo a typical customer that would come and hire MECLABS, who are the main targets?Daniel BursteinWe work with companies of all sizes. Start ups, major companies, Fortune 500 companies I think really the biggest commonality is they're looking to improve conversion.Mike WhiteWhat do you see some of the biggest trends going on with data collection digital that's going to affect the industry in the next two years.Daniel BursteinSo I think you know companies are overwhelmed. On the one side they're overwhelmed they've got all this data and they don't know how to make sense of it. And so the biggest thing that they can do is really find separate the wheat from the chaff. David SillickWhat single piece of advice would you give to someone that was asking for it.Daniel BursteinWell the biggest piece of advice is you only succeed by putting the customer first. So we spend so much time with our own products our own brands, we get so attached them. We are so passionate, we know Web sites as well, we have to ask ourselvescan we do to step out of our own minds where our own brands really look at it in a customer centric way.Mike WhiteWell I appreciate you coming on the program today and speaking with us! To find out more about MECLABS and head over to BluHorn.com. We look forward to seeing you next time on BluHorn TV.

The formula is strong in this episode! We discuss A/B Testing best practices and methods with Senior Director of content and marketing at MECLABS Institute, Daniel Burstein. In this episode you will learn all about the purpose of conversion testing, why it is important to boost your conversion rate and the many factors that will impact your testing methods, both positively and negatively, to get you the results you want.   Takeaways Testing may sound boring, but it's all about breaking down the false obstacle we have between us and our customers - because we are not our customers. Remember that sometimes we are an entirely different demographic than our audience. The testing mindset is that we don't know everything. We're forming hypotheses, we're trying to be open and trying to learn. Make sure you are considering different day-to-day technology. We have to realize we aren't experiencing the marketing, website and social that our customers do. Test for different web browsers. Each one is unique and they all might behave differently. Remember, each and every one of us has a different view of our companies or our clients' companies than our customers do. Start your conversion testing by determining who your ideal customer is. The most powerful thing that affects conversions is the customers' motivations. Know your value proposition. You cannot change the customer's motivation, but you can change your value proposition. Incentive (the bacon of marketing tactics) is the element that is most used and abused by marketers. It's not a solid long-term tactic. Don't forget the negative elements to conversion testing: friction and anxiety.   Links Twitter: @DanielBurstein LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielburstein/ meclabs.com marketingsherpa.com marketingexperiments.com Free Guide for Optimizing Webpages: https://www.marketingsherpa.com/freestuff/the-MECLABS-guide-for-optimizing-your-webpages-and-better-serving-your-customers Heuristic Cheat Sheet: https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/10-heuristic-cheat-sheet Conversion Sequence Heuristic: https://meclabs.com/about/heuristic      

Stephen is the CEO of Predictive ROI and host of the Onward Nation podcast. He is the author of two bestselling books, speaker, trainer, and his digital marketing insights have been featured in SUCCESS, Entrepreneur, The Washington Post, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and other media.   Good Morning Onward Nation...I’m Stephen Woessner. Since the advent of the commercial Internet, I have collected tens of thousands of data points that have given me the ability to identify what I call the 8 Money Draining Mistakes. These are the things -- the simple mistakes -- that can cause of business to leak serious money every single day. Cash being sucked right out of the company. I devoted last week’s solocast...episode 127...to taking you on a deep dive into the 8 Money Draining Mistakes. But say you studied last week’s solocast -- and have taken corrective action and you have plugged all of the holes in the bottom of the boat. All of the leaks -- the money draining mistakes have been solved. Awesome! The next step is to master and apply what I call the 8 Money Making Opportunities. These 8 opportunities are like a big outboard motor that you put onto the backend of the boat you just fixed -- and then you can zoom across the lake. These 8 opportunities are where ROI in your online marketing gets turbocharged. So in today’s solocast, I am going to take you on a deep dive into the 8 Money Making Opportunities. But why take you on that journey? On the Predictive ROI side of our business, I see it all the time: many business leaders feel overwhelmed by digital marketing or the strategies being applied by the people within their company. Business owners have told me that they often worry they’re not keeping up with the latest advances but fear looking foolish if they ask for help. After 20-years of academic research and private sector experience at Predictive ROI, we’ve developed proven and reliable ways to increase website traffic, leads, and sales. I am going to share the best of what we have with you right now. And if you go to predictiveroi.com/3download you can get access to a private VIP video training series that I created -- it walks alongside of this solocast and provides and even deeper step-by-step process to follow. Each video is 100 percent free training -- I am standing at the whiteboard -- sketching out the recipes so you can put that into practice in your business straightaway. So let’s dig into 8 Money Making Opportunities. Money Making Opportunity #1: HARMONIZE OFFER WITH NEED. The first money maker is adapted from what SUCCESS Magazine publisher Darren Hardy calls “the white knight strategy”. Essentially, you take your X-Y-Z statement (for more on the X-Y-Z exercise, see Money Draining Mistake #2 in last week’s solocast) and then blend it with what you know about your client avatar (again, see Money Draining Mistake #5 for more on the client avatar strategy), and create a statement that shows prospects you have the solution to all their pain points. That makes an empathetic connection with your clients and prospects. Serve up your offer in a way that will inspire an emotional response from your client. For example, many of our clients have been burned by so-called experts, so we include a money back guarantee in our statement. This gives people a sense of relief at the low risk involved in their decision to engage our team. Use your new white knight statement in presentations, articles, proposals, books, training videos, or wherever you make an introduction to your company’s value. Money Making Opportunity #2: BUILD YOUR LIST. The most valuable asset of any business is the client list. To build your list you’ve got to develop a screaming cool offer, such as a free pdf, video series, or exclusive audio insights podcast. The value you create must be massive. Don’t hold back. Share your expertise and keep it focused in the area of your XYZ statement. Then, feature this offer throughout your site for maximum distribution. One of the best tools for maximizing distribution is WP Popup Magic. It's very simple to use. If your value exchange is truly valuable enough, 6 to 13 percent of the visitors to your site will give you their email address just to access what you’re offering. Money Making Opportunity #3: NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS AND INCREASE SALES. Once you have someone’s email, you can guide them into what John Jantsch, in his book "Duct Tape Marketing," calls “the know, like, and trust funnel.” Email marketing is the most effective way to build trust relationships with prospects. By giving, giving, giving to your list through content distribution, you create well-prepared prospects. Then when you offer something really awesome, like a discounted training program for a very limited time, you get immediate and intense conversions for huge revenue. Make your list members feel like they’re in on an exclusive conversation, like they’re sitting around a campfire among only a select few. When you send these Campfire Effect Emails™, you’ll be amazed at the response. Be sure to base your content on your client avatar’s pain points and your white knight statement. Money Making Opportunity #4: NO-FRICTION LEAD GENERATION. The form that visitors use to enter their email addresses needs to be in an environment that encourages trust. What is your form next to on your homepage? Ads? Your blog roll? Put that lead generating form next to a value exchange, such as an offer for a free download or video. You can even put your credentials adjacent to the form to help instill a sense of security in your qualifications as prospects hand over their contact information. Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, my guest for episode 41 of Onward Nation, taught me a very valuable lesson about friction and lead generation. Flint is the director of MECLABS and Marketing Experiments -- the leading researchers in online marketing for the past 15 years. During our interview...he explained that in your optin forms -- every field you include beyond just email -- will reduce your conversion rate by 50 percent. Every field, Onward Nation. Money Making Opportunity #5: CREATE ANTICIPATION. You need to continuously seed and open loops to your sales message within your email funnel, blog posts, webinars, and presentations. Within value based emails, be sure you’re not trying to sell anything. Just offer a tip—for example, one of 47 tips you have for increasing the value of your home. Deliver awesomeness one small piece at a time while mentioning that there are 47 tips total. That opens a loop in their minds, and they’ll be more inclined to read your email next time to learn the next tip. You can also tease your upcoming events, planting a seed that you’ll expand on in a later email dedicated to promoting the event. Money Making Opportunity #6: SOCIAL MEDIA DONE RIGHT. When visitors come to your website from Facebook, Twitter, or other social network, your conversion rate increases dramatically. In fact, social media visitors are 780 percent more likely to buy from you because they’re already social followers. This remarkable finding was part of my thesis at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. I later took the data set, methodology, and result outcomes and had them published in the Journal of E-business...a peer reviewed academic journal. And then I included it in my second book, "Increase Online Sales through Viral Social Networking." But why 780%? Because your connections -- your social media followers -- are further along in the know, like, and trust funnel than someone who finds you through a Google search. We’ve found that if you post twice a day, morning and afternoon, you’ll get and retain the most followers. Use our six to one ratio for posts: six professional or life posts for every one product or sales post. So create six posts related to events you’ve attended, awards you’ve received, blogs you’ve written, or vacations you’ve taken with your family. Let people get to know you. Then write one post that invites followers to buy now, download an offer, or attend a webinar. Our studies show that this strategy will increase site traffic by 23 percent. Money Making Opportunity #7: MULTIPLY CONVERSION RATE BY 200 TO 800%. We strongly encourage our clients to use Adroll.com, the leaders in ad retargeting, or re-marketing as it’s oftentimes called. Retargeting your site visitors means that after someone has visited your site but not converted, they’ll see your ads as they click around to other sites. These retargeted ads increase your conversion rates by 600 to 800 percent because they build on the familiarity prospects already have with your website. But here is the most often made mistake when marketers create a retargeting campaign. Don’t use retargeting to sell. Instead, use retargeting to give! Promote the screaming cool value exchange that leads to an optin. You will experience a much higher conversion rate and your list will grow so you can develop a relationship over time. Money Making Opportunity #8: AND FINALLY…CONDUCT A/B TESTING TO FURTHER INCREASE CONVERSION RATE. Before you make any major change to your site code, conduct A/B testing to see which changes produce positive results in your conversion rate. Online programs like? Visual Website Optimizer help you create a test in a few minutes. We have increased conversion rate by 200 percent through one A/B test. Remember to make one improvement at a time and see how your results change. By incorporating the 8 Money Making Opportunities, you’ll increase leads, conversions, and revenue. A consistent, test-as-you-go method will allow you to see the power of various strategies and start seeing results right away. None of these strategies require specific expertise—you can do this. So with that... I want to say again, thank you for taking the time to be here with me today. It is an honor to have you here -- thank you for tuning in -- your time is sacred and I am delighted you chose this episode to be what you listen to, study, and take with you on your morning run, or maybe Onward Nation has become part of your daily commute, or in some other way has become part of your morning routine. However our daily podcast fits into your daily routine -- I want you to know how much I appreciate you sharing some of your invaluable 86,400 seconds you have in your day with me and the strategies we learn and share each day from today’s top business owners. And please continue to let me know what you think of Onward Nation...good or bad...I always want your feedback. My direct email address is stephen@onwardnation.com -- and yes -- that is my actual Inbox. No fancy filters or filing system and I read and reply to every single email. So please let me know how you think we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you. I will be back tomorrow with my interview with Monica Wofford -- another one of today’s top business owners. Until then, onward with gusto! You can also find us here: ----- OnwardNation.com -----

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin the founder of MECLABS, the world’s largest independent research institution focused on offer response optimization. His work has led to many discoveries regarding the philosophy of human choice, experimental design, and the cognitive psychology of conversion. Dr. McGlaughlin has written or edited more than 250 articles and texts, he has won multiple awards, and he has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.   Leadership: Don’t optimize offers or websites -- optimize thought-sequences -- by gauging the perception of value-force and value-cost Sustainability: You have to do something fundamentally different Limit internal arrogance at the leadership level derived from ignoring consumers Limit the all-in risk -- focus on small discoveries that compound Actionable Steps: Try to see through the lense of the consumer Employ the consumer mindset -- understand their thought-sequence Speak in their vernacular -- ineffective communication proves to be costly Articulate: Clarity trumps persuasion -- once you can articulate the value with clarity -- you will get an answer in return. Value Proposition: Focus on developing a clear value-proposition -- with an emphasis on the consumer and channel of communication. How best to connect with Dr. Flint McGlaughlin: http://www.flintmcglaughlin.com/ https://twitter.com/flintsnotes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_McGlaughlin https://www.linkedin.com/pub/flint-mcglaughlin/51/582/62  

Email Summit, and this was my 9th time attending... (Yes, it's that good!). MECLABS also had its email messaging optimization and landing page optimization workshops. Get the inside scoop from someone who was there along with Jim Clair, head copywriter for one of the top products on Clickbank. Find out what we learned about the latest and greatest in email marketing.

While 2013 was a great year for featuring new discoveries to help you do your job better, the sheer volume of actionable takeaways and key principles can be overwhelming for marketers in the trenches struggling to keep pace. In this MarketingExperiments Web clinic, the MECLABS research team reviewed the top five discoveries of 2013 and how you can use those insights to aid your marketing efforts in the upcoming year ahead.

Marketers are discovering A/B testing has become increasingly sophisticated. Even though software platforms can make testing easier, many marketers are left questioning how they should best approach the testing process.   Watch this Web clinic replay to hear some of the most common questions associated with online testing answered by members of the MECLABS research team.

It’s one thing to talk about landing page optimization and another thing entirely to execute. That’s one of the key findings in Boris Grinkot’s new 2011 MarketingSherpa Landing Page Optimization Benchmark Report. Drawing from his report, Boris and Daniel Burstein (Director of Editorial Content, MECLABS) walked marketers through the process of making the business case for optimization in this recent live Web clinic.

Your ideal prospects delete most of the emails they receive each day. How do you ensure your email doesn’t get dumped into the "Trash" folder? According to Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, CEO (Managing Director), MECLABS, one principle is key - the objective of an email is to get a click. In this live Web clinic, Dr. McGlaughlin reviewed an email message that applied this principle to generate 85% more recipient response. He then taught specifically on how to engage email recipients with just enough value to inspire them to click, and quickly switched to hands-on application -- where he (along with researchers Jon Powell and Adam Lapp) reviewed and optimized audience-submitted email campaigns.

Professor: Brian Carroll, MECLABS, InTouch -- Learn how to nurture your leads from an inbound marketing perspective. This class is part of Inbound Marketing University's free training program by HubSpot.